View Full Version : Self-Reliance vs. Preparedness - Getting there.
I haven't posted a lot in this section, but read along quite a bit.
My goal is self-reliance more than preparing for EOTWAWKI scenarios..not necessarily exclusive of each other, but I think situations where I want to be less dependant on the world are more than a large scale natural disaster. My goal is to be able to survive one year, with as little outside input as possible.
But its all a journey anyway, and I take small steps each week. I thought I'd share them here and maybe get some ideas from the rest of you on future plans.
In the past year, I've moved from a small town back to a more rural location..just an acre of land, but its enough for what I need and the house is compact and solid with a decent outbuilding and a large garden spot, as well as a well and septic system.
There's a rec room in the basement that used to have a woodstove installed. I picked up a Vermont Castings stove a couple weeks ago and will get it in this summer.
I signed up for an EMT-Basic class and will finish in a few weeks.
I've learned to knit socks and hats, etc. Mostly for fun since I've crocheted for years, but also because its a good skill to have. Yeah, ok. I'm stretching that one. I do it because I like it and eventually, it will give me a reason to buy a couple of alpacas and learn to spin.
I've bought books on raising chickens and plan to start a small flock in May. I also have a couple of rabbit hutches for raising meat rabbits, but probably won't do that quite yet. Too many other irons in the fire.
I bought a reel mower off Craig's list. I'm going to use it..on the front yard only. Good workout.
I've picked up odds and ends at rummage sales..more canning jars, an antique meat grinder, etc.
Shot a couple each of carbine and pistol classes last year. Worked on shooting ambidextrously.
Worked out a few times a week. No point in being self-reliant if I die of heart disease in my 50s.
So..what this year?
Build a chicken coop. I'm going to build a tractor style, but am still working on plans that are functional and yet don't make my yard look like the Clampetts live here. I'm planning on raising Isa Browns..3 or 4.
Plant a large garden. There's a decent size spot already but I'm going to add ~50% to it. Lots of tomatos, onions, squash and peppers. My gardening in the past few years has been limited to a few 4x8 beds, so I'm geeked about fresh veggies and jars of spaghetti sauce.
Another carbine and another pistol class.
Learn to spin. See my excuse for knitting. :)
Plant more edible plants around the property. I'd like to plant nut trees but there's not a lot of room. Asparagus, some raspberries. There's already rhubard (blech) and crab apple trees.
Probably put in a new well, as the existing one is a 40 year old caseless 2" and difficult to get water out of without power.
Learn to reload.
Run my first 5k. Running has always been something that I'm Not Good At so this will be a challenge. But May 30th, I'm on.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.
SeriousStudent
04-06-09, 20:56
And you are so, so far ahead of most people that it is wonderful! :)
Electrical power? Have you thought about a small genny or UPS?
Any Rx or long-term medicines you need? Vitamins?
Cut and stack wood for the stove?
Test kit and purifier for the water well?
Pigs are a bit of work, but will eat anything. And taste ever so wonderful when smoked and/or cured.
Another poster on this section can tell you about her "square foot gardener" book.
Best of luck to you! :)
RogerinTPA
04-06-09, 20:59
Sounds like you are well prepared Barbara. More than most of us who live in the "Hurricane States". I have considered exactly what you are doing for quite a while (Minus the Nitting :p). If I can sell my condo, that will be my next step, for a fall back position in the country. May I suggest you might consider "Getting off the Grid" eventually, with a backup generator, a buried fuel tank, solar panels on the roof, and a wind mill, so if things do go south, you'll have several alternative means of power. I'd add a Ham radio, satellite TV or at least a multi-channel radio with a solar panel or hand crank so you can stay abreast with any developing situation. Of course all of this is income dependent and at least something worth saving up for. Hopefully, your land doesn't lay along major evacuation routes and thoroughfares and is easily defensible with family members and or gun toting friends.
And you are so, so far ahead of most people that it is wonderful! :)
Electrical power? Have you thought about a small genny or UPS?
Considered it but decided against it. Gennies require a lot of resources and I'd prefer not to need one. So far, so good.
Any Rx or long-term medicines you need? Vitamins?
