Save My Small Town

Part of my garden regimen beginning last year included browsing Granny’s Heirloom Seeds looking for varieties of seeds that were free from any genetic modification or cloning and at the time I hoped the red flag waivers were wrong about the corporate assault on our food supply. Today, I’m thankful I made the decision and have taken further steps to increase the amount of food my family consumes from local sources as well as right here in our garden. The time to act is now to stop legislation that would put even greater favor in the hands of corporations.

America’s small farmers are under attack through a series of bills presented under the guise of “food safety.” I don’t want to lose my freedom to grow, buy and eat real foods. Let’s fight for our small farmers who not only need our protection and support, but actual freeing from government intrusion, control and harm.

PLEASE CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSPEOPLE & SPREAD THE WORD:

** Contact your representatives AND local newspaper: http://www.usalone.net/cgi-bin/oen.cgi?qnum=7499

** Another easy way to contact your representatives: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

To understand more about Alternative Agriculture and the importance of protecting seed banks and small farmers please have a listen to the following:

By the way, my heirloom tomatoes are looking great in my greenhouse made from a plastic covered dog kennel. My husband and I have agreed we want to do a little worm farming. He wants to farm night crawlers and redworms to sell as bait. I want the rich compost and productive means of ridding of my veggie and lawn waste. Selling wiggling things sounds like a good route to go to add something more to our cottage industry plans.

Make a stand – plant a seed.

Thanks for stopping by the site, please feel free to share any helpful information you find here with your friends and contacts. Be the change you want to see.

I was just reading through a report by the Center for American Progress about their plan for economic recovery that will create green jobs. It is a lengthy read but offers some insight to ideas being considered on a large scale and the pros thereof.  http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/09/pdf/green_recovery.pdf

The small 1 1/2 acre domain that is ours has a green recovery plan in progress that will create at least one paying job for now. We’re working on gathering the funds and materials to build our first hoop house greenhouse in the next week or so to sell plants and eventually vegetables and herbs, dried herbs, flowers, landscaping green, and maybe even some trees, who knows? We have excellent road frontage and a rental property next door sitting empty with steady traffic as well as tourist traffic heading to the Daniel Boone National Forest, and it just seems a shame to let my green thumb bless only my four and no more! Especially when natural and organic products are all the rage. I can grow my own wealth and health!

I searched all over the net for free blueprints and plans for greenhouses, but nearly everyone wants to get paid for information these days. Finally I found some free plans here http://www.bae.ncsu.edu/programs/extension/publicat/postharv/green/small_greenhouse.pdf where you can build a 12 X 14 hoop house for around $100. I have to give this a shot and then take what I learn to folks who want to be more backyard sustainable but can’t afford the cost of a standard greenhouse. What I like the most about this design is that it is so versatile and can be used directly over garden rows (even on a smaller scale than the plans) throughout the winter to continue harvesting greens and cabbage.

With our system, one greenhouse won’t be enough to produce the amount of plants I want to grow and have for sale so we have selected a spot in our yard where we can build another, and are considering turning an old mobile home frame into one as well. Currently the structure is being used for storage and we believe it will be a simple conversion where we can also set up a rain collection system and eventually solar power as part of our sustainability project. It is sitting in the ideal location in our yard for full day sun and recycling the aluminum siding may just help pay for this project and I’m always on the lookout of excess building materials and postings on my local Freecycle boards for people giving materials away.

We have our work cut out for us and without our truck running, there is no way to haul anything. Hopefully ours will be running and road-worthy by the weekend. Say a prayer for us, we need a break in the worst way.

Simple and step by step instructions on how to build a vertical axis wind turbine windmill for an alternative power source for your home from one of my new favorite video bloggers, Dan and Denise Rojas from Green Power Science.

Be sure and check out their official website too for more information about solar, wind, cooking, water purification, and heat collection. You will also find shopping information for green energy products.

