ORGANIC LIVING
By
Robert Rodcde
Make 1975 Your Year of Security
Happy New Year!!!!!
Made any resolutions yet? Instead of the usual promises
that you make - and promptly break - why don’t you
resolve to make this New Year something special -
something really special. Why not make 1975 toe year you
develop a new measure of independence, the year you '
become more truly secure.
Independence is not as far out a goal as you might at
first think. Inflation is here and now. Many families find
themselves living from paycheck to paycheck. Anything
that can help insulate someone to any degree from the
effects of a declining economy can be of help.
The key element in reaching a degree of self-sufficiency
is obvious: Make use of what you have to toe fullest.
Let’s start out with toe apartment dweller. In toe
summertime, put your windows to work, providing
CUT HEATING COSTS
WITH A
COMBINATION WOOD
or COAL HEATER
Ideal for garages - utility rooms - work shops -
cabins - small homes - cottages (one to two
rooms).
Thermostatically controlled. Will burn a full 24
hours with a simmer flame.
Use as emergency heater. Insure against
damage from freezing (burst water pipes, etc.).
PRICED RIGHT
EASY TO INSTALL
CHOiCE OF TWO MODELS
PAUL S. HIESTAND
CALL WRITE
R.D.I, Marietta, Pa. Rhone (717) 426-3286
DEALERS WANTED
AUTHORIZED DEALERS
H. L. Philips, Glen Moore, PA - (215) 458-5774
John P. Becker, Mt Joy. PA - 684-7427
G. Anthony Terreman, 1916 Park Plaza. Lancaster. PA - 569-1883
Philip C. Witmer, Remholds. PA - (215) 484-4203
Morgantown Fence Co' Morgantown, PA - (215) 286-5065
Ronald Puntillo, Mohnton. PA - [215) 856-7308
Ivan Burkholder, Danville, PA - 437-2212
Clyde Vogel, 949 N 9th St. Reading - (215) 373-7079
Jules Meliodon, 1176 N Middletown Media - (215) 459-2305
Aaron S. Groff & Son, RD3, Ephrata, PA Hmkletown - 354-0744
Daniel S. Stoltzfus, Narvon, PA 17555
M. M. Weaver & Son, Leola, PA - 653-2321
Clair Swartz Salvage Yard, Bloomsburg, PA - 458-5109
Sollenberger Farm Supply, Centerport. PA - (215) 926-2722
Paul Teeter, New Enterprise, PA - (814) 766-3332
Norman Zimmerman, RD2, Myerstown - 866-4695
Robert G. Seip, Alburtis, PA 18011 - (215) 845-2077
Amos B. Martin, RD3, Ephrata, PA (215) 445-6885
Dale Weed, RD2, Moravia, NY 13118 - (315)497-0783
Hockenberry Electric of Hunterdon, RDI, Rmgoes, NJ 08551 -
(201) 782-5950
The Golden Basket, 266 EastPaletown Rd. Quakertown. PA - (215)
536-1048
Vernon H. Sites, R D. 4. Green Castle, PA - 597-3089
Leacock Coleman Center, R Dl, Boxllo, Ronks. PA 17572
Black Bear Store, Peach Bottom R D 2 - 548-3134
Park H. Wiker & Son, Holtwood. PA
James Landis, Hamburg RD#l - (215)562-8347
F & M Construction Co., Sumneytown, PA - (215) 234-4831
Nelson R. Brenneman, Spring Grove. PA - (717) 215-3076
Wilbur 0. Graybill, Mifflmtown. PA - (717) 436-2574
sunlight for window boxes loaded with vegetables and
herbs. Anything you grow won’t have to be purchased.
If your apartment has a spare room in it, put it to use
also. Make a mini-greenhouse in it. Inexpensive indoor
growing kits, complete with the proper lights and in
structions, are readily available. And after your first
indoor harvest, you’ll begin paying off the investment and
reaping added health benefits from eating fresh
vegetables.