Thyroid medication. I keep 1.5 years on hand, but that's about as long as it keeps. Plus an assortment of antibiotics, etc.
Cut and stack wood for the stove?
Yeah, I'm going to cheat this year and buy a few cords to store in the barn.
Test kit and purifier for the water well?
Interesting. Never considered it.
Pigs are a bit of work, but will eat anything. And taste ever so wonderful when smoked and/or cured.
I don't eat pork but would consider a goat or two if it ever looked like it would be useful. For now, I'm going to stick to chickens and potentially meat rabbits. Next year I'm going to try honey bees but that's a challenge to do these days and I need to do a lot more learning before I tackle it. And eventually, I'll get a couple of alpacas. :)
Another poster on this section can tell you about her "square foot gardener" book.
I have that book!
Best of luck to you! :)
Thanks!
Sounds like you are well prepared Barbara. More than most of us who live in the "Hurricane States". I have considered exactly what you are doing for quite a while (Minus the Nitting :p). If I can sell my condo, that will be my next step, for a fall back position in the country. May I suggest you might consider "Getting off the Grid" eventually, with a backup generator, a buried fuel tank, solar panels on the roof, and a wind mill, so if things do go south, you'll have several alternative means of power. I'd add a Ham radio, satellite TV or at least a multi-channel radio with a solar panel or hand crank so you can stay abreast with any developing situation. Of course all of this is income dependent and at least something worth saving up for. Hopefully, your land doesn't lay along major evacuation routes and thoroughfares and is easily defensible with family members and or gun toting friends.
Yeah, there's a lot to be done..like I said, its all a journey. :)
Don't rule out the knitting.
I'm all for getting off the grid but the cost is high and not worth the large investment right now. My next house will hopefully one I build to be ultra-energy-efficient. In the meantime, I'm (mostly) prepared to live without electricity for extended periods of time.
I have a crank radio/cell phone charger and use it..including this morning when the power was knocked out.
SeriousStudent
04-06-09, 21:18
Mmmm - chicken and dumplings.....fried chicken..........:D
True self reliance is a dream for most of us. It costs too much (time, energy). It becomes a career and once it becomes a career you don't have a supplemental income for when you need something else to be self sufficient. At this point, I would just like to be prepped for the normal stuff.
As far as going without electricity, I think that is a mistake. Yes, you can go without lights, TV or even the internet, but going without a refrigerator or freezer is just silly. Some things store well canned or just on the shelf, but others are much easier in the freezer or fridge.
I'm envious. Sounds like you have a great start.
True self reliance is a dream for most of us. It costs too much (time, energy). It becomes a career and once it becomes a career you don't have a supplemental income for when you need something else to be self sufficient. At this point, I would just like to be prepped for the normal stuff.
As far as going without electricity, I think that is a mistake. Yes, you can go without lights, TV or even the internet, but going without a refrigerator or freezer is just silly. Some things store well canned or just on the shelf, but others are much easier in the freezer or fridge.
It's not a dream or a career. It's a lifestyle. I'm working on some projects now because new opportunities have presented themself, but even living in town, making sure I had the ability to sustain myself for periods of time was important and something that was a priority.
Everything is cost/risk/benefit. What's possible, what's likely, what's the cost vs. the risk? For me, electricity is pretty low in risk and high in cost. There aren't many scenarios where I can expect truly extended outages and in an economic catastrophe (ie: extended or permanent layoff, China calls due their loans, Y3K, whatever your personal concern is) electricty is going to be the 2nd to the last thing I continue to pay for (my house being the last.)
Short term outages like yesterday (~12 hours)..no big deal. I didn't even drag out a kerosene heater. During medium term outages due to man-made or natural disasters, I have access to a generator. For truly long term, due to whatever, then I'm not going to be dependent on electricity. People for millenium required food and shelter, but survived without electricity.
That's not to say I wouldn't love to have a windmill and solar options. And someday, I probably will, along with a few other goodies. But for the time being, if I lost my job tomorrow and the outlook was grim for a year or two, I could go down as far as paying my house payment, and still be able to be warm, fed and occupied. And in the scheme of things, I'm not willing to make the financial outlay on things that will keep my deep freeze going in the long term.