Owingsville Post Office Owingsville, Kentucky

Owingsville, KY WIKI Information

Official Owingsville Webpage

Bath County Government Page

Montgomery County Courthouse, Mt. Sterling, Kentucky

Main Street, Mt. Sterling, Kentucky

Mt.Sterling WIKI Information

Mt.Sterling Business Pages

Montgomery County Government Pages

Montgomery County KY Freecycle

US Post Office Sign at Farmers, Kentucky

All about Farmers, Kentucky

Rowan County Information

Morehead FreeCycle

Stanton Welcome Sign, Stanton, Kentucky

Stanton, Kentucky WIKI information

Powell County Information

Powell County Tourism

Powell County FreeCycle

Hard to imagine that only about 3% of the loans for small businesses are going to women. Almost every woman I know has some kind of talent, skill, knowlege, or unique product potential for a business. It’s true! Nearly every woman I know is resourceful and gifted in some way that is profitable (and legal LOL).  I was very pleased to find some links for women needing information about starting a business or women entrepreneurs who need support for their existing business. I will be adding these links with several others as resource links for SaveMySmallTown.info.

WomenEntrepreneur.com – helping women succeed in business

We-Inc.org – Women Entrepreneurs Inc.

Score.org – Couselors to America’s Small Businesses

I’m a firm believer that if the homeowners had been “bailed out” or given aid in the form of debt forgiveness (even partial or a set percentage forgiven) this economic spiral would have stopped instead of gaining the momentum and tipping the collapse of the world markets. But alas, greed knows no forgiveness and so here we are.

Debt forgiveness probably sounds like the least helpful suggestion, but that along with allowing the banks to restructure, eliminate waste, etc. I believe we had an opportunity to really shine as a nation and we missed it. How? Imagine if 25% of a $100,000 debt on a property was completely forgiven. That is $25,000 of pure equity in that property, equity that could be borrowed against for repairs (thus creating jobs and stimulating the market), or used to restructure the loans in such a way to keep homeowners from losing their most prized and valuable asset and keeping the homes themselves from losing their value.

Many would argue, they can’t just erase debt like that. But I beg to differ. Credit is something formed out of thin air and is written to someone’s account as debt. They “cash out” that credit in many ways and creditors are not regulated as to how much credit is available. If they are given parameters of when to stop lending, it is an arbitrary number again pulled out of thin air by the unregulated, privately own FED who profits from all the interest anyway. That being said, yes partial debt and even full debts can be erased without any negative consequences.  You do know that the dollar is just paper with nothing backing it, right?

I deeply admire Rep Marcy Kaptur (D OH) for speaking out in defense of the homeowners in foreclosure. They have been painted as the culprits of this economic turmoil, when in fact many have been nothing more than victims of falling below the bank’s “bottom line.” People say it’s just business, but I can testify first hand, that there is little to no protection in place for homeowners. I got behind enough on my payments due to a prolonged illness and inability to work that I was served papers, and even after bringing the account current, my bank still wanted to sell my house and my loan officer was rarely available and did not return phone calls. Had it not been for a fair judge hearing my case, I would be among the homeless.

Are you facing foreclosure? When I was first served papers, I was so afraid there was nothing we could do. I went online and looked at some of the modification programs that were advertised. Their fees ranged from $3000 (with $1000 upfront and the other $2000 due in 60 days) to $400. If I had that kind of money, I would not be behind on my mortgage.  Even though my situation was finally worked out without the help of a modification agent or an attorney, I am still eagerly seeking social activist organizations who are in the business of helping homeowners stay in their homes. Please comment with suggestions for further research.

I said my situation worked out and it has at least at the time of this writing. The attorney for bank said they will most likely appeal the decision of the court, reject my loan payments,  and continue their ambition to sell my house due to them now having his legal fees to pay. He said the bank will make me pay those thousands in legal fees, but the judge instructed me to return and petition the court if I was billed by the bank for any such fees as I had receipts and proof that I had brought the account current and was working with my loan officer. It was failure on the banks part to stop the process of foreclosure and the work of the attorney when we reached an agreement and I kept my end of the bargain. But if they come back at me, I am ready and not leaving my home without a fight. I hope you don’t give up either if you’re in similar circumstances.

Take a looksie at the link below for a fantastic deal on airfare!

2-Day Sale! Bargain Fares from $84 Round-Trip on Frontier Airlines! > Expires 02/18/09