On the right hand column of this blog is a listing for a guy called Mayberry. Click on the words A BREATH OF FRESH AIR and get some inspiration. This guy is just starting but he seems to be the type who will be in the race for a long time. He will lift you up with his unabashed honesty in his outlook. It is nice to know that we are not alone. Every blogger makes us that much stronger.
The tractor is tilling our garden as I type. I have been down there watching it go to it. That 7' John Deere Frontier machine is doing a real job on that dirt. I won't plant until next weekend but I can hoe and dream and all of that. The Frontier line of machines from John Deere are not made by John Deere but carry a guarantee by them and use the Frontier name. The tiller is actually a Maschio, which is an Italian company that put up a plant in this country. I ran up on these people and their tillers 18 years ago and I was soundly impressed. They are sturdy as all get-out. You can get them in widths of 4' to 18'. Being from the hills of southern Indiana I can hardly imagine any use for an 18' tiller in these parts. But North of Indy you can till all day if you want! Flat and good dirt.
I am wanting to get a BIG crop of Beans and Corn and Tomatoes. That aint a perfect diet by any means but it will take care of a lot of things. As I have stated in the past, I am a protein enthusiast and Beans and Corn will handle the load if I can get some Dolomite Limestone to make lime water. I'll get it.
My prepping bill will go down if I can get the basics growing in the garden and get them stored for the Winter. I will have to get my next years Tomato seeds before I can them but I don't foresee a problem with that. Of course, just because I can't see a problem with it does not mean there will not be one! The best laid plans of mice and men, etcetera. Mr. Murphy still hangs out at the disaster office in case he is needed. His Law is still in effect.
My keeping abreast of the news has led me to believe that prices are going no where but up in this country for at least the next two years. The big banks and stock firms have all been saved but we peons will have to make it as best we can. I don't have a bank account and I don't own a share of stock so I can hardly be expected to give a damn about either one of them. And I don't know anyone who DOES own any stock. But the whole federal apparatus and the federal reserve just really busts ass to protect these institutions. That is where the rich keep their money and that is where I can't gain any meaningful membership. But I have my wits and my friends in survivalism and I might just fool a bunch of idiots and make it just fine! And all that corn and beans and all those jars of tomatoes will look mighty good when the price of everything doubles.
If you run out of non-hybrid corn seed, go ahead and plant hybrid for food. You've been eating the stuff for years and another Winter ain't gonna make any difference. Just don't try to save any of it for seed! And it might help to plant it away from your non-hybrid plants. I don't know that for sure but I will do it myself until I know any different. It's best to err on the side of safety.
I just got done lecturing a young mother on the subject of "roasting ears". I told her that she may as well plant field corn and save the money on her seed. She will NOT buy non-hybrid seed and thus her corn can be any damn thing she wants to plant. For people of this mind, learn to tell when your corn is in the "milk" and when it is in the "dent". The milk is when the kernals are all plump and rounded and domed, and can yet be pushed down a little bit with a fingernail. This is your "Sweet" corn. And if you don't think it is sweet then you know nothing about the high fructose corn sweetener business in this country. When it gets in the dent it is time to let it finish because the softness has gone out of it and it ain't good anymore for your table. And the sign of this is an actual dent in the top of the kernal. When your corn goes into dent then all you have left to do is wait until the ears turn DOWN on the stalks. Unfinished corn will point upward with its silk in the air. When it turns down you have what you can grind and make into meal. You get it off the stalk and get it shucked (out of the husk) and you can either store it just like it is or you can shell the kernals off the cob and store them as you wish. But if you store your kernals off the cob you better have them stored properly or you can get into problems with mold or critters. Find an old fashioned corn crib and look at it and study it. That was the way they did it a couple hundred years ago when we were not on an oil based economy.
I will put my bare ears of corn on string and store them along the rafters of my ceiling. That will suffice as I use them up. The Handmaiden just told me that I would NOT be stringing ears of corn from the ceiling. I immediately countered with a strong debate point of rural aesthetics and the ability to encourage other folks to at least equal my production. I don't think I got too far with that one. But I demanded then that she come up with a storage solution that excluded Aflotoxin form our corn supply. That stuff is nasty and it can kill your livestock and I damn sure don't want to eat any of it myself.
We bought fence posts and barbed wire for the garden today. I will be driving fence posts tomorrow. Love it. Now when I see the neighbors cows eating the arden I will get me some free beef and not worry about it.
No matter where you live I will advise you to get in a garden if at all possible. Food is going up folks. Up and up and up. Do what you can to grow your own. If you don't have non-hybrid seed go ahead amd plant the crappy stuff. You can start buying non-hybrid seed this Summer and have it ready to go NEXT Spring.
I'm going to bed. I might have lotsa work to do tomorrow runnin' a post driver.
Stay alive.
Michael
mboone@rtccom.net
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3 comments:
I am hoping to do some planting later ( late june ) but am unsure if it is practical. I will have time and space as of then but not until then. I am also going to get some chickens.
I've got a bank account and a bit of cash in a retirement fund but I will do the best that I can no matter what happens. Planning for both situations is smart as I see it.
Ive had Tomatoes , corn and squash planted since early april,..got horseradish re-seeded from the last 2 years,...Hope the drought will ease up this year,..I lost nearly everything I planted last year.
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Wifes brother and his wife came down this weekend. Spent most of the day trying to show'em what was going on,..she is receptive but he's neck deep in sand... He's working short time at his job and she closed her business and had to take a minimum wage job,...they have a new ford F250 extended cab 4x4 and he was complaining about fuel prises and not being able to drive the monster. Hmmmmm,..seems like I tried my damnedest to talk him out of buying that thing,....Their income is reduced by about 34k a year and they have more debt now than last year.
Anyway,....It amazes me to watch people who would stand on the tracks and deny that a train is bearing down on them. Titanic is slipping beneath the waves and they order more drinks!!
When I asked what they would do in an "event" that disrupted power an or a truckers strike that left the grocery store empty,..they said they would head my way!!
I had to laugh at both of them,...And told him he couldnt even afford to gas up his truck,...they live 230 miles away.
Wow!!! what a dumb look they had!
Gonna plant a garden? Nah,..I dont have time was the response. Gonna stock up on some extra canned goods?......nah,..dont have the extra money.
The brother in law has a fairly good IQ,..but talking to him about survival was like trying to teach quantum theory to 7 year old,...he just didnt get it even when I showed him the water was washing over the bow now. He just grabbed a beer and flopped down on the couch.
Opps,..got off the subject a bit.
Mark
Thanks for the good words Michael. Me, I gotta get outta this damned sandbox I live in before I can plant anything. So if anyone wants some Texas coastal property......
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