real world survival

plumberroy

plumberroy

Joined
Jan 27, 2007
Messages
3,602
I know we all plan and practice for stuck in the wilderness survival . In real world today very few of us will ever need that. The fact is most of us here practice enough to make of having to survive in the woods less likely than most people. I doubt that a week or two with out power bothers most of us much (storms).
Like many here I lost my job last year . it took all most 5 months to find a decent job . And I am a plumber with 22 year of experience. Sure I had offers but they were at wages that by the time I bought gas I could make as much on unemployment. I feel sorry for young adults with little job experience. when I did find a job It was far enough away we had to move.
I really don't see the economy getting better anytime soon
Here is what I do know I had all ways grown veggies on every little spot I could find in our small yard . last spring a neighbor let me use a 25 x50 spot in their back yard . with out that garden we would have been : 1. a lot tighter on money 2. would not have eaten near as well (healthy)
I consider gardening equipment as much survival gear as knives, guns, and fire making.
One of the good things to come out of this mess of losing my job is . my 1200 sq ft garden down the rode is now 2000 sq ft just out the back door :thumbup: and I now live where I can raise chickens . there are 6 pullets and 4 cockerel chick in a rubber made tub in my closet (less than a week old) pullet for eggs (no eggs for breakfast is a real disaster) 1 rooster to be the man off the coop and the other 3 are destine for dinner
just my thoughts
Roy
 
Really?

What if they said it was illegal to have a home garden?

What if they said every pullet had to have a chip inserted and and you would be taxed on each one?

Ya might want to look up HR 875 bud.

Someday we will wake up, but not THIS day.

Sorry about the loss of your job, but welcome to Socialist America.
 
Sounds like you have the right survival mindset to take care of yourself and your family. A self-sufficient lifestyle goes a long way to long-term survival in the event of disaster. A disaster can be just a dangerous whether it is a plane crash, a hunting accident, or the loss of a job due to the economy. Those with the mindset and skills to plan, prepare, and take care of themselves will almost always come out o.k.. Glad to hear things have turned around for you.
 
I like what you said Roy. And by even just thinking about these things, you are way ahead of the porkers waddling around the supermarket who just expect that it will always be there. Sounds like your job loss had a silver lining.
 
plumberroy said:
One of the good things to come out of this mess of losing my job is . my 1200 sq ft garden down the rode is now 2000 sq ft just out the back door :thumbup: and I now live where I can raise chickens . there are 6 pullets and 4 cockerel chick in a rubber made tub in my closet (less than a week old) pullet for eggs (no eggs for breakfast is a real disaster) 1 rooster to be the man off the coop and the other 3 are destine for dinner
just my thoughts
Roy
Click to expand...

Some good comes out of everything. :thumbup:
 
I've wanted a vegetable garden for a few years. I have land, so that's not a problem. The problem has always been the time. I'm salaried at a small business that requires long hours and then I've got two small kids. I still have a job, but we've cut design staff in half. The pay is the same and the hours are even worse now because of the extra work load.

Despite that, I've decided I have to have something this year. I'm growing tomatoes in pots on the back porch this year so I can tend them easily after dark. Nine large pots with three different varieties ought to have me tired of tomatoes by the end of summer. It's a start though, so if all goes well I'll probably diversify next year.
 
PrimitiveMan said:
Really?

What if they said it was illegal to have a home garden?

What if they said every pullet had to have a chip inserted and and you would be taxed on each one?

Ya might want to look up HR 875 bud.

Someday we will wake up, but not THIS day.

Sorry about the loss of your job, but welcome to Socialist America.
Click to expand...

IMHO Roy has the right approach to his problem and actually has a step up on many should should some situation interfere with the food chain .
While I have heard about HR875 and think it is the creation of lobbyist from the giant food conglomerates marijuana is the #1 cash crop in the USA and all of it is grown clandestinely with very little government control.
I agree that socialism is rearing its ugly ignorant head in this country but hope that they will be too busy monitoring the bread line to raid my veggie patch.
 
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I think it's kind of a paranoid stretch to think that HR875 could possibly interfere with the home gardener. From what I've read, it is aimed at commercial producers and suppliers. Even if restrictions were put on individuals, they would be next to impossible to impose.

Actually, I can't imagine a better form of civil disobedience than gardening to protest such legislation. You'de just have to keep the food on your own table.:thumbup:

The only downside to growing your own food is dirty fingernails.:D
 
PrimitiveMan said:
Really?

What if they said it was illegal to have a home garden?
Click to expand...

Not a problem if you know where to relocate it. Marijuana growers do it all the time.

What if they said every pullet had to have a chip inserted and and you would be taxed on each one?
Click to expand...

Not feasable. This .gov ain't willing to put that much effort into anything. Besides, chickens aren't the only small game in town. Raise quail, pheasant, pigeon, turkey, guineas, ducks...

Ya might want to look up HR 875 bud.
Click to expand...

