Since the end of the Great Depression the greater majority of the American people have given little thought to the idea that food is scarce. Unlike most other countries, even those who have no gainful employment are still able to acquire food in one way or another in America – be it through private or public assistance. We’ve been the richest country in the world for over a century, and with that comes the ability to acquire food before any other nations have a shot at the bidding process. The leftovers – like rotten meat and dairy products – are often then distributed to second and third world nations, essentially leaving them to fight over our scraps. Here in America, we toss out millions of pounds of uneaten food, often from ‘single portion’ plates capable of feeding entire families in poorer African and Asian countries.
But, as American wages continue to drop (adjusted for inflation, of course), jobs are lost, debts are taken to never before seen levels, and tens of millions join the global population yearly, the food scarcity that has so eluded us for decades may become reality even here – and much sooner than we think.
Via The Trumpet:
Have you ever gone hungry? Ever had to scavenge for any scrap of food-like garbage simply to stave off your gnawing hunger?
Probably not. Most people in the affluent West can’t even begin to imagine it.
But of the nearly 7 billion people on Earth, an estimated 850 million are undernourished or chronically hungry. With global food production hurting and prices rising, this number is swiftly climbing.
In July, a famine was officially declared in the Horn of Africa, the first in 30 years. A reported 12,400,000 people don’t have enough food. Imagine it. There are 81,000 people in my town; this is every last person in this town and 152 more just like it, all going hungry.
Between May and July in that region, 29,000 children younger than 5 died of starvation.
The nightmare is expected to last into next year, and the number of afflicted to rise quickly to 15 million. These are the chilling effects of two years of drought—the worst in six decades—coupled with some absolutely shameful human behavior.
When your belly is plenty full, your tendency is to brush aside such facts. After all, what can you do?
But you need to give this some serious thought—because chances are extremely high that soon, you won’t just be reading about those hunger pains.
…
In the First World, we have enjoyed several decades of practically unprecedented abundance—limitless food variety, available year-round, at some of the cheapest prices enjoyed on a mass scale in human history. Thanks to increased food production, the share of underfed people on our planet has been dropping for centuries; in recent decades, percentages of malnourished and starving people have been more than halved.
No wonder we take it all for granted. This auspicious historical anomaly is the new reality. The party can last forever, right?
Well, there is a catch. This period of plenty has largely been sponsored by acomplete revolution in the way we produce and distribute what we eat. The good news is that we have become extremely efficient in producing cheap food in massive quantities. The bad news is that it has come with monumental unintended additional costs.
Perhaps the most urgent consequence is that this revolution has made us dangerously vulnerable to massive disruptions in our food supply.
As our modern world has shifted from an agricultural society to an industrial- and now a service- and information-based culture, farmers have vanished en masse. A mere century ago, one in four Americans lived on a farm, and the average farmer grew enough food to feed 12 other Americans. Today, while the population has more than tripled to over 300 million, only 2 million farmers remain. On average, each one grows food to feed 140 people.
Today in the First World, less than 2 percent of the population is feeding the other 98 percent. The vast majority of us get our food from hundreds or thousands of miles away, and have only about a week’s worth of groceries in the pantry. We are wholly sustained by a complex system about which we are almost completely ignorant. Making food has become a profession for experts.
Every link in this intricate process is burdened with troubling issues that would cause most of us to raise our eyebrows with concern—or even retch in disgust. More pressingly, every link is susceptible to major potential breakdowns.
And early signs of breakdowns in the system are appearing—more all the time. Soaring grocery bills. Headlines about food-borne sickness from harmful bacteria. Epidemic chronic health problems like obesity and diabetes. Food scarcity. And yes, even famine.
What would you eat if the grocery stores and restaurants were empty?
Full Article: The Trumpet
The world population is rapidly approaching 7 billion, and by 2050 it is projected to exceed 10 billion people. While 850 million may be chronically hungry, at least another couple billion have extreme difficulty with actually acquiring food due to lack of broad availability and funds. We face some serious problems going forward, because current food production simply cannot meet demand, especially when we consider the recent development that agricultural production is increasingly being directed towards alternative energy rather than food consumption.
The combination of global population and food demand is rising about 2 percent a year. Meanwhile, food production is rising at only about half that rate.
You can add to this fundamental reality a myriad of other pressures on the food supply: more adverse weather events—droughts, floods, and other disasters—that reduce crop yields or wipe out harvests; vanishing marine life, including ocean fish catches—the top source of protein for Asians—because of over-fishing, pollution and other causes; government enactments like farm subsidies, food price controls, taxes, regulations, restrictions and so on.
Paul Roberts lists still more factors in his 2008 book The End of Food. “Arable land is growing scarcer. Inputs like pesticides and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers are increasingly expensive. Soil degradation and erosion from hyperintensive farming are costing millions of acres of farmland a year. Water supplies are being rapidly depleted in parts of the world, even as the rising price of petroleum—the lifeblood of industrial agriculture—is calling into question the entire agribusiness model.”
Source: The Trumpet
The additional variable of inflation is also going to play an important role. For one, the demand on the agricultural industry over coming years is going to force food prices up for no other reason than there isn’t enough supply to meet the ever increasing population. On top of that, a large portion of the globe’s population has become dependent on monetary exchange units managed by central banks, so when those central banks print more money in an effort to manage prices, the effect is to actually destabilize those prices. As has been recently seen, that means the purchasing power of the currencies in question deflates, while the price of the physical goods rises.
Solutions to the problem certainly exist. There are ways we can increase food production, especially if we implement policies that educate the people on how to not only eat appropriately, but to produce their own food, as well. But generally, the solution that many of the world’s most influential thinkers come up with is forced population reduction. Take, for example, the solution to the problem from former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who was quoted as saying:
Whatever may be done to guard against interruptions of supply and to develop domestic alternatives, the U.S. economy will require large and increasing amounts of minerals from abroad, especially from less developed countries. That fact gives the U.S. enhanced interest in the political, economic, and social stability of the supplying countries. Wherever a lessening of population pressures through reduced birth rates can increase the prospects for such stability, population policy becomes relevant to resource supplies and to the economic interests of the United States.
The other solution put forth by governments and their corporate sponsors are further destruction of the family farm and expansion of massive corporate agricultural operations.
In his book Collapse, author Jared Diamond chronicles the collapse of societies over the last several thousand years. In general, collapse seems to boil down to those particular civilizations overextending themselves in terms of using up their natural resources and destroying their habitats. Water and food are absolutely critical, and in many cases, even when a society is able to perceive that a problem exists, they fail to act in time to reverse the trend:
The first stop on my road map is that groups may do disastrous things because they failed to anticipate a problem before it arrived. for any of several reasons. One is that they may have had no prior experience of such problems, and so may not have been sensitized to the possibility.
…
Perhaps the commonest circumstance under which societies fail to perceive a problem is when it takes the form of a slow trend concealed by wide up-and-down fluctuations.
…
Politicians use the term “creeping normalcy” to refer to such slow trends concealed within noisy fluctuations. If the economy, schools, traffic congestion, or anything else is deteriorating only slowly, it’s difficult to recognize that each successive year is on the average slightly worse than the year before, so one’s baseline standard for what constitutes “normalcy” shift gradually and imperceptibly.
Source: Collapse by Jared Diamond; pp. 421-425
One of the more interesting things when we look at Diamond’s commonest circumstance is that those up-and-down fluctuations are very much apparent in food prices, as well as energy prices today. Yet, the entities responsible for reporting the truth about this information have simply covered it up. Just take a look at the CPI, our official measure of inflation, and you’ll see how food and energy are not weighed as heavily in the calculations because of these very up and down moves! The numbers are telling us what is happening, yet we are being told to ignore them!
