We lost half our life savings in the 2008 stock market crash. For fifteen years, we had scrimped and saved for the kids' college educations and for our own retirements. And in one fateful summer, our funds were cut in half.
I cried for three weeks. Things seemed to be as bad as they could get. But they could still get worse. How will the recession affect my seed business, my husband's business, and our children's futures? We hope for the best, but we have to prepare for the worst.
As gardeners, we are accustomed to planning for the future. Here are some of the things that we have done. If you are concerned about the state of the economy and your own personal finances, I hope this will give you some ideas.
First, we grew lots of fruits and vegetables this summer. The 200 lb. potato harvest reduced our fears of starving to death. We also harvested ten different varieties of heirloom garlic. And we froze countless bags of green beans, carrots, peppers, strawberries, blackberries, gooseberries and currants. In addition, we canned tomatoes, grape juice and plum juice, and we made plum leather in the dehydrator.
Our growing season was cut short by an early frost before all of the squash matured. I guess I should have started the plants early indoors this year. So we bought some extra squash at the roadside stand. But most years we harvest enough butternut squash to eat two per week all winter long. Luckily, early frost doesn't bother the kale. Only a very hard freeze can knock it down. It's the last vegetable in the garden that we're still eating in November.
I also discovered two vegetables that can be left in the ground over the winter and harvested any time that they are needed. Parsnips and leeks are greatly appreciated in late winter when we are missing the garden most intensely.
I learned how to make raw pickled cucumbers, beets and radishes. What I like best about raw pickling is that there's no canning involved. I'm afraid that canning is not my favorite pastime. Raw pickles are an excellent source of beneficial bacteria, which have many important health benefits. They will keep for several months in the fridge.
After fours years, we are finally starting to get some filberts on the trees that we planted as a windbreak on two sides of the vegetable garden. I think that filberts and walnuts are the only reliable nut trees here in zone 5. We planted fruit trees when we first moved here, but they aren't mature yet. It takes several years for cherries and apples to start producing. Small fruits that grow on bushes and vines, like blackberries and grapes, are much faster. But there is one fruit tree that starts producing quickly -- the contorted jujube. It's an attractive little tree with tasty fruits rather like tiny apples. They ripen in the fall when they start to turn from green to brown.
Of course, a well-balanced diet consists of more than fruits and vegetables. We also keep a year's supply of dry beans and grains on hand. I've been baking bread ever since the first year that we were married. We have an electric grain grinder, as well as a hand mill for rolling oats. Because I have celiac disease, I can't eat gluten-containing grains like wheat and oats, so we also store brown rice. Unlike other whole grains, brown rice can't be stored at room temperature because the essential fatty acids in the bran go rancid. So it's stored in the freezer. We consume a shocking amount of dry beans. Bean soup is cheap, and it helps to control my blood sugar. We add ground meat, onions, carrots, potatoes, peppers, garlic and spices to make a complete meal.
I could go on about food, but you get the idea. If things get really tough, and it's a choice between making the house payment, sending the kids to college, or going to the grocery store, we can easily skip the grocery store without suffering.
Our family recently spent an evening at the park. I was drawn to the edge of the pond, where I watched the ducks swimming in their carefree way. As the last light of the dimming sunset played across the water, I suddenly felt at one with the scene. And I heard the words in my head, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" [Matthew 6:28-30, the Bible]
As tears rolled down my cheeks, I knew that whatever happens, we will survive. And we will keep on doing what we've always done. Who knows better than a gardener how to keep going in the face of adversity? We have braved late spring frosts, scorching summer heat, nasty insects, and prolonged droughts. Gardening is training for life. It's never easy. But I can't think of anything I'd rather do.
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