Is Recession Preparing a New Breed of Survivalist? [Survival Today - an On going Thread #2]

May 05th,2008

[nw_arizona_granny]

Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training

I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood

[DelaWhere]

Gardening: Get most out of growing season by sharing harvest

Linda Kennedy
Sunday, April 12, 2009

BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Picking out my vegetable seeds at the garden center is much like going to a buffet — my eyes are bigger than my stomach. As I start my seeds in the house in flats that cover the basement and require shop lights hanging 8 inches above the tables, my husband asks how many tomatoes are we going to eat?

Well, we need cherry tomatoes for salads, Big Boys for burgers and Romas for sauces. Yes, but each package has 30 seeds and how many tomatoes does each plant produce? Well, maybe not all the plants will survive to make it to the garden. Or maybe my friends will want some plants. And how much garden space do we have? Oh, well, some can go in containers. Hmm.

Every August my family makes me promise not to over-plant the next year. Maybe the 42 garlic bulbs were too many, but they look great braided and hanging in the kitchen. And wasn’t it great to have a butternut squash and acorn squash at least once a week through the winter? We did have to rush through the cucumbers (soup, sliced, marinated) and zucchini (cake, cookies, bread, fried, sautéed, doorstops). But all those frozen beans, beets and pumpkin pies were appreciated.

I was about to hold back this year, until I attended the Sustainable Landscape Conference in early March. Kipp Nash introduced me to community supported agriculture (CSA). There are various models that involve consumers contracting with farmers to ensure a local market. Nash brought the model into the suburban setting by organizing backyard plots in south Boulder’s Martin Acres. Members of Community Roots use space offered by homeowners, businesses, schools and churches for vegetable production. Community Roots growers organize these plots into an intensive micro-farm. The produce is shared between the landowner and the growers. The growers are free to market their share of the produce at roadside stands, local restaurants and neighborhood cooperatives. Nash calls it modern day sharecropping.

As I drooled over the photos he showed of intensive plots brimming with broccoli, spinach and kale, I realized an informal variation could be set up between gardening buddies. A friend grows beautiful cherry tomatoes in containers since her patio home has a limited yard, but her Big Boy tomatoes struggle in the containers. My cherry tomato containers get neglected and suffer from inconsistent watering. Rather than us growing the same things in frustration, we could coordinate our efforts — she grows cherry tomatoes and I grow the larger ones, enough for both families. Another gardener wants in on the plan, so she will grow the cantaloupe in her larger yard and I provide the cucumbers from a bush variety more suitable to my compact garden. Root vegetables take a lot of room, so one gardener could focus on carrots while another on beets

A coordinated vegetable gardening effort between friends can provide a healthy harvest of table-ready food. After all, can one family really consume all those zucchinis? Stop leaving them anonymously on doorsteps. Trade them for tomatoes.

Colorado State University Extension in the City and County of Broomfield provides unbiased, research-based information about 4-H youth development, family and consumer issues, gardening, horticulture and natural resources. As part of a nationwide system, Extension brings the research and resources of the university to the community. The Broomfield County Extension office is at 6650 W. 120th Ave., Suite A-3, Broomfield, 80020. For information, call 720-887-2286.

http://www.broomfieldenterprise.com/news/2009/apr/12/get-most-out-of-gardening-by-sharing-harvest/

[CottonBall]

Nahhh, He was just funnin ya..... Unless he is into Yoga or something and dreams up those things as he meditates.

No, he's actually quite conservative. He's taking the entire day crew to lunch on April 15th and then to the Tea Party at the Courthouse.

I think he's trying to rationalize (to himself) staying here.

[DelaWhere]

Grow your garden
ShareThis
Published: Sunday, Apr. 12, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 14A

Vegetable gardening can be rewarding, but also frustrating. The keys to first-time success: Start small, stick to the basics and plant reliable varieties. Here are some tips:

• Pick a warm spot: Choose a sunny, well-drained location close to a spigot. Leafy greens tolerate some shade, but other crops need eight hours of sun daily. Raised beds allow for earlier and larger harvests because the soil warms up faster.

• Think twice about location: Before building beds in the front yard, check with your city or neighborhood association in case there are regulations mandating front lawns or prohibiting front yard vegetable growing.

• Nurture your soil: Adding organic material – manure, compost, chopped leaves, etc. – is the key to an easy-care garden. It loosens stiff soil, helps retain moisture and nourishes important soil organisms. Spread a 4-inch layer of organic amendments over your planting bed and dig it into the top 9 to 12 inches.