For now, the system may be percieved as stable, but it wouldn’t take much to really trigger a collapse with regards to the availability of food. SHTFplan reader JP had some interesting thoughts on the matter, and points out just how quickly it can happen. There are quite a few variables and possibilities, but if we’re talking about a rapid collapse leading to massive and nearly immediate disruptions to our food supply, then it would likely be some sort of monetary phenomenon that is the likely cause:
It may start with a dollar collapse, or a string of bank failures but it will end the same way: spot shortages appear in our ultra-fragile food delivery system, itself built upon JIT (Just-In-Time) order fulfillment and having little intervening warehousing, and no excess transport capability. The people, seeing the odd empty shelf, change their preferences from three days or so of food reserves to, say, a modest three weeks. This would mean a quintupling or more of demand all at once. Bad shortages appear. The hoarding starts and never stops. We never catch up and even military intervention will be insufficient to get us back in equibilibrium. Chaos reigns and people die – a lot of people die. Maybe eighty percent or more.
The most significant threat we face at this time in terms of disruptions to our food supply may very well be the strength of the dollar. If the dollar collapses, then we can’t meet our payment obligations, which means we can’t acquire food from other countries, because there will simply be no way to determine what the value of the currency unit of exchange really is. In essence, global suppliers would justifiably fear that they would be holding worthless paper. The effects of such a collapse may take weeks, perhaps months to resolve.
We have only a limited supply here at home, and if it just so happens that a collapse in the US dollar occurs at the same time as weather anomalies that destroy large percentages of food production in America, the USDA will likely not have enough food reserves for the domestic population:
While the previous surpluses were costly and sharply criticized, much of the food found its way to the poor, here and abroad. Today, says USDA Undersecretary Mark Keenum, “Our cupboard is bare.”
U.S. government food surpluses have evaporated because, with record high prices, farmers are selling their crops on the open market, not handing them over to the government through traditional price-support programs that make up for deficiencies in market price.
Worldwide, food prices have risen 45% in the past nine months, posing a crisis for millions, says the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.
Because of the current economics of food, and changes in federal farm subsidy programs designed to make farmers rely more on the markets, large U.S. reserves may be gone for a long time.
…
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer, at a recent food aid conference, says his agency faces tough decisions about managing the rest of the reserve in times of widespread hunger. “How far do we draw down?” he asked. “Do we take it down to zero because we need it? Do we hold some in there, because who knows what’s going to happen, for emergency purposes later?”
Source: USA Today – May 2, 2008
There are a number of factors working against, both in the long-term, as well as the short-term.
The only plausible solutions are a return to personal farming practices, or at the very least, local community farming in one way or another. It is simply irresponsible to depend on someone several thousand miles, or an ocean, away to deliver our food to us. This solution, arguably, may be considered overly optimistic and not grounded in reality.
We can only advise our readers to take matters into their own hands. The government certainly won’t be there to help when you need it most. Personal food production, whether it be in the form of micro farming or micro-livestocking, will ensure that when those grocery store shelves become empty, you and your family will have something to eat. Storing up supplies and becoming proficient in the production methods yourself is really the only way to ensure your food will be there when you need it.
Hat tip Sam Not Sam, JP
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Good article Mac!
Ditto, Mac
Thank goodness, even in the city one can produce food. Maybe not enough for complete survival but I’ve canned and dehydrated enough from my 4×4 garden to last us into December.
It should be obvious that a famine is coming, given the flooding, the fires, the earthquakes and the storms attacking the earth this year. It should be, but it isn’t and people are going to starve for lack of planning.
As summer winds down, be sure and visit your local farmer’s markets. Buy and preserve some big bushel baskets of produce – you will be glad you did when the shelves at the store are empty!
With soil, water and favorable weather. and some space you can grow a lot of food.
Pick 3.
Red
But,,,,,But,,,you better have backup because I sat and watched my peppers and tomatoes get drenched and drowned and lost.
What if that had been my entire garden?? 2 years of stored food, NO MATTER WHAT IS IS, is advised..
Joseph, 7 year famine..Pharoah??
JJ: You are quite right. Every family in a SFR can make greenhouses out of rolled plastic sheeting and 2×4’s. I am spending the summer in the high country where soils are known to be poor.
Found a house in a subdivision with corn growing in the front yard. I stopped to inspect and chat as the corn looked pretty good to a midwest farm boy.
Come to find out, he had citrus growing in a greenhouse out back too! I asked him about the poor spoil, he says he buys BS and CS and mixes it in with his soil and has been doing just great for three years.
Everyone shpould be doing this that can using SQ FT gardening techniques.
Had the same problem with rain. I replanted twice. It is amazing how much you learn in the first year. I hadn’t worked a garden since I was a kid (60s & 70s).
People who think you can store seeds and then just scrape in the dirt one spring and throw them on the ground are in for a big surprise.
When I was a kid everyone wanted to “get off the farm”. In the future farming will be the “hott” job skill.
I agree with you JJ. I had a great garden last year. Had more tomatoes than I knew what to do with. This year I got a bad batch of soil or something, because nothing grew, except some hot peppers and a few cucumbers. Pitiful. I looked at my husband one day and said, “If we had to live off this garden, we would’ve starved.” You just can’t count on throwing some seeds down and expect a bountiful crop. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen. Stock up!
Durango Kidd:
Silly question: What are BS and CS? I’m using the sq ft gardening method, as well as planting in a rotation to get the most out of my tiny garden.
Sounds like manure as in cow s@#$ and bull….well i think you get the idea. I thought everyone used that as fertilizer?! Really stinks when the farmers around here spread it, but sure makes stuff grow.
Thank you! 🙂
Daisy: BS is bullshit. CS is chicken shit. Chicken shit is important for phosperous. Evidently the BS doesn’t add enough.
One thing interesting about this particular location is that although the soil is poor, a new large Potash mine is being developed not that far away, so it looks like plenty of fertilizer would be available here as a local source.
That is interesting to me because I am looking for potash, manure, wood chips, etc to add to my mine tailings to make a really great mulch.
May as well sell the tailings in a mulch after extracting the precious metals. 🙂
‘THE’ best tomatoes I had here were the ones with manure/soil from chinamart.
Well then I know a good source of both BS and CS….its located in any govt building inhabited by govtcorp types,get a shovel and a pickup and go git you some!
Thank you –
I used SS this year: sheep sh*t. I got it for free from a farmer. The nicest thing about it was it didn’t stink as bad as the packaged manure I’ve used in years past.
I’m a little concerned that you consider mine tailings ok to add to your garden. . . I’m not sure what’s in Potash mine tailings, but in copper, aluminum, gold, silver etc, and especially bitumin, the tailings are full of toxic compounds and heavy metals like mercury, aluminum, cadmium, arsenic, etc.
Your plants will draw these toxins into your food. Food that removes them (& dont eat it) include corn, beans, sunflowers, mustard, and hemp or mj. Also ferns remove arsenic. This is phytoremediation, and they work on radiation too. Apparently corn takes a lot from the soil so if you grow corn you need to replace a lot. Also, in my local organic store’s bulk section, most of the grains, seeds, and lentils will sprout so dont bother buying little packets of overpriced seeds, just pick them up in bulk for 1/3-1/10th the price.
Good luck every one and god bless.
so you grow and store it where?
Got a couple hundred ball cannning jars, do ya?
New lids?, for next time.
I think I’ll just to give up the ghost. Canned beans suck without tons of salt.
I dehydrate a lot of mine and store it for additions to soups and stews. It doesn’t take up nearly as much space as canning does. As for canning you can get Tattler brand lids and use them over and over again. There are lots of good ways to preserve food for use later I think it’s important to practice now, before it’s vital to do so.
