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Even if you can't totally execute on a plan, it's good to have a plan.
Go to some of the gloom & doom survivor sites and just read. There's a wealth of info there. These folks have perfected preparing for when TSHTF.
Here's some examples:
If you live in a big city have a BOB ..bug-out-bag. Should unrest occur grab the bag and just leave.
Scout out smaller rural communities where you can go to if TSHTF. That will become your new home.
Have an escape plan.
Most agree the cities are the last place you want to be. Rural communities are better in that they are already community-minded, fairly independent and know more about self-sustainability.
If you can, go ahead and buy that "place in the country" now. 5-10 acres, even 3 acres will do.
Septic, water well, a dwelling. If you have a place already, slowly stock it with your preps.
Pay off/down your debts. Keep enough cash to last you a few months..small bills.
Stock dry/canned goods. Get a small charcoal BBQ and stock bags of charcoal for cooking.
Now, let's say nothing happens. Well, now you have a weekend place in the country and have powered down your life which costs less which enables you to either get a lower paying job and enjoy life more or save more and improve that country property and retire to it later.
To me this type of prep is a win/win. You're ready if TSHTF OR you've powered down you life.
How many Americans today would know what to do if they were given a 5lb bag of flour ?
How many Americans know how to plant their own food ?
How many American know how to sew by hand ?
That's just to name a few "lost" skills.
I do.
We picked the most rural area we could find, with the cheapest land, the lowest taxes, and the lowest cost-of-living.
I bought land in 2005 and began building a house. We got started with: livestock, raised-bed gardens, maple syrup tapping, ginseng growing in the forest, chickens, greenhouses, bees, mushrooms, orchards, ...
I even did a year as a vendor at a local Farmer's Market, I had to back out as we realized that our production is not high enough yet to supply a table consistently.
Even with the knowledge of these skills. After you get your land it will still take you as long as 10-years to get up to the level where you are producing 95% of your own food.
It is easy to produce 100qts of tomatoes. But 100qts will not feed a family for very long.
You need grains, and lettuce, spinach, carrots, onions, garlic, beans, turnips, horseradish, ....
My point is that you need to be able to produce dozens of different crops, all at fairly large quantities, before you can feed your family exclusively; and it takes time. A year to try it this way, a year to try it that way, ...
My point is that you need to be able to produce dozens of different crops, all at fairly large quantities, before you can feed your family exclusively; and it takes time. A year to try it this way, a year to try it that way, ...
I do enjoy reading your posts forest beekeeper.
Knowing your neighbors will also come in handy. I can easily see bartering making a comeback.
Yes indeed it takes quite some time to get yourself set up.
But it's never too late to start..and starting late is better than not starting at all.
... Knowing your neighbors will also come in handy. I can easily see bartering making a comeback.
Yes indeed it takes quite some time to get yourself set up.
But it's never too late to start..and starting late is better than not starting at all.
I agree.
On a few of the BBS' I visit I do see threads come up from time to time about the value of having a stash of veggie seeds. So that if the SHTF tomorrow then you could begin a garden from those seeds and feed yourself.
It is just not very realistic.
A successful farmer is likely one who has been farming for many years.
You can not suddenly decide that you are going to start building automobiles, and in a month drive away in your first caddy. It takes time and a lot of effort.
Set within this OP, if you think that you will produce your own food during a 'meltdown' then you need to get started, cause the meltdown is beginning. And your 'plan' needs to include in it, the time that it takes to be successful.
How many Americans today would know what to do if they were given a 5lb bag of flour ?
How many Americans know how to plant their own food ?
How many American know how to sew by hand ?
That's just to name a few "lost" skills.
Which is why I thank my lucky stars I grew up in an era (1960s) and in a rural setting (110-acre hobby farm) taking home ec sewing classes, joining 4-H, chopping firewood, digging ditches, using an outhouse, tending a huge garden, canning, hunting, shooting predators after the chickens, and generally not KNOWING that everyone wasn't as self-sufficient as we were.
Those skills are like riding a bike. I haven't forgotten how...and I'm 62.
My best advice is picking the brains of the experts at your County Extension Service and downloading their online pamphlets. There's a wealth of local info there that's priceless.
To me this type of prep is a win/win. You're ready if TSHTF OR you've powered down you life.
Its funny how strong a sense of "ownership" people have over things like land, but tell me if the "TSHTF" who is going to guarantee your property rights?
Buying land for when the "TSHTF" makes no sense, property rights will mean nothing. This is not to mention that the vast majority of the country is empty land, why purchase what you can simply claim for free?
The only thing that means anything when the "TSHTF" is what is in your head, nothing else matters.
You can not suddenly decide that you are going to start building automobiles, and in a month drive away in your first caddy. It takes time and a lot of effort.
This is a pretty silly analogy, when I was in High School I took an agriculture class and I don't recall a single student having a garden that did not produce anything. Growing vegetables, etc is not that hard...now starting a successful farm and with high yields per acre is a different story.
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