Steve Solomon was/is a professional gardener and nowhere is this more apparent than in his discussion on seeds. He also continues to demonstrate his understanding of the importance of gardening in our lives and it is in this context that he presents his knowledge of seeds, saying:

“It (gardening) is life itself. It is independence. It is health for my family. And for people going through hard times, a thriving veggie garden can be the difference between painful poverty and a much more pleasant existence.”

The author begins the chapter, topically, with a presentation of “The mail order seed business”. Here he explains the seed business and the development of various seed and seed types from the point of view of the professional seedsman, the retailer and the home gardener.

With the foregoing information in mind he moves on to recommend to the home gardener, in his “Adapted to the region” section, this:
“When you purchase seeds, you have a far higher likelihood of a successful result if the supplier’s trial grounds are located in roughly the same climatic zone as your garden.”

He then continues by presenting and explaining key climates with their individual characteristics until he comes to “Who to buy from”. Here, he presents recommendations for seed buying, based on his years as a seedsman , by climate types. Here is an example for “Warm climates”:

“Park Seed Company: Virtually every variety the company offers represents the finest breeding attainable, entirely appropriate to its semi-tropical climate….It’s as good as it gets.”

Mr. Solomon then briefly discusses importing seeds and follows with his “Making seeds come up” section and intro into a series of discussions of seeding techniques. This series includes germination, watering, and thinning of your garden plants. This a serious discussion providing not just techniques but the all important “Whys”.

The author then moves on to “Growing your own” . Here he discusses topics like “Dry and wet seed “ and “Seed from hybrids” and other seed varieties (i.e., open – pollinated) with an informative chart on “Vegetables by method of pollination”.

There’s a small section in about the middle of this chapter we’d like to call particular attention to: “Saving on seed purchases”. In this little gem-of-a-section, Mr. Solomon not only tells you how to save money in buying your seed but explains the nature of the seed itself and then gives the home gardener clear and concise instructions on how to simply and inexpensively save/preserve your seeds at home. Invaluable!

Chapter 5 would rate as a valuable reference piece for the home gardener all by itself but , fortunately, it is surrounded by a lot of equally important gardening information in the preceding and successive chapters. We plan on reviewing Chapter 6 in the coming days. Stay tuned.

Until next week; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.

• … Globally renowned commodities expert and investor Jim Rogers says world’s focus in the coming years is going to be on agricultural commodities and food prices. According to him, the prices of agricultural commodities and food are going to continuously rise in the coming years. “Commodity prices are going to shoot up. The challenge is that people are eating more foods these days. But the supply of food products is coming down,” he said. Rogers, who is now settled in Singapore and who has been heavily into agricultural commodities in China, says that THE BIGGEST PROBLEM THAT THE FOOD SECTOR FACES IS THAT THE INVENTORIES OF FOOD ARE THE LOWEST NOT IN YEARS BUT IN DECADES (caps/PH).
• “Food supply is going to remain down since we have serious production problems. At the same time people are eating more and we are burning some of our foods as fuels.” said Jim Rogers.

PH Comment: Aren’t we glad that we’re continually expanding our stored foods and our food production (e.g., gardening) skills?

Until next time; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weather’s changing fast.

• “I suspect there will be some seeds you just won’t be able to buy if you wait (to order your garden seeds) too long on it,” said Bill Hart, the wholesale manager in charge of seed purchasing at Chas. C. Hart Seed Company in Wethersfield, Conn.
• “The problem is primarily due to soggy weather last year that resulted in a disappointing seed crop. European seed growers also had a bad year, leading to a big increase in orders for American seeds.” (Please note that this means that American home gardeners are competing with their European counterparts for available garden seed during difficult economic times both in the US and the EU/PH) Demand for seeds in the U.S. soared last year, as the poor economy and worries about chemical use and bacteria contamination prompted many people to establish gardens.”
• “Kathy Gocke of Bondurant, Iowa said she orders early for herself and her county’s master gardener’s program and advises others to do the same.”
• “Burpee Seeds in Warminster, Pa., bills itself as the largest provider of home garden seeds, and Chief Executive Officer George Ball said the company’s huge reserves mean it will have plenty of seeds. But Ball said he understands why others might have limited supplies after a big spike in demand in the past two years.
• “It was unlike anything I’ve seen in the past 30 years,” he said.

