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Has very little to do with that. During the siege of Leningrad the starvation problem was eased by 1943 due to urban gardening. We go through enormous amounts of effort to destroy food production. Even then food is in many places despite active efforts to plant toxic ornamentals. It just does not fit into our economic models.
Often "ornamentals" are not toxic but delicious. This is aronia hard cider.
I do a lot of "wining" with wild grapes.
Its something I could learn from a boomer's grand parents, but not from a boomer.
Actually my spouse knows a lot more about that than any of our grandparents who were horrible cooks according to our parents. Her dad claims he joined the army because his mom's cooking was so bad. That's one thing that has improved down the generations, at least in our families.
Its something I could learn from a boomer's grand parents, but not from a boomer.
Let's see, so far this summer I've grown, harvested and preserved at least two bushels of tomatoes and a bushel of peppers, hot and sweet; a local fruit farm's CSA provided me with a half bushel of peaches, and 10 quarts of blueberries. I still have coming to me a bushel of apples, a half bushel of pears and five pounds of cranberries, which will be made and canned as applesauce, apple pie filling, apple rings, pear halves, pear butter, cranberry mustard, and cranberry sauce.
I helped a friend make a barrel of beer, which she and I will bottle up any day now and split.
Damn those boomers. They can't do anything.
Oh, and that should be "It's something I could learn ... " In this sentence, you're employing a contraction, not a possessive.
Yes we are... There are houses there... But I guess you missed that.
As for people not having gardens and fruit trees in the suburbs...my mother does.
In a flat you have fewer options.
It's all in what you want
You can grow Myers lemon trees indoors in a pot--they thrive in indirect bright light. Same thing with tomatoes, beans, and any number of herbs. Heck I've got an avocado tree in my kitchen. It should give me fruit in about two years.
Let's see, so far this summer I've grown, harvested and preserved at least two bushels of tomatoes and a bushel of peppers, hot and sweet; a local fruit farm's CSA provided me with a half bushel of peaches, and 10 quarts of blueberries. I still have coming to me a bushel of apples, a half bushel of pears and five pounds of cranberries, which will be made and canned as applesauce, apple pie filling, apple rings, pear halves, pear butter, cranberry mustard, and cranberry sauce.
Now we're talking. I canned up some peach salsa and some feral apples, but I always get more of a kick when I can do the wild stuff. I probably eat 5 things from the wild a day. I am feasting on wild plums now that are "ornamental" .
Quote:
I helped a friend make a barrel of beer, which she and I will bottle up any day now and split.
Damn those boomers. They can't do anything.
I'll trade with you so long as we agree not to lace it with acid. Ok, ok, ok we Gen-x had crack. No crack either.
Quote:
Oh, and that should be "It's something I could learn ... " In this sentence, you're employing a contraction, not a possessive.
Oh I have a few mistakes that is for sure. Don't always have time to edit.
Yeah, with the name Ohio girl, I should assume you don't live there. Give me a break. You can change your screen name, so don't take it personally when people assume you're from Ohio when your freaking name is "Ohiogirl".
The fact is, people who live in the Midwest have no clue about financial hardship. Try living in DC, NYC, Boston, San Francisco, LA, San Diego or Seattle and talk about home ownership. Only those of us who have every advantage and high-level careers can afford it...none of my friends is in a position to own, most struggle to keep up with the rent and can't save a dime. When you can't even rent a BEDROOM for less than $750 a month, it's pretty freaking hard.
Yeah, with the name Ohio girl, I should assume you don't live there. Give me a break. You can change your screen name, so don't take it personally when people assume you're from Ohio when your freaking name is "Ohiogirl".
The fact is, people who live in the Midwest have no clue about financial hardship. Try living in DC, NYC, Boston, San Francisco, LA, San Diego or Seattle and talk about home ownership. Only those of us who have every advantage and high-level careers can afford it...none of my friends is in a position to own, most struggle to keep up with the rent and can't save a dime. When you can't even rent a BEDROOM for less than $750 a month, it's pretty freaking hard.
This is so absurd that words fail me!
I guess NO ONE ANYWHERE else has mortgage issues, job issues, or any other issues...
Because we've figured out that cars and houses are terrible investments.
On the car front, cars aren't worth more than probably $5000. Anything over that is a waste, IMO. I bought my car for like $4000 back in 2004 (it is a 1994 model). I haven't paid a single penny on it since, aside from filling it up with gas and doing normal maintenance and repairs that any car (new or old) would need. I also laugh at people who whine about their $300/month car payments on their $20,000+ vehicles. Those were terrible investments when they could have paid a fraction of the cost for an equally reliable vehicle - shouldn't have bought such an overpriced item!