For short term use in case of a power outage, I'd get two or three plastic 55 gallon barrels and fill them with clean water along with a few drops of bleach. I keep about six full ones in the basement...just in case.
I've burned wood for years. You'll want a chain saw and for sure a hydraulic splitter. I use my old Big Red three wheeler with a small trailer towed behind for a lot of the hauling out of the woods. Very handy.
Hi Barbara...
You are indeed well on the way to having the ultimate bugIN location. Indeed, Preparedness is a way of life rather than a hobby.
My wife and I undertook this journey as well about 3 years ago now. We lived in the 'burbs, every house looked the same and were a driveway apart. When we moved out I had specific wants for what we were looking at ... Land, a good house, a basement, access to water, etc., and we got it. I'm not going to bug out anymore, this is it.
There are still things I'd like to do - like figuring out how to put a mess o'solar panels on the garage so I can have "free" electricity if things REALLY go downhill - but I feel like I've done what I can (within my means) to prepare myself, come what may.
Your head is in exactly the right place, and that is a VERY good thing. :)
jim
As far as going without electricity, I think that is a mistake. Yes, you can go without lights, TV or even the internet, but going without a refrigerator or freezer is just silly. Some things store well canned or just on the shelf, but others are much easier in the freezer or fridge.
I completely and totally disagree as everything that we prepare for we must actually put into action to see where there are holes. My family and I have been preparing for many years now and I can tell you that when you actually put your preparedness into practice you will find issues that need fixing. Power is something that we have become totally dependent upon and for many power itself is an integral part of their plan to make it if things get bad which is something none of us should depend on being there the same as the sun coming up. I am not suggesting never using power again it should be something that people deal with in their preparedness planning and execution. To be quite frank I cannot think of many things that would be "silly" to try and live without at least for a while.
Power is something that we have become totally dependent upon and for many power itself is an integral part of their plan to make it if things get bad which is something none of us should depend on being there the same as the sun coming up. I am not suggesting never using power again it should be something that people deal with in their preparedness planning and execution.
I have to ask a couple questions:
1. How do you store your meat?
2. How do you store fruit and vegetables?
3. How long have you lived off your stored food without going to the store? (If you state an extremely long time I am going to ask for a list of what you ate.)
Some items are shelf stable and good, others are not .
4. What climate do you live in? I am also going to pick your brain on some items if you live in the right climate.
And before someone argues that the pioneers did it; yes, they did, but it was not as easy. It took everything they had. Many pioneers died very young, and the old were not that old. They also had a community. For the most part they were not trying to survive on their own.
As far as living without power for a couple days to see what it is like, I think it is a good idea.
As far as planning to live without power, no thank you. It is not efficient or affective.
I could live quite a long while on just what I have in my house, and other than fresh fruits and vegetables, and maybe the occasionial Monster drink, not really miss anything.
I think you're missing the point. I don't *plan* to live without electricity. I intend to be *able* to live without electricity.
As was said, too many people's plans revolve around electricity and how to maintain it..and that's fine if there's a short term outage. But if something truly catastrophic happened? How long do fuel stores last? I honestly don't expect anything of that nature to happen in my lifetime, and if I did, I'd probably be more willing to invest the large amount of money required to maintain minimal electricity, but as it is, I think its a better investment, and frankly, a lot more enjoyable, to learn to live without the benefit of the local power company. And knowledge, unlike solar panels, can travel with you.
Eventually, I hope to be able to live, with electricity, undependent on outside sources. But that's a ways down the road, and expensive on the startup.
Bought an old Simplicity lawn tractor today. This is only going to lead to more money spent because now I *need* a plow. and a disk. and a trailer. and of course, a yard roller.
Ok, maybe not a good example of self-reliance. But fun. :)
Hi Barbara...
You are indeed well on the way to having the ultimate bugIN location. Indeed, Preparedness is a way of life rather than a hobby.
My wife and I undertook this journey as well about 3 years ago now. We lived in the 'burbs, every house looked the same and were a driveway apart. When we moved out I had specific wants for what we were looking at ... Land, a good house, a basement, access to water, etc., and we got it. I'm not going to bug out anymore, this is it.
