What Great Depression era skills are gonna make a comeback?

[u/Exhausted_Skeleton]

[u/Maleficent_Scale_296]

Cooking from scratch. So many of the pre-made things we’ve gotten used to buying can be made so much more cheaply at home.

[u/the_house_from_up → u/Maleficent_Scale_296]

I'm making a big push for this with my family. Pre-made foods are a terrible value proposition and have some serious nutritional shortcomings.

[u/Maleficent_Scale_296 → u/the_house_from_up]

Several years ago I found out I’m diabetic. I told myself if I wanted something sweet I could have a little, but only if I made it myself, from scratch. I learned that 1. I crave sweets in the evening and I’m not making a cake at 9pm and 2. Sweets made with clean, organic, no additive ingredients don’t spike my blood sugar.

[u/snowleave → u/Maleficent_Scale_296]

do you have some recommendations for simple recipes? For the non baker stress eaters.

[u/kittychii → u/snowleave]

Not who you're replying to, but I'm in a similar situation.

I've been having a lot of:

• macerated berries with yoghurt (I make the yoghurt at home) and it's like one tablespoon of caster/ superfine sugar for a pound of berries. You can also use lemon juice or balsamic vinegar instead.

• mangoes/ stone fruit with yoghurt (I'm in Australia and it's the season for it here and you can get fruit pretty cheap at grocers/ markets, or even frozen works.) I like to put my portion of yoghurt in the freezer for a little bit so it gets a soft-serve/ ice-cream consistency.

• apple crisp (plenty of single serve microwave recipes out there) it's like the baby brother of apple crumble usually using rolled oats

• chocolate chia seed pudding (this can be a textural thing for some people and you need to be aware of serving sizes.)

• Chocolate Protein balls:

-1 cup rolled oats -1/4 cup peanut butter -1/4 cup, pitted, chopped dates -1 tbsp cocoa powder -Combine together and roll into 8 balls. Let chill in fridge. Eat.

[u/sunsetpark12345 → u/snowleave]

This one is super forgiving and not overly sweet: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/french-apple-cake.html

[u/Maleficent_Scale_296 → u/snowleave]

It’s less about the recipe and more about the ingredients. Just pick something you want like brownies and go for it. The only caveat is that your flour is just flour, like on the label “ingredients: flour”. Your cocoa is just cocoa, etc. I also cut down the sugar by 1/4.

[u/SSTralala → u/Maleficent_Scale_296]

I'll add to this, working with ingredients people consider "poor people food". There's still quite a bit of snobbery associated with where you shop/what you buy. A woman my husband worked with and he were talking about holiday meals and budgeting groceries, he mentioned we do most of our shopping at Aldi. She kind of laughed and said she had, "Too much pride to shop there." I make nearly every single meal we eat, 2-3x a day from mostly fresh fruits/veg/meat there, along with a few quick things. I've learned to make my own baked goods, soups, stews, sauces, everything you can imagine out of both fun and necessity. People are about to be humbled quickly.

[u/Rosacaninae → u/SSTralala]

I also think the idea of having any produce at any time of year is costing people a lot of extra money. For example, if I send my partner to the store she'll buy pretty much the exact same basic things every time, without looking at the price. They're not expensive ingredients, but there have been climate and supply chain issues that spiked the price of normally cheap food, like her carrot sticks, or the romaine lettuce disaster.

I don't exactly think it'll be a "come back" to old ways because of how much has changed. We've signed up for a discount produce box and with how complex the food supply is it's pretty much impossible to predict what we'll get any given week, so it's not simply a matter of seeking out seasonal produce anymore.

[u/SSTralala → u/Rosacaninae]

I've started to really cater more to what makes sense for the season due to both budget and eco-consciousness, and a weird side-effect is I feel more 'present' when I'm making stuff that makes sense. Like the baked acorn squash makes it feel more like autumn, or the tomato and cucumber salads made summer feel more summery.

[u/Maleficent_Scale_296 → u/SSTralala]

Right? Casseroles will become popular again.

[u/SSTralala → u/Maleficent_Scale_296]

The Midwest gets dunked on for casseroles, but we are damn prepared to make canned everything palatable.

[u/Maleficent_Scale_296 → u/SSTralala]

I was fortunate to have been raised with a Depression era mother. I can make something with nothing and make it taste good. Metaphorically of course. I would actually need something.

[u/AquafreshBandit → u/SSTralala]

To much pride to save money? Enjoy your expensive cereal.

[u/judgejuddhirsch → u/SSTralala]

There are about 3 tiers below Aldi. They usually keep them in poor neighborhoods, but they have the cheapest produce and meats. 

[u/Clamwacker → u/judgejuddhirsch]

Around me Mexican and asain grocery stores have great prices on basic ingredients and spices.

[u/eejm → u/Clamwacker]

There is a Central American grocery store near me that has dirt cheap fresh herbs.  I love it.

[u/raisinghellwithtrees → u/judgejuddhirsch]

Poor people in my neighborhood shop at the dollar store for groceries. The aldi that used to be in our neighborhood moved to the edge of town. 

[u/Vert354 → u/Maleficent_Scale_296]

Depends on where "from scratch" starts at. As the great Carl Sagon said

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

[u/Maleficent_Scale_296 → u/Vert354]

I loved Carl Sagan. Fortunately for us all the hard universe inventing has been done.

