Posted on 03/23/2008 11:36:40 PM PDT by nw_arizona_granny
Americans finding soaring food prices hard to stomach can battle back by growing their own food. [Click image for a larger version] Dean Fosdick Dean Fosdick
Home vegetable gardens appear to be booming as a result of the twin movements to eat local and pinch pennies.
At the Southeastern Flower Show in Atlanta this winter, D. Landreth Seed Co. of New Freedom, Pa., sold three to four times more seed packets than last year, says Barb Melera, president. "This is the first time I've ever heard people say, 'I can grow this more cheaply than I can buy it in the supermarket.' That's a 180-degree turn from the norm."
Roger Doiron, a gardener and fresh-food advocate from Scarborough, Maine, said he turned $85 worth of seeds into more than six months of vegetables for his family of five.
A year later, he says, the family still had "several quarts of tomato sauce, bags of mixed vegetables and ice-cube trays of pesto in the freezer; 20 heads of garlic, a five-gallon crock of sauerkraut, more homegrown hot-pepper sauce than one family could comfortably eat in a year and three sorts of squash, which we make into soups, stews and bread."
[snipped]
She compares the current period of market uncertainty with that of the early- to mid-20th century when the concept of victory gardens became popular.
"A lot of companies during the world wars and the Great Depression era encouraged vegetable gardening as a way of addressing layoffs, reduced wages and such," she says. "Some companies, like U.S. Steel, made gardens available at the workplace. Railroads provided easements they'd rent to employees and others for gardening."
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
Thanks, granny, and what a great and scary story about the lost little boy. I’m so glad y’all found him in time!
A suggestion for those with poor soil (like me): Earth Boxes. You’d be surprised how much can be grown in just a few of these. The plants are watered from the bottom, and I have had tomato plants grow higher than the eaves on my house. Loads of tomatoes.
In addition to them, I am going to have a small real garden this year, in the one spot I have that actually gets sun. I have so many trees almost all my 1/2 acre is shaded. But, living in Mississippi, I am not about to complain about all the shade!
LOL, yes, our friend the google search.
Would not want to work without it.
Your beds sound good to me.
the ones in my greenhouse, were too wide and I could not reach the other side. So had to step into the bed.
In the greenhouse they were raised, and I could sit on the edge.
I love greenhouses and hate not having one now.
Or a way to garden, but thinking about it is fun.
This is an AWESOME thread, Granny! Thank you so much. It’ll take me a while to wade through it, but I have a lot to share.
I wanted to THANK YOU first. *SMOOCH* :)
A hug and continuing with prayers for your family.
You have been added, there will be more time to spend here, we will never run out of subjects or links.
I spent about 12 hours longer than I planned and way too much typing for me.
But it was fun.
Good, it will please me if they are a help to your son.
There are more to come, as time allows.
Making mixes, has always interested me, such a neat way to save a dollar or two and missing the preservatives that are in the boxed food.
Granny, we have about 2 acres, but it’s in a residential county zone so we can’t have farm animals, unfortunately, otherwise I would, chickens, too.
I think the thread has stuck, we will have place for information to be collected.
I hope everyone had as much fun as I did.
Soon, I will have to catch up on my sleep, haven’t had time since I started this thread.
Please, yes, post as you will, there is much to be learned.
Thank you for being a part of it.......
At one time, I gave thought to making my own earth boxes, old nylons and cotton clothes line rope will work as wicks.
I didn’t live long enough to play with all the things, that I wanted to, but I tried.
Does everyone know that you can root tomato branches in water and keep a special plant growing for a long time.?
From the many posters here today, I think it is safe to say that all of us are ready for spring.
Thanks for the PING, Ladies! :)
One “survival skill” and one skill that will save you a lot of money, is very rewarding and will put you on a pedestal with men and children alike is the skill of baking bread.
I use my bread machine all the time; just to make the dough and get it through it’s first rising. I like to mess with it from there...and many “City Slickers” and “Country Bumpkins” alike have a bread machine that’s sitting, neglected, in their cupboard!
