here is a very good post off a yahoo group thread.
Long post but worth the read. Really worth the read.
groups.yahoo.com
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Yet another one of my intermittent suggestions on how to take
advantage of particularly seasonal things and prepare for hard times
ahead.
1. If you don't can or dehydrate, now is the time to learn. In most
climates, you can waterbath can or dehydrate with a minimum of
purchased materials, and produce is abundant and cheap. If you
don't garden, check out your local farmstand for day-old produce or
your farmer's market at the end of the day - they are likely to have
large quantities they are anxious to get rid of. Wild fruits are
also in abundance, or will be.
2. Consider dehydrating outer leaves of broccoli, cabbage, etc...,
and grinding the dried mixture. It can be added to flours to
increase the nutritional value of your bread.
3. Simple, cheap insulating strategies (window quilts and blankets,
draft stoppers, etc...) are easily made from cheap or free
materials - goodwill, for example, often has jeans, tshirts and
shrunken wool sweaters, too poor to sell, that can be used for
quilting material and batting. They are available where I am for a
nominal price, and I've heard of getting them free.
4. Stock up for winter as though the hard times will begin this
year. Besides dried and canned foods, don't forget root cellarable
and storable local produce, and season extension (cold frames,
greenhouses, etc...) in your food inventory.
5. Thanksgiving sales tend to be when supermarkets offer the
cheapest deals on excellent supplements to food storage, like
shortening, canned pumpkin, spices, etc... I've also heard of
stores given turkeys away free with grocery purchases - turkeys can
then be cooked, canned and stored. Don't forget to throw in
storable ingredients for your family's holiday staples - in hard
times, any kind of celebration or continuity is appreciated.
6. Buy hay in the summer, rather than gradually over the winter.
Now is an excellent time to put up simple shelters for hay storage,
to avoid high early spring and winter prices.
7. Hit those last summer yard sales, or back to school sales and buy
a few extra clothes for growing children and extra shoes for
everyone. They will be welcome in storage, particularly if prices
rise because of trade issues.
8. The best time to expand your garden is now - till or mulch and
let sod rot over the winter.
9. In many places the construction season now runs into late fall or
even year round. Discarded building materials are available for the
asking on many sites, so check periodically.
10. Rose hip season is coming - most food storage items are low in
accessible vitamin C. Harvest wild or tame unsprayed rose hips, and
dry them for tea to ensure long-term good health.
11. Discounts on alcohol are common between Halloween and Christmas -
this is an excellent time to stop up on booze for personal,
medicinal, trade or cooking. Pick up some vanilla beans as well,
and make your own vanilla out of that cheap vodka.
12. Gardening equipment, and things like rainbarrels go on sale in
the late summer/early fall. And nurseries often are trying to rid
themselves of perennial plants - including edibles and medicinals.
It isn't too late to plant them in most parts of the country,
although some care is needed in purchasing for things that have
become rootbound.
13. Local honey will be at its cheapest now - now is the time to
stock up.
14. Fall is the cheapest time to buy livestock, either for home use
or butchering. Many 4Hers, and those who simply don't want to keep
excess animals over the winter are anxious to find buyers now. In
many cases, at auction, I see animals selling for much less than the
meat you can expect to obtain from their carcass is worth.
15. Most housing has or could have a "cold room/area" - a space that
is kept cool enough during the fall and winter to dispense with the
necessity of a refrigerator, but that doesn't freeze. If you have
seperate fridge and freezer, consider disconnecting your fridge
during the cooler weather to save utility costs and conserve energy.
16. Fall is a great time to build community (and get stuff done) by
instituting a local "work bee" - invite neighbors and friends to
come help either with a project for your household, or to share in
some good deed for another community member. Provide food, drink,
tools and get to work on whatever it is (building, harvesting,
quilting, knitting - the sky is the limit), and at the same time
strengthen your community. Make sure that next year, the work
benefits a different neighbor or community member.
17. Most local charities get the majority of their donations between
now and December. Consider dividing your charitable donations so
that they are made year round, but adding extra volunteer hours to
help your group handle the demands on them in the fall.
18. Many medicinal and culinary herbs are at their peak now.
Consider learning about them and drying some for winter use.
19. If there is a gleaning program near you (either for charity or
personal use) consider joining. If not, start one. Consider amounts
of food are wasted in the harvesting process, and you can either add
to your storage or benefit your local shelters and food pantries.
20. Dig out those down comforters, extra blankets, hats with the
earflaps, flannel jammies, etc... You don't need heat in your
sleeping areas - just warm clothes and blankets.
21.Learn a skill that can be done in the dark or by candlelight,
while sitting with others in front of a heat source. Knitting,
crocheting, whittling, rug braiding, etc... can all be done mostly
be touch with little light, and are suitable for companionable
evenings. In addition, learn to sing, play instruments, recite
memorized speeches and poetry, etc... as something to do on dark
winter evenings.
22. While I wouldn't expect deer or turkey hunting to be a major
food source in coming times (I would expect large game to be driven
back to near-extinction pretty quickly), it is worth having those
skills, and also the skills necessary to catch the less commonly
caught small game, like rabbits, squirrel, etc...
23. Animal shelters receive in influx of discarded, half-grown pets
in the fall. Consider adopting a protective (but not aggressive)
dog, or a good mouser/ratter for your house or barn. They also
provide much needed warmth on the foot of the bed in winter (if you
can persuade them to stay at the foot).
24. How would you fare if seed companies were unable to meet demand
or send seeds next year? Consider stocking up now on cheap seeds
from your local hardware store - while not optimal, it would be
better than nothing in many cases.
25. Celebrate the harvest - this is a time of luxury and plenty,
and should be treated as such and enjoyed that way. Cook, drink,
eat, talk, sing, pray, dance, laugh, invite guests. Winter is long
and comes soon enough. Celebrate!
Sharon in upstate NY |
