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 ...
The devil made me do it:
I like this one:
comments. Blackheart’s Brain Lint. Well, sometimes I feel like delinting my brain. This is where it goes. ...
Laughing.....
Best of all, so far:
Make your own gifts:
Excellent sites/patterns:
Another good collection of patterns:
“That is a very old Hungarian folk story and it pleases me, I always look up and thank God for all the guarding that he has ordered for me all these years.”
I stopped in to send you a {{{{hug}}}} before I hit the pillow.
I thought of you earlier today when I found 2 pennies and 2 nickles. ;-) Lucky Day!
Free clothing patterns, incl back packs:
http://www.breakitdowndesign.com/
Free tunic design, could be shirt or dress:
http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/t-tunic-pattern
http://www.kaboodle.com/arlenem/sewing-stuff-free-pattern?startIndex=0§ion=
This site, I would put in my idea file, barter for patterns, done in an effort to become better known.
http://www.makethemyourself.com/free.html
Make your own soft soled leather shoes.
This page will help get you started, there was a period of about 3 years that I could not wear shoes of any kind on my feet, my friend Mary, started making me soft shoes.
She used things we found at the dump, LOL, or as she called it, the city exchange.
Old levi’s for the sole, old coats for a soft lining, pretty double knits or the material that struck her fancy for the tops.
This is much the same, but is a high top, Mary followed the canvas deck she or slip on shoe pattern, made them lined and simple.
At the time, I had a gift and antique shop, in Wellton, people liked my shoes so well that Mary made them in all sizes and I sold them in the store.
No, she didn’t get rich, but she made a little, of course if we had been on the internet.......how she would love it.
granny
Make your own soft soled leather shoes.
http://www.ohelene.net/blog/?p=118
The next site, I have dug in before, it is amazing what is tucked away here, also free paper dolls and halloween costumes:
http://www.costumes.org/advice/1pages/free_stuff.htm
I thought of you earlier today when I found 2 pennies and 2 nickles. ;-) Lucky Day!<<<
Sleep well and safely.
You know that I was thinking of you.
What does it mean when you find nickles?
That is super good luck.
” It is the fool that thinks like the clintons and etc, they will be the real danger, as they will not be prepared, after all this is all the fault of President Bush and they do not even listen to Dr. Bill when he warns them of what will happen, if an attack comes. “<<<
“after all this is all the fault of President Bush”
I should have used quote marks, as I was speaking the words that I hear the liberals speak, NOT how I feel.
” Smiling at you and attempting to tease you. “
Good morning, Granny...
As we get to know each other, you’ll find out that I have a pretty decent sense of humor, and I enjoy being teased - and teasing.... :~)
As for our (delightful, for me) conversation of yesterday — I think I need to add a small disclaimer....
When I share my thinking and planning, I’ doing just that - sharing. I’m not advocating any particular course of action for anyone else...
Everybody has his/her own unique set of circumstances that needs to be addressed, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution....
If I am advocating anything, it’s the principle that each one of us needs to look at our particular situation honestly and realisically, including what might happen should certain variables change — and then do what we can to tilt the odds in our favor, within our individual constraints - physical, monetary, family obligations, and the like...
And the most important principle of all is to *BE FLEXIBLE* in our planning — never assume that events will play out exactly as we envision them... And be emotionally prepared to abandon preconceived notions and impovise at any time.
Again, Granny — what I shared yesterday was my planning, and, to me, more importantly, the thinking and philosophy behind my planning, given my particular circumstances at this time, and given the scenario you laid out (sudden, surprise, devastating terrorist attack - but also applies, somewhat, to ‘natural disaster’ scenarios)..... Keeping in mind, of course, that I don’t consider anything ‘set in stone’, and my thinking evolves daily as events unfold...
If my blather strikes a chord and gets someone else thinking about “what-ifs”, each in his/her own way, then that’s just icing on the cake — otherwise, I’m just pleasantly passing the time with some new FRiends....
Ike
I also checked the price in my local Walmart several weeks ago. Can you believe $3.00 a pound??? And to think our locals just throw it away? We don’t use much, but the things we put it in are much improved by the addition. My mother used to have salt fish dinners and she would always render out salt pork to use as gravy on boiled potatos. My family would wonder what was going on if I served salt fish. I also remember (just barely) when lobsters were so plentiful that they could be found crawling on the rocks here in Maine. People called them scavengers of the sea and they weren’t very popular. Our family could swap a couple roast chickens for a bushel of lobsters. Lobsters now sell for about $10.00 each around here.
