I watched the news this week and I can only hope you are all up to date on the important stuff going on in the world. In case you missed any of it, here’s the recap.
Madonna can adopt a child from Malawi: What I did not see was any mention of the 600,000 kids sitting in foster care in this country and the huge number of them that need permenant homes. With the money spent on this fiasco, Madonna could have adopted a US child from the foster care system for free and used the savings to fund a health clinic in Appalachia or a community garden and food preservation center in Detroit.
Chastity Bono is getting a sex change operation: It’s her money but I can’t help but think of the thousands of elderly choosing between food, heat and medication and it seems wrong.
Celebrities were mistreated on the show, “I’m A Celebrity-Get Me Out Of Here”. I am not hearing much about our American journalists being held in a forced labor camp in North Korea. I can only hope that more is going on behind the scenes than we are aware of.
What does all of this have to do with preparedness and sustainability you might ask. Maybe nothing and I am just complaining but maybe a lot. Mental preparedness matters as much as physical preparedness both during a crisis and in long term sustainability. Stored food and supplies will get you only so far down the road, then you have to rely on your wits, work ethic and ingenuity to get by. I so fear that a nation that cares about any of the silly stories that pass for news in this country is in big trouble. I know I am preaching to the choir on this blog; we all have real lives to attend to, but I am thinking about our responsibility to our communities. The reason this is coming up for me at this time is probably because I am doing a September workshop on food preservation. When I called the County Extension Service for more canning information several months ago, I was told they had no one on staff who did that any longer because there was no interest. One of my goals for the coming months is to spread the food preservation word. I have gotten my adult children canning supplies this month. I give canned goods for gifts whenever I can(pun-pun) (alright- a boy graduating from high school might not be impressed with a jar of pickles but a new mother might appreciate a box of home canned food). I will bring preserved food to every pot luck and serve some at every dinner I prepare for friends and family. I will offer free classes to any low income group that will have me. I will do what I can to make canning news. I probably can’t compete with Madonna but I will make headlines in my own little world.
It is a beautiful day. I am going to find the time to sit on my porch swing and listen to the birds, look at my flowers and remember to be grateful for my blessings. It is my way of going to church every day.
PS I want to thank chicky-bit-run for the lovely post on her blog. It made my day.
June 13, 2009 at 9:13 am
Darnit, Kathy, are trying to make me cry? I’m emotional here ; )
Some encouraging news in our area….
The extension office is offering 2 classes on waterbath canning…and they were both filled to capacity!
A local church has a ‘project garden’ growing, teaching members how to garden and then preserve the produce. The excess goes to local shelters.
I’m in the midst of giving away 100 extra tomato seedlings on Freecycle and the response has been wonderful. People are excited when I tell them that they can save the seed for next year and grow their own.
I think there IS interest, but folks don’t know where to start and are afraid of trying, wasting their time and money. Gardening is sooooo hard, afterall, and pressure canners explode on a regular basis, right? At least that’s what the infomercials tell us.
Enjoy your porchswing time. Hugs.
Andrea
PS…you need to mention the Jon and Kate Plus 8 nonsense. Selling a house, he’s cheating, she’s cheating, pimping out the kids, mistreating the dogs, oh and a happy 10th anniversary.
June 13, 2009 at 10:40 am
Oops. Forgot Jon and Kate and the Sara Palin/ David Letterman feud too. Can we just say he acted like a cretin and she needs to let it go.
June 13, 2009 at 11:32 am
Wondering – where IS the interest? I was asked to teach waterbath canning at our church. I was pumped – I love this stuff. We had a whopping 4 people in the class. Granted, these lovely young ladies are now pumped for the coming season & I am happy there are now 4 new “canners”, but really was disappointed in the response.
June 13, 2009 at 11:54 am
The interest is in hiding until the first time there is a trucker’s strike or inflation causes the cost of greenbeans to sky rocket. It is waiting until a midwest drought deprives us of essential foodstuffs or until an oil embargo really puts the screws to the way we grow, harvest, process and transport food. It is waiting until you are the one who loses a job, not some fictional “other guy” in some distant “other place”. Then the usefullness of victory gardens will be remembered and the necessity of preserving food becomes more important the the American Idol finals. Sorry about the poor turn out. It is so discouraging.