PH Comment: What if Mr. Ball’s estimate -“plenty”- of his company’s “huge reserves” of seed are wrong and/or demand from Europe and the US far exceed his expectations? What about next year? Have you noticed the weather in the US this year?

• “ Barbara Melera, owner of D. Landreth Seeds of New freedom, Pa., expects carrot seeds to be especially hard to find because of big orders from Europe, which had a poor crop last year. Also, fewer farmers are opting to grow seeds, she said. Many now have switched to growing corn for the biofuels industry. “In this country farmers who grow things for seed are becoming an endangered species,” Melera siad. “The farmers producing things for seeds is reduced significantly, and in the past two or three years they can get more money for growing corn for ethanol plants than carrots for seeds.”

At the end of a review and commentary on Chapter 4 of Steve Solomon’s book “Gardening when it counts – Growing Food In Hard Times” a short time ago, we recommended that the home/family gardener obtain their seeds from a regional seedsman or one with a climate similar to their own. Please let us amend that recommendation now to: buy seeds for your garden from any reliable seedsman – again with emphasis on those varieties that do well in your area (If you have any questions, check with your county ’Ag’ agent of state university), buy enough for two full gardens MINIMUM, and buy them NOW.
We plan a review with commentary on Chapter 5 – Seeds, of Mr. Solomon’s book next week. Please stay tuned.
Until next time; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.

It is because of the serious nature of gardening and providing food in hard times that the author wants to provide information on the gardening center. His goal here is to aid the home gardener avoid the pitfalls and mistakes abundant in dealing with these centers. He’s very aware that most of us family gardeners get our seeds and vegetable transplants from this/these sources and with that in mind he reminds us:

“… the garden has to be given the same degree of attention that other enthusiasts give to selecting the right fishing lure, modifying their automobile, or refining their golf swing.”

Mr. Solomon begins with  the topic of “Transplants ” and by identifying some of the vegetables that are very difficult to transplant and some that transplant relatively easily.

He continues his presentation by discussing the problems of seedling mislabeling and poor variety choices along with what to look for when choosing seedlings for transplant. By way of further guidance he offers this; “… make sure you can trust the seller.”
The author then moves on to the topic of growing your own seedlings and presents an easy way to do so; beginning with having the right soil for growing seedlings and then proceeding on with how to use it in various containers.
Fertilizer for seedlings comes next, in a careful discussion combined with recommendations  that include the all-important “whys and how’s”. Here’s a brief example concerning the use of coffee grounds:

“Used coffee grounds are a seed meal that hot water has been passed through. Judging by how coffee makes leap forward, I would reckon the grounds to be about half as strong as chicken manure. … They could also be put in a compost heap in place of chicken manure.”

“The garden center seedrack” gets its own section with this critical seed-choice guideline: “… I learned that every product or service could be compared to a three-legged stool with the legs being price, quality, and service. If lowered one leg, you had to lower the others accordingly or the stool tilted…”.
Commercial quality seed is discussed as well in this chapter along with the critically important aspect of vigor. These areas of discussion are enhanced with an excellent two-page “Germination standards” chart that shows a number of common garden seeds with their germination standards/rates from the USDA, a high quality seedsman, and commercial quality seeds. Also presented is a column that gives seed-storage longevity graded in years.
Lastly, “Regionality” is presented as an important aspect in seed choice that allows the home/family gardener another way to improve gardening results.

PrudentHome Comments: Mr. Solomon’s Chapter 4 reminds us, directly and indirectly:

1. Choose your garden seeds from a regional seedsman or one with a climate that is similar to yours.
2. One of your gardening reference BOOKS should be geared to gardening in your climate and your micro-climate if possible.
3. The serious gardener/food producer must keep good records. Like all long-term sustainability: it has to begin, operate, and end with a pencil and a notebook.

Until next time; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.

Worse yet to come?

The comments we heard/saw varied from “No way!” to “We already knew that.”

It’s PrudentHomes’ view that the information/”signs” has value because:

A. They have been brought together in one place suitable for a quick copy (and then as a basis for further discussion) and

B. Whether any of the signs are of “… The Final Economic Plunge” or not they could have a profound/negative effect on the Prudent family. Here are three of the signs with some of their commentary:

1. “Price Inflation Of Oil: For a long time, oil has been traded on the world markets exclusively in U.S. dollars. Oil and the dollar are therefore intimately connected. Oil will be the first commodity to reveal any inflation (or hyperinflation) in the dollar breakdown.”

