Garden Giveaway Contest - Win before Spring!

It's time for a celebration! Thanks to all of you my blog is well on its way to 300,000 page views and so I think it's time for another contest and giveaway don't you? Besides, it gives us all something to look forward to during these dark and dreary days in the northern hemisphere. Unless you're one of my readers in India or the tropics, what is your weather like there in January? Does it stay fairly much the same all year except during monsoon?

You're a pretty darn loyal bunch so you deserve something awesome this time for prizes. My book is still not done, it's too early to celebrate with tomato plants, okay I've got it! I'll do a first, second and third prize and I'll let you pick.

I will draw the name and let you pick your own prize. If you've won before, you can still enter. If you live in my household you cannot, lol. Yes, you can enter and give the prize to someone else if you want to.

Prize Choices for First are any two of the following:

The Market Gardener- an amazing book by JM Fortier that will be helpful for anyone interested in growing for a profit, no matter how small the scale. I love my copy, the poor books only a few months old and is half beaten to death from over use lol. We will have an English language copy available for this prize, but I'm pretty sure it comes in French at your local bookstore.

or/

A box of fresh vegetables from our CSA. Yes, this only works if you live in NS between Annapolis Royal and Porters Lake. We will deliver.

or/

A handmade Swarovski crystal spider or dragonfly to catch the light in a nice sunny window in your home.

or/

A selection of non-GMO seeds from our garden, veggies and possibly a few flowers and herbs because what would life be without a little flavour and colour?

or/

Two grow bags. I will be doing a post about this later in the month. Fabric grow bags suitable for growing tomatoes or peppers on your doorstep, balcony or in your greenhouse.

Shipping is of course included in the crystal, grow bag, seed or book choices so feel free to enter even if you live a long way from Nova Scotia. We don't discriminate, we love all our readers and most of you actually live thousands of miles away. Last year it just happened to be that the winner of the tomatoes turned out to be a friend who lives fairly locally so that worked out well!

Second and Third prize will be at my discretion and will be one of the prizes listed above unless there's something you'd really like to have, and then I'm sure we can talk. After all I want you to be happy!


How To Enter

Send an email with you name, country you live in and email to hbfcontests@gmail.com  Please answer the following 3 questions:

1. What do you want to read about on my blog this year?
2. Why do you think people are reluctant to become more self-reliant?
3. How do we overcome the negatives and work together as friends, families and communities to build better self confidence and self reliance? You can relate this to skills, knowledge or food.

Contest is open to everyone regardless of age or postal code. Deadline is February 12th at noon AST.

50 Shades Of Grey ... Farm Style.

A Lovely View

I know it sounds a little ominous, but don't panic. Steve has not been naughty. You'll laugh when you see the photos. Steve got the first chicken and turkey tractors finished today while I was planting and getting the running around all done. After he was done I guess he looked at it and thought 'Hmm, that'd make a good work bench' so he built a second one above the first for use by the chickens. I couldn't resist taking photos. Maybe I just get a kick of seeing my husband behind bars. 

It's been a very productive day! Even Jordan got in a full days work despite being in a play at school and taking half the afternoon off for the final show. It was awesome.

We got some herbs in, half a dozen roses and a rhododendron are planted, 800 feet of potatoes, a hundred pumpkins plus we transplanted out the 4 giant pumpkins from the greenhouse. Mateo our wwoofer and the sister missionaries all he lped with the first rows of market crops in the green garden, the girls helped me plant chives and Meghan cut the grass. So it's slowly beginning to look like a house with a yard and garden instead of a trailer park after a tornado. I even cheated and ordered pizza for supper because I still don't have an oven and the time saved gives me more time to get the turkeys moved to their new home before it gets dark.

Caged Husband

Ok, my drink break is over. Time to get back to work. I think I've absorbed as much water as I'm going to for now.

(10pm Update)

W ell it's too dark to work so I'm inside now avoiding the bugs. All the animals are tucked away except the ducks who are out hunting for their new crunchy June bug treats. The wind has picked up so I popped out to give all my plants one last watering while the bugs were relatively light. I sprayed myself first and still got a few bites despite the wind. 

The turkeys are settled into their tractor (that's the name for a movable poultry pen) and are all roosting up on their perch. They look so cute! The chicks have moved from the dining room to the greenhouse where the turkeys used to live. We moved the feeders that they're used to out there and I'm trying to teach them how to drink out of the watering nipples. If they get that figured out it'll be lovely because I can set up a gravity fed watering system for them when they're ready to move outside in a few weeks. It's hard to believe that just a few weeks back we were worried about the turkeys getting too cold on those frosty nights where it dropped below freezing. Now the problem is the heat. The greenhouse topped out today at over 51 degrees Celsius, that's 124 Fahrenheit. Yikes! And that was with the main door top open. I quickly opened the back door and vented the whole place. The tomatoes are all ok and we'd moved the roses out to the garden at that point so the real worry was the turkeys. They were totally fine and had plenty of water while they lay in the shade. It took them a few minutes to adjust to going from their greenhouse box to the great outdoors and their new grassy run, but they have settled in and are having a very good time now. I was thinking I'd put a solar light in there to attract bugs for them to play with in the evenings. Turkeys love bugs.

It's an inside job

If the weather is wet tomorrow I'm going to build a display rack and pot up more tomatoes. I'm taking them over to the Co-Op Country Store in Middleton for sale so feel free to buy some :)  The basil should also be okay to get into the garden and some into pots. The oregano in the greenhouse isn't doing very well though so I'm going to make a nursery bed in the garden next week and plant it in a nice sandy spot. The weather is supposed to be gusty and wet tomorrow so I'm glad it'll water in my new veggies and give me a break from digging. Maybe I'll even sneak my radio and bench out to the greenhouse and commune with nature for a couple of hours after church. That's the thing about the weather, it dictates so much of what we do here at the farm and so we just have to always plan for a backup activity if the weather turns inclement.

Well, I'm off to shower and scrub off the layers of sunscreen and repellent. I have a lovely tan but I'm pretty sure it'll wash off too. Then I plan to collapse into bed and stay there. Have a lovely day guys. I probably won't have time to post tomorrow but if I can, I'll get some photos of the gardens as our 'before' shots.

"The Earth Is Where We Make Our Stand..."

