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“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Rain, rain, go away......Pretty please?!

Ugghhh! We have had rain here almost everyday for 3 weeks and the days that it has not rained have been pretty cloudy. I think in the past 3 weeks we have had maybe 3 days that actually had some sunshine. It is extraordinarily frustrating, especially in the garden area. My summer garden was hit by a super high heat wave and extremely dry conditions which led to a poor harvest. We got some things out of the garden but not nearly what I expected or needed. The fall garden looked like it was going to be much better with the exceptions of getting the broccoli and cauliflower to germinate (more about that in another post). The pumpkins and butternut squash have been going to town and are both loaded with little squash. Now with all of the extra moisture the little squash are beginning to rot...on the vine. Yesterday after the rain finally stopped I picked off 3 mushy butternut and one mushy pumpkin. I pray that I get a few off of each plant as there is simply not enough time to replant and there is more rain in the forecast. I guess our 3 year drought is definitely over and for that I am grateful, but couldn't it have ended a little more quietly and in a more subtle way. Do we have to make up for 3 years of no rain in a month's time span? I keep thinking about times past and those of our ancestors that depended on their gardens as their only source of food. We fortunately have the grocery store, but what if we didn't? What would I feed my family through the winter. We certainly did not get enough out of the garden this summer to get to next summer and it looks like the fall garden will also be sparse. If it weren't for the grocery and farmer's markets then my family would go hungry quite a bit this winter. Much more incentive to harvest when there is plenty and figure out what can be eaten instead. Foraging is something that comes to mind when I think about these things. We have been harvesting the bumper crop of acorns and pecans this fall, and simply cannot gather and process them fast enough. The dandelions are doing extremely well. While we do forage a little, we are certainly far from hard core foragers. Maybe that is a skill that needs to be sharpened and practiced? You never know what the future holds and the grocery might eventually not be so reliable. With the rumors flying about the oil trading countries moving to a basket of currencies outside of the dollar oil prices will skyrocket in this country and everything dependant on those prices. I noticed this past summer that grocers were slimming down there shelves and offering fewer choices. That means that they could slim those shelves down even further and hunger will wind its way into every American town. Preparation is the key and those unprepared will be faced with wide eyed stare of hungry children. So, this year's garden season has taught me one very valuable lesson....survival is not as easy as we think it is.

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