Giving more reasons to garden than ever....

Earlier this year, Florida was in a deep freeze. It was almost as if Mother Nature was saying, "Global Warming, huh? Psych! Try the Ice Age, sucka!" Of course, the result to the American people....higher food prices.

Currently, Tennessee and other parts of the southeast are under water...its doubtful that they will replant the fields that are currently under water. The result? Higher food prices.

California is suffering the worst man-made drought in history, all to save a fish that (frankly) isn't native to the man-made lake. The result? Higher food prices.

And to add to all of this, we are going through a fourth year of bee die-off, and it is now being reported that round-up resistant weeds have popping up. (Tell me about it...seeing that roundup wasn't really working years ago was the main reason why we gave up on chemicals and went organic).

What does all of this add up to? Hitting your wallet during a time when a majority of Americans (not to mention the rest of the world) are already struggling financially.

But there is inspiration around the corner. Just yesterday, the Power Hour (hosted by Joyce Riley) had author and urban homesteader Eric Knutzen on to discuss living the good life in the city. (Eric's blog can be found at http://www.homegrownevolution.com/ ). Fellow Californian urban homesteaders "Path To Freedom" were just recently hosts to the Food Network. (You can find their blog on http://urbanhomestead.org/journal/ ).

No, what we're doing around here isn't original. Nor is it anything new...my mother's side of the family were all suburban gardeners. I have fond memories of sitting at my great-aunt's kitchen counter eating tons of blue, red, and purple grapes (at a time when all grocery store grapes were green) that grew up on my great-aunt's tiny little urban lot, or pulling weeds from her and her neighbor's veggie garden.

Face it, folks....things are getting bad. And who are going to fix it? The very same idiots who created the problems in the first place! During any disaster, their first priority is continuity of government, NOT YOU! Its time we re-learn self-reliance.

This is what the entire urban homestead and survivalist lifestyle is all about. Self reliance. No, not self-sufficiency....I, like Eric Knutzen, don't agree with this word. After all, mankind is a cooperative creature. It is by our very cooperation and interconnected motivation that allowed us, an evolutionarily weak creature, to survive natural selection (or, if you prefer, God made us a cooperative species). Self reliance allows for that mutual cooperation, but still allows us to make do for ourselves first instead of relying on an overblown bureacracy that is about 40 years behind the rest of society.

Gardening is just one of the aspects of a self-reliant lifestyle. So strap on your boots, ladies (and gentlemen). Lets take a step forward by taking a step backward.