We put in a garden this summer and planted every heirloom nonGMO seed imaginable.  The only crop that produced was the Clancy red potatoes.  We got about 30 lbs.  I'm going to plant more and sell what we don't eat.  I also have 3 hens that should start laying this spring.  Our rooster got frostbite in the Christmas storm.  He seems pretty healthy otherwise.  

This is interesting:  I decided to get rid of most of the food preps I have because we no longer eat white flour and rice.  So I advertised on Facebook "FREE FOOD" which also included pudding, cookies, soups, noodles, beans.  Many people said they had nothing to eat and wanted the food.  I had 7 people say they wanted it but nobody came to get it.  Unbelievable.  Too lazy to come pick it up.

We put in a garden this summer and planted every heirloom nonGMO seed imaginable.  The only crop that produced was the Clancy red potatoes.  We got about 30 lbs.  I'm going to plant more and sell what we don't eat.  I also have 3 hens that should start laying this spring.  Our rooster got frostbite in the Christmas storm.  He seems pretty healthy otherwise. 

This is interesting:  I decided to get rid of most of the food preps I have because we no longer eat white flour and rice.  So I advertised on Facebook "FREE FOOD" which also included pudding, cookies, soups, noodles, beans.  Many people said they had nothing to eat and wanted the food.  I had 7 people say they wanted it but nobody came to get it.  Unbelievable.  Too lazy to come pick it up.

Wow...  That is crazy about everyone wanting the food but no one being willing to get it...  Maybe they have gotten too used to everything being delivered during COVID?   

It is amazing how resilient potatoes really can be!  Thank you for sharing your story!  Maybe we should focus on making a bigger potato plot.  

We went to Aldi's on Saturday.  We know the manager personally.  She said that food prices are going up everywhere (in food markets).  She said that there have been a lot of mad customers complaining to them but that there is only so much they can do as the people they get their products from are raising prices and so they have to as well in order to break even.

Aldi's generally pays their employees more than a lot of other basic stores but she says it has been hard to find good help recently.  Over the past few months she has shared a lot of stressful things going on.  She says that even though her particular store is doing all right and have good people working there right now they have a LOT of pressure from above to have less employees and do more.  The environment is definitely not the same one the ownership changed and got passed on.  She says she has been looking for another job because of all the stress involved but at least things are a little more stable right now as she has a good crew.

I notice that silver prices have been inching upward tge last month (currently up about 10% to $24/oz). 

It would be nice if the price would break free as a hedge against inflation and the diminished purchasing power of the US dollar.

I think that the digital silver will eventually decouple from the real stuff. When that happens it will bust out. Every time I think it’s close to happening, nothing happens. 

I don't know if I agree.  Not everyone has the resources to grow all the food necessary for their large family to live, don't have room for a couple of cattle in their backyard, chicken coups, etc.  Perhaps they could grow some fruits and vegetables and maybe have chickens for eggs.  Generally speaking, in the past I've found that it would cost more to grow our own food than to just buy it at the store, and while the prices of food at the store are going up, I imagine so is the price of growing it yourself, as the nessary supplies are also going up in cost (which is part of why the food is going up also).

And certainly not everyone has the time to grow enough food for their family.  Perhaps a small part of it, but that's about it.

I definitely agree that we should put away some seeds and other supplies for if/when the food supply chain breaks down, but at this time I don't find that it's a huge benefit.  I find that I need to work approximately 10-12 hours per week to pay for all our food for the week, and I imagine that it would require a lot more than 10-12 hours per week to keep the same amount of food flowing (enough to feed a family of 8).  Also, given that I live in a Northern state, I would have to preserve or can enough food during the growing season to get through the Winter, and canning supplies aren't free either.

Right. Most families would barely be able to produce even a small fraction of what they need in order to feed their family based on their living situation.  For families that can't produce a significant amount of food, I still think it prudent to save seeds, produce what you can and learn to preserve it. If we don't teach our kids, who will? I guess that's part of what I'm talking about when I say it's our responsibility. Our children need to understand the value of such things, and to understand that they may find themselves in the situation where they will be glad they have those skills. In that sense, it's more about looking towards the future. 

