Last night I had the opportunity to hang out and do some handcrafts with some friends from my homeschool support group. The five of us are all pretty like-minded when it comes to learning skills, and preparing for an uncertain future. I shared an article I read last week that mentioned the jump in food prices in March. Those jumps have been downplayed by the media, but anyone who shops for food knows prices are only going up, up, up.
Several of us realized we were in the same boat when it comes to our gardens — we are very late getting our next crops in. We are all novices at this, and it would be easy to get discouraged. Instead we encouraged each other to plant those seed anyway – the worst that can happen is we don’t get any produce, but we most likely will see some yield, even if it’s not what it could have been. So this week I’m pulling the spent broccoli plants, adding some compost and planting squash, zucchini, and cucumber seeds. I’ll keep you posted on the progress!
Another thing we talked about while our knitting needles clicked, was how we were each doing on our storage/pantry planning. It was neat to hear what others were doing, and to be reminded to stay on track. We also discovered there were some items we each needed and are going to do another bulk order together soon.
I recently finished reading the book “Independence Days – A guide to Sustainable Food Storage & reservation” by Sharon Astyk. Sharon has done an excellent job of blending practical tips and recipes, with the story of her own journey and the results of her own research regarding food and the decline of natural resources. Even though the information wasn’t necessarily new, it was still a good reminder for me to stay on track. I also picked up some very useful tips and feel better armed to encourage others that they too can start stocking up for an emergency. By the way, there are lots of good reasons to stock your pantry that have nothing to do with the world as we know it coming to an end! Job loss, rising prices, and natural disasters, are a few that come to mind.
One of the things I know I should add to my pantry for long term storage is beans and legumes. Problem is, I don’t know how to prepare them! Once again, my friends came to the rescue. Cooking beans is something that a couple of us have done a lot, whereas myself and one other friend were pretty clueless. After making some notes and pulling a recipe book off my shelf, I am ready to incorporate this power food into our diet. Even as I type this, there is a pot of black beans out in the solar oven!
When I first started thinking about the idea of some key ingredients to moving toward a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle, I really didn’t have friendship on the list. However, I realize that in a society where we’ve either moved away or lost touch with many of our older relatives that can teach us these skills. So, I definitely benefit from the support and information I receive from “friends” who write great blogs about their journey, and friends here in my community who are so willing to share both their failures and successes so we can each get a little further toward our goal.