There are still things I'd like to do - like figuring out how to put a mess o'solar panels on the garage so I can have "free" electricity if things REALLY go downhill - but I feel like I've done what I can (within my means) to prepare myself, come what may.
Your head is in exactly the right place, and that is a VERY good thing. :)
jim
Yep..this is home. I'm not heading anywhere but here. I'm interested a lot in sustainable energy and after a lot of other details get worked out, I'll probably start going down that path.
Hope we get a chance to do some shooting this year. Does your wife shoot? Bring her with you..would love to meet her.
As far as your overall idea, I agree.
I want to be able to live with out electricity. This falls in line with me wanting to be able to survive in the woods, ride a horse, swim, and a lot of other skills.
As far as your specific needs, it is on you.
For me, I find UPSs useful. I don't want to loosea freezer full of food, it costs to much.
Some day I want to be more self sufficient, but HOA, and.......
Sustainable living is something I have a lot of experience in, and know several people that do it with little to no over head (minus time and energy both of which in the modern world mean money). I have worked on several sustainable pieces of property.
Some other things you can look at that are simple to do:
Rain Barrels for roof run off. You can collect enough rain water in these barrels to irrigate a garden that can support a small family (if you live in a farm friendly climate). Also if your house is higher then your garden, you can gravity feed the irrigation line so that no power is needed to move the water.
Can you gravity feed from a water source near by? If so you can actually use the movement of water as an electrical power source if you want to do some basic conversions.
Compost, compost, compost! If this is your first year, you should start now with a two pile compost heap. Every non meat food scrap, mixed with ash from the fire, egg shells, the occasional bone, ext should be added daily to a "hot" pile.
Also
Consider your crops. You are planting high yield crops all of which are "easy" to grow, but all of which fall victim to various natural pests. Do you have a sustainable way to deal with the potential of blight? I can see your entire harvest being whipped out right now in two weeks based off of what you want to plant.
There is a lot that you can do, and while I love to shoot, and I own multiple firearms, if I had your property I would be spending every second of a carbine class on working on my property, and not paying someone to teach me how to shoot. Your a long way from being sustainable, but you are at a good starting point.
Consider your crops. You are planting high yield crops all of which are "easy" to grow, but all of which fall victim to various natural pests. Do you have a sustainable way to deal with the potential of blight? I can see your entire harvest being whipped out right now in two weeks based off of what you want to plant.
Irish potato famin?
Irish potato famin?
Well I haven't seen that, but I have seen entire squash gardens whipped out three weeks prior to harvest because of fungal infections. Entire tomato crops destroyed from rain storms, pests, and freak wind. Ext.
I was discussing Barbara's set up with my fiance, including her acreage, and desires. I am really curious if she can provide us with a bit more info, maybe we can offer some crops that may help counter some natural pests, as well as some other ideas. Also the acreage we are looking at in her case could become crowed very quickly if she intends on a large chicken farm, as well as adding in larger animals at any point.
I'd like to see this thread expand more, as I feel it is very relevant to our current world, and the idea of being prepared.
The thing is, those are things I eat and so it makes sense that I grow them. :)
I'm not really new to gardening..been doing it a couple of decades, although its been 5 or 6 years since I've had a big garden.
The one thing I've always had the most problem with is pole beans. They get bug-eaten and I try all the natural crap, and end up sprinkling them with Sevin dust, and then after all that, sometimes they end up flimsy.
Composting I'm familar with, and need to get off my duff and do..a friend of mine is having good luck with adding worms..things seem to break down considerably faster. But the water-collection is a good idea and not something I'd been moving towards.
I work long hours, go to school, do a lot of political stuff and every once in a while do some shooting. So while I'm working on being as self-reliant as possible, I'm not in a position right now to quit my job and do this stuff fulltime. So..a large garden, preserving food, and a small flock of laying hens. If the recession deepens much more, I'll add meat rabbits, but for now, my dog and some girls will be enough.
I'm not attempting to grow a year's worth of food on an acre..but I am looking to have a lot more fresh, more healthily grown food, at less cost.
I hope eventually to have several acres and build an ultra-energy efficient house on several acres. But for now, this is just the right size and I'm happy. :)
I was hoping this thread would be more of an opportunity for all of us to discuss what we're doing or want to do..not so much an all-about-Barb thread.