2. “Grocery Store Peculiarities: Wholesale prices of goods have recently been increasing far beyond what mainstream economists had predicted, hinting at the first steps towards inflation… Eventually, stores and manufacturers can no longer absorb the inflation, and either raise their prices, or diminish their volume. Keep careful note of your local grocery stores.”

3. “Terror Attack / New War: The world is on the brink as it is. If a terrorist attack (false flag attack), or a new war arises, it is time to collect your gear, your family, your friends, and make for the hills (if that’s where you plan to go). Any new and extended threat of conflict in 2010 will be used as an excuse to institute martial law and subjugation of civil liberties, not to mention trigger a financial meltdown…”

PrudentHome Comment: We have mentioned several times in this new year that NOW is a great time to raise you and your families’ awareness level as to events, situations and conditions. The foregoing three “signs” are examples of what we meant/mean. Please read the article and consider any of the “signs” mentioned as a trigger, at least, for immediate action to pull together any loose ends in your program of family preparedness.

Until next time; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.

• “Legendary investor Jim Rogers remains bullish on commodities and says the world will soon face food shortages.”
• “The inventories are now at the lowest they’ve been in decades, not in years.
• And that trend is just intensifying Rogers tells CNBC.
• “Things are getting worse. Many farmers can’t get loans to buy fertilizer now, even though we have big shortages developing.”
• And what will be the end result of this dynamic?
• “Sometime in the next few years we’re going to have very serious shortages of food everywhere in the world, and prices are going to go through the roof,” Rogers said.

Credit: lollyknit

Seed Shortage: PrudentHome is presenting information from this hometownannapolis.com article from             1/16/10 by Susan Reimer entitled “Seed shortage may come in 2010” because  we’ve been advocating that the prudent, prepared/preparing family have a MINIMUM of two gardens worth of garden seed on hand for their home garden: one to plant and one to save for “situations”. Here’s some of the “Why”:

• “Will there be a shortage of vegetable seeds for gardeners in 2010?
• It is possible, says Barbara Melera, owner of the oldest seed house in the country, D. Landren Seeds, formerly of Baltimore and noe of New Freedom, Pa.”
• “ … she said, “In 2009, we had the worst growing season in 60 years.” Rain and disease destroyed crops and with them, the seeds for next years garden.”
• “We are being told that many, many varieties simply won’t be available.”
• “Word of possible shortages must be leaking out, Melera said, because retailers are telling her that they had their best December in years.”

PrudentHome Comment: In our last post, we advocated that the prudent family expand their food storage program and their garden seed reserve (to two years worth of garden seeds MINIMUM).
We again advocate these expansions but add an ASAP. It looks to us as though things are very uncertain and that that uncertainty is growing. Oh, and keep your awareness level high to give yourselves as much lead time as possible for situation changes in areas such as food and seed availability.

Until next time; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.

A Brief Apology: For over a month now, we here at PrudentHome have been dealing with a severe illness in one of the senior members of our family. It has taken our time, our effort and our concentration in order to give that family member the care and help they so richly deserve. It has not taken our commitment to strive to give the readers of PrudentHome our best efforts in helping them prepare for what we are sure are the difficult times ahead. We have been sporadic in our postings during this trial but we have been posting. We will continue on with our best efforts. Thank you.

Fragile Food Production: Food production in the world appears to be growing more fragile by the day as food producers fight challenges like the weather (climate change), oil price fluctuations, pests (Ug99), water availability, and a growing shortage of farmland. Now there’s a new concern: food production expectations. Here’s what it looks like in the headline from a World Net Daily (wnd.com) post this 1/10/10: “Government cover-up of food production shortage feared – Reports show demand growing, production declines estimated at 30%”. Here are some of the articles key points:

• “While trend experts, economists and investment gurus have been predicting food shortages for some time, new evidence indicates the U.S. Department of Agriculture mat be covering up the greatest food shortage in modern history.”

• “ … growing economies in Asia have ben consuming record amounts of raw goods, particularly food staples as consumers move to higher calorie diets. When supplies are reduced and demand is constant or growing, pieces normally rise.

Industry observers and economists remained mystified by the low agricultural prices in spite of this trend.One analyst, Eric DeCarbonnel from MarketSkeptics believes the answer is found in data he believes the U.S. Department of Agriculture has manipulated to keep prices low.

