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Weedygarden said:
That is a lot of pepper plants! I am curious about which varieties you like to plant and how you use them. I think they are in the nightshade family.
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I wasn't able to plan out a garden this year because of family medical issues. I simply had more important things to worry about for months...

I stopped at a farmers co-op yesterday just to see what they had. The best looking plants they had were all peppers so thats what I bought. I got 36 cayenne plants and 36 green bell pepper plants. The jalapeno's look good but I grew some last year.

They had plants that I wouldn't have paid for... the bunches of onions looked so poor the only way I'd have taken them was if they were free. I've already set out onions anyway.
 
@Weedygarden Here are the pepper plants I bought. They look really good, beautiful plants. (cayenne's on the left)

Porch Clean (5) sm.JPG
 
I suspect we might be living like Jericho soon enough. Husband drove me to the day old bread store, he wanted to get out of the house. Closed. Bummer. Next door was Big Lots. Only a few cars in the parking lot. I had a 20% off entire purchase coupon. So I went in...only 3 or 4 people shopping, so easy to stay away from everyone. I bought milk, Kirk's Castile soup, liquid soap, more ziplocks, more Zote soap, and chips and treats for the kids. They were cleaned out of canned meat, vegetables. Their prices had gone up. Also found two bags of brown rice there. It doesn't look like they've restocked anything this month. Wonder if they will? A nice quiet place to grab some milk, though. Almost $4 a gallon, but better than $6 a gallon that was sour. We set up the fire pit after dinner and made smores. Nice evening.
 
Meerkat said:
And I bet your right. It is scary to think that what we grow may be all we get.Not sure about nations farmers producing now or not. even if we have a little food stored those who don't will be a serious threat.
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Relax. Corn, soybeans, beef and cattle are all being produced as usual, at least for now. I'm not sure what's happening with veggies and potatoes though. Doesn't seem to be any interruption in the supply chain at my local stores for now...
 
Already made breakfast, fed and watered the chickens and made bread dough for later. About to start a fire in the smoker for a brisket. It will go 18 hours then rest all day before supper tomorrow. I have to fill my feeder, start some squash seeds and maybe if it dries up a bit, start burning brush. I also have to build a new 12 section layer box. I'll get it started today but will probably have to finish it tomorrow. This evening I hope to finish a stipple job on a buddies XD MOD2. Lazy Sunday.
 
Spikedriver said:
Relax. Corn, soybeans, beef and cattle are all being produced as usual, at least for now. I'm not sure what's happening with veggies and potatoes though. Doesn't seem to be any interruption in the supply chain at my local stores for now...
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Yes, it is all being produced as usual, but getting it to market is not going as usual. Processing houses, auction barns, slaughter houses are not not running as usual. They are running below capacity or not at all due to social distancing restrictions.

The price for beef on the hoof is way below what the end prices at the grocery store suggest they should be. They are going to bankrupt small to medium farmers along with every one else. Only the largest most favored corporate farms will make it. My tin foil hat feels this is part of the overall plan.

Why the shortages on eggs, milk, flour etc.? Not just the increased demand due to a change forced in the shopping habits of a 💩 ton of locked down people, but a slow down in the ability to process the raw product in the first place, due to said people either being locked down, or refusing to work, for fear of catching a cootie that cannot me avoided forever, social distancing at the plants cuts their ability to churn out the goods and shortages are compounded.

Those that need flour but have bought their own grinder, will be able to get wheat direct from a farmer and bypass the factories. People need to learn to be their own processors again if they manage to drag this situation out 18 months to two years, or worse, perpetually.

I for one, have to decide what to do with my cows. To send them to auction where the numbers of buyers is restricted, gives me no hope of covering the cost of keeping them. I will be hard put to keep more then I need for my own use.
This years hay crop can keep 3 cows going for years instead of just one winter for the whole herd. Many small farmers will be deciding this soon.

To sell the meat privately, it must be processed at a licensed facility. Those that are open are booked solid and most people don't have freezers these days or the money to keep/buy a large quantity of meat. There is no way, that I am going to drive a few packages here and there to follow the new delivery guide lines or spend what's left of my life sitting at the end of my driveway hoping for a drive by.

