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 ...
[I missed this, so it is here now and applies to the above posts.
I did not post the election sites, they should show up at the link below for todays newsletter........this one is always interesting...
granny]
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OMG, Granny - you are incredible. Did anyone tell you today that they love you? I do.
((((((((((((((((((NW AZ Granny))))))))))))))))))))
Mornin’ granny!
Swamped this week, more than usual. :) Must be getting older—all I’ve done for the last couple of weeks is go to dr’s. All they seem to do is refer me to another dr. Grin
Had to go to the eye dr this week. He told me that other than the fact that I can’t see—except to read, no prob there—my eyes are in perfect health. Bifocals!
Thanks for the crayola link. I’ll put it to good use. LOL
And the craft site. Yikes
Mornin’ granny. Thanks for the ping and for all your good tips.
Thanks for the Head’s Up, Granny. I only have a few Trick or Treaters each year, and those are young nephews brought over by my brother-in-laws.
We live in the middle of nowhere in a rather un-lit area, where our closest neighbor (over the Big Hill in the Back Forty) is a medium security prison...so for some reason, parents don’t let their kids come out here, LOL!
More candy for ME! :)
Picking up the Pieces: 12 of the Best Resources for Investors in Tough Times
Picking up the Pieces: 12 of the Best Resources for Investors in Tough Times
What should investors worried about market volatility and facing the prospect of reduced assets for retirement do? Where do you turn for help if you face difficulty in the current market downturn and credit crunch?
Today, the nonprofit Alliance for Investor Education (AIE) outlined 12 of the best Web-based resources for investing in uncertain times. The Alliance’s new “Picking Up the Pieces: What Investors Need to Know in Tough Times” is available at http://www.investoreducation.org/pickingupthepieces. AIE is the organization of the United States’ leading financial-related foundations, nonprofit organizations, associations and governmental agencies.
Source: Alliance for Investor Education (AIE)
I love you too.
Hope you are well.
Check the thread, it will keep growing, even without me, if all of you use it.
Thank you for coming to read them.
Are you and family doing well?
I sure hope so.
Sounds like here, in 30 years, there may have been a half dozen kids brave the long walk to the house.
No lights in the area and LOL, my porch light does not work.
Stay safe, warm and be happy.
LOL, once the doctors get your number, I think they pass it around like a stolen credit card.
Thank God that all you need are bifocals, got mine 40 years ago.
There is a trick to learning to use them.
Turn on the tv, sit down with the white pages of a phone book, read the phone book, while looking up every few minutes at the tv, following both of them and not loosing your place in the book.
After a couple hours, plus may a few minutes of it for a couple days, you will not see the ‘line’ in your glasses.
I have been in tri-focals for years and it is rare that I know which section I am seeing with.
I know what you mean about the craft sites, they are so full of ideas and I simply cannot play with crafts any longer.
Take care and do not let yourself get run down, too many of of your loved ones need you.
As for Crayolas, I think they are fun....instant iron on art, by intent, or because a kid left them in his pocket and it went into a dryer.........
Thanks for the bifocal tip—I’ll test it out as soon as I get my glasses next week! Hate wearing glasses, but I’m past the stage where I can ignore it anymore. Can’t see anything very far away. I’m sure staying on the computer doesn’t help any! If I didn’t have to drive, I wouldn’t care!
I agree totally about the drs. i think they’re jsut trying to see how many appts I can cram in before I completely run out of money/patience.
I found some of the coolest flannel material—baby blue with sheep on it. Am going to make some pj pants for me/gifts. So many things to do, so little time! LOL
Crayons make a wonderful, multi-colored, permanent deck varnish. My kids left a 64 pack out on the deck—about ten years ago in the middle of summer. That part of the deck is still colorfully waterproof. Who’da thot it? LOL
For those interested in thrift - and chocolate - there are probably already big sales on unused Halloween candy.
While chocolate isn’t one of the four food groups, it takes little space, stores very easily in a sealed container, and lasts practically forever.
MELAMINE CONTAMINATION, ANIMAL FEED (03): CHINA
***********************************************
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
[1] Date: 30 Oct 2008
Source: AP — Houston Chronicle, USA [edited]
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/6085835.html
China’s animal feed tainted with melamine
The practice of mixing melamine into animal feed is an “open secret”
in the industry, the Nanfang Daily newspaper reported, describing a
process of repackaging melamine scrap into an inexpensive product
called “protein powder,” which is then sold to feed suppliers.
The Web sites of the official Xinhua News Agency and the Communist
Party mouthpiece People’s Daily newspaper also carried the story, in
a rare move publicizing information that reflects poorly on the
country — especially given recent food safety scandals involving
contaminated Chinese dairy products and eggs.
