Pohatcong Photo Gallery: Winter 2012

Villa Milagro: Vineyard at Rest

Still Valley Road Tunnel: Work in Progress

River Road : A Pole In the Road

Super Wal Mart: Pre-Opening

In the Belly of the Beast: Super Wal Mart Opening Day

A  Lonely, Desolate Place:  Phillipsburg Mall, New Jersey

Closed Stores: Phillipsburg Mall, New Jersey

As Good a Year as Any to Start Your Pohatcong Survival Garden

The beet goes on...

 Ever wonder what the greatest fear is for an average American these days? Well, according to a recent survey conducted by conducted by Leiflin, Inc for the EcoHealth Alliance, it is economic collapse-and by a wide margin. So while our government along with corporate media continually attempts to distract and buy off the people with bread and circuses, it is still startling to realize that the larger public has figured out, by way of third grade math, that the looming debt bomb is going to ignite one of these days real soon -and it will not be a pretty conflagration.  Sad to say, while this will be a frightening and cataclysmic event for many people (and the narrative beyond this occurrence gets worse yet) there is not much that we can do to jam up the gears on this runaway train except... garden as if your life depends on it!

This is a theme I first encountered when I traveled in parts of former Soviet Union in the early 1990's where people had lived under the heel of a completely dysfunctional command economy that struggled to meet even the most basic needs of its subject population.  Human resilience and adaptability being what they are, many people learned to grow their own food and a typical house then was not surrounded by useless ornamental shrubbery and lawn but rather a full-blown vegetable garden (often with small greenhouse) and an orchard of fruit trees. Producing a good part of their own food is may be a reason why, even to this day, people over there look a lot healthier to me than the typical oftentimes obese Americanos.

In past posts I have already hammered on the themes of food security and localization so I will not revisit those threads here again other than to say that they are still very much apropos and in effect.  Some think that tough times have arrived here in America and they are correct- but even more difficult times lie ahead. Good sense would dictate that we look at people who have been there recently and take a page from their play book and start toughening up for the leaner times ahead.  Here on our own family's little patch of the universe, we have labored, year after year in our garden, the results of which I have shared in part, with you the  readers of this blog.  So with an unusually warm winter winding down, spring fever seems to have arrived early this year and our garden plans and strategies are already underway.  One thing I have hankered to do for many years now is to save my own vegetable seeds so, one of my first efforts will be is to grow heirloom (not hybrid) tomatoes this year. I'm using one of those off the shelf starter trays (pictured below) to get my seeds off to an early start indoors rather than attempting to locate appropriate transplants from commercial nurseries later on..  Should be a fun experiment for the tomato patch this year and updates will be posted.  In the meantime, give some serious thought to ripping out that toxic lawn (or at least part of it)  if you haven't already done so.  Eat better and spend some time in your new productive garden meditating with your local flowers and fauna. They will also appreciate the new tranquil environment and will be spared the future sight of a silly, mower riding, hairless monkey tearing up their neighborhood.

Getting Started

About 2 weeks later...all pods are go!

Random Notes: 11-22-11

Thanksgiving, 1918

1. The town's new website can be viewed at : www.pohatcongtwp.org   Please take some time out to visit and get acquainted.  Feedback and suggestions are no doubt welcomed.

2. If you were planning to do your holiday shopping at the new Super Walmart, you may want to put those plans on hold.  The opening has now been delayed until February 10th, 2012.

3. This is not a joke dept: work has finally begun on repairs to the stone tunnel on Still Valley Road. Tentative reopening date is some time this January.  Realistically, expect it to open sometime in the spring.

The Municipal Consolidation Roadshow Visits Pohatcong

Pohatcong Mayor James Kern III with Courage to Connect NJ  Exec. Dir. Gina Genovese (Center)
 

It seems that not a week goes by these days without a plethora of new articles about the impending death of America's middle class.  Sadly, there seems to be more confirmation than not of this trend as consumers face rising costs for basic items such as food, energy, and healthcare at rates of inflation that far exceed official government indexes.  Meanwhile incomes are not keeping pace. Here in New Jersey, incomes have declined in both  real and nominal terms over the last couple of years.  For those who own homes, things have been especially bad lately with homes values dropping dramatically while property taxes continue to spiral upwards- despite efforts to forestall the rise by setting theoretical caps on new taxes.

Caught in this vice of declining incomes and rising taxes, taxpayers are starting to cast around for practical ways of easing the financial pressure.  Municipal consolidation is once again becoming a hot topic around the state - especially since this past November election  when the voters of Princeton  Township and Princeton Borough voted overwhelmingly to merge their two townships. The combined town will now be known simply as Princeton and  there is no doubt that this move will be closely studied by other officials and the public at large as they move forward and work out the logistics of their merger.

One of the organizations promoting municipal mergers is the independent, non-partisan organization, Courage to Connect NJ . On Nov. 2nd, at the invitation of Pohatcong Mayor James Kern III, Courage to Connect NJ, came to Pohatcong School for a presentation on this topic.  For those who were able to attend, it may have been a real eye-opener since while the concept of municipal mergers is easy to grasp, the process itself can choreographed in many different and intriguing ways. To better understand some of the details, I urge a visit to their well-designed and informative website:  www.couragetoconnectnj.org

In future posts, I intend to cover some of these details and maybe some breaking developments on a topic that seemingly will continue to get wide play with the public.  In the meantime, happy reading and maybe a few parting questions:   Have you ever given this any thought and if so, what are your initial feelings about it?
Which towns should merge?  And for fun, what would we name any of these new amalgamations?

Pohatcong Election Result

                                            
Landslide :

It's Van Lieu.

60%-38%

                              

Please Help Our Pohatcong Food Pantry

While I was dropping off a contribution this week at
the Finesville United Methodist Church, the nice ladies who staff the pantry every Wednesday morning informed me that the number of people who utilize the food pantry  has doubled over the last month.  Most of these people are senior citizens who struggle on fixed incomes.  The large jump in numbers is somewhat surprising but then again nationwide the number of people who are accepting government assistance via the federal food program known as SNAPS is now approaching a record 46 million.  It will not be a pretty picture when and if funding for this program begins to dry up as the federal government slips further into insolvency.  That is why the efforts of private local groups like the Finesville United Methodist Church are so important and worthy of support. Please consider donating to their pantry:

Where:  Finesville United Methodist Church
             150 County Road 627
             (908) 995-0115

When:  Every Wednesday morning from 10:00 a.m. till 12:00 Noon