The Little Affronts

78
3144

The income tax is a terrible affront, of course. It is based on the odious idea that when you earn money, you owe it – to people who didn’t work for it but who have the power to take it.

This being, fundamentally what “government” is all about. The power to tax being the power to take. And only government has the legal power to take – and call it not-stealing. Well, excepting the big insurance and pharmaceutical corporations that have acquired the power to use the government to take our money.

But it’s the smaller affronts we often don’t even notice that bleed us whiter – because they are smaller and because most of them are unavoidable. You do not have to earn a lot of income – and can in fact deliberately earn less in order to pay less in the way of income taxes.

But everyone has to eat. And most of us need to drive. As to work – and so earn money on which we are said to “owe” taxes.

Here’s just one example as regards what it costs us to drive. Or – rather -w hat it costs to possess the thing without which one cannot drive. That being a vehicle.

I am obliged to send the government $75 each year in “personal property taxes” on my 21-year-old truck. It may not seem like much – assuming you are a person who thinks being robbed of $75 each year isn’t “much” – but it sure adds up. Especially since it is “only” $75 annually now – after 21 years. It was considerably more when my truck was half its current age and twice its current value. That latter being the basis upon which the tax-theft is based. Isn’t that grand? We have an armed robber who takes into account the value of what you have as the basis for what he decides to steal!

At any rate – and for the purposes of this discussion – let’s assume $75 per year for the past 21 years. That comes to $1,575 – which isn’t small sum for me or for most people. It is a sum equivalent to what most people pay each month in rent – or on their mortgage. It is certainly equivalent to at least a month’s worth of food for an entire family. Looked at another way, the money stolen by the government in the form of this “property tax” amount to the same as adding a thirteenth month of rent/mortgage payments to the victim’s financial obligations or – from another perspective – depriving him of the money that would have paid the 12th month or provided food for his family for a month.

Just that one “little” bite.

It’s also a disproportionate bite.  My 21-year-old truck is worth about $4,500 or about a fourth of what it cost when it was new. The “property tax” applied to this vehicle has amounted to more than 10 percent of its original purchase price! (Keep in mind that tax was not always “just” $75 per year.)

So far…

It will amount to more as the years roll by because this tax never stop. One “owes” it in perpetuity.

And it’s not the only sum they say I “owe” – indefinitely.

There is also the annual registration tax they make you pay. In my state (Virginia) this amounts to about $35 per year. Another small affront, you say? I have been paying this as long as I have owned cars, which is going on 40 years now. On each car I have owned. But let’s just use one car for 30 years as a basis for our calculations. Another $1,050! For just one vehicle. If you own two, double what you “owe” and have been forced to pay.

Plus another $20, annually, for “safety” inspection. There goes another $600, also on top of that (and the one before that). We are up to – let’s see – $3,225. It is almost enough to buy another 21-year-old truck. Or at least, to buy several sets of new tires, a new clutch, a number of brake jobs and many oil changes in between for a 21-year-old truck. All of which I would have been able to pay with the money I don’t have anymore – obliging me to earn the same sum again, in order to be able to pay for those things and pay the government.

And using income that was already taxed!

The above is why a thing that really ought to be free – once it’s been paid for – ends up being rather expensive. And because it is, we end up needing more income to pay for it all.

Which, of course, the government will tax – again.

And these are just the “little” affronts. The ones most people think aren’t a big deal – because each one seems like not a big deal.

But they add up, don’t they?

. . .

If you like what you’ve found here please consider supporting EPautos. 

We depend on you to keep the wheels turning! 

Our donate button is here.

 If you prefer not to use PayPal, our mailing address is:

EPautos
721 Hummingbird Lane SE
Copper Hill, VA 24079

PS: Get an EPautos magnet or sticker or coaster in return for a $20 or more one-time donation or a $10 or more monthly recurring donation. (Please be sure to tell us you want a magnet or sticker or coaster – and also, provide an address, so we know where to mail the thing!)

My eBook about car buying (new and used) is also available for your favorite price – free! Click here.  If that fails, email me at [email protected] and I will send you a copy directly!

78 COMMENTS

  1. “The income tax … is based on the odious idea that when you earn money, you owe it – to people who didn’t work for it but who have the power to take it.”

    The government went full communist when the Federal Reserve and Income Tax, were created TOGETHER, in a short time period late 1913 to early 1914.

    https://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/watchwomanonthewall/2011/07/list-of-10-planks-of-the-communist-manifesto.html

    The income tax is used as a mechanism to soak up excess demand from the new central bank credit. The game is to create mucho credit – but that is inflationary – so to stop inflation they take your income away – but enjoy the cheap credit for themselves, the top 1%. Oh yeah, it is a huge scam, money for them and a screw job for you, and not one person in a thousand even knowing how they do it.

    Here are the FRED charts of what the hell is really going on, and it is public information:

    https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WFRBST01134

    https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/WFRBLT01000

    if you take the Fred data and make a pie chart:

    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HsTjxRlSknI/TqXkc0HLdRI/AAAAAAAAACk/yq0ka-NMgkE/s1600/PacAtackGraphic.jpg

    The rest is history, now there exists a huge divide of those well connected getting the cheap credit, or during ZIRP zero interest rates, free money. Yes Virginia, lowering rates to zero meant the big boys could borrow for free – and that is your source money for the recent hyper everything bubble.

    Imagine you borrow a hundred million dollar from the Federal Reserve at 1% or less, then imagine all the stock market shares you can buy, and so long as your share prices go up by more than your borrowing cost of 1% you are in the money, you are making money hand over fist for free! That is the game they play. Think Blackrock buying up whole subdivisions of private homes then renting them back to the slaves. Yeah, they did that.

    Now imagine Jerome Powell fighting inflation like Paul Volcker, raising interest rates to the moon. He says he will keep raising rates until inflation is down to 2%. Now imagine that hyper stock and real estate bubbles being impacted by rising rates after zero rate. Do you get the picture, a hyper deflationary crash – that no one believes can happen.

    And when it bottoms out, someone like rothschild will buy it all up for pennies on the dollar, and you will own nothing and be miserable while they own everything and drink sacrificed children’s blood laced with adrenechrome.

  2. So vote with your feet and leave the DC suburb VA parasite state.
    Many other states have much lower taxes and you can do your work in any of them.
    Until many patriots pick up arms and revolt nothing is going to change.
    That has been true at least for 30 years.

