"The U.S. Economy hit a Rough Patch"?
Holy Christmas! I'll alert the media! Oops.... that was the media....
Q1 2011's rough patch has very little to do with weather, and everything to do with Oil... and to a much lesser extent, Japan.
Economists predict? Who gives a good fart? I am far more interested in what the Saudi's have to say.
Anybody here believe a single word the Saudi's have to say (other than the actual number, which will be easily verifiable in the near term)? They decided to cut production because of a glut in Oil at the same time Libya ceased exporting and prices spiked 17%? In what f&@%ing universe doe that make sense?
More on this soon.
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So, I am an experienced homesteader now, right? I read these silly articles around the Peak Oil sites about "gardening as if your life depended on it".
Down through history, how often have you heard the line "The Land of Milk and Honey"? Bizzillions, right? Ever heard of "the land of bell peppers and swiss chard"? How about "the land of broccoli and cabbage"?
Me neither.
Look, I love my garden. But I'd rather have a milk cow and some chickens. Let me tell you about the economics of a family milk cow... work with me... I can't help myself.
My family goes through about a gallon of milk per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. A gallon of organic milk costs $8.20 here in Tennessee, and that's before 9.25% sales tax on food. Let's call it $9 per gallon. When fresh, our cows give 3 to 4 gallons per day, and at the end of the cycle they still give 1 gallon+. On a tax adjusted basis (remember, I have to pay taxes on income and the $9 per day is after tax), my cow's economic equivalent value is about $5000 per year for that 1 gallon per day. But she gives me 3 gallons per day for more than half her cycle. The balance goes to the 2 hogs I raise for the family freezer per year. This milk, together with garden/farm and kitchen waste is pretty much all these 2 hogs will get... and they will yield us about 400 lbs of pork. In order to give milk, the cow has to calve... and she will calve every year for 10 years.
With me so far? One cow puts over 600 pounds of beef and 400 pounds of pork in the freezer, every year for FREE (well, for the price of 2 acres of pasture in the middle of nowhere, or less than a $5000 investment that will retain its value in almost every scenario, and $600 for the cow and perhaps $200 per year in medications, vaccines, and supplements), PLUS $5,000 of economically equivalent income milk. Did I mention butter?
Try that with gardening.