That's a quote from Carl Sagan. He's not talking about some movie to defeat aliens and save the planet from invasion. He's talking about making the most of life on Earth right now. February is nearly finished and so winter is drawing to a close for another year. The Vernal Equinox, when the sun is half way between the summer and winter solstice, is coming in 3 weeks and we can clearly see the days getting longer here in the northern hemisphere. It's now light when we go to work and school and when we come home. The long dark is over.



With the growing height of the sun in the sky we're starting to feel more warmth from the light even on days that are bitterly cold. So it's time to think about the early plants for the garden. March in Nova Scotia is always a mix of bitter cold winter weather and warm springlike days. So planting things out into regular garden beds is still impossible because the tender young plants would just freeze solid on a bad day. But to get a jump on gardening we're starting our seeds indoors and thinking about setting up a lean-to greenhouse or some other way of having our seedlings get the light and warmth from the sun during the day and still stay warm at night. The reality for us at the moment means we'll be moving trays indoors at night and outside to the lean-to when it's warmed up. That's not for another week at least though as we just had a -14 night. We're not our of winter yet. But we're hopeful. Next year we will have a year round greenhouse located behind our home and that will allow for a lot more out of season growing so stay tuned for more details as the year progresses. Our first plastic greenhouse covers will be here shortly and we'll let you know how they work out.

Meghan's lettuce seeds and radishes she planted in cups have come through and their little green heads have brought her a huge amount of joy. There's something that's always amazing about seeing a dried up little seed put forth it's first root and leaves and it never fails to strike me as glorious! She'll no doubt have pics up soon.

This year I'd like to encourage you to try one thing each week that's good for the environment. Or maybe something that's good for mankind. Maybe you'll switch laundry detergent to something less polluting or grow lettuce for one meal. Maybe you'll participate in Earth Hour and switch off some lights or hang your clothes out on a clothes line to dry instead of using the dryer. Whatever you do, can you imagine how great it would be if a billion people were doing something at the same time? Each person on the planet, one time per week. That's 7 billion things each week.

Sometimes we have to start small with the world around us. Teaching our children, exploring new ideas, being kind to someone else. It was Mother Theresa who said "we can do no great things, just small things with great love" and she was right.

Community Garden 2014

Welcome to the community garden! Where friendship, knowledge and plants are growing.

We're excited that you've decided to check us out and see what we have to offer you.  2014 is our first year as a community garden although the groundwork has been laid for the previous 2 years. We  offer a variety of plots for families and individuals plus some community growing areas for larger crops that are more efficient to grow together such as corn and pole beans. We will be buying some seeds in bulk to save money, we'll have some seed packs and plots available for free to those in need, gardening classes, a picnic area and we invite everyone to work together to grow food for yourselves and the foodbank. So come join us and let's get growing!

Available plots:

12 - 20x20 feet  $50 each for the gardening year. (May 1-October 31)
22- 10x10 feet   $20 each for the gardening year.
2 large community plots for bulk crops will be planted and harvested by all users of the garden. 

Plots include:

Your assigned piece of land which will be tilled and ready for planting.
Access to tools, water, hoses etc.
Use of picnic area and all community areas.
Harvests from community plots as they are ready.
Classes throughout the year.
Community events.



If you're still interested after reading this far, here are our rules. 

Garden Guidelines and Rules:

1. Have fun!

2. Parking: Some parking is available at garden side, however we recommend parking at the church and walking down to the garden to limit damage to fields and disruption of the day to day workings of the farm.

3. Community: All members are encouraged to participate in the garden community, by signing up for one of the community tasks. We also invite you to attend classes and other activities throughout the year. We're a small initial group so let's enjoy it!

4. General Care: Garden plots and communal beds must be maintained to the satisfaction of the Garden Coordinator. This includes normal watering, weeding and general care of the assigned plot, and the immediate surrounding pathways.

5. Gardening Season: Plots must be worked on throughout the duration of the gardening season, generally understood to be May 1 through October 31, subject to weather conditions. If you are away for an extended period during the growing season, you must find someone to look after your plot in your absence. If you can’t find someone, inform the Garden Group Coordinator so that other arrangements can be made.

6. Harvesting: Crops must be harvested once they are mature. Produce from plants may not be sold. All produce harvested from the garden should be washed thoroughly before eating. We recommend that any surplus be delivered to friends and family or alternately to the foodbank in Kingston or Berwick. There are also churches and other community groups who can help you with suggestions. We think that planting a succession of crops so that your harvest is spread out over the growing season is more self-sufficient and makes it less likely to go to waste.

7. Neighbouring plots: Be considerate of your neighbours. Do not plant sprawling crops or tall ones that might interfere with others. Tall plants are best planted on the north side (towards the road) or the east side so as to limit the shading they may give to your neighbours plots. Harvest only from your assigned plot or from community plots. Keep insects and weeds under control as much as possible (see below) and please teach children to stay off neighbouring plots.

8. Compost / Insecticides / Mulches: Chemical insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers are prohibited in the garden. Only Diatomaceous Earth, predatory nematodes and other insects or Insecticidal Soaps may be used in the control of pests. Only organic fertilizer, compost and composted manures may be used in soil conditioning and fertilization. We will have compost available on opening day and we will have some already in the soil when we till. Black and red plastic mulch and row covers are allowed as long as they are removed at the end of the season. Straw and newsprint are allowed as mulch but please no bark mulch. There will be a $25 clean-up fee for plastic mulches not removed at the end of the season or other non-compostables like tomato cages, wire etc.

9. Plants allowed: Trees and other woody plants are not allowed on individual plots. Please be careful with invasive species. If you plant something in your plot that starts to invade another part of the garden,you may be asked to remove it. This would include things such as pumpkins that sprawl, Jerusalem artichokes, comfrey, mint etc.

10. Fees : There is a fee for plots as described above.  All plots must be paid for by May 1st or in years when the weather allows earlier planting, before your plants are placed in the ground.
    
    

11. Keep the garden tidy! Please use the recycling and trash bins as provided. If containers are not available or are full then plot holders agree to remove their own waste/recyclable materials.

12. Pets : Due to the presence of farm animals such as poultry and sheep we ask that you please leave your dogs at home.

13. Water: The water supply is limited. Please use sparingly. Well water is not approved for drinking so please bring your own bottled water.
    
    

14. Compost: Members are encouraged to make use of and help maintain the communal composting area according to the rules of use in the garden guidelines. We will be teaching a class on composting several times through the year.
    
    

15. Shed: All tools and common gardening tools should be stored within the shed. Please clean off, dry and return your borrowed tools to their correct place. You are welcome to bring your own tools and we suggest that you label them with your name and plot number.