    • That is what stupid Californians did 30 years ago. Voted with their feet, moved to Montana and Colorado, and promptly wrecked both once nice states. At some point there will be nowhere left to run ’cause these locusts like to follow the prosperous after they have finished destroying everything around them in the place they currently reside.

  3. What would I do if I won a 100 million dollar, or as of late a billion dollar lottery? I would endeavor to find a tax attorney(s) of like mind, and hire them to continually harass the IRS, Federal and State. To challenge every God damned tax claim on my property, or anyone else’s as the opportunity arose.

    • there was such a guy….they got rid of him….mullins….

      Mullins the researcher, author says go to court on your own, tells you how:
      he doesn’t like lawyers, he says do it yourself, he is probably right, everybody should start legal action against the government right now……
      start 1000’s of lawsuits……………

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1nWoZ2GcyI

      • from mullins

        Although Communism, like other `isms,’ had origined with Marx’s association with the House of Rothschild, it enlisted the reverent support of John D. Rockefeller because he saw Communism for what it is,

        the ultimate monopoly, not only controlling the government, the monetary system and all property,

        they warned you you will own nothing and be happier.

        but also a monopoly which, like the corporations it emulates, is self-perpetuating and eternal. It was the logical progression from his Standard Oil monopoly.”-Eustace Mullins,

        Because the ruling families of Europe are the direct descendants of William of Orange, who chartered the Bank of England in 1694, the movement to destroy nationalism and individualism has been directed from England, but expressed in the Communist movement.

        The World Order has planned and executed two World Wars to restore world rule by the oligarchy, a world rule variously called Bolshevism, the League of Nations, or the United Nations, but never the World Order. now it is called the new world order.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yupszupW_io

  4. Taxes operate as a license; permission to do something.

    Property taxes are permission to keep your stuff.
    Income tax is permission to have a job (stop paying and you will be jobless in jail)
    Sales tax is permission to contract.

    If we are to have a government, it will need funding. That funding should be minimal required to operate in a limited sphere and should never be taxed on a natural right such as property ownership or freedom of contract.

  5. Ah yes, the annual inspection, AKA alms for the poor mechanic and dealership in which they have taken up stay.

    Blessed be gearheads! Might thou anoint thy transport with the sacred marking. Oh! How thine countinance doth shine from the holgraphic inscription! For the transport hath been redressed of its failings and sins. Go now, cleansed of the impure break pads and squeal no more!

  6. No
    Not all species of revenue is taxation.

    Some others are fines, investment income, and fees.

    They are each their own classification of revenue and each has its own way it can be imposed, enforced, collected, and spent.

    For example, after taxes are collected, they go into a general fund that a legislature can spend anyway it pleases.

    While fee are only able to be spent on the privilege/service that generated the fee, and only at a non profit rate.

    Rights are those things one does with one’s own property and powers (ones own domain)
    And Does not require the permission of nor payment to another.

    Privileges are those things one does with another’s property or powers (another’s domain).
    And does require the permission of another and may also require payment.

    Eric, why not actually study American civics and show libertarians they are not helpless.

    Libertarian philosophy is the law…right now. But you must know the law, spot the breach, invoke the law, gather evidence, and go to court,
    if you wish to defend yourself from a lawless adversary, especially if he holds office.

    Voting hires and fires office holders.
    Litigation holds them to the limitations of their office.

    • Hi Atticus,

      A “tax” is the taking without consent of money. Any money. That is what defines it. A “fee” is something one willingly pays in return for a service one needs or wants. And one is free to not pay such fees, if one neither wants nor needs those services. If not, then they are taxes.

      Any tax on property is an assault upon the concept of property. You either own a thing once purchased and paid for or you do not. Owning means you owe no one else money after you have bought the property as the price of being allowed to retain possession of or use the property in question. If you are obliged to pay money to retain possession and use, then you are renting the property – and whomever/whatever collects the money owns the property.

      What are these “privileges” you speak of?

      I know about rights.

      The state has no right to grant privileges. It has an obligation to preserve rights. If it fails to do so, it is illegitimate. If it violates rights, it is tyrannical.

      So ends the civics lesson.

      • Our current version of (((Government))) has failed to preserve US Citizen’s rights, and violates said rights daily.

        What does the US Constitution require US Citizens to do in such a quandary???

        A truly dangerous document, indeed!!!

      • If you do not have alloidial title do you really “own” that house or property

        What we have is Fee Simple title.

        The “Fee” refers to ‘fief’. We’re Serfs.

        Property taxes exist for the same reason zoning laws exist…because no matter what you ‘thought’ you owned, you don’t actually own anything!

        The term is “Alloidal Title”. It means that the owner of such title has first claim on ownership of that land preceding all other claimants.

        In the United States Alloidal Title is retained by the Government. So you can forget all that “Here, Sir, the people rule” stuff. Furthermore of note, you might understand that this indicates the government is sovereign …and not the people, as widely proclaimed.

        So, what kind of title do you have in the United States?

        With a few exceptions you have what is called “Fee Simple Title”.

        It means that the orignal owner, the sovereign, NOT YOU, may encumber your temporary possession of the land with any number of demands.

        The Sovereign may demand rent. The Sovereign may demand taxes. The Sovereign may restrict the use of the land to only a few (or a single) use. Or the Sovereign may demand military or domestic service such as a draft…or registration thereto…in return for tenancy.

        And the Sovereign may take back the land at any time (see Emminent Domain). In historical contexts Sovereigns have even demanded sexual services for themselves…and for their supporters, officers, and bureaucrats (see Prima Noctus).

        But what does the term “Fee Simple” mean?

        Well…and you probably won’t like this… the “Fee” part refers to the nature of the estate which holds the title. Fee refers to a feudal fief.

        The second part “Simple” refers to the type of ownership interest the estate holds: Simple or Simple Conditional.

        So, if this clashes with what you learned in school about the American Revolution, “Of, For, and By the People”, immigration for “Free Land”, “Popular Sovereignty” and all that… Perhaps you should challenge those beliefs. Alternatively…the government has some explaining to do.

        Regardless, in the Colonial period and until the 1840’s real property was held much as other property – and could easily be traded in its entirety free of traditional encumbrances. Since then? Yes…but, as noted, with encumbrances by the property’s “Ultimate” owner…which is not the person who purchased it.