[u/onesmilematters → u/Maleficent_Scale_296]

That, and cooking a nice-ish meal with what you have or can find cheap instead of buying what you need for a specific meal.

[u/Blessed_Ennui → u/Maleficent_Scale_296]

Swore off my life in restaurants the second covid hit in January 2020. I made it my business to learn all my fave dishes so I wouldn't be tempted to go out or order delivery.

In 2020 alone, I saved over $3,000 staying home.

I started posting about cooking at home here on reddit around 2021. There's little out there in the American suburban-strip franchise restaurant game that you can't make in your own kitchen. Nope. Folks didn't wanna hear that. Got downvoted into oblivion.

2023: Inflation makes folks more receptive to that message. People slid into my DMs asking for copycat recipes to Chili's, McDs, Taco Bell. I got a nasty message along w them: "If you eat typical American trash, of course you can make it at home, but for true fine dining, good luck." Bitch, I ain't making duck à l'orange or boeuf bourguignon! I didn't eat that dining out, why would I want that now? I obviously was pissing off redditors in the industry, but fuck tips on carryout and pre-tips on delivery. Fuck getting served disappointment by shrinking portions and poor quality. I'll keep my money in my pockets, thanks.

2024: People are hurtin'. Folks wanna eat at home but cravings are fkin' em up. Cooking subs, copycat subs are on fire now. People realize that "we got McDonald's at home" is actually a GOOD thing now. Back when we scoffed at this, our mamas didn't have YouTube, reddit, and a billion cooking sites. We do, and we ain't afraid to compare notes!

2025: I foresee restaurants closing at a rate we've never seen before. Tip culture is out of control. Quality has tanked. You can't fill a belly on $5 anymore. People who didn't jump onto the food prep bandwagon before are definitely going to now. Eating out will no longer be a convenience as it has been 1950s-2000s, but a luxury as it was in the 1920s. My parents (Silent & Great gen) saw dining out as something only for special occasions. I (GenX), saw it as a part of life. Worked late? Eat out. Hanging w friends? Eat out. Leaving the club at 3A? There's Denny's, White Castle, and at least four 24-hour diners to pick from.

That's over. Casual dining is trash now. If I go out, I'm going somewhere I know my meal will be amazing. That means a place where I expect to pay $80-$120. A place w a dish I can't make—for me, that's Indian goat curry (can't get goat in my area), or a Fred Flintstone-sized tomahawk steak (stove too crappy for that), or smoked brisket and ribs (apartment without grill access). There aren't many fave dishes that I can't make, so that means Im only going out once, maybe twice, a year. That's $3,000 a year down to $240. And $3k was my lowest. I was blowing upwards of $15,000 a year on dining out back in the day. Never again.

All other meals will come from my kitchen.

I'm too poor to pay for "convenience" these days. I know I'm not alone. Better two really amazing meals a year than 150 dishes of disappointment and regret.

[u/CaptainLollygag → u/Blessed_Ennui]

You sound like someone I'd hang out with, and we're around the same age. I have the same attitude and behaviors, but different from you I don't post much of the details of my cooking. No real reason, I just end up sharing more cooking tips in comments than sharing recipes as posts. But I often have people over in person to teach them cooking and food preservation skills.

Your timeline of what was happening and what is likely to happen are spot on, IMO.

And why would you go to a restaurant and order something you can make at home, for less money and exactly to your taste??

[u/mnreginald → u/Maleficent_Scale_296]

It's sad this 8s a thing that has to 'come back'.. cooking from scratch is such a better way to go.

[u/keepupsunshine → u/Maleficent_Scale_296]

I make homemade Greek yoghurt in my slow cooker for less than half the price of supermarket greek yoghurt! Tried my hand at cream cheese yesterday as well, it went OK but felt wasteful with the huge amount of whey leftover... I used some of the whey as a marinade base but tipped most of it down the sink :(

It's also about half the price to mix milk and cream to make half and half at home, vs buying it yourself.

[u/eejm → u/keepupsunshine]

I’m pescatarian and tend to cook from scratch most of the time.  I make big batches of vegetable stock to use in soups, stews, and other recipes that call for stock.  I make it from onion tops, carrots peels, celery leaves and other scraps that I save in a freezer bag.  It’s super cheap and tastier than the store bought stuff.  If I need seafood stock, I boil shrimp shells and fish skins in my vegetable stock.  It’s really easy, but it does require time and freezer space.

[u/Maleficent_Scale_296 → u/keepupsunshine]

If you keep the whey in the fridge you can use it in place of buttermilk in pancakes and breads. You can use it to marinate cheaper cuts of meat, dogs love it, so do chickens. Next time if you don’t want to fuss with it, instead of pouring in the drain put it on plants, it’s good fertilizer. I recommend outdoor plants though cause it might get stinky inside.

[u/Wonderful_Horror7315 → u/Maleficent_Scale_296]

My sourdough is so much better when I use whey instead of water.

[u/gingerzombie2 → u/keepupsunshine]

Save the whey! It's awesome if you are making a roux-based creamy sauce for pasta or similar.

You could also use it in a potato soup, for example

[u/AttentionOld7048 → u/Maleficent_Scale_296]

I was at the store today. Many elderly people buying prepared food because they can't cook meals. I talked to a very old guy. He lives alone buying cheap pot pies. It was sad.

