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dmyankee - it all comes down to a matter of trust. Recent events have shown that investment business CANNOT BE TRUSTED. They took the savings of billions and squandered it on phony investments, fraudulent bookkeeping and endless gambling with our money. I expect my private sector accounts are devastated so my retirement has been postponed indefinitely.
I barely trust the government but I would far prefer my air, water, minimal food and shelter as well as my pension be provided by the government than by some greed addled mega manager. The former may be inefficient but the latter will ALWAYS steal your money for their self aggrandizement. It is not a matter of if but of when.
City dwellers can grow a lot of food on a small amount of land with the right knowledge and tools. If you can grow flower and plants to make your yard pretty you can feed yourself if you want.
Garden Girl Patti's excellent at what she does in her city back yard. She has a lot of videos that show you how to build raised beds, raise fish in your backyard pond, grow vegetables, raise chickens and rabbits and much more.
Last edited by Maine Writer; 10-16-2008 at 05:38 AM..
Reason: chaging to a better link
City dwellers can grow a lot of food on a small amount of land with the right knowledge and tools. If you can grow flower and plants to make your yard pretty you can feed yourself if you want.
Garden Girl Patti's excellent at what she does in her city back yard. She has a lot of videos that show you how to build raised beds, raise fish in your backyard pond, grow vegetables, raise chickens and rabbits and much more.
How cool!! I love those raised beds. I'm already thinking ahead of all the veggies we eat routinely so I can have a plan of attack when the next growing season starts. I can't even imagine how much money we'll be able to save if we grow all our own produce, especially since we eat primarily veggies.
I'm glad to see this thread moving back around to a discussion of self-reliance and simple living. It seems to me that this conversation brings into focus the contrast between the "two Maines." Here, I am reading about how people would be prepared, as individuals and as communities of neighbors, to see themselves through hard times.
We have a bunch of oats. We are preparing to get a bunch of barley and then corn as well. We have already shifted our livestock to eating straight grain as well as home-mixed sweet feed. [obviously they free-range, so we only feed them as we pen them up at night]
We have now began a series of experiments into making people food from the grains. It is interesting.
Quote:
... In some places, perhaps all too often including southern Maine, the focus is on ways the government can do more and more to make life easy for people even in good times. I do see that it's understandable that people who live in cities would rely more on government to at least help them out at a basic level if they personally encounter truly difficult times.
City folk do what city folk do.
Quote:
... It's refreshing to see people anticipating the possibility of tough times by planning ways that they and their neighbors can be self-sufficient, ...
After reading so much about gardening, it got me thinking that when I get back there, would I endeavor to plan a garden and care for it properly? I'm not really a garden type person. I would rather expend my energy doing something more fun. But, if working in the garden means eating better and saving money then maybe I could convince myself that gardening is fun.
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Some people have gardens that are works of art. They are tended daily and there is not a weed in it. My vegetables need to be survivors. They need to compete. I can't tend a garden daily. I just harvest what survives and the deer get the rest. One thing to consider if you have a garden in Maine is defending it against the deer, woodchucks and various other critters.
Last week I was reminded of an old quote that pertains to our present situation. We don't know exactly what will happen, but we do know what our direction is.
“The centipede was happy, quite,
Until the toad for fun
Said, ’Pray which leg comes after which?’
This worked her mind to such a pitch
She lay distracted in a ditch,
Considering how to run.”
We need to stay focused on our preps and aware of what's going on around us. Those two traits that we cultivate will get us through this next decade much better than most people and Mainers have each other much more so than many areas of our country. Don't be like the centipede, franticly wondering what to do next.
I used to be a Maine guide. I took people out of their comfort zone into areas and situations they had never experienced. A guide reassures people that they are doing the right way, doing the right thing and sometimes that they are having a good time. Sometimes they are so busy they don't even realize they are having a good time.
A lady was sitting at the shore of a remote lake. I walked down from the campsite to her and she was crying. I was worried that she was not having a good time and I asked what was wrong. She turned to me and said, "It's so beautiful." It is indeed folks.
After reading so much about gardening, it got me thinking that when I get back there, would I endeavor to plan a garden and care for it properly? I'm not really a garden type person. I would rather expend my energy doing something more fun. But, if working in the garden means eating better and saving money then maybe I could convince myself that gardening is fun.
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There's nothiong FUN about gardening. It has rewards but make no mistake a garden is work!
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