Snowing again

ARG, yep, the darn white stuff is coming down. This is the craziest winter in the 17 years I've lived here. All this cold and snow just makes me dream of spring all that much more. This morning I have been looking at trees to replace the orchard that was wiped out by the inland hurricane. This is one of the types of apple I would like to be growing. It is head and shoulders above the species that were planted here when I bought this land. I'd like to put a Granny Smith and a red Delicious in there along with a couple new peach trees, a Bartlett pear and a cherry or 2. Then, after I get those planted, I've got a whole new section of that catalog I'd like to work out of! hehehehe Some new blackberries, the mini citrus trees, a new banana to replace the ones the kittens killed and I'd love to try growing the olives.

I did make a little progress toward growing fruits here already, I picked up some seed stock thru a trade to grow pomegranate and kiwi. Supposedly, they both do well in containers and can be pruned to any size. We'll see about that! LOL

Alex Jones has an interesting article up over at Prison Planet called 12 Economic Collapse Scenarios That We could Potentially See in 2011. Sometimes it's just nice to see the things you've been thinking about written someplace. It makes me feel a little less crazy on subjects such as this one. Well, maybe crazy is the wrong word. how about "vindicated" or "secure in my lifestyle". Maybe, maybe not but either way, it makes me feel pretty good about the choices I've made for myself and my family (even if they don't appreciate it). Even if the whole world falls apart and it's the Great Depression times 2, I'm still going to have a meal. Yes, I'm going to miss some of the things this modern world has to offer like internet and DVD rentals but life will go on.

I don't normally talk about "prepping" or emergency preparedness on this blog but if you can't grow all your own food and have a bunch of critters running around, now is definitely the time to stock up your pantry, kitchen cabinets and maybe even store some canned goods under the bed and in the closet. Food insurance for a rough spot in life or a little insurance against price inflation. Just makes sense!

Food Prices

Food skyrockets to highest prices ever. Yep, you read that correctly.

This is why I am so very vocal on the subject of growing your own food. When your life depends on buying all your food and imports from other countries, how can you survive for long? What happens when a loaf of bread goes from .35 a loaf to $5? It's not too far from that now, I see commercial sandwich bread on sale at the grocery for $1.99 right now. On sale!

What you see in the picture is enough to make a stew pot of chili for my family with a side of fried zucchini. The harvest from 2 tomato plants, one pepper plant, one zucchini and 2 bean plants. The cost? 50 days of plant tending, a few minutes a day. For me, the very best part of it is, no chemicals! No wax on the fruits, no pesticide residues, no growth hormones and no PCBs from a can or MSG or any other preservative. I remain unaffected by the price of commercially produced food.

Spring is coming, the new planting season is right around the corner. Will you keep buying high priced poisons or will you work toward providing healthy foods for yourself? It's all up to you and it's just a little dirt away.