That “dehydrate” sounds like a great idea. Is there a particular brand or model you (or anyone really) could recommend?
Thanks!
I have an inexpensive one from China-Mart. It was about $30. It has lasted nearly a year twice, so each time I’ve gotten it replaced under warranty. The cream of the dehydrating crop is Excalibur.
I’ve also been trying my hand at “screen drying” – this is thinly slicing your produce and laying it between two modified pieces of window screen. I have framed each of screen with paint sticks (Two on each side of the square. I have 8 pieces of hardware – 1 at each corner and one in the center of each side. You lay the bottom screen down and put your food on it. Then you place the other screen on top of the food. Push the screws through from the bottom and tighten with wing nuts. Hang this in a sunny window, rotating every 4-6 hours.
This is really cheap and easy to make – no power tools needed. It doesn’t work quite as well as the electric one but it will do in a pinch, for sure!
Frankly this is one of the most important topics that is NOT discussed on MSM.
We, the USA, send FREE food to 3rd world nations all the time. FOOD that we taxpayers pay for and then the government turns around and gives OUR TAX $ to subsidize farmers to grow corn NOT for food for us, no for ETHANOL.
There is so many programs like this.
Then add in that America is the FASTEST GROWING Western nation in the world, due to Legal Immigration and the immigrants have HIGH BIRTHRATES.
So as America becomes more crowded they blacktop MORE farmland, the increased population drains more aquifers, lakes other reservoirs.
Food and potable water will be FOUGHT over in the USSA, and guess who .gov will favor? You or the favored “people of color”
Water will be the new gold…and I see not too long in the future, houses built up, 10 story apartments, not out, with each taking an acre, to provide for those comunity gardens.
Did anyone even understand what I meant?? Must be the cereal..
JJ: Good idea but you stole it from the architect, palo soleri. Google him. fascinating guy! 🙂
JJ: Can you say, “Arcosanti”?
Manicured landscapes will end up covered in useful plants. The present idea of landscaping in USA is pretty stupid if you think about it.
I know exactly what you mean, usually every 5 days, when I start pushing the mower around.
I am a child of the 60’s and can remember when yards were just that, yards.
I get grief from these axxholes here about my yard(looks only)–it’s manicured, not a lot of landscaping..but a few shrubs, trees, hostas, and monkey grass–we only have one acre.
If it doesn’t need mowing–it doesn’t get it–if I need to ride through it with the 4 wheeler—I do it…if I need to go through in my SUV, I do it.
Neighbor gave me grief because she sprayed every dandelion in her yard NEXT DOOR!@!!–NOT ME!!! it’s grass—damn it–live with it–it only lasts 3 weeks–why kill nature?? Maybe you are the reason the crickets, lady bugs, and lightning bugs disappeared!!
UGGGHHH!!!
Apts were this way in USSR.
If not contaminated by pesticides and herbicides, dandelion greens can keep you alive and the tap root on big ones are like a turnip. Just as cattail tubers are eidible and supposedly delcious kinda like a small aquatic potato, there are other sources that could be incorporated into a regular ( or irregular plan) plan.
I commented on the many uses of dandelions in the herb thread – they are an excellent medicinal plant. I wouldn’t dream of poisoning my surroundings with herbicides.
Seems we should be building down…using the surface for food and recreation…just a thought… 🙂
Wow, what a potato crop I had this summer. Any body know the best way to “keep” potatoes for the winter? How long can potatoes keep?
You can leave them in the ground, if you like, and dig them up when you desire, but you may not want to if your ground freezes. That having been said, there are a number of ways you can store them. I can’t say if there’s a “best way”, but I can give you general tips. You need to keep them cool. Some folks have been ok just keeping them in their garage, if it doesn’t get below freezing in there. Others say to bury a garbage can in the ground, with the top being a foot or so below ground level, and put the lid on, with about a foot or so of straw for insulation, and then you can just remove the lid when you want them.
Basically you want to make sure to NOT wash them, and not store any with broken skin/”wounds” or that are mushy (they will cause each other to spoil), and keep them cool and dark. Don’t store them with apples (apples will rot other vegetables and root crops), I assume you don’t have a root cellar. They should keep most or all of the winter. Hope that helps.
EA,
Dig, let them “cure” a couple days in a shady spot, then store, ideally, in a root cellar at 40-50 degrees and fairly high humidity. Don’t store with apples unless you have good ventilation, as apples give off a gas that causes the potatoes to sprout. The best storing potato I’ve found is Yukon Gold….they far outlast the normal “white” potato, which tends to get soft/rubbery and sprouting a lot here by late Jan/early Feb.
Absent a root cellar, you can dig a pit, line it with straw, put the potatoes on the straw, cover with more straw, and dirt on top.
Thanks for replying too and giving me some some reminders about them as well. I barely beat you to the response by a few seconds!
Thanks DaveyBoy and TnAndy. Good info.
Yes, no root cellar. But some other places that may work. If one does not rebury does one place potatoes in paper bag (so they are touching each other) or lay out flat so they don’t touch each other and cover?
Would also be correct to assume that frost is what will kill the potato plant on the surface? Are there winter potatoes for growing?
EA:
We plant our on Good Friday, give or take a day or so, unless the weather is too wet. Usually, by late July to mid August, the tops have died back and are gone ( here ). You can dig ‘new potatoes anytime after they flower.
The main crop, we dig early to late September, again, weather dependent. We store ours in plastic milk type crates in root cellar….they don’t have to be spread out. I guess a paper bag would work, but haven’t done that, as the humidity in our root cellar would destroy the bag in short order.
There are no winter potatoes I know of, they will take a bit of frost if you get them out in early spring ( top may die back, but will sprout again ), but the main tops require above freezing weather to grow/bloom/mature.
I dehydrate & vacuum excess. Dip with ascorbic or citric acid first (Vitamin C/lemon juice). Keeps from browning. Others I can in quart jars with stew. I have three years worth.
http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/edcomm/pdf/PNW/PNW0397.pdf
The “curing” part is important, the skins thicken a little and they dry out a little and last longer. Just leave them out for a day or two on the ground, preferribly not in the sun.
Sure, your potatoes should be kept at MY house… 🙂
But seriously, when I was a kid, we lived in a house on a pier and beam foundation in Texas. We had a access point in the house and that is where we stuck all our potatoes and onions.. stinking right on the dirt ! They lasted clear through the winter with only the odd one spoiling. The rule is COOL and DARK with as stable a temperature as possible.
we’ve found the best way to store them long term-past 3 yrs was to can them,
over the yrs we’ve kept them in the root celler-they grow sprouts, mice eat at them,some rot.
we french fried them, then froze them,but the freezer is full and we had to buy another one for other things, then the power is always going out. but canning was the answer. no worries about them sprouting, the mice, the power going off,ect.
PS. potatos will start sprouting if they are stored where it is damp and in a dark place, if you go with a root celler, leave a little light over them
EA, Potatoes can keep till spring. IF… You can keep them around 40- 55 degrees and NO light. Talking root cellar here, and normal to above humidity is OK. I grow red pontiacs because I like to eat the skin and all (ruffage). If you don’t have a root cellar and it is out of reach, you can sink a couple or more plastic barrels and put your potatoes in them. Sink them up to near the lid (preferably a screw on type lid with “O” ring. Load some potatoes in the barrel and then a layer of straw and so forth until you reach within an inch of the top. open one barrel at a time until that one is used up, before going on to the next. This is an old tried and true method.
My grandfather kept them buried in cold room buried in sand in a barred. Co-worker hangs them from ceiling in old nylons. Drops a tater in, ties a knot above it . Drops next one in, tie a knot, etc etc. Needs a tater, cut just above it leaving the knot just above the cut so the rest don’t drop out.