16. Tools: Any tools left in the garden area are there at your own risk – although we promote positive use of this space, we assume no responsibility for lost or stolen tools, plants, planting supplies, etc.

17. Plots: We will assign plots as applications are received. We will assign upto 2 plots per family initially and then will assess other remaining plots based on the waiting list. Each family may apply for a maximum of 4 plots. We will try to keep multiple plots together for ease of gardening and to assign the same plots to returning families each year.

18. Issues: Please report to the Garden Coordinator immediately if you spot any signs of theft, vandalism, misuse of garden resources or damage to the garden. For less serious issues or to leave a friendly note for a friend, please use the notice board. You can include questions, suggestions, and seasonal recipes. Also watch for upcoming events and classes. 

19. Dispute Resolution: In the event of non-compliance with the above rules, the Garden Coordinator will issue a verbal or written notice to the member. If at the end of a two-week period the problem has not been solved, we will attempt to contact you by other methods to resolve the problem. If after this time there is no action, we will potentially mow down and re-assign the plot. The most common cause for this is not weeding. If you have a serious health concern or other problem that does not let you weed please arrange for some community help with weeding. We have several Duke of Edinburgh's Award participants available to provide service where needed.

Fish, Fowl, And Fleecy Friends

I get asked what exactly aquaponics is from people who have heard that we're doing weird and wonderful things with our farm in 2014. So this page will get you a few links to other videos and some basic principles for building and operating a system in our greenhouse.

An aquaponic system is a method of growing plants hydroponically and raising fish at the same time. The basic principle is this: the fish excrete waste into their pool of water and the plants extract nutrients for their growth and in this process clean the water for the fish. This is accomplished by pumping the fish water up into the grow beds of the hydroponic system and then letting it drain back into the pond below. It really is a simple idea but building a system and finding the right balance of clean water and nutrients for the plants can take some working out.

First things first. There are literally thousands of websites and YouTube videos that you can watch to figure out what you are interested in building. I'd recommend watching lots to see which ones you find educational and maybe talk to someone who has a working system. Japan Aquaponics have info on their website that's easy to understand. And lots of graphics like the one to the left to let you see how it all works together. We are using a pretty simple start for ours with some wooden frames to hold our 170 litre plastic totes and keep them from warping, some used pool pumps to circulate, and totes again for the grow beds. Details to follow.


Now in an true aquaponic system you get 2 crops. Your fruits and veggies grown using the fish water fertilizer, and the fish themselves. Depending on the species of fish you raise you can expect to have a harvest in 9-12 months and you can vary your stocking rate (the number of fish in your system) until you find out what works for you. We are going to start out with goldfish in our set up which may seem strange as people don't usually eat goldfish, but the reason we're doing it is to get the kinks worked out of our system, balance the ammonia and nitrate levels and keep a close eye on the water temperatures. Depending on how that goes we'll know if we can raise Tilapia which are a warm water fish or trout and perch which like it cooler and are native to our area. We're just thinking that it could be a bit tricky to keep the water about 70 degrees f if it's set up in a hot greenhouse and we'd rather kill a few small feeder goldfish than a tank full of rainbow trout. Hopefully we don't lose any at all!

If it all works out well then we should have a working system by April and it should be able to operate year round with hardy vegetables in a greenhouse but we'll see. We don't want the pipes freezing. We will take notes and keep a good record so we can properly evaluate. If you'd like a look at some different set ups and ideas then please check out the work done at Colorado State University, It's great and there's lots of ideas.

The sheep are still in the barn but with the nice weather we're expecting this weekend we're going to fence a small run for the sheep to give them some fresh air. They all seem good though.

We responded to a Kijiji ad that starts as follows '26 stupid chickens'. We're hopefully going to pick them up and give them a new home here with us. They're a year and a half old and are moulting so they've stopped laying. All this is perfectly normal for a hen and she'll grown back her feathers and begin laying again.

So there you have it, another project for the 2014 list.

Still Growing

It's been a bit wet lately, as it often is this time of year as the weather systems draw moisture from hurricanes and tropical storms. Leslie is going to miss us but has still given us 125mm of rain in the last 24 hours. So I'm busy working on drying onions and preserving tomatoes. Indoor work is good on a rainy day. We bit the bullet and got some black poly that farmers use for their plantings and are going to try using it in our Autumn garden for both weed suppression and to warm the soil on cool days. That in combination with a poly tunnel should give us a few more weeks of cool weather growing. The greenhouse still does not have the end walls on so that's something we'll need to do before the month is out. It's still doing well with tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and melons etc. but I want to get the next lot of crops started so how do I do that if the ground is in use? Simple...start seedlings in flats, just like you'd do in the spring. It's also a good way to do it when the weather is wet and you just don't want to be slogging through a muddy garden.

Our main garden has now got lots of field (dry) beans maturing and they look very impressive. It was a packet of Jacob's Cattle beans we bought from the store and planted into a 50 foot row as an experiment. Well, I'm happy to announce that our 1 lb bag of beans has made beautifully healthy plants bearing hundreds of beans each so if we can get them all matured and dried we'll call it a success. We also have the next batch of green beans ready for picking so this week I'll take Kate out and pick some. She is our queen of beans but sometimes picks them too old and stringy so we're going to pick together this time. Pumpkins are beginning to turn orange in the garden and we have some zucchini to harvest too. Please ignore the weeds in the pics, we later pulled them out :) And the fence is lowered down because we tilled over the garden in preparation for planting this week.

The strawbale garden idea, remember that? Well it eventually took off and now the tomatoes that were clinging to life have re-rooted themselves, flowered and are looking promising. I'm going to put fall lettuce in the other side this week and see how they do. It's another experiment that worked but here are some tips. Next time I'd leave the bales to decompose longer, perhaps starting them earlier in the year. Initially they don't hold much water and if the weather is hot it's hard to keep them moist, but once they're decomposing they hold a lot more water. We didn't have a weed problem at all, just a few mushrooms which we left alone. Would I do this again? Absolutely if for no other reason than we used them to anchor down the greenhouse plastic and they worked a charm!

The poly tunnel greenhouse is currently home to eggplant (with the purple flowers), melons, English cucumbers and tomatoes. The melons have pretty much stopped flowering but the other plants are still going strong so as long as they're flowering and it's warm enough, they'll keep producing. You can see the tiny cucumbers with flowers still attached, aren't they adorable? I have dry hay under the eggplants to keep the fruit off the ground but the cucumbers are growing up a wire so they're ok without the mulch. I ripened the melons on upside down clay pots to keep them off the ground and away from slugs.

