Test Message - HTML Format:The Simpleton Skinflint, October 2009

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This year, over half a million acres of land have been idled, resulting in almost $1 billion in lost production, 40,000 jobs lost and over half a percent of our country’s agriculture. Maybe this is just paranoia on my part, but we’re already a net importer of food, since 2005, and we’re running huge trade deficits collectively already. The security of the whole nation feels weaker to me now!

So, why has this happened? Water. Even when we’re not in a drought like this year, The Golden Gate State’s always had to walk a thin tightrope with this precious resource, and it’s just getting worse. Our current antiquated water system was designed to meet the needs of 20 million people, and we have over 38 million now. Now environmentalists have convinced Congress to cut rations to the Central Valley, in order to protect endangered Delta Smelt. It might be an “indicator species,” that foretells the fate of several other animals, including

Water isn’t a problem just in California, so I think looking more closely at this issue would be instructive. We Simpletons can't trouble our pretty heads about all the politics; we just need to know the facts and figure out what to do about them for the good of our households:

It all comes down to the math. So, I’ve been looking at rain barrels, storage bags, tanks and cisterns lately, trying to find the best means of storing as much water as possible, primarily for keeping my own local agriculture going, that is, my 500 square feet of garden. I currently pay about $.004 per gallon.

One claim I’ve read is that ¼ inch of rainfall is enough to fill a 60 gallon tank from the typical household roof. (My calculations show that the number for a 1000 sq ft roof is actually 150 gallons, but that doesn’t account for loss and evaporation, which are considerable.) My area averages about 24 inches a year, giving me a theoretical maximum collectible 5,760 gallons of water. At the current cost of water, that’s about $23 worth.

A 1,500 gallon underground cistern will cost me about $1,500 to buy and install. (Search “water tanks” on the Web and you’ll see what I mean.) I’d be hard-pressed to find places to bury four of these things, but let’s say I could, and I could do it for $6000. So, the time it would take for this project to pay for itself at current prices is about 261 years. Hmmm….

Will it be enough water to keep my garden going, if say, the city bans the use of water for anything outdoors, as some places are doing? I have about 500 square feet, and let’s say a drip system doles out water to each square foot at the rate of half a gallon every two days during the summer when I need the water most. How many days will 5,760 gallons water the garden at this rate? Answer: About 46 days. That won’t even get me through June and July, let alone August. [I'd have to grow less or supplement with reclaimed grey water.]

The upshot of all this is, from a purely economic standpoint, that it doesn’t make sense to capture rain water, unless you can find a way to divert and store it very cheaply.

However, drinking water is another story. Save 70 gallons for each family member; that’s enough for a week at least. It’s just plain common sense to have something put away for an emergency.

Even with expensive water, growing food is still very cost-effective for the average household, and the food security a home garden brings is priceless. Now that Autumn is arriving, many gardeners are ripping out their old plots and giving up for the year, but do you really have to quit? Can you extend your season with cold frames, or even grow cool-season crops? The Grocery Garden, How Busy People Can Grow Cheap Food has some great tips for lengthening the harvest, as well as a list of plants that enjoy cold weather. Special for this month only - order with code FSO09 and receive a free package of cool-season seeds, good to start now, or in the early spring!

Range-fed cattle, chickens and other livestock start getting expensive to feed this time of year as the weather gets colder and all that free grass dies back. This means more animals will be heading to the, uh, packing sheds and grocery stores will be offering better deals to move all that meat. Make some room in your freezer and keep checking those circulars.

Really, you

can't say enough good things about pumpkin. It's chock-full of the anti-oxidant beta-carotene, which converts into Vitamin A. Other vitamins and minerals in pumpkin include iron, magnesium, niacin, potassium, zinc, selenium, folate, C and E. It's high in fiber, low in carbohydrates and one cup is less than 50 calories. Pumpkins are incredibly easy to grow in a basic backyard garden, and the harvested fruits can be stored for weeks or months in a cool, dry place. (If you didn't grow any this year, start them next year by early July to have them for Halloween.) When you're ready to use them, the possibilities are many!

As pie, of course!
Mashed like potatoes.
Chunked, in soups.
Roasted.
In quick breads, muffins and cookies.
In yeast bread.
Pureed for bisque.
As a sauce. (I've even used it in a syrup to go over waffles, that had pumpkin in them, too.)
As a dip.
Roasted seeds for snacking.

Months ago, I mentioned that a large book club wanted to carry Strategic Eating, The Econovore’s Essential Guide, but that I couldn’t compete with their discount structure, so all seemed

lost. Well, fortunately, the editor just plain loved the book enough to contact me again, willing to try to make some concessions. In the meantime, I scrambled so I could meet her at least half-way. Long story short, The Conservative Book Club will be carrying Strategic Eating, starting in late November. This little book will suddenly have huge international exposure!

Still, I think the best marketing is word-of-mouth from real people. Please forward this newsletter to your friends and family who might be interested in learning more about Living Large On Less. The newsletter is free. Your input: Priceless.