How then, do we move backwards? How does a society, with most of the people having no clue of future events, move from being dependent on a vast and intertwined network of goods and services produced by the indigenous people of whereever, to a local resource and renewable energy based society, and do so in the timeframe available (20-30 years using the most liberal extimates, 10-20 with resonable estimates, 5-10 with worst case scenarios), all the while prices on everything increasing, world politics getting more militaristic, governments continuously reducing civil liberties, shortages of goods on the market and weather patterns resembling bad Hollywood movies?
Joined: Apr 06, 2005 Posts: 987 Location: 38 km west of Warsaw, Poland
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 2:41 pm Post subject: Farmers Markets this year?
So how did it go in your country this year? Here in Poland, I didn't notice any decrease in the variety or quality of fruits and veggies from the previous year. We had some wierd (hot and dry) weather in July, and August seems more like September (wet and cool) but overall, we have been eating well. The prices have been predictable and reasonable.
I love getting this stuff at the street corner, directly fom the field. Quite often, the veggies still have the field dirt on them. So nice to live in a country where the vast majority of people still grow their own food. I know it is not profitable (EU doesn't like small scale farmers) but at least food gets produced.
I'm sure there were some crops that suffered, I just don't know enough about local produce to comment on the topic (yet!)...
Eat well... _________________ Remember, with globalisation "everyone is a winner" in the "race to the bottom". - rogerhb
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. A.C. Clarke
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:14 pm Post subject: Re: Farmers Markets this year?
Czesc from Chicago!
Our weather has been very similar to Poland's, here in the Midwest. We had a very funky Spring (May) wet, rainy and cool-ish. June was nice, temperate, but July thru early August was very hot.
Now, it is cool at nights, but hi 70's low 80's during the day, just right, but again, it did remind me of September weather. My peaches on my tree are still not ready yet, my neighbors and I have been waiting for them. I would have canned some Peach sauce/jam by now. Berry harvest was fine this year. All the other veggies were productive, but not OVERLY productive.
Comments I've heard at the garden centers I manage are "the sun is kind of weird", etc. Everyone is having these problems, so it is not locale, etc.
I notice the produce is not OVERLY big, but it is good, and delicious at the farmers' markets. We do have an abundance of them here in the Midwest, and Chicago and outlaying suburbs in particular. I don't visit them too much because I do grow quite a bit myself.
I am not gonna starve this year, but I don't have much for putting up, this was a "Lean" year. No waste can be tolerated, in other words. If this was post peak, and I was totally dependant on this crop, any squirrels, birds, etc, going after the crops would have been dinner, in other words.
Glad to know things in the Motherlands are fine, enjoy the harvest festivals/Dozynki, Smacznego! (means "eat hearty")
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:52 pm Post subject: Re: Farmers Markets this year?
Code:
Glad to know things in the Motherlands are fine, enjoy the harvest
Sorry, but things are not fine in the Motherland.
What you see at the farmers market says nothing about what is happening on the farm. There the farmers are hurting with a capital H !!!!
Anyone that did not have an irrigation system had their raspberry, strawberry, pickels, apples etc. fried. The Sun and the long stay of intense heat did it.
The wheat and other such crops are also down around 50% from last year.
So NO, things are not fine here. It only seems that way to those going to the Farmers Market.
Cheers _________________ Men argue, nature acts !
Voltaire
"...In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation."
Joined: Jan 03, 2005 Posts: 1147 Location: western Wisconsin
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 7:27 pm Post subject: Re: Farmers Markets this year?
Here in Western Wisconsin, we have lots of folks selling at the farmer's markets, vegetables and fruits, meat, eggs, honey and maple syrup, baked goods, etc. The local market is Wednesdays and Saturdays, and limits people to selling things made or grown within 50 miles, I think---at least it is a reasonable distance from town. So they can also sell crafts if made from local materials. We know quite a few people who have been supporting their families for a number of years doing CSAs--Community Supported Agriculture. They sell their produce to people who have subscribed to a season's supply of produce, so they start the season with a known number of paid up customers.
In spite of the unseasonable hot and dry summer, most of them are doing well, but of course quite a few have put in drip irrigation systems this year.
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:35 pm Post subject: Re: Farmers Markets this year?
I checked out the Farmer's Market this afternoon on my lunch break and it was hopping. Lots of very nice produce, cheese, and a few specialty sellers (mushrooms, wild-caught salmon, etc.). Very nice. As usual, I ended up spending a lot more money than I had planned. Doesn't seem to be any cheaper (on the contrary), but I do like the fact that it's locally grown and (usually) organic.
