What a lot of folks are coming to grips with is that if you really want the perks of being rich, you have to actually be rich.
We are in for such a time of forced austerity in this country it’s not even a little bit funny. My wife and I are growing a large garden (roughly 40x80) and have learned something very interesting: It’s a LOT OF WORK. So is heating your home with wood.
But I think a LOT of folks are going to be coming to grips with the idea that to enjoy a lot of the stuff they take for granted (like a warm home in winter) they are going to have a lot less free time.
Oh AMEN to that. The Mrs. and I are a couple of born and raised suburbanites learning the same thing. Not even just the raising food. It's all the other stuff you have to learn and do like build fences and coops, create pastrues and paddocks, buy jars and canning supplies, and learn the ins and outs of axes, mauls, and splitters.
The knowledge involved alone is staggering. What to plant where and when. What demands hot sun what dies or bolts under it. How and when to prune this tree vs. that tree.
Best of luck to you both.
That’s not a large garden ;) Ours is about 65 feet by 110 feet. We have four kids to feed. We also have 6 hens for eggs and another 5 chicks that should be laying by the end of August. I forgot to mention there used to be grapevines on on property but they died off before we moved in, but we use the posts and wires for our blackberries, raspberries, and green beans.
Yes, we have no life this time of year until fall between keeping up the garden and canning/freezing, but we eat pretty well from it.