        Now that there are passports and travel may be restricted for taxes…

        Well, it appears that…

        SERFDOM’S RESTORED.

        satan klaus…..claus schwabb the nwo says you will own nothing and be happier

        • Hi Anon,

          Yup. I’m hip. It’s a shame more aren’t. But we’re working on it. I have said and written for many years that we truly own nothing more than the clothes we wear and other such baubles. Just as the serfs of the Middle Ages, only the serfs were under no illusion about who is boss.

        • Yup, learning about, “Alloidal Title” is a real learning experience, for sure.

          What I wonder, RE: “So, what kind of title do you have in the United States?

          With a few exceptions you have what is called “Fee Simple Title”.”

          What are those, “few” exceptions, exactly?

  7. You can grow potatoes in the southern states, not during summer. The potato plants won’t grow potatoes, you need a lower temperature range for potato plants to fully mature to get the tubers. In Texas, potatoes are planted in late February, early March, you’ll have potatoes.

    The agriculture departments in Canada has extensive data at websites, many varieties of potatoes grown in Canada.

    Pontiac is by far and away the best tasting, Yellow Finn is another good choice. Grow both and fingerlings, Vikings are a good choice, have shallow eyes. Potatoes grow best in the Great White North.

    The same for sweet potatoes, just reversed. You can’t get sweet potatoes in the northern tier states, maybe some growth, you get a few, but not many.

    Planted 12 rows of potatoes last growing season, each row about 100 feet in length. Been growing potatoes for the last 15 years. Some years are better than others. Last year’s yield was terrific.

    Grown lots of potatoes, high demand for potatoes. You give them away. New potatoes sell like hot cakes. Cucumbers are equal in sales. People buy pickling cucumbers like crazy.

    The 2021 crop was a disaster. Didn’t rain as much. Rain counts the most. You still get potatoes, just not as many, you don’t get skunked.

    Have a good 300 pounds in storage.

    Never buy potatoes from grocery stores, the amounts of pesticides used to grow commercial potato crops are enough to choke an ox. Besides, they’re up to two years old at times during shortages. The chemicals used won’t be systemic, but the costs will make you blink.

    Spinosad is an organically produced biochemical that controls lots of bugs and does no harm. When the potatoes bugs appear, you spray one application. Zee bugs die, I can send a few to Klaus after the growing season is in full swing and the potato plants have potato bugs.

    When a potato grows to the nascent stage with primary leaves, there will be a potato bug at the base of the plant. They never die off, you have to control them, otherwise, no potatoes. The plants are sticks. Potato bugs are not edible, no matter what Klaus says.

    You can sweep them off the plants and deal with thousands of potato bugs, been there, done that. The organic way works.

    Crop spraying kills plants and insects, chemicals are used that will make a rabbit jump from his rabbit hole and run like mad.

    Saw it happen, the ag chemical burns your eyes.

    The year was 1979.

    Grow your own in a big basket.

    • Good stuff drumphish, We get blue potatoes, plant in Feb, dig em up first half of May. Or if your green thumb is dialed in, plant in August, harvest at thanksgiving, a big bounty to give thanks for. Sweet potatoes as well.

      We stick with neem oil in the vegetative time, spinosad once it flowers. Even organic produce gets washed in Hydrogen peroxide and lemon juice. The five gallon buckets with the washed off spinosad, peroxide and lemon juice is loved by vermin, they literally fall in the buckets and drown. Its pretty intoxicating to Norwegian wood rats. We also get lots of mantids that eat zee bugs, get fat, and get happy, leaving the plants for we humans.

      Seems the summer feeling is upon me once again, even with 2 months to go. The frozen tundra of the far north still has almost four months til planting. Don’t know how you stand it. I’ll be starting some seeds in my photo-trons next month

        • No, rats and mice only.

          Keep the ground and leaves dry underneath cukes, squash, melons, and potatoes to deter Japanese, Colorado, and Mexican beetles. If all else fails spray some copper sulfate under the leaves. Once you notice an infestation its usually too late. Proactivity is your friend.

          • Norman,
            Excessive use of Copper Sulfate will poison the soil. Been there, done that.
            Diatomaceous earth is an excellent pest control. It will kill anything with an exoskeleton. And if you happen to eat it, if you had intestinal worms, you soon won’t. That is in fact why I first purchased it, to treat a worm infestation in one of my dogs. It worked.
            It will need to be re-applied after rain.

            • Hi John, Your right about the copper sulfate. I never use it more than once a season and only as a last resort. We have such a long growing season that sometimes I just pull the plant and bag it, then start over. If I am on my garden game then I’ve successive planted whatever I intend to grow, two or three times a few weeks apart in the greenhouse. Those evil little beetles have a certain cycle that can be broken if your lucky.

              Heavy metal buildup is present in store bought steer manure as well. Chicken poop and horse poop from the neighbors down the street make up the base of my compost. I do swear by food grade DE, the only problem is how just a little moisture deactivates it. The best thing I’ve found for fighting beetles of all sorts is picking them off. At sundown they are kind of slow and you can get most of them. Problem is by that point if you can see lots of them the plant is probably a goner. Also lots of airflow, with groups of 3-4 onions, garlic, chives, or once its warm basil planted between the taters, cukes and melons.

            • yes……Diatomaceous earth and bentonite clay mixed in water…drink it for internal cleaning/detoxing…..

              In one part of the world there is parrots,…… the only food they have to eat at one point in the year is poisonous berries,…….. they eat the berries then fly to an area that has bentonite clay, they eat the bentonite clay, it neutralizes the poison, very smart birds…..what do humans do?….inject themselves with poisons….the parrots are smarter….lol

    • Hi Drumpish:

      Have you tried the Ruth Stout method of growing root vegetables under rotting straw? The main problem I’ve experienced with it has been tree rats and chipmunks pulling them out from under the straw. When they get to a certain size you can see bite marks in the skin if they failed to get them out! I still eat them though. This year I’m planting white and yellow potatoes, last year I got about 100 pounds.

      • Landru,

        I am familiar with the above ground method of growing potatoes, cover the seed potatoes with straw, it is a proven method. There will be no shortage of potatoes. Stack tires, begin with one, let the potato plant grow, then add another tire.

        A Japanese trans-planter uses a tray that has paper chain of 288 cells, you seed the tray that has an expanding paper chain with a seed in each of the cells. After the plants emerge in the trays and have some good growth, you place the tray on the trans-planter, thread the paper chain through a square groove that then plants each cell, two fins cover the plant so it is just right in the ground. You can successfully grow kohlrabi, otherwise kohlrabi is difficult to grow.