Great idea…even for store bought!!!
Thanks
Daveyboy
TnAndy
Anonymous
country girl
Sam not sam
Just me says
PO’dpatriat
invaluable info.
much obliged
EA
I’m not from Ireland or Idaho but you’re welcome. Meat & potatoes and I like veggies too! Herb too, who ever he is Mac.
PS To all you Potato heads
In my neck of the woods they are SOOO easy to grow.
I highly recommend them to all as a great backup to keep something (food) on the table.
I just grew the red skin variety cause I like ’em. Next year I’m going to branch out and see what kind of a multiple potato head I am.
Dehydro keeps a veeeerrrry loooong time.
I’m in Alaska in a place with lots of sand and they grow well here too. Store them whole and the left overs can be used as your seed potatos the next year. My partner has replanted his left over potatos the last three years and he gets a hundred pounds out of his little plot usually.
In Alaska too. Potatoes store best at 33-35F with just a tad humidity. Store them 8 months and the smaller ones become next years seed taters. If you are running out of taters, plant a few in buckets in Feb. Once they are growing well, cut clones and plant in potting mix. Same for tomatoes.
Big thing to remember, taters set new tubers between the seed tater and the part growing out of the ground. Ergo never remove sprouts. Instead dig a shallow furrow and lay the sprouts down the furrow and cover.
Third poor growing season in a row. Cool, cloudy and rain. No degree days at all. Even the Italian Sweet peppers in greenhouse are just starting to turn red. PS, sweet peppers dried thoroughly and ground fine substitute for paprika.
You can cut taters into smaller pieces, blanch well and they freeze just fine. For french fries, tater chips, etc you want starchy taters. Cold potatoes are loaded with sugars and you can get alter them for mealy (starchy) dishes just by keeping them in a warm place for a couple weeks. Do a web search for chuno.
With some greens and alliums (onions, garlic, chives), tomatoes, peppers and potatoes will take care of most of your veggy needs. Add a source of fat and protein and you are fat city.
For a so-so source of protein, look to peas. In warmer areas; beans and peanuts.
Grain production should be limitted to barley and oats. NO CORN. Barley and oats are the hardiest under almost all wx conditions. What happened to barley pearlers? Common when I was a kid 50 ought years ago.
Oregano, dill and basil are easy to grow. Basil doesn’t like its leaves wet: discolors and rots. A few spices makes every meal a bit special.
Whenever possible, dehydrate.
store your potatoes in a “root cellar” with things like winter squashes, cabbages, beets,
See if you can contact any survivors of the planned Ukrainian famine that killed as many as 7 million men, women and children in 1932-33. The commies intentionally starved these people to death by rounding up all food supplies. There is video available from public television. I watched one of the most gut wrenching sections of a mother who had to determine which of her children she would let die and which ones she would feed. She knew she didn’t have enough for all of them to make it. The dying ones cried while she fed the others. The only good communist is a dead communist. The NKVD under Lazar Kaganovitch did this.
HS….I studied this years ago and I concur….they are all evil,there are no good commies/marxists/leninists/maoists ect…I used this alot in the fight against the NAIS(animal ID)and continue to bring it up in discussions/debates about farming policy…lest we forget!
Scary how many Americans are screaming for socialism. Careful what you wish for. socialism/communism is like an infection. If let go for long it will turn very ugly.
Seeds, manual tools for gardening, secure water supply, Stable Organic Fertilizers…add that to your weapons and PMs. And maybe get located in another country that actually produces its own food. Good Luck and keep prepping ! No more distant drum beats its already happening. Peace be with you all.
I read somewhere that about 1 million people starved to death in America during the depression. Unless you start gardening now you may not make it. Unless you plant an abundance one bad year will can make the difference of dying that winter or early spring. Unless you can defend your garden, again, may make the difference between your children living and theirs.
Storing seeds is not the answer. Planting a garden and harvesting your own food and seeds are. Waiting until the stores are empty to decide you want to plant all those seeds you’ve been stocking up on is a big mistake. If you don’t have a garden in ask a neighbor to borrow a tiller, rent one, buy one, just make the decision to put in a garden in the spring but get it ready NOW!!
This is great advice. It’s best to started gardening BEFORE you need it for food because you will make lots of mistakes. Mistakes that will mean the end of you if you are relying on it for food.
Plus in most areas in the US, the soil is not ideal for growing. You will probably have to have some brought in and if the shtf, good luck with that……
We’ve had a garden for year but this year we experimented by planting only heirloom/non-hybrid seeds. I can tell you that you will get way less food from those plants. It is much harder.
But, the nice thing about heirlooms is all the seeds you harvest and are able to store for the following year. We have so many we couldn’t possibly use them (but I would be willing to barter with them!)
For the last several years, I have moved to container gardening.. there are MANY reasons. They only major drawback is that container gardening requires MUCH more water than ground based gardening. I get my containers, basically for free at several local nurseries. I have a very large pile of dirt that I orginally purchased in bags, but have recycled by adding compost and letting it “sit” for a few months. Container gardening is an excellent way to get started for the novice.. you can move them easily if needed and most soil born problems are reduced or eliminated..
Mr. B – for the last 2-3 years, I have been growing heirlooms exclusively; while I have seen some varieties which produce noticeably fewer fruits; most seem to produce is huge abundance.. maybe you should try some different varieties ? Just a thought.
Perhaps it was the variety or the company I got them from. I know the types we got work well in the South because I researched them.
We had lots of trouble with beans, corn and watermelons. Got little to nothing from them and in the past we’ve had super success with hybrids. In the exact same garden, using the exact same methods.
Maybe it was our hot summer here in Georgia. It was the hottest summer in 135 years! And very, very dry too. You literally could not water enough to make a difference.
I’ll bet container gardening is much better for weeds too! Something we really stuggle with.
Could you hook up a drip irrigation system for them? Might save some time.
What kind of containers do you get? Ones with holes in the bottom? The black ones they sell plants in?
Yes.. the black, flimsy things with the holes in the bottoms. They last a shockingly long time for feeling so flimsy. I’m going on year 3-4 with some of them, no apparent worse for the wear. The nurseries here are more than happy to part with all but the largest of pots; it PAYS to make sure that they know you are raising a veggie garden ( and not going into competition with them ). Get at least a 5 gallon size for tomatoes..
I am planning to try a drip irrigation system this year; I’ll let you know how it goes. Dragging the stinking hose around is way too much work.. I had more than 150 containers last year..
our first garden was a free swingset frame off of craigslist and 5 gallon buckets. The tomatoes were hung upside down and other vegies planted on the tops. Then we added buckets on both ends on the ground for pole beans and peas. Got quite a few comments but a decent harvest too. We only lost one bucket and that was an overloaded beef boy tomato plant. We ran a hose along the top and put the holes where needed. Amazingly easy, cheap, and not much room 🙂
Ever notice how rainwater makes plants grow better than well water or city water. I’m assuming it’s the Nitrogen.
Cruise a subdivision on trash day in the spring. Lots of them thrown out after decorative plants have been removed. Many are still on good condition.