• Choose proven plants: Easy varieties for beginners include: Bush Blue Lake bush green beans, Bonnie Bell green bell peppers, Spicy Globe basil; Burpless Bush Hybrid cucumbers; Black Beauty eggplant; Buttercrunch or Red Sails lettuce; curly or flat Italian parsley; zucchini or yellow crook-necked squash; and Better Boy or Sweet 100 tomatoes.

• Maximize sun, moisture: Plant rows in a north to south direction for better light distribution. Water early in the morning so there’s less evaporation.

• Control weeds: Use garden fabric around plants to keep down weeds and cut down work. Or use a layer of mulch that both retains moisture and fights weeds.

• Feed your food: Vegetables tend to be heavy feeders; they need more than dirt and water. They need nutrients from fertilizers, either organic or chemical. If using chemical fertilizers, always follow directions. Water before fertilizing.

• Water wisely: One inch of water weekly is adequate for most vegetables. Soaker hoses or drip systems irrigate efficiently and keep foliage dry, which can help prevent leaf diseases. But if a plant looks droopy, give it a drink.

• Patrol for pests: Keep an eye out for bugs. Hand-pick pests or dislodge them with a blast of water spray.

Sources: Bonnie Plants, the nation’s largest producer of vegetable and herb plants, and Mark Repan, Roseville Home Depot

http://www.sacbee.com/168/story/1773671.html

[djf]

Don’t ferget the spinach!!

Also, here in the northwest, which is kinda cool, cabbage and kale do marvelously.

[DelaWhere]

SENIOR MOMENT: How does your garden grow?
Jeffrey Simmons
Bland County Messenger: Living >
Tue Apr 07, 2009 - 05:08 PM

By BETTY MUNSEY/Columnist

Experienced gardeners look forward to the distinct smell and texture of freshly turned soil. From early winter when the seed catalogs arrive until the last harvest before the first killing frost, gardeners relish working in the soil with the goal of a productive gardening season.

While the national economy has been spiraling downward, the gardening graze has escalated. Newspapers, including this one, have been announcing gardening events since late winter. Television and radio news outlets have urged wise consumers to start their plants from seeds for cost savings while warning customers of a possible shortage of seeds.

Home and garden supply stores have advertised gardening supplies while providing in-store workshops conducted by experienced staff members and community gardeners.
First lady Michelle Obama invited elementary school children to join her in the backyard of the White House for the ground breaking for a vegetable and herb garden. Her goal in supporting this gardening project is to help instill in the youth a deep appreciation for nature carefully nurtured while learning basic gardening skills.

She also hopes that the harvest will promote healthful living for the children and perhaps White House guests. Maria Shriver, California’s first lady, started a similar project on the grounds of the California Capitol grounds in Sacramento.

Most of us grew up with a shovel or hoe in our hands and orders from our parents or grandparents to help in the family garden. Inexperience and lack of gardening skills were never excuses to slack on gardening chores. If we expected to eat the succulent tomatoes or an ear of freshly picked corn, we had better be willing to help with the planting and weeding.

It hasn’t been too long ago that gardening was an unpopular chore relegated to poorer folks. Picking our produce from a grocery store’s frozen food case was preferable to sweating in the August sun with dirt caked under our fingernails.

The spectrum of popular opinion has swung in favor of gardening due to the freshness of the product, more produce for the money, and backyard convenience. Gardeners have nurtured their plants through temperature variants (frosts, freezes, summer heat) as well as through drought or heavy rains. They can control most environmental conditions affecting their plants including pesticides, mulches, and fertilizers. Some gardeners go so far as to name their plants and affectionately talk or sing to them.

Senior gardeners are reminded to use sunscreen and to avoid working during the hottest part of the day. Resourceful seniors use stools to avoid bending whereas others depend upon raised beds for their small garden plots. Some train vegetables to grow vertically on pieces of wire or t-pees for greater accessibility. Seniors also need to be cautious of bees that sting, snakes that bite (especially under rhubarb leaves), and pets (especially cats) that love to hide under our feet and cause us to fall. We’re also reminded that this may be the year to drop a few more seeds in the ground and share the harvest with those less fortunate.

A retired Extension agent, Betty Munsey lives and farms in Bland County.

http://www.swvatoday.com/comments/senior_moment_how_does_your_garden_grow/living/4958/

[CottonBall]

When the survivors arrive on the other side of the next 4 years, it will be in a different world than we knew 4 years ago.