Our next batch of chicks comes in a couple of days, both meat birds and next year's layers. The big hens are all laying but with the shorter days it's almost time to put a light in their coop for them. The light has 2 benefits, it's like a beacon in the evening saying 'come to bed' and the light fools them into laying in the winter instead of going through a molt and ceasing to lay. We've always just used a simple bulb and timer to have the light increase in the morning from 6-9am and then in the evening for a couple of hours. I've used solar lights before and they can work but a simple 40 or 60 watt bulb works great too and provides a little heat in the winter. We're debating about building a new winter coop and having it out at the property with the sheep. I'll let you know what we decide.

Another thought lately has been that rather than buying a mobile home and living in it temporarily while we build, maybe we'll get an RV and put that out there. It would save us the cost of moving (we got a quote for moving a mobile home and it was $2600 not including the permits) plus we could always resell the RV when done. It's a thought, we haven't made any plans yet. Still waiting for our tax refund and family allowance to get straightened out which will be at the end of October hopefully.

With the wet weather this week it's been a good reminder to get the firewood covered up. It's going to be warm and sunny for the rest of the week once this weather moves out overnight which will dry the wood again, then it's time to stack it indoors and in the garage. If the boys can get it all cut to length then I'll help the girls stack it.

All Photos taken in our garden or poly tunnel greenhouse Sept 7th, 2012.

Uses for Old or Spoiled Hay

This time of year many farmers and horse lovers are faced with a dilemma. What to do with the old hay in their hay lofts. New hay is being cut and baled as we speak and they need the room for storing their good stuff so it's possible to get hay for free or very cheap ($1 per bale) and we recently got a whole load of unwanted bales for free that we simply had to load into the trailer and drive home. But what would you do with free hay? Well, here are a few ideas.


1. Build a hay or straw bale garden. The idea is this...you place a bale on it's side so the cut ends of the hay (or straw) are up and the strings are horizontal on the bale sides. Next you water it thoroughly for several days and possibly wait a few more days if the bale starts to heat up due to decomposition. Following this you either spread topsoil or potting mix on top of the bale in a layer a few inches thick and plant things like lettuce with shallow roots, or you pry apart the bale a few inches, fill the hole with your soil mix and plant larger plants such as tomatoes and peppers. Leafy crops are best, root crops will not work well unless the bale is watered daily and the bale is loosely packed. Don't be disuaded by people who say you cannot use straw bales. You can...they just sometimes sprout weeds which you can pick out as usual.


2. Use the bales like bricks to build a compost pile. Leave the string on for now, stack the bales to make either a 3 sided enclosure or a square one and build your compost pile as usual. The bales will act as insulating walls, increasing the heat retention of a large pile and thereby killing more weed seeds and pathogens and also absorbing a lot of the runoff from the compost. I wonder if this would be good for a humanure compost? After the last turning just water everything thoroughly including the bales, cover and let the compost mature. The bales will break down and whatever isn't composted will make a good base for the inside of the next pile you build.

3. Mulch your garden. Hay isn't usually used for mulch for two reasons....it's better used as animal food and it's full of grass seeds so it can sprout into weeds. But here is an idea we're going to try with our free hay. At our new place there's a good site for a greenhouse with one major drawback, the soil is gravel and sand so while it's well drained, there's no topsoil or humus to hold nutrients and moisture needed for plant growth. Even the hardiest of weeds can barely grow there. Obviously we have a couple of options with this land. Use it for something not requiring good soil such as a storage shed or greenhouse for starters grown in shallow pots on benches. Or we could mulch the heck out of it and gradually build up a good soil base over time through composting. It's easy for us because we have enough other arable land to not worry about the occasional patch of gravel but for other people who could really use more garden space I think amending the soil is the way to go. Lay a thick layer of hay mulch on the ground, several feet thick, tamp it down a bit and water it. It'll compost and rot in place. Just continue to add new layers periodically of other soil, grass clippings etc just like regular compost pile, water or leave open to the rain and it'll rot down. If weeds sprout then just cut them down with a scythe and consider them green manure or cover the pile with plastic, newspaper or weed blocker and kill them that way. This process takes time but can be really worth it and I know of people who have planted potatoes into such a pile and had really great crops.

4. Use the bales as seats for an outdoor event such as Calgary Stampede, a country wedding, picnic or BBQ.

5. Use them to weigh down tarps or the plastic on your greenhouse and when they rot they will release heat into your greenhouse and can be dug in to the soil at a later date.

6. Build a hot water heater using hose or water pipe inside a compost pile or hay bales that are decomposing. Lots of videos on YouTube from the good people at Permies.com and here's a Mother Earth News article from the early 80's about compost heaters.

7. Use bales as the walls of a cold frame and place the plastic or glass over the top of them.

8. A wall of round bales can both act as a wind break and help a small garden retain heat.

9. You could make a rectangular low wall of bales, put some hoops or pipe into them and put a plastic greenhouse over top, using the bales as low walls for growing plants or raising chickens.

See, even a waste product like old hay can still be good for something, you just have to be creative and think about your individual needs. That's how successful homesteading takes place...we innovate with what we've got and consider everything as potentially useful. We try out new ideas and keep doing what works while chalking the failures up to experience.

Our Gardens- Week 1. Nothing but dirt.

That's how a garden starts out...dirt. All the hours of tilling, raking, weeding, tilling and raking again and not much to show for it. Of course it's lovely to walk across it and sink in 4 inches to the cool moist fluffy soil below, but seeds have got to get planted! So here's a few pics of our garden as of today, June 15th 2012. Planted are potatoes, Provider green beans, Spanish Onions, Wisconsin pickling cukes, tomatoes, zucchini, Paris Island Cos (romaine lettuce), Detroit beets in the same row as french breakfast radishes (you pull out the radishes in 20 days and make room for the beets to grow, works well for carrot rows too), Laxton's progress peas and I think that's it so far. I'd have to check my map. Yes, I have to make a map so I remember planting dates and where everything is. While I'm planting I say to myself "Oh I'll remember that I planted beans here" and then I always forget. So having a map is good. It allows me to see what's going to be done where and to plan for fall plantings. But despite all the work the only things in the garden showing signs of growth are the chicks. It's taken a lot of work to get it all tilled but the planting of main crops should be finished this weekend. Then the greenhouse can be planted and the fun begins! Our first harvest of lettuces and radishes will be in 3 weeks and will be quickly followed by peas, beets and beans. I'll leave some row space for later plantings of all of these so that I get a continuous harvest but I did plant 2- 50ft rows of peas and beans just so that I could harvest lots at once for freezing.

