Last Year's Food

My homepage is set to Yahoo! Sometimes it kills me what they think is news, but the site does offer some interesting blurbs, periodically. So recently, I opened a link to a Yahoo! Money news article that said, "Americans' lower standard of living may be permanent." Like that's a bad thing or something. We all need to live more within our means, myself included.

Here's the crux of what they were saying... Retailers are having fits. People just aren't buying things like they used to. When they go to the mall, they aren't going home with three $100 pairs of shoes. Nor are they buying the $150 torn and faded blue jeans (I never understood that to begin with). No, rather, consumers are basically concerned now with just covering themselves (barely, sometimes). You can wear last year's clothes. Consumers are spending their money not on clothes, but on food, especially as prices continue to rise. The comment was, "You can't eat last year's food." WHHAAATT?

Ok, well, hmm. I'll concede that I understand what they were 'trying' to say. But just barely. Really, it's not a true statement at all. Obviously Mr. Money-Analyst person who made this comment is one of the millions of Americans that couldn't feed themselves for a year if the grocery store closed for good tomorrow. Fact is, you CAN eat last year's food.

This is what I'm saying, people. We Americans are so stinking spoiled that we have become soft and have forgotten many of the basic skills our parents and grandparents took for granted. Why'd they take them for granted? Because they were such a common part of their existence.

Wanna eat last year's food? Plant a garden, go to a farmer's market, join a CSA, whatever, but learn to can and 'put up', or 'put by' your food. Yes, it takes time, equipment, and some know how. But you can acquire all three pretty easily if you put your mind to it and make it a priority.

I don't have a pressure canner. It's something I want and will probably get in the next few years. But I still preserve food. I have a dehydrator and a water bath canner. Water-bath canning is so easy it's almost unfair. Why more people don't do it can only be attributed to the ease with which we can go to the store and buy food already canned or preserved. Or laziness. But the idea is to save money and not pay so much for what you eat. You can use water-bath canning for pretty much any type of fruit jam or jelly, applesauce, tomato products (as long as you don't add so many other ingredients that it lowers the acid level), pickles of all kinds (carrots are good, and I've heard green beans are too). There's a lot you can do.

I have a hard time not being down and gloomy as it is, without making dire predictions about our country's economic future. But I truly believe it'll get worse. A lot worse. Don't be caught feeling the crunch between paying bills and buying food. Think about what you can do, make phone calls, ask around, read books... find out where the good food is or how to grow it, then learn to preserve it. The "Ball Blue Book" is probably one of the best places to start. Go to your local library and search for food preservation. There's likely more there than you care to look at. Search yard sales this spring and look for jars, canners, supplies. You may get a real deal. Ask older relatives or neighbors for advice or instruction on canning. Truly, the most valuable people in our nation in coming days may be those of us with this kind of knowledge. We'll be surviving and have to help everyone else out.

A final note about dehydrating. there are many different ways to dry foods. My wife bought me my Nesco dehydrator as an anniversary present last year. Nothing says "I love ya, honey" like homemade beef jerky. But something very worth trying: Dried Watermelon. Seriously. Cut it up into thin strips or chunks, take the seed out and dry it. It comes out like chewy fruit leather, and wow is it sweet! You'd think it had soaked in sugar. My kids loved it. No additives or preservatives. Just watermelon. Amazing!

Slouching Away From Prosperity: Dan's Perspective, Part 3

Well, here it is, part 3. If you've read the first two parts at all, I commend you. There are other people out there, writing much better stuff on the subject than I. But then again, they aren't writing my perspective, now are they?

Herrick Kimball, a blogger I follow and admire, recently wrote yet another post on the economy and how he sees the nation moving toward a more agrarian lifestyle (read it here). I like what he says, and tend to agree with him.

The point of it all is this. Our economy is broken. And I'm sorry, but anyone who thinks our new President Elect can fix it is delusional. John McCain couldn't have fixed it either (just to be fair). If people are going to weather the coming fury of the storm already broken upon us, we're going to have to learn to live differently than we do.