You think it will be over that quickly? (4 years)

[DelaWhere]

>>>He’s taking the entire day crew to lunch on April 15th and then to the Tea Party at the Courthouse.<<<

I think I like him more already!

[CottonBall]

The Blue Ridge Mts. are just beautiful and one of my favorite vacation spots. We live fairly close to the White Mt. and usually visit a few times a year.

What state are those mountains in? I'm trying to learn all the different names of the Appalachains and where they are.

[DelaWhere]

>>>Don’t ferget the spinach!!

Also, here in the northwest, which is kinda cool, cabbage and kale do marvelously.<<<

Yep - All 3 do great here when planted early or for fall crop.

I have been picking and eating kale already this spring from last years crop. Spinach keeps going (slowly) throughout the winter.

[Velveeta]

Wishing you a Blessed Easter, Granny!

{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}

[djf]

I’m still trying to find a way to keep my spinach from bolting...

[DelaWhere]

LOL It's a loooong range of mountains...

Georgia's Blue Ridge and Cohutta Mountains

From extreme south-central Pennsylvania the Blue Ridge Mountains run to the south and west, including land that ranges from high peaks (such as the Shenandoahs) to rolling hills like those throughout much of the southwest portion of Virginia. In North Carolina the geologically complex mountain range once again reaches lofty heights, with some individual mountain peaks over 6,000 feet, highest in the eastern United States.

In southern North Carolina this high eastern ridge turns west, and continues to Springer Mountain, in southern Fannin County, Georgia. While the Blue Ridge range does continue to the west it is at this point that both the Benton MacKaye and Appalachian Trail begin their northward trek along the ridges of the Appalachian Mountains. The Benton MacKaye follows the western ridge of the Appalachians while the Appalachian Trail follows the eastern ridge.

The Blue Ridge Range comprises the majority of the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachians are a loose-knit series of mountain ranges that extend from Maine to Alabama and include portions of New Hampsire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticutt, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. These mountains formed the greatest barrier to the westward movement of European and American settlers until the 19th century.

West of the Blue Ridge range is a second series of mountains that runs from West Central North Carolina to Fannin County, Georgia. In Georgia, this range is known as the Cohuttas; further north they are called the Smoky Mountains. The Cohuttas and the Smokies are part of the Blue Ridge province, yet they are actually geologically distinct from the Blue Ridge Mountain Range and quite a bit older.

In Fannin County, Georgia, the Gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Cohuttas rise in the west and the Blue Ridge to the south and east. The Cherokee consided the Cohuttas to be the "poles of the shed," holding up the sky in this, their "Enchanted Land." Many Cherokee would farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains, leaving them during the winter and staying at the Cherokee village of Aska, or "winter home."

These mountains also held wealth for the early settlers. Although agriculture was the major industry in the area, lumber and mining in both the Cohuttas and Blue Ridge Mountains contributed significant income to the north Georgia settlers. Once the lumber had been harvested the federal government bought the mountain land and created the Chattahoochee National Forest.

During the 1930's the Civilian Conservation Corps worked to improve the environmental conditions of the mountains, reforesting areas all across Fannin County. There were two camps listed in Fannin County, Georgia, Camp Sea Creek and Camp Wilscot. Other camps outside Fannin County, specifically Camp Woody in Suches, did significant amounts of work within our county.

Today, more than 100,000 acres of land in Fannin County is managed by the United States Forest Service. The Fannin County Chamber of Commerce and local businesses work closely with the Forest Service in many aspects of the management of the land within our county.

Fannin County, Georgia is known as the Gateway to the Blue Ridge Mountains. People from Atlanta, Chattanooga and the entire Southeastern United States think of Fannin County, Georgia as the place to start their Blue Ridge Mountain vacation because of the multitude of outdoor recreational opportunites, the wide array of available lodging, excellent restaurants and easy access to the mountains thanks to the Georgia Mountain Parkway.

More on Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains

[DelaWhere]

>>>I’m still trying to find a way to keep my spinach from bolting...<<<

I keep mine cut... I have a battery powered hedge trimmer and when I am getting way too much, I shear it off leaving a couple of inches. Then eat from the new growth.

[CottonBall]

LOL!

So, we can forgive him his little bit of delusional thinking...

[CottonBall]

Isn't that gorgeous! I didn't realize they got to 6000 feet - that's good enough to cool down plenty!

