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.

• “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.

Chapter Three – More Musing On Plants: Here are a few of the chapter’s high points:

• “Indicator Plants: … rather than fighting Nature, select plants that inherently do well on your soil classification.”
• “Seed Saving; There are a number of fairly complicated seed saving techniques — … .
• However, humans had been saving seed for thousands of years before the advent of refrigeration and high tech accessories. … Seeds have two requirements, they should be cool and dry, with emphasis on dry.’
• “Crop Rotation:  … in early 1700’s England, the modern four-field rotation pattern emerged where turnips, clover, wheat, and another grain were rotated continuously with no fallow fields (Sabin 15).
• There are as many rotation schemes as there are farmers; however, it is imperative that each of us discover what works for us.”

Chapter Four: Beyond Plants In The Holistic Garden: Here are a couple of the chapter’s key points:

• “Animals: … By necessity the holistic garden must focus on those animal resources. If desired, that yield their premium bounty in the smallest of spaces.
• Easily the most practical choice of animal for the vast majority of holistic gardens is the chicken. … Six hens can supply an abundance of protein in eggs alone.
• It should be mentioned that animals, except for the microscopic, are not a necessity in a holistic garden. Ultimately, all higher animals depend on plants, not the other way around.”
• “Tools: … Number one, for me is a good, sturdy long-handeled spade shovel.
• After the shovel, I use a garden trowel more than any other tool. A common garden rake, … A good pruner … a sickle … .”
• “Soil & Health: … Every great civilization has slid into oblivion when it has undermined its indigenous food source and tried to rely on imports. … Each civilization tends to believe it is immune from the basic laws of economics.
• There are two worrisome trends that should be on everyone’s minds. One trend is that the human population is increasing each and every year. The other is that the arable land on this planet is decreasing every year.”

Epilogue: ‘If we continue far enough back in time, we eventually will reach th key element that all our modern civilization rests upon, the invention of agriculture.”

Conclusion: Mr. Kraft’s small book is a valuable survey and primer for the growing of some of the most nutritious plants (and animals) available within a small space.  There aren’t many books available today that concentrate on both of these critical aspects of preparedness gardening.

It should be in your home library for these reasons and because of its modest price: $5.95 + shipping from the Bountiful Gardens 2009 Catalog (Item # BGE – 1330) at:

Tel: (707) 459 – 6410

Web Site: www.bountifulgardens.org

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

The Economy–Jobs: For a realistic picture of unemployment we turn this week to Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis (http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com) post 0f 3/27/09:

“Double-digit unemployment rates are un-American.”

“A total of seven states have passed the 10% unemployment rate as the Jobless Slump Spreads.

The number of U.S. states with a jobless rate exceeding 10 percent almost doubled on February as the worst employment slump in the postwar era spread.”

Mish notes in this post that the expectation is for joblessness to increase beyond the “official” 8.1% currently admitted to by the government and that this is the 14^th straight month of increases in unemployment.

But here’s the “ringer”: “…if you start counting all the people that want a job but gave up, all the people with part-time jobs that want a full-time job, all the people who dropped off the unemployment rolls because their unemployment benefits ran out, etc., you get a closer picture of what the unemployment rate is.”

It’s not the reported 8.1% (U3), but more nearly approximates 14.8% (U6).

And here’s the coup degrace: “The pattern is pretty unmistakable. In one year the official unemployment rate rose from 4,8 to 8.1 (3.3) while U6 rose from 9.0 to 14.8 (5.8).

Assuming U3 hits 10%, U6 is likely to be approaching 20%.”

“THESE ARE DEPRESSION LEVEL STATISTICS.” (caps ours)

Gardening Addendum: Adding to Prudent Home’s gardening post of 3/28/09 is this comment from the “Dollars from dirt: Economy spurs home garden boom” article (yahoo.com) by Gillian Flaccus (3/15/09) we commented on; “Industry surveys show double digit growth in the number of home gardeners this year and mail-order companies report such a tremendous demand that some have run out of seeds for basic vegetables such as onions, tomatoes and peppers.”

“We’re selling out,” said George Ball, CEO of Burpee Seeds, the largest mail-order seed company on the U.S. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Prudent Home’s contacts at our local “country” hardware store shows the same situation; they’re unable to meet their full demand for seeds.

In speaking with friends and family, we’ve recommended buying enough seeds for two full gardens: one for this year (summer & winter) and one for next.

Food prices are officially predicted to rise by 6-9% this year (we believe that they may go higher) and, along with growing unemployment and possible rising fuel prices, demand for vegetable garden seeds is unlikely to do anything but rise.

Next Week: We hope touch base again on family food storage.

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

THE ECONOMY: On December 30, 2008 (Tuesday), PrudentHome ran a tiny section called “What We See For 2009” giving four of our predictions for the U.S. in the coming year. There was a fifth and we neglected to include it.  Here it is:

# 5. The standard of living will decline for the average U.S. citizen during 2009. ‘Sorry’ we left it out on Tuesday and even more sorry we see it coming for 2009.

COMMUNITY GARDENS: Energy Bulletin (energybulletin.net) on December 30, 2008 in it’s Food & Agriculture section presented an excellent little piece entitled, “Community Gardens Contribute to Food Security” by Stephanie Nieuwoudt, IPS.. While the articles’ specific geography refers to South Africa, the rationale, technical contents of the article, and it’s relevance to families everywhere today is clear. Here’s an excerpt:

“In the global economic downturn where food insecurity has increased due to soaring food prices [projected to increase 6-9% in the U.S. in 2009], backyard and community gardens are some of the most basic survival strategies…A backyard garden four times the size of an ordinary door, can supply a household of six people with fresh vegetables for a year. By replanting and ensuring that the ground is fertilized well, the four-door garden can be farmed fruitfully for years.”

“Trench gardening is also popular in the townships,” said Visser. “The people dig trenches into which all their biodegradable waste is thrown. It is covered with soil and seeds are sown on top. The soil is high in nutrients and it can be farmed for up to four years before new compost is needed.”

3 GARDENS: Buy enough garden seeds to plant three full gardens. Here’s why:

1. One third of the seeds will be used to plant this years garden with any extras saved for a second sowing/planting later in the season or year.
2. The second third will be saved to compensate for bad weather or for next years’ garden.
3. The last third is your insurance policy for “eventualities”. Stuff happens: your early efforts at seed-saving aren’t as successful as you’d hoped/planned, a whole stretch of bad weather, helping out family or neighbors in need to develop their own garden, future seed availability or expense …

Note: All seeds should be open-pollinated, varieties developed to grow successfully in your climate, and represent foods you and your family will eat at minimum.

–PLUS : “Plus” here refers to perennial fruit and nut trees. These can form a foundation for your families’ on-going food security as they produce year after year with modest maintenance (fertilization, pruning, insect control, etc). Remember, if you have limited space there are dwarf varieties designed to use very little space or can even be grown in containers. Think “up” too, as there are some perennial food-producing vines that can be trellised.

Note: Perennial fruit and nut trees share the possibility, with garden seeds, of having their purchase and maintenance expenses shared with family, friends, or neighbors especially when a sharing of their production is offered.

Like vegetables, varieties should be chosen to grow successfully in your climate and represent foods that you and your family will eat.

We’ll have some more home gardening ideas to share next week. Until then, keep your eyes on the horizon.