Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

World Diets: A Week’s Worth of Groceries

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Ok, so I saw this post over at FStoppers about What a Week of Groceries Looks Like Around the World, and I couldn’t help but mark it for a second look, and eventually an article here.  Click on that link and go take a look.  Look at what each picture contains and then come back and see if you come to the same conclusion that I do.  I’ll wait.

Done?  Ok, first, let’s talk about some “givens” that I found to be somewhat ironic, simply because they also could be considered stereotypes.  I’ll start at the top.

  • Mexico: OMG, you guys like Coke!  
  • Germany: First thing I noticed was all the beer and wine right up front.
  • Italy: Lots of the expected breads and pastas
  • Japan: Fish, noodles, and rice.
  • Mali and Chad: That’s it?

Obviously, there are some things that we expect.  Countries like Mali and Chad that we’re hearing about starvation or near starvation like conditions in sometimes have an obviously lesser pile of food.  Japan is notorious for it’s high-fish diet.  And Germany.  Germany!  I suppose I can’t expect much else from the country of Octoberfest.

A couple of surprises.  I’m a little bit surprised by the lack of sausages in the Poland picture.  For the number of Polish sausages we eat here in the states that is.  (Ok, that’s kind of tongue in cheek.)

Now, let’s see if you noticed the same thing I noticed.  Every single country on that list eats way more fresh food than the American family.  Seriously. Look at that picture.  There’s a little section of it that’s got some produce (a couple of tomatoes, some onions, and some grapes), and another small section of fresh meat.  That’s it.  The rest looks to be processed and packaged foods.  The only other countries that appear to even be close are Canada, Great Britain, and Australia.  Which is funny.  In an ironic sad way.

All four of those countries are usually lumped together as “first-world” countries.  We’re rich!  We have everything we could ever want!  And somehow, every other country on that list eats better than we do…  Heck, let’s look at Mexico.  Most Americans tend to think of Mexico as a drug addled, gang run, hovel.  But, look at that food!  Fresh herbs right off the plant!  A whole table of fresh fruits and vegetables!  Same story for India, Bhutan, Guatemala, and Equador!

Why is it that we all think that produce is so expensive, but we’ll gladly pay $10 for a large pizza?  Or $10 for a burger and fries?  It also makes me wonder just how much of that food those people grow themselves.  It’s not that expensive to start a garden.  Heck, even a container garden will do.  We’re just getting ready to plant out our second season (see season one’s results) of container gardening.  So far, I’ve spent about $2 on seeds.  Buy a few pots, get some soil, and plant some plants.  Fresh produce!

I’ve gotten a bit ranty, but it amazes me how poorly we eat in our “rich” country.  You’d think we’d be smarter than that…

 

Growing Potatoes in Containers

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As part of my foray into container gardening this year, I decided that it would be fun to try my hand at growing some potatoes.  I’d done a fair amount of reading, and it seemed like growing potatoes in containers was pretty workable.  I’d seen several examples of people growing them in old tires stacked 4 high, fencing towers stuffed with straw, and some much more elaborate wood sided towers that allowed for taking the bottom rung off and pulling potatoes out from under the plant.

The re-purposed container that we already had, potatoes already planted.

When it came time to plant my potatoes, I decided that for the first time around, I’d just use one of the larger containers that I already had laying around the yard.  I’d previously used it to try and grow some flowers in, and while those turned out fine, some produce would be even better.  I also found and picked up another container that I wanted to give a try with potatoes.  It’s a bag made specifically for growing potatoes in, called, wait for it, Potato Planter.  It’s kind of cool though.  It’s made out of the same material that those blue tarps are made out of, and is designed with a velcro flap near the bottom of the bag to allow for you to open the bag and pull some potatoes out of the bottom while letting the rest of the potatoes grow near the top.

So, armed with my containers and a couple of bags of topsoil, I set about planting some potatoes!

Steps for growing potatoes in containers:

  • Potato Planter Packaging © by thatedeguy
    Fill each container with about 6 inches of soil.
  • Cut your seed potatoes so that each piece has about 2-3 eyes on it.
  • Place your seed potatoes onto the soil.  (I’m sure there’s a scientific spacing you should observe, but I didn’t.  I placed them about 6 inches apart.)
  • Cover the seed potatoes with a couple of inches of soil and water thoroughly.
  • Water as needed.  (Remember that containers dry out faster than your garden will, so they need more frequent watering.)
  • When the plants are about 6 inches tall, add more soil until the soil is about 2 inches from the top of the plant.
  • Repeat until the container is full of soil.
  • Continue to water, and wait.
  • Potato Bag Started © by thatedeguy

    After the plants have flowered, and the plant itself starts to yellow and die off, give the potatoes about a week to two weeks to mature, then harvest them.  (This step and the ones following are purely from my research, and not from experience yet.  I could be way off!)

