Panic Buying due to Cornavirus Pandemic

sanderson wrote:Just catching up.  It is truly amazing how many people are buying seeds (most of which will expire or never be used, I'm afraid).  What they don't realize is that it is a least 2-3 months before most plants will be bearing.

Reminds me of a former life, back in the 1970's, when I taught classes in Organic Gardening. Each spring everyone was overly optimistic about everything they were going to grow, and I spent considerable time trying to downsize their plans for a huge garden that they were not ready to handle - start small, and add a little more each year, said I. Each week the class was hosted at a different student's garden, where we could talk about successes, failures, and necessary actions. All was good until July or August when students didn't want you to see their "miserable garden" - everything was overtaken by weeds, or vegetables were dying, etc., etc., etc.. A little personal tutoring and help with the gardens was necessary, and usually the garden could be recovered. But, the gardener was "tired of fighting" and wasn't sure they wanted to continue.  But, the next spring they were back for the advanced course, and they couldn't wait to have the best garden ever! Fortunately, I never tired of working with future gardeners, and always enjoyed seeing the excitement they had of harvesting their hard work. Then we moved from Georgia to Illinois, into the middle of the bread basket of America, and I never re-started classes.  Now, it is just the neighborhood kids that come by to help with the gardens because they want to learn how vegetables are grown, and as an old grandpa I get to see that enthusiasm again.... 

OhioGardener wrote:Each spring everyone was overly optimistic about everything they were going to grow, and I spent considerable time trying to downsize their plans for a huge garden that they were not ready to handle - start small, and add a little more each year, said I. Each week the class was hosted at a different student's garden, where we could talk about successes, failures, and necessary actions. All was good until July or August when students didn't want you to see their "miserable garden" - everything was overtaken by weeds, or vegetables were dying, etc., etc., etc..

That was me at least 3 times in my adult life. This time I was determined to succeed and 2020 is looking very promising so far.

OhioGardener wrote:

sanderson wrote:Just catching up.  It is truly amazing how many people are buying seeds (most of which will expire or never be used, I'm afraid).  What they don't realize is that it is a least 2-3 months before most plants will be bearing.

Reminds me of a former life, back in the 1970's, when I taught classes in Organic Gardening. Each spring everyone was overly optimistic about everything they were going to grow, and I spent considerable time trying to downsize their plans for a huge garden that they were not ready to handle - start small, and add a little more each year, said I. Each week the class was hosted at a different student's garden, where we could talk about successes, failures, and necessary actions. All was good until July or August when students didn't want you to see their "miserable garden" - everything was overtaken by weeds, or vegetables were dying, etc., etc., etc.. A little personal tutoring and help with the gardens was necessary, and usually the garden could be recovered. But, the gardener was "tired of fighting" and wasn't sure they wanted to continue.  But, the next spring they were back for the advanced course, and they couldn't wait to have the best garden ever! Fortunately, I never tired of working with future gardeners, and always enjoyed seeing the excitement they had of harvesting their hard work. Then we moved from Georgia to Illinois, into the middle of the bread basket of America, and I never re-started classes.  Now, it is just the neighborhood kids that come by to help with the gardens because they want to learn how vegetables are grown, and as an old grandpa I get to see that enthusiasm again.... 

This reminds me of Mel's introduction in his books. SFG with rainsed beds, Mel's Mix and grids makes gardening soooo easy.

Planter bags have more than doubled in price. 1-day shipping is now 1-week shipping,  with possible delays. Remember the "good old days" when we could get whatever we wanted whenever we wanted? Now I just feel lucky (and guilty) being where I am, able to do what I'm doing. 

countrynaturals wrote:Planter bags have more than doubled in price. 1-day shipping is now 1-week shipping,  with possible delays. Remember the "good old days" when we could get whatever we wanted whenever we wanted? Now I just feel lucky (and guilty) being where I am, able to do what I'm doing. 

Not to mention many are completely out of stock....

https://www.amleo.com/leonard-grow-bags-bundles-of-10/p/VP-AGBXX/

...but, they do have these...

https://www.amleo.com/root-pouch-non-degradable-reusable-grow-bags/p/VP-RPCOLOR/

For some strange reason ...
My caveman survival instincts say grow as much as you can this year , if it's not used it can often be stored as is , or  frozen , pickled , canned in hot water or pressure canned or put in the compost heap for next year .

plantoid wrote:For some strange reason ...
My caveman survival instincts say grow as much as you can this year , if it's not used it can often be stored as is , or  frozen , pickled , canned in hot water or pressure canned or put in the compost heap for next year .

