Oranges/Face

As anyone living closest to a small city (i.e. less than 10,000) knows, buying local in the dead of winter is hard. Very hard. We do have a great farmer's market starting in late spring through October and all sellers must have grown their produce in our county. I try to shop there or another nearby county to the north of us (Amish markets) for most of my summer produce needs. My biggest exception: citrus.

For reasons unknown to me, I have been craving citrus all winter. I can't get enough. While I love grapefruit, Satsumas, and oranges, I can't say I have ever craved them with such an intensity. I am guessing my body lacks or needs something and citrus is meeting that need.

For the most part, I buy most of my citrus from Trader Joe's or a fruit market in Louisville. I like their selections of less common varieties and the prices (especially at the former) for organic is great. However, I also shop at the Big Stores. You know which ones I am referring to (basically, my only choices in the small city).

So, I am getting around to my story here. Today I saw that one of the Bigs had blood oranges. Wow, and at a great price! I love blood oranges. I decided to try following Tigress in a Jam's Can Jam Challenge (informally, as this one was from 2010) and make blood orange marmalade. Of course, the Big did not have the blood oranges they advertised, so I bought a bag of Cara Cara oranges and Ugli fruit instead. While checking out, the cashier and I were talking about the citrus and she tells me she used to work in produce at a supermarket that was once in town (long ago bought up by one of the Bigs). She told me when she came to work for Big she tried produce, but was soon placed on cashiering. She told me she asked them if she could do both (she's experienced, mind you), but they told her no. Instead, the Big store cut her after holidays hours down to 14. Yes, fourteen hours and she is the main wage earner in her family. She told me she had almost paid off her trailer, but then they cut her hours and now she is afraid she is going to lose it. She is falling further and further behind.

Now I understand the need for businesses to cut back when business slows, but this place is the only Big store in town (they definitely have the monopoly) and it is almost always busy (unless you are there in the middle of the night or early in the morning). Fourteen hours at probably barely minimum wage? She said, 'I work really hard..." in a voice like she was pleading with me to understand her plight or just make me believe she really wants the work. I can't imagine how she must feel to check out all the shit we buy. But then, the shit is giving her 14 hours (said with a sarcastic tone).

Really sad. I wish my patronage to the business counted for something towards it's workers. They say these Bigs make jobs. Really? Quite frankly, I think the majority of us are just screwed by the Bigs: higher prices, less choices, less hours for the workers, higher profits for that abstract face behind the curtain.

Harvest Something

As a part of my goals this year, I want to try to keep track of the food I am producing or foraging again. On the old blog, I used to participate in this "linky" business of sorts (before the linky thing became popular in bloggerland-I wish it had been used for the challenge as I used to love to read other bloggers' accomplishments and this would have saved so much time!) called Independence Days Challenge. I participated for a couple of years and stopped in early 2010. I am not sure if it is still ongoing (I really hope Sharon brings it back this year and, if so, I'll participate again). If you are interested in sustainability, homesteading, farming, permaculture or preparedness, I implore you to check out some of the old posts on the topic.

I don't know if I will keep track of all the old categories (I have my own specific goals now), but I do like the idea of keeping track of what I grow (or forage) myself. I have not really tackled any of this on this blog, so this may seem like a 360 degree turnabout, but it really is an old and loved way of life I enjoyed (or at least felt challenged and interested in) for many years. I had planned on carry my homesteading ways on to Kentucky, but life has not been a picture-perfect script in any way and I really am not sure what the future holds. I think we can all agree the world is changing at G-force speeds and none of us can be certain of what lies around the proverbial corner. I like being (or at least trying) to be prepared.

I think thrifting is an extension of preparedness. I have thrifted or "curb shopped" for items useful in homesteading and preparedness. All of my tomato cages are garbage finds; I've picked up free pallets and used them to make chicken coops and raised beds for gardening (oh, and a composter too!). I have found cheap barrels that smelled like mint and vanilla (they once held essence) on Craig's List and transformed them into rain barrels. I have 'thrifted' chickens and turkey poults. Found books about gardening, goats and homesteading at thrift stores and garage sales. It is all part of frugal life (as long as it is in moderation unlike my last year!)

I am hoping to grow and can a lot of produce again this year as we have finally thinned our stockpile (my obsession with canning covered years 2004-2009; the man took it over in 2010-11 and much less was put up, but much more was used due to the distance).

I am currently in a tough situation of living between two places. This makes homesteading difficult. Hell, it makes life difficult and tiring. However, I am looking forward to a year of urban homesteading AND rural homesteading. I can't wait to compare the two. I've already been drooling through the seed catalogs and planning my crop.

So, back to my original topic about my 2012 harvest: Today I harvested 6 Meyer lemons from my houseplant! I plan to make limoncello as gifts next December and these sweet lemons should get me started.

Thrifty Times

I really wanted to keep this blog light-hearted, a glimpse of what I feel is the happier, more fun me. All of that being said, I blogged about recessions and depression and difficult times for years and it is hard for me to let this go. I have practiced for The End of the World As We Know It (TEOTWAWKI) for a long time and when I hear something that alerts me of hard times I tend to listen. I don't want to be panicky about the New Year, but I plan to start tightening up the purse strings.

Case-in-point: My friend M. works in the coffee business. He is a master roaster and makes a great, smooth-tasting coffee that I am so hooked on (and often the recipients of his great coffee gifts!) He has been depressed for a couple of weeks and tonight he told me that several employees were laid-off and his hours were cut. Why? I mean coffee is an addiction and I don't see "Drink less coffee" on too many resolution lists. No, the reason is coffee beans have gone up 65%. Another way to put this is consumer coffee is about to go literally through the roof. I am a coffee addict. I need to stock up ASAP!

Then, if this coffee news is not enough, I hear on Chicago news that produce is tripling in cost. Even the price of things like bananas and cabbage is increasing exponentially. 2010 has not been a good year for produce yields. I guess I'll be planting that garden this year after all (order seeds now!) Of course, we could all have wonderful local produce yields come spring and summer (we can hope anyway).

The other agricultural item that is about to increase is cotton. Well, the price of raw cotton is already high, but what is going to go up is the following essential items: blue jeans, towels, and diapers (the non-disposable ones). I will thrift most of the jeans for DH and myself, but decent ones for the 8 yo always seem harder to find (will have to really hit yard sales this summer).
No one is in diapers any more and we are set on towels.

Anyway, I really was trying to get away from the panic, the doom and gloom I felt from being/having to be "prepared", but I still want to be thrifty and ready for tough times ahead. When I hear my friends are losing their jobs and the rest of us have frozen salaries, I wonder if this recession is just getting bigger and not better.