Saturday, January 3, 2009

Food For Thought...

No pun intended with the headline, OK?

As if we needed any more of a reason to grow what we can of our own food, this little video should be a validation for us. Here is a professional telling us what we already know. This is some sobering stuff, and worth repeating!

Certainly got my attention...




This video makes some very valid points, in my opinion. So, when getting all the preps together let's not forget those seeds...preferably some Heirloom seeds.

That's all for now. What do you say to a fresh cup of coffee, my friend?

26 comments:

Cygnus MacLlyr said...

Hey Hermit,
This is the one we discussed earlier... I'd viewed it on Molly's Site.

Funny... [or not (coincidence? can't be, 'cause I don't believe in them)...] how so many of like mindset see the Gods In The Machine working to.. working ... to...

WHAT???

What is a good enough question; i'll leave it be for now...

Brew it strong on the morrow; I think we're gonna need it...

Lois said...

Good Morning, Hermitjim,


Too true. That is why I am so grateful for my 5 acres and all I am learning from websites like yours.

I am already planning my seed order for the spring. We just had another inch of snow here in upstate New York. Looking at pictures of green, growing things keeps the cabin fever at bay.

After this video I'm ready for another cuppa. Question: do we know if the coffee we're brewing has Monsanto's sticking fingers involved???

Lois

Anonymous said...

Hi Jim, great minds think alike as they say lol. I have the links to all 9 in that series on my site (the future of food post)if you haven't already seen them all. It certainly is some scary stuff!

HermitJim said...

Hey Cygnus...thanks for coming by. I wasn't sure if this was the one or not, but it certainly contains some valid information.

Thanks again for coming by!

HermitJim said...

Hel Lois...I appreciate the visit this morning and agree with you 100% about how lucky we are to be able to have enough land to grow a few of our own veggies.

One thing about living on the Texas coast, very little snow! In fact, it has been in the 70's the past couple of days and looks to be headed that way today!Sorry!

Thanks again for the visit!

HermitJim said...

Hey Molly...sorry, but I didn't know that you had already posted this video. I got this one from Brasscheck.tv...is that the same link fot you?

Hey, thanks for stopping by and I'll try to post a different video next time, OK?

Thanks for coming in for a cup...always lad to visit with another "great mind"...(just kidding , of course! My mind is anything but great!)

Edain said...

Great vid, thanks for sharing it! I have past it onto my Facebook friends, the more folks know the better I say!

As for coffee, I would love one but make mine a decaf will ya? Can't do Caffine. :)

Anonymous said...

Hermit, you might want to check out this site:

http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/

They are homesteading right in the heart of Pasadena CA and have raised 6000 lbs of food on their city lot. They tried for 10,000 this year but the weather did not cooperate. Still amazing what they have done on 1/5 of an acre. The raised beds idea could work pretty good on your junk land.

They have a list of the different companies AND garden seed varieties that Monsanto owns. Because even if you don't buy from a monsanto company, you might be supporting them if you buy a certain variety from your favorite seed source. Their looking back post (was the first one today) has several of the important links.

One thing - for some reason you have to scroll down quite a bit to get to the posts. The sidebar stuff starts early & is just as fascinating (where we would all like to be I suspect). Warning: Better have a full cup of coffee cause it is that good.

Hope you don't mind, I added you to my sidebar. (I haven't figured out why some comments have to be moderated and not others. I think once you have the ok then the rest are fine.)

scoutinlife said...

Makes me appreciate my humble little garden so much more now... Really have to increase the size this year! Hermit Jim Thanks for posting the video! And thanks for sharing! I truly enjoy your blog...........

Scout Out!

HermitJim said...

Hey Stephanie...thanks for sharing that link. It's amazing what folks can do with a little imagination and hard work, huh?

I'm putting you on my blog list cause I need all the support I can get, ya know?

Hey, you have a good day!

HermitJim said...

Hey Scout...we are so much more fortunate than a lot of folks in the fact that we have a bit of land, and can figure out what to do with it!

Enjoyed your post on hunting...and glad to have you as a reader here. Can't ever have enough like minded friends, I'm thinking!

Thanks for dropping by!

Ken said...

...afternoon Jim...another good one...man...i don't know what i would do if i couldn't 'read' you guys...God bless the internet...lol

...thanx for the coffee brother...

Catman said...

Morning, all.

Hey Lois, order your seeds now. Don't wait until spring. As things continue to slide downward, more folks will be starting up the old Victory Garden.

It is possible we could see seed shortages / rising prices in some crops.

My neighbor raises corn, and he's been complaining about how seed stock is going up due to the poor harvests in some areas and rising demand.

For those of you out there, take a gander at the stuff left over from the holidays, see if you can find any of that "Indian" corn left. It'll be dirt cheap. That's heirloom corn. It can be made into corn meal with a grinder.

HermitJim said...

Hey Ken...I know what you mean about reading all the blogs and gleaning so much info from them!

I appreciate the visit for sure...!


Hey Catman...good info about the seed and the warning about the prices! Guess that was one thing I totally forgot about. Glad you reminded us!

I'll have to look around for some Indian Corn...always looking for a good deal!

Thanks for dropping by and sharing!

Preparedwarrior said...