  • When you harvest the potatoes, set them out in a warm, dry place to dry.  This is supposed to allow the skins to harden up a bit for better storage.  (One downside here is that the second the potato gets to a harvested state, the natural sugars in the potato begin converting to starch.  I’ll be trying a few fresh from the ground and some that have been “hardened” and see how much of a difference there is.)
  • Repeat next year!

So far, I’ve gotten as far as planting, and adding soil to the potato containers.  I’ve got one more batch of soil to add to the containers to fill them up with soil, then it’s just a waiting game as the plants grow potatoes and I wait for harvest time.  This year is a bit of an experiment, as it’s our first year of dedicated container gardening, as well as the first time I’ve ever grown potatoes.  Rather than add too many variables to the mix, I just planted some seed potatoes that I got from our local grocery store.  If I recall, they were the Red Pontiac variety.

Next year, should this year be a success (and it’s looking like it will be), I would like to order some seed potatoes of different varieties.  In particular, some purple potatoes.  Mostly, just because I think they look cool!  I’d like to try a few of the heritage/organic varieties too, and see if there’s much of a difference.

Have any of you ever successfully grown potatoes in your gardens or in containers?  Got any hints or tips for me?  Suggestions for varieties to grow next year?

Trying a Container Garden This Year

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In years past, we’ve tried futilely to grow a variety of vegetables, fruits and flowers in our designated garden areas of our yard.  Each year, some part of that has been a tremendous disappointment.  Part of the issue is the soil itself.  We have a large evergreen tree in the back yard that provides and excess of shade, an excess of protection from rainfall, and an excess of needles that lend a terrible acidity to the soil.  Between not getting enough shade, not getting enough rain and poor nutrient values in the soil, everything we plant has a terrible time trying to grow.

We’ve tried several things over the last few years.  Much more regular watering helps, obviously.  We’ve added better quality soil to try and make the soil better for growing.  We’ve even fertilized the plants. Each year, something happens to throw the wrench in the cogs.  Last year, we had a major slug infestation, and what did grow was quickly eaten by the slimy creatures.  With each year’s problems, we learn something new that we won’t repeat in future years.  Last year, we learned that, while fallen leaves do provide good insulation for plants over the winter, a abnormally wet spring makes them a wonderful breeding bed for slugs.  Maybe, after we’ve learned enough lessons, we’ll finally get a decent crop out of our garden.  Until then, we’re changing it up a bit.

This year, we’re giving a container garden a go.  We purchased several (8-10) containers of various sizes and shapes, filled them with potting soil and topsoil and purchased all the seeds we thought we might need for the year.

Gardening Supplies © by thatedeguy

I started the seeds nice and early (perhaps a bit too early) and quickly encountered my failure for the year. Not only did very few of the seeds sprout, but those that did quickly died and began to mold. Nothing that I grew in that first batch of seeds is currently still with us. I bought some different seed starting supplies, and tried again. I got slightly better results, and a majority of those seeds survived. Any that still didn’t grow, I replaced with plants from a nursery.

So far, we’re only a few weeks into the growing season, but several of our containers are doing quite well.  The potato planters are growing very well, and the onions (note: all not seeds that I started.)  are doing well.  Of the things that I started as seeds, the only things that are really doing well so far are the carrots.  But, the other stuff is growing, and hopefully, will continue to.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t discuss the financial side of all of this a bit.  When you stop to consider the burden of having to buy most of the supplies this first year, it would have been far more economical to just buy the produce from the farmer’s market.  But, should we pull it off, and produce a good enough crop, we’ll continue it in future years.  Each successive year will make it a bit cheaper, as most of the containers and supplies are reusable.  This year, it’s probably creeping up to about $100 in total expenses, but next year will likely be a lot closer to the $20-$30 mark.  For $20-$30, the produce grown will be very cheap compared to what we could get it for at the farmer’s market.  Plus, it will have that little extra bit of flavor that gets added from having grown it yourself.

How do you garden?  Do you have the luxury of a large plot for a garden, or do you make do with containers?  Do you have any great tips for container gardening (or gardening in the presence of a evergreen) that you’d care to share?