At our home garden we've got smaller quantities of celery, lettuce, greens, peas, peppers, beans, corn and tomatoes growing. It's nice to walk outside and have fresh veggies and herbs for the table so I'll make sure I plant some new things each week. The 4 Jubilee (yellow) tomatoes I planted in manure by the garden shed are doing really well and are getting taller so I'm expecting good things from them. And the same for the small patio tomatoes that are in pots on my deck. The first flower clusters are out and if the bees do their magic we should get a good crop of tomatoes from them too. The biggest concern with them is keeping them watered as the small pots dry out easily. Sort of like the garden, it takes a lot of water to get it deeply watered. The main garden has soaker hose as seen in the pics and the home garden so far has overhead sprinklers. We'll see how that works as the garden grows.

I must say though that the petunias I grew have turned out to be fantastic so far! Definitely will try to keep seed and see if I can repeat them again next year.

The pics in this post are from top to bottom:

1. Our Main Garden with the soaker hoses along the rows.
2 & 3. Chris's bottom half and the meat birds, now 3 weeks old, enjoying some sunshine and a snack in their chicken yard.
4. The hen houses alongside the gardens(don't worry, we skipped planting potatoes right outside their door) are open for ventilation.
5. Some lettuces in the home garden.
6. Petunias on the front door step.

In pic 4. you'll notice that the hen houses have the sides open. The dryer the hen houses stay the healthier they are, so we open the side panels during good weather. They only need cleaning once a month because the hens are mostly outside and so the litter stays dry. You can see inside the hen house in the picture and it is still clean and fluffy after 2 weeks of use. We use wood shavings for the litter on the floor. To keep out the rain they are covered with a tarp and during the winter we'll be cleaning them out weekly to maintain a dry and healthy environment. I'm considering using peat for bedding too, it'll make great compost! We use diatomaceous earth in their litter and in their dust baths to prevent lice. The hens and Wyandottes go off into the woods for the day and return on their own at night. The meat chicks though are confined to an outdoor pen 25 feet by 25 feet with shade and grass. And if you're a chicken person you'll have noticed one buff orpington chicken with the meat birds. She's out chicken that got sick and is there to have a warmer and safer recuperation with higher protein feed and lots of fresh water.

Well that's the report on the garden for now. Hopefully it'll be looking a lot more green in the next few weeks with veggies and not weeds. Wish us luck! And yes...I remembered the sun screen today :)

Best Tools = Faster Weeding and Less Back Strain

With my recent back injury, I find it incredibly uncomfortable to be bending over all the time weeding, planting rows of seeds and weeding in general. This coming from a woman who does natural childbirth and had kidney stones removed without a general anesthetic. I'm not exactly sure what I did to my back but the pain has now changed from all over to a central point, hopefully if I can take it easy for another week it will feel stronger. I'm doing stretches and light work but no heavy lifting except moving the trailer occasionally. But hurting my back during spring planting was possibly the worst time of year for this. I could barely walk for several days and it drove me crazy with frustration. I finally got the garden tilled and now I couldn't do anything about it. Exasperating to say the least!!

Some of the tools that we're going to get for our new homestead are these: a broad fork, a row seeder, and a wheel hoe. So being laid up gave me plenty of time to see what's available and to see what tools work best. And now you can benefit from my research.


The benefits of having a broad fork, which is commonly used in Europe, are the ability to loosen soil to a depth of about 12 inches compared to 6 inches with a tiller. You also don't invert the soil, leaving the top few inches of microbial life happy and healthy and leave your worms in 1 piece instead of several pieces using a tiller. And no, cutting a worm in half doesn't make 2 worms...just a dead bit and a short worm called 'Stumpy' by his friends. Broad forks are easy to use despite their size because you can use your own weight to push them into the soil and having 2 handles makes them easier to lever back as you loosen the soil.

Next, actually second on my list of tool wishes, is a wheel cultivator. There are several available locally but the one I like best so far is this one by Valley Oak Tools in California. I like the adjustable handle height, ability to offset it, curve, and the attachment choices from a furrow plow to a 4 tine cultivator. This gives us the ability to dig, furrow, hill up and weed all our veggie beds while standing upright and walking.


In case you're wondering what tool is first on my list, it's a precision row seeder. But as my budget is limited at present, I will have to keep sitting to plant or using a regular hand hoe. I guess there's always teenage slave labour too. 

We live in an age when we know that fossil fuels are running out and becoming both increasingly environmentally destructive and expensive. Using fertilizers not derived from fossil fuels and looking for hand tools that make efficient use of human labour should be a priority for any small scale grower, especially for those of us trying to be as environmentally responsible as possible. Whether yo believe it or not, oil is running out.

Fuel	Reserves	Years left
Oil	1,386 billion barrels	46.2
Gas	187.1 trillion cubic metres	58.6
Coal	860,938 million tonnes	118

Source: BP. Reserves calculated at current price using current technologies as reported by BBC, 2012.

Well, I'll write more later but today I'm hoping to get both cucumber, potato and tomato plants in before I get more sunburned. I need to start early so I can come home and clean up before taking a friend to her Dr's appt.

2 Jays are having an argument outside my window, not sure what that's all about. But it's a good alarm that's for sure, they don't sound at all melodic!

Why Grow Your Own Food? My 10 Reasons

It's true, having a vegetable garden can be hard work. And for those of us who live where fruits and veggies are cheap and plentiful it hardly seems worth the cost. I've probably spent $200 on seeds this year and that money would buy a lot of produce from the local market. But I grow food for other reasons.

1. It's exercise. And I need more.
2. I get superior quality produce.
3. It's naturally grown without poisonous sprays.
4. I can control what varieties I grow and not be limited to the common dozen found in the store. 5. My produce is fresher. This means it gets picked when ripe and eaten quickly.
6. I have food security...there's always something to eat in the garden or the root cellar. If I lose my job, I'll still have food for the table and more time for gardening. That's why I think that everyone on a limited budget, social assistance, food stamps etc. should be able to get seeds to plant a garden. Healthier food than the food bank and it's better to work for it yourself.
7. Once planted, it doesn't cost me much else but water and labour to get food to harvest so I know my vegetable budget early. I'm not affected by shortages and price spikes. No $2 tomatoes for us! We can learn new techniques from library books and online for free also.
8. I can grow quantities of produce suitable for home storage, either bottling or cellaring.
9. I can grow produce to trade with my neighbours, to sell and make some money to pay for next years seeds, and to give as gifts.
10. Nothing is wasted. Weeds and veggie trimmings go to the chickens and livestock and in turn we eat the livestock or eggs. We also compost keep the manure and put it back into the soil to maintain fertility.