Housing too. Houses are not worth 6-figure pricetags. They just aren't. You can find decent living accommodations just about anywhere for under $700 a month, yet the average mortgage is around $1200. If you were going to spend $100k on buying a house (which is a lowball estimate, isn't it?) you would have to live there for at least 12 years to make it a better investment than simply renting at $700/month for the same timespan. Once you get up to $200k houses, you have to live there for at least 24 years to "break even" compared to renting, and $300k is 36 years! And for what? To be stuck in one spot the whole time? What happens if you need or want to move? Then you can't just terminate your lease and move out, you're stuck.
Houses and cars are awful investments. Young people like myself have figured it out, and we're staying away from them. Instead, I rent a place for $680 a month, I pay $0 for my car, and I travel internationally every year (2010 - Gabon and South Africa; 2011 - Panama and Costa Rica; 2012 - Finland and Estonia...). I wouldn't be able to do that if I were paying something like $1500/month for my house/vehicle instead.
Cars are terrible investments, especially new ones, but it's better to own than to lease because at least you have some kind of equity and can eventually pay it off and have no expense in that area.
But you're clearly very sheltered because you can't find decent living accomodations in many places for $700, and a $1200 mortgage gets you a shack where I'm at (unless you put down 35% like I did).
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedHowever, to replicate that standard of living in Columbus to have it in San Diego, you would need to be earning $81,000.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedFrom Chicago, the most expensive city in the Midwest, to San Diego you'd still need $68,000 to replicate a $50,000 standard of living in Chicago.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedFrom Detroit to San Diego would require a $90,000 salary to retain the $50,000 standard of living of Detroit.
Keep in mind, San Diego is considered cheap compared to many other coastal cities in the Northeast and the Pacific Coast.
So yeah, people in the Midwest have NO clue what it's like to struggle for money to afford housing. One can make minimum wage in Ohio and still be able to afford housing...that's not the case here in California. You need to live in roach-infested shacks with a bunch of other people if you make less than $15 an hour. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedIn fact, a minimum wage lifestyle ($8/hr) in Columbus is equivalent to a $13/hr lifestyle in San Diego.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedHowever, to replicate that standard of living in Columbus to have it in San Diego, you would need to be earning $81,000.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedFrom Chicago, the most expensive city in the Midwest, to San Diego you'd still need $68,000 to replicate a $50,000 standard of living in Chicago.
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedFrom Detroit to San Diego would require a $90,000 salary to retain the $50,000 standard of living of Detroit.
Keep in mind, San Diego is considered cheap compared to many other coastal cities in the Northeast and the Pacific Coast.
So yeah, people in the Midwest have NO clue what it's like to struggle for money to afford housing. One can make minimum wage in Ohio and still be able to afford housing...that's not the case here in California. You need to live in roach-infested shacks with a bunch of other people if you make less than $15 an hour. Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowedIn fact, a minimum wage lifestyle ($8/hr) in Columbus is equivalent to a $13/hr lifestyle in San Diego.
LOL, I'm glad to learn that the Midwest is a Utopia where people never have any financial struggles...
I wonder why everyone doesn't move there!
Well, in a lot of ways that poster is right. In a lot of the more expensive parts of the country, the salaries are not actually scaled proportionally if you are working middle class type jobs and it really is more expensive just to live on the necessities.
However, the important thing to note is this: If you cannot afford to live where you live and you KNOW and can prove that other parts of the country are cheaper to live in even working the same or similar job ... MOVE THERE or stop complaining. I'm guessing that people live in San Diego because they want to live in San Diego...they enjoy the benefits of being there versus being in Ohio. Guess what? You pay for that. You lose sympathy to complain about your cost of living because you CHOOSE to live in an expensive city.
That's what I did back in 2007. When I graduated college, I weighed the salaries vs cost of living (as well as the actual positions themselves of course) as opposed to just the salaries. I ended up moving to the place with the lowest cost of living out of all my job offers (but it was my 2nd highest salary offering). While I would have loved to have moved to Chicago or San Diego or Portland or some place, I knew those places were expensive and that I would not be able to save as much as I would like. Instead I chose to live somewhere cheap and visit other places that I liked.
If I had moved to a high cost city, you wouldn't see me on here complaining about it because it would have been my choice to live there. Yet, I see people all the time my age, who graduate college and move to NYC or some other big city without a great job lined up...and then 6 months later they are complaining about how they are barely scraping by and living in a run-down apartment and crying that people just don't know how expensive it is to live in (insert big city here)! Guess what, no sympathy from me.
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Ok, ok, ok we Gen-x had crack. No crack either. 
This is so absurd that words fail me! 
