Living off the land..

[mikea46996]

Assuming TSHTF in our lifetime I would like to get others opinions on somethings. Please feel free to add your knowledge.

Most people today have never even planted a flowerbed let alone a self-sustaining garden. Being a former Chitcongo resident now an implant "hillbilly" I can say that is true. I plant a garden every year now, I have 10 fruit trees that had a small crop last year and should produce well this year.

But most people in urban areas don't have a clue and even if they did planting the day TSHTF will not feed you at that point, you must be prepared ahead of time. I envision a 50% or more population decrease the first year.

Most people are Anti-gun even the ones who have now decided (since November)to get a gun, first have very little idea on how to use them, second have very little ammo, third have probably never used them to put food on the table.

You won't be able to go to the grocery store. I raise 24 pullets and one cockeral it supplies me with eggs and meat when I cull the group. Baby chicks are resupplied from my own stock. I plan on starting a small pork raising operation this year if finances straighten out some. How many people that you know have no idea where that egg in their omlet comes from.

Prepared food will be a thing of the past. I know people who can't cook. How will they eat? No Mickey D's in PAW.

Fishing, I know people that have never fished in their lives and I am sure you do to. Most think a trout line is used to catch trout.

One person will not survive long on their own it takes a group effort, if everyone of us only knew 2 other people with skills imagine the possibilities.

When the power goes out for a couple days due to a storm people freak out imagine those same people without power, EVER. Many have no candles or lamps.

Heating, hmmmmmm no power means no heat even if the gas is still flowing or you have propane. How many people have a back-up system? A wall mount propane fired IR heater or fireplace. How many have the wood? Cutting it down after TSHTF isn't gonna work very well for heat that instant.

Just rambling on here so I am done for know. Just food for thought.

 

[kludge]

If SHTF then there will be another 6,350,000 people who are also unprepared trying to live off the land.

That's one deer or squirrel per person in Indiana. The fish might last a little longer. If you like carp. Then what?

Better to have enough food at home to get you through. And a way to heat it.

 

[jeremy]

Kludge I bet at least a third of the population will just line up at the grocery stores and restaurants and demand food. The next third will be to busy trying to take what they "need". And the last third will be the ones who either knew how to hunt and survive first or were prepared for it.

Wanna bet?

 

[kludge]

OK, with 2,100,000 people hunting that's still not enough deer and squirrels.

 

[jamisan01]

Excellent thoughts Mikea, I believe you are 100% on the right track. I am currently making plans to begin construction on my first chicken coop. Despite being raised in a small rural area, I've never had the need or desire to become a "farmer"....until recently. I too am planting a much larger garden than ever before, and unfortunately, will just be getting my fruit trees started this spring. I hope everyone on this site reads your words of wisdom and gives it some very serious thought.

 

[Go Devil]

OK, with 2,100,000 people hunting that's still not enough deer and squirrels.

Keep an eye on the family pets and farm stock!

 

[clt46910]

Would you want to be in the woods with that many starving non-hunters trying to shoot some food?

 

[jeremy]

Would you want to be in the woods with that many starving non-hunters trying to shoot some food?

No but I am thinking Darwinism is going to help us hunters out quite a bit.

 

[WhitleyStu]

It is my belief that you are giving urban people too much credit. Look how fast law and order breaks down (L.A. riots or Katrina for example). It only takes a matter of hours. Look at the line at the grocery when there is a snow storm predicted. Most people have only a day or two of essentials. If the SHTF be prepared to have unwanted visitors in a matter of hours, not days or weeks. I live in the country and we garden .25 acre. Even the neighboring farmers no longer garden, but buy canned foods. My wife cans from our garden, but can't find hardly any other farm women that know how to put up fruits and veggies. Being self sufficient is a lost art to 98% + of the population. We are the minority...

 

[mikea46996]

If SHTF then there will be another 6,350,000 people who are also unprepared trying to live off the land.

That's one deer or squirrel per person in Indiana. The fish might last a little longer. If you like carp. Then what?

Better to have enough food at home to get you through. And a way to heat it.

kludge I think you missed my point try the point of aim instead of 6'oclock on this one bud.

What I am saying is are there others like me who are preparing for when the fecal matter hits the rotating air displacement device?

I have been doing this for several years but have recently put it into high gear.

Water, Food, Shelter in that order. Defensive abilities are a top priority to be able to maintain those three so I figured some one here shared my mind set. I am not concerned with the 6,350,000 people who unprepared and TRYING to live off the land. I am more concerned with my family and group.

To the others who understand what I was saying thank you for your input it is nice to know I am not alone on this.

 

[melensdad]

I envision a 50% or more population decrease the first year.

I think this number is way to high. Maybe 10% but not 50% will die. Then again your version of SHTF and my version of SHTF may be somewhat different.

That said, I'd agree with the vast majority of what you wrote. I think you are right on target with the fruit trees and other things.

Can you imagine how things would be different if every suburban home had just 1 or 2 fruit trees on their property and a small patch garden? Just that simple little change would be a HUGE help. It won't solve things, but it will help. Now in addition to that what if 10 or 15% of those suburban homeowners would 'can' some of their food for use in the winter. Again, it won't solve things but it will help.

