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Dollars from dirt: Economy spurs home garden boom (It's official: We're now peasants!!)
Salon / The Associated Press ^ | March 15, 2009 | Gillian Flaccus

Posted on 03/15/2009 11:54:44 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

With the recession in full swing, many Americans are returning to their roots -- literally -- cultivating vegetables in their backyards to squeeze every penny out of their food budget.

Industry surveys show double-digit growth in the number of home gardeners this year and mail-order companies report such a tremendous demand that some have run out of seeds for basic vegetables such as onions, tomatoes and peppers.

"People's home grocery budget got absolutely shredded and now we've seen just this dramatic increase in the demand for our vegetable seeds.

(Excerpt) Read more at salon.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: economy; food; gardening; groceries; obama; recession; thrift; worldwarii
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To: glorgau
A squirrel is a rat with a fuzzy tail.

Maybe so. But they both beat the hell out of an empty belly.

21 posted on 03/15/2009 12:41:42 PM PDT by SnuffaBolshevik
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To: Leisler

The last time I had Squirrel stew there was so much hair floating in the pot you could have made a felt hat out of it. take a bite floss with hair.Take a bite floss with hair..

I didn’t shoot the squirrels, someone else did. Got lots of squirrels around here. the dog is chewing on one now. Lots of deer here also I saw 7 this morning behind the house.


22 posted on 03/15/2009 12:43:24 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (14. Guns only have two enemies: rust and politicians.)
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To: mefistofelerevised
Check out this guy's urban "farm". No yard at all. An Amazing and Prolific Urban Homestead: How our family of four has created food and energy self-sufficiency on a fifth of acre.
23 posted on 03/15/2009 12:44:02 PM PDT by GBA
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
If things get real ugly, water will be the biggest problem for most. those of us living in rural areas have wells that can be used even if power fails. But for most city people, water is not available if the power stops and the water towers are drained.

It will become a warlord society with armed gangs taking what they need in large cities anyway. So, let's hope that it never gets to that point. But, the more dependent the population becomes on large urban areas, the greater the impact that anarchy will have on the land.

The country folk will survive.

24 posted on 03/15/2009 12:51:54 PM PDT by PSYCHO-FREEP (WHAT? Where did my tag line go? (ACORN))
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To: Mamzelle
I disagree - I suspect Obama and his crowd have never grown a garden. They wouldn't get their hands dirty. Before this thread came into being, backyard gardens have always been the domain of conservatives. Taking prices and availability into one’s own hands, if only to a small degree, is a matter of individual effort and not the liberal way having the government forcing you to grow of go to jail. The liberals would create a bureaucracy to make you garden. “Victory” gardens are the way to go for our side.
25 posted on 03/15/2009 12:54:01 PM PDT by elpadre (nation)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Tomatoes, Peppers, Strawberry's, onions, and I'm also planting tobacco
until they outlaw that too.
26 posted on 03/15/2009 12:56:08 PM PDT by MaxMax (RINO=RAT!)
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To: Mamzelle
I disagree - I suspect Obama and his crowd have never grown a garden. They wouldn't get their hands dirty. Before this thread came into being, backyard gardens have always been the domain of conservatives. Taking prices and availability into one’s own hands, if only to a small degree, is a matter of individual effort and not the liberal way having the government forcing you to grow of go to jail. The liberals would create a bureaucracy to make you garden. “Victory” backyard gardens are the way to go for our side.
27 posted on 03/15/2009 12:57:26 PM PDT by elpadre (nation)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet; All

Excuse me .. having a garden of your own could save you hundreds of dollars - I grew up with a garden in my backyard, from which we enjoyed fresh and healthy vegetables. We even had chickens - giving us fresh eggs all the time. Teaching your children how to grow things is not a bad thing.

During WWII it was called a “victory garden”. People were more dependent upon themselves - not the govt - and selling off the excess produce gave people extra income. I have many fond memories of working in the garden with my dad.

Besides, in this day of over-processed food - a little “fresh” food could be just what the doctor ordered.