Mr. Blutarsky:
To make your own fertile soil mix, look up “lasagana gardening”, Using scraps from the table, newspaper, etc, you can build an excellent soil with things you’d normally throw away. It takes only a month or so to turn this into a growing medium if you wet it down and turn it frequently.
save old newspapers and cardboard boxes- they are great for killing weeds and grass when you are planning your garden for spring. this year we did the hanging tomatoe thing on the clothes line poles. they dont take a lot of water and you cant overwater. produced pretty good. got the boxes and newspaper ready to put on ground for winter time. by spring this stuff will have rotted good and can be tilled or dug up with no weeds to mess with.
then the papers you save through the wintertime will make good shredded top dressing around your plants in spring and summer and will help hold water.
http://www.lasagnagardening.com/
I didn’t till up the yard. I put down (free) mostly unprinted cardboard to kill grass and put beds on top. The builder took most of the topsiol in my neighborhood. The manicured lawns could not survive without frequent watering and chemical applications.
Yep…..been saying for years the “go to” guy of the future is going to be the small, local producer of food in your area. Might as well be YOU.
The first key is to store LOTS of food while it’s still cheap and available. We have about 4 years in stock right now.
Then, learn to produce…..and it IS a learning process. Don’t think because you have a bunch of seeds stuck away you’re in business….there are so many things that can, and will, go wrong, which is one of the main reasons for “store LOTS of food”. Gain your experience, and make your mistakes, while there is still a grocery store to back you up. Learn the varieties that work in your area, and work for you…same with pests and diseases.
We have raised a 1/4ac garden for years, along with some Dexter cattle, couple pigs/yr, chickens, catfish in two ponds, and fruit trees.
This year, I added a new 1/2ac to the garden space, and am considering a 24×40 green house (unheated) for extending cool weather crops like cabbage, broccoli, lettuces, etc.
Start improving your soil NOW also. Don’t think you’re going to dig up a suburb lot and get much production out of it. Good soil takes time to build. Today, I can get a 20 ton load of chicken manure/sawdust from a local chicken farm for 300 bucks ( great stuff, by the way…vitually weed free compared to most manures, and much higher in nitrogen….so much so, you have to be careful and till it in for the NEXT year ), but in the future, that may be impossible to get. Same thing with other soil amendments….they are cheap ‘now’…..may be impossible to get later.
Learn to preserve what you grow….dry, can, pickle, and so on. Get the equipment and the supplies. I buy every canning lid Walmart has at the end of canning season when they put them on closeout…..probably got 5,000 lids and 1,000 jars.
Get started if you haven’t….better years too early than a day too late.
Good point about lots in the ‘burbs. Around here it’s common for builders to pan off topsoil and sell it.
I once bought a bag of “manure” from Home Despot. Had a lot of sand and gravel in it. Don’t remember THAT coming from a cow.
1. They will persuade you that you are the problem of the country. You bought, consumed, created debt, eat a lot, have guns, have kids, you are CHRISTIAN, and other shit.
2. Then some savior will come and screw your life today, for a better future in 60 years from now. It will be painful but your Sino-American grandkids will live a better life eating rise and producing crappy dolls for the rich kids of Swiss.
3. They will demonize your property, they will tax this property at the point in which you will curse yourself for buying it at the first place.
4. They will confiscate your guns, arms, or even your balls.
5. They will give you a nice job in a Chinese-German factory, in which you will work for 80 hours per week for 300 dollars per month.
Why all this list as an introduction?
Simply because it’s not for their interest to let you starve. They need cheap but healthy ants to work for Mr. Gates, Mr. Terner, Mrs Merckel, and Queen Elizabeth.
Don’t lose faith though. This is their plan. It doesn’t mean that it will come true. It’s up to us all boys and girls.
More reason to:
1. Grow it yourself
2. Buy as much as you can from local farmers – big or small – it would help keep your food source local and be less suseptible to transportation disruptions
3. Store lots of food now while there is plenty
The smart will survive and eat. Sadly, I predict a thinning of the herd (double meaning here).
I can provide the fertilizer.
we’re getting plenty of fertlizer out of D.C.
Things that you may want to check out if you’re really serious about becoming more self sufficient and producing a substantial portion of your own food.
1. You can buy produce locally in bulk when in season and reasonably priced and can it for use during the following year.
2. ‘Google’ Earth Box. They are self watering container gardens. Although you do need to keep the individual reservoirs topped off with water; they are pretty much maintenance free after you plant them. You can use either 5 gallon buckets or plastic tote boxes of various sizes.
3. Look into “Square Foot Gardening”.
4. Lots of plans and sources for specialty fittings out there on the internet to construct PVC greenhouses.
God Bless and good luck to all.
So now, in addition to the cooking of the flora and fauna of the entire northern hemisphere with Fukushima radiation, global weather-affecting oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico, chem-trails and poisonous food additives in EVERYTHING, we can now look forward to actual, government-mandated FAMINE.
This is not a new story by any stretch of the imagination — these people OPENLY announced their plans and goals over three decades ago:
“The resultant ideal sustainable [world] population is hence more than 500 million but less than one billion.”
–— Ervin Laszlo, President of the Club of Rome, in ‘Goals for Mankind,’ 1977
Wat is the Club of Rome? It is a global think tank that purports to deal with a variety of international political issues “of concern to all of humanity.” It was founded in 1968 at David Rockefeller’s estate in Bellagio, Italy and it consists of current and former Heads of State, UN bureaucrats, high-level politicians and government officials, diplomats, scientists, economists, and business leaders from around the globe. The Amerikan government is wholly OWNED by these people.
So what! 500 million is 1 out of 14 in the world-wide. There are already that many at risk of famine or experiencing it.
Those who can – do. Those who can’t – teach and preach.
It is a false presumption that those who can support themselves will be among the great die-off. It is even more ridiculous to think that the PTB will eliminate the productive sector. More probably they will be our greatest defenders.
Those who should be afraid are the CNPs (curious non-producers) and naugies (those who ride the naugehide). I’ll give you the benefit of doubt and presume your posting was for informational purposes only. Piss poor info though. 1977 was 34 years ago. Before many of the greatest agricultural and scientific advances we now enjoy. Before we had wholescale world-wide food distribution. Possibly before you were born.
The problem is not and never was production. It is distribution and utilization.
Of course I see things quite plainly. I’ll be the first to comment on the article.
#1 Arable land is not getting that much scarcer. If we are to ascribe any credibility to global warming, arable land is increasing. Proof? Look at a globe and see where the land mass is.
#2 Losing millions of acres a year to soil degredation and erosion? Just where did this number come from? Giving the author the benefit of doubt and assuming millions is at least 2.5 million, this equates to a bit over 60×60 miles a year. Once we discount the arable marginality of the equatorial rain forests converted to crop lands, what is the real number? Uh-huh.
#3 Creeping normanlcy bias is fact.
#4 JiT distribution and lack of warehoused food stocks is a real weakness in the system. Defecation occurs. You have prepped or you haven’t.
#5 The reason why ag has gone corporate is due to the return per acre hasn’t kept up with inflation. I grew up hearing the mantra of “get big or get out” by the co-op extension folks. Factor in free-trade and the stage is set for disruptions in the food distribution network. Every producer seeks maximum return for their product. Ergo food will go where the remuneration is greatest.
If you feed yourself, you will be among the 0.5-1 billion survivors. So please enlighten me. What is the problem?
We are born and we die. Been my observation that most just exist and few learn to live. Those who prepare have the peace of mind allowing them to enjoy life. Concern? Of course. Fear? Why? Have I been hungry? Ever eaten a spoonful of Crisco and sworn it was the best food you have ever tasted? Don’t talk with your mouth full.
Over the Edge, that’s a lot of useless information and preaching there, bub. Growing one’s own food and discussing the world food situation are NOT mutually exclusive.
Why do you object to my having MERELY stated the publicly-proclaimed AGENDA of the powers-that-be? With a QUOTE and citation by one of their own mouthpieces, no less?
FYI — I was NOT talking about starvation for a Billion people. As you apparently did not understand, though it was clearly stated in my comment, the agenda of the round table groups that really call the shots in this world is to get RID of 6 to 6.5 BILLION people and “allow” only FIVE hundred MILLION OR A BILLION to SURVIVE.