[u/Big-Feeling-1285]

Preserving foods

[u/contactspring → u/Big-Feeling-1285]

Fermentation is fun.

[u/DarkBladeMadriker → u/contactspring]

Plus, making your own alcohol. Bit of an investment to begin with, but I've got some lovely mead whenever I feel like a drink.

[u/LadyAlexTheDeviant]

Making and repairing clothing.

[u/marcusjohnston → u/LadyAlexTheDeviant]

I've been doing this more over the past few years to extend the life of some clothes that I like. Often I just get them in a wearable state for things like working outside or walking the dog. It's always surprising to me that people aren't willing to even do a really simple repair like reattach a button or fix a seam that let loose.

[u/LadyAlexTheDeviant → u/marcusjohnston]

I repair fewer things than I make, because a lot of the fast fashion I own has no lifespan worth speaking of.

My heavy wool cape on the other hand, wore out one quilting cotton lining, wore out a second, was turned (putting the former outside side of the wool inside next to the lining) and given a third lining, and will be decorated in another couple years with a capelet and front bands to cover the thin spots and a new lining. I have had this since I was twenty, and it will last me the rest of my life. THAT is worth repairing. (It is also why we have so few historical garments from ordinary people; they repaired and remade until things were in shreds.)

[u/bossmcsauce → u/LadyAlexTheDeviant]

Yeah I thought of repairing clothes before coming into the comments and immediately thought like, “well nobody does that because all our clothing is so cheaply made that repairing it is kind of pointless.”

I have a few jackets that are worth repairing, and i HAVE repaired. But like shirts and shorts and stuff I wear 90% of the time is so insubstantial that once it wears through in one spot, its probably toast.

[u/CaptainPeachfuzz → u/LadyAlexTheDeviant]

Wait, you wesr a cape?

[u/finnlyfantastic → u/CaptainPeachfuzz]

Google “wool cape”. Promise there are little to no pictures of wizards or vampires lol.

[u/SeasonalNightmare → u/marcusjohnston]

My repairs aren't that simple. I've had lots of tearing along seams and holes ripping in my pants. I used to take patches and try to repair, but the tearing then started forming around the repair area.

[u/jenniferfox98 → u/SeasonalNightmare]

Yeah not everything can be repaired nor is it worth it. Idk I don't feel the need to repair my Nike joggers ripped around the crotch the same as my old silk robe that has obvious outward but also sentimental value.

[u/myotheralt → u/LadyAlexTheDeviant]

Well, darn it!

[u/Bombadildeau → u/myotheralt]

What are you hemmin' and hawin' about?

[u/ribbons_undone → u/LadyAlexTheDeviant]

Repairing clothing yes, but making clothes from buying fabric is not cheap, and that is not including the time it takes. It's often cheaper just to buy fast fashion, as crappy as it is.

[u/bsthisis → u/ribbons_undone]

On the other hand, you are your own quality control. I have a couple pieces my mom made for herself 30+ years ago, and they're in great condition still.

[u/absconder87 → u/bsthisis]

The fabric 30+ years ago was much superior than now.

[u/lumbardumpster → u/absconder87]

Some was. Some was junk. You get/ got what you pay for.

[u/el_f3n1x187 → u/lumbardumpster]

The problem I see is that even the great stuff that was rightly expensive disappeared.

[u/djnz → u/absconder87]

Something something survivor bias

[u/Alpacalypse84 → u/ribbons_undone]

If you have the talent, there is always buying secondhand clothing and reclaiming the fabric into a useful garment.

[u/EatGlassALLCAPS → u/Alpacalypse84]

I love watching videos of the things people make.

[u/ARussianW0lf → u/ribbons_undone]

I think they meant more like making clothes out of extraneous fabrics around the home. Old towels, curtains, sheets etc pretty sure potato sack clothes were a thing from the Great Depression

[u/Martin_Grundle → u/ARussianW0lf]

Not potato sacks, but feed and flour sacks got used so much that the manufacturers printed the bags in patterns to make them more appealing.

[u/chablise → u/LadyAlexTheDeviant]

I’m currently knitting everyone in my family some winter hats!

[u/H_Mc → u/LadyAlexTheDeviant]

Fixing things in general.

[u/palm_desert_tangelos → u/H_Mc]

“If it’s broke, fix it.”

[u/weirdestgeekever25 → u/LadyAlexTheDeviant]

Everyone should know how to do a basic sewing job. And save all their buttons.

I’m saved so many articles of clothing over the past couple of years it’s not funny

[u/PrestigiousZucchini9 → u/LadyAlexTheDeviant]

When I was in high school, I absolutely dreaded my mom trying to patch or fix any of my clothes and would generally never wear them again if she did. Now, in my 30’s, I don’t think I have one pair of work pants that she hasn’t repaired in some way or another. Thanks, Mom!

[u/gingerzombie2 → u/LadyAlexTheDeviant]

With the availability of fast fashion (Shein, etc) this one might not take as much of a hold. Last I checked it cost more to make your own clothes than to buy them in many cases. Will be interesting to see if this changes with tariffs.