“Instead of adjusting production estimates down to reflect decreased production, [the USDA] adjusted estimates upwards to match increasing demand from China. In this way, the USDA has brought supply and demand back into balance (on paper) and temporarily delayed a rise in food prices by ensuring a catastrophe in 2010,” he said.

DeCarbonnel points out that across the Midwest United States, many counties already have been declared federal disaster areas, which is defined by a decrease in crop production of at least one type by 30 percent or more. Hundreds of other counties across the country have experienced crop failures of 10-20 percent, not enough to qualify as federal disaster areas but still contributing to the overall poor harvest.”

• “DeCarbonnel’s conclusion is that the government is intentionally covering up the nature of the food shortage because if the public realized the true extent of the crisis and/or prices rose dramatically, economies could collapse and governments could fall.

He’s not alone in his claims, as researchers around the world are now publishing similar accusations.”

For a more extensive treatment of this subject/information, go here:
http://www.marketskeptics.com/2009/12/2010-food-crisis-for-dummies.html

This is the kind of information that has led/leads PrudentHome to encourage its readers to: expand your food storage program (and purchase your garden seeds for this years garden ASAP – enough for two gardens MINIMUM) and keep your awareness of what’s going on at the highest level.

Until next time, keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.

Chapter 3 – Tools and tasks: If Mr. Solomon’s book title and his first two

Photo Credit: Marc Smith

chapters left you with the slightest doubt about his seriousness concerning gardening in hard times then his ‘Chapter 3’ on tools and tasks will dispel that doubt.  His first section begins:

• “The basic three and a file – To handle a garden up to a quarter acre (1,000 square meters) in size, if are minimally fit (I said “minimally fit”; I did not say male nor did I say huge), only four tools are essential: an ordinary combination shovel, a common hoe, a bow rake, and a 10- to 12-inch long (25- to 30 centimeter) metal file (with handle) to periodically sharpen the  shovel and hoe. … “
• “Please do not buy cheap discount store tools. If you are what Australians call ’skint’ (broke). You will do better pawing through secondhand shops until you find good ones. Where can you find quality new tools? I suggest a visit to a commercial hardware store, landscapers or nursery supply company, or contractor’s supply store and inspect what they sell to trades people. … Quality tools aren’t cheap, but they work out to be the least costly in the long run.”

PH Comment: Here we would add a fifth tool; a “file card” to clean the file’s grooves after use each use and before a coat of oil is applied to prevent rust in- between filings. Also, consider -since there are only four basic tools- having a reliable back-up for each of these important four. Too, the standard “T” rake works very well for us in place of the bow rake (later in the book, Mr. Solomon acknowledges “I could do it with a “T” rake …”) and is easier to find.

Each of these ‘basic three and a file’ are discussed thoroughly, including their application, from the beginning with ’How to start a new garden” through  several types of gardens, including ’Raised beds and raised rows’ and ’Making hills’. Mr. Solomon keeps it clear, simple and workable

The author has a very special and brief section in the chapter called “Hills and survival gardening“.  Here’s just a small piece:

• Imagine this : It is spring planting time, but nothing has been dug and you urgently need to make a garden. There is sod. You have a shovel, some seeds and not much else. What do you do? Garden like the Native Americans taught us … . Don’t even consider growing any demanding vegetables. You’ll grow easy stuff: winter squash, corn, sunflowers, … tomatoes … .”
• Mr. Solomon then goes on to tell us how to prepare the soil, plant, fertilize and expand the garden under difficult conditions. Here also, he gives special attention to the potato and it’s growing.
• The balance of the chapter contains some expanded gardening instruction, tool selection, tool use and tool maintenance as well as an excellent chart on measuring soil amendments.
• There is then a section on miscellaneous tools such as the wheelbarrow, sprayer, small kitchen knife and bucket. As with the ’basic three and a file’, all are thoroughly, if briefly. discussed as to types, acquisition, use and maintenance.

Then the final section: ’Care of tools’. It’s here that the author shows us a brief glimpse of the complete gardener: “Once tools were expensive, valued, and cared for. … people have forgotten how to care for valuable tools.” Mr. Solomon reminds us of the value of tools: the value in using them well and maintaining them well especially under conditions where they might be hard to come by.

Until next time; keep your eyes on the horizon as the weathers changing fast.