Preparing for the economic crisis and having a good time as well

I didn't know this was possible until recently. My family has been talking about starting a vegetable garden for some time now, but it was just talk. With the economy in trouble, however, we've actually gotten a small start. Okay, REALLY small. Right now it's just a tomato plant and a pepper plant in a square formed out of cinder blocks. Next year, though, we're going to plant three 3-by-8 foot beds, which will most likely contain corn, green peas, onions, etc. At least, that's the plan. Something like that will save a lot of money, since we won't need to buy near as much from the store. Not only that, but it'll give us something to do during the summer and finally put the wasps to some use killing caterpillars. Another thing that we'll be doing that will not wait for next year is raising chickens. It's odd, but just a couple of days ago that idea would have been really weird. We live in a neighborhood, and have a fenced-in back yard with a dog, so you can imagine why I thought it was wishful thinking only. However, after hearing the idea and doing a little research, we discovered that having backyard chickens is well within the realm of possibiliy. Chickens are actually quite easy to care for, and pay for themselves and their coop in a matter of months. They also make entertaining pets, as we've seen with some of our friends. The great thing about doing all this is that even if the economy doesn't collapse, we still benefit by having fresh produce, fresh eggs, fewer expenses, something to do when we're bored, and amusing pets.