On this Blue Ridge Mountain Map on the link you provided, it shows them going all the way from PA to GA. Now I really don't get all the nomenclature of those darned Appalachains! I thought perhaps each state had their own....Now, what are they called when they are further west - like the ones in WV? It couldn't be so easy that the western part of the Appalachains have another name - and I only have to learn 2? ;)

[CottonBall]

I found this:

“After their relative lack of height and ruggedness, the most important characteristic of the Appalachians when compared to mountains in western North America is their extensive forest. With only a few minor scattered exceptions, the entire range of the Appalachian Mountains is cloaked in deep, thick, dense forest. To the north, and at higher elevations, a dark, humid evergreen forest of spruce and fir covers the mountains, while further south and lower down a more open broadleaf mix of birch, oak, and beech predominates.”

Sounds perfect. I am getting packed ;)

“Second, the forest means that hiking trails become far more important. Bushwhacking, away from established trails, is generally miserable, slow work slogging through thick bushes and closely spaced trees. Also, perversely, the going gets more difficult the higher up you get, since the evergreens and harsh climate of higher elevations combine to form dense, gnarled thickets that are all but impossible to penetrate without a trail or a chainsaw. This contrasts markedly with most of the west, where the sparse forests and wide-open above-timberline terrain allow the hiker to go pretty much wherever he pleases without worrying too much about trails.”

Ha! I tried going cross country just once last summer - ended up with soaking feet and pants from having to cross a water-logged meadow, scratches on my face and arms from tree branches where I had to force my way through, and dirt everywhere from falling down a hill. I stuck to trails after that without end thinking about it. They must be talking about way up on Mt. Whitney where the tree line ends. Most of the Sierras aren’t nearly that high. And have plenty of pines. However, ‘Dense gnarled thickets’ in the Appalachians (I had been spelling it wrong) sound pretty neat to keep uninvited people away!

[upcountry miss]

My grandfather who kept 3-4 cows, at least 2 draft horses and sometimes more, several pigs and many hens never had enough manure. It was used for his gardens, and spread over his pastures along with lime to provide hay for the winter and after the spring hay season, the cattle would graze in the pastures. I'm just waiting for some new government regulation telling us just how much pollution we are causing with our manure spreading and preventing us from using it for fertilizer.

Where do you get all your energy? Killing and processing chickens, canning the broth, that's a LOT of work! One year we raised and processed 75 fryers and I said, never again, so next hubby got 25 turkeys! That's a lot of work! In another post, you mentioned growing an acre of wheat. How much land do you cultivate? For several years, we have been reducing the size of our gardens, but this year we are enlarging it by quite a bit. Haven't grown strawberries for several years as it seemed cheaper to patronize the pick your own strawberry farms but now these farms seem to be going out of business locally so we have ordered 100 plants.

By the way, we are purchasing a NEW (now that's a novel idea around here) walk behind rototiller. I am leaning towards a Troy-Bilt Pony but not sure. Do any Freepers have any experience with this tiller?

[DelaWhere]

Hmmm, That map doesn't show much detail... Here is a slightly better view.

[DelaWhere]

>>>I’m just waiting for some new government regulation telling us just how much pollution we are causing with our manure spreading and preventing us from using it for fertilizer.<<<

Well..... Wait no more... Any farmer in our whole area has to have a nutrient management plan drawn up and approved! Not only is manure use limited and regulated, but you can only spread manure Mon-Thu unless there is a holiday, and then you cannot spread it the day before a holiday weekend nor the day after the holiday. Right now they cannot even use all our chicken manure around here, so they pelletize it and ship it in bulk and in bags for use in other areas of the country. Our sandy soil could sure use it, but in the infinite wisdom of government, its use is restricted!

>>>Where do you get all your energy?<<<

LOL it isn’t that I have so much energy as having perseverance. Once I get started on something, I usually keep plugging away at it till it finally gets done. Plus, it is nice to be able to do things when the ‘spirit’ moves me. Like today, after canning 3 canners of broth, I really wanted to get out and dig in the dirt... So I hitched up that tiller and tilled the whole garden, even though it was pretty chilly, I bundled up and enjoyed pulling that tiller back around and around...

>>>In another post, you mentioned growing an acre of wheat. How much land do you cultivate? <<<

Well, I have 7.52 Acres. More than enough to keep me as busy as I want to be... LOL

[DelaWhere]

Guess I should have posted this:

http://www.discoverlife.org/co/images/parks.640.jpg