Back in the 40's, the victory garden was the thing to do. Scrap metal drives, rubber drives.... all early recycling (and we thought it was 'new', it's actually 'vintage' - which may be why recycling is all the rage). Thing is, our country seems to have lost some of its identity, some of its solidarity, purpose of being. We've become a nation of self-centered people and the idea of doing something because our nation needs us to is a little out of fashion. Of course, providing food for your family and yourself is never out of fashion, nor is it really a national 'need' - rather a personal need. But I wonder how many people will actually decide they need to get their hands dirty and plant a garden?

You see, there's something to be said for self-sufficiency. Actually, I prefer to call it God-sufficiency, because I recognize that everything I have is from Him. That's what I like about homesteading. In the process of living the self-sufficient life, you develop a sense of security. Regardless of what happens in the economy, you know you can provide for your family - to whatever degree you homestead. So just what is homesteading?

Well, it's hard to define. Wikipedia defines it as a lifestyle of simple, agrarian self-sufficiency. Well, there's three words in that sentence that beg further definition... A favorite publication of mine, Mother Earth News, defines it thus: "Sometimes we struggle to define the meaning of “homestead” in today’s world. For our purposes, we’ve decided to define the homestead as any home that provides an example of sustainability and beauty, whether it’s a Chicago loft powered by solar panels, a Santa Fe suburban solar home or a straw bale cottage on the Kansas prairie. Many of them raise some of their own food and generate some of their own energy. Some of them are self-sufficient. Some of them are beautiful. All of them, by our definition, are inspiring."

To me, homesteading is the art, mindset, decision, process (all of these) of working toward providing for yourself and your family in such a way as to improve your environment where possible, or at least leave as small a footprint as possible. Now before you think I've gone all 'tree-hugger' let me just say that as yet at my house, there's more of the 'leave the smallest footprint' going on than there is 'improve your environment'. But what I want to emphasize is that anyone can be a homesteader! You don't have to live in the country on 40 acres (or even 5), or have a root cellar, or use an outhouse, or grow solar panels on your roof, or drive a water powered car, or wear hemp clothes. An apartment dweller can homestead by buying up quantities of veggies at a farmer's market or joining a CSA and learning to preserve them. A suburbanite can plant a small garden if only for those few crops they use most often (ie. tomatoes, onions, corn, etc.). We can all turn our thermostats down a little, ours sits at 69 in the winter and 75 in the summer when we actually use air-conditioning (and my wife says that's cold!). Again, laundry on a clothesline can save a lot of money in electricity. It's basically just finding ways to rely less on other people to provide your needs, and rely more on yourself.

Can you read a book? You can learn to garden. Can you surf the net? You can learn to preserve food. Can you push a broom? You can use a hoe and spade. My list of examples is small and probably not very good at inspiring people to think outside the box. But the ways of self-sufficiency are limitless. It takes a change of mind, heart, and attitude... and a little economic hardship might not hurt either.

I'm struck my something that recently happened. Someone I know bought a new home. It's not far from where they previously lived. Their family didn't outgrow the old house, neighborhood was fine, same school district. But they'd been looking at homes off and on for years now. There are three people in the family. They bought a 2500 sq. ft. home with a 3 car garage and a full basement. I don't begrudge them. It's a beautiful home and I'm very happy for them. I just don't understand it. It's a difference in mind-set, I guess.

Well, I don't know what all my rambling might spark in you. But hopefully it gets you thinking about ways you could change your lifestyle and do more for yourself. If for no other reason than economics - a lot of homesteading activities will save you money!

So here are some websites to check out that will give you more than you knew existed in terms of ideas, tips, encouragement, etc. to homesteading:

Mother Earth News

GRIT

Homestead.org

Backwoods Home

Take a gander at those... that should keep you busy.

Happy Homesteading!

Slouching Away From Prosperity: Dan's Perspective, Part 2

I suppose it's probably a good idea to define what I mean by prosperity, since it can mean several different things. Prosperity isn't all bad. But what I mean in this context is the more general understanding of the word in American culture. The gaining of material wealth and symbols of our financial prowess (does anyone have any of that right now?). Truly, prosperity can mean other things. A person can certainly consider themselves prosperous as they view the shelves full of canned food from the harvest. They may feel prosperous as they see the new lambs in the pasture each Spring.... but alas, these notions aren't typically shared by most of our culture. No, the prosperity I'm pointing to is the mindset that traps people into thinking they need more, must have more, should work longer to afford more, can't go without more, have to keep up so someone else doesn't get more. In a word, materialism - the pursuit and acquisition of 'stuff'.

