It’s time for the Ole’ Saturday Homesteading Trading Post and I can’t wait to see what all of you have going on at your homesteads!
This weekend at our Lil’ Suburban Homestead we are cleaning out, mending, repairing, working on preps, and most of all spending time with each other as I always like meal times to be even more special on the weekends if possible.
You know each week goes by and we get a little closer to Spring but I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the economy and the fact that it’s not improving at least not from where my sites are lined up I don’t see vast improvement coming. I don’t want to be doom and gloom and I certainly try to be optimistic or at least solution oriented so I will continue to hang my clothes out on the line as I have done for years along with, can food, prep for the future again as we have done for years but now we are taking it to new levels and I wonder where we are heading as a nation in the United States or the world for that matter.
I have a virtual friend online that shared with me that 300 coal miners lost their jobs in the past couple of weeks near where she lives…...here is a related article.
Gas prices are rising…..and why? Really can anyone really enlighten me on this one?
Consumer Prices and Clothing Are On The Rise
Food Prices Are On The Rise (By the way this article mentions that certain company’s are hurting because the purchase of pre-packaged foods especially yogurt is on the decline) So in this case some company’s are having to raise prices to deal with less consumer demand.
Another article on food prices rising (Good News in the fact that food prices did not go up as high as economists predicted)
So now on to “The Ole’ Saturday Homesteading Trading Post”…..I love all homesteading topics and I think now more than ever we are all going to have to stop being so dependent on “cheap food” because I think its a thing of the past. The more we get used to growing our own food and becoming self sufficient the less hard hit we will feel it in our wallets and the more we will have the skills to be able to survive this rapidly changing economy.
On a positive note we went to go see my daughter sing this past week at a local art gallery and her music never fails to inspire me here is a picture of her at her event that I posted on Pinterest. The event attracted a small but attentive group and when I left for the evening I almost felt like I had to say good-bye to everyone like I had just made some new friends for one evening.
Source: i.imgur.com via Karen on Pinterest
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I can’t wait to see all of your links, your solutions, your plans this week and keep coming back! Also please comment on the issue of rising prices and what your strategies are to combat them….I love blogging but I learn so much from all of your comments and reading your blogs as well. I enjoy being on the journey with all of you!
Fondly,
Here in Ireland we are facing the same problems. We and lots of others grow as much as possible. My husband and I do a lot of foraging especially in the Spring and Summer. At this moment we still have carrots, parsnips, swedes, salads and spring onions in our garden.
Bridget you and your husband sound like you guys have a great plan……I would love it if you would teach me how to cook parsnips properly as I could grow them easily here I think…..What our swedes? I will have to check your blog out to see if you have any of your recipes posted. My Grandma was Irish her last name was Robinson. So glad you stopped by our Lil’ Suburban Homestead!
Hi Karen,
My neighbor Fred just stopped by to pick up some eggs and we had a conversation about this very topic. He has friends in TX who are ranchers and they have had to sell off so much of their cattle herd that they are wondering if they will be able to continue ranching. The drought in the south over the last couple of years has increased their cost of raising cattle astronomically. The hay and grain has to be shipped in from northern states to keep their breeding stock going. My uncle in NY has been selling hay to ranchers in TX and that never happened in the past.
So I think we can expect to see meat prices continue to increase. More of it will come from other countries like Mexico and China. A lot of our grain raised in the US is being sold internationally or is being used to produce biofuels…so the cost of keeping your own animals is going up. I pay $13 per 50# of layer feed and 2 years ago I paid $9 for the same product. That is a big increase and I have to charge more for my eggs now.
It will get harder for people to make ends meet. Inflation continues to go up and stock traders see everything as a commodity to make money on …so gas prices will go up too. I hate to say it, but it is inevitable. The sooner people see this and start to do more for themselves, the better off they will be. You are following the right path!
Lisa Lynn times are changing fast thanks for your post it really details the complexities of the economy at the grass roots level literally. I had no idea of the challenges facing ranchers in Texas at all.
Oh, that’s awesome that your daughter had a chance to perform. That’s really neat 🙂 🙂 🙂 Plus, I’m all for people pursuing those things that they love, including music 🙂 🙂 I’ll link up this week. I’ve been tracking my spending on food. Right now, I’m still in the “just what do I spend” phase…Maybe next month, I’ll start seeing where I can cut down on costs. Have a great weekend. Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂
I love that she is pursuing her passions I wish I had had a clue what mine were at 19 years of age…..I really enjoyed your post this week and your pictures are just beautiful!