Common Sense Home Good News Letter 7/2/22
“Begin with the end in mind.”
We went strawberry picking on Friday morning, and then processed strawberries on Friday and today. I’m so thankful the local growers are still in business, though I worry about them with the bad weather we’re have in recent years.
Get my strawberry jam and preserve recipe here, along with links to more strawberry storage tips.
This year, due to cold ground temps and late frost followed by abnormally high temps, the growers we were at lost their early and mid-season berries, and only had late berries left for picking. With 2/3rds of their income gone, they are operating at a loss this year.
When I talked about this on Facebook, one person made a rather callous quip about how farmers should plan things like this into their business model and not raise prices. I couldn’t help but notice they didn’t explain how that magic was supposed to happen, but I do expect they’ll be unhappy in the coming months as the various price hikes from weather, fuel, and other issues continue to make their impact felt.
If you have planting space available, you can plan ahead for planting fall crops, and if you purchase your produce, keep an eye out for deals and bulk purchasing. It doesn’t look like food prices will be coming down any time soon, so food storage is a good investment.
While we were processing strawberries, we watched some documentaries about early food entrepreneurs, like Milton Hershey, Clarence Birdseye, and the Kellogg brothers.
It’s kind of crazy how many of these folks dreamed of – and even marketed – a product that didn’t exist. They jumped in with both feet and invested everything they had in an idea, then worked their backsides off to do what it took to make that idea a reality.
Hershey wanted to make milk chocolate with fresh milk when others were using powdered or condensed milk. Birdseye wanted to sell frozen food to people who didn’t have freezers via grocery stores that also didn’t have freezers. Will Kellogg wanted to feed people cold cereal for breakfast in a time where breakfast food was much the same as food for other meals.
It was a good reminder that if you can envision a result and are willing to work for it, you can do pretty amazing things.
We live in interesting times, but if we can stay focused on what’s important, we’ll come through it, like others who have faced challenging times before.
All our best to you and yours,
Laurie (and August, August, and Duncan)
Featured article:
Stay safe when you’re outdoors with these Natural Tick Repellents.
Popular on Instagram this week – kittens playing on the deck and freeze drying more eggs.
Links in older emails will no longer work because we switched email providers in late May, but the search option on the website should help you find the articles you need.