        No motor, just pull the trans-planter backwards in a straight row and voila, instant garden. They’re a good 7 feet long and plant a garden in no time.

        Works like a charm.

        For your information, cucumbers need a warm soil temperature or they won’t germinate. Grow like crazy during the warm summer months. Weed and water, you’ll pick a ton and a half of cucumbers.

        For a slicing cucumber, the only variety to buy is Marketmore 76. The very best cucumber you can grow, and is indeed a commercial crop. National or Chicago for picklers. Literally have grown tons of cucumbers over the years.

        I have old potato sacks, one says Wampum, another says Northern Flight.

        I never buy cucumbers in the store anymore.

  8. Off topic on this article but check this out. Kind of interesting thing that I stumbled upon. I was reading about the old TRW Corporation. That was supposedly where Bill Gates got his “big break” at the age of 15 debugging software for their energy grid control software. (??)

    Why in fuck would a major aerospace company need or want a 15 year old to debug their energy grid software?!

    OK, read this March 2013 article from Power Magazine, entitled “Gates Calls for Increased Spending on Energy Research, Renewed Focus on Nuclear” where Gates talks about a Bellvue, WA company named TerraPower. Also Gates talked *down* “renewables” in that article.

    Now, go take a look at the “Our People” page of the nuclear technology TerraPower:

    https://www.terrapower.com/our-people/

    You’ll certain recognize their current “Chairman of the Board”. TerraPower is a “Nuclear Innovation Company” that claims to be “Best-in-class talent demonstrating clean energy solutions.”

    Who knew that Gates is involved in nuclear technology? You don’t get to do jack shit with nuclear energy without being up to your eyeballs in government. Hmm…

    • Also take a look at a couple of things from their “About” pages, where they have a timeline.

      2015 TerraPower signs a memorandum of understanding for cooperation with China National Nuclear Corporation for TWR program devleopment

      2016 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awards TerraPower $40 million for the research, design and testing of the molten chloride fast reactor (MCFR) project.

      2017 TerraPower reaches a cooperation agreement with China National Nuclear Corporation to form a joint venture to co-develop TWR technology.

      Well ain’t that some shit? Under the Trump administration, no less.

    • Hi XM,

      The whole Gates thing baffles me in that this guy is such an obvious con man. Does anyone remember the exposing of his unsavory business practices at Microsoft? Not connect the dots that he went into “philanthropy” to rehab his image? And why does anyone – at all – listen to a retired software predator about their health? Or anything at all?

      • Hi Eric,

        I didn’t really pay much attention to Gates prior to the covid hoax TBH. I mean, as a software engineer that goes way back, I always saw him as a grifter. Back in the 80’s it was well known that early Microsoft products (e.g., MS-DOS, MBASIC-80, etc) were purely reverse engineered rip-offs of IBM products. But somehow, nobody did anything about it.

        Heck, I was paid professionally to reverse engineer products so that my company’s products would be compatible. Everything used to be proprietary, so that was common practice but you could just flat-out rip off another manufacturer’s product and get away with it.

        But Gates could. And he could make Microsoft into a multibillion dollar corporation on doing so.

        This thing about having a DOE contract — the highest level of clearance outside of White House — and then simultaneously taking the same technology to freaking “Chyna” under Trump’s watch?! WTAF??

        I don’t know where it goes and what it all means. It’s just so super shady. That on top of the poison gene therapy, the WEF lizard-people parties, the climate change hoax, etc, etc.

        Meanwhile, in Europe they’re closing down nuclear power plants because that’s not “green” and people face freezing and no power for their wonderful EVs. They’re talking about rationing EV charging to allow 50 km! That’s just over 30 miles, so that’d be a 15-mile round trip at best (not accounting for reserve or loss).

        I just can’t wrap my head around it! It’s fucken nuts!

        • Arg! Early morning typo! I meant to say you could NOT just flat-out rip off another manufacturer’s product. Unless, of course, you were Bill Gates.

      • Eric, Bill Gates is a transhumist. He expects to live forever, and that there’s a race on to see in what form. He bought into the idea of silicon/biological hybrids that will be engineered to be homo-superior.

        Madness, obviously.

        But “The Science” shows trendlines raising ever higher, so that’s what they believe. And it is all just belief and faith, the human race is completely in uncharted territory now, unless you take the Old Testament’s accounts of lifespans, and perhaps they do.

        https://bible-history.com/old-testament/lifespans

        When you look at their actions from an enternal life on Earth it might make a little more sense. If we all behaved as we would knowing death and disease were just around the corner we’d probably complain about the end of the world too. Merely going out in a public space would be dangerous to the point of paralysis.

        A little lower down from the true believers are the people hoping to make a buck off their narcissism.

  9. ‘it’s the smaller affronts we often don’t even notice that bleed us whiter’ — eric

    From a classic 1982 article on the ‘broken windows’ theory of policing:

    ‘Philip Zimbardo, a Stanford psychologist, reported in 1969 on some experiments testing the broken-window theory. He arranged to have an automobile without license plates parked with its hood up on a street in the Bronx and a comparable automobile on a street in Palo Alto, California.

    ‘The car in the Bronx was attacked by “vandals” within ten minutes of its “abandonment.” The first to arrive were a family—father, mother, and young son—who removed the radiator and battery. Within twenty-four hours, virtually everything of value had been removed. Then random destruction began—windows were smashed, parts torn off, upholstery ripped. Children began to use the car as a playground. Most of the adult “vandals” were well-dressed, apparently clean-cut whites [sic; LOL].

    ‘The car in Palo Alto sat untouched for more than a week. Then Zimbardo smashed part of it with a sledgehammer. Soon, passersby were joining in. Within a few hours, the car had been turned upside down and utterly destroyed. Again, the “vandals” appeared to be primarily respectable whites [sic; LOL].’

    https://archive.ph/OiFj5#selection-1195.0-1195.1047

    Whether it’s urban vandalism, or a barbed remark from a romantic partner, or ‘nuisance taxes’ from government, ‘little stuff’ is rarely little. It soon and inexorably leads to BIG stuff.

