@lovendures My beverages of choice coffee and tea... getting Lipton Family size tea bags for making our beloved Southern sweet tea ( my DIL drinks about a gallon a day rather than soda) has become quite hard. My beloved Bigelow Constant comment took me a month to find a single box of 20 bags... just in time to for a return to winter temps here in the Deep South
Potatoes? I find quite easy to grow... big thing is keeping the bugs out of them/off of them here in zone 7B. I had a good crop in the small space I planted last year from planting the eyes of some I bought at Aldi that went too long and sprouted eyes. They really recommend using seed potatoes tho. Here are some small container/small garden area recommendations for growing taters if anyone wants to try. https://savvygardening.com/7-steps-to-grow-potatoes-in-small-spaces/
www.mainegardenideas.com/how-to-grow-potatoes-in-hay-bales.html
Internet searches will reveal many innovative ways to grow taters in small spaces if interested. Also? Your states extension offices should have recommendations to your specific area and the things that work best where you live. Great resources..they also offer Master Gardener classes.
The globe is having a potato shortage.
OK, so this will help everyone cut down on carbs. Hurrah!
I am currently trying to grow sweet potatoes in an "Earth Box" container. The greenery is prospering (zone 9A ) but whether there are any sweet potatoes down in the dirt is yet to be determined. I cut a grocery store sweet potato in half, sprouted each half in a jar of water, broke the sprouts off, rooted them in more water, then planted them.
2 Things.
1-A CNN article today spoke of empty shelves in grocery stores. I have not seen shortage issues to the degree they highlighted recently, though perhaps it is because I live in a state which has not experienced winter weather issues. I am curious what you have noticed in your area. I last when shopping at Sprouts Sunday and there were a few empty spots on shelves, what I consider the new normal. I last went to a regular Grocery store on Saturday (Albertsons) and noticed major sections in the water and beverage area empty and some other spot shortage areas on other shelves throughout the store, but not like the water/beverage area and not like I have seen at other times during the pandemic.
Grocery store shelves across America are wiped clean, and they're staying empty as stores struggle to quickly restock everyday necessities such as milk, bread, meat, canned soups and cleaning products.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/11/business-food/grocery-store-shelves-empty/index.html
2- Anyone else notice a dramatic increase of bank branch closings? There were some branches of National and regional banks which were closed early on during Covid and have yet to re-open. These were supposed to be temporary closures. Recently even more branches have closed. Branches in grocery stores are closing and branches located within a few miles of another same branch. They say the current ones are due to labor/staffing issues. How are banks doing in your area?
Additionally my local pharmacy ( Walgreens) has not only shortened hours, they have also stopped pharmacy hours all together on weekends. It has been "temporary" for at least 2 months now.
What are you guys noticing?
@lovendures, I have noticed some shortages from time to time. I live in Northern Virginia, part of the large DC Metropolitan area. I visited Whole Foods this morning and was surprised by the empty shelves I saw, specifically canned goods. I needed beans and the shelves were wiped clean, except for a few cans of black beans remaining. (Maybe people have been making chili because it's been so frigid here?)
What I have noticed with our local pharmacy is that they are very short-staffed. They're hiring but I've been told that they can't find people. It's almost impossible to call and have them answer the phone -- I've tried a few times and the phone rings and rings. Had to go there to refill a prescription, rather than being able to call it in. Their turnaround time for prescriptions can sometimes take over 24 hours, unless you stay at the pharmacy, say that you need it immediately, and wait for it.
I'm being extra kind and courteous to all of those workers who are picking up the slack. I might be inconvenienced at times, but so what? These service workers are bearing the brunt of some customers' frustrations. It's misplaced anger, and these workers don't deserve it.
Hi, I don’t know the banking system in USA but here in Australia because of Covid, it has speeded up. We have become very contactless payment for things, we tap and go with our debit or credit cards. If the transaction is under $100 that’s all you need to do if it is over you also require a PIN number. Cheques are no longer used. You pay an account by Bpay or online direct bank transfer and it will be in their account straight away. Cash is hardly used anymore and as well as banks disappearing so are ATMs. It had started happening pre pandemic but has really sped up since. No one wanted to touch cash and with tap and go you don’t have to. Is something similar underway in USA to help explain banks going.
Regards to all
What are you guys noticing?
There seems to be no shortage of grocery items here (N. Fl) that I've noticed. Nor it difficult to obtain home COVID test kits, though the amount one can purchase at a time is limited.
Labor shortages seem to be the main issue. We were just given a "heads up" that there would likely be some delays in trash collection over the next few weeks.
I stopped at Wegmans last night and noticed that the soup aisle was very spare, particularly the Progresso soups (which were on "sale" for $1.69 !). They were out of a lot of popular flavors (the Italian Wedding, Chickarina, and some others). In fact, the stockists put in two full shelves of Campbell's Chunky Soup under the Progresso. There were some other large empty spaces between these soups. I guess I could make my own soup from scratch but I like to purchase canned soup to bring to work for lunch.
I did not notice any shortage of water/beverages nor tuna etc. For some items, I don't know if it is a purposeful-- Wegmans does not feature a wide choice of brands. They typically will have their store brand and maybe 2-3 others for popular grocery items. I should check out other stores to compare (like Price Chopper).