If the lock downs continue, I feel the shortages will get worse, not better.

I probably should have posted this manifesto under rants for the day.
 
We are not seeing shortages here. Flour is readily available. Beef, pork, and chicken are only a little shorter than normal. You may not be able to find the exact cuts or grades you want, but you can always find beef and pork. Eggs are in normal supply. Packing and processing are running as normal, as they are "essential" industries.

When I was in Colorado store shelves were empty due to panic buying, but that was due to a sudden rush not supply disruptions. I'm not sure how it looks out there now. But from a societal standpoint, the panic was a lot stronger there. Here in the Midwest people are a lot calmer about all this. Well, at least in the more rural and conservative areas. I'm sure Chicago is a crap hole right now but that's nothing new...
 
Spikedriver said:
Relax. Corn, soybeans, beef and cattle are all being produced as usual, at least for now. I'm not sure what's happening with veggies and potatoes though. Doesn't seem to be any interruption in the supply chain at my local stores for now...
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They will be produced, but will they be harvested? Will they get to where people can have access to them? I saw a video where this was discussed. I think that she is right on about many things, but food is talked about at 2:50.
 
Spikedriver said:
We are not seeing shortages here. Flour is readily available. Beef, pork, and chicken are only a little shorter than normal. You may not be able to find the exact cuts or grades you want, but you can always find beef and pork. Eggs are in normal supply. Packing and processing are running as normal, as they are "essential" industries.

When I was in Colorado store shelves were empty due to panic buying, but that was due to a sudden rush not supply disruptions. I'm not sure how it looks out there now. But from a societal standpoint, the panic was a lot stronger there. Here in the Midwest people are a lot calmer about all this. Well, at least in the more rural and conservative areas. I'm sure Chicago is a crap hole right now but that's nothing new...
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I live outside of a smallish town I. central Texas and our grocery stores are empty. No eggs, no flour of any kind, no bread products, very little meat other than garbage hams and frozen fish, no paper products of any kind. There's plenty of beer and vegetables though, both of which I make at home so🤷
 
Weedygarden said:
They will be produced, but will they be harvested? Will they get to where people can have access to them? I saw a video where this was discussed. I think that she is right on about many things, but food is talked about at 2:50.
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The people doing the producing are generally the ones doing the harvesting. Trucks and trains are still moving.
 
Spikedriver said:
We are not seeing shortages here. Flour is readily available. Beef, pork, and chicken are only a little shorter than normal. You may not be able to find the exact cuts or grades you want, but you can always find beef and pork. Eggs are in normal supply. Packing and processing are running as normal, as they are "essential" industries.
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Yup. Another reason why I live in the Midwest. We already know how to social distance, we already know that everyone is armed, we already know how and when to lend a hand, we already know not to take more than we need, and most of us are already prepared by the very nature of daily life.

Ummm on second thought, that is all untrue. It's a horrible nightmare here. No one move here. We all have COVID-19 and no toilet paper whatsoever. Plus the internet here is really slow. ;)
 
Sentry18 said:
Yup. Another reason why I live in the Midwest. We already know how to social distance, we already know that everyone is armed, we already know how and when to lend a hand, we already know not to take more than we need, and most of us are already prepared by the very nature of daily life.

Ummm on second thought, that is all untrue. It's a horrible nightmare here. No one move here. We all have COVID-19 and no toilet paper whatsoever. Plus the internet here is really slow. ;)
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Shoot, here in Texas, I'm talking to y'all on dialup that I'm generating with my kids on a treadmill. 🤣😂
 
Grumpy521 said:
I live outside of a smallish town I. central Texas and our grocery stores are empty. No eggs, no flour of any kind, no bread products, very little meat other than garbage hams and frozen fish, no paper products of any kind. There's plenty of beer and vegetables though, both of which I make at home so🤷
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This is completely different than my area. Here, grocery store meat counters are pushing out basic meat cuts. No 93% ground beef, but 80% is being made every day. No filet mignon, but roasts are available. Canned goods are still plentiful, although selection may be a little reduced. Bread is easily available here. Really, the only things unavailable are TP and wet wipes, and DG has had baby wipes readily available for at least a week...
 
