I never get back to the computer yesterday and today looks just a busy. I’m heading to Amherst to pic up 200 pounds of wheat. Then it’s off to the thrift for a drop off of stuff and look over winter clothing. Then it home to the canner. We have been going through double the number of jars of pickles and fruit. In fact, I may actually buy (YIKES!) more green beans just for making pickles. My cabbage is ready to harvest and so are the early beets. I’m hoping to get another crop in the ground this week. With a row cover, I’m certain I can do it.
There is some very interesting commentary on CNBC this morning. The question was how much a cow cost in relation to the price of a bar of gold. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anything quite like it. There is some real fear over what our economy will look like in another year or two. Nutella is one of our little luxuries and it’s on sale today. I’m getting ten jars. It’s not gold but it has real value and, in the end, that’s the real question. What can you acquire that will hold value? For me, it’s perennial food plants and seeds, good boots, books and canning jars.
Posting may be sparse for a bit. My daughter and grandbabies are coming up from Florida for a visit and I plan to spend as much time as possible with them. It is a pure pleasure to get up in the morning and sit on the swing with one of my grandkids. I hope they will carry the memory of snuggling in an old quilt and watching the sun come up with Grammy with them. I never really knew my grandparents and felt that loss deeply.
I had a wonderful offer yesterday. A woman who came to my NOFA workshop asked me to teach a class at our local community college. They are planning a certificate program on reskilling for the future and they were looking for someone to teach food preservation. It will be a ton of work and the money is terrible but I’m looking at it as a community service.
August 19, 2011 at 7:26 am
sounds like a busy but productive day! I too, think perennials, fruit bushes and seeds have great value. I’m seeing a ton of articles on self reliance and growing your own food lately. The word IS getting out!
I found this article that I thought you, Bruce and your readers might feel is useful. http://www.grist.org/food-safety/2011-08-18-honey-laundering-tainted-counterfeit-from-china-in-US
Grandma’s are special people. I had one who lived with us part time. She taught me to sew and to whistle as well as bake cookies. I want to be like her to my grand kids.
August 19, 2011 at 7:45 am
Please! Everybody should read this piece. I plan to run off a copy and post it in all the places we sell our honey. There’s a reason we can’t compete with supermarket prices.
August 19, 2011 at 9:06 am
Kathy, sometimes I read your posts and feel like you live in an alternate universe! A certificate program on reskilling for the future?!? How marvelous!! The community you live in seems so very … aware. What a blessing to have such folks around you all the time.
August 19, 2011 at 9:13 am
Kathy – thanks for letting us know that you’re busy and will be posting a bit less. I’m having the same thing – I spent last week in Atlanta with my daughter. I took several days of vacation and then worked from her home the rest of the week. It was wonderful and my blog got a bit lighter while I enjoyed her company.
I’m not surprised at the honey laundering. It’s right in line with other things being imported. I’m disappointed when I tout the farmer’s markets at the people who ask if it’s organic. Some of it is, much of it isn’t.
I do talk to the farmers and have a pretty good idea what the individuals do to bring a crop to market. It’s hard to have crops with no chemicals, but it is possible to use minimal chemicals to do it.
Talking to the farmers (and watching body language) has helped me weed out who are the commercial farmers and who is buying wholesale to resell. I don’t mind them reselling if they have a relationship with the farmer or baker who they are selling for and not just going to the same place the grocery stores go to.
My garden is bust this year due to the high heat. I think we’ll be buying local for the rest of the season.
Nancy
http://www.dogear6.com
August 19, 2011 at 10:15 am
When we had our health food store a few years ago, I only bought and resold honey in glass jars from a reputable LOCAL supplier. Jars of honey at the grocery store were labeled, if you could find the very small white print on the jar not on the label, with countries of origin. Most were USA, Brazil, and others. I would not buy it nor recommend it. Caution is the word in purchasing food, and for me anything that comes in contact with my body, from China.
Purchasing things of lasting value: fruit trees, tools both for garden and house, wood furniture, seeds, alternative energy source items, rain barrels and 5 gallon buckets for rain water, hurricane shutters.
August 19, 2011 at 10:46 am
Kathy, images like the one you evoked of snuggling with the grandkids on the porch watching the sun come up are one of the main reasons I come here. I love this place! Thanks for the lift.
August 19, 2011 at 11:42 am
Thanks for being willing to teach the class. It seems to get more important everyday to be able to produce and preserve good food.
August 19, 2011 at 12:28 pm
A community college teaching Reskilling for the Future! That’s amazing and encouraging all at the same time!
Congratulations, Professor!
peace, Shamba
August 19, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Our farmer’s market in St. Paul is very strict about locally produced products. They inspect and enforce the locally sourced rules with food being grown/processed within a certain number of miles from market. Good luck to you with your community college venture! Many of us don’t need the certificate, but would love to take the courses!
August 19, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Kathy, talking about CNBC – Here’s an article from the NYT Sunday Magazine about a large investor concerned about green issues. He mentions Peak Oil and scarcity of resources. Pretty wide audience for this one!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/magazine/can-jeremy-grantham-profit-from-ecological-mayhem.html?pagewanted=all