I was in the store the other day with my wife restocking some things we were low on and I was noticing the stores shelves weren’t anywhere near as full as they were a couple weeks ago. I noticed there was no flour on the shelves, but for some reason the sugar and salt shelves were full. Except the rest of the store seemed lower than we used to see. The meat counter was near empty and I know of stores right now that are limiting meat purchases to one package. I mean just one package of one meat product can be purchased, not the normal one of each. To add to insult food prices in April jumped near 3% which is the highest increase in 46 years. If ever there was a time that people needed to reconnect to their food supply, it is now.
I’m not going to stay on this subject because the internet is full of stories about it, I’m just saying keep an eye open and let me know in the comments what you are seeing. I would like to see what is happening in other parts of the country.
The weather isn’t being very cooperative here for us this year, so far 2020 is proving to be a challenging beginning. How ever it does look as though we will see it begin to warm up to more seasonal temperatures this weekend.
This year of all years is the one we need to be diligent in, our focus should be on producing as much as we possibly can as well as stocking up on things we normally purchase. I know the purchase thing is going to be hard on many because of the current job situations for many. All I can say there is do the best you can and maybe even conserve those things now so you can conserve those items now.
Now on the subject for those getting started on a garden for the first time, remember, first year gardens don’t always do as well as one that has been established. Then there is the experience of the gardener, if your new you need to expect to make mistakes. This isn’t to discourage anyone; it is just a reminder. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start one. You should, there is always something to be produced in first year soil and it only gets better with time and experience. So, plan big on this year’s garden.
For those that have said they are losing interest in homesteading. Why? Of all the years to lose interest it shouldn’t be this one. If it happens to be your spouse or significant other that has lost interest, then you are going to have allot of work to do, I say do what you honestly can and don’t sweat the things that aren’t important. Hopefully their interest level may pick up if shortages start getting common.
Our garden is going back to its original size when the kids were home, they want to reap from it this year as well. The promise is they will help, we will see if they follow through. I had to take the skin off from our portable green house because the wind was to much for it, we are waiting for the weather change to see if we can get back to setting it up. We are looking forward to trying it out and are working on plans to build a permanent one or maybe a couple smaller ones, this year will tell us what we need to do.
The homestead has always been under constant change and this year is no different, the kids have grown and aren’t here with the exception of our youngest who has taken a summer job. So that means most of the work falls back on my lap and now we will have to learn to take it in strides.
The homestead for us has always been a real way of life, we have been connected to our food source for many years and appreciate every bite we take. If this Pandemic has taught us anything it should be that most people are unprepared for an emergency and it is entirely possible for us to function without being busy 24/7 and owning all the trapping, we think we need.
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