Why does discussing the MENTALITY of the people who run our society agitate you? Do you think discussing the criminal mind automatically implies a paralyzing FEAR of the criminal, as opposed to a merely prudent consideration of his potential actions?
I propose that there is no way to prepare for what’s coming unless one knows the real motivations of the enemy.
Thanks Al. Time for me to endeavour to abstain from posting. You all have it all figured out and no sense me passing on anything I’ve learned since the first Arab oil embargo nor anything I’ve learned from the last 28 years of actually living the life. Besides, it was your post that said “get rid of”, not Laszlo’s.
The supposed PTB aren’t masters of the universe. Hell they can’t even master a urinal. Still pissing on the floor and each other’s legs. Why do you suppose they are in such a panic to bail out all the too-big-to-fails (banks, auto manufacturers, etc)? Maybe cause they are in debt too?
Those who quote scripture for our salvation are arrogant. Why would god bother with us. He/she/they/it
will pick through the ash and trash once we die. It is even been posted that we HAVE to stand by Israel. Why? Ooo, maybe if we don’t we will all burn? Bullshit. BTW, the rapture is for 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. The xian rapture is the result of an obscure British preacher attempting to keep his congregation from leasving the church. Don’t believe anything I say. Look it up. You will find that that piece of shit was credited as the father of evangelism.
Besides, got the taters dug, veggies to get in, harvest seeds, wash rocks and finish filling my woodshed. One thing I have learned is time waits on no man. Starting to freeze hereabouts, so gotta get ready to hand-dig my well. BTW, how you gonna cut firewood? Axe? Without lots of experience, you will have to learn to stitch yourself up (It ain’t as easy as you saw on “Rambo”). Ever think about a cross-cut saw? Naw, betcha ain’t thought of that. Ain’t gonna bother explaining about light volatiles and 2-cycle engines cause you know it all.
Ain’t gonna apologize for doing what the army taught me to do. Explain and train. As the money dries up, gonna me a mass exodus from rural Alaska. Think I’ll spend my time with the few hard-core survivors that will remain in this area. Like me, they are already doing and have been for decades.
Oh, I’ll stop by on occaision and lurk. This site is good for some info and a hearty laugh as well as serious head shaking. Cause if you ain’t already doing, no amount of supplies will pull you and your’s through. But like I said earlier in this post, you already have it all figured out. Good luck with that and keep us posted if you can find a dsl connection in the refugee camp.
OTE….for what its worth I enjoy your unique insight from your experience and location,I hope you continue to post/teach…regardless of the naysayers… 🙂
Agree that the leech class is in for a shock. They are the favored group now because of the existing society (votes, etc). If the survival/comfort of the uber-rich is threatened, that will change.
There are SOME “useless eaters” on planet Earth.
Here is the joke of the day. 🙂
Psychiatrists v’s Bartenders
Ever since I was a child, I’ve always had a fear of someone under my bed at night. So I went to a shrink and told him
‘I’ve got problems. Every time I go to bed I think there’s somebody under it. I’m scared. I think I’m going crazy.’
‘Just put yourself in my hands for one year,’ said the shrink. ‘Come and talk to me three times a week and we should be able to get rid of those fears..’
‘How much do you charge?’ I asked
‘Eighty dollars per visit,’ replied the doctor.
‘I’ll sleep on it,’ I said.
Six months later the doctor met me on the street.
‘Why didn’t you come to see me about those fears you were having?’ he asked.
‘Well, I said eighty dollars a visit three times a week for a year is an awful lot of money! A bartender cured me for $10. I was so happy to have saved all that money that I went out and bought me a new pickup truck!’
‘Is that so!’ he said -with a bit of an attitude- ‘and how, may I ask, did a bartender cure you?’
‘He told me to cut the legs off the bed! – Ain’t nobody under there now !!!’
FORGET THE SHRINKS.. HAVE A DRINK & TALK TO A BARTENDER!
May your troubles be less, your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door!
🙂 Thanks.
Long time no jokes by the way. So ….
There goes a guy to some sex doctor and says:
– Doc, i have a small sexual problem.
– And what maybe this?
– I cannot have sex with my wife sir, and this causes problems to my marriage.
– Ok let me see.
So the doc makes some tests, takes blood, uses the mikroscope,, and other stuff, and comes to the conclusion:
– I must tell you that you don’t have anything at all. Probably it’some kind of psychosis, but in any case take this pill. But listen up. From the time you take the pill you must have sex within one hour, otherwise your winnie will explode.
– Ok doctor, i will take the pill now and i will drive back to my home for the rest.
So our fella drinks the pill and drives home. But unfortunatelly he hits a traffic jam, a demonstration, and a construction area. He manages to reach home 5 minutes before the deadline. He enters his house but his wife is gone for shopping.
Totally stressed he calls the doctor:
– Hey doc. I’m home but my wife is not here. What should i do?
– There is no solution. You must have sex. Is there some other woman there?
– Yes, it’s the maid and cleans the house.
– Rush man, have sex with the maid.
– Doc, i don’t have problem to have sex with maid. It’s my wife that i cannot have sex with.
+100
Some of the most useful advise I ever received was from an (obviously) alcoholic hillbilly at an auto parts store.
“Hillbilly” is not always a disparaging label. Many of them have wisdom that is often purged from minds at institutions of “higher learning”, where common sense is not so common anymore.
In this animated video about pending hyper-inflation they do a good job of briefly describing food shortages and empty store shelves that have happened in the past. Supports the main thrust of the SHTFPLAN article.
Also, note the part where Cypress Semiconductor CEO T.J. Rodgers agrees that higher U.S. wages are Not the reason America has lost jobs, anti-business laws are,… It doesn’t look like things are going to get better:
http://www.stansberryresearch.com/pro/1011PSISBBVD/PPSIM902/PR
Food Related….
DH has a co-worker who has a honey business on the side. Due to the drought his normal harvest of (38) 55 gallon drums was reduced to (1) 55 gallon drum this year! BTW ~ We’re in Texas.
Poor fellow. I feel for him. My sister lives near Houston and said they have issued water conservation orders. Drought is a terrible thing. Reminds me of The Grapes of Wrath, which was based on the actual Dust Bowl families of the 1930s. No rain, crops withered and died, people starved. On another note, BHO ended his speech tonight with something like “Let’s bring America back to the great country she is.” (Yes, let’s – vote for RON PAUL!!!)
I hope Texas gets rain but doesnt get flooded when it comes. I posted awhile back about how we hadnt gotten any rain here for a month and how the crops were suffering…well that was then,we have gotten 2 deep wheelbarrows filled to over flowing in the last few weeks(20″?) anyhow after the rain came the temps dropped alot,went from 90s to the low 70s upper 60s for highs…40s and 50s at night … that caused the late blight to start.Ive fed more tomatoes to the hogs than Ive canned,all rotted or badly infected…only took a week to go from perfect to awful…thank God I had alot of area planted and spread out….lots of green tomato relish 🙂 taters are small but still got several 100 lbs in the root cellar…next year more tomatoes and taters go into high tunnels as anything under cover didnt get hit… I build them portable and easily disassembled so the taxman can be evaded or the food ends up costing too much…the leeches 🙁 hope y’all have good harvests and many more 🙂
An interesting thing I’ve noticed in my extensive travels “South” of the border is the amazingly poor quality of produce being sold in stores and sometimes, even at road side markets ( though much less so ). I asked several friends about it and their reply was that the “good” stuff gets bagged, tagged and shipped to the US, Canada and Europe. The only stuff left is the mis-shappen, overly large or small or the blemished. Although it is by their choice, many “producing” countrys are already “suffering” in order to ship their best to higher paying markets.