I was hoping this thread would be more of an opportunity for all of us to discuss what we're doing or want to do..not so much an all-about-Barb thread.
No, I agree, you just offered us something to jump off from.
Yep..this is home. I'm not heading anywhere but here. I'm interested a lot in sustainable energy and after a lot of other details get worked out, I'll probably start going down that path.
Hope we get a chance to do some shooting this year. Does your wife shoot? Bring her with you..would love to meet her.
woops! Hadn't checked on the thread in a bit.
I have to cajole my wife to get to the range but hopefully I can get you two together. :) Maybe she'll feel a bit more comfortable with you giving guidance and talking her through it.
bobby.lamberth
04-26-09, 15:08
I started reading this, and it all makes sense, Zombies are coming lol. No, but really, i've wanted to do things like this for a long time, SERE was my first career field in the Air Force, and since then i have cross-trained, but thats beside the point.
Things I've Begun:
-Started learning the 'real' non survival way to purify water and started bottling it.
-I have always been an avid hunter and start expanding my horizons on that (i.e. bow-hunting, pistol hunting, and learning better ways to make snares).
-I started fishing without a pole just line, hook, and bait (so far not fun).
-My father has always been a farmer, so i've started learning more than what i did from helping him since i was five. (good times)
-I work out everyday in some way, whether its a ruck march or cross-fit.
-I taught my wife weapons knowledge, I take her shooting every chance i get, shes not much on the .308 but she likes the Glocks and my AR-15.
-I'm working on getting a pull-behind camper that I can completely rebuild and reinforce for a temporary BOL or Hideout until we can get to our BOL which is a good ways away, but that will take a while.
-My father-in-law started re-loading ammunition and is going to teach me when he gets good and we find out the load for my AR, as I already have plenty stockpiled for my Glock 17 and I am in the process of getting more for my Glock 23
-Food stockpiling, we started but are nowhere near done, we have lots of canned foods that we eat, and cabinets full of noodles and beans with recipes to make meals with all of it and all the waste can go to the compost heape for the garden...
Thats about all I can think of off the top of my head, if there's anymore I will add it as I go, and if you guys have any suggestions/comments, please let me know, I am always looking to improve my Bugged Out Life.
Thanks For Reading
Bobby
Sorry I have to ask. EOTWAWKI?
Sorry..End Of The World As We Know It. It's kind of poking fun at people over-preparing for unlikely possibilities. Also known as "when the Zombies come." :)
Finished basic EMT training last week, so finally have time to work on other projects.
Broke down and bought a 5k generator, only because I got a smoking deal on it. Keeping a little gas on hand.
Started working on the edible landscape this weekend..blueberry bushes, Bee Balm, sunflowers. Going to plant Jerusalem Artichokes across the street around the mailbox (and let them spread onto the surrounding land, which is owned by someone else but not used.) Will be planting some raspberries at the very far corner of the property tomorrow.
Got a compost bin. Planned to build one but found I could buy one less expensively. Bummer since this thing is kind of cheesy looking but its durable anyway.
Starting work tomorrow on raised strawberry beds.
Haven't started the vegetable garden yet, due to a lack of time, but it goes in next weekend. Same with herbs unless I get really ambitious tomorrow.
Would like to plant a couple of hickory trees..but right now only really have room for one. Will do this later this year.
Bought a snowplow for my garden tractor so I don't have to pay to have my driveway plowed.
Took another pistol class. Its my way of forcing myself to practice since I hate shooting pistols..Weird, but true. Love shooting rifles, hate shooting pistols. Practicing is a chore I have to force myself to do. No worries on the cost..traded business stuff for the class.
Need to keep an eye out for stovepipe now that winter is gone. If I don't find any by fall, I'll buy it but I'm keeping an eye on Craigslist, etc.
Going to an Appleseed shoot next month, and a Bump-in the night-drill class at the end of this month.
Also been picking bush cherries like mad, and freezing most of them until I can figure out a suitable way to pit the little things. Very tasty and should make outstanding preserves if I can remove the pits. (Bush cherries are smaller than marbles but crop very heavily.)
I'm not familiar with bush cherries. Are they shrubs?