I don't see things improving any time soon.

countrynaturals wrote:

plantoid wrote:For some strange reason ...
My caveman survival instincts say grow as much as you can this year , if it's not used it can often be stored as is , or  frozen , pickled , canned in hot water or pressure canned or put in the compost heap for next year .

 I don't see things improving any time soon.

I will try as much as I can as it will not be wasted.  Everything I have ever gown since starting SFG has not been wasted.  I have learned to do canning and I have bought a dehydrator and of course a big freezer. When I finally get to England I will have to re-purchase a pressure cooker and a dehydrator as my brother has neither.  I will miss my dehydrator as the makers have gone out of business. It is a Berron.

I do not see things improving for some considerable time.

Interesting thoughts in this article.  One thing that doesn't make a lot of sense though is this statement: "Farmer Aaron Keefer says 500 square feet of land can produce about 20-percent of the food a family needs."  I have just over 250 sq ft, and I grow 100% of our vegetables for a year. Maybe it is just my intensive planting, but the plants produce a lot of vegetables for both eating and preserving.  But, he does say, "If you put a little work into it, you’ll be surprised at how much a little plot of land can produce,” he adds."

Quarantine Gardening: Grow what you like

Canning supplies and Mason jars will be next, once people start getting vegetables. In addition, some of the companies that make them have staff reductions and aren't producing as many jars as they did previously (e.g. Weck). Weck, Anchor Hocking, and others are out of stock on popular items, such as 32 oz. jars (especially wide mouth). If you want to can this year, buy what you need now. Since I'm dramatically increasing production in 2020 (retired in October, and have the time), I've been buying a box of Mason jars every time I see them in a store. In the US, Target and Michaels are a good source, but it will fall off soon. 

I can't wait to put away marinara from my fresh San Marzanos for the fall/winter!

Brian

OG, I don't think anyone has any idea of how much food you can get out of a SFG.  They just don’t know.

Brian, good point; need to get some jars!  It does get a little scarce when harvest is upon us, so this will be worse.  Thanks!

OhioGardener wrote:Interesting thoughts in this article.  One thing that doesn't make a lot of sense though is this statement: "Farmer Aaron Keefer says 500 square feet of land can produce about 20-percent of the food a family needs."  I have just over 250 sq ft, and I grow 100% of our vegetables for a year. Maybe it is just my intensive planting, but the plants produce a lot of vegetables for both eating and preserving.  But, he does say, "If you put a little work into it, you’ll be surprised at how much a little plot of land can produce,” he adds."

Quarantine Gardening: Grow what you like

I think it makes sense if you include the area for pathways around your garden.  My garden measures 240 sf, but it only contains three 4'x4' boxes.  The growing area is only 48 sq ft.   The rest of the space consists of 3' wide paths between and around the boxes.

Scorpio Rising wrote:OG, I don't think anyone has any idea of how much food you can get out of a SFG.  They just don’t know.

Brian, good point; need to get some jars!  It does get a little scarce when harvest is upon us, so this will be worse.  Thanks!

Fleet Farm has them in stock, and they ship (if you're not in Illinois, Minnesota, Dakotas, etc.)

Brian

A friend of my daughter brought me a load of my favorite toilet paper yesterday.  Finally after 6 weeks of trying we now have our favorite.  I was down to the last bit of my last roll.

Scorpio Rising wrote:OG, I don't think anyone has any idea of how much food you can get out of a SFG.  They just don’t know.

Brian, good point; need to get some jars!  It does get a little scarce when harvest is upon us, so this will be worse.  Thanks!

We have plenty of jars from the years of canning, but we stocked up on lids and bands just recently. Rural King had pallets of canning supplies in their store.

Thanks for the reminder about lids. I must take inventory of my jars.  When I started canning I ended up with several different sizes, thereby collecting different sized lids.

Now I have pruned the sizes  I do not need, and stuck to the one litre and half litres sizes.  So only two different lids,

yolos wrote:A friend of my daughter brought me a load of my favorite toilet paper yesterday.  Finally after 6 weeks of trying we now have our favorite.  I was down to the last bit of my last roll.

