Thursday, March 20, 2008

Tagged!!! (reprise)

So, this time it was TurtleHeart that tagged me. And it's the Around the World Tag:


Instruction:

1. Place your link after the list. If you have more than 1 blog, feel free to add them all here!


2. After placing your blog's address/es, you must tag 5 or more bloggers that are not yet in the list, this is to keep the ball rolling.


3. Here is the best part: Make sure to update your list every now and then, by getting the master list here. I'll be updating the master list every day, or as soon as I see a new blog that's been added to the list. ^_^


Links around the world tag (update as of Mar. 19, 2008 8:24PM GMT+8)1 - Momhood Moments 2 - Business Mars 3 - Pinay Mommy Online 4 - OnlineBiz and Resources 5 - A Simple life 6 - moms….. check nyo 7 - Mommy’s Little Corner 8- Princezz 9 - Princess 10 - Random Thoughts 11 - Paradigm 12 - See Me For What You Will 13 - Pamp's Blog Corner 14 - Pampered 15 - HappyHeart 16 - Qtcotzkie and Baby 17 -tragicseven 18 - s.t.a.r.d.u.s.t. 19 -Twinkletoe I 20 - Twinkletoe II 21 - Kaye's Side 22 - out of the box 23 - Just Saying 24 - Tipsy Tips 25 - Different Angles 26 - Delicious Corner 27 - I Care 28 - Blog Blag Blog 29 - Daily List 30 - Life's Journey 31 -Cecil 32 -Ron & Cecil 33 - Frenchcess 34 -Trendy Momma 35 - Cherish 36 -Dha Maldita 37 - Lovin’ Purple 38 - The Notebook 39 - Saranghaeyo 40 - Welcome to my Crib 41 - Hearts Desire 42 - Island Paradise 43 - Texas Life 44 - Long Journey 45 - D' Cooking Mudra 46 - My life 47- Swept Away 48 - Winged Words 49 - Rainier and Katrina 50 - Life! Learn it. Live it. Love it. 51 - Colour Our World 52 - pinkykei 53 - Choc Mint Girl 54 - The Next Chapter 55 - Painted Life 56 - Jannesse 57 - Shopaholic Pat 58 - A Matter of Perspective 59- Ang Therapist 60- Endometriosis & Fertility Resource Page 61- Freebies Australia 62- Abstract Musings 63 - Joey M.D. 64 - The Working Mom 65 - Online Raket 66 - Ang.Lakambini.Org 67 - Listen to the Beat 68 - The Strategist Notebook 69 - Link Addiction 70 - Ardour of the Heart 71 - When Life Becomes a Book 72 - The Malaysian Life 72 - Yogatta.com 74 - What goes under the sun 75 - Roshidan’s Cyber Station 76 - Sasha says 77 - Arts of Physics 78 - And the legend lives 79 - My View, My Life 80 - A Simple Life 81 - Juliana RW 82 - The Callalily Space 83 - Petra Summer in Blue 84 - Confessions of an Army Wife 85 - Bless’ Sanctuary Happy Life 86 - http://bless519.bravejournal.com/ 87 - La Place de Cherie 88 - Chez Francine 89 - Le bric a brac de Cherie 89 - Little Peanut 90 - Pea in a Pod 91 - The Creative In Me 92 - Me and Mine 93 - Expressions from the Heart 94 - TeacherJulie 95 - Sweetbites by Bang 96 - Paul, Toni and Lance - Bridging the Distance 97 - Our Growing Family 98 - The Uncensored life of me 99 - My Untamed World 100 - Something Purple, A Detour 101 - Something Purple 102 - Changing Lanes 103 -Blog District 104 - The Chic Shopaholic 105 - Gracie de guzman 106 - The Wifey Diaries 107 - Kelli 108 - Sindi 109 - Mark 110 - Mrs. Nespy 111 - My Kids Mom 112 - Bringing up Salamanders 113 - Turtleheart Cove 114 - Turtleheart Crafts! 115 - Dragonflys Musings



And, I choose to tag



My Mom at Hawaiian Musings (but, as she's gone on vacation to visit my sis in Tucson, she won't see this for a couple days).



Marmite Toasty who lives in Britain somewhere.



Whim at The Babblings of Whimsical N Brainpan.



Robin at The Dreamtime.



The Barefoot Gardner at Barefoot in the Garden.



And last but never least, Connie at Ash Lane Farm.



