I’m up very early this morning watching the international news. It’s not good. I don’t remember a time when resource depletion has been so front and center in the main stream news. There are a number of big events on the horizon that make me very happy to have a deep pantry and a way to heat my house. But back to our regularly scheduled programing.
We had a double birthday party here yesterday and after cake, ice cream and presents the talk turned to gardens. Ben and Maggie want to put in a small kitchen garden this spring. Without hesitation I began to plan out how they could get real bang for their space buck in a typical suburban back yard. It didn’t take long to decide where to put the asparagus and the strawberries. Potatoes and squash could be container grown. Three dwarf fruit trees would replace the one huge tree that is there now. The front yard could have plots that held gorgeous rainbow chard, towering kale and a border of beets. The back fence should be used as the support for tomatoes and string beans and lettuce would keep the ground mulched. There is a corner that would do just fine as a walking onion patch and I think garlic would do well in a patch by the shed. I could go on about some backyard chickens but I think they were really just talking about a couple of tomato plants. I do get ahead of myself.
In checking out a youtube video this week I found a series on wartime kitchens and gardens. It was wonderful although I could only find a few of the ones I wanted. If any of you have any idea where I could purchase the series I would be eternally grateful. It may seem a bit silly to. While others are watching videos of cats playing the piano or children singing inappropriate songs, I’m watching demonstrations on how to butcher a rabbit and learning how women stretched ration coupons. Here’s what I believe. When you think about something over and over you create a path. The longer your walk that path, the deeper and more worn it becomes. Before long, it’s a lane, then a road. That road is your choice. You can choose a life of consumption or one of frugality. You can choose to eat fast food or good food. You can choose to grow food or buy plastic lawn ornaments. Just be aware that your decisions, large and small, become your life path.
The surgaring season is going better than expected. We are still collecting sap and will probably boil all week. I need to get into the summer kitchen to do some candle making in preparation for two conference I’m presenting at later this month so I’ll be glad when we wrap the sugaring up. I’ll be selling candles, books, honey and t-shirts at both conferences but I don’t have enough candles right now. I don’t make much money when I present food preservation workshops. The decision to have Bruce and the girls man a vendor’s table did not come easily to me but with gas so expensive and the time away from home I need to figure out how to make presenting work for me financially. The vendor’s table will help.
I’ve been amused by the reaction of people to the Nat Geo segment. I have gotten (and deleted) a number of comments on how I’m a target and how men plan to come steal my food. Where are people’s minds when they would rather plan to steal applesauce from unarmed women and children than put aside some food for themselves? I would be ashamed of myself but the shame bar is apparently set pretty low. The other response has been an under-the-breath admission from some that they too are worried about our economic or environmental future and have been putting aside a bit for a while. What is odd is that more people are embarrassed to be prepping for an uncertain future than are embarrassed to be planning to be a thief. Crazy.
March 5, 2012 at 7:44 am
Kathy, I’m the MA State moderator for The American Preppers Network and have seen some very negative comments directed at those who had the courage to appear on this series. My belief is that if just one family benefits from watching this program then this is good. I’ve gotten some very good tips from this series. As to who thinks that pillaging, stealing and takes what is not theirs, by force, is acceptable the majority of members on that forum do not.
As for who is crazy for not preparing I think it behooves us to remember that it takes time for people to adapt to this mind set. They’re frightened, unsure and confused. I think we’ve all been conditioned to live in a society that ensured that we wouldn’t go hungry, the government would see to all our needs and up until a few years ago we were all fairly prosperous. It’s difficult for some to accept that we are well into the age of austerity and those conveniences, steady jobs and housing were taken for granted.
My own self sufficient and preparedness lifestyle and journey took time to cultivate and I’m nowhere near where I think I should be, especially given the national and international turmoil we are now seeing. As I enter into my fourth year of vegetable gardening I realize I still have much to learn and each year I make a bit more progress.
My hope is that people jump on board and very soon.
As always I enjoy your blog.
March 5, 2012 at 7:55 am
Planning a suburban garden! oooh fun fun fun!
Consiously Creating Cirrcumstances (spell?) is a book I read that uses the principle you mentioned. What you think about comes about…
I have never understood why people think it’s ok for people to take from hard working people when they could get what they want with just a little planning and work. I have high hopes that people who are too lazy to do anything to prepare will be too lazy to go out of their way to steal and by the time they use up the resources around them, they will be to weak or crazy to go farther. (it’s a hope-lol)
March 5, 2012 at 9:57 am
I seem to have missed where I could view the Nat Geo series. Where? Would love to see what you had to say since I’m a fan of yours.
March 5, 2012 at 10:09 am
Kathy, if you want to learn how to butcher a rabbit (or chicken, for that matter!) I’ll gladly teach you. Heaven knows I wish I’d had a mentor show me before my first time butchering….