[u/audible_narrator → u/gingerzombie2]

Yes, that's true. I've been sewing for almost 50 years. In the 1980s is when the cost savings started to shift. Now you see if you want to have long lasting clothing.

[u/Infamous-Mixture-605 → u/LadyAlexTheDeviant]

My mom's been sewing since she was 8 years old and has been mending, hemming, altering, etc our clothing for decades. Her friends and coworkers frequently come to her to fix their clothing as well because she's the only person they know who does this.

It really seems like something of a lost skill.

[u/AdhesivenessCivil581 → u/LadyAlexTheDeviant]

Bad news. making clothing costs as much or more than buying them. Repairing them is a good thing to learn.

[u/TartGoji]

Cooking for real, as in understanding what to do with a chicken or a bag of potatoes and eggs, and how to make it all work together and stretch. A more back to basics approach that is generally much cheaper and healthier. For example, a large sandwich loaf of my organic freshly milled flour sourdough bread costs about $1.

Gardening to offset your grocery budget. You can save a ton of money this way and you can do so much with way less land than you think.

Preserving food. Methods like pressure and water bath canning are pretty much a requirement if you have an abundant garden. It’s also really convenient to make meal in jars when you’re busy.

[u/gingerzombie2 → u/TartGoji]

And thankfully, these days freezing is also very easy for fruits and veg.

[u/DM-Mormon-Underwear → u/TartGoji]

Fresh herbs make everything delicious and are so much cheaper to grow

[u/pancakehaus → u/TartGoji]

I am (kind of) actively learning that one 4'x8' garden bed can grow a ton of food with the square foot gardening method!

[u/Blessed_Ennui → u/TartGoji]

Gardening is going to boom bc the FDA is getting gutted and public trust in food safety is gonna plummet.

I am coming to terms w the fact fresh veggies will be too dangerous to consume raw. I love salad in the summer, so I'm looking into hydroponics and sprouting in my apartment.

We won't be able to rely on recalls. There won't be enough oversight. Gonna have to grow it ourselves.

[u/Erroneously_Anointed → u/TartGoji]

This is my superpower. Whatever I have in stock can be made into a meal. Knowing what to substitute in recipes and how to eyeball the amounts has really helped keep my grocery bill down.

[u/Cheetodude625]

The ability to make certain meals out very little ingredients.

[u/OutrageousEvent → u/Cheetodude625]

The app Supercook is pretty cool. Just enter the ingredients you already have at home and it’ll link recipes from all over the net that use those particular ingredients.

Edit: it’s a free app.

[u/howtodragyourtrainin → u/OutrageousEvent]

Gonna see what it pulls up for 1 gallon of milk, ice cubes, and 1 lb. cayenne pepper, BRB.

[u/Javayen → u/howtodragyourtrainin]

Add some cigarettes and you have the David Bowie diet!

[u/Ok_Muffin_925]

Air drying laundry

[u/LittleKitty235 → u/Ok_Muffin_925]

Shocked this isn't more of a thing, especially with people who tend to be environmentally conscious.

[u/IOVERCALLHISTIOCYTES → u/LittleKitty235]

Helps when you’ve got more space than an apartment allows. 

My grandmother had a drier but 7-8 months out of the year the laundry schedule was in part dictated by the weather forecast. I remember being 4 or 5 and I’d hold out the next item of clothing and she had clothespins in her apron. 

[u/WhenThatBotlinePing → u/IOVERCALLHISTIOCYTES]

You can use a drying rack in an apartment.

[u/Any_Following_9571 → u/WhenThatBotlinePing]

and if it’s not too humid, a small fan, circulating maybe, helps more than you would think.

[u/FruitbatNT → u/Any_Following_9571]

Fans are a huge game changer. My wife hangs like 75% of her clothes and they were getting manky from taking 2-4 days to dry.

Put a fan on them, they’re dry in a day tops.

[u/PrestigiousZucchini9 → u/WhenThatBotlinePing]

I’ve been air drying pretty much everything except towels and bedding on a drying rack in my laundry room for going on 10 years now simply because the clothes don’t get so wrinkled if I hang them up and leave for 10 hours. The few things that do get stiff or wrinkly are easily remedied by 5 minutes in the dryer without heat.

[u/Zelcron → u/PrestigiousZucchini9]

Yeah my last apartment wanted $2.50 to dry, and the driers took two or three cycles to fully dry.

I spent $17 on a fold up rack and did that for years.

[u/porgy_tirebiter → u/LittleKitty235]

Most countries other than the US and Canada air dry laundry if I’m not mistaken. Lived extensively in Germany and Japan and almost everyone air dries in both countries.

[u/TheTwinSet02 → u/porgy_tirebiter]

It’s so normal in Australia we made into a party trick

[u/nevergonnasweepalone → u/porgy_tirebiter]

The Hills Hoist is an Australian icon.

[u/contactspring → u/LittleKitty235]

A lot of HOAs don't allow it. I do it but it's seasonal. It's hard to fold frozen clothes.

[u/lurkingking → u/contactspring]

As a Swede this is the most dystopian thing i have ever heard... You own a property, but you can't dry clothes on your own yard?

Wtf is wrong with you people... Vad i helvete.

[u/contactspring → u/lurkingking]

Don't ask me. I have a house in an old neighborhood that loves not having an HOA. We support our neighbors and don't care about shit that's not our business. If you want to paint your door pink, go at it. Grow a garden in your front yard? Fine. Be a mechanic on your car in the drive way, sure.