Of course, there is no reason at all why suburban or
rural families can’t have greenhouses. There’s one to fit
almost every budget from expensive metal-and-glass
construction to those made from clear plastic nailed over
a simple frame and built from scrap lumber for next to
nothing. A greenhouse can be a money-maker, a secon
dary income source. Consider the possibility of raising
fresh, organic vegetables for sale to your friends and
neighbors. Fresh lettuce, tomatoes and a whole variety of
other fresh vegetables taste awfully good in the dead of
winter when the ground outside is frozen solid. Within no
time at all, you’ll recoup the modest investment and be
ahead of the game.
The fact that everyone with any land at all should have a
garden goes without saying. Land is our most precious
resource and not to make good use of it is pure folly.
Even if you already have a garden, you can make better -
use of it. Why not extend the gardening season by growing
your vegetables under a plastic cloth as the cold weather
sets in? As long as it is clear, the plastic acts as a
greenhouse, capturing heat from the fall sun and hoarding
moisture from the Covered ground. A plastic cover over a
garden can extend the growing season by several weeks.
There are a number of other ways that you can increase
your independence from the fickle whims of the economy.
Consider what’s been happening. For years, people have
been raising chickens, ducks and geese. Anyone with the
room should be encouraged to do the same.
A flock of chickens nesting in your garage might be
another cushion to pad your family against the effects of
the declining dollar.
Consider what a small flock - say one rooster and ten
hens - could provide for a small family seeking security.
How does three dozen eggs a week sound? Use what you
need, then sell the rest to your neighbors. Chances are
that you’ll earn enough to buy that next bag of feed. Of
course, if you have a large garden, it can go a long way
toward reducing chicken feed costs.
Inflation, coupled with a lack of mortgage money, has
also cut into the peculiarly American habit of moving
every couple of years. People are now staying in one
place. Instead of buying a better home, families now
consider repairing and remodeling the homes they have.
Companies that manufacture power tools are working
around the clock to fill backlogged orders.
A home is one of the best hedges against inflation, or so
the experts tell us. And when that home is put into better
condition, the increase in value more than makes up for
the time, effort and money that went into these repairs.
There are signs, although they are subtle, that people
are beginning to assert themselves. For example, ac-
cording to Professor James Toothman, a Penn State
University agriculture economist, last year there was a
decrease in food store sales. Professor Toothman at
tributed a part of this to the consumer’s desire to get his
food elsewhere than from the supermarket.
As a result of this, the individual who has 20 acres “can
make a five-figure income if he or she is able to sell
direct,” says Professor Toothman. “Here in Penn
sylvania, growers can sell something from mid-April to
mid-October - from radishes to apples and cider, for
example.”
You can choose any of these alternatives to the present
way of doing things, and when 1976 rolls around, you’ll be
able to wish everybody a Happy Secure Year.
(Editor’s Note: The opinions appearing in “Organic
Living” are those of its author, Robert Rodale, an in
dependent columnist. Rodale’s comments do not
necessarily reflect the thinking of the Lancaster Farming
editor or anyone else on the Lancaster Farming staff.)
Dutch School
Natural Foods
LARGEST SELECTION OF
NATURAL FOODS AND VITAMINS
IN CENTRAL PENNA.
RT. 222, AKRON, PENNA.
PH. 859-2339
FARMERS AgCREDU
9 East Mam Street Lititz PA 717 626-4721
GARDEN FARM INDUSTRIAL
EQUIPMENT PARTS SERVICE
A BINKLEY & HURST BROS.
PHONE (717) 626-4705
RD4, LITITZ, PA. 17543
[s]
Rj
BINKLEY & HURST BROS.
ASPHALT PAVING - EXCAVATING
GRADING
INSTALLATION OF SEPTIC TANKS
AND DRAINFIELDS
FOR FREE ESTIMATES CALL 626-4705
Alititz RD4
Rothsville Station Road
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Dec. 21,1974
Use the Farm Calendar
To Publicize Your Meetings.
mi
The Real Meaning
of CHRISTMAS.
"FOR UNTO YOU IS BORN THIS
DAY IN THE CITY OF DAVID A
SVAIOR, WHICH IS CHRIST THE
LORD.”
41
Forget
LUKE 2:11