Econony and buying extra food

We've seen the marks of the economy and how food prices are rising. That's the reason I'm putting in my Freedom Garden. I mentioned in a previous post all that I'm planting, so I won't go over that here. We've also been stock piling canned goods and gluten free noodles. There are several survivalist sites where you can get dehydrated basics like eggs, cheese, etc. I even found a place that has several varieties of gluten free MRE's. Right now we're just piling boxes of canned goods in the house. I have the floor of my pantry lined with banker's bokes. My bedroom closet has a few boxes in it. I have 3 dresser drawers that didn't have clothes in them, packed with food. We have also been stocking up on bottled water.

As a way of conserving, we put a 55 gallon drum at the corner of our house where the rain drips down the most. We learned a lesson over the winter: cover the top with a mesh. We went to clean out the water, and it smelled like something had died in it from all the debris. My husband (bless his soul) carried all the water over to my compost by the buckets full. My Father-in-law, when he was here delivering compost for my garden, put the pompus grass from the yard into the compost along with a huge bag of leaves. My husband added another bag of leaves today. My Father-in-law says not to touch it beyond watering it everyday, for about 6 weeks and then I can start turning it.

We know that the economy will price alot of people right out of buying food, or else make them choose between utilities and food, we just don't know when. We don't want to have to make that choice. That's why we're stocking up. Luckily we have an Aldi's nearby, but even they are going up in price. When they first opened here (new to Texas), they were offerning milk for 99 cents a gallon. That, of course, forced Walmart to lower their prices. By the way, Aldi's opened up right across the street from Walmart. We decided to keep our receipts to prove that prices have gone up. But that's not something I'm going to post here, as regions differ.

As I plan my garden, using the square foot method, I'm planning to have an abundance so that I can can the left overs. I've never canned anything except stewed tomatoes (and that only once totally by myself). But, I have a Betty Crocker cookbook, an older model, and it lists how to can. I planted corn so I can have corn if I don't eat it all. I hope to have lots of tomatoes left over so I can do my own garden stewed tomatoes, or at least add them to it. We have a Mexican store that sometimes puts tomatoes at a really low price, and I gobble them up for canning. I just don't know if this summer 1) they will have them at a really low price or 2) I want to BUY fresh tomatoes to do the canning. I may decide to use only what I have and put my money to canned goods.

Planting

And the planting begins. Friday my Father-in-law brought the rest of the composted dirt. He just dropped it off, as he had somewhere to go and didn't want to get sweaty. It's already pretty warm here in Texas. Saturday morning, I filled the large bin. I had forgotten about a small (18 inch by 22 inch) frame I had put up originally to compost in. I filled it with dirt and I'm going to plant herbs in it. My herbs haven't come in yet. I need to get my husband to take a picture of it tomorrow in sunlight. I need to get dirt for a front window box of bricks also, to put more herbs in.

Saturday when I went to plant, I had 2 neighbor boys helping me. My 11 year old was away at Boy Scout camp. The younger brother had come over to see if my son could play and I told him he'd be gone until Sunday night. I mentioned that I was getting ready to garden, and he said, "Can I help?" I almost felt like Tom Sawyer. We hadn't even strung off the squares yet. When we were almost done stringing off everything, his brother showed up (he's 11 also). So the three of us planted the 4 ft x 8 ft bed.

It begins

I'm so excited. My Father-in-law showed up today and put up my second bed and brought a lot of composted dirt. It wasn't quite enough, so he's gonna bring some more (possibly tomorrow). But I now have one plot almost 4 X 4 and another one 4 x 8. Tomorrow after a doctor's appointment, my 11 year old son is going to help me mark off the 12 inch lines and put string up for the squares.

I may plant the smaller bed. So, tomorrow I'll be planting cucumber, bush beans, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, the first batch of carrots (staggered planting by 2 weeks) and chives. I have to wait until my herbs come in, and then I can plant cilantro. My son can't wait to plant the corn in the bigger one. My Father-in-law said not to plant my herbs in the bigger plot. He said he'll make me a little herb garden closer to the house, so I can sit on the porch and look at it. I think he's planning on putting them all in pots and then on paving stones. So I guess I could redo my planning and take out the herbs and add more vegetagles. That's a good thing because I read that you need one 4 X 4 plot per person in the family. That would actually make us one short. He said he has enough materials to make me another 4 x 8 plot, but we'll have to wait on the composted dirt.

I also have a compost pile, though I'm not very good at composting. He's much better than I am. I think I get impatient. We blew out a big 2 ft thick projection TV, and in the spirit of recycling, we used the base for a compost bin. I had a little in it, so my Father-in-law added all the trimmings from the pompus grass that had been lying there all winter, and a bag of leaves. He told me to just wet it daily for about 6 weeks before I even think about turning it. My husband is going to bring a 55 gallon drum home, and cut either huge holes, or the whole bottom out so I'll have a working compost. The working one is the one where you put your scraps from the kitchen in, or grass clippings, and then cover with dry leaves. He told me to put the ice cream bucket full of table scraps and clippings from cutting vegetables in the bottom and then cover with about 3 inches of leaves each time.

Hopefully as this progresses, I'll be able to get my husband to take some pictures of it with his camera phone.

Planning for this Spring

Even though I'm going through treatments for cancer, I'm planning my garden. I have to be optimistic.

Right now, I have one plot roughly 4' by 4'. My Father-in-law is going to build me another one that's 2' by 4'. That's not much, but it will have to do. He's also bringing me enough compost to fill both. Of course, the one I have is half filled now.

I ordered Heritage seeds from Emergency Essentials (http://beprepared.com/). They were currently having a sale on seeds but I went there and apparently they're out already. It WAS a great deal. I think the original price was $39.99 and I got it for $18.99. Heritage (or Heirloom) seeds (in my opinion) are better that running down to Walmart and buying a seed packet. I also bought an herb packet with a variety of non-GMO (Genetically Modified Organism)herbs.

I have the book Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew, and it's absolutely fantastic. I haven't tried the whole method yet, because my Walmart seeds didn't come up last year. So this will be an experiment for me. I have planned the following seeds:

Cucumber
Beans, Bush
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Peppers, Green
Onions, Yellow
Lettuce, Leaf
Carrots
Corn
Peas
Basil
Borage
Cilantro
Rooted Parsley
Thyme
Chives
Dill
Anise
Catnip

Admittedly, there's only one or two squares dedicated to each one, which my only supplement our family's needs, but at least we'll have something.

I fully expect food prices to sky-rocket. If that's the case, we may need to fence the garden with concertina wire. And I'm only half joking.

So, right now I'm waiting on my Father-in-law to bring me the second garden. Then we can string off the 1 foot squares and start planting. I can't wait.