Another thing that's fun (though not during times of heavy work) is time together as a family. I will end up doing a lot of the initial planting myself as the kids are in school. But summer holidays are coming and they will be able to help me with weeding, harvesting and re-planting. Teaching them to grow food is an important life skill. Teaching them how to bottle, dry, store and keep seeds are also really important extensions of this learning process.

In a modern western country like Canada it may seem a bit odd or hippy-ish to be growing vegetables. Old-fashioned like your grandparents did. But I'll keep doing it anyways and next year we'll have a CSA subscription service available for people in Nova Scotia who want good wholesome veggies delivered each week. We can't do it in 2012, there's simply not time to set it up properly. Better to have things ready to go and get prepared for next spring.

We hear in the news about food scarcity and how prices are going up. It's true, and it's affecting everyone though the poor suffer most. If we all grew more of our produce and wasted less food then we wouldn't need to double agricultural production at the rates they're saying. If everyone who ever read my blog had a garden, that's about 60k of you, and produced 200 lbs of veggies a year...that's 12,00,000 lbs of veggies garden fresh and healthy. That my friends, is an awful lot of veg! 12 million pounds! And it all starts one pot of herbs or small patch of lettuce at a time! Never think your garden isn't worth while. And if you do wonder if it's all worth it...read this article. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16391040

So there you have it. Some of the many reasons I grow a garden.

Soil: The Heart of a Farm

Having land that is 'in good heart' is an English expression that means the soil is healthy. I think it's pretty obvious that in order to have a successful growing operation you need soil that will provide a good growing medium for your crops, giving them moisture and nutrients as they develop.

All soil can be improved by addition of humus, drainage, adding lime etc. but the better the soil you have to start with, and knowing what you've got, the easier it is. The soils on our new place are classified as 2f and 3m. So basically, we are starting with pretty good land, especially for this area. And through adding manure and composts we hope to continually improve the fertility and moisture retaining ability of our soil, and we'll have to lime as well to raise the pH of our acidic soil. On the bright side, raising the acidity to nearer neutral makes other nutrients available, thereby increasing fertility, and it only has to be done once every 7 years according to the local farmers and fertilizer salesmen. I'm hoping to do it once and then go on from there, testing periodically to see how we're doing and maybe using wood ash on the garden to raise the level naturally.

There are plenty of farms for sale with supposedly fantastic soil, and you'll pay a premium for them too. So is it worth the extra money for better soil? In our case we decided that we were willing to take something that was reasonable and could be easily improved over time (as described above) and pay less for it. We basically have 5 acres of good soil, that needs some improvement and irrigation for year-round growing, and 37 acres of tree covered hillside that will remain as a mix of forest, mushroom habitat, summer pasture (that's a project for another year) and maybe a cabin or two. For the $35 thousand we paid, I think we're doing pretty well right out of the gate. It's going to be a lot of work, but at least we have an idea of what we're in for both work and expense wise.

So let me tell you about soil classification in Nova Scotia, and infact in Canada in general. Soils are divided into 7 different numbered categories as follows:

Class 1 - Soils in this class have no significant limitations in use for crops.

Soils in Class 1 are level to nearly level, deep, well to imperfectly drained and have good nutrient and water holding capacity. They can be managed and cropped without difficulty. Under good management they are moderately high to high in productivity for the full range of common field crops

Class 2 - Soils in this class have moderate limitations that reduce the choice of crops, or require moderate conservation practices.

These soils are deep and may not hold moisture and nutrients as well as Class 1 soils. The limitations are moderate and the soils can be managed and cropped with little difficulty. Under good management they are moderately high to high in productivity for a wide range of common field crops.

Class 3 - Soils in this class have moderately severe limitations that reduce the choice of crops or require special conservation practices.

The limitations are more severe than for Class 2 soils. They affect one or more of the following practices: timing and ease of tillage; planting and harvesting; choice of crops; and methods of conservation. Under good management these soils are fair to moderately high in productivity for a wide range of common field crops.

Class 4 - Soils in this class have severe limitations that restrict the choice of crops, or require special conservation practices and very careful management, or both.

The severe limitations seriously affect one or more of the following practices: timing and ease of tillage; planting and harvesting; choice of crops; and methods of conservation. These soils are low to medium in productivity for a narrow to wide range of common field crops, but may have higher productivity for a specially adapted crop.

Class 5 - Soils in this class have very severe limitations that restrict their capability to producing perennial forage crops, and improvement practices are feasible.

The limitations are so severe that the soils are not capable of use for sustained production of annual field crops. The soils are capable of producing native or tame species of perennial forage plants and may be improved through the use of farm machinery. Feasible improvement practices may include clearing of bush, cultivation, seeding, fertilizing or water control.

Class 6 - Soils in this class are unsuited for cultivation, but are capable of use for unimproved permanent pasture.

These soils may provide some sustained grazing for farm animals, but the limitations are so severe that improvement through the use of farm machinery is impractical. The terrain may be unsuitable for the use of farm machinery, or the soils may not respond to improvement, or the grazing season may be very short.

Class 7 - Soils in this class have no capability for arable culture or permanent pasture.

This class includes marsh, rocky land and soil on very steep slopes.

And soils are further sub-classed based on local variations such as lightness (sand) or lack of nutrients, potential for flooding and other things a grower could experience.

Subclass C - Adverse climate: This subclass denotes a significant adverse climate for crop production as compared to the "median" climate which is defined as one with sufficiently high growing-season temperatures to bring common field crops to maturity, and with sufficient precipitation to permit crops to be grown each year on the same land without a serious risk of partial or total crop failures. In Ontario this subclass is applied to land averaging less than 2300 Crop Heat Units.

Subclass D - Undesirable soil structure and/or low permeability: This subclass is used for soils which are difficult to till, or which absorb or release water very slowly, or in which the depth of rooting zone is restricted by conditions other than a high water table or consolidated bedrock. In Ontario this subclass is based on the existence of critical clay contents in the upper soil profile.

