Being self reliant

Back a bunch of years, most Americans were self-reliant. Most could live pretty much on their own without relying on others to live and survive. But little by little, we began to rely on others for more and more of our daily needs. This is especially true where most Americans have moved to the cities. Most of those living in America today probably couldn't go two weeks without outside aid.

Many today live in areas where at a moment's notice we might be without public services for a period of time. Might be because of storms or weather events. Could be because of problems like mechanical issues with equipment. Could also be because of earthquakes. The area where we live in Southeast Missouri is sitting on a huge earthquake fault line, so we should take extra care to be prepared. Could be because of health issues, such as COVID-19.

I personally find it troubling to have to depend totally on others for my safety, security, shelter, food, water, etc. I find it very fulfilling to supply as many of our daily needs as possible. One of the best investments we made was our wood stove. Except for the coldest months of the winter, we rely totally on wood heat. Another example is when we sit down to eat and the entire meal is grown and produced on our place. I truly believe we can learn from the settlers who settled this great country of ours.

We have lost a sense of importance or what is valuable. I drive around cities from small to big, and I'm amazed at how hardly anyone has edible plants and foliage in their yards. Flowers and bushes and shrubs are planted to look at, but ultimately only to look at. What if we did a little searching and found edible landscaping plants?

Most homesteaders and settlers had fruit or berries or edible plants of some kind growing on their places. Many had currents and gooseberries. Small berries about the size of a pencil eraser. Kind of a light-colored berry. Most were kind of sweet. Sure made good jelly and pies. Most places had rhubarb. Once established, one could count on rhubarb being there every spring. One ate the stems, but never the leaves. The leaves were poisonous. Stems were tart. Good for pies and jelly.

Sand cherries, which grow wild, were common in Nebraska and on north. Chokecherries were common in Nebraska and on north. We planted some, so we have them growing on our place in Missouri. Elderberries are common in Missouri and Kansas and probably in Southern Nebraska. Wild plums were pretty common. Raspberries and such grow wild. Mushrooms are common in most every state. Poke is common in Missouri. Lambs quarter is common in most every state in America. I read where lambs quarter or a close relative is found worldwide and even in Antarctica. Pecan trees and black almonds are a couple berry trees. Mulberries are relatively easy to start and grow. How about planting several old-fashioned Concord grape vines along a fence or some livestock panels. What about Russian autumn olive berries? How about learning how to borrow some sap from maple trees and make some syrup?

Many of these are native or transplanted bushes and such can be grown in our yards. What about blueberry bushes or Saskatoon blueberry bushes? You can pick awesome berries in the summer and then the plants turn a beautiful red/yellow/orange color in the fall. I checked on the garlic we planted several weeks ago and so far none are poking through the straw, but they will. In our hill garden we have a row of rhubarb we started from seed last spring. The rhubarb is a brilliant green against a brown landscape. In one tunnel we have several Bright Light Chard plants. They are simply gorgeous.

Why not plant "plants" which can be eaten? A really neat ground cover is sweet potatoes. Half a dozen Beauregard sweet potato plants planted 18 inches apart will put out a ground cover that will be probably 12 to 14 feet long and 6 to 8 feet wide. Marge had some sweet potatoes grow in her flower garden, and she probably dug 12 to 14 pounds of potatoes. If you have a damp corner in your yard, plant sweet potato plants. We had a corner of our garden that was almost constantly wet. Best sweet potatoes we ever grew.

It's really easy to just go to the store and buy what you need from tomatoes to sweet potatoes to even things such as potato salad. But words can't express the feeling you will have when you grow your own goodies from scratch or make it from scratch rather than buy a prepared product. Marge plants a small garden just herself every year and picks things like tomatoes and cucumbers from it. She has a sense of pride when she realizes that "She grew this!" Marge can truly say "This is from my garden!"