@Lookout planting suggestions for warmer regions of the country. Been harvesting garlic and will replant a portion for next year. Good luck on creating new starts for the American Chestnuts, so far I have been unsuccessful with my trees and shrubs, but will continue to try.

Bought gas here (in GA) for $3.12/gal this morning after trade day. The Hispanic folks have the best deals on produce at Trade day. 6-8 lemons $2, 1 lb Washington state organic cherries $3, avocados $1. In addition to produce bought a 18V Ryobi saws-all (without battery - I have several) for $25. In other words your comment about shopping alternative markets is correct. I use thrift stores (primarily for clothes) too. Nice cotton shirts $1-2, wool tweed sports coats $3 (warm plus makes you look dressy), Jeans $4-5, and so on.

Still harvesting tomatoes, figs, and peppers daily. Processing the maters with sauteed onions and garlic in the instant pot (8 min of pressure) weekly to spread the harvest through winter. Peppers are easy...chop and freeze, ready to pour out what you want to use through out the winter when peppers are high dollar. We can't manage to save up enough figs to process, we eat them all fresh. Hard to pass by when ripe figs they sit on the counter.

Looks like a tough winter ahead (especially for Europe), so even if you don't have a garden buy cheap local produce now at your local farmers market and store for the winter. Time to think about the fall garden for southerners too. Sept. is the month here to plant cabbage, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, various greens, onions, garlic (in Oct.) and so on. Always something.

In fact I noticed my American chestnuts have branches that need pruning. I'm going to try to root them to have some more to set out next fall.

Well thanks for the OT and best of luck with your homestead!

@Granma vary and national product package size changes tend to happen at the same time. Just before and after a packaging change (shrinkage) the products will show up at the Grocery Outlet Stores with long expiration date. Clue change is coming. Products not available during media hyped shortages often show up later at the same stores. Yeast packages showed up in large supply with deep discounts and product with at least year expiration dates after the "at home backing panic" causing bare shelves in grocery stores. Easter lots of eggs while other store egg displays were empty or had holes for specific brands.

Safeway was the highest - for years their prices increase for the summer to soak up tourist dollars. Growing organic selection and good sale prices available only if have store loyalty card.

Bi-Mart a regional department store consistently has the lowest regular prices.

Food 4 Less Our local store runs some very good manager specials and they have a decent selection of organic produce, better than the Trader Joe's sharing the same parking lot. Their requirement to self bag your groceries is no longer unusual since Oregon banned store provided free plastic bags. This week store wide most product I spot watch increased 10 to 20%.

Chef Store new name of the regional restaurant supply stores after being purchased by US.Foods during the lockdown period. They have multiple Oregon outlets and the requirement of a business license to shop was abandoned years ago. Products are generally in bulk and do not always have consumer labeling. Flour price per pound similar to Bi-Mart but need to buy in 25 pound bags. Their grain products took a price increase was end of January and this month were sightly lower.

Grocery Outlet was the closest store for a number of years, but recently moved and do not visit as often. As the number of stores grows nationally the variety of products continues to decrease. Like many deep discount stores it seems products are now being manufactured to meed chain prices with lower quality. Need to have sharp eyes and a quick mind to find actual bargains.

Do not visit Walmart, Costco, Fred Meyer and WinCo Foods frequently enough to comment on pricing.

Bob's Red Mill flour in your town surprise me. $4.80 is big difference for a bag of flour. I live in Portland metro area, which means we likely have mostly the same stores available to us. I would love to know which stores you saw those prices in. I hadn't realized there was such a big price spread on basics.

@enhydra lutris Feel for the folks having to continue doing a regular commute to work.

for veggies, grocery store for a couple of items for next week and local hardware for raw materials to make stuff for the house and spouse, then started making stuff. This is a break from pruning the apricot and "summer pruning" the apple.

Gas here runs from 4.90 to 5.40 with some of the lower prices cash only and some unknown vendors and brands. We can save a bit on gas by driving 10 miles (one way) to costco but we don't usually drive that much anyway, and when we're up for a mini road trip it really doesn't matter that much anyway, but we usually do it all the same. That gives us an excuse to stock up on certain items like cheese, butter, and certain canned goods, etc.

be well and have a good one

@humphrey drinks.

““Few people realize that carbon dioxide is a byproduct of fertilizer making. And it cannot be stored for a very long time, so we only have a few days’ worth of reserves left,” said Carlsberg Polska spokesperson Beata Ptaszyńska-Jedynak.

“We will be shutting down beer production any moment now … but we aren’t the only ones. Unless they have facilities to produce their own CO2, most beer companies will have to do the same.”

Additional worry for Europeans - Finnish firm warns of toilet paper shortage Russia Times Aug 27, 2022

“During the recent weeks, Metsä Tissue has had to curtail its production both in its Zilina and Kreuzau mills [Slovakia and Germany] for several days because of the high energy price peaks,” the company said in a statement

According to Metsä Tissue, further production freezes are likely as energy costs continue to rise. The company warned that the enforced stoppages are expected to impact consumers, as “substantial amounts of daily production losses will occur.”

The choice between heating or food will be real for many Europeans this winter unless conditions change fast.
'Heat or eat'... it's not just a sound bite parroted on the news - it's a real choice people in Greater Manchester are having to make Manchester Evening News Aug 27, 2022

https://www.politico.eu/article/alarm-ringing-pub-farmer-fertilizer-plan...

LONDON — Europe's soaring energy bills are triggering a wave of shutdowns at major fertilizer plants across the Continent, causing disruption for farmers, food manufacturers and — to the horror of bar owners everywhere — brewers of beer.

On Thursday, the world’s largest fertilizer company Yara, based in Norway, announced a 50 percent cut to its ammonia-based urea and nitrogen fertilizer production in Europe, citing “record high prices."

The decision came less than 24 hours after Britain’s largest fertilizer plant CF Fertilisers UK said it would “temporarily halt” production at its Billingham plant. Two other major fertilizer producers in Poland announced they would pause operations earlier in the week.

Fertilizer is not only vital for boosting crop soil fertility, but its production creates a byproduct, CO2 gas, which is used to add fizz to beer and soft drinks, supply hospitals for surgical procedures and allow animals to be slaughtered humanely

Farmers, food manufacturers and even pub landlords are therefore deeply worried about the wider implications of a looming fertilizer crunch.

Carlsberg Polska, the third largest brewing company in Poland and subsidiary of the Danish multinational, told POLITICO it plans to stop beer production almost immediately — and that other brewers are bound to follow suit.

“Few people realize that carbon dioxide is a byproduct of fertilizer making. And it cannot be stored for a very long time, so we only have a few days’ worth of reserves left,” said Carlsberg Polska spokesperson Beata Ptaszyńska-Jedynak.

“We will be shutting down beer production any moment now … but we aren’t the only ones. Unless they have facilities to produce their own CO2, most beer companies will have to do the same.”

@on the cusp Now I am going back outside to play in the sprinklers. 3 dozen new heads arrived yesterday and need installed.

You can buy painted pumpkins for Halloween, honey, and the rest is home decor and tee shirts. As if farmers raise tee shirts?
6 booths, 1 sandwich truck, maybe 6 shoppers. This was once packed with 30 booths, 100 shoppers.
I notice small crowds at the grocery store, packed parking lot at the Family Dollar Store.
I shop at Walmart weekly, and the parking lot is now mostly empty.
More and more, when people call to ask if I take certain types of cases in certain counties, when they get a "yes", they start asking about payment plans.
The 2 resale shops in town are always full of customers.
Times are very hard, and thank goodness for food banks.
SOE, happy irrigatin'!