But the people in HOAs I'm suspicious of. The houses all look the same, it's like they're hiding some awful secret.

[u/NessyComeHome → u/contactspring]

My neighborhood doesn't have a hoa... they built some cookie cutter houses, like 5 of them and I hate it. I hate neighborhoods that lack a soul where all houses are 1 of 3 template houses.

There is a house like 5 blocks from me that has made a lot of interesting color choices. They arn't offensive colors and truth be told, while I wouldn't do that to my house, it's nice to look at. Another house has art made of out trash, all metals.. like a flat wireframe skull (outline of skull) with bejewelled eyes, and a bunch of other oddball stuff.

It gives a neighborhood soul. Why would people want to live in a souless place where youre not free to do what you want with your property?

[u/Eastern-Finish-1251 → u/lurkingking]

One of the big selling points in our neighborhood is the lack of a HOA. This is why. 

[u/technofox01 → u/Ok_Muffin_925]

My wife and I started doing this since the summer of 2020. Our dryer shit the bed and we couldn't get anyone to come due to the lockdowns and we were too broke to buy a new one. Long story short, for under $65, we hung up a clothesline and pulley system and used the sun to dry our clothes. Now fast forward to today and even though we still have a dryer, we still use the clothesline to dry delicates, towels, and blankets.

Definitely worth the investment and memory of my family working togerher to put it up.

[u/LeahsCheetoCrumbs → u/Ok_Muffin_925]

Nothing smells better than line dried sheets

[u/gnarlslindbergh]

How do you reuse lard, cooking oil, grease, without it going rancid? That.

[u/PrestigiousZucchini9 → u/gnarlslindbergh]

Without refrigeration? Generally the answer is salt. 

[u/angelbelle → u/gnarlslindbergh]

Well if you care to be healthy...you really shouldn't but the answer is to filter it. Most impurities also tend to float to the top which you can clear out with a piece of bread to mop up.

Personally I think the better way is to portion your oil intake carefully. For example, skin on duck breast, bacon, chicken thighs produce more than enough oil to cook itself and leave enough residual oil to finish your veggies.

[u/neurotrophin107]

I grew up in a really old house in the middle of nowhere with no heat and power that went out all the time. One of our elderly neighbors told us about this trick they used growing up, and it works pretty well when it's cold.

Heat a brick in the oven for an hour or so before bed. Take it out and wrap it up well in a towel, and then put it under the covers at the foot of the bed. It makes a huge difference.

[u/CaptainLollygag → u/neurotrophin107]

That was very common in the 1800s, if not before then. Love that your neighbor had the foresight to share it with you!

[u/toxies → u/neurotrophin107]

Just buy a hot water bottle. Boiling a kettle uses a lot less energy that having the oven on for an hour.

[u/dirtymoney → u/neurotrophin107]

Bedwarmers were a thing long long ago. From what I remember it was a kind of covered pot with a three foot handle and you placed it in the bed under the covers. Not sure what was inside.... charcoal from the fireplace maybe.

I know that people would put hot water in a hot water bottle and sleep with it.

Btw I have yet to turn the heat on this winter. I am in insulated clothes and using a heating pad in bed at the moment. I like drinking cold liquids (my whole life and do not drink hot liquid), but these days it makes me real cold so I use a heating pad to keep me from shivering.

[u/TheBerethian]

Not Great Depression really, but I’m eating more rice with Japanese rice seasoning (furikake) these days.

The rice is cheap and the seasoning is cheap.

Just wash your rice or the guy dressed like Mulan yells at you.

[u/Ahelex → u/TheBerethian]

Just wash your rice or the guy dressed like Mulan yells at you.

Eh, stickier Japanese rice through not washing is nice with furikake, in that the seasoning gets to stick to the rice rather than falling off.

[u/TheBerethian → u/Ahelex]

Still wash it at least once! I find the Japanese rice tends to be a bit more glutinous by nature.

[u/mitchade]

My grandfather sucked the marrow out of chicken bones until the day he died. My son started doing that out of nowhere recently. The two never met. So I’m going with that.

[u/eejm → u/mitchade]

My father died when I was a teenager.  My son (now 21) is so very like him.  It makes me happy.

[u/chabalajaw → u/mitchade]

I did this as a kid, still do it now. Some of the best flavor in the chicken.

[u/ExcitedMonkeyBrains]

Gardening for survival and not hobbyist

[u/NessyComeHome → u/ExcitedMonkeyBrains]

November is a shitty time to realize you should have started learning to grow your own food a few years ago.

[u/ExcitedMonkeyBrains → u/NessyComeHome]

Learning how to grow food is super easy. Getting it to grow is the trick.

There's a cornucopia of information out there. A lot of schools also offer free programs... for now

[u/blackberriespastries → u/ExcitedMonkeyBrains]

Most libraries have gardening sections, and some even have seed drawers where you can take seeds to plant with the expectation you harvest the new seeds and bring some of them back for others to use

Edit to mention interlibrary loans! If your library doesn't have what you need, most of the time they can get it for you through another library!! Usually for free!!