Grumpy521 said:
Shoot, here in Texas, I'm talking to y'all on dialup that I'm generating with my kids on a treadmill. 🤣
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You guys have treadmills!? Lucky. We have to wait until the lakes freeze and then tie a rope to a tree if we want to run in place. 😋
 
Any shortages I'm seeing have nothing to do with the supply chain and everything to do with panic buying. Like yesterday at wally's... The potato chip isle was half empty but there were 3 pallets of potatoes in produce. Idiots! Plenty of meats but shortages on certain cuts. I have two beautiful T-bones in the fridge I'm planning to have for dinner, there wasn't a ribeye to be found anywhere.

I noticed bread, flour, sugar and pancake mix were back on the shelves after a 2 week hiatus. The only reason they'd been missing was panic buying.
 
Spikedriver said:
This is completely different than my area. Here, grocery store meat counters are pushing out basic meat cuts. No 93% ground beef, but 80% is being made every day. No filet mignon, but roasts are available. Canned goods are still plentiful, although selection may be a little reduced. Bread is easily available here. Really, the only things unavailable are TP and wet wipes, and DG has had baby wipes readily available for at least a week...
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Our DG is reduced to pet food, meds, flip-flop, and motor oil. Also plenty of beer.
 
You simply cannot count on transportation. A few weeks prior to the lock downs here, the train system was completely shut down due to a pipeline protest on an indigenous reserve. For a while, they were shut down across Canada.

Fifteen hundred people lost their jobs. Grain, goods, fuel; nothing was being moved and people were stressing about heating fuel. Covid19 wasn't even a talking point yet. When "pretty boy JT" finally did something about it, we got hit with the covid 19 crap.

Truck drivers were having issues with no food or bathrooms. They finally authorized some truck stops to open and feed them and let them use the loo.

Now we are potentially seeing bans on buying non essential items and calling in the reserves full time. People are still on board. Got to keep every one safe no matter the cost.

This may have been a trial run, but it is starting to look like it worked so well, that it is full steam ahead.
 
ClemKadiddlehopper said:
A few weeks prior to the lock downs here, the train system was completely shut down due to a pipeline protest on an indigenous reserve. For a while, they were shut down across Canada.

Fifteen hundred people lost their jobs. Grain, goods, fuel; nothing was being moved and people were stressing about heating fuel. Covid19 wasn't even a talking point yet.

Truck drivers were having issues with no food or bathrooms. They finally authorized some truck stops to open and feed them and let them use the loo.

Now we are potentially seeing bans on buying non essential items...
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What bans? I've not heard a single word about bans of any kind...

Here in the Southeast all the truck stops are open, there is plenty of fuel, normal truck traffic on the interstate... Where are you talking about? No only is it not happening here I've not heard a single word about such in other states. What State are you talking about?

What happened in Canada 6 months ago has nothing to do with Covid19. or this crises.

1500 lost jobs? when? the economy was booming here until this virus... People couldn't hire enough employees.
 
ClemKadiddlehopper said:
You simply cannot count on transportation. A few weeks prior to the lock downs here, the train system was completely shut down due to a pipeline protest on an indigenous reserve. For a while, they were shut down across Canada.

Fifteen hundred people lost their jobs. Grain, goods, fuel; nothing was being moved and people were stressing about heating fuel. Covid19 wasn't even a talking point yet. When "pretty boy JT" finally did something about it, we got hit with the covid 19 crap.

Truck drivers were having issues with no food or bathrooms. They finally authorized some truck stops to open and feed them and let them use the loo.

Now we are potentially seeing bans on buying non essential items and calling in the reserves full time. People are still on board. Got to keep every one safe no matter the cost.

This may have been a trial run, but it is starting to look like it worked so well, that it is full steam ahead.
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I'm in the rail industry. My Canadian brothers on the rails never mentioned a rail shutdown...
 
Grumpy521 said:
Our DG is reduced to pet food, meds, flip-flop, and motor oil. Also plenty of beer.
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DG here has a lot of everything. Walmart actually has less of certain things like boxed cereal. I've got no proof, but I believe Walmart is diverting goods to the urban areas and hanging the rural area stores out to dry.
 
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