[Byline: Anita Chang, Associated Press Writer]
********
[2] Date: 31 Oct 2008
Source: Shanghai Daily, China [edited]
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200810/20081031/article_378939.htm
City fish food checked for melamine content
The level of protein is a key element in determining food standards
in China. Melamine raises protein readings but not the protein
content. The chemical is a banned animal-feed additive, according to
a notice issued by the Ministry of Agriculture in July 2007.
The Shanghai Evening Post yesterday cited an industry insider as
saying that adding melamine in feed is a common practice as producers
seek to raise protein readings at less expense. The chemical, used to
make plastics, paint and adhesives, has been used in the feed
industry for at least 5 years, the insider told the evening
newspaper. The source added that cows, sheep, poultry, pigs and fish
had been given food containing melamine. Soft-shelled turtles and
eels were also on the melamine list, especially in southern China,
the paper said.
Melamine waste residue is sold by its producers for between 600 yuan
(US$87) and 800 yuan a ton to animal feed firms. Those companies then
add the melamine residue to feed and sell that feed for up to 4000
(US$580) yuan a ton on the market, according to the newspaper.
[Byline: Lydia Chen and Yang Lifei]
********
[3] Date: 30 Oct 2008
Source: Shanghai Daily, China [edited]
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200810/20081030/article_378821.htm
Feed factory representative arrested in tainted eggs scandal
Han Wei, president of Dalian Hanwei, said the unidentified legal
representative of Shenyang City-based Xinmin Mingxing Feed Factory
was in police custody, according to the report.
The Hong Kong government found Dalian Hanwei’s eggs contained
melamine because chickens were fed with tainted grain from Xinmin
Mingxing, Han was cited as saying. “The chemical was 1st discovered
during a check on grains by the company,” Han told the newspaper.
Dalian Hanwei later issued a national recall of the problematic eggs
because “leaking water tainted the feed in the store house,” the
report said. [A rather unlikely story. Even if the water was heavily
contaminated with melamine — and where did that come from? — the
feed would have had to be thoroughly soaked to have reached a level
of contamination high enough to pass through the chickens it was fed
to into their eggs. Soaked feed goes moldy quickly and cannot be sold
through normal channels. - Mod.JW]
On 22 Oct 2008, the Liaoning Province Animal Health Bureau ordered
its subordinate departments to examine and register feed products
made by Xinmin Mingxing Feed Factory. The bureau stated on its Web
site that it would not talk to media.
Dalian Hanwei Enterprise Group has been in business for 26 years and
is the biggest producer of eggs and egg products in China. It owns 4
egg farms, 3 of which are specifically for export. Tainted eggs
produced by Dalian Hanwei Group were 1st reported in Hong Kong on
Saturday [25 Oct 2008].
[Byline: Yang Lifei]
—
Communicated by
ProMED
promed@promedmail.org
[see also:
Melamine contaminated food products (04): Worldwide ex China 20081027.3391
Melamine contamination, animal feed (02): China 20081020.3326
Melamine contaminated food products (03): Worldwide ex China 20081020.3324
Melamine contaminated food products (02): Worldwide ex China 20081004.3129
Melamine contaminated food products - Worldwide ex China 20081002.3107
Melamine contamination, animal feed: RFI 20081001.3097
Infant kidney stones - China (03): melamine 20080917.2915
Infant kidney stones - China (02): Gansu, milk, melamine 20080912.2856
2007
You are right about candy being on sale now.
If you buy the hard types, the single wrapped pieces and put them in a jar, they will last for years.
Chocolate is always good. And it freezes well.
I found some of the coolest flannel material—baby blue with sheep on it. <<<
That sounds like a baby quilt to me.
Could you use a yard or so of it, even a lightweight old blanket or regular batting, bind the edges, LOL, I talk big, Mary is the one who applied my bindings, I never mastered it.
the fun part would be the tying it.
My mother liked bright colored yarn.
My dad wanted his hand sewn, none of that fancy stuff for him, so he put pully’s in the ceiling and could raise and lower the quilt after dinner and we all gathered round and sewed for a few minutes, nothing fancy, but for a sharecropper, getting the money to buy cotton material large enough for the top and bottom of a quilt, must have been gold to him.
Funny, I don’t remember the pattern of the material, maybe there was none, but do remember learning to sew on it and how neat it was to raise and lower it, I still like that Idea, always stretched tight and ready to go.
Mary and I used big diaper pins and pinned them to her unused living room carpet, and could leave them there, I had to buy my self the modern quilting frame and hate it, as I spent all my time getting it taunt and it slips.