    • Hi Jim,

      Indeed. And – speaking of which: I saw an alarming thing the other day. The first time I have seen something like it in my area. At what we locals call “the bottom of the mountain,” about 20 miles away from me, there is a little building that used to be a restaurant and was closed for quite a long time. Someone bought/leased the building a few months ago and opened a “country market.” It apparently failed and the building was closed up again. Well, when I drove by the other day, there was gnomesayin’ graffiti all over the front of it. A sure sign the Barbarians are at the gates… or getting closer. I saw similar in my old neighborhood in Northern Va. 20 years ago. And now the cancer creeps ever closer, again.

  10. I monitor, but do not post on, Facebook and Nextdoor, to see what the socialists in my area are up to. And it’s disgusting, how they have zero respect for the rights of others. They whine about other people’s private property, saying an aging structure is an “eyesore” and should be torn down. Another socialist urges them to report the property to the city. They are abusive to anyone who laments higher taxes, saying if you can’t afford to live here (and be forced to fund their pet projects), you should move. They think older people should move out and make way for the young.

    The government schools have done a good job creating a bunch of selfish, arrogant, savage barbarians. And, unfortunately, the government listens and caters to them. Stock up on guns and ammo, as I think we have a civil war coming.

    • > The government schools have done a good job creating a bunch of selfish, arrogant, savage barbarians. And, unfortunately, the government listens and caters to them.

      I was listening to a talk show while out and about yesterday evening…think it was Rob Carson. He made an analogy between the woketards (and shitlibs in general) and the kids who’d raise a ruckus at the grocery checkout until their parents caved in and bought them some candy. We grew up with parents who weren’t afraid to say “no.” They, OTOH, grew up with parents who couldn’t say “no” to their spawn. In adulthood, this manifests itself in all the malign ways that we have seen.

      (As a side note, apparently some grocery stores now have checkout lanes without candy, so the weak-dick parents who can’t say “no” won’t have to deal with their squalling bastards.)

    • SLH, the even scarier thing is that those socialist sentiments you see expressed by the cretins on Facetwat or hear them utter in public have become the mantras of mainstream society, being the philosophy propagated by every media news outlet (Even the smallest newspaper in the smallest conservative small towns) as well as whined and shrieked by every teacher(ette) and professor(ette) in every school and college….and it’s been so for decades.

      And even the conservatives want uber-regulation and oppression, because they somehow think that that will ‘preserve their quality of life’ even though it has done just the opposite for decades, and has only served to further mulct them and relieve them of any vestiges of autonomy, even over their own ‘private property’.

      Civil war? Unlikely, as there really is no sizeable ‘other side’, except for us- and we’re too few to matter. We’re already long past the point of what should have triggered such a conflict. What anyone might have fought for is already in ashes, and what little remains is perishing, yet no one does the least little thing- they dutifully pay their taxes and wear their masks and send their kids to the government schools. The fight has been bred out of ’em; the very idea of personal liberty has been bred out of them. It is too late.

      Find a quiet corner in a far off remote corner of the world and watch the flames of genocide consume them, because the only fighting may be infighting as the they compete with each other to survive and get the ‘benefits’, but they’ll never fight The Beast because they don’t even realize that The Beast is their enemy at this point.

      Watching a video of a Tea-Party rally a dozen or years ago when such was the style hammered the above sentiments home to me (Yes…a Tea Party rally- not an “Occupy” protest or Bernie Sanders rally), where people were chanting “Medicare for Americans only”. i.e. they don’t want to end the tyranny of such oppression and taxation and bureaucracy….they just wanted to keep it ‘as is’. -and those (the Tea-Partiers) were considered the ‘radical right wing’ -LOL.

      • Yes, there is a local man who monitors local government and has a website, from a conservative Christian perspective. But it’s clear he’s not a libertarian. His problem isn’t with the police state, per se, it’s that it isn’t HIS police state.

      • Hiya Nunz!
        What I remember most about those Tea Party rallies was all the fatties riding around in their Medicare/Medicaid provided scooter chairs shouting how they didn’t want socialized medicine. No hint of irony among them.

  11. Haha, I’m not sure how to grow potatoes either.

    I do hear that berry bushes will grow well here. We have holly bushes naturally present, and we’re in a juniper forest. We’ll find out this spring what will grow and what will not. For those things that will not, a greenhouse will be installed sooner or later, and then an aquaponics system… The whole business.

    One thing about the soil here: Once wet, it becomes the most adhesive yet slick mud I’ve ever had the horror of dealing with… And the 4×4 on my Ranger has gone caput! Needs fixed ASAP. The flip side of that is I bet I can make all manner of building materials from this land. Can’t wait to try! So much potential. Very opportunity!

    • (The above was a reply to Raider Girl)

      Eric, are you ever going to fix this commentary indent situation? Probably much like adjusting a carburetor. 😉

    • If your on the side of the mountain I think you are, Potatoes grow like weeds. look up growing potatoes with pallets. Or just get a bottomless rusty old horse trough and fill with as much of the good stuff as you can get.

      Under those old growth junipers, if you rake that 3 or 4 inch layer of dried needles up, its black gold. Mix em in your soil when its dry, and its no longer slick as snot. Got a couple grow buddies out in Holiday Shores. One with a green house, one without. Theres nothing those old boys cant grow. You can get free mulch out in Paulden or Mayer from the transfer stations. Good amendments for your Zone. All you really need is a good fence or you may have to share it all with the mostly peaceful pronghorn antelopes that roam your side of the mountain.

      • Hey Norman!

        Thanks for all the info! I actually visit the Paulden transfer station now and then. I didn’t know they gave away mulch. Thanks!

  12. I’ve been insanely busy here on my homestead lately; so much so that I hardly get my EP Autos reading time, let alone time for commentary. The endless string of storms assaulting the West has finally ceased, for now…

    So here’s an amusing observation: The TV News speaks of how ILLEGAL it is that people are trying to save a few dollars by going to Mexico to purchase EGGS.

    Yes, you can be fined up to $10,000 for bringing back eggs from Mexico! Well, you wanted Border Security, and now you’re going to get it!

    You didn’t think the government was actually going to stop people who want more government from coming here, did you?

  13. One of the attendees at this week’s Davos meetings called for the masses to stop eating MEAT and eat artificial food grown in a lab instead,
    claiming that it would “Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave the planet from climate change”. One would have to be a complete imbecile to believe that eating artificial food, living in an itty bitty apartment, driving EVs, and giving these elitists and their puppets in government MORE money and power would “Stop climate change”…..

    https://www.technocracy.news/siemens-chairman-calls-for-billion-people-to-stop-eating-meat/

  14. You get less of what you tax and more of what you subsidize. So, productive enterprise is taxed, and taking free handouts is subsidized. What could go wrong?

