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 understand that. Hubby is a carpenter so his work lets up in the wintertime. When we hit our storage food we always write down what we used to replace it when we're in high cotton again.
Storing food just makes sense even if you don’t believe bad times are possible, so I don’t understand people that don’t store food.
Absolutely. That Homeland Security announcement on the radio I mentioned earlier had people on who only had food in their iceboxes. They didn't know what they would do if an emergency happened. Being unprepared today is the wrong way to go.
Not what you meant but, you know, none of my three older daughters owns a slip. I asked them how could they wear a dress or skirt without a slip under it, don't they feel naked?
They were raised wearing slips under their dresses.
I actually wore a pair of hose back in January, but only for added warmth. We went to a viewing and my only dress slacks are extremely lightweight, so I put the hose on before I donned the longjohns!!! they also had a run in them :)
Thanks for the excellent, thought provoking post. Everyone needs to read this and be prepared for any emergency.
As a ‘ps’ there is no new news around about Vegas...but we all expected that.
Pamom
I’m trying to remember the last time I wore stockings. I’ll have to think on the last funeral we attended. I’ve worn knee stockings with slacks because of dress shoes, does that count?
Knee highs, that’s the word.
Thanks Gabz. Gonna pimp one of my old topics now ;’)
Gardening ‘blog
Our Tiny Little Minds | December 4, 2006 | yours truly, et al
Posted on 12/04/2006 12:36:19 AM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1748035/posts
and one that I didn’t start:
Dreaming with the Winter Gardening Catalogues-With Pics!
The Kaitlyn Mae Book Blog | 12/28/2004 | Pat Fish
Posted on 12/28/2004 7:23:27 AM EST by Fishtalk
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1309474/posts
Good for you, it is the only way to survive.
If enough of us start growing our own food, maybe it will scare the fools in Washington, who think we should import every thing.
Grow all you can and buy the rest local.
The Farm Extension office, can often direct you to Farmers Markets that are held on the weekend, or talk to the local swapmeet and see if they will include one.
Fight back and we will live if we miss a year or two of the expensive items.
Keep looking and you might even find someone who will share a beef or hog with you.
We did, when we moved to Wellton, I had met a lady, a widow and she was raising her last steer, as the kids told her she was too old to keep on raising livestock and she really was.
We hauled it to the butcher shop and on the way, she said to me, “Now dear, you will have to tell the butcher how you want yours packaged.......” I was speechless.
Then she finished the deal, she said you take half my steer and then buy a day old calf and by the time it is ready for the butcher, we will have eaten this one .........
And we did.
In fact, we kept on raising calves hers and ours, but we both had fresh beef.
Her kids came and killed the rest of the chickens that summer, but in the spring I ordered 200 day old chicks and Mary had to have some of them for her place, then I got into pigeons, and she ate all the squabs and started a coop of her own.
And she ate our lamb, LOL, but not until it was 2 or 3 years old and I found out her secret.......at 2 pm every day he raised a ruckus, and she would ignore him.
I caught her, she said “Well he likes his bottle every day and I enjoy giving it to him!!”.......this from the lady who could have written the book about not getting attached to farm animals.
Get creative....
Since we’re getting into survival stuff, I’ll put out a couple of links to companies that sell non-electric and survival items:
http://www.lehmans.com/
http://www.cumberlandgeneral.com/
http://www.sportsmansguide.com
It is my pleasure to add both of you.
Thank you for asking.
Yes, please add me to your group’s ping list.
One never knows, who knows, the one missing fact that you need.
Would love to be part of your ping list too!
Stinkbait..........Laughing like a fool, as now I know what it is there for.
Why not?
OK, with me.......but I still want to see a recipe for stinkbait.
The Squirrel’s still up? Awesome. I got alot of stuff off that forum when we were preparing for Y2K.
In this heat, the Rubbermaid type of storage containers, started to smell like plastic and I had to throw out the food that was in them, such as crackers and cookies.
Slip is a four letter word, right along with hose!
Even when I was little I couldn’t stand to dress up. When we went to church, I took extra clothes. I could be changed before most of the congregation got out of the building. Still feel the same way.
Have some silk long johns I wear if I have to wear thin slacks.
I keep art supplies of all kinds on hand one never knows when they will come in handy, and not just for the kids!!!!<<<
That is how I got involved with writing to Jan Brett, I was so taken with her art, that I printed a lot of it, for me to color, even bought the pencils and water colors and never did do them.
I had a box of fancy paper that I used in the office, with a high rag content, so I used it to print on, so it would take the paints.
But choosing the ones to print, was half the fun.
I had to write and thank her for the pleasure her work gave me.
She actually goes to the countries/jungles to see the animals and people, before she writes a book.
I would love to have used some of her patterns on pottery, can’t you see a basic indian pot/or/ bowl with her animals on them.
No, I am not an artist, just a wanta be.
Neat bookmark!
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