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Conversations With ’Pop’ Smith: Little Projects

PH: Pop, haven’t seen you around lately. What have you been up to?

Pop: ’Been’ working on some “little” projects. Here are three that may be of interest to your readers:

1. ’Got’ this tip from ’Pack Rat” a couple of weeks ago at one of our coffee and fishing socials: get hold of one of those counterfeit money detection pens from your local business/office supply store. The purpose here would be to check your “stash cash” in order to make sure it’s real money. You can be sure that in an emergency, your local “Quick Stop” clerk will check your cash when you pay up for your gas.

2. You might want to set up some two-pack combos for fire starting kits for your neighbors in an emergency: use a couple of plastic, zip-lock type pill pouches that measure about 1&¾ in. X 3in. In one, put a regular book of matches and one of those little “can’t-blow-it-out” birthday candles, and in the other, put in about a half-dozen Vaseline soaked cotton balls. Put both filled and closed pill pouches in a zip-lock type sandwich bag to keep them together. Remember to tell your neighbors how to use this kit because if they have to ask you for “fire”, they may not know.

3. ‘Took’ your advice and ordered extra garden seed for my 2010 (or an “event”) garden and went a bit beyond that to have enough for next Christmas’ stocking stuffers for family. I guess there might be enough too, to have for barter – if I cut and tape a few of those bank envelopes you get back from the teller at the drive-thru – or charity, if I limit the “new” packs to 10-12 seeds each.

See you around.

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

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Greek Economy = U.S. Economy?

Greek Economy (=U.S. Economy?): For a kind of “This is what can happen when things go into the ‘break bad’ mode” observation, we look to LATOC (lifeaftertheoilcrash.net) on 2/15/10 to find: “Greece passes new law banning ‘large’ cash transactions”. More here: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE61824V20100209

“From Jan 1, 2011, every transaction above 1500 euros between natural persons and businesses, or between businesses, will not be considered legal if it is done in cash. Transactions will have to be done through debit or credit cards.”

LATOC Comment: “Welcome to the NWO. Coming to a country near you soon.”

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

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Book Review and Commentary of Steve Solomon’s “Gardening when it counts – Growing Food in Hard Times”

Weather Report: Continuing Book Review and Commentary of Steve Solomon’s “Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times”, Chapter 5 – Seeds

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.

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