Posted on 07/24/2009 3:37:21 AM PDT by nw_arizona_granny
Weekly Roundup - Living On Nothing Edition Category: Roundups | Comments(15)
Did you hear about the guy that lives on nothing? No seriously, he lives on zero dollars a day. Meet Daniel Suelo, who lives in a cave outside Moab, Utah. Suelo has no mortgage, no car payment, no debt of any kind. He also has no home, no car, no television, and absolutely no “creature comforts.” But he does have a lot of creatures, as in the mice and bugs that scurry about the cave floor he’s called home for the last three years.
To us, Suelo probably sounds a little extreme. Actually, he probably sounds very extreme. After all, I suspect most of you reading this are doing so under the protection of some sort of man-made shelter, and with some amount of money on your person, and probably a few needs for money, too. And who doesn’t need money unless they have completely unplugged from the grid? Still, it’s an amusing story about a guy who rejects all forms of consumerism as we know it.
The Frugal Roundup
How to Brew Your Own Beer and Maybe Save Some Money. A fantastic introduction to home brewing, something I’ve never done myself, but always been interested in trying. (@Generation X Finance)
Contentment: A Great Financial Principle. If I had to name one required emotion for living a frugal lifestyle it would be contentment. Once you are content with your belongings and your lot in life you can ignore forces attempting to separate you from your money. (@Personal Finance by the Book)
Use Energy Star Appliances to Save On Utility Costs. I enjoyed this post because it included actual numbers, and actual total savings, from someone who upgraded to new, energy star appliances. (@The Digerati Life)
Over-Saving for Retirement? Is it possible to “over-save” for retirement? Yes, I think so. At some point I like the idea of putting some money aside in taxable investments outside of retirement funds, to be accessed prior to traditional retirement age. (@The Simple Dollar)
40 Things to Teach My Kids Before They Leave Home. A great list of both practical and philosophical lessons to teach your kids before they reach the age where they know everything. I think that now happens around 13 years-old. (@My Supercharged Life)
Index Fund Investing Overview. If you are looking for a place to invest with high diversification and relatively low fees (for broader index funds with low turnover), index funds are a great place to start. (@Money Smart Life)
5 Reasons To Line Dry Your Laundry. My wife and I may soon be installing a clothesline in our backyard. In many neighborhoods they are frowned upon - one of the reasons I don’t like living in a neighborhood. I digress. One of our neighbors recently put up a clothesline, and we might just follow his lead. (@Simple Mom)
A Few Others I Enjoyed
* 4 Quick Tips for Getting Out of a Rut * Young and Cash Rich * Embracing Simple Style * First Trading Experience With OptionsHouse * The Exponential Power of Delayed Consumption * How Much Emergency Fund is Enough? * 50 Questions that Will Free Your Mind * Save Money On Car Insurance
I’m doing my share.
Got all my open pollinated seeds for the year and am going into hard core seed saving starting this year.
How does that work.
I’ve heard of it before but never figured out exactly what people meant.
None of the explanations I read ever made much sense.
Hubby started reading to me from the newspaper financial section about all food prices going up and anticipated shortages. I then asked him if he still felt that my pantry was overstocked. Everyone that enters my pantry comes out complaining about my hoarding habits. I told hubby that everything in there was either home grown or purchased for much less than current prices. I continue to stock up on store leader items. Whether the SHTF or not, we will have food for many months. Cleaned and defrosted one freezer today. Chickens will delight in old veggies for several days.
Here’s some more seed co’s:
Jung - http://www.jungseed.com
Gourmet Seed - http://www.gourmetseed.com
Peaceful Valley - http://www.groworganic.com
Territorial - http://www.territorialseed.com
Irish Eyes/Garden City - http://www.irisheyesgardenseeds.com/
Nichols Garden Nursery - https://www.nicholsgardennursery.com
Pinetree - http://www.superseeds.com
Tomato Growers Supply - http://www.tomatogrowers.com
Totally Tomatoes - http://www.totallytomato.com
Vermont Bean - http://www.vermontbean.com/
Filaree Farm - http://www.filareefarm.com/
Amish Land Seed - http://www.amishlandseeds.com
Gurney’s - http://www.gurneys.com
Burpee - http://www.burpee.com
Henry Fields - http://www.henryfields.com
Ferry-Morse - http://ferry-morse.com/
Cook’s Garden - http://www.cooksgarden.com/
J.L. Hudson - http://jlhudsonseeds.net/
Redwood City seed - http://www.ecoseeds.com/
Horizon Herbs - http://www.horizonherbs.com
My neighbor talks about the world’s situation and that he’s stocking up so I’ve shared seeds with him. I found out last week he hasn’t a clue. He has been sick for over a week and has practically nothing in the fridge. I’ve been providing his meals since day one. Sorry, but when hardship hits, talk isn’t going to get you through.
Ping.
Moon sign planting always seemed so complicated...
Then I found: http://www.Almanac.com/PlantingTable
Makes it very easy to follow.
As to the validity or scientific reasoning, I guess you could equate it to the tides - which even affects ground water too. Such as weeding at what would be the lowest tide period would cause weeds to dry more and die sooner. Water preferences vary for root and above ground plants, and therefore selecting the cycle where the most favorable conditions exist for that plant gives them the best chances of germinating and starting better. (At least that is my take on it.) I have heard lots of other things about benefits too. All I can say is those who use it swear by it and those who don’t wonder if it works.
There are lots of examples of other effects too, like sawing lumber for air drying (heated drying overcomes it). Sawing at the wrong time results in warping and skewing - at the right time yields straight boards. (My father learned that in the late 40’s - long story.)