This one is so easy, anyone can do it. It’s an old Betty Crocker Recipe called “Casserole Bread.”
Casserole Bread
2 & 1/4 tsp. yeast (this is 1 packet, but it’s cheaper in bulk and more “alive”)
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm milk
2/3 cup softened butter
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
3 cups unbleached flour
Put all of the above in your bread machine and use the “Dough” setting. When the dough is done, put the dough in a greased, round, 2 quart casserole dish. Cover and let rise for about 40 minutes, until doubled in size.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place on lowest oven rack, so top of bread is in the center of the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the loaf is brown and sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from casserole dish and let cool on a rack. Brush top of bread with melted butter if desired.
Slice into wedges, or slice crosswise for odd-shaped sandwiches, LOL!
Additional ways to make this recipe:
Cheese Casserole Bread: Add 1 cup shredded cheese of your choice and 1/2 tsp. black pepper. (Great way to use up cheese scraps or “nubbins” as we call them.)
Onion-Dill Casserole Bread: Add 1 peeled and grated small onion and 1 Tbsp. dried dill weed.
Taco Casserole Bread: Substitute 1/2 cup cornmeal for 1/2 cup of the flour. Stir in 1 cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese and 2-4 Tbsp. chopped green chilies, drained. (Be uber-frugal; reserve the liquid and use that to make up sone of the 1/2 cup water you need to start the recipe.)
Whole Wheat Casserole Bread: Substitute 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour for 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour.
Good, I am so glad to know you are here too.
It will be wonderful, when everyone starts posting, we will all learn and take away what we need for our lives.
Post away, we will go to 5,000 posts and start a new thread.
As long as Jim Robinson allows us to keep on.
I can never say thank you enough to Mr. Robinson, for developing a place full of such fine people.
With 2 acres, one should have some rights.
That will change, when times get really hard and people are hungry.
We are getting the same types of laws here, I fought them for years, but cannot do so now.
No more soap boxes for today, need a nap.
Evil thoughts, is the crime of having chickens as stiff a fine, as having a dope lab? They get away with murder.
Since I like my chickens roaming free and eating bugs, I won’t say, put them in the basement.
They are not good house pets.
OK, one more laugh, at one time Bill had put 2 greenhouses on the sides of the mobile, one was with a door towards the chickens area.
They would come in the greenhouse and eat bugs and leave.
One day I was running late for work, and closed the green house door on the way to the car.
Bill came home, and called me at work, wanted to know if I had the rooster in the house for a reason?
He said he drove up and realized the rooster was watching his every move, through the sliding glass doors.
Knowing that I was prone to dream up things, he swore they all meant extra work for him.
He said his first thought was “No, I will not live with a rooster, and does she really think she can train him to guard the house.?”
Not guilty.
Thank you for the bread recipes, I like them all.
Lets face it, I like bread.
Good, we will have the whole town wanting your bread and recipes.
And I already have pinto beans cooked.
I've noticed a few on this thread are not really country folk and may be interested. Most folks think of a pistol for self defense, and thats not a bad choice, but not a good one either. Pistols take practice and skill. Shotguns are pretty self tutorial. If you live in a city, you will likely not be hunting, so this will not be a priority. (all though the 12 or 20 ga pump shotgun can do that well.)
That being said, my opinion as a life long shooter, ex-cop, ex-military, etc, is a 12 ga pump shotgun.(20 guage if your a small women) Walmart, Academy sports, pawnshops etc carry them.
One stands out if your cost conscious. MOSSBERG MAVERICK SHOTGUN. This is a Mossberg 500 in work cloths. Its used today in Iraq. Academy.com lists it for $154 bucks. (Today)Used from a Pawnshop should be cheaper.