  15. The taxes Eric mentions are likely less than half the taxes most people pay. There’s some kind of fee or tax on practically any and everything you buy, sell, or do. Which is why government cannot function without their assumption of authority to kill you if you disobey. They’d be broke in a week.

  16. Hi J,

    I use bioengineered and GMOs interchangeably. To me they are one and the same…crap. Almost 80% of the American food supply contains some type of GMO/bioengineered ingredient.

    Here is a snippet from the NonGMO project:

    https://www.nongmoproject.org/blog/what-is-bioengineered-food/

    Like all US laws there are loopholes, exemptions, etc. that not every ingredient has to be designated as bioengineered depending how much is used and if it’s in its raw form. Corn, canola oil, soybean oil, sugar beets are mostly GMO.

    My motto is if I can’t pronounce the ingredients, I don’t eat it!

    Here are the ingredients in Entenmann’s mini muffins:

    Ingredients
    Sugar, Bleached Wheat Flour, Water, Soybean Oil, Chocolate Chips (Sugar, Chocolate Liquor, Dextrose, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla Extract), Eggs, Modified Cornstarch, Dextrose, Whey, Fructose, Glycerin, Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Baking Soda, Monocalcium Phosphate), Artificial Flavors, Mono- and Diglycerides, Salt, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Potassium Sorbate (Preservative), Sorbitan Monostearate, Xanthan Gum, Polysorbate 60, Cellulose Gum, Soy Lecithin, Whey Protein Concentrate.

    Note: When a brand has to constantly remind us, they use “real chocolate chips” I am automatically suspect of what else is in it.

    • Totally agree on gmo/bioengineered stuff. However, another thing to watch like a hawk in this inflationary environment is wildly increased salt content. Look at mg per serving x # of servings. Any prepared, canned and jarred things especially but also fresh breads and many other things. Sometimes in jaw dropping anmounts. Even fresh meats. Every package of ground beef, even grass fed organic contains 75 mg per serving x 4. Fresh chicken, pork, you name it. I never salt meat when cooking anymore and don’t miss the taste (the salt’s already in there) or the “sear” action.

      Recommended avg. daily salt intake is between 1500 and 2500 mg per DAY. To give an example of the wild variation on what appear to be “healthy” choices, I looked at 2 cans of Kroger organic tomato sauce. The no salt added can had 15 mg times 7 servings in a 14 Oz can, so 135 mg total. The “regular” organic tomato sauce had 290 Mg per serving x 7 for a total of 2030 mg, your entire recommended allowance, in one 14 Oz can! Imagine adding more salt to a sauce you make with it.

      This is interesting because salt is a traditional way for TPTB to harm “the people”, especially poor people. If you have certain medical symptoms and refer to the book “where there is no doctor”, aimed at poor people in 3rd world countries without access to allopathic doctors and drugs (or don’t want them like a lot of us), the first question asked about many maladies is “how much salt are you eating?” Imagine the impact of high salt consumption added to the heart damage caused by the shots.

      Rastafarians, having experienced certain negative aspects of British colonial rule, understood the salting of the food tactic used against the people of Jamaica and promoted a no/very low salt for of cooking called “ital”, a play on the word vital. The original meaning has been bastardized somewhat in recent years to mean vegan but that was not the original intent.

      • Good point, Funk.

        I normally steer clear of canned soup and usually make my own from scratch, but I agree with you regarding the amount of salt they use in everyday products. It makes me wonder if there is a connection with the average daily salt intake and the number of Americans with high blood pressure that are on beta blockers and diuretics.

        • Canned soup was the thing that sparked my research. I was buying Amy’s organic cans. One day I happened to look and noticed that the “lower sodium” labeled 12 Oz can had 1300 mg sodium. The “regular” version had 1500 mg. Now add some salty crackers or bread. One meal of the day. I’m making my own soup these days with whole vegetable ingredients. Water only. No store bought chicken or beef broth or stock, either. All of that stuff, even the “low sodium” kind is pure salt water.

            • helot,
              Salt does not CAUSE maladies, but it can aggravate them. If you don’t have high blood pressure, etc., and you crave salt, you probably need it. Which is true of many foods you may crave. Sugar, on the other hand, is purely addictive, and never needed, and far more prevalent in prepared foods than salt. You can hardly find salad dressing without sugar added. It DOES make everything “taste” better, and food processers knows it. I’ve read some suggestions that it’s because we don’t make our own vitamin C, and in the wild sweet is found in fruit.

              • Sugar Is toxic. Problem is, a lot of alcohols can’t be made without it. Sure wish agave grew here.

                In trying to find the, ‘Sugar is Toxic’ article, I came across this:

                ‘The Case Against Sugar — New Book Reveals the Details of How the World Got Addicted to Sugar’

                “… Tobacco leaves, which start out with about 3 percent sugar end up with about 22 percent sugar after the flue-curing is complete.

                Flue-curing is done to make the tobacco easier to smoke. The higher the sugar content in the leaves, the more acidic the smoke and the easier it is to inhale without irritation and coughing. In other words, it creates a “smoother” smoke. Flue-cured tobacco allowed cigarettes to be inhalable in a way that pipe tobacco or cigar tobacco wasn’t.”…

                https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/12/joseph-mercola/world-get-addicted-sugar/

                I, did Not know that.

        • ‘Limit Your Salt? Forgetaboutit!’

          “My patients always give me quizzical looks when I tell them they need to increase their salt intake. You see, I have been checking salt levels on nearly every patient that has ever seen me. My experience has clearly shown that most patients do not consume enough salt. I know you are probably thinking that you read that last sentence incorrectly. We have been conditioned to think that we should eat less salt. The powers-that-be routinely release edicts stating that we need to eat less salt in order to be healthier and have less hypertension. However, that last statement is just not true. Eating less salt will not make us healthier and no lower the risk for hypertension.