thats odd..some of the best produce i have ever eaten and tasted (tasted!) was when i was in south america Peru to be exact..when you say “south of the border” i assume you mean Mexico? correct? I cant comment on their produce.
but as far as taste and real fruit and vegatables (not this GMO shit we get shoved at us).. Peru has the taste thing locked up as far as i care..Im sure they export too. But if you ever get the chance to travel to Peru..try everything!
real red tomatoes..that taste like tomatoes..bananas to die for..peaches, etc… i could go on all day..no fake shit there..why? because fake shit costs money, and they dont waste money on fake shit in that country, it wont sell..and speaking of selling..its a hell of a lot less $$ to eat there then here, and the food taste better, and fresh. IMO
Yes, Mexico.. when I buy from the street stands, the quality is much better.. Mexico, because of proximity and several other reasons, ships one butt load of produce to the US. I’ve noticed as you go further South, the quality goes way up. Panama has absolutely amazing fruits and veggies.. cheaper than dirt to ( literally ). Peru is on my list.. if the food there is anything like it is in Brazil.. on my gosh.. absolutely incredible food..
~~~The only plausible solutions are a return to personal farming practices, or at the very least, local community farming in one way or another.~~~
Add to that bartering…Kentucky will not have starving people..there are acres and acres not used—farmers with tractors and equipment, granted there is gas, will sow the seed, and it will be a community effort.
That’s where bartering will come in—I supervise/teach your children, you work in those fields, and share your crop with me.
Even if a situation caused gas to not be delivered>>> the gas in vehicles in a community alone would suffice for tractors to plant, and harvest crops.
After that—better get that horse/mule hooked up.
It’s gonna happen people..no doubt.
If the JIT supply chain broke, I would keep doing what I am already doing. Growing my own, hunting, bartering with others, storing (can, dehydrate, etc.), and hoping for the best. I would certainly like to learn how to grow sugar beets so I can produce my own sugar though. Come to think of it, maybe I oughta get more salt since there isn’t exactly a local supply here!
My granddaddy grew sugar cane–I still remember the stacked huts of sugar cane we played in/under….1955.
fed up—don’t forget the herb, stevia.
JJ: Hey I tried some stevia,it has a terrible after taste. what do you suggest?
When the dollar collapses OPEC will no longer accept dollars in exchange for oil. We import 70% of our oil. When that’s gone our economy will grind to a halt. There may not be enough fuel to transport food to the grocery store. Or there may be food there but most people won’t be able to afford to buy it. Or when hyperinflation hits the government will institute price controls that will cause the stores to be empty. Or flash mobs will raid grocery stores and leave without paying. Leaving behind empty stores and forcing others to close. The bottom line is that you need to have a year’s supply of food NOW. Events could happen rapidly that could make it impossible to get enough food later at any price.
Bill S; No dollar collapse Bill. How can it collapse when everyone wants it?
The flash mobs won’t leave the stores empty. The stores will be littered with the 30% of food the mobs destroy and will also be burning.
I’m stocking up on candy and donuts. Oddly, after eating the donuts I get the urge to go out and club someone.
It’s not the donuts, HS – it’s the human beings you run into that suffer from a bad case of the stupids and NEED clubbing.
BTW – thanks for the Hat tip Mac
Here’s my joke of the day..
Our Glorious Leader is addressing a joint session of Congress tonight.. shortly after, unemployment will disappear; the deficit will vanish and the dollar index will hit 250. All of our problems will evaporate and cats will no longer have to run from dogs.
Wasn’t that FUNNY ?????
If not, it’s because the joke is on US.
He reads a damn GOOD teleprompter!
Probably made in Japan.
Each family in this country should have the following:
1. Solar Panels and Wind mills for extra power.
2. Some type of alternative powered vehicle.
3. Garden Boxes in the yard for vegetables.
4. A Hydroponic Gardening setup in there basement for year-round food production, powered by the solar.
5. A secondary kitchen setup for canning and food prep.
6. A root cellar for food storage.
7. A battery powered lawn mower that recharges from the solar panels.
8. Chickens, to provide eggs, meat, and fertalizer(and company when the wife is mad!)
All these things are possible and yet people dont have them or even think its possible. Its a shame that life has to fall all to poop before people wake up. And for the people that think they are just going to garden when to food runs out, good luck! Read the following statement carefully—–“YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!”
Spodie: Don’t forget to tell folks to save the egg shells, crush em up fine as power, and use them to restore calcium to their soil.
Battery powered lawnmower? You gotta be joking. Once SHTF, you don’t have time for frivolous water consuming crap like a lawn. Till it and plant veggies.
Chicken are a good choice for small livestock if you can grow the feed. One good choice for chickens and people is lambsquarter. Small plants – fresh greens. Larger – cooked greens. Seed for grain and sprouts. Sprouts for chickens or people.
Cheap easy source of alt energy for gas engines; producer gas.
OMG–your post just made me think of my next door neighbor—without gas, she won’t be able to mow every 3 days—she will go batty, plumb, ridiculously insane!!!
Wow–am I laughing!!!
I will not have a yard but everyone else will and I will be able to mow lawns for money or other usefull things. Not only am I prepping for survival but I am also planning on how I can survive financially. You can sit in your house all you want to and eat your rice and beans, but eventually you will have to be productive in some shape or form.The Great Depression produced alot of rich people, people that thought out different ways to make, save, and invest money. People with usefull skills will be in a great position to survive in shtf times. When there is no gas or power you can bet there will still be idiots that are more concerned about there yards than their well being, I say we also prep for those situations aswell. There is more to prepping than Beans, Bullets, and Bandaids.
Well, here’s my latest food storage find!!
http://www.augasonfarms.com/food-storage/everyday-size/one-month-pack
It’s a super selection of 48 #2.5 size cans. Every can
comes with its own plastic lid for resealing after opening and you don’t need a can opener as they have pull-tops. Perfect for partial invalids, elderly even 8 year-olds !! All you need is water to make them up. It evens has cream of wheat cereal a baby or toddler could eat as well. Best of all……It was on my front door in under 3 weeks. Check it out if you are single or an apartment prepper.
And, yes I also have a winter garden plot started as well. Seeds ordered and held over for planting, in the refrigerator. We will make it………
We got some of these smaller cans of all kinds of freeze dried fruits, vegetables and even meat…. everything you need from http://www.shelfreliancesanantonio.com They offer a discount so we got it there. Once we tried the food and saw how good it was we also ordered some of the large #10 cans. It’s a great way to try the food!
I’ve been buying Augason farms Products for awhile now , Happy. If you have a Sam’s Club card, some Sam’s Stores sell the products out of the warehouse or you can go to the Sam’s website for even better deals. Check the website weekly as they always seem to have special on one item or another. PS: Great minds think alike , eh?
More and more now is the time to learn to grow http://www.bereadytosurvive.com your own food supply and learn how to harvest the rain.
Is anyone planning to grow food indoors this winter? I’m going to try salad greens and herbs for sure – I think they’ll do okay in a sunny window.
Sagan says: Meet a gent at our farmers market last weekend while discussing dehydration with one of the vendor-farmer and followed us to our car. Told us about microgreens…grow on windowsill. Says his neighbors would probably steal his garden harvest but would overlook all his seeds. http://www.growingmicrogreens.com/sprouting-accessories. Check it out.
Met a gent at our farmers market last weekend while discussing dehydration with one of the vendor-farmer and followed us to our car. Told us about microgreens…grow on windowsill. Says his neighbors would probably steal his garden harvest but would overlook all his seeds. http://www.growingmicrogreens.com/sprouting-accessories. Check it out.