June 13, 2009 at 12:22 pm
The interest in canning is in Clark County, Ohio. Our 2 major employers (2 hospitals and International Harvester) have laid off so many workers, folks are starting to turn back to the old ways, not for nostalgia but simply to survive.
15 years ago, IH employeed nearly 6K people, most of them local; the current number is around 500. Our 2 hospitals consolidated into one, so about half of their workforce got laid off.
It’s depressing to see so many people out of work, but it’s wonderful to see so many backyard gardens popping up…they’re everywhere in this area!
June 13, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Kathy thank you for being such an inspiration! I found your blog a couple of weeks ago and have been lurking since then. I am desperately seeking any information on canning and such and that is how I came across you. I hope I can learn enough so that at some point I can teach classes in food preseration in my area. I sure wish I would have paid more attention when my Gram was in the kitchen canning. Thank you!!
June 13, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Thank you so much Kelli,
That’s what this is all about. Learning and then passing it on. There is a wonderful story about the remnant that I read on the oftwominds blog. Check it out.
June 13, 2009 at 5:46 pm
I’m trying to stir up the crowd over here on the west coast in my little area. Everywhere i go, friends are reading my blog and asking me about it. I was shocked that I actually had an influence on them when I learned that several had started victory gardens after my posts. and these were gals who I would have never thought would have gotten on board. They’re talking and starting to move on it.
I want to teach a bread making class in the next few weeks if I can carve out the time between some doctor visits my family must make. Once the gals get started with learning these skills, I believe it gets them motivated to try more new things.
(I’d best not post my thoughts on Madonna and keep it sweet. Having three adopted girls of my own – all stateside – I have some REAL OPINIONS on this!)
June 13, 2009 at 7:58 pm
We have 4 adopted daughters. It’s been a trip. I should say that I respect all adoptions. I just wish it didn’t have to become a media circus. There are so many families out there doing the work, and work it is, who get no recognition. I wish you success with the bread class.
June 14, 2009 at 8:19 am
I’m not sure if I posted this link. A wonderful series of videos on dehydrating:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.iboards.us/viewtopic.php?t=263
If you have time, please email my at: Herbalpagan@gmail.com
June 14, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Sure your preaching to the Choir. But the Choir does need to practice! And we like the singing.
It really is a weird world isn’t it. Thanks to Madonna and her ilk for pointing out that unlimited resources doesn’t get one closer to a meaningful life.
Keep on Preachin’
June 14, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Preaching! Another Post-peak carreer choice!
June 14, 2009 at 10:09 pm
What a great idea to bring canned goods to potlucks and such. So easy too.
I am sometimes…. what is the word? Amazed? Horrified? by the serious news that is out there and then you have to learn about sex change operations. Sheesh. Who Cares!!! Actually I do because I think things like this are just wrong…. ok maybe I better not go down that road.
Thanks for including my canning site in your information. If you see anything that I am missing or not explaining well let me know. I am always looking to improve… and yes learning things all the time too.
Really enjoying your blog!
June 21, 2009 at 10:15 am
I have been trying to reach out and increase awareness among my CSA’s members. I’m just amazed at the lack of interest in going further than simply picking up a share for most of them. A small handful, not surprisingly the ones that volunteer at the CSA, are also active with other groups such as Desert Harvesters (local native foods) and water-harvesting.
However, when I organized a trip for people to pick up free goat poop for their compost and gardens, only 4 people signed up, plus another two asked if I could get it for them. Another 3 wanted to know if they could go another time. Less than 10 people out of 470! Only two showed up at the actual pick-up. I emailed the no-shows and others who were interested with information on picking it up another time and heard back not one word, not one thank-you, nor acknowledgement. This really saddens me because we need community!
I’m waiting to see how many people actually get a solar oven and start cooking with it after my solar-cooking demo. Lots of interest expressed, but how many will follow through?
The canning? I’m getting a bit of reputation for being odd…