General

[BlindeSeher]

Originally Posted by Azzy

My wife and I have been saving seeds from our produce, and are planning on a decent garden and canning this year to make sure our grocery bill wont go nuts. We've also talked about growing some sort of grain, and I've though about renting a slice of the land that sits unused behind my house for an even larger garden. (As in renting by asking the owner who does not use it if it can be used as long as it is taken care of properly)

Wise move. A lot of what we're talking about here has to do with the changing structure of society. Far fewer of us are small farmers or farmer's sons and daughters, and the ability to be self-sufficient is eroding. We rely more and more on vast production and delivery systems, all of which are very affected by the the price of oil and global market forces. Simple things, such as growing a portion of one's own food, are the best that we can do to fight back against our crippling dependencies. If nothing else, there's age-old knowledge about how to take care of one's self and loved ones that needs to be preserved.

[Azzy]

My never ending broken record, which seems to be coming more and more relevant...

Stop getting in debt. The reason why the US dollar is so weak is because the US owes out it's eyballs. Doesnt help at all when all these banks need bailing out as well. Why do they need bailing out? Because the average family in the US cant seem to understand that if they dont have enough money to buy something, they can not afford it. Think of that every time you try and rack up those frequent flier miles at the pump, all you are doing is making your next gallon cost even more.

2-3 does not equal 4 payments of .30

[Schmitti]

We plant Lettuce, tomatoes, peas, herbs. The herbs lasted us all summer and we were able to make about a dozen cups of pesto from the remaining bazil at the end of the season last year.

We had fresh lettuce every other day or so for almost three months...

This year we are going to redo the tomato garden so that it gets more sun and I'm going to put netting around it to keep Drum's minions out... they would take one bite out of a tomato and leave it on the ground.

This year we are also planting eggplant and a couple other things.

If you going to do seeds start them now in a sunny warm room so that they are ready to plant outside once the weather gets warm... that way they are already growing when it's warm instead of just starting. It will get you at least a month more of fruit/vegies.

E

[oldschool]

yea china is contributing to inflation - more demand - thats normal

but its also the damn speculating in the commodities markets that is playing major havoc -there is no reason for oil to be anywhere near $100 a barrel - supply is up and there is plenty around - but anything happens anywhere and they freak out and drive up the price.

and stop the damn farm subsidies - there is no damn good reason - to be paying you not to grow stuff -

just my .02

[Rothstein]

Originally Posted by Azzy

My never ending broken record, which seems to be coming more and more relevant...

Stop getting in debt. The reason why the US dollar is so weak is because the US owes out it's eyballs. Doesnt help at all when all these banks need bailing out as well. Why do they need bailing out? Because the average family in the US cant seem to understand that if they dont have enough money to buy something, they can not afford it. Think of that every time you try and rack up those frequent flier miles at the pump, all you are doing is making your next gallon cost even more.

2-3 does not equal 4 payments of .30

Your post reminded me about this SNL skit: SNL Skit: Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford

[xkpxfatassxx]

I had a big lesson today in my AP class (we kind of went off topic). It was about the increase of corn. With the increase of corn it led to a ripple effect on many things (drinks, oil, and the list never ends). Kind of interesting this came up.

[Heebs]

Yay for foreign based income. Sure I pay 8 dollars a gallon on gas and 7 bucks a lb on beef but yay!!!

[ehalcik]

braaaaainnnnnnzzzz with cheeze

Originally Posted by CrazyBoy78

I blame zombies.

[heinous]

Originally Posted by Walking_Target

problem is China... they're sucking up every natural resouce they can get their hands on.

they probably grow more grain than we do though.

[coyote]

Originally Posted by Azzy

Doesn't help that the US has a government created market for ethanol, making corn so much more profitable than other crops.

I even hear that we now import wheat into the US. Thats a sad, sad thing when we import to what used to be the world's breadbasket.

Lets hope all of you have your bills paid off if some sort of recession (or god forbid depression) does hit, so you wont end up neck deep in debt.

My wife and I have been saving seeds from our produce, and are planning on a decent garden and canning this year to make sure our grocery bill wont go nuts. We've also talked about growing some sort of grain, and I've though about renting a slice of the land that sits unused behind my house for an even larger garden. (As in renting by asking the owner who does not use it if it can be used as long as it is taken care of properly)

Be sure you aren't saving seeds from sterile hybrids. Thats a common situation that folks don't often know about.