Great score! Finding our favorite brand has been difficult. I'm getting tired of off-brand, single-ply sandpaper.

OhioGardener wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:OG, I don't think anyone has any idea of how much food you can get out of a SFG.  They just don’t know.

Brian, good point; need to get some jars!  It does get a little scarce when harvest is upon us, so this will be worse.  Thanks!

We have plenty of jars from the years of canning, but we stocked up on lids and bands just recently. Rural King had pallets of canning supplies in their store.

+1  I need to get more lids, ASAP.  Maybe an extra dozen jars, also. I live in an agriculture area, so there may be extra canning activity this summer.

Yea, my first time off the property.  Got bit by a tick and developed a rash.  I was afraid of Lyme disease.  Yep, it was diagnosed as Lyme disease but I got help very early so I should not have any problems (hopefully).  But I actually got to go to the grocery store for the first time in about 2 months.  Last week I finally ran out of diet ginger ale in the 7.5 oz cans.  The only grocery store around that carries this is where I get my prescriptions filled.  Also was able to buy Parkay margarine which I have been out of since almost the beginning of the pandemic.  I found some at the store but it was stick and not soft spread but I bought it any way.  I had a few pieces of toast with my favorite margarine tonight.  

It sure was nice to get out and about.

Oh dear, Yolos! Glad you were able to get out, but gee whiz that's a rough way to do it...

Hope you're okay...!!

So glad I purchased the couple of hundred Weck jars with the glass lids & stainless steel spring clamps  to do the pressure canning in six or so years ago  . All I need are 80 & 100 mm sealing rings of which I've still got a couple of hundred .

We are starting to see the lockdown slowly being lifted. I'm not looking forward to the second  tsunami of Covid 19 that appears certain to happen here in the UK .

I too managed a trip out to buy gardening things .. six  X 150 litre bales of composted veg waste with a bit of peat included in the mix They are very heavy at about  8 stone each ….... even more if they're sopping wet.  .   
The car/ MPV   noticed the extra half ton in the back on the way home .  A guy at the store loaded it for me and once home I slid them out the car one at a time on a board covered in carpet ,  then  down on to the sack barrow platform . 

 I'll be putting 15 or more tomato plants in 20 litre ( 5 gallon )  tubs tomorrow all being well.

AtlantaMarie wrote:Oh dear, Yolos!  Glad you were able to get out, but gee whiz that's a rough way to do it...

Hope you're okay...!!

+1 My, goodness!

My gosh, Yolos! So sorry to hear about the Lyme diagnosis!!! How long between the bite and the positive test? I've got several friends who have/have had Lyme. Ain't no fun. Please look into dietary changes (no sugar, no gluten) which can all increase inflammation. There appear to be two schools of medical thought regarding Lyme, one being much more agressive regarding early intervention and longer term treatment and the other being more lax. The only one of my friends who I can say recovered fully from Lyme had an aggressive Lyme specialist treating her.
It's a tough regimen but worth it. The ticks are awful here this year. I'm constantly checking myself. Have had dozens on me with two starting to take a nibble. None embedded this year, thank goodness.

I have some concern about a second wave of COVID-19 and This Contact Tracing and what apple and google did with the recent update. I haven't updated yet, been busy and lazy to do it.

mollyhespra wrote:My gosh, Yolos!  So sorry to hear about the Lyme diagnosis!!!  How long between the bite and the positive test?  I've got several friends who have/have had Lyme.  Ain't no fun. Please look into dietary changes (no sugar, no gluten) which can all increase inflammation.  There appear to be two schools of medical thought regarding Lyme, one being much more agressive regarding early intervention and longer term treatment and the other being more lax.  The only one of my friends who I can say recovered fully from Lyme had an aggressive Lyme specialist treating her.
It's a tough regimen but worth it.  The ticks are awful here this year.  I'm constantly checking myself.  Have had dozens on me with two starting to take a nibble.  None embedded this year, thank goodness.

I never had a test.  I was bit on Saturday and a rash developed immediately.  Went to the doctor on Tuesday.  The doctor looked at the rash and agreed that it was Lyme disease in the very early stages.  I asked him about a test and he said that would take time and we needed to start the treatment immediately.  Gave me a 10 day supply of Doxycycline.  The only effect I had was the rash, no other problems.