          I have been writing about the importance of salt for well over fifteen years.”…

          https://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/09/dr-david-brownstein/limit-your-salt/

          (The ‘Read The Rest of the Article’ link does not work for me, perhaps it will for you? If it doesn’t, that’s too bad, because this article and another similar one are pretty good. I see he’s got a book about the subject on Amazon)

          Another good one is,

          ‘Relax and Salt To Taste’
          By Dr. Joseph Mercola – March 9, 2012

          • I have so much more energy and am so much less bloated after cutting the salt. Plus, I can taste the food and not just the salt. Obviously, you need some salt in your diet but I don’t believe consuming thousands of mgs beyond what is needed is going to make you healthy. It is obvious that adding extreme amounts of salt to products, especially higher priced “organic” labeled products is an inflation dodge. It’s a tactic that’s been used for years in the restaurant industry to increase profits and create “flavor.” There is absolutely no other need for it. Also, check the ingredients in your salt. Most contain gmo dextrose (corn sugar) in addition to anti-caking agents. Stick with pink Himalayan, it naturally contains necessary trace elements of iodine. I trust Where there is No Doctor vs. Mercola on this because he likely wouldn’t take my calls. We’re much closer to a third world situation now than in 2017 and certainly 2012. YMMV.

            • Funk,
              Then you have a problem with salt. Most of us don’t. Who exactly is it that’s making the “recommended amount of salt” one needs? Let me guess, the same ones that “recommend” you take a vaccine with no long term testing and no product liability?

              • Com now, John, comparing overconsumption of salt to the shots? True, it’s a range, determined by nutritionists and homeopaths and allopathic doctors, depending on personal biological factors, activity levels, and seasonality. Not unlimited, though. My problem is with too much salt. Since you don’t have a problem with too much salt, I assume you drink salt water then as well? I bet those same folks pushing the shots also told you not to do that. So you should do it, right?

        • Hi RG

          ‘Peak-flation’ Watch: Campbell’s Tomato Soup Prices Keep Accelerating Higher

          Campbell’s Tomato Soup Price in 1970 $0.10 per can (before dollar went completely off the gold standard)….now $1.23 per can….

          From zh comments

          Basically sodium and tomato paste. Zero food value.

          soon we’ll be paying $2.50 for a 5 oz can of Campbell’s soup..

          Tomato soup costs $0.14 cents a can to make for Campbell’s.

          It’s not even worth a dime anymore now that all their soups are basically condensed bioengineered garbage, aka pfood – full of jacked high fructose GMO corn syrup they call ‘sugars’ and made with tomatoes grown from GMO seeds.

          The can costs more than the tomato water. Campbell’s could sell it for $.20 and still make a profit. What’s going on is just pure greed to satisfy Wall Street.

          soon, many people will not be able to afford can of f king soup.

          Campbells soup is one of the worst on the market, 90% water or broth. When I was a kid it was much better. Another sad testament to America’s decline.

          https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/peak-flation-watch-campbells-tomato-soup-prices-keep-accelerating-higher

    • I learned to bake my own bread so I could pronounce the ingredients easier (yeast, sugar, cream or sesame oil, salt, flour and water). I know we’re stuck with lots of strange things in store bought food but most of that is to avoid them using expensive ingredients.

      PS- I use a stand mixer and not a bread maker.

  17. Government Mandated Expenditures, GME’s. GovCo is nothing but, gimme gimme gimme ad infinitum.

    As far as GovCo schools, they are the oldest and largest intergenerational welfare program. At any gathering you are assured that someone or an immediate family member will be employed in this parasitic organization. It’s also amazing the level of stupidity of so many of those in leadership positions. They also have the largest proportion of PhD’s employed.

  18. ‘ Europe has already deemed most of this filth unfit for consumption ‘ – Raider Girl

    Yep, daughter’s family lived there for about 7 years, I visited twice and the food quality there is superior, hands down. I have a acid reflux problem (partial hiatal hernia) that is really set off by wheat products. The Euro vacation, nearly zero reflux issues even eating out during our travels & the typical morning meal is heavy on rolls, bread, biscuits. No Frankenwheat there, GMO banned. What a difference.

    Seems here in WA there is less getting done yearly, roads get worse, crime gets worse, yet us middle class tax mules are “greedy” for thinking we pay too much tax. Left wing extremism is too entrenched here and not enough traditional values folks remain to correct this mess. I see a continued divide, friends are leaving for other states we may have to also. Latest couple to go are now in Idaho it’s got me considering a move.

    • Hi Sparkey,

      I know how you feel.

      When I used to travel, I was always surprised how much better the food was overseas. It actually tastes like real food! In the US I can’t drink regular milk so therefore I can’t have ice cream, sour cream, etc. when out in public. Whatever processes they are using makes me incredibly sick in about 15 minutes. I can drink organic milk and raw goat milk and be perfectly fine, but the over pasteurization in today’s milk (or the ingredients they are using) is something my body does not like.

      • Hi RG,

        I used to love to drink milk but as time went on, I found I started having reactions to drinking it, but not all of the time. I started paying attention to what was messing up my stomach and what wasn’t. What blew me away was the ice cream that advertised it had only the few and proper ingredients necessary would have me in the restroom within 30 minutes of consumption.

        I still remember the commercial showing a kid trying to pronounce “carrageenan”.

        One of my favorite guilty pleasures is Promised Land chocolate milk when I am in the mood for it. Their milk never messes me up. I checked their description and found the following which may be the reason people have issues: “according to FDA (which we know to be trustworthy in approving clot shots), no significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rBST treated and non-rBST treated cows.”

        I am generally tolerant of dairy products like ice cream/cheese but I will only consume milk when I can be home and near the restroom in case of emergency. And if I need a laxative, I just have a Wendy’s Frosty within 30 minutes of arriving back home. Works nearly every time.

  19. Those little somethings from a bill I got recently:

    911 Service Fee $1.50
    Federal Universal Service Fee $2.12
    State Universal Access Fund $.38
    State TRS Surcharge $.11
    Federal Tax $.06
    State Tax $1.28
    County Tax $.96

    Total $6.41 x 12 months = $76.92 per year!

  20. Is it wrong that I am affronted by the bioengineered Entenmann’s mini muffins? Anyone notice the amount of “food” that now contains some sort of fake lab created substance? I constantly read food labels and the crap that they put in this stuff is absolutely revolting. Apparently, the USDA, FDA, CDC, and EPA are collecting big bucks to push this garbage onto the American public. Europe has already deemed most of this filth unfit for consumption.

