Home gardening offers ways to trim grocery costs [Survival Today, an on going thread]

Dallas News.com ^ | March 14th, 2008 | DEAN FOSDICK

[nw_arizona_granny]

Americans finding soaring food prices hard to stomach can battle back by growing their own food. [Click image for a larger version] Dean Fosdick Dean Fosdick

Home vegetable gardens appear to be booming as a result of the twin movements to eat local and pinch pennies.

At the Southeastern Flower Show in Atlanta this winter, D. Landreth Seed Co. of New Freedom, Pa., sold three to four times more seed packets than last year, says Barb Melera, president. "This is the first time I've ever heard people say, 'I can grow this more cheaply than I can buy it in the supermarket.' That's a 180-degree turn from the norm."

Roger Doiron, a gardener and fresh-food advocate from Scarborough, Maine, said he turned $85 worth of seeds into more than six months of vegetables for his family of five.

A year later, he says, the family still had "several quarts of tomato sauce, bags of mixed vegetables and ice-cube trays of pesto in the freezer; 20 heads of garlic, a five-gallon crock of sauerkraut, more homegrown hot-pepper sauce than one family could comfortably eat in a year and three sorts of squash, which we make into soups, stews and bread."

[snipped]

She compares the current period of market uncertainty with that of the early- to mid-20th century when the concept of victory gardens became popular.

"A lot of companies during the world wars and the Great Depression era encouraged vegetable gardening as a way of addressing layoffs, reduced wages and such," she says. "Some companies, like U.S. Steel, made gardens available at the workplace. Railroads provided easements they'd rent to employees and others for gardening."

[restornu]

For thoes with limited space and Apartment dwellers!

Bring the garden into your kitchen. No green thumb is needed with this aeroponic high-yield grower. Simply drop in the pre-seeded pods, add water and the included nutrient tablets, and watch as your plants grow to produce great-tasting harvests---all without dirt, bugs, or chemicals. From AeroGarden.

Black/Stainless Steel. Includes garden unit; gourmet herb, salad greens, and cherry tomato seed pod kits; and two grow lightbulbs Grows fresh herbs and vegetables year-round
Adaptive growth intelligence system automatically monitors and adjusts water, light, and nutrient delivery for maximum growth
Indicator light lets you know when to change bulb Adjustable to height of plants
Measures 15-1/2"H to 21-1/2"H x 18"L x 10-1/2"W UL listed; 1-year Limited Manufacturer's Warranty on unit, 6-month Limited Manufacturer's Warranty on bulbs
Made in China/USA

There are two other models it is something to think about when food is scarce and a good supplement to food storage

Watch for sale and easy pay
CLICK

CLICK

Flex pay, HSN CLICK

[gardengirl]

**In the event that we have no electricity for weeks/months,**

Don’t forget the hand can opener! All those canned goods are going to drive you nuts if you can’t get them open! LOL

[Velveeta]

WOW Granny! Way to go! I’m impressed with your first thread. ;-)

Great work and a very important thread, to be sure.

[spotbust1]

As the wife of an active duty soldier, I was enraged until I got to the end. I was getting ready to pack a bag and drive right down to the business that would post such a sign.

I was glad to read the end.

[restornu]

For those with limited space and Apartment dwellers!

Bring the garden into your kitchen. No green thumb is needed with this aeroponic high-yield grower. Simply drop in the pre-seeded pods, add water and the included nutrient tablets, and watch as your plants grow to produce great-tasting harvests---all without dirt, bugs, or chemicals. From AeroGarden.

Black/Stainless Steel. Includes garden unit; gourmet herb, salad greens, and cherry tomato seed pod kits; and two grow lightbulbs Grows fresh herbs and vegetables year-round
Adaptive growth intelligence system automatically monitors and adjusts water, light, and nutrient delivery for maximum growth
Indicator light lets you know when to change bulb Adjustable to height of plants
Measures 15-1/2"H to 21-1/2"H x 18"L x 10-1/2"W UL listed; 1-year Limited Manufacturer's Warranty on unit, 6-month Limited Manufacturer's Warranty on bulbs
Made in China/USA

There are two other models it is something to think about when food is scarce and a good supplement to food storage

Watch for sale and easy pay
CLICK

CLICK

Flex pay, HSN CLICK

[brazzaville]

Good morning.

There are things that my late mother used to call hyacinths for the soul.

A jar of good instant coffee can lessen the misery on a bad day, long after coffee has disappeared from the pantry.

I no longer smoke, but a tin of Prince Albert sits in my survival box with the coffee and some hard candy. There are also waterproof matches and a fire starter & tinder, along with fish hooks and line and needles and dental floss in a small metal box. The dental floss makes great thread for repairing torn clothes.

I also no longer drink, but keep a representative selection of boozes, both for barter and to smooth out really bad days. A couple of bricks of .22LR is good for barter and can keep you fed.

One item that I believe should be in every home is the “Foxfire” series of books. One can learn the basics of survival in a world without Wallyworld in those books while being entertained. It's too bad so many people don't read.

Water, warmth, good shoes and ways of staying dry. Mouse traps and topical medicines. There are so many things to think about and the election is only 8 months away.

Michael Frazier

[Gabz]

I’m lucky in a way because my whole life my greatest hobby has simply been taking things apart and putting them back together.

ROFL! You sound like my daughter and husband. He found her one day dismantling the police scanner. "I wanted to see how it works daddy." She was 3.

If I was forty miles east, I’d be in much better shape.

The biggest "city" in the county I live is Chincoteague Island, pop ~4,500. The closest "real" cities are Salisbury and Ocean City,MD and they are 50 miles away. Unfortunately so many of those "without a clue" are migrating to these areas and causing those of us with a clue undue grief and angst.