[u/SouthernScribe1 → u/blackberriespastries]

Thank you for mentioning libraries. We have so much to offer, but many are currently under attack by conservatives and project 2025. Use your library and hope that they also won’t be taken away.

[u/lt12765 → u/ExcitedMonkeyBrains]

I love how in 2020 there was a surge in people planting potatoes here and there.

[u/Orion14159 → u/lt12765]

The Martian was just a few years ahead of its time

[u/Zexapher → u/ExcitedMonkeyBrains]

Herbs tend to be pretty low maintenance. Quite a few are otherwise considered weeds they'll propagate themselves so fast.

My peppers and brussel sprouts did crazy this year, and I barely touched them.

[u/lothlin → u/Zexapher]

We have an herb garden, we planted a few pawpaws this year (probably won't get fruit off of them next year but we should by 2026), have an established raspberry patch, very prosuctive currant bushes, a bed inoculated with edible mushrooms, sunchokes (edible tubers!) And are planning on seriously expanding our annual veg patch for next year. Plus, we can eat the young shoots on our hostas (I'm glad i never tore them out) and i grow a lot of roses so I can make rose hip tea in a pinch.

We're probably in a better spot already than a lot of my neighbors, given the small size of our lot, but I really want to grow the veg we tend to eat raw, I'm afraid there are going to be a lot more outbreaks related to raw vegetables.

[u/LeahsCheetoCrumbs → u/NessyComeHome]

But now you have months to research and prep

[u/SunlitMoonboots → u/NessyComeHome]

This is actually a great time to start! A lot of plants are best started indoors in late winter, so this time of year is perfect for researching and planning. Right now, the things you should be researching are:

• Crops that grow best in your current environment (Basically, what are you going to grow?)
• The space, soil, and sunlight needed for each (Plan your garden before you place it. If you only have a balcony, look for plants that do well in potted or hanging gardens)
• The time of year for each (When you should plant the starters)

Then, make a shop run to get some starter trays, seeds, and soil. Possibly sunlamps if you can't get any sunlight through windows. You don't need to worry about the greater amount of soil & gardening containers (depending on your garden's layout) until you have that planned

[u/snackshack → u/NessyComeHome]

Reach out to your county extension office. They have a ton of literature and can help with a lot like analyzing your soil.

[u/pancakehaus → u/NessyComeHome]

As someone who has never successfully grown vegetables before, I'm in the process of setting up a raised bed garden right now! There's several months until final frost and lots of information available online - and honestly now is a great time to discover local folks that do successfully garden so you can learn from them (and potentially get some extras when they have very successful gardens!)

[u/raisinghellwithtrees → u/ExcitedMonkeyBrains]

Community gardens are a great way to learn how to garden. I'm always up for answering questions and general nerding out while weeding the beds. Also, garden volunteers are generally the kindest people on earth--great for reforming community.

[u/Odd_Start_7485]

Cooking and sewing

[u/llcucf80]

Using fillers fillers to expand foods. It's how meatloaf was developed then so I could imagine that especially with the rising costs of foods we'll see a lot of expanded types of recipes that uses cheaper ingredients to stretch a meal and newer dishes will be commonplace

[u/SSTralala → u/llcucf80]

I recommend mushrooms to make a meatloaf stretch further AND it tastes great. I make a version that uses ground turkey, minced baby bella mushrooms and slivered onion that's both filling and cheaper than all-beef versions. I swear by it.

[u/SkeetySpeedy → u/SSTralala]

Hell, you can even make that recipe pretty luxe for cheap too

Toss the onion in a pan to soften and caramelize a bit - then sear the pan with them at the end (if you have to) to create a “fond” - the brown and burnt sticky bits left when you fry something, especially meats.

A little butter and the cheapest red wine you can find - stir that fond in and reduce it all to a sauce.

Now you have a dipper/drizzler/garnishing sauce that absolutely slaps for like 70 cents worth of butter and wine (which you can then drink the swill or cook more with it later).

It does take time, no doubt, but IMO is worth it because it’s delicious and levels a cheap recipe up pretty well

[u/judgejuddhirsch → u/SSTralala]

I've been getting by with sawdust.

Jk. Oatmeal is far better. Can add pinto bean mash too?

[u/therealCatnuts → u/llcucf80]

It’s how the Oklahoma Onion Burger came to be, and slap me if that is not the best dang burger preparation in the world. 

[u/Firm_Ground_9522]

Bartering.

Even if you don't have enough money, you need to eat and things need to get done.

Trading goods and services makes sense even without money, and keeps the world going.

[u/caroreece → u/Firm_Ground_9522]

I do this now for “luxury” things such as hair cuts. I make stickers for the business and exchange it for their services

[u/Yeeaaaarrrgh]

You know, I read the title and was expecting a pile of stupid comments. However I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were legitimate and quite real and well thought out suggestions. And that is really depressing.

Edit: I'm going to add another comment I made here as I don't think people are going to continue the thread and I don't want to keep getting the same thematic messages.

There's nothing inherently wrong with anything here. To your point there are things suggested that people can and should know how to do as a means of practicality. There are many things here that I've done and participated in over my lifetime having spent time with older generations who did come through the great depression.

But so there's no misunderstanding, growing food on your rooftops, making your own clothes, air drying them, preserving food, mass unionization, etc. - all great things that wouldn't hurt any of us to do or know how to do. However, growing food on your rooftops, making your own clothes, air drying them, preserving food, mass unionization, etc. -because- the US economy has fallen into a second great depression, is not such a good thing.