Get it with two box of dove/quail #7 or#8 for practice. Then buy two box's of 2 3/4" number 1 buck shot (16 pellets) and one box of 2 3/4" slugs. Slugs are accurate out to 50 yds for average shooter,(many out to 100 yds) and also keep in mind that unlike the movies the buckshot at 10 feet may only spread about 6 inchs, so aim it. You can miss at 10 feet shooting from the hip. Also, birdshot is for birds, not defense. Some men have walked away from being shot with birdshot. IF your handy, remove the barrel from the gun, very easy, and measure 19 inchs from the chamber and hacksaw it off. Its legal and makes it shorter.Or buy the defender model with a short barrel, but costs more
. This all together should run less than $200 bucks today. If you think you want to shoot birds for emergency food, get a .177 cal pellet air rifle and it will take bird/squirrel, etc. With care, it can be shot indoors into a box full of tightly packed newspaper.
Try to get someone to show you the rules and how it works. If you can't, dry fire it a few times (not many as this may harm the firing pin) to feel the trigger and action, and remember the two basic gun rules,
1. All guns are ALWAYS loaded and should be treated that way
2.NEVER point a gun at anything you don't want a big hole in.
There are more, but thats the basics.
Saying all that, I'll doubt you need it, but I leave you with this poem:
by Dennis Dezendorf
It's all a tale of living, of what a man can be.
I'll pass it on from my life, so maybe you can see.
There's very few things that can't get done
With five hunnerd dollars and a pump shotgun.
It's been passed on to me, from father to the kid.
Sometimes you have to stand tall, sometimes you best be hid.
But a man can always stand tall, he never has to run
With five hunnerd dollars and a pump shotgun.
There's times when life is fearful, there's times that aren't so good.
When a man does what he has to, when he does just what he should.
But he can keep his house warm, his place there in the sun
With five hunnerd dollars and a pump shotgun.
One night the prisoners broke out, a few had rushed the gate.
And Daddy heard that they were coming, heading down the interstate.
But they didn't stop at our house, they continued on the run
Cause Dad was on the front porch with a pump shotgun.
Sometimes my Dad worked overtime, sometimes from out of state
My Momma didn't worry when the old man got in late
She knew where Daddy kept them, could grab them on the run
She had five hunnerd dollars and a pump shotgun.
It didn't matter what the trouble, didn't matter what the cause,
If a kid got sick or the roof blew off, it didn't give her pause.
If a wolf got in the chickens, just trying to have some fun
Mom would greet him warmly with a pump shotgun.
And when I started my house, with a baby on the way
Dad came by one evening, said what he had to say
"Remember all your lessons, and do what must be done.
Here's five hunnerd dollars and a pump shotgun."
In the mean time I am buying sales, stocking the freezers and baking my own bread. Making my own pizza dough and stock piling dry goods.
I have not checked this for info, only a quick look, but I need to close the window, so will put the links here, there must be something we want to know:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_kit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_skills
I found several interesting links here, but it is a con/sales link site:
Could be good recipes here:
http://www.poweroffamilymeals.com/Recipes/QuickEasy.aspx?gclid=CKDTi6jHpZICFSQxiQodUV943w
I now have my very own .20 gauge shotgun. I can use a .22 rifle with a scope and am learning a 9mm pistol. Even "old" ladies need to learn new tricks.
Sorry I missed it Granny, but I’m reading through the thread now and grinning from ear to ear. I love reading all the suggestions from everyone, but mostly all the “Grannyisms”. ;-)
I wanted to also share all the great survival tips accumulated on Appalachian Dweller’s home page:
http://www.freerepublic.com/~appalachiandweller/
1. All guns are ALWAYS loaded and should be treated that way
2.NEVER point a gun at anything you don’t want a big hole in.
There are more, but thats the basics.<<<
Thank you, your post contained excellent advice for all of us.
I very much like your poem, makes one want to meet the Dad and Mom...........special Americans
There was a time when I knew a little about guns, but I have forgotten most of it, so if you would keep us on the right path, it would help.
There are others who know more than I.
Thank you for joining in.
I thank you for doing your best for our country, as a Police Officer and as U.S. Military.
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