Preparing for a Difficult Winter
Hubby and I looked at dismal fields of corn and our own blight and rot problem in our garden and concluded that if we relied on local agriculture like in the old days, we'd be facing a famine. Regardless, it's pretty obvious that we're going to have a more difficult winter.
Weather-beaten crops prevent us from building up our pantry and will drive up food and gas prices. Work has slowed because of the economy and the meager ag crops. On top of that, we've had a very autumn-like summer with lots of rain and cooler temperatures. So, really going into autumn won't be very much like a change of pace. Usually, we face a sunny, dry, hot summer and when autumn comes, we welcome the change. This year, there's really been no change. Moods are dim. Health is waning. People are crankier.
Consequently, I'm brainstorming ways to keep things cheerful, especially Christmas. I'm also brainstorming ways to save and to gather what I can. Personally, I'd like to hermit most of the winter and avoid the one-after-the-other illnesses I face last year. And hopefully, 2010 will be a bumper crop year.
My tomatoes have blight badly. While they're loaded with big, green tomatoes, I'll be lucky to gather enough to make one jar of sauce. They so sick. I've learned that when I pull them up, I cannot compost them, but should bag them and throw them in the landfill. Also, I should not replant tomatoes in the garden next year. I'll have to container garden my tomatoes next year. That should help prevent the spread of the blight. This blight is similar to the potato famine blight.
Weather-beaten crops prevent us from building up our pantry and will drive up food and gas prices. Work has slowed because of the economy and the meager ag crops. On top of that, we've had a very autumn-like summer with lots of rain and cooler temperatures. So, really going into autumn won't be very much like a change of pace. Usually, we face a sunny, dry, hot summer and when autumn comes, we welcome the change. This year, there's really been no change. Moods are dim. Health is waning. People are crankier.
Consequently, I'm brainstorming ways to keep things cheerful, especially Christmas. I'm also brainstorming ways to save and to gather what I can. Personally, I'd like to hermit most of the winter and avoid the one-after-the-other illnesses I face last year. And hopefully, 2010 will be a bumper crop year.
My tomatoes have blight badly. While they're loaded with big, green tomatoes, I'll be lucky to gather enough to make one jar of sauce. They so sick. I've learned that when I pull them up, I cannot compost them, but should bag them and throw them in the landfill. Also, I should not replant tomatoes in the garden next year. I'll have to container garden my tomatoes next year. That should help prevent the spread of the blight. This blight is similar to the potato famine blight.
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