I usually don’t bother with WND articles (long on hyperventilation, short on facts), but I’ve seen rumblings of this in other sources, and it’s something we need to be aware of...
This could be the trigger that transforms our planning and preparations - especially for us urban folks - from intellectual exercise to deadly serious necessity....
Independent truckers planning shutdown
WorldNetDaily.com ^ | March 28, 2008
Posted on 03/29/2008 6:22:04 AM CDT by Man50D
Crude oil is running $100 a barrel and it costs $50 instead of $35 to fill your car, but you carpool occasionally and watch the number of trips across town so you’re doing all right so far. But what happens when, in addition to the $50 fillup, your groceries go from $80 to $120 and you hunt for new jeans but the shelves don’t even have your size?
That’s the very real possibility that is triggering an unofficial nationwide call for a shutdown by thousands of independent truck operators who deliver those supplies – all sparked by the rising costs of fuel.
One website already explains about 18,000 trucks have been committed to the shutdown starting April 1, and whether it goes for a day or a week, they are hoping that their actions will get the attention of officials who, they demand, must do something to help.
The Washington Post reports Lee Klass, hauling 41,000 pounds of hairspray from Florida to Quebec, stopped in North Carolina to refill fuel tanks, and paid $960. Diesel prices, he told the paper, “are terrible, and they’re not getting any better.”
Auto clubs that monitor prices say diesel has gone up more than 50 cents a gallon in barely two months, and has been setting records almost daily. The nationwide average on one recent day was $3.87 a gallon.
The newspaper warned fuel price hikes, especially trucks, have the potential to disrupt the Federal Reserve’s plan to contain inflation while creating growth with low interest rates, combined with the money giveaway program approved by Congress.
That’s because trucking claims 70 percent of U.S. freight transportation, from the cars you drive to work to the milk your children drink.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993530/posts
Here in Maine one trucker took several of his logging trucks, parked them in front of the state house in Augusta and told his dealer to repossess as he no longer could make payments. They are trying to get the governor to lower many of the road taxes, gas taxes etc. My thought is that if they lower that, they will only raise other taxes. The real answer would be to reduce govt. and govt. spending, but what do I know?
I feel fortunate as I have seen hard times and I live in a good place (if there is any GOOD place) to survive. We are hunters and fishermen and quite familiar with the northern areas around Moosehead Lake. Have a popup camper and are very used to roughing it for extended periods in that area. I would chance drinking from fast moving streams in an emergency as my husband has done it many times. We also know the sites of many natural springs. We keep several cans of gas for our farm equipment-rotating it to keep it fresh so am sure we would have the fuel to get to some remote spot. My real concern is for my extended family who is nowhere near as self-sufficient as hubby and I.
As I’ve said a couple of times, I do envy those of us who are fortunate enough to live away from heavily urbanized areas — your ‘survival’ needs are significant, but without a couple of extra layers of complexity that us city folks face....
As in — when/if the trucking industry collapses, y’all will have to deal with shortages and making-do, while we will have to do that and try to keep out of the way of ‘civil unrest’ (AKA food riots) and undependable civil services (police, fire, utilities, etc).....
And the most important principle of all is to *BE FLEXIBLE* in our planning — never assume that events will play out exactly as we envision them... And be emotionally prepared to abandon preconceived notions and impovise at any time.<<<
*BE FLEXIBLE*
AND
**BE PREPARED**
That is how I think, I am 100% in agreement with you.
Survival comes when you survive.
As simple as surviving when a partner says “will you take me to the hospital? I think I am having a heart attack” and it is 2 years before he works again, never as he did before.
For Mac and Myrt, it was a freak wind that put their mobile home on its roof and them with no insurance.
For some it is the loss of a job, the loss of the home and living in their car, home schooling their children, and doing the best that they can.
The night before the Oklahoma City Bombing, a young man who was a neighbor, had stopped for coffee, we were talking and he called me an old fool, for saying that the day would come, when we would be attacked on our own soil.
The next night, very white faced, he came to apologize, with all the days papers that he could get for me.
Where we lived in the hills, that radio did not work, so he was right, I did not know.
I think that any little thing, will set off the gangs and other fools who want to see the Great America fall.
We let this happen to our country.
I tried over the years to warn people, my family does not see what I see.
