The stability of the US seems like it’s being pulled right out from under me. I’m about 9 months deep into my permaculture homesteading journey (permasteading?), and all I can say is that I really wish I had started years ago. I’ve got 14 fruit trees and 7 blueberry bushes and a couple small patches of wild blueberries and raspberries. But I can’t shake the feeling that it’s not enough. I don’t expect to be able to get all of my calories for the entire year from my food forest and vegetable garden, but I think the more I can offset the cost of groceries by buying my own food the better off I will be. This constant worry makes me wonder if my habits might be influenced by anxiety buying.
Providing For Community
I also worry about my family, friends, neighbors, and fellow humans. I plan to propagate as many fruit tress as I can and give them to my local community, but that takes not only my effort, but years of growth before the trees actually start producing food.
So, the best I can do to quell this anxiety is to take action. And the action that I took this morning was to buy more plants and native seeds and generally just put growing food at the forefront of my mind for the next several months, at least. I also made sure to buy plants that can feed the deer in my neighborhood, since many of my neighbors provide deer corn and I have a feeling they’re going to be a bit stingier going forward. So, I got some American Persimmon saplings and hybrid American chestnut trees that are not susceptible to Chestnut Blight – which destroyed most of the population of 4 BILLION American Chestnut trees from 1905-1945.
Oh, and I’m getting chickens…Anxiety buying might have some benefits.