I have a sand cherry tree, which is pretty but I'm skeptical about its productivity.
http://www.ediblelandscaping.com and search "cherry". Mine are the red Nanking variant and I think I actually Gurney'd them! And they all survived, and grew well...
Here are some pics of my current crop.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/vic303/IMG_3554.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/vic303/IMG_3556.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/vic303/IMG_3559.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/vic303/IMG_3553.jpg
Just bought an old fashioned pitter to try to pit them for preserves.
MarshallDodge
06-15-09, 11:00
Great thread Barbara. My wife and I are on a similar "1-year" plan right now and are going to try and increase it as we get more proficient.
We moved out of the city about 4 years ago and have learned quite a bit.
My wife did a garden a few years ago and except for some excellent watermelon, it did not come out that great. We chalked it up to a good learning experience.
This year we started another garden and based on our first experience, we went much smaller so that we can keep up with it. The weather so far has really helped us with a little rain almost every day. Where we live, we have the ability to flood irrigate which is nice because it does not require any power to pump the water.
We have some fruit trees, cherry and apple. The cherry tree has not done well the last couple years so I need to do more research to see what we can do to help it out. There will be more tree planting in the future when I find out what it takes to keep them going.
We have about a dozen chickens and a couple goats. The chickens are good layers and the goats make for good weed control, and some meat if it came down to it.
I have a small diesel tractor with a loader and scraper. My neighbor has a tiller attachment that he said that I could have but it looks like it could use some work. I try to keep the tractor fueled up and keep a years worth of fuel on hand.
For power, I have been doing lots of research on wind, solar, and batteries. We have a 650 and a 6000 watt generator but I don't want to have to worry about keeping them running. Wind seems to be a good choice where we live and is less expensive than solar. I have friends that live off grid and use a combination of wind and solar, with a genny backup to keep a large battery array charged up. The technology is getting so much better with all of the "green" initiatives.
Food and water storage are growing. We started off the food storage slow to figure out what we could actually eat and digest. The purchase of a flour mill has allowed us to buy bulk wheat, rice, corn, and oat groats and turn them into flour to use in recipes. Our neighbor friends are very proficient at canning so we need to make an investment in the jars, etc. to make this happen.
Thought I'd post pics of the latest members of the family:
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs051.snc3/13841_1245797619269_1059266746_793941_6685224_n.jpg
Dirk Williams
10-28-09, 01:21
My wife discovered those new hang down tomato plants, There in a bag and you hang them up, the plants grow down. So far they have produced a substantial amount of tomato's
Don't know if it's possible but have intended to bring the hanging tomato plant into the house this winter and see if it will continue to produce year round.
has anybody seen these before and does anybody have knowledge regarding them. If the tomato's will grow year round it's logical that other plants just might grow year round aswell.
Is this idea possible for say an indoor garden year around.
Dirk
Thought I'd post pics of the latest members of the family:
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs051.snc3/13841_1245797619269_1059266746_793941_6685224_n.jpg
How did your harvest go this year? I was thinking about you the other day, and wondering about the progress, then I saw that you posted this photo.
We had a hard summer but a good one, we just had to adapt a bit because of the rain. But I am happy to say we had a good harvest, but it was a lot of one or two things, vs. a variety because of the wet season.
Keep us posted, I want to know how everything went!
Mixed results, mostly good.
Quite a few beans, peppers and onions in the freezer. Lots of peas but I ate them all. Beets were good but I don't really like them so I gave any excess away. :)
Squash and pumpkins didn't do so well, but I planted from seeds, very late. Got a few out of the garden.
Tomatoes did very well. Unfortunately, my mother got much sicker and required 24 hour a day care most of August and into September and I was barely able to take the trash out or go do a load of laundry, unless someone else was here. So the majority of them were given away and the rest wasted. Too bad, but the crop was good and the situation will be different next year.
Blueberry bushes didn't make it..will try again next year. I'd checked the soil quality and it was good, but will have to do some research. I did make a lot of crab apple jelly off the tree in the front. Very good stuff. The tree in the back is Macintosh..will spray in the spring and hopefully have a decent crop off that.
Strawberries seem to be doing great, so should have a crop next year around. Would like to plant some nut trees yet this year..guess I need to get those ordered today.