Mary liked to tie her quilts with the medium cotton crochet thread, the one on the big balls.......I forgot which was best, one shreds into layers and the other does not.
LOL, I was thinking of the fun of using yarn, and where to place it......for the ties, maybe even 3 or 4 stitches, and then the sheep would be jumping over flowers, or things or you could give them top knots.....or?
And of course write a story to go with the little lambs.
It could be as simple as using the names of flowers and their colors, red=rose, yellow=daisy, etc.
LOL, and now you will need to make them a toy sheep to go with the blanket.
I have no doubt that crayons would make a good wax/varnish, they are the finest waxes, with a hardener.
We did something, along the line of drawing on paper or the fabric and LOL, all I recall is the ironing it to set the pattern, using the brown grocery sacks to protect the iron.
I always got a kick out of taking shavings of crayons, mixing well and then ironing them, you get some good and yes some awful patterns out of them.
Made some baby blankets out of the sheepies for my sis who’s expecting at the end of the month. Nothing fancy. Just hemmed the edges, but it’s as cute as can be. I thought about the lamb toy to go with it, might still do it, I should have some leftover from the pj’s.
Would have loved to have had a raisable/lowerable quilt frame!
Have 5 or 6 quilts from the depression era. Belonged to my FIL’s mother. She threw them out (!) and I asked her if I could have them. She said yes, she was going to have them taken to the dump. Shaking head. The patterns/material are nothing special, but her mother made them, and I love them. Also have one made from feed sacks I got from my MIL’s side of the family. More junk to leave my children! LOL
I remember getting in BIG trouble one night late. I never slept much as a kid and I was very crafty and inquisitive. I was reading—supposed to be asleep—one of my craft books. How you could sharpen your crayons and melt the shavings to make candles. I had a chair pulled up to the stove and my carefully sharpened crayons melting in a pan when mom woke up and caught me. LOL
We are well here in NE Texas. My cherry tomato plants put on new blossoms a month or so ago and I have a whole new batch of tomatoes. A slight cold snap wilted the vegetation, but the tomatoes survived. It’s a nice surprise since the summer heat usually kills the plants before September.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2122218/posts
China Accused of Covering Up Outbreak of Maggots in Oranges
The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | October 31, 2008 | By Richard Spencer
Posted on Saturday, November 01, 2008 7:19:58 PM by JACKRUSSELL
Wonderful, that you have a second crop of tomatoes.
There are a couple of things you could do with these plants, as they should be kept alive for next year.
Tomato plants will root in water, use the tips or shoots.
And dig up a couple, put them in pots, place in a sunny window and they will grow, I had them reach 6 foot in a gallon pot.
All you need to do, is shake the plant, when it is in bloom, they are self pollinating.
And you will then have tomatoes all winter too and be ahead of the game, come spring.
Bell peppers will also grow more than one year.
Over the years, we had better luck with the cherry tomatoes, the large tomatoes will not grow here.
Would have loved to have had a raisable/lowerable quilt frame!<<<
Your frame can be as large as you want, and bolt togather, use 2x2’s that are well cured, so they won’t warp, or about that size.
Four pulleys mounted to the ceiling and good bolted I hooks in the frame, and a strong rope, such as ski ropes. Or?
Yes, I would prefer the ceiling mount, and now that I don’t need it and my mobile is so old that the ceiling would not be harmed, I don’t need one.
The history of quilts is an amazing subject, even the simple blocks, were used to teach kids how to count, as in a ‘9 patch or 12 patch block.
LOL, Bill spent 3 years teaching Dink our parrot to count to 3.
I was sewing on a quilt that had 16 triangles, to the block that had to be all different and 16 the same [ a pale pink], Dink was on my shoulder, and I guess that made me count out loud, as he expected me to talk to him.
The next thing that I realized, is, Dink was counting along with me.
I later got him to count to 130, by then we were both tired.
The stories behind the quilts, include many, of course of the family history, this was __ wedding dress, etc.
But Cabin in the Cotton, was a sign for run a way slaves, it told them where to go and the right quilt would be hung on a fence or draped over a bush.
Flour sacks, were our main materials for clothing and until a few years ago, I still bought 25 pound bags at Safeway markets in material, that I used in my quilts.
I can imagine the trouble you got in for melting crayons on a stove, talk about a fire hazard.
Good, I am glad to know that there are sheep blankets for the new baby...LOL, I prefer kids to learn in a natural way with pretty items, not the ugly stuff they put out today and call ‘toys’.
Mary made the finest Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, the original variety. The kids love them.
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