Food scarcity, bulk food

There was a very interesting article on Yahoo News that explained that with rising prices, if you purchased food that stores well (grains, rice, etc) that will save money over the long haul, plus give a sense of security. With recent reports of scarcity of food not only in other parts of the world, but also here in the United States gives good reason to buy food in bulk. Consider what foods your family enjoys, because it won't save money if no one is willing to eat it. Here are some examples of easily stored foods to get you thinking of possibilities for your own pantry.

Baking:
- flours
- cornmeal
- spices
- chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch chips
- raisins
- sugars

Grains:
- granolas
- oats (regular, quick-cooking)
- rice (all kinds)
- cereals (all kinds)

Dried Fruits:
- pineapple
- apricots
- raisins
- papaya
- bananas
- apples
- cranberries
- prunes
- dates

Beans:
- split peas
- navy beans
- pinto beans
- kidney beans
- soy beans
- soup blends

Pasta:
- spaghetti
- lasagna
- elbow macaroni
- egg noodles (all shapes and sizes)

Nuts:
- peanuts
- sunflower seeds
- almonds (whole, slivered)
- walnuts

Also consider dehydrating or canning home grown veggies and fruits, spaghetti sauce from your own tomatoes, applesauce, etc.

Role call, perennials that are up and blooming

In my perennial beds, just a few flowers are blooming today, April 24. There are violets (Wisconsin state flower) scilla (Siberian Squill) hyacinth, hepatica and daffodils. The peonies look like they have put on a couple inches of growth, and the lilacs are buds but won't be blooming for another couple of weeks. The sedum is up as well as the Shasta daisies. Monkshood is about 3 inches tall as are the bleeding hearts. If the weather holds, it will be time for the first mowing in about a week. In the kitchen garden, I'm continuing spreading compost, making the veggie bed lots bigger. Unfortunately it seems I am only getting snippets of time to work on it. For example last night it was 8:45 pm and I was raking compost. Yes, in the dark. I can only wonder what the neighbors think. If gardening teaches patience I must be a slow learner as its getting on my nerves not to be able to work in the yard as much as I'd like. So, for the plans this year. In my original potager I grew tomatoes, beans, potatoes etc. I think this year I will put in the original four squares the asparagus, rhubarb, raspberries and the newer area I am working on will be for the annual veggie plants (tomatoes, sweet corn, beans, peppers etc).

Happy Earth Day! Tonight hopefully we will be able to go to New London to the Wolf River and watch the sturgeon spawning. Jeff called the Mosquito Hill nature Preserve, and yes, its time to see the sturgeon! When they spawn in spring, the water temps have to be in the 50s, then they make their way to the shallow rock filled areas to lay eggs.Sturgeon are incredible, a female must be a minimum of 45 years old to be able to produce eggs. They get to be huge, its not uncommon for adult sturgeon to be 5 to 6 feet long. All along the river, people line up to see these prehistoric looking creatures and marvel at their size. 24 hours a day volunteers stand guard to make sure they are not harmed as they are extremely vulnerable at this time. We went last year and 100s of people were observing. Its even reported in area newspapers and on tv. I am planning on bringing my camera to try to take some pics. Happy Earth Day!

Vermicomposting

Jeff went to a class on Saturday on how to do vermicomposting. That is composting using red wiggler worms in a container. No smell, and they produce wonderful worm castings to nourish gardens. The class was held at the Oshkosh Correctional Facility, a medium security prison in Oshkosh, a few miles south of Appleton. They have been doing this for years and have it down to a science. The inmates have built the sifters and turners, and feed the 330 containers made out of 55 gallon drums once a week. Each compost container starts out with shredded cardboard and 1 pound of cofee beans. To that they add 4 pounds of red wiggler worms. Weekly the worms are fed kitchen scraps, avoiding oils, meats and bones. After four months, the wigglers have increased to 8 pounds of worm, and lots of wonderful castings to add to gardens. The inmates use the castings to nurture the gardens that they grow on site to help feed the prison population, as well as other plants used for landscaping the prison grounds. They also bag up the worm castings and sell them to gardeners. Jeff said it was so interesting, the plants in the greenhouse the inmates built were absolutely incredibly lush and beautiful. We are planning on doing this on a much smaller scale (not 330 containers!) and display at Kindred Spirits Organics to help teach others vermicomposting techniques. Jeff picked up a rubbermaid container that we need to drill a few holes in and cover with screening to allow air to get in. He chose a clear container as the instructor noted its good to have some sunlight enter through the sides. Now we need to order the red wigglers. I found them in Backwoods Home magazine, $42.00 for 10,000 which will be more than enough. I am also trying to come up with a way to shred cardboard. I thought running it over with a lawnmower but perhaps there is a better way. I am so looking forward to creating more soil amendments for the gardens. It will be a nice complement to the other compost piles we have, and help teach people how to nurture Mother Earth and also cut down on scraps ending up in the landfill.

Update on container gardens

A quick update on the container gardens, we have been harvesting lettuce and mesclun weekly. Delicious! Another week or so and we can cut some watercress too. I sowed another big container of mesclun this morning. I wish I would have planted the potatoes deeper, I could have been filling in with soil as I do outside in the gardens. Next time. But for now, the plants are thriving and though the yield will be small, there will still be potatoes. The green beans have been flowering profusely, and I have been helping the bees that occasionally fly inside Kindred Spirits pollinate the flowers. I use a small clean artists brush and lightly brush each blossom. Zzzzz...Pollination! The beans are about 1.5 inches long, how cool. I show them off to everyone. Alot of the tomatoes have been sold as well as lots of herbs, even though its far too early to transplant yet. Mid May its still risky, most say wait till Memorial weekend, but you know how impatient we gardeners can be sometimes. Most people want to be sure they get their varieties and also to nurture living things.