As far as supplies go, it could be expensive if you go to the store and buy new everything. But it doesn't have to be. I collected my massive collection of canning jars in a multitude of different ways. I didn't pay full price for many of them. The nice thing is that they are reusable, except for the lids (at least that's the recommendation, not to reuse canning lids for canning purposes). I do repurpose the lids for fermenting or storing dehydrated goods in jars. 

Some examples on saving money (I've done all of these because I've never been "well off")
-Don't go out and buy an official water bath canner. Your 2 gallon pot will do. You'll just have to do less at a time. You don't need to go buy that "canning kit" either, with the apparatus you grab the jars with, the tamper and the magnet. Just use some tongs for grabbing and a butter knife for tamping. 
-If you must buy dirt for your pots, buy some dirt once and just keep building it with compost you make from your table scraps. You don't need to go and buy all that fancy fertilizer and whatever else the garden center tells you that you need to grow lots of tomatoes. I've used some crazy things for fertilzer!
-Look for canning jars at estate sales, online buy sell trades, garage sales etc. 
-If you can't afford a tiller, just use a spade. It's killer exercise! Better yet, practice no till gardening. 
-Don't buy mulch, just save your boxes and newspapers and put grass trimmings down on top of them to prevent weed growth. Fall leaves work great to put on the boxes too. This will help build your soil as well. 
-Trade with like minded people in your area for things you need. 

Truly, it does not have to be expensive. Once you have your supplies that you can use year after year you are golden You will have to spend some $$ on supplies, but the reward is great.

I would love to see more micro/urban farming threads with information and ideas of how to go about it in a not too inconvenient way.

We have a little "micro-farm on our a little over a half an acre in town.  We trying to get more independent with our own herbs and vegetables but it is hard with two little boys under four (almost three boys now) who live to dig up EVERYTHING! 

We currently grow our own rosemary, thyme, mint, lemon balm, salvia, safe, catmint, fennel and some flowers.

We try to grow at least a little mini corn plot every year and the same for potatoes.  Most of our other vegetables and herbs have been a hit or a miss every year.  I have never done tiered or small plot gardening.  So, it is all new to me and we completely re-landscaped parts of of our yard (our house is on a hill plot) to do this so the soil might not be the best.  I grew up with my parent's flat 1/4 acre garden where we always had WAY too much produce for just us.  My mother still has four full size freezers on the porch where she stores a lot of the garden produce every year.


We do have backyard chickens in a little coup and run in one of the few flat places on our property.  But...  We don't have anything big enough to support the dairy or meat side.  However we do get raw milk shares from a farmer and my parents raise cattles shares that we get in on every 2-3 years though.

Anyhow...  I would love to hear any more tips and advice that anyone can share about managing small urban/micro farming.  Potted plants are not an option by the way...  Our boys get into them rather quickly and destroy them.  So, everything really has to be planted directly in the ground even if we originally get it as a pot.  😅

Oh, I understand about the kids pulling up plants. That has been an incredible frustration for us as well! One particular time I remember- our kids (we had 3 of them 3 yrs and younger at the time) had pulled all the tulips the year before, but one yellow tulip, which happened to be the most beautiful tulip among them so I felt fortunate to still have it. The following year it bloomed all by itself. It was beautiful. The kids were playing while I was hanging out clothes and I came back to find that our little one had pulled up the tulip. She was holding it to her face sniffing it when I came around the corner. For a brief moment I mourned so pitifully, but she looked so sweet smelling the tulip, so I snapped a picture. It was a great picture, one of my favorites! So in a sweet twist of God's kindness, I enjoy that yellow tulip every time I smile at that picture. 

On a different note... have you considered raising meat rabbits? They are a really efficient way to grow your own meat and the their poo is REALLY good for the garden.  We love our meat rabbits!