    Oh, don’t get me wrong I hate taxes and I believe a pay as you go system would be much more effective. Why do I have to pay school taxes when I homeschool both of my children and even worse, I have to pay for the school, buses, teachers they don’t use, but then get to pay again for the books, supplies, and classes (e.g., horseback riding, art, etc.) that they do use? I can’t even qualify for the lousy $300 Educator Expense on the federal tax return. Why not? Because homeschooled parents are disqualified and no homeschool expenses are deductible. I would be fine with that if I did not have to pay for educating someone else’s child. I am not impressed where my tax dollars are going. If what the schools are churning out is the best, we can do I would like to claim a refund for the county, state, and federal governments not meeting their end of the bargain.

    Thank you for allowing me to vent. I am going back to work now.

    • Ditto all of that, RG!

      I like kids. But I haven’t got any – and I do not understand why I am obliged to pay money to “help” educate other people’s kids. This sort of thing breeds justified resentment. Our primary obligations are to ourselves and those who we are responsible for, such as the children we bring into the world. No one else is responsible for either. This is not to say one should be indifferent toward others’ needs. That is the vicious gaslighting some people use to apply guilt as a pressure tactic. The irony is, if none of us were forced to do all this “helping,” we’d be in a much better position to help (voluntarily) people in our orbit who genuinely needed it. And such help would be given freely – and for that reason very hard to abuse as it could be ended the moment the helper felt he was being used rather than helpful.

      • Eric,
        “And such help would be given freely”, and very likely greatly appreciated, instead of taking it as a thing they are entitled to, that the world owes them. Changing GIMME to thank you.

      • I agree with your sentiments on this one, Eric. The response I get is, “well, someone who did not have kids, their tax dollars helped educate you so…”. The thing is, I grew up in hell, and I learned more about survival and the real world than I ever did from the public school system. So perhaps the taxpayer needs a refund, ’cause what bit I remember from public school was not worth much.

        • Hi Shadow,

          Yup. And – two wrongs don’t make a right. A kid cannot be held responsible for the actions of adults he had no control over. The fact that you or I attended government schools as kids because that’s where our parents sent us does not oblige us to support government schools as adults. It’s also really greasy as a general thing to use “the children” as an argument. And besides: Wouldn’t the children be better off living in a free country when they grow up? Wouldn’t it be better if parents took care of the education of their own kids – and were free to not cripple their minds with “woke” propaganda? How much more free time to educate/care for their kids would parents have if they didn’t have to pay all these taxes? One income would suffice to provide for a family. One parent could be home to care for/educate the children – as opposed to both parents being wage slaves and the kids wards of the state.

          The capstone? 12 years of government schooling produces marginally literate, often innumerate arrested development 13-year-olds in 18-year-old bodies.

    • Hi RG, I looked at the picture and don’t see what is bio engineered in the Entenmann’s, however I am constantly checking the packaging for the bio engineered stuff. I notice it seems to be more in cheap food like the house brand for Dollar General’s products.

      I don’t buy those products. They don’t say what the bio engineered product actually is.

      • J,
        I don’t eat such things, poisoned or not. I cook or eat raw everything I eat, from scratch. True one needs to take a close look at those as well, especially grains, but not nearly as horrendous as the “prepared” food. Prepared for what, that’s the question.

    • Hey RG!

      Regarding foods: I’ve been trying to more strictly regulate what I consume after having a food sensitivity panel done in spring of last year.

      It is done with great difficulty. Forget doing without bioengineered and chemical-laden foods. That’s nearly impossible, unless you stick to vegetables, certain meats and grains. But even then, you can bet the food stock wasn’t produced “naturally”.

      But even am I burdened with having to do without dairy products. Try THAT one. Even “dairy-free” creamer contains milk products! Food producers seem to be obliged to include some kind of milk product in damn near everything. Even when it seems completely unnecessary, they’ll often throw “whey protein” into products, to which I’m highly reactive. It’s madness.

      I can hardly wait until we start producing our own food out here on the homestead. What do you want to bet that most of our health issues become much less frequent by consuming home-produced meats and vegetables?

      And I copy what you say with schooling. I’m always met with incredulous and dumbfounded looks when I decry school taxation. These days, however, I think people mostly use public schooling for “free” daycare. Ridiculous. I didn’t force anyone to have kids. Don’t make me pay for them. I don’t make you scoop up my dog’s feces, do I?

      • Hi BaDnOn,

        It is time consuming to go through the labeling and to test products. I do purchase a lot from local farms. My beef and pork are locally grown and packaged. The same for my honey, veggies, and most of my fruit. I use the grocery store for toiletries, paper products, and a few dairy items (butter, sour cream, yogurt, etc.). Desserts I make from home since hubby has an intolerance for most things’ gluten. It isn’t cheap, but one is either going to pay for it through their food or through their medical bills.

        Growing your own food is so worth it. I wish I had more acreage than I do, but we do have a greenhouse, garden, and a few chickens. It is nice not to have to pay $6 for a box of eggs, although I probably do once I add in the costs of their feed and treats, but hey, at least I know where it comes from! 🙂

        I don’t know how the soil is in Arizona, but I have had tremendous luck with berry bushes (especially blackberries), here in VA. Plant them once and they come back year after year. I end up getting so much from just a few plants that I can them to be used during the winter in cobblers or as a sauce for meat. We also grow a ridiculous number of tomatoes that I use for salsas and sauces. Cucumbers, green peppers, and jalapenos are also super easy. This winter I am testing my luck with lettuce. Rumor has it is going to be nonexistent this spring. I have had horrible luck with potatoes, but I believe it is user error not the potato, per se. 🙂

        • RG,
          I assume you are growing domestic thornless blackberries?
          They are abundant wild here. Especially if you manage them. New wild cane does not produce until the next year. Once it produces it dies. The dead cane needs to be removed. I typically find a big patch, and brush hog half of it every year.
          They aren’t as sweet as domestic, and you almost have to sweeten them to eat them. For which I use honey. From Desert Creek in Texas. Not filtered, and not pasteurized. As Desert Creek says, “bees know how to make honey”.

        • Hey RG, JK, and BaDnOn, Berries are one of the most versatile, easy to grow fruits anywhere. We grow Arapahoe and Navajo thornless, one of our spots has wild ones as well. About the only berries that grow well in our riparian high desert. The key Ive found in addition to what JK said is once they start producing and ripening, go through and thoroughly pick each bush every 15-20 days after. You will find your harvests are phenomenal. We cut the canes in winter.

          • Norman,
            My main problem with wild blackberry production is beating the deer to them. Which means keeping them harvested. An abundance of ripe berries will attract deer’s attention.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here