Taking preparedness seriously on a shoestring budget. Specifically for the Midwest. Wisconsin.

One garden grew for fun. It’s purpose light and unregulated.  Tomatoes and peppers , mostly. Winter squash grown as much for the way it looked as for what it became. Cucumbers and greens picked young, eaten fresh, almost carelessly. It breathed with the seasons, a good place to spend the evening, hands busy and mind quiet. She didn’t depend on it. Some weeks she forgot to harvest at all.   Zucchini swelled past usefulness. Lettuce sagged and burned in the heat. The dogs ate more tomato than the children. Much of the produce went into the compost pile . She shrugged when it happened.  Because dinner still came from the store. From bags, boxes, and jars. If the garden had failed, nothing bad happened. She just went to town.   That was fine. Expected, and  normal. That garden didn’t need to be efficient. It didn’t need to exist. It only needed to be pleasant.Which was not exactly why the other garden existed. Not for fun, or taste. Not for enjoyment ...

  They held a frozen position, long enough for it to sour into something unreal, Grayson ’s arms burning, his pulse loud in his ears, the rifle unwavering and he was on the wrong end of it. The first hint of motion, gravel under tires, carrying two squad cars into view with their lights on and their sirens conspicuously absent, moving under the speed limit as if haste might be confused for caring. This authority approached slowly, the way a hunter moves to break up a fight between his dogs. The lead cruiser crept past Hank. The blood stain clear on his police uniform, still sitting there with his face swollen shut and his radio muttering betrayal into the morning. The police cruiser continued forward, inching toward Grayson and the man with the rifle. The second car halted farther back, an officer stepping out and moving toward Hank with practiced concern that stopped well short of urgency. The first cruiser rolled alongside the truck, window gliding down, and the officer inside ...