Posted on 03/07/2022 1:09:13 PM PST by blam
Spring in the northern hemisphere is two weeks away, and interest in planting gardens could rise as the breadbasket of Europe was choked off by the Russian invasions of Ukraine, jeopardizing global food exports resulting in skyrocketing prices
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Even before the turmoil in Ukraine, American households were under pressure due to soaring food and gas prices. The invasion just made things a lot worse as commodity prices jumped the most last week since the stagflationary period of the mid-1970s.
New UN global food price, released on Friday, showed global food prices in February surpassed a previous record set in 2011. About a quarter of the international wheat trade, about a fifth of corn, and 12% of all calories traded globally come from Ukraine and Russia. Food exports in the region have been halted due to conflict and sanctions.
This leaves us with a shrinking global food supply that may further price increases. Since spring is just weeks away, Americans will be in for a shock at the supermarket as the latest round of food inflation makes it to the store shelves. To mitigate the impact of grocery bills tearing apart household finances — interest in farming and planting gardens could take off and help expand the food supply.
The US government highly encouraged the planting of ‘War Gardens,’ commonly known as ‘Victory Gardens,’ in the dark days of World War II. People planted gardens in backyards, empty lots, and even city rooftops — people pooled together their resources and harvested all sorts of diversified vegetables and fruit in the name of ‘patriotism.’
The most abundant crops of Victory Gardens were beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, peas, tomatoes, turnips, squash, and Swiss chard because they were easily canned and stored.
Victory Gardens are not a thing of the past and could soon be revitalized as food supply chains are disrupted as conflict breaks out in eastern Europe.
While empty shelves and supply shortages are still a lingering side effect of the virus pandemic, the call by the American people for NATO to erect a “no-fly zone” to protect Ukraine from Russia soars, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said a no-fly zone would be considered ‘an act of war.’ For more on what a no-fly zone means, read: “Reality Check: A “No-Fly-Zone” Over Ukraine Means WW3.”
Better start planting those Victory Gardens as spring is just two weeks away. Also, you might want to load up on bread at the supermarket as prices may jump.
They will be renamed “stolen election defeat gardens”.
Call them “Inflation Gardens’
Or “Survival Gardens.”
Ping.
I grow a Victory Garden every year.
Yes.
“I grow a Victory Garden every year.”
Same here. It’s a bit of work, but I enjoy it. As well as the fresh veggies.
P
Gardens are a whole lot more work for a whole lot less results than most people are mentally prepared for.
I just put 15 pounds of seed potatoes in the ground last month,
I live in an apt with no room to garden but my daughter has a huge yard and real skill as a gardener. Her veggies are always the best. Whenever I go up to her house, I bring back a basketful. Wish I lived closer.
You're going to have a lot of potatoes.
My first watermelon seed came up today.
That's all I'm growing this year, watermellons.
Trust me the summer farmers markets will do a booming business this year as will small meat processing businesses. Local groceries will be plagued with ever higher shipping costs and supply chain shortages. Those of us in flyover country has an advantage as we are close to local food producers. With increased fuel costs for soybean farmers that Thanksgiving tofurkey at Whole Foods will cost more than the latest Birkenstocks.
LOL, yup! And one good hail storm, and BOOM. And don’t get me started about fencing out the rabbits, groundhogs and deer. One rabbit can destroy a decent size garden overnight. They and groundhogs LOVE to nip the stem right at ground level. No fixing that.
There’s a learning curve and some of it is just finding out what works best for your needs, how much room you have, your climate zone, and what you eat.
Some foods are more cost effective to grow yourself. Scallions are an example. They are not cheap but take up very little garden space.
In many places, potatoes are not worth the effort or use of garden space. It depends a lot on the kind of local agriculture you have and how much access you have to farmer’s markets.
One thing that helps tremendously is learning to store and preserve food, especially canning. I use the freezer only for stuff that cannot be effectively or successfully canned.
North Texas is infested with cotton tails it’s a never ending supply to take pop shots at with a hushed up 22. The wife gets all butt hurt when we see a half dozen in the waste pile but they are vermin same for squirrels they get the same treatment.
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