Fight Back Against Food Price Increases

This year's garden started out at as a "we'll just see what we get" garden. What's that, you ask? It's really quite simple.

Because of one thing after another, we had neglected to plant a garden for two years. The only thing we didn't neglect to do was buy seed. So for two years those little packets and bags of seed got stuffed into a box with good intentions but no action. This year, with food prices spiraling upward, we decided that no matter what, we were going to plant our garden. There'd be no excuses this year.

We also decided we weren't going to buy any more seed. We had plenty. We had purple hull peas, we had crowders, green beans, wax beans, okra, squash, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumber, broccoli, and goodness knows what else.

And even though we had not planted a garden for the last two years, the hubs had still been amending the garden spot with natural compost and manure. Each time he'd go out with the tractor he'd also widen the garden spot just a bit more.

Now to say you have a garden spot 300 feet long by 125 feet wide isn't impressive when, with our economy the way it is, we're used to talking in terms of billions and trillions. Anything in the "hundreds" just doesn't seem to have the punch it used to.

That may apply to the US debt, but let me guarantee you... it in no way applies to a garden. So we took every packet and bag of seed we had this year and planted it. We figured, at best, 25 to 30 percent of it would come up. After all, the seed was old.

Come to find out... the seed wasn't that old. As you can see from the picture, everything began sprouting, and this doesn't include the raised garden beds or the blueberry bushes we have as well. As the hubs and I looked out over all these plants coming up, the only thought in the back of our heads was, "Oh... my... gosh... what have we done?"

To say that the harvest came in strong would be an understatement. Three rows of squash plants threatened to take over the world. The people in our neighborhood locked their doors and refused to answer when we came calling with our excess harvest from the garden. We took to stuffing bags in cars, but they got wise to us and began locking those too.

I had canned some of the food, but because we don't have a full-blown pantry yet, I was hesitant to can too much. Where would we put it? After a family powwow, we decided we'd can now and build the pantry later.

It's over 1,000 jars later... and they are lined up everywhere in the house that there's an empty spot. This is my hallway at 600+ jars... they're stacked up to the thermostat now. You're probably thinking that I'm a masochist at best, and what in the world will we do with all this food... but think about it.

If you have two vegetables and a meat per meal, you'd need about 2200 jars of food to cover two meals a day for 365 days of the year for a typical family of four. (I don't count breakfast in this calculation...) You can get by without figuring in the harvest months because you can eat directly out of the garden.

However, this is more than a story about my garden and the steps I took to preserve the harvest. I don't know about you, but my grocery bill has been so astronomical in comparison to what I buy, it's not even funny... and I don't even have kids at home. In this depressed economy, I can't imagine how families are making it. Whereas we used to joke we couldn't go to the grocery store without spending $100, now it's up to $150 - $200 for the same 5 or 6 bags.

And when you factor in the genetically modified crops that are linked to all kinds of health concerns going on with our bodies which are being used in mass production, and the limited nutrition of the food we are buying, you might as well go outside and grab some bark off a tree and boil it... it'll probably taste just the same and give you more nutrition.

The thing I have discovered with canning my food (and I've tried freezing it, but after the malfunction of two freezers and the amount of food I had to throw out, I'm not a freezer fan anymore) is that not only do I save TONS of money, I'm giving my family better tasting and more nutritious food. Yes, the initial outlay on jars was a factor, but if you catch them on sale or buy them up at garage or estate sales, you can find some great bargains. And the jars are forever.

But maybe the only thing you've ever tried to can was a few tomatoes or some jelly from in-season fruit. You feel wholly inadequate to tackling a full-fledged garden or even canning meat. And the thought of a 1,000+ jars just puts you under.

Look, you don't have to go bonkers like I did. I've been canning for many years, so while the amount of food which needed processing was overwhelming, the job itself was not. If you're new to this whole food preservation thing, then what you need to do is get your feet wet with a few items at first and then expand into other foods. But where do you start?

I'd like to suggest with the DVD, Food Storage Secrets. This comprehensive DVD series shows you how to can from beginning to end, and it includes foods you may not have thought you could process - such as meats. This DVD set starts out with the basics, from equipment needed to the preparation process involved in the different types of food. Not only do you get a visual presentation of the entire canning process, from beginning to end, this set also comes with an eBook manual of instructions that you can print out and use in the kitchen each time you can.

Not only that, but there's a bonus DVD in this set on food dehydration secrets and techniques. Not only is canning a viable way of putting food up, so is dehydrating and this DVD will get you started with that as well.

We were exceptionally blessed this year in our garden. I've also seen exceptional values and sales at our local farmers market and from the largesse of friends and family whose gardens also produced well. When I look at the picture to the right of just the green beans that we got from one day's harvest, I'm not seeing all the hard work that went into growing and putting these up. I'm seeing the 80 cents to 1 dollar a can I saved by canning them. I'm seeing the nutrition of home-grown food versus the empty calories of processed goods.

Is it hard work? Yes... but so is anything of value worth having. Many people that I come into contact with are beginning to see the need for learning these vital homesteading skills, not only to get them through tough economic times ahead, but to address health and nutrition concerns as well. And it's never too late to start.

And just because summer is winding down doesn't mean canning season is too. There are winter crops on the horizon that can be preserved as well. If your family enjoys hunting or you're beginning a small farm, the ability to can meat is an added value. It's never too late to begin learning the fundamentals of food storage secrets and for that you need Solutions From Science's Food Storage Secrets DVD set.

Sincerely,
Hanne Moon
Editor, Off the Grid News

P.S. Don't turn away from learning these time honored food storage techniques just because you live in an apartment or home with no gardening capabilities. You have options as well. When I was in your very situation, I would look for deals at the grocery stores to stock my panty. When chicken went on sale, I was there, buying what I could and putting it up into jars. When our local grocery store overstocked on carrots and had a massive price reduction to move them out, I was there with a grocery cart, buying every bag I could. You are limited only by your imagination, and if your imagination is leaning you to learning how to get off the grid, then you need to click here to order your copy of Food Storage Secrets today.