Catman: regarding your note about possible seed shortages. I have read there may also be shortages of fertilizers too. Not sure where I read this or the reason for it. Doesn't matter, I will be getting some extra.

Hydroponics is working for us. Got great romaine lettuce, tomatoes and a huge broccoli plant growing in the back bedroom. We have had some of the lettuce in salads. Never knew what really fresh lettuce tasted like. Learning how to get some to go to seed, so we can have more seeds.

HermitJim said...

Hey Warrior...I would be really interested in your set-up for hydroponics. Seems like a very sensible thing to learn to me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mayberry said...

If that don't make ya want to get some seed......

HermitJim said...

Hey Mayberry...It does, it does...!

I appreciate you dropping by today! Kinda makes ya stop and think, doesn't it? Seems like we just can't win for losing!

Manu said...

Hi Jim...

thanks for sharing this, just another sad example on how screwed up, greedy and scarry this world/people is/are. Just seeing what's going on in this world sometimes makes me wanna move to another planet.
By the way... thank you for sharing your story yesterday, it's nice to get to know a bit more about you. As sad as it was what happend to you back than it did make you realize what had to change and it gave you the push and strenght to do so.

Take care,
Manu.

Manu said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
HermitJim said...

Hey Manu...I appreciate you dropping by. Glad you found the info useful and you are so right about some businesses being greedy to the point of being criminal!

Thanks for the comments!

Anonymous said...

Hey Jim, I didn't give two thoughts to where you got your video, I'm just glad you posted about it, the more we can spread this around the better, ppl need to be more aware!

And hey, if I didn't appreciate your mind (thoughts) I wouldn't be here lol

Preparedwarrior said...

Hermit:
If you don't mind, I will send you an e-mail with the info. Will also send some pictures of what we are growing right now. Our plan is to grow hydroponically (sp?) indoors and raised bed gardens outside for things like beans. My Blond Guy has really gotten us into gardening as an integral part of survival. Funny for a guy who doesn't like to have earthen dirt on this hands. Ha, ha. Am going to try my hand at container gardening for potatoes, and then dehydrated the spuds for storage. Hydroponic gardening is as close to organic as ya can get. There are no pesticides or strange stuff that needs to be sprayed. Just water and nutrients. Will be sending email entitled "hydroponic gardening."

HermitJim said...

I'd be very pleased to recieve the information, thanks! Can't ever have too much usable knowledge, I'm thinking.

Besides, one of my favorite hobbies is eating regularly!

Ryan said...

Interesting. As soon as I have some windows I will start a garden of some sort.

SJacobus said...

I apologize in advance this is probably going to be a long comment.

First before I forget "PreparedWarrior" the reason their may be fertilizer shortages coming is because the cost of gas has gone up so much in the recent past that the producers were not going to be able to afford to make it. I takes a lot of fuel to make fertilizer.

I found this video interesting. I don't necessary agree with all of it though, or maybe I just sympathize with the farmer more. I grew up on the farm and studied farming as part of my major in college.

Many industrialized countries have expected farmers to produce enough food to feed them while not being individually into understanding where their own food came from or what it took to produce it. Today only 2% of the population is expected to produce for and feed 100% of the population. I gaurantee you they could not do this without the advances science has made for them because they also are required to do this on much less land then their forebearers. Less cows per person are expected to produce more milk then ever per person not just because of the greater populatins but also because we individually eat so much more dairy products then our ancestors did. All of this with a little government legistlation thrown in to further frustrate and pose limitations on the farmer's ability to produce both his living and food for you and me. We've unfortunately created this mess we're now in and it's become a necessary mess unless EVERYONE wants to till up their lawns and start planting usefull food bearing plants in it's place. Not many have or will take the time for this however.

Farmers using heirloom is a very unrealistic expectation. Genetic engineering is not a terrible thing. I certainly agree that heirloom is better, but genetic is not the end of the world. If not for it we would not be able to feed the masses on the current amount of land being farmed. We would have a huge famine situation just due to population vs. farmed ground!

However I do truly agree that we should not allow in our small home gardens the heirloom to become extinct. Variety is good expecially since more and more allergies are cropping up due to the lack of variety in our diets. And growing our plants without chemicals is certainly a good thing.

Most of the farmers I know take true pride in their work knowing it is going to feed many people and they want to produce a good crop that would bring their buyers back. Their not sitting around plotting our doom while also plotting their profits. They are working hard to survive just like you and me.

I worry more about crops being wiped out and not just by a possible disease, but by more regular and likely issues like weather. Wheat this year is going to jump again because I'm pretty sure after the last wheat report I read they got froze out, winter wheat destroyed in other words. Further some yuts decided to make ethanol out of our food and didn't bother to harvest the food off the stalks before doing it so we did indeed have a world food shortage this last year, just because we American's missed that reality at our dinner tables doesn't mean it didn't exhist.

There is certainly plenty to be worried about in this world I'll agree there. Yes, store your seeds because it's a good thing to store and grow your gardens because they too are very rewarding in so many ways, but don't worry as much about the genetic food or seed. We won't die from it and those of us who eat our good storage food are likely already living healthier then "the average joe."

Just some of my many thoughts I hope their understood graciously as I meant them.