The Garden is Producing

This is my 1st garden in 15 years and with an eye on creating some food income I jumped into it. The garden was started May 3rd  when I removed 2 shrubs that had overgrown and then double dug the ground abd removed the roots. I built a 4 x 4 raised bed. Filled the whole thing with compost and potting soil. 

 

Then I added my version of condoculture to the space with some other plantings. Then planted seeds and plants.

 This picture is July 20th, about 10 weeks since I started. The garden has come a long way.If I can continue to get the yeild as I have the last 2 weeks adding fresh food (income) even in the condo can be obtained. We are getting 4 yellow squash a day and about 6 pickling cukes. The cherry tomatoes are  good but the big boys got some kind of blight. The first of 6 eggplants are ready just waiting to be picked and the arugala and herbs have been super. I think the beans got a late start and the oniions got crowded out. Better planning for next year. The peppers are loaded with flowers, Jalapeno, Cherry and bell. I planted stivia and looking for uses for it , my neighbor steeped the leaves and used it as sugar water for drink.

If I could only talk the association into letting me raise chickens.

Looks Like the Tomatoes Have Wilt

Looks like the tomatoes have gotten the wilt. Like with any type of income even food income there can be some speed bumps. But I refuse to let them become detours. The plants are being tended to and I will get some fruit from them. Then this pot will used only for lettuce, peas or beans. The life of the retirement refugee is about continually learning new skills that will help as we become self-reliant. Learning how to deal with wilt is an unexpected lesson. Other skills the retirement refugee must develop to aid in food income is to be efficient in as many areas as possible , building a garden, permaculture, raising animals, creating shopping lists & inventories, and bulk purchasing as well as food storage techniques and the pantry. I have just recieved my Excalibur 3900 food dehydrator and today I will make my first attempt at drying strawberries. Look for the update. 

This site is a great resource for the Retirment Refugee

M.D. Creekmore at The Survivalist Blog – a survival blog dedicated to helping others prepare for and survive disaster – with articles on bug out bag contents, survival knife choices and a wealth of other survival information is giving away a 1,000 round case of 9mm – 124 Grain FMJ (a $200 value – donated by LuckyGunner)! To enter, you just have to post about it on your blog. This is my entry. Visit The Survivalist Blog for the details.

Food Income: Production

What is food income? Simply it is a return of your efforts that provides you with food. This income can be cash or labor.
I am going to focus first on your own labor and a little piece of dirt. This combination can reduce the financial cost to obtain food and provide simple exercise that will be needed to keep the body moving and healthy as aging occurs .  Producing your own food is one of the keys that unlock the treasure of food income.
Food you produce from your own resource will result in less money being spent and a better quality of food to eat and the retirement refugee is all about spending less and have more.

This years garden is a joy since it has been decades since I have put one together almost like starting over but with a little know how. This garden is providing me with the ability to sharpen my skills until I get to the homestead and can grow the produuce that will support us.
Combining raised bed gardens with permaculture , and adding chickens for eggs and meat will make a big addition to our food income when the homestead and retirement comes around.

It has been a long time

After a long period of turmoil in my life where every waking moment was filled I can now return to my blog that I feel so strongly about.

Week - 4 Alternate Retirement Income(s)

First I am changing my thinking about what is income. This is the hardest area for me to change how I think. Since 10 years old I have made money by cutting lawns, shoveling snow, delivering papers & yard work, held my first “real” job at 16 and have continued to be employed or self-employed since. But early on I knew that by getting money through work I could get the bike I wanted, the album I wanted, the new fishing pole. Conventional thought is income is money, but is it money I want or is it what money will get me?

Then I recalled how I got my first car a 1967 red VW Bug my neighbor was selling. I couldn’t afford it, it was $400.00 and I just did not have enough cash and my dad was not kicking in. (One of the best things he ever did for me). At this point in time I was doing yard work and snow blowing neighbors driveways and sidewalks. So in the fall I approached the neighbor selling the car and asked if he (single guy) was interested in having his snow removed for the season and he became my 3rd customer for that season. When it came to negotiating the cost of my services, I offered him an on-call by the storm rate or a seasonal rate of $250.00. He chose the seasonal rate but I had another idea. I said I would like to buy the VW Bug for $300.00, $50.00 in cash and one year of seasonal snow removal. He agreed and signed over the car.

So I didn’t really want the money I wanted what money would buy and being reminded of my 1st bartering experience is helping me figure out what I need income for and what I can do to get it.

The retirement refugee lifestyle is as much about reducing your expenses as it is maximizing your various incomes.

Week - 3 Retirement Job, Not a WalMart Greeter or Grocery Bagger

After investigating all the different jobs that were available to elder folks and taking note of what all the working retirees I came across were doing I knew that working a job that I may have had when I was 16 was not the way I wanted to live the good life I had planned.  So what could my retirement job be? All I could do is come up with questions, most of which the answers did not fit my age, if I was 30 or even 40 I had ideas, answers and solutions but not at 50 and knowing how quick time will fly. I wanted my retirement job to be fun; I wanted my retirement job to incorporate my interests.

I came to the realization that I had to change the way I have thought of many things that affect my life. I have determined that food, shelter, health, happiness, and family make the most impact on the life of the retiree and to have and enjoy these simple things in life I need some kind of income. We have been conditioned over the years to believe that only money equals income but that’s not the case.

So a retirement job(s) must be multi faceted. I will need to have a cash income from savings, investments, and social (in) security as well as a paying job and the skills to build an alternative income that will help me become a self-reliant person.

Week - 2 My Retirement Job

One day my youngest child asked me a question as I scanning a job website, “Daddy, why are you looking for a job, you like what you do?” I said to her “In  fact I do like what I do and I was not looking for a new job I was looking for my retirement job”
When I hit 50 I realized that I needed a better handle on my personal finances because I was going to retire in 16 years and I wanted the dream. After close examination I knew the dream was a fantasy.

I have worked for small business or myself most of my life in either sales or sales management mostly in a retail environment. When available, I always participated in the 401k programs but never quite understood what that meant. I made contributions and they went up. The tech bubble burst it came tumbling down, I rebuilt the coffers again to watch the market fall.

Fast forward to October 2009 and I came to the honest conclusion that I will need to earn money to support myself until I am unable to work or I die. This was the time of my epiphany. I had to make a straightforward plan to survive,and to live a good life for the rest of my life.

My continued posts will be how I plan on accomplishing my goal