Christmas, since it's almost upon us, can be a time when materialism can really run rampant. For example, a Wal-Mart employee was literally trampled to death in a mad stampede of people rushing the store on Black Friday, all trying to get a deal. Sad. No pun intended in this paragraph, by the way.

My wife and I have a Christmas Club at the bank. Each paycheck, a certain amount is set aside and we get a check along about October to spend on Christmas. Really, it's just a built in safeguard against going broke at Christmas, since we're not disciplined enough to set the money aside ourselves. The bank does it for us. Ehh, nobody's perfect. Anyway, our Christmas Club isn't huge, and we buy presents for everyone on our list with that amount (ok, plus a little more). But it's still less than some people we've spoken to spend on just one of their kids!

So here are some ways we're slouching away from prosperity this year.

We're doing something different with Christmas this year. To avoid the 'glut' of presents on Christmas day, we decided to help our children appreciate the season a little more and mix things up. Each Sunday of Advent, I gather the family around, talk about one aspect of the Christmas story (last week the Angel and his messages, this week Mary and Joseph's obedience), light an Advent candle, say a prayer, and then the kids get to open one present. On Christmas day, they'll have stockings to open, and two or so nicer gifts we're saving. But they'll enjoy the season more as we go along. PLUS we're taking the focus off of 'stuff' and putting it back on the true reason for the holiday.

Another step, and a big one, I think, that we're taking this year is as follows. My family (Mom, sisters, etc.) have gotten to the point where buying for everyone is really more of a chore, than a joy. We don't need anything, and our 'wants' are pretty expensive sometimes. We've decided that we're going to spend the money on a needy family this year. For whatever reason, the rest of the family thinks they still need to buy for my kids "because they're little". We've bought mom a little something too. Otherwise, we're buying presents for a mom and her two daughters who live with the mom's mom. That's more like it. Something real, substantial, helpful.

Those are just a few ways we're working on removing the materialism from life this holiday. No, we're not perfect. The wife and I spent more than we intended on the kids, but we're not broke, either. We're working on it. I challenge you to try it too.

More to come....

Land woes

I've been doing a lot of looking over the past months at websites specifically designed to sell farms and land (as well as some that sell other properties). As is the way with American agriculture, there aren't too many small time farms for sale. If there are, they tend to be horse farms, or properties designed specifically for recreational use with just a smattering of pasture.

Of course, none of that matters terribly. With some work, any kind of property can be prepared and used as pasture, garden, orchard, whatever. But it's nice to think you could find a decent house on some property and have one or two things already in place.

Since that option seems to be limited at this point in time (and it's not like I'm even serious about buying right now), I've considered the possibility of buying land and building a home on it. My wife has mentioned how she'd love to have a log home. I could deal with that, I think (seriously!). But then I look at property.....

Anything listed as farm land is rising in price and usually has more acreage to it than I want or need. If there's a property listed as woodsman paradise, that just means there's too much woods on it and it's really not fit for a small farm or homestead... there'd be a lot of clearing that would have to be done first.

Then there's the big strips of land up for sale. You know the kind. They used to be farms or cropland, but the owner is hoping to sell out to some big time real estate developer that wants to turn it into the next "Fox Run", or "Wood Ridge", or "Brittney Chase" with overpriced, over sized houses sitting on 1/4 acre lots, all so close together that you can smell your neighbor's breath when you greet him in the evening when you come home from work. Please. Like there's been a fox there in a decade, or anything close to a 'woods' since the farmer plowed the soil up in the 70's to grow his agribusiness (not to mention how he's plowed down the ridge to nothing)... and like these people are gonna use their Brittney spaniels to chase anything but a ball! Yeah, I guess I'm a little sour.

Folks like Gene Logsdon are my heroes. Gene encourages small farms (he farms 30 acres himself) and says we need more, not less of them. I tend to agree. I want to take my family to the country and homestead. But the way land is going, and a lack of available small farms, it seems like I may need to rely more heavily on the Almighty to provide us the right place when the time is right.

How did you find your place?