March 5, 2012 at 10:20 am
Sadly the thievery has already begun. I keep chickens, bees, a large garden, and a small orchard. I frequently find footprints in the mud that are definitely not mine. Food goes missing. Usually just small amounts, but last fall someone helped themselves to all the near-ripe fruit off 5 pear and apple trees (bushels of fruit!) I find this attitude absolutely pathetic. If someone is hungry, all they need do is ask – I always have extras. Or I’d happily pay my (mostly unemployed) neighbors in food for a little help with the work. They’d rather wait until I leave home, trespass on my property, and just take what they want.
Sorry, I don’t mean to be so negative, but I am infuriated by this kind of behavior!
March 5, 2012 at 10:44 am
Oh Beth! That’s so awful. I’d be furious too. And it’s just so sad. If I can get my fam to agree to the rabbits I’ll be stopping by for a class. You can get the videos from the NatGeo site I believe but Icould be wrong. I know they keep rerunning the darn thing on Tuesday’s evenings.
March 5, 2012 at 11:42 am
Kathy sorry you are getting negative comments from your spot on the show. I DO NOT like mean people!!! I appreciate the fact that their are families who want to take care of themselves and help others, who are willing to do the hard work and learn new skills that make them less likely to need government hand outs and DON”T have a gun strapped to their side in the process. The same people who say they will come take your things wouldn’t have a clue how to cook any of it. Hugs your way and good luck getting that new garden in for your Son and Daughter in law, how fun that is going to be!!
March 5, 2012 at 12:39 pm
Kathy, I’m in zone 3 (Minnesota) and all your talk of planning gardens has got me chomping at the bit to get out in my garden! Alas, all I can do is start my seeds indoors and wait until I can transplant them outside. Just got done doing that (seeds) yesterday.
I have to selectively watch the Nat Geo shows about prepping, as I don’t get a warm and fuzzy feeling seeing all the preppers with guns. It may come to that, but as my husband says – “most people are probably too lazy to come to the boondocks to look for things”. Hope that’s true. We’ve worked hard to get what we have and would not like, in the least, to see it violated.
Thanks for all you do.
March 5, 2012 at 3:12 pm
There’s a book that’s a companion to the series, available at Amazon, but the DVDs are not coded for this region. It’s a shame as there are a few BBC series I would like to get.
March 5, 2012 at 3:34 pm
I can’t believe that there are that many preppers to steal from. But what happens after? They run out of people to steal from (and assuming there aren’t others out there armed to steal). Then what? Not only can they not cook it, but they can’t grow it the next year. Do they think they’ll survuve on a meat only diet? What about water too? These guys are too short-sided. Without knowledge they’ll have nothing. THAT needs to be pointed out. Glad you’re not putting too much weight on their comments.
With all the tornadoes this weekend I think more people are growing uneasy with the weather and moving more toward being prepared. The communities coming together has been nice to see. I hope a lot of good will come of this.
March 5, 2012 at 4:30 pm
We have gardened all the time that we have been married. Not big gardens since we have always had small lots. However we have always had enough to can or freeze as well as eating well in season. The money we save while eating the fresh produce goes to buy and stockpile things that we can’t grow. Our pantry may not be large but it would carry us for several months.
March 6, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Kathy, which wartime kitchens & gardens series was that?
Beth, how awful! We had pea pilferers and rhubarb robbers here last year. Hopefully, both transient types won’t be around this summer, but its a small village, they may well remember us.
Maxine, I don’t think we *can* safely assume “there aren’t others out there armed to steal”. One progressive I know is calling for liberals (not that every kind soul on here is one, just that that’s how far things have gone) to “gun up” in self-defense.
It’s a difficult balancing act, to know how to protect one’s family and life-sustaining food sources, without resorting to armaments. I think that and creating community are in some ways our most difficult challenges. (So kudos to Kathy again for leading the way in the community-building.)
March 6, 2012 at 7:23 pm
Great post, and well-put. I think Lynda’s comment is also well-placed; we might wish people would get there faster, but I suppose they get there when they get there. It seems to me that the people expressing the least interest in preparation avoid thinking about a post-disaster future because it lays bare to them how profoundly they depend on just-in-time deliveries and cheap energy systems, and how little independence they really have. Realizing they would be crippled without government intervention, people would just rather not think about it.
March 13, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Greetings from Kansas! I saw you on the Nat Geo show and found you here. You remind me so much of my dear friend who taught me all of my starters on soap crafting, herbs, goats. This friend even helped to deliver 3 of my children! Looking forward to reading your blog. It’s in the 70′s here today, and I’ve been outdoors welcoming the green!