One of our big problems is we Americans demand fresh fruit 'in season' even during off season. We can now get fresh strawberries all year long. This is a problem because we now IMPORT more of our food than we produce. We were a nation that fed the world. We now depend on the world to supply us with food that we import instead of grow.

Honestly I think growing a garden and putting up food is more important that stockpiling guns and ammo.

 

[mikea46996]

Thank you melensdad great post!!!!!!

I just bought two books on canning for the past several years i have had more strawberries then I can use and at least 60% or more of my harvest goes bad. But I always buy strawberry jam when i go shopping, How dumb is that.

Starting out was alittle pricey but I figure it will save me a great deal on food once I have a system running. Plus there is nothing better then fresh eggs, fruit, and vegies.

I just purchased today 10 grape vines, 20 blackberry bushes, and 20 blueberry bushes so i figure in 2 years they should be producing at capacity.

I wish I had the room for a dairy cow and two beef cows. I am looking into purchasing the farm feild across the street from my home hopefully I will be able to.

Fresh Salsa, pasta sauce, pickles, jams, preserves, fruit, veggies. MMMM

Now if I could grow bananas I would never have to hit the produce aisle again.

 

[melensdad]

Skip the farm field. You can grow all the food you need on 1 or 2 acres. Heck some people do it on 1/10th of an acre but use INTENSIVE gardening practices (but they also live in a milder climate).

Buy a book called Square Foot Gardening. I recommend it as the #2 book right behind a good Bible. Square Foot Gardening will teach you more than you ever thought you could learn and will show you how to do it in a reasonably small space with less labor, fewer weeds, fewer chemicals, etc.

Also consider buying a Vacuum sealer and a food dehydrator.

I don't do animals like chickens and cows but we make our own 'sundried' tomatoes, and other food in a dehydrator. Vacuum seal them and they will stay good for a month or more WITHOUT refrigeration or you can freeze them and they stay good for years. Peppers, onions, potatoes, and several root crops dehydrate well and store for many many months in a vacuum sealed bag or vacuum sealed mason jar. Use them in soups or stews.

A few basic things like a pressure canner, a dehydrator and a vacuum sealer are things that every family should have to help them store their produce.

 

[Ashkelon]

Try the Doyle Blackberries. Excellent yield incredibly sweet and thornless. TASTY.
You are not alone. There are many of us that are getting our peas and lettuce and carrots going now. I look around and wonder what the hell are these people going to do? Scary.

 

[clfergus]

I just finished reading a book titled 'Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse' by James Wesley Rawles.

Here is the description on Amazon:
A fast-paced novel that follows a group of Christian survivalists through a stock market crash, an economic collapse, and a second civil war. It is packed with useful information on how to survive a disaster.

I am sure some have read this book. while it is fiction...it is written to give you ideas on how to survive and what to expect. It is scary how the start of the book mirrors what is going on now and it was written back in 1999. The author is a former intelligence officer. I found it useful. Might be extreme sometimes but I enjoyed it.

 

[mikea46996]

No I am fine with the garden I have I was saying I would like to have a dairy cow and two beef cattle thats why I want to aquire the land across the road.

I just bought a dehydrator. My next purchase will be a pressure canner and a smoker.

I am hoping to get my mom's old vacuum sealer I bought it new for her last christmas and I have never heard he say she used it.

 

[clt46910]

I think one of the problems we will run into is people stealing out of our gardens at night. I use dogs to keep deer, rabbits, coons, etc out of my garden now. They do a good job. Not so sure how they will work out with people. I think if food does become hard to get, that will be one of our biggest problems, not fighting off the riotous crowds.

 

[mikea46996]

I think one of the problems we will run into is people stealing out of our gardens at night. I use dogs to keep deer, rabbits, coons, etc out of my garden now. They do a good job. Not so sure how they will work out with people. I think if food does become hard to get, that will be one of our biggest problems, not fighting off the riotous crowds.

This is the reason you need family and friends a nice MAG..

You cannot be awake 24/7 and you can't tend to everything that needs attention and maintain security.

If somebody especially with children was to ask me for the produce because they are hungry I would gladly give them some and send them on their way, but if you are found stealing from me it is possibly the last place you will be found.

While I am a relatively good shot and a pretty good farmer and carpenter/millwright I couldn't sew a hole in my pants to save my life. Every person needs to have a useful skill in a group. NOBODY will make it on their own.

 

[jeremy]

I think one of the problems we will run into is people stealing out of our gardens at night. I use dogs to keep deer, rabbits, coons, etc out of my garden now.

I use wind chimes to keep the critters out of my garden.
My wife ruined my dogs for this task. They like to eat tomatoes. And peppers.

 

[clt46910]

I use wind chimes to keep the critters out of my garden.
My wife ruined my dogs for this task. They like to eat tomatoes. And peppers.

Many years ago, my Dad and his next door neighbor would grow large gardens out behind the houses. Dad had a female lab that would sneak into the neighbor's garden and steal tomatoes out of it. She was very careful and pulled very easy until the tomato came loose. Then she would eat it down.

The neighbor loved it and thought it was the funniest thing he ever seen. Neighbor always claimed he had the best garden because the dog would only steal from his garden, not Dad's...LOL