If we can round up the best information and get it into folks minds, then that is a plus on our record.
For if we have ‘never heard it’ then how will we know it is possible.
There is no way of knowing when the next disaster is coming or what it will be titled.
I have forgotten how to put the small branches on a shelter to make the water run off, maybe knowing it can be done is enough.
Maybe knowing that exposure to radiation, requires a shower with laundry soap, will never be used, but then I would do the same if I got sprayed with a chemical.
Dr. Bill Wattenberg should be on tonight at 10 pm, pacific time at kgo.com, he is worth listening to, for his tried and tested science answers, as simple as “do not put your babies bottle in the microwave” “it releases the plastic into the food” to “a nuclear bomb works like this”.
FRiends are the best in the world, none finer.
Ships that pass in the night.. (Welllll — early morning) —
I’m just heading off to (ugh) work....
Have a GRAND day, Granny!!
;~)
I’ll keep using my ****trail of breadcrumbs**** until I find a reliable source for pretty white pebbles...
;~)
Independent truckers planning shutdown
WorldNetDaily.com ^ | March 28, 2008<<<
They did this in 1979 or 78.
The big shutdown did not hit here as hard as the one a few months before when the Safeway trucks went on strike.
At that time Kingman had one giant Safeway store and several family type stores.
There is no way that I will forget what that giant building looked like with its rows of shelves and nothing on them.
If they had anything, it was one kind of cereal, one type bread and you were allowed to buy one and no more than that.
The Safeway manager was hauling his stock from Las Vegas in a pickup.
A real truck shut down here is a disaster, about 50,000 people now connect to Kingman, and it may be far more than that.
We make nothing here, we grow nothing here.
Every drop of gas and diesel comes from Las Vegas and Phoenix.
It is a live pay check to pay check town.
Yes, WND and Debka are ahead of their time in their news reports, but if you go and read the old ones, you find that they were not that far off center, they just come out with it first.
A real truck strike, is going to wake a few people up.
Have you heard anything about a truck strike?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1990507/posts?page=729#729
****trail of breadcrumbs****<<<
Well, 50 years ago, you could have scooped them off your neighbor’s roof, in California, it was the “in thing” and hid the fact that it was a tar paper roof.
Thanks, I needed to laugh.
Work hard, make lots of money and stay safe.
http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/breaking/2008/03/disaster_supplies_to_stay_in_s.html
http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/breaking/2008/03/disaster_supplies_to_stay_in_s.html
March 28, 2008
Disaster supplies to stay put
A federal plan to move a cache of emergency medical supplies out of San Diego has been abandoned after local politicians cried foul.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wanted to move the supplies to Los Angeles or Las Vegas under a plan to regionalize medical caches nationwide.
Three truckloads of supplies — including tents, generators, surgical kits and medications — have been stored in a Kearny Mesa warehouse since 1994. The supplies are used by local disaster teams for emergencies in San Diego as well as federal disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina.
The federal government announced it would move the supplies last month and local officials protested.
In a compromise announced Friday, the supplies will be stored at the naval base in Point Loma rather than shipped out of the county.
I buy most of my seeds from Fedco. It is a local coop and they buy locally in bulk. Seeds are much less expensive than Burpees, Parks or the more well-known cos. I plant lots of beets. Hate plain beets but pickle enough to last all year. They really add a lot to any bland meal. Beet seeds at Fedco are less than half the price of other companies.
Haven’t seen any mention of snares or box traps. When and if ammo runs out, anyone proficient in setting snares or box traps can bag small game indefinitely with little or no expense. My husband caught rabbits and partridges for years before both items became illegal here. He would spread grain, set a snare and then wait patiently behind a tree until a partridge would step inside the circle of string, then pull the string quickly catching the bird by its legs. Box traps are good for wild rabbits. Rabbit pie, fried rabbit and rabbit stew are delicious. I realize that you need to be in the wilds to utilize these items, but thought it was something some people could consider. A bow and arrow can provide food but you must be skilled in the art. Hubby brings food to the table in this manner also. These items would surely be among our survival items.
Yes, you are correct.
I do not recall how my dad trapped the rabbits and prairie hens, in Texas.
I used Mary box wire traps for moveable chicken coops, for small ones, that I might want protected.
It was an 18” high, 2 x3’ chicken wire box, with an open end.
So I can’t help with the subject, other than to agree with yo.
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