People Get Ready

I do not believe that ever in my life have I seen snow last this long in the South. This is the 9th day now with snow still on the ground. Granted, it's not a lot but still, how weird. Well, anyway, that is not really what this post is about. Just a quick update on the coldframe etc. During the worst of the snow I was beginning the really think that my coldframe was going to be a wasted effort. At least for starting any crops. Maybe if I had had presence of mind enough to sow the seeds for things way back in September I would be able to have some things but then, you eventually are going to eat all that up. You need to be able to start some seeds during the winter at some point. Well, a couple of days after the initial snowfall things began to warm up and the sun started coming out again. I kept checking the daytime temps in the coldframe. It was staying in the 30's and 40's at least, during the coldest days. Then we had some days where it got up in the high 40's and even 50 degrees. The temps in the coldframe skyrocketed to the 70's and 80's! Plenty warm enough to germinate seeds! Of course, once the seeds germinate I have to make sure not to cook the plants but even in this colder than normal winter, days around 50 are not too uncommon. Maybe this will work after all.
Now, I know some of you are thinking, just start the seeds indoors and then transplant. Well, I do plan to do that with a couple of things but some crops, like loose leaf lettuce, are much easier to just direct sow. I do have some head lettuce that I think I'm going to try to start and then transplant.

Another thing I wanted to post about was this challenge that some other bloggers have started. Now, I have never participated in such things but I think I'm going to give this one a go. And no, I don't think society is fixing to collapse or nuclear war or attack of the zombies or whatever but I did realize something during this last snow. I was not as prepared as I would have liked to have thought. Now, we had plenty of food and never had a problem but I did realize a few days in that I just didn't have a couple of items I thought I had actually stocked up on. And then I got to thinking; you know, in these days, weird things are becoming not so weird to happen. Super heavy snowfalls, floods, fires etc and just becoming more commonplace. Now with that, many economists are publicly admitting that the food reserves in the US are already "disturbingly low". I think that we would most all agree that depending on our government to truly help us in a real crisis is like peeing into the wind. I don't want to depend on that. But even if it is just to make me more comfortable during the occasional snow, that's fine too. At the very least it will make it so I don't have to run to the grocery store with the rest of the mindless hordes who are fighting over bread and milk. Like what the hell are you going to do with bread and milk? Screw that; I get steak and whiskey.
So, I am going to participate in this challenge to get my house ready. Even if nothing ever happens it doesn't hurt, as other bloggers have pointed out. I am not advocating mindless hording as some people do where they just buy and store ungodly amounts of food and then let most of it spoil. That is a disgusting waste on many, many levels. I am advocating an ordered system of acquiring and producing a sustainable flow of food and supplies. So, follow along if you wish. This first week we are simply cleaning and organizing an area for storage. It can be a place in your basement or house but it should be easily accessible and an area that is not subject to extreme heat or cold. I am going to put much effort into finishing my pantry and also clearing an area in the basement for some shelving devoted to these items only. The back reaches of my basement stay very cool and dark, so I think it would be a good stable place for storing some things.
Alright! Well, time to go to work!