The egg CSA I used to subscribe to stopped selling eggs. They said the price of organic grain was getting too high for them to produce eggs anymore.
Here's what they said about discontinuing eggs and broiler chickens:
Mossback Farm wrote:
Since most chicken feed is soy-based, and can only be raised in either the midwest, at closest, and South America, at worst, we saw the economic and environmental writing on the wall, and decided to discontinue that enterprise on the farm. With the inevitable further rise in fuel cost in the next few years, we saw it as a good run, one whose time has come to an end.
And here's some more background on why they stopped producing eggs and broiler chickens. They mention peak oil as being a major factor in future production.
Joined: Jun 26, 2004 Posts: 1189 Location: Madison,Wisconsin
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:17 am Post subject: Re: Farmers Markets this year?
Quote:
can only be raised in either the midwest
Whoooo hooo! So I still get chickens? Excellent.
You can always spend some time up in my neck of the woods. Wisconsin will have lots of lovely produce to spare I'm sure even with reduced production. _________________ Azreal60
Joined: Apr 06, 2005 Posts: 987 Location: 38 km west of Warsaw, Poland
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:47 am Post subject: Re: Farmers Markets this year?
shakespear1 wrote:
Code:
Glad to know things in the Motherlands are fine, enjoy the harvest
Sorry, but things are not fine in the Motherland.
What you see at the farmers market says nothing about what is happening on the farm. There the farmers are hurting with a capital H !!!!
Anyone that did not have an irrigation system had their raspberry, strawberry, pickels, apples etc. fried. The Sun and the long stay of intense heat did it.
The wheat and other such crops are also down around 50% from last year.
So NO, things are not fine here. It only seems that way to those going to the Farmers Market.
Cheers
I do recall reading earlier that most of Europe was going to take a hit this year, especially when it came to grain crops. I also know that Mr. A. Lepper was lobbying hard here in Poland to get monetary compensation for the farmers recently. I don't know if it got approved or not.
I suspect that it was the large producers that took the biggest hit. I am guessing that most of the smaller farmers (that supply the local markets and street vendors) managed to squeek by since they were probably able to keep things wet due to being much smaller. We put in a well this spring (with both a motor and hand pump) and fortunately one of the guys building our house volunteered to water our trees and veggies as needed. Everything made it.
I have been taking an informal survey with friends and clients here in Warsaw and nobody has noticed either a lack of availabilty of their favorite fruit or veggie, or an increase in price. Perhaps, later in the fall if the grain harvest was so bad, the price of some items will shoot up. Any ideas about why things locally appear so 'normal' if there was such a big problem?
Added: I found this from Aug 7th news...
Quote:
Polish farmers' output is set for a slump following the heatwave, and the subsequent rise in food prices could push up inflation. At the end of July, the Central Statistical Office (GUS) estimated that the production of grain will be three to seven percent lower than last year, and vegetables grown in open fields nine percent lower. According to Małgorzata Skoczewska, adviser to the management of the wholesale agricultural-grocery market in Bronisze, the vegetable crop will be even lower.
"This year, there will be fewer cauliflowers, carrots and potatoes and this can already be observed in prices," Skoczewska says. She stresses that potatoes have seen the most dramatic price growth. "The wholesale price of Irga potatoes now varies between zł.1.20 to zł.1.46, compared to zł.0.55 to zł.0.70 last year," she says. Some vegetables, such as string beans, cost twice as much as in 2005. On the other hand, Skoczewska points out that the price of tomatoes fell. "Warm weather was conducive to greenhouse production and such vegetables are artificially irrigated anyway," she says.
The drought has yet to take its toll on the price of processed food. However, the price of meat and grain products is likely to rise significantly in the next months.
I'll try to find something more recent... _________________ Remember, with globalisation "everyone is a winner" in the "race to the bottom". - rogerhb
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. A.C. Clarke
Joined: Apr 06, 2005 Posts: 987 Location: 38 km west of Warsaw, Poland
Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2006 3:38 am Post subject: Re: Farmers Markets this year?
More recent news item regarding expected price increases for various foods here in Poland which should be noticed starting now...
Potatoes and carrots: up 80%
Onions: up 70%
Flour: up 50%
Apples: up 50%
Eggs up 15%, supposedly Eu wide and Bird Flu related (flock culling)
Fortunately, as far as my wife is concerned, no change in the projected price of sugar.
From Friday Sept 1 issue of 'Gazeta Wyborcza'. _________________ Remember, with globalisation "everyone is a winner" in the "race to the bottom". - rogerhb
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. A.C. Clarke
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