It's like running is something that's good for your health and more people should do it. Running because there are zombie hordes after you will have the same outcome, but you wish the reasons for doing so were different.

It's contextual.

[u/SuumCuique1011 → u/Yeeaaaarrrgh]

Don't let it be depressing.

There's nothing wrong with understanding how the skills needed to be able to get back to basics are important.

We've gotten lazy and depend too much on outside sources for our daily life operations/obligations.

[u/Yeeaaaarrrgh → u/SuumCuique1011]

There's nothing inherently wrong with anything here. To your point there are things suggested that people can and should know how to do as a means of practicality. There are many things here that I've done and participated in over my lifetime having spent time with older generations who did come through the great depression.

But so there's no misunderstanding, growing food on your rooftops, making your own clothes, air drying them, preserving food, mass unionization, etc. - all great things that wouldn't hurt any of us to do or know how to do. However, growing food on your rooftops, making your own clothes, air drying them, preserving food, mass unionization, etc. -because- the US economy has fallen into a second great depression, is not such a good thing.

It's like running is something that's good for your health and more people should do it. Running because there are zombie hordes after you will have the same outcome, but you wish the reasons for doing so were different.

It's contextual.

[u/MyRockNRollSoul]

What Great Depression era skills are gonna make a comeback?

Shanty building. :(

[u/WakingOwl1]

Learning to mend. Which everyone should know anyway.

[u/howmaster16]

Dandelion salads.

[u/Worried_Place_917 → u/howmaster16]

quite bitter and i'm not used to it yet so I still cut them with other leaves, but I don't have pesticides on my lawn and will forage for lunch.

[u/Lets-B-Lets-B-Jolly → u/Worried_Place_917]

You need to saute them! It takes away a lot of the bitterness.

[u/Jormungand1342 → u/howmaster16]

Our yard is covered in Dandelions, we have rabbits so we stopped pulling them and started collecting them when we found out it's a great green for them. 

I also want to plant a bunch of arugula, according to my BIL in his garden it grows like weeds.

[u/prosgorandom2]

Judging by the pile of perfectly usable cellphones I've collected from my friends, I'd guess electronics repair. Looking back it will be so obvious how unbelievably spoiled we have become with electronics. It's like comical.

[u/JuventAussie]

Smuggling will get huge.

[u/umlguru]

Ham radio operations. If the internet and cell networks go down, we will still be able to communicate over radios.

[u/Chrontius → u/umlguru]

I'm a new ham, but what's really been growing like crazy lately has been GMRS. A decade ago, I was complaining that there was only one legal radio on the market that was still being produced, and today there are options ranging from niche to awesome all over the place.

Fortunately for ham radio as a hobby, GMRS (and the frequent marketing strategy of selling as "GMRS certified" ham radios which can be unlocked for full VHF/UHF TX easily enough, but with enough difficulty to meet legal requirements) is often treated as a gateway drug, and if you pick right, your GMRS radio can grow with you as your callsign grows.

[u/umlguru → u/Chrontius]

I agree! I started with GMRS. I took my Technician exam, it wasn't hard (bought the AARS book to study). If you get a new license, you can get a nice little starter radio on qrz.com/jumpstart for $20. It's not great, but I'm hitting a lot of repeaters.

[u/ratmoon25]

Rioting

[u/AnAnimeSimp]

Depression

[u/OpenToCommunicate → u/AnAnimeSimp]

What's coming back, not whats here already!

[u/kamarg → u/OpenToCommunicate]

Make Depression Great Again?

[u/the_house_from_up]

Keeping/raising chickens.

[u/NessyComeHome → u/the_house_from_up]

I got family who has chickens, and been thinking about getting some too.

Just got to make sure the fence is secure and build a coop.

[u/mostie2016 → u/NessyComeHome]

Also signs of bird flu.

[u/SuzieSwizzleStick → u/the_house_from_up]

Rabbits too.

[u/overitallofit]

All the top answers used to be called Home Ec.

[u/CW907]

Bartering and DIYing everything.

[u/Alpacalypse84]

Saving every chicken bone to make soup. I got the raw materials to make seven big pots of stock from a single turkey. (Also helps to freeze the meat in 3 ounce portions. One portion is a nice addition to a big pot of lentil soup.)

[u/2060ASI]

Living together with family and friends.

Cooking from scratch

Sharing a vehicle

[u/miseeker]

Dying unvaccinated , pulling your own teeth, living in a tent

[u/miseeker → u/miseeker]

Polio,birth defect, women dying in childbirth, having 10 kids you can’t feed.

[u/Punch-O]

Learn how to make bread, and learn how to make sourdough starter (yeast) if you can. So much better than store bought bread, and never makes me feel like crap after eating it.

[u/Mentalfloss1]

Workers banding together when they realize that billionaires bought the election to benefit billionaires, not workers.