I hope you all chose to participate!!! And hey Whim.... No odd things about you to post! *grin*


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One thing I've learnt about so far from the "Hungry Years" book I posted about previously was the creation of Co-ops or Unions for the unemployed. The purpose was to give all these unemployed folks a union in which to work together for the betterment of their families and their communities. This was a Hoover-Era activity that was moderately successful in some areas, considerably less so in others, and was solely community based. Unfortunately, these unions or co-ops eventually came to a demise due to the lack of funding outside themselves. It got to the point where folks just didn't have any more that they could pass on to the next guy, and sooner or later they fell apart. But, it's definitely something to keep in mind.



I guess one of the most successful was in the Seattle area, called the "Unemployed Citizen's League". They quickly accounted for between 40,000 and 50,000 members. Over the course of several months, according to this book, the UCL "cut 10,000 cords of firewood, plucked 120,000 pounds of fish from the Puget Sound, and harvested 8 carloads (rail cars, I'm assuming, not vehicular cars) of produce from cooperating farms." All of which they passed among the families of their own members. They also concocted a barter system by which work would be exchanged for things & services such as haircuts, shoe repare and served "as a kind of clearinghouse for exchangeable work and goods". This book also claims that when a family was evicted, other UCL members would get together to move the displaced family BACK into their homes, often so many times that the landlords relented quit wasting their own time trying to evict that family.

The book DOES go on to say that a lot of these co-ops & unions disbanded because of political differences & the simple inability to continue this sort of effort with ever increasing numbers of people to be supported. It appears that a great many of these efforts just got too big to be sustainable for a prolonged period of time. But, at least it appears that at the time, these unions may have alleviated some of the suffering felt by some of the members. It's only a temporary bandage, though, not a cure for the problem.



**********


One more book that I'm going to suggest, but only partially. I've got a copy of "Alaska's Wild Plants: A guid to Alaska's Edible Harvest". I bought this when I was working at Waldenbooks, when I first started seeing that this may be a necessity some day. I cannot COMPLETELY recommend this book to y'all because I know that I'm the only one who lives IN Alaska. Many of the plants recommended in this book as edible won't be found in other areas of the country. I strongly recommend that you search out a regional guide for your own area. At some point it's going to be an impossibility to continue foraging, because if EVERYBODY does it, NOBODY'S going to get enough to actually survive on, much less live well on. (Like firewood, if EVERYBODY

burns firewood, sooner or later all the trees will be destroyed.)



But, as a stop-gap measure, foraging isn't a bad idea. And hell..... One of our most common weeds is a great source of early spring greens: Dandylions! So, there ARE options. This is just one of them.



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Whim had mentioned in the comments of the last post that she knew of a cookbook with Depression Era recipes. I've actually got one as well. This was published in 1980 by the Grashroots Survival Co. out of Sandpoint Idaho.



The title is "A Grassroots Survival Co. Cookbook of Memories, Remedies & Recipes from the Great Depression: To help get us through our own" by Mark & Buffy Nichols.



This cookbook appears to have some usable recipes, but a suprising amount of them seem to be heavier on the meat than I think is going to be possible this time around.



I'm going to be giving some of these recipes a try over the next couple of months, and I'll post them as I try them.



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Another option for stretching a grocery dollar is here at The Hillbilly Housewife. She's got suggested "$45 Emergency Menu" and "$70 Low Cost Menu" suggestions. They may be somewhat out of date (ie: before groceries hit the prices they're at now) or lower than prices paid in different regions. (Her "$45 emergency menu" WOULD be more like $70 in my area.) These also feed a family of four, so bear that in mind if you've not got that many, or if you've got more.



Creative Homemaking has some articles & recipes for stretching a dollar.



The Federal Citizen Info Center has an online book of recipes for thrifty, healthy meals.



More to be found at Living On A Dime.



The Peak Oil Solutions forum may have some ideas.



A new, personal favorite blog-read: Casaubon's Book.



And, two personal favorites:



Backwoods Home Mag's article archives & forum.



And Mary Jane's Farmgirl Forum. Anywhere you get a bunch of women together exchanging home-making & crafting info, you're BOUND to find $$-saving & yummy recipes.



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I think that pretty well covers it for now.



Have a Blessed Day!

4 comments:

peppylady (Dora) said...

I don't leave that far from Sandpoint Idaho.
My mom had a cookbook (copy) of depression area cookbook.

C. said...

I just finished reading a book about edible flowers. I'm all gung ho and raring to go now, imagining the beauty and deliciousness of some of the dishes! We should all learn to live more off the land, food made by our own hands, there has to be such a source of satisfaction in growing and cooking with something we ourselves created. Magical, really. :)

whimsical brainpan said...

Thanks, hon! I'm only so odd.

I need to find that cookbook for you (sorry I forgot). I know it's not the one you mentioned.

Connie Peterson said...

Did you get my dad's book? It's not a cook book but still.... enquiring minds need to know.

Blessed Ostara.