I’m growing mine outside this winter.. I’m in So Flo.. 😉
My daughter is gung-ho (for now) at growing sprouts and herbs in the basement. I’m going to be a grow bulb as the only thing that grows in an Upstate NY winter is snowbanks.
my favorite “cold frame” is the porch swing on the sun deck and a clear contractor bag… hey, it works very well.
Recent check of the okie homestead shows the following inventory: Pecan trees (50), wild plums(lots), blackberries(out the wazoo), 1 pear tree, 2 ponds (1 dry, 1 spring fed), woodlot (10 acres), pasture grass(very dry, 30 acres), garden spot (4 acres, all bone dry and heat blasted), new coop w/ a few chickens, pig pen (empty, awaiting next resident-previous resident moved into our freezer), ramshackle old house, water well w/new pump, weeds (gazillions), lambs qtr, poke salat(yes it’s spelled that way!), few other wild edibles that I aint been brave enough to try yet, wood stove, tons of wood cut and split, full 400gal propane tank, 2 tiny solar panels, cranky middle-aged geezer (1), woman who puts up with him(1), mortgage- paid off yrs ago, yrly property taxes- $0, neighbors within half mile radius- (6), bad neighbors – none, all roads blacktop in excellnt shape, nearest small highway- 3 miles, nearest interstate- 60 miles, nearest walmart- 15 miles, couple of rusty but functional tractors, cash on hand $14.55 (less after we go to dinner tonight), total rainfall in last 4 months- 7/10ths inch, days above 100 degrees this summer- 71…
I’m thinking of selling out and moving to Vegas. Any takers? (note- geezer and woman not included in deal)
and barter may be possible if you have gold, silver, or a younger woman.
Okie: Thats dinner for 4 right?
I’ll take it!
Everywhere I go the temperature plummets and it participates like crazy. This past winter I thought I was escaping Upstate NY winter by going to Houston for a week a month for a project at work. Of course the very first time I go( 1st week of Feb 2011) they get an ice storm!
Not sure of the age of yours, but you can have mine and I’ll through in an extra gold piece or two.
Can we pick and choose? I have the old house and the geezer but wouldn’t mind a pear tree…:)
Growing and storing your own food is laubable,however one should take into account that plan could also fail,
Thus i would advise the knowledge of edible plants. Those that grow in your are,where they grow at, and how to proceed in processing them. It could make the difference between life and death in dire times.
Living in Arizona above 5000 feet i have spent the last few years spending much time hiking in the mountains near my house and have idetified several key species that grow in abundance,
as examples,pricklypear,cholla,manzanita,bull thistles,russian thistle, sunflowers,agave,pinyon,as well as other pines,juniper,amaranth,along with some plants that are not as profuse but would do in a pinch,roses-for the hips,cattails,oak,yucca.
One parting thought about edibles from nature from the book of Daniel:4:32
And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee
4:33
The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen,
4:34
And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
Almost all grass seed is edible.
Brushman: Great idea, what does the prickley pear jelly taste like? Do you cook any of these plants or eat them raw?
Prickly pear fruit kind of tastes like watermelon,some of the above list can be eaten raw,rose hips,prickly pear fruit,@pinyon or pine nuts. And others need to be cooked,cholla cactus,agave,@ the thistles,The prckly pear pad could be eaten raw or cooked.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/2039/2
Prickly pears, raw
Calories61.1(256 kJ)3% From Carbohydrate51.1(214 kJ) From Fat6.4(26.8 kJ) From Protein3.7(15.5 kJ)
Calcium83.4mg8%Iron0.4mg2%Magnesium127mg32%Phosphorus35.8mg4%Potassium328mg9%
Total Carbohydrate14.3g5%Dietary Fiber5.4g21%
Vitamin A64.1IU1%Retinol0.0mcg Retinol Activity Equivalent3.0mcg Alpha Carotene0.0mcg Beta Carotene37.2mcg Beta Cryptoxanthin4.5mcg Lycopene~ Lutein+Zeaxanthin~ Vitamin C20.9mg35% Vitamin D~ ~Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol)~ ~Beta Tocopherol~ Gamma Tocopherol~ Delta Tocopherol~ Vitamin K~ ~Thiamin0.0mg1%Riboflavin0.1mg5%Niacin0.7mg3%Vitamin B60.1mg4%Folate8.9mcg2%
Read More http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/2039/2#ixzz1XKdyDXp0
Just pick up a few manuals and educate yourself and search for plants in your area.
Christopher Nyerges has an informative book (Guide to wild foods and useful plants)
http://www.christophernyerges.com/store.htm#books
flagstaff is a nice city, do you live in or near it? I was just there, very livable in a shtf scenario, also lots of deer and elk.
Prescott, may be moving to Utah soon tho,which doesnt bother me as mormons are generaly major preppers and self sufficient types,and Utah is a rugged mountainous land.I do not beleive that Arizona would be a great place as it would have problems with large city populations. Phoenix and the Tuscon along with California and Mexico being on its borders makes me think in a shtf situation being north of the Grand canyon would put a major barrier between me and the Golden Horde.
The corp won’t let you grow your own food. The corp says that you can’t have your own land. The corp says what you can do. The corp only wants you to grow food for the corp. Then the corp will corporatize the corporate profits and get all corpy on your ass. Then the corp will grow it’s own food and not let you have any because well..shit..they are the corp. And we all know what the corp does. They get all corpy and shit. Dam corp!
If the corp’s come we will see who is the first corpse, to fall.
Try a disk of plastic or plywood in the tops of the containers helps to keep water in…piling hay or straw around the container helps cut the heat down that causes evaporation ….hoophouses and high tunnels also help you control the enviroment,Im building more….as I and others keep saying, growing food isnt something you wake up one morning and decide to do…you better be working at it or you will fail when pressure gets on…not to be negative just real…been living the back to the land life for nearly 50 years and still wont claim to be an expert,too much can go right but too much can also go wrong,raise the bulk of what I and my family eat and yet I still come up short sometimes so please for you and yourns sakes plant something and work it out before you wish you had….
Three great books to have on hand are: “The Winter Harvest Handbook” and “Four Season Harvest”, both by Eliot Coleman. Coleman, who is in Maine, uses unheated greenhouses. Another good book is “The New Seed Starters Handbook” by Nancy Bubel. One more….. Back in 1983 I got to meet Tom Brown at a book signing. Brown went on to start a successful survival training school out west. The signed book I got from him is a treasure trove of
survival info that you might want to pick up: “Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Wilderness Survival”.
BTW, For alcohol another great book, “The Alaskan Bootlegger’s Bible” by Leon W. Kania. I use to help a friend who had a small still, make shine in his garage. Unfortunately he lent the still out to another friend who lost his shop in a fire and the still was destroyed. That friend did tell us when he was making shine he used to dump the corn mash out by the woods. The squirrels would eat the corn mash, get inebriated to the point of falling over, and the friend would walk down and pick them off with a .22 rifle.
Does that qualify as “pickled” meat ?
Growing indoors is a great way to produce your own food, and also protect it. Everything we eat can be grown indoors it takes the effort to learn how. Hydroponics is a great thing and there should be a bigger push to see it happen. Its amazing what you can grow in your average walk-in closet.
Food shortages are a huge issue but what is even worse we could soon find ourselves on the verge of a major water crisis. We have always been able to take for granted that there would always be plenty of fresh water. But unfortunately that is rapidly changing.
Poorly written. Hardly one specific detail in the lot, but lots of generalities and possibilities. Niether of which is news worthy.
The premise is definately correct, but this topic should be more clearly defined.
You can do better.