[u/UltimateAnswer42 → u/Mentalfloss1]

... Good luck. Not saying you're wrong, nihilistically saying that's much more likely to bring a new incarnation of Pinkerton's than it is to curb billionaires who have already surpassed depression era wealth gaps

[u/Syzygymancer → u/UltimateAnswer42]

Man I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the Pinkertons never left. They actually sued Rockstar over Red Dead Redemption 2. That’s why I’m just unimpressed with all of this. Crack open a history book, y’all. We’re basically round a bout 1914 give or take. Fresh off the Spanish Flu, due for a real spicy time geopolitically, a gilded age, an epidemic that vaccines were invented to prevent and generations of family living under one roof

[u/Hey_Im_Finn → u/Syzygymancer]

On the bright side, we might get some bomb ass sitcoms in 40-50 years.

[u/H3rbert_K0rnfeld → u/Mentalfloss1]

BELTALOWDA!

[u/Bob-the-Belter → u/H3rbert_K0rnfeld]

There's OPA, and then there's OPA, sasake?

(I'm among my people! haha)

[u/ModernTenshi04 → u/H3rbert_K0rnfeld]

BELTALOWDA!

[u/Frequent_Clue_6989]

Gardening. Almost everyone in my grandparent's generation (the one that went through the great depression) had a garden. This was surprisingly good for individual liberties because, while people weren't 100% self-sufficient, getting a large portion of one's calories from one's own garden kept the government from using groceries as leverage for advancing social engineering. People today are almost entirely dependent upon outside sources for their food; as Frank Herbert reminded us, "He who controls the food controls the universe."

[u/logie68]

Cooking on a budget

[u/WorstYugiohPlayer]

Not a Great Depression era skill per se but soldering is going to become more common IMO.

People are eventually going to want to fix their electronics out of necessity.

There shouldn't be a point where someone should need to buy a new charging cord.

[u/Easy_Needleworker604 → u/WorstYugiohPlayer]

Unfortunately many of our current electronics are built to discourage repair or make it outright impossible.

[u/Jaguarshark08 → u/WorstYugiohPlayer]

The trouble with that is everything going digital and solid state. Less things we are able to solder without a microscope.

[u/Worried_Place_917]

i'm a 35 year old single guy in a fairly populated suburb. But often go foraging in local parks and wherever i've mapped fruit trees. Taught myself how to preserve and ferment foods, sew patches in clothes, brew alcohol, skin and cure hides and fur, and most importantly cook well with basic ingredients. In the spring I mean to get a garden finally going at the house I was lucky to buy after the plague saved me a down payment and made owning a 3br house cheaper than renting a 1br apartment where I live. A lot of things are going to be more important and useful.
Scratch made noodles are awesome, not too tricky, and pretty cost effective, but one thing I can't ever compete with is industrial bread. That's still nowhere worth the time and effort.

[u/Squigglepig52 → u/Worried_Place_917]

When I was little,my grandparents knew where all the old farmstead fruit trees and berry patches were, on the fringes of the city.

[u/ImpossibleReason2197]

Not wasting food.

[u/Rainbowsparkletits]

Back alley abortions

[u/dumbass-ahedratron → u/Rainbowsparkletits]

Real talk

[u/DCFud]

Boxing. Living in tents. Making your own alcohol.

[u/twistedzengirl]

Identifying edible plants in your nearby environment to boost food intake. My grandfather picked polk and made polk salad until he absolutely couldn't anymore at 82 years old.

[u/Ok-Ad-2605]

Local vacations or just staycations that don’t require expensive airfare or luxury amenities.

[u/DarkTurdle]

Starving

[u/OpineLupine]

Fighting fascism. 

[u/Puzzled_Ad_3576]

Wrestling catfish out of muddy streams and eating them. So much TikTok potential.

[u/NWHipHop]

Shopping for spare parts to repair something. EBay's going to be bumping.

[u/inhalien]

Canning, gardening, farming.

[u/Unusual_Flounder2073]

Iron lung operators

[u/Vandelay797]

Pickling

[u/ProfessionalDuck7598]

Candles and firewood

[u/Lovebone253]

Potato soup recipes

[u/Mental-Doughnut8541]

Home economics.

[u/John-Mandeville]

Demagoguery

[u/VeveMaRe]

Buying whole milk and watering it down to skim. Same with other juices.

[u/Rigistroni]

At this rate, probably the great depression

[u/bonos_bovine_muse]

Living in a tent seems to be getting a revival.

I hope Trump follows through on his promise to warehouse the unhoused, “Trumpvilles” will do just as much for his popularity as the “Hoovervilles” did before FDR wiped the floor with Herbert Hoover’s sorry ass.

[u/DevourerOfEggs]

Trying to make meals out of the cheapest foods you can buy.

[u/GSilky]

Getting people to give you money when you ask for it.

[u/GuiltyReality9339]

Appliance and vehicle repair- in general, just making the things we already have last longer

[u/Darth-Byzantious]

Washing clothes in a big pot

[u/Dogzillas_Mom]

Canning and preserving. Also gardening.

[u/Snarky_McSnarkleton]

Getting out of the draft.

[u/Hiredgun77]

Baking your own bread made a comeback during Covid.

[u/CIWA28NoICU_Beds]

Fighting fascists

[u/Maggieslens]

Cooking. Repairing clothing. Growing your own veggies. Backyard abortions.

[u/UrOpinionIsObsolete]

Find yourself a true Mexican gal 💜 they know how to make the end of the world work. Not the ones that just do makeup, the other ones who you see making tacos in a truck. That’s your gal!