Neither do we live in the agrarian society in which our parents/grandparents lived. Plant a vegetable garden? Slaughter a hog? I haven't the foggiest notion!

There are a surprising number of people from all walks of life who are actively re-learning these things. A photo of our front yard vegetable garden was featured in an issue of Yes! Magazine this year accompanying a story about how vegetable seeds and garden supply sales were increasing dramatically this year.

It's not like these are entirely foreign concepts that are too difficult to learn. Sure, it takes some work, but the learning curve is rewarding-- and sometimes you can still eat your mistakes.

This year my wife and I ventured on an experiment dedicated to exploring the concept of eating more locally produced food (not excluding non-local food, but making a conscious effort to seek out local opportunities). At the time we were mostly interested in doing this for the environmental benefits. As the summer wore on and gas and food prices shot up, we learned that there were obvious economic benefits to it as well.

First, we concentrated the majority of shopping with vendors who provided locally-grown/produced food. This isn't as difficult as it sounds. During the main growing season, there were five market days a week for farmers' market shopping in Knox County alone (Tuesdays and Fridays at Laurel Church of Christ on Kingston Pike, Wednesdays and Saturdays on Market Square, Thursdays at New Harvest Park, Saturdays at the Renaissance Center in Farragut). In addition, we found sources such as the Three Rivers Market and even Food City has sections in the produce area set aside for locally-grown produce. Plus there are farm stands, direct sales opportunities with local farmers, and a variety of other resources.

This step alone simply requires a re-learning of the growing seasons. We didn't expect to buy peaches in March or strawberries in November. We bought what was available.

Second, we joined a community-supported agriculture farm. This is a great way to support our local farmers and receive a weekly share of the farm's bounty. For a $400 purchase of a 1/2 share, we received 25 weekly deliveries of fresh-grown and non-chemically treated food ranging from greens, melons, pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, beans, peppers, and more.

Third, we converted part of our front yard into a vegetable garden. The grass is a nice decoration, but pretty useless when you are trying to stretch your food dollar. We built six raised beds of 48 square feet each (12'x4'). We dedicated our work here to learning how to garden organically. We grew melons, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans, peppers, carrots, onions, cabbage, eggplants, radishes, basil, mint, cilantro, parsley, and some small berry bushes. With only a small patch of land to work with, we grew more than 350 pounds of produce this year. (Two of our pumpkins will become pies tomorrow for Thanksgiving dessert.) Not an earth-shattering total, but enough to keep us pretty well-stocked this winter with relish, pickles, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, beans, and more.

With a little experience behind us now and a better understanding of crop maturation periods and harvest times, we can better plan and rotate our crops for next season with a hope of increased productivity. We may even add two more beds to the garden extending our total usage to a mere 384 square feet of land.

With better planning in our crop plantings and in selecting varieties of plants, we've figured that we can extend our garden next year well into the winter months next year. This year's winter garden is a paltry thing because we did not have enough available space for planting late season vegetables during the main part of our late summer harvest.

We've added a composter to our back yard decor for turning kitchen scraps, yard clippings, and garden debris into soil for next year's garden. I even pick up organic vegetable waste from a local restaurant twice a week to include in my compost pile.

Our meat primarily has come from Dave Waters (selling during the market season on Market Square, but also available from him directly), from Laurel Creek Farm in Blount County (great source for lamb and goat meat), and from West Wind Farm in Morgan County.

We learned to can again (having once participated in the activity in our grandparents' kitchens) and also learned to dry food. Our pantry includes jars of apple butter, peach butter, apple sauce, preserves, dried apples, dried tomatoes, pepper jelly, and other useful items.

We also invested in some books and used free library loans to learn how to make our own yogurt and cheese (using local milk from Cruze Farm Dairy). We now bake our own bread and I'm learning to homebrew beer.

We'll never be entirely self-sufficient, nor do we expect to be. But, we are trying our best to learn how to become more self-sustaining through beneficial interdependence with our own community.

We learned through books, conversations with others involved in similar projects, old-timers, and attending a variety of special events. Our Victory Garden has been a source of conversation in the neighborhood, allowing us to meet and talk with "old timers" and other curious passers-by.

There is some expense on the front end, but it quickly recoups itself. We're learning how to save seeds of the heirloom plants we planted, so next year's investment in seeds is dramatically reduced, for instance.

We're enjoying the learning process.

I read that book (I read everything Barbara Kingsolver publishes). It left me feeling horribly depressed about my life style.

But I draw the line at raising turkeys (although the chapter on turkeys in that book is one of the funniest things I have ever read).

That's true. The New Deal gets little respect for what it has done. My grandfather (born 1909), a lifelong Democrat, used to tell me with glee about his Republican neighbors and their reaction to the New Deal.

My favorite was the neighbor who refused to allow TVA access to string wire across his farm land and to his house. When asked why he didn't want electricity, his reply was, "I've got nothing against electricity. I just don't want any of THAT Democrats electricity."

Pappaw and I used to discuss how much positive impact the New Deal had on this area. Without it, I don't like to think about what would have happened here in the 1930s.

TVA was created on May 18, 1933 that's over three and half years after the Great Depression began.

Covenants? Ha. I don't need no stinkin' covenants.

Most earthquakes last under a minute. This Bushist bomb hitting the financial markets is going to have reverberations for over a decade.

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Dirty deeds done dirt cheap! Special holidays, Sundays and rates!

Sorry, I should have explained my opinion.

Survival forced people to adjusted before TVA came to this area. TVA is the one greatest program this area has ever had but the people had to eat for over three years before TVA. They adjusted and I believe we should consider planning for hard times.

The information you provided on victory gardens and local farms was great. I retired five years ago and started a gardening, canning, and buy from the farmers market. I've learned that some of the health problems I had were no doubt caused by eating industrial processed foods.

The UT extension agent in Blount County doubled the canning classes in 2008 and filled every seat. The Co-Op in Sevierville sold out of many of the vegetables plants this year. Several neighbors started a gardens this year and for next year a few are joining together to have one large garden. A friend added goats and pigs to his 3 acres this year. The goats provides milk and he is curing his own meat for the first time. He plans to make his own cheese in the near future.

I see plenty of people adjusting their lives for hard times. I grew up when most families had their meals at home. In our family eating out in the early 60s happened about three times a month if that often.

I plan to can my own beer and wine in the near future.