>>>That’s similar to how I do mine. 1 or 2’ beds of 2 to 3 rows, 2 ft. walkway in between.<<<
I do some things that way too,(herbs, spices, bunching onions, etc.) using mounded beds. Problem is that when you are doing about an acre and a half, it gets to be too much handwork, so I use the long rows that make it easier to mechanize.
LOL, when I was younger, I thought I would do lots of intensive bed culture when I retired - now I decide how I’ll garden by how hard it is on my knees. (that’s why I’m going back to pole peas, green beans, limas, cukes too.)
p.s. Thanks for the seed company list - I highly recommend heirloom seeds.
Love that wide-row plan. That’s pretty much how I do it, too - though I’m guilty of crowding my plants sometimes. This year will be different. No, REALLY. It will, LOL!
Secondly, you other ‘survivalists’ are the ONLY people on the planet that would understand this, but today I got a HUGE box of veggie and fruit scraps from my grocery for FREE to feed to my hens. He’s glad that I take it off his hands.
So, I’ve sorted through it all. There are two 5 gallon buckets of goodies for the ‘girls’ and there was enough fruits and veggies in there (just dinged up, lots of useable bits remain!) for ME to use. I’m having a late lunch right now of a salad made with lettuces, a tomato, a cuke, and sliced strawberries. (Strawberries in February! Such LUXURY!!) I added croutons and some Blue Cheese dressing. That, along with two slices of a day-old ‘Artisan’ roasted garlic bread that I picked up for a buck in the Day Old Bin at the same store is making me a realtively FREE and awesomely tasty lunch! :)
The onions that were starting to sprout will be chopped up and thrown in my freezer bag for making broth next time I roast a chicken. The apples will go into a pie. Oh, no! It has a BRUISE! Whatever shall we do? LOL! The other cukes are in the fridge and will later be added to my never-ending batch of refrigerator pickles...
We waste an amazing amount of food in this country. It always shocks and dismays me, but I don’t mind being a Bottom Feeder. Plenty to eat down here, LOL!
I dropped mine from an acre to a quarter about 5 years ago. Same reason. Once I started getting close to 40 an acre of hand weeding seemed like a mountain.
Sad to say, but the number of people going through the express ‘10 items or less’ lines at grocery stores and what they are buying, sure looks like they are picking up dinner - that tells me, there are gonna be lots of hungry folks when things get really bad. Ramen noodles only go so far...
Guess those are the ones who call 911 for National Guard to evacuate them to a shelter whenever we get a big snow.
“Got all my open pollinated seeds for the year and am going into hard core seed saving starting this year.”
Suggestions on best sources and varieties?
>>>though I’m guilty of crowding my plants sometimes. This year will be different. No, REALLY. It will, LOL!<<<
Double LOL - I always have trouble thinning - hate to kill that plant that just may provide an extra veggie or two... So, I am working lots harder controlling the seeding rates... (I too say THIS year it will be different)
Lots of people turn their noses up when see me getting baskets of pick-out apples - but I get 5 for every one they get of their ‘select’ ones ($ for $)... Great sauce, great pies, great jelly. (bet they don’t even know how to make it) Bet they think that only perfect fruit goes into what they buy in the store...
Gleaning is a lost art. I can remember feeding several pigs with corn gleaned from fields after storms lodged the crop.
I wouldn’t even think of it as bottom feeding - just smart eating...
It really irks me that they don’t allow ‘recycling’ at our landfills - I see lots of things that others no longer needed that would really be great for something I had in mind. But, they seem to think that plastic pail is better buried for a millenia than it is for it to be used to haul veggies to my chickens. Go figure...
I got my seed through Territorial Seed company.
They have a category labeled OP- open pollinated, which they’ve assured me breed true.
For sauce tomatoes, I like the Heinz variety that Territorial sells. They are heavy producers that produce beautiful tomatoes.
I use Jade green beans which are an old non-hybrid variety. Same for purple top white globe turnips.
There are other heirloom seed companies out there but I don’t have any experience with them.
You might be interested in Red_Devil 232 ‘s weekly gardening thread. There are all kinds of people there at all different stages of gardening experience and lots of valuable help.
I’m still just learning about saving seeds. I have a whole bunch of bean seeds from last year and we’ll see how they do.
Bookmarked the page.
Thanks.
I’m going to do wide rows with what I can.
What I found very helpful is to lay landscape fabric down between the rows and cover it with straw. I got it pretty cheap at Sam’s club, a life time supply basically.
It cut my weeding down about 90% and so I was able to keep up with the garden but it was still a lot of work. But I kept up and didn’t lost a lot to weeds. It was a good crop.
In my opinion, Fedco, Gourmet, Landreth, Baker Creek, Seedsavers.
Varieties - what are you looking to plant?
My garden is huge, I’d love to do the landscape matting otherwise. If there’s alot of grass I’ll lay that down sometimes. I’ve had good luck with well-sharpened stirrup hoes to deal with the weeds.
Our grocery store used to set out food stuffs in the back on pallets for people to take for free. Then the government stepped in and it all goes into the garbage. They later tried to just set out bread but that didn’t fly either so they gave the bread to the old folks’ low income housing center. They had so much that regular folk could stop by and pick up a few loaves so the grocery store wasn’t in direct line. But, you guessed it, Big Brother stepped in and put a stop to that, too.
I used to be able to get old produce for the goats but that was stopped, too. Some was just fine, just not “pretty” enough for customers. I made the best plum jelly one year from freebies. With the leftover pulp from the juice, I made spicy plum butter that was the best we ever had. Sadly, it’s all thrown in the garbage now days. Such blatant waste just to appease Big Brother.
Remember when there was only one line for “10 items or less” and now they’ve expanded those lines to a third to a half of all the lines. Yes, that does tell you something. You’ll never see me there. Mine is always the overflowing cart that people go to the next line to avoid. I have better things to do than waste time and gas on a single jug of milk.
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