28 posted on 03/15/2009 12:59:11 PM PDT by CyberAnt (Michael Yon: "The U.S. military is the most respected institution in Iraq.")
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Some of us just like growing vegetables! Try it, you may like it!

If you’ve ever had a home grown tomato you’ll see what I mean.


29 posted on 03/15/2009 1:01:33 PM PDT by sissyjane
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
(It's official: We're now peasants!!)

I'm still laughing at this tag, Hey I garden as a hobby not because I'm a peasant, (smack) lol

After working with moonbats all day, one needs a quiet way to decompress... having flowers and growing fresh veggies is my way. :)

30 posted on 03/15/2009 1:02:53 PM PDT by Paige ("All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing," Edmund Burke)
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To: All

We have a large garden spot but that’s common where I live since I live on a farm and grew up on a farm.

Until my dad had his stroke and became immobile he planted acres and acres of everything; beans, tomatoes, corn, you name it, and allowed anybody that was willing to work pick as much as they wanted for free. Mom canned and froze what they would eat and the neighbors got the rest. Dad said he just liked to see it grow but refused to let it go to waste. His yard had a sign in it every year that said “Free vegetables, you pick”. :-)


31 posted on 03/15/2009 1:07:33 PM PDT by Melinda in TN
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To: Melinda in TN

What a cool thing to do! Years ago, it was custom in Germany, to have a fruit tree in your front yard, for those who might be short.


32 posted on 03/15/2009 1:11:00 PM PDT by patton (America is born in Iceland, and dies in California)
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To: All; PSYCHO-FREEP

Hank Williams, Jr.: A Country Boy Can Survive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4s0nzsU1Wg


33 posted on 03/15/2009 1:16:03 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet ("To insist on strength is not war-mongering. It is peace-mongering." Barry Goldwater)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

thats how pol pot got started


34 posted on 03/15/2009 1:17:16 PM PDT by Flavius
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I think this is a GREAT idea...!!!!!


35 posted on 03/15/2009 1:17:17 PM PDT by Brad’s Gramma ( PRAY! Pray for the U.S. Pray for Israel.)
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To: GBA

BTTT


36 posted on 03/15/2009 1:19:56 PM PDT by Brad’s Gramma ( PRAY! Pray for the U.S. Pray for Israel.)
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To: Leisler

Times are getting tough.While driving to a service call a few weeks ago I saw a dead squirrel laying in the road.An oncoming pick-up truck stops,the guy gets out and tosses the squirrel in the bed of the truck.Roadkill stew?


37 posted on 03/15/2009 1:20:37 PM PDT by Farmer Dean (168 grains of instant conflict resolution)
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To: glorgau

Squirrel brain can carry the prion that causes Mad Cow Disease.


38 posted on 03/15/2009 1:27:42 PM PDT by GOPsterinMA ("The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.")
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To: patton

Dad did that for as long as I can remember. Even though he can’t farm any longer they still have an apple orchard he started 20 years ago and people come pick apples. Two friends of my husband mentioned last Fall that they wished they had some good farm grown apples and I invited them to Mom and Dad’s to pick. I picked 6 bushels and they filled up a pickup truck. There were still thousands of apples left on the trees. I made apple butter and jelly until I ran out of room to store it so I gave it for Christmas presents. There is nothing better than organically farm grown apples and other fruit. I can’t stand the soft tasteless apples that are sold in grocery stores. Yuck!

We live in one of those type of areas. When my husband had his wreck a few years ago and I couldn’t make a garden, it was common for me to come home from work and find several bushels of corn, sacks of okra, beans, tomatoes and numerous other things that neighbors dropped off while I was at work. Nobody goes hungry in this neighborhood.


39 posted on 03/15/2009 1:34:33 PM PDT by Melinda in TN
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Fortunately there is plenty of fertilizer flowing out of Washington DC. All you can use and then some.


40 posted on 03/15/2009 1:36:01 PM PDT by ChoobacKY
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