Subclass E - Erosion: Loss of topsoil and subsoil by erosion has reduced productivity and may in some cases cause difficulties in farming the land e.g. land with gullies.

Subclass F - Low natural fertility: This subclass is made up of soils having low fertility that is either correctable with careful management in the use of fertilizers and soil amendments or is difficult to correct in a feasible way. The limitation may be due to a lack of available plant nutrients, high acidity, low exchange capacity, or presence of toxic compounds.

Subclass I - Inundation by streams or lakes: Flooding by streams and lakes causes crop damage or restricts agricultural use.

Subclass M – Moisture deficiency: Soils in this subclass have lower moisture holding capacities and are more prone to drought.

Subclass P - Stoniness: This subclass indicates soils sufficiently stony to hinder tillage, planting, and harvesting operations.

Subclass R - Consolidated bedrock: The occurrence of consolidated bedrock within 100 cm of the surface restricts rooting depth and limits moisture holding capacity. Conversely, in poorly drained soils the presence of the bedrock may, depending on depth, make artificial drainage impossible.

Subclass S - Adverse soil characteristics: This subclass denotes a combination of limitations of equal severity. In Ontario it has often been used to denote a combination of F and M when these are present with a third limitation such as T, E or P.

Subclass T - Topography: This subclass denotes limitations due to slope steepness and length. Such limitations may hinder machinery use, decrease the uniformity of crop growth and maturity, and increase water erosion potential.

Subclass W - Excess water: This subclass indicates the presence of excess soil moisture due to poor or very poor soil drainage. It is distinguished from Subclass I - water inundation which indicates risk of flooding from adjacent lakes or streams.

So there you have it, the basics of understanding soil. If you're new to growing and really want to get off to a good start, I recommend having your soil tested for nutrient levels so that you can plan your additions like cover crops and manures with that in mind. Happy Growing!

Seed Companies In Canada

As you know (if you've read our blog for a while) we really concentrate on growing open pollinated and heirloom seeds. We try to use as few hybrids as possible, not because they are bad or because they don't have great characteristics...they do, that's the whole point of making a hybrid is to improve something. No, we don't use them much because we keep seed from one year to the next in many cases and that means using open pollinated seeds. If we keep seeds from a hydrid they never breed true and you can have some unexpected results or none at all. So for that reason we buy heirloom or heritage seeds where we can. Make sense?

Here's a beautiful picture of some varieties of tomato you can grow at home.

In Canada there are many many seed companies. Some better than others. It's one of those areas where you get what you pay for. Generally the more expensive the seed, the better the germination rate. Dollar store special seeds may germinate at a rate of less than 25% compared to many other seed companies guaranteeing nearly 95%. A lot depends on how seeds are gathered and stored. One area this 'get what you pay for' does NOT apply is boutique seeds. You know the ones...fancy packaging, fancy display stands, expensive signage and marketing. Often those seeds are no better than ones from a large reputable organic seed company like West Coast. But supporting local business is important too so if that's your goal then by all means may a little more. There are plenty of local companies who charge really reasonable rates for their seeds and have varieties not available commercially so you just have to decide what you want and then go find it. Do your research. Seed research in the cold winter months is a great way to pass the time.

In my experience, companies that have a focus on organic or heritage seeds deliver good consistent quality for a reasonable price. Yes my lettuce seed packet may cost $4 compared to a cheaper brand for $2.29, but the germination rate will be good and if you divide that $4 up between the 5,000 seeds that are inside, it works out to a fraction of a penny per plant. Why do I even worry? Well, I worry because all those little $'s add up! Especially when you only get 20 seeds in a packet for some varieties. I want value for my money. And I feel that I get it from some companies more than others. Companies that offer different size packages will often offer 25g for $4 and 100g for $5.25 just as an example. Now if it's a seed I use a lot of or if I know that it's storage life is 3 years I'll buy the larger package and save half of it for next year, or I'll concentrate on growing only one type of pea instead of two. That sort of thing. But each of you will garden differently than I do. I try to have a years seeds in advance and to save seeds where I can, particularly from rare or Heritage breeds that have grown well in my area and that I want to grow again. The other part of this money saving thing is this...even if I spend $2 per seed for let's say a rare and wild tomato that I really want to grow. It produces 10 lbs of delicious tomatoes. That still only works out to about 20 cents for a pound of tomatoes, plus a bit more for labour and watering. Suddenly growing your own stuff seems like a really good deal. It's all a matter of perspective.

Here's a list of seed companies that I've heard are good or that I have first hand experience with. I believe that they will all ship across Canada but I'm not sure what the rules are for exporting to other countries. All I know is that there are strict rules because the governments want to control the spread of diseases and pests.

West Coast Seeds located in British Columbia. Started out small but now growing under new ownership, they've been the mainstay of seed companies for organic growers for many years. An excellent selection of heritage and open pollinated seeds with many certified organic. They offer a catalogue, subscription newsletter and gardening guides and tips. Great for a novice to advanced gardener. Many seed package sizes available from single packet to commercial quantities. Excellent website and good customer service. A Medium sized commercial company.

Salt Spring Seeds. Located on Salt Spring Island, home of many organic and alternate lifestyles, this terrific company have an interesting and diverse line of seeds focusing on non-GMO and organic seeds from smaller suppliers that they know. Nice people, but not a visually stimulating website as it's all text. The descriptions are clear and accurate but there are no pics so you need to know what you're looking for. Fine if you're an experienced gardener but maybe less so for a novice.

Veseys located on PEI have been serving the market in the Maritimes since 1939. Their website has online ordering, growing tips and they also have a catalogue. I will be ordering a few packages from then this year and I've heard good things about them from our friends and neighbours here in Nova Scotia. They have lots of gadgets, tools and supplies listed.

OSC Ontario Seed Company. Good selection, catalogue, website and good quality seeds. They seem to be widely available in some of the big box stores but the racks will be limited to the most popular varieties and not necessarily the best seeds for your local region. I'm not sure about that though so don't take my word for it. They do have a good selection of native plants and grasses worth a look if you're landscaping.


Annapolis Seeds A new company in it's 4th year of business, this little company prides itself on providing good quality seed at a reasonable price. Located just a few miles from my home it's one place I definitely want to visit, along with Incredible Seeds listed below. They've taken our local farm model and branched off into seed growing...much the same way we branched off into vegetable deliveries. It'll be interesting to see where they're heading in the next few years. One thing I'm for sure going to buy are some of their amazing tomato seeds. They have some spectacular varieties of tomato bred by wild boar farms in the US. Sure to be a show piece in my tomato garden this year. I'm hoping to grow pink, striped, yellow and purples...you'll just have to wait for the pics of these babies! Tomatoes don't just come in red and green...and the differences in flavour vary as much as they do between types of apple. There are way more out there than are ever found on the grocers shelf. Just look at the photo above!