As far as the critters, hens are doing well. If these make it, then I may expand in the Spring and sell some eggs as long as the math makes sense. Also picking up a free rabbit hutch this weekend..not ready to start raising them yet, but the hutch goes in the garage for now. I plan to start beekeeping in the Spring and will be attending Bee Club Meetings monthly over the next few months.
PA PATRIOT
10-29-09, 08:23
Plant four to six fruit trees on the rear of your property which does not border a active property (Out of sight from neighbors is best) for sustained harvest. I did three early harvest apple trees and three late harvest varieties so I have season long apples for canning and storage. Once planted the only maintenance I have ever done is a once a year pruning to control the size of the trees. The early trees are Granny apples which are great for apple sauce and canning and the late trees are Sugar Crisp which are great eaters and bakers, both store well in cool conditions lasting three months as long as you don't bruise them. Other then the cost of the trees which cost me about $30.00 each for a 10 foot delivered (They will also plant and stake the trees for $15 to $20 dollars more) thats it for a yearly renewable food source.
So..how did I do from the things I posted back at the start of this thread? Meh..ok?
So..what this year?
Build a chicken coop. I'm going to build a tractor style, but am still working on plans that are functional and yet don't make my yard look like the Clampetts live here. I'm planning on raising Isa Browns..3 or 4.
Actually, ended up buying one I found on Craiglist that was cheaper than I could have built it for. But I have the chickens. No eggs, yet..not for a month or so.
Plant a large garden. There's a decent size spot already but I'm going to add ~50% to it. Lots of tomatos, onions, squash and peppers. My gardening in the past few years has been limited to a few 4x8 beds, so I'm geeked about fresh veggies and jars of spaghetti sauce.
Did plant a large garden and got quite a bit of produce..some timing issues with harvest is a problem. Also picked up a pressure canner, so I'm that far ahead for next year.
Another carbine and another pistol class.
Yeah..pistol, anyway. Part of a carbine class, too, I think. Still suck, but less than the general population, so ok.
Learn to spin. See my excuse for knitting. :)
Sadly, no. But it was more fun than work, so it can be put off.
Plant more edible plants around the property. I'd like to plant nut trees but there's not a lot of room. Asparagus, some raspberries. There's already rhubard (blech) and crab apple trees.
Well, yes..planted blueberries, but they died. Also planted some perennials that are either edible or have medicinal purposes. But more work to do. Also located many more edible plants in the area (locations of asparagus, walnuts, jerusalem artichokes, honeysuckle, beel balm.)
Probably put in a new well, as the existing one is a 40 year old caseless 2" and difficult to get water out of without power.
That's a longer term goal, probably.
Learn to reload.
Still planning to do this..probably work at it over Christmas break.
Run my first 5k. Running has always been something that I'm Not Good At so this will be a challenge. But May 30th, I'm on.
Didn't make May 30th, but am on schedule for December 12th. I'll make this one.
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Considering everything else that happened since I wrote that, I think I'm doing ok. I am going to go do some online reading/maybe shopping for some fruit and nuts.
Need to make a list of goals for next year..
PA PATRIOT
10-30-09, 10:48
Was over at the Big Lot store in my area that was still selling garden items and found most garden related things to be 80% off. Picked up a new heavy duty 75 foot water hose, shovel, hoe, row rake and water sprinkler for just a few dollars. They also had those hang up-side down tomato plants by Burpee for 50 cent each and the use by date was 06-2010 so I grab ten of those (Maybe I can keep the Bunnies out of the tomato's unless they learn to climb) for canning, pickling and some sauce. I was thinking I may look into a green room addition to the up-state house once I retire to start my crops earlier and have them still producing later in the season. My hope is to knock my dependence on market food items down by 50% or more once I have the time to properly attend a garden season long.
Barbara,
Thanks for the update! Considering the realities you talked about not a bad year! I hope your mother is doing better!
Unfortunately, she passed away at my home on Labor Day after a hard battle with breast cancer. But I was able to spend a lot of time with her this past couple of years and we got much closer than we'd ever been, and I was fortunately able to spend her final weeks with her. She was a very brave old lady. I miss her a lot.
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