[Gabz]

A likely story.............HA!!!!!!!

[nw_arizona_granny]

LOL, I did know and have forgotten what I knew about flour.

Pastry flour, might be sold as cake flour, it should be finer and comes from a different wheat, but I cannot tell you the different kinds.

I prefer to use the flour from Mexico, their tortilla flour as sold in the markets, makes fine bread. But that was when I lived near Yuma and it was safe to go into Mexico....I would not do it today.

I use the common store brand of flour for most every recipe, if it calls for pastry or cake flour, I sift it a couple extra times.

I would expect the traditional wheat flour to have more bran in it.

There was a time that I bought the bran flakes in the health food stores to add to my bread.

Bleached flour is dead flour, they have removed all the good stuff in it, so it will be white, if it says enriched, then chemical vitamins have been added back as they do the milk you buy.

I buy my wheat flour at waltonfeed.com in the bags, not the cans.

Also the cornmeal I bought at waltons.

It is what I use in my breadmachine.

It has been 3 years since I was strong enough to go to the store, so these differences in names are not tops on my mind.

I also use the Walton’s yeast, it is called Saf , and when I last bought it, it was $3.75 for 18 ounces and the label says it is the same as the brown bottle that sold then for $8.00 at Walmart for the bread machine, which as I recall was 4 ounces.

If you can afford it, use the un-bleached flour, it is a yellowish color, not the bright white flour the name brands sell.

There is a lot of info on the different varieties, I hope on the king flour site, it is slow to load for me, as I am on dial up, so will let you know if I find the real information, instead of the
“this is how I do it” info.

I find this notice scary, a warning on the rise in wheat:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/about/high-wheat-prices.html

It should be here, but it was PDF and jamming my computer:

[I am on dial up internet and have too much open to do PDF]

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/professional/58858.html

I know that I have read the differences in their paper catalog.

I dared not open the recipe page, they have good recipes:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/landing.jsp?go=DefaultRecipeMain

Home page:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/

[nw_arizona_granny]

Useful or fun gadgets:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/landing.jsp?go=Home

This page made me think of you.

[Gabz]

My daughter saw an ad for those the other day and thought they would be a good idea.........until I told her how much they cost. She looked out the door and said, I guess we’ll use the field.

But I do agree they are/could be a godsend to apartment dwellers and those with limited space/growing seasons.

[Tammy8]

My mother lived through the depression and was very frugal in so many ways. We bought dog food since we could afford it, but she always supplemented the dog food with scraps and bacon grease, etc. We lived remote so if we ran out of dog food she would make corn meal mush, and then add an egg or scraps and bacon grease. The dogs loved her homemade dog food.

I stockpile staples and always have; my daughters do the same though they don’t really think another depression or other emergency will happen. They are young and tight on money so they get into their stash when they are short on funds or just don’t want to go grocery shopping. Storing food just makes sense even if you don’t believe bad times are possible, so I don’t understand people that don’t store food. I had a sister-in-law that would literally have to grocery shop every day after work just to make dinner. I wondered if she really didn’t see how foolish that was.

[Free Vulcan]

I grew up on home grown and my family has never left that world and I'm glad for it.

One suggestion I have. If you freeze, think about going with vacuum sealer bags. My mother had me try some asparagus she froze with it. Pointing out that asparagus doesn't freeze well, the stuff she gave me tasted just short of fresh. That's how good it is.

One of my favorite books is The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery.

Amazon has a good rundown on it: here.

[Free Vulcan]

39...raised old school.

[gardengirl]

**That’s how I dress.**

Amen, brother Ben—oops, sister Sarah!

Stockings! BWAHAHA I don’t even own any and I refuse to wear them. Baby sister was getting married a few years ago. Mom was looking for dresses. We’re all in the dressing room with her. She’s looking in the mirror—my pantie lines show and my hose lines.

I said, “So don’t wear any.”
Talk about drop dead looks! LOL What’s the big deal? It was a floor length dress. It’s not like anyone was going to be laying on the floor looking up her skirt!

[processing please hold]

I bought a hand cranked clothes wringer off ebay. Gotta have a way to squeeze water out of the clothes and not get a blister on my hands. It works like a charm.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Good idea, and we can have more than one word, I think I put survival on it already, Green Giant is good.

Organic, will drive the left wild, but then I was growing Rodale style before the hippies took it over.

I am tired and getting a bit silly, my thanks to all of you, for making this a fun night, with my first thread, it is one that I won’t forget.

The tired evil me, wants a name that google will find and should I tell you that I have already - hours ago, found this thread on one of my google searches that was open, before the thread existed, it pulled the link, when I changed the page.

We need something catchy like “Freeping for survival”, LOL, now that will confuse them.

These names are already on the keyword line:

garden; makeyourownmixes; preparedness; recipe; stinkbait; survival; survivalplans

Laughing and wondering if I missed the stinkbait recipe?

If it is a keyword, then there has to be a recipe.

[OB1kNOb]

Hey, thanks for the info on the fuel stabilizer. I’ll sure check it out.

[gardengirl]

But...but...but I swear—I just don’t know how it got off peachtree and on Freeper. >>Wide-eyed innocent look.<<

I have a great boss and he doesn’t mind. Truly—I have been in the greenhouse, rearranging stuff and transplanting herbs. They smell so good! Cloudy and cool here today, so not too many customers.

[ncpatriot]

Wow, thanks! I need to study all that you have written.

Something you said reminded me of what I read the other day ie that cornmeal is used in garden to control fungus. Have you heard this? I have trouble with fungus on my tomatoes because we live in mtns and don't get as much sun as others.

You are a great resource and I appreciate that.