Incredible Seed Company This local to me company is a relative newcomer to the seed industry but they focus on open pollinated and heritage seeds so for a person like me, they're terrific. They sell many of the same seeds as the big companies but fewer selections. Not necessarily a bad thing to have 4 varieties of corn to choose from instead of 30. You'll also fine some weird and wonderful old heritage seeds such as their Shamrock winter squash. We'll be getting some seeds from them, particularly those we buy in small quantities like squash, melons and some tomatoes. I've got some more exploring on their website to do first. They are located in the Annapolis Valley, I'm hoping I can go and see their set-up and write more about them later.


Both of the smaller local companies, Incredible and Annapolis, have been wonderful to communicate with. I think that as the months go on we'll have to go for a visit, take a bunch of pictures, and show you what seed saving is really all about. But in the meantime I'm looking into getting all my seed starting supplies bought so I'm ready for my seeds when I get them. Woo Hoo! I'm so excited! Fuzzy pink tomatoes here we come!

I've missed you!

Life is now back to normal. Sort of. I have lots of catching up to do now that the kids are back in school and Steve back to work. So for your reading pleasure and thought inducing brain stimulation, here's an article about WalMart and food that can lead to some serious evaluation of where you buy your own groceries. http://www.grist.org/food/2011-12-30-eaters-beware-walmart-is-taking-over-our-food-system#.TwQu1KZa-1Y.facebook

It's that time of year when the garden is quiet and sleeping under a light blanket of snow. But we gardeners are busy making mental plans, browsing seed catalogues or ordering in expectation of getting our seedlings off to an early start. I likely won't start a lot of stuff until March (if I can wait that long) because I'll plant under plastic in April and May. And it's better to not have your seedlings hanging around getting all long and leggy while waiting for good weather. Better to plan ahead for the right amount of time and use cover or protection as needed.

Some things like peas and lettuce I'll get in early in hopes of beating the bugs for a few weeks and because they like cooler weather. But tomatoes and eggplants, corn and melons will wait until the weather is thoroughly warmed around the May long weekend or even a couple of weeks later. Planning your garden is important both to maximize space by using successive plantings and to rotate your crops to avoid pest and disease losses. Crop rotation is a topic for another day but it's important for anyone who gardens to keep notes of what you planted, where, and how your yield was. Reviewing your notes during the winter helps in spring planning and planting.

So what are your plans for next year? Our daughter is doing a CSA in the Parksville, BC area if anyone is interested. Just let me know and I'll pass along your info.

Meanwhile it's snowing and cold here in Nova Scotia, so we're just staying by the fire dreaming about hoop greenhouses and remembering the smell of flats of tomato seedlings.

Handy Farm Devices And How To Make Them

As you know, many libraries, organisations and private citizens are in the process od digitizing old books that are not covered by copyright restrictions. This makes them available for free and easy access on the internet, and for we preppers and farmers who are trying to combine the best of traditional ingenuity with modern techniques, it's such a terrific source of knowledge. Books like "The Book Of The Farm" and old cookery books a=provide an insight into everyday domestic life and farming techniques. Well, now I'd like to add to your collection by suggesting this book to add to your collection.



Have a look and see if there's anything in there that inspires you to go ahead and build something that you can use. Or maybe you just want to keep it for a rainy day. Either way it may prove useful while not taking up much space in your computer.

I'm going to finish my order to West Coast Seeds today. Not actually buying them, just finishing up the order form. I recommend that if you use this company you sign up for an account because then you can save your cart as you go along which means you can take your time.Today is going to be cooler than the 17 degrees we enjoyed yesterday but as Chris is home today he's going to help me clear up the little tomato garden by the side of the house and plan the flower and veg garden for next year. I'm using vegetables and flowers to create a micro-climate and some privacy from my neighbours, things like runner and pole beans, sunflowers, and corn. They're all fairly heavy feeders so I'm going to spend the rest of the nice weather putting down manure and leaf mold in preparation for spring planting and the greenhouse, which will go in in March probably. The greenhouse will be my usual poly tunnel but with more permanent wood framing on the end to give a good wind-resistant result. The soil isn't that great here so we're debating about also adding some raised beds and filling with bought in soil...but that's big expense for a garden we'll only use for one or two years. I guess that as long as the lawnmower can still fit between beds then it'll be fine. First things first. Clean up the side yard and measure.

Hope you enjoy the book and have a great day.

Food Shortages

As many doom and gloomers are arguing about the scarcity of food worldwide, we in the developed nations continue to over-consume both our planets resources and it's food supplies. We're feeling our pennies pinched by ever increasing prices at the grocery store for staples such as bread, flour, rice and we watch as the price of meat goes up accordingly (since the price of grains to raise animals goes up too).

But I want you to think about your total income for last year. Not what you reported on your taxes...what actually came into your house as income. Now figure out how much you spend on groceries in a year including snacks and eating out. Is it 10% of you income? 20%? 50%? On average in the developed nations it's under 15% and yet the country complaining the loudest in the US which spends a paltry 7% on food. I think this number is probably higher because of the food stamps program but I don't know how they came up with the results in the info I'll post in a moment. I do know that in our family it's about 25% on average but that will change as the kids grow up and leave home and as our income increases. Other large families are in the same boat as us, and we're not worse off simply because of good shopping habits and growing some of our own food. Once the farm is up and running again our food bills will be much less. Hooray!

Here's the information I'm referring to. It shows selected countries income to food dollars.

I know that cost of food isn't the whole story. These numbers don't take into account that maybe people in developed countries are spending 40% of their income on shelter as opposed to other countries where it's lower. What it DOES show though is the inequality of calories consumed. I'm guessing that the higher the number of calories, the higher the consumption of fat and sugar in junk foods. I wonder if we'll ever be able to strike a balance? Well...my diet continues. All I can do is my part.

I do believe that food shortages are something to prepare for. So today I'm planning my seed shopping for next years garden. I usually have a storage of seeds from one year to the next but since moving we're starting over again with many things. Seeds included. It's time to add them back into my food storage plans. I'll let you know what we're growing next year.