You know it’s getting dicey when the mainstream press is forecasting food shortages

I’m amazed to see all the posts on the internet regarding coming food shortages. Of course, we saw that definite possibility with all the weird weather, worldwide, plus the tariffs etc. Yes, we’ve been stocking up and doing a lot of planning (what if?). Not panicking but just trying to cover all the bases we can. We ordered new batteries for our solar storage, lithium ion this time, plus some repair parts for chainsaws, tractors, etc. Will’s busy working at getting all our equipment in good working order, extra early, as parts may become hard to find, most coming from China.

Of course, I’m plotting out our 2025 gardens. I got all the tomatoes transplanted and the greenhouse is full. Tomorrow, I’m starting in on the melons, squash, pumpkins, and brassicas (cabbage family). They will have to stay in the house and later be carried out to the back deck as the weather permits. We bought extra jars last year. When I’d just put three cases in the cart, Will would put a bunch more, saying “I know you’ll fill all of them!” Yep, probably will and now the jars have really gone up in price. Our friend, Sherri, found a deal on the Dollar Tree website for canning lids. So, we each bought a case. I used those when I did the mega-meat canning session earlier. They did so much better than did the Ball lids that come with the jars. Much better! It’s frustrating to can fifteen jars full of meat and have five not seal. Or the seal comes loose the next day! Now, I’ve been canning for more than sixty years and helping Mom before that. And I’ve never seen seal failures like that. Ever! I’ll use the Ball lids to close my half gallon jars of wild rice, spice mixes, specialty dry beans, etc.

Our weather’s been great. Will’s off at an auction today, trying to buy a better manure spreader than the one we currently have. It seems like every time he takes it out, something has broken, and he’s had to fork the manure out by hand. That’s not only tiring but a waste of so much time! Yesterday I went to the Wolf Garden with the riding lawn mower and chopped sweet corn stalks, getting ready to spread manure and till. I usually start my own onions from seed, but this year, we’ve been way too busy. It was the same last year, and I bunched orders with my friends and bought onion plants from Dixondale Farms in Texas. I’d bought plants from them way back when, when I lived by Sturgeon Lake and sold vegetables at several farmer’s markets. They sell very nice plants and ours did very well, despite being in an area with low fertility and too many weeds. Ours are due about May 15th. So, we’re trying to get at least one section of the Wolf Garden ready for them. (Yes, we still are eating last year’s onions. Very few have sprouted down in our very cool basement.

Today I took a run around with the golf cart to see what was what. The fruit trees all look awesome and have grown so much. We’ll have tons of fruit this summer if we don’t get that dratted late spring frost like last year. The rhubarb’s poking up nicely, the berry bushes are budded out and the honeyberries are even starting to leaf out. They’re sure a huge bonus to us homesteaders! Frost doesn’t bother them one bit and they fruit very early too. (We got ours from Honeyberry USA, friends of ours to the west in Minnesota.) I even saw several Robins and Swallows. Way up above, a Turkey Vulture was cruising around. You can tell them from Bald Eagles by the drunken way they fly, tipping back and forth where an Eagle just masterfully soars. Our pretty blue Squills are blooming beneath the lilacs, a reminder that true spring is just around the corner.

— Jackie