You mean the one that WND is swearing left and right is aimed at Farmer's Markets (which is only partly true)? Read the entire bill with an objective eye and you'll see that it's aimed mostly at importation and large scale operations. It specifically states that anything for private consumption, including grain storage is to be left alone.
Farmer's Markets are in the lower classes of establishment that, IIRC, only have to be inspected once a year and keep logs of certain things that are sold there. Grocery stores go through more hassle than that.
What should have your ears up is that one of the guys sponsoring it is part of the Monsanto cohort.

Someday we will wake up, but not THIS day.
Click to expand...

Like the old CCR song says: "Someday never comes."
I stopped giving a shit about everybody else a long time ago and focus entirely on my family.
Let everybody else starve when the .gov who promised them steaks and taters every night on every table can't deliver.

Besides, it makes them easier to chase down and disable when I get hungry for meat and am running a little low.

Now, does that mean there might be a little extra work involved by yours truly to keep pests outta the garden? Sure.

Then again, who says it's not in plain sight for a reason?

Imagine Johnny Fivefinger's look of surprise when he steps on a mousetrap landmine, a bear trap, or steps his unsuspecting ass into a pitfall trap just deep enough to break that ankle and screw that knee up; and old Dad comes outta the dark corner with a big knife and a toothy grin.

Bottom line? You learn a lot when you take notes from Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies.
 
KEmSAT..... poetry..... pure poetry...

Don't forget about the "Bouncing Betty's" by the water collection cisterns.... click-pop-POW!




Rick
 
I typed out a long boring political diatribe but no one needs to see that in here. So I'll just say, personal gardens and local Farmers' Markets ROCK! :thumbup:

I read a great article in Backwoodsman last year about "Three Sisters" gardening. Basically, you plant sweet corn, pole beans and squash in the same row or mound. The theory is, they use different nutrients so they don't really compete, the beans climb up the corn stalks, and the low-growing squash helps keep bugs and weeds and stuff away. It's supposed to be a very efficient way to raise a lot of nutrition in a small area. Makes sense to me. Here's another article on the subject.
 
Campaignforliberty.com spells out the sectioans that DO effect individual gardening.

That being said, I did not mean to imply the OP was doing the wrong thing.

I will be putting in a few crops myself this year.

Just wanted everyone to be aware of pending legislation.
 
plumberroy said:
I know we all plan and practice for stuck in the wilderness survival . In real world today very few of us will ever need that. The fact is most of us here practice enough to make of having to survive in the woods less likely than most people. I doubt that a week or two with out power bothers most of us much (storms).
Like many here I lost my job last year . it took all most 5 months to find a decent job . And I am a plumber with 22 year of experience. Sure I had offers but they were at wages that by the time I bought gas I could make as much on unemployment. I feel sorry for young adults with little job experience. when I did find a job It was far enough away we had to move.
I really don't see the economy getting better anytime soon
Here is what I do know I had all ways grown veggies on every little spot I could find in our small yard . last spring a neighbor let me use a 25 x50 spot in their back yard . with out that garden we would have been : 1. a lot tighter on money 2. would not have eaten near as well (healthy)
I consider gardening equipment as much survival gear as knives, guns, and fire making.
One of the good things to come out of this mess of losing my job is . my 1200 sq ft garden down the rode is now 2000 sq ft just out the back door :thumbup: and I now live where I can raise chickens . there are 6 pullets and 4 cockerel chick in a rubber made tub in my closet (less than a week old) pullet for eggs (no eggs for breakfast is a real disaster) 1 rooster to be the man off the coop and the other 3 are destine for dinner
just my thoughts
Roy
Click to expand...

This is probably one of the most intellegent posts I've seen on this forum. In the coming years, survival is not going to be done by playing mountian man, but by adapting to rapidly changing economic conditions. If we do slide into an out and out depression, it's going to make the crash of '29 look like a church social. The young guys with no familys can get away with playing Jerimiah Johnson, but those with kids and grandkids have to work with the family to survive. To feed your clan.

I for one will applaud Roy. He's on the track to doing it right.

Small scale farming is a viable way to feed your people. Man turned to agriculture and then civilization exploded. Hunter/gatherer societys will never advance as it is too exhaustive and not productive enough. The farming can be done in pots even in an urban setting. Rabbits and chickens in cages.

Also don't overlook small game to augment the produce. I have a relitive that lives in an apartment building in the city, and we did an experiment with an air rifle. We spread bread crumbs on the roof and hid in an air conditioning structure. When the pidgeons would gather, we'd shoot. They'd fly off but with a couple down on the roof. gather them up and hide, and do it again. By the end of two hours we had almost a dozen fat city birds that were done up on the charcoal grill out on the balcony. Was as good as Cornish game hens. Tools used were a Fienwerkbau 124 and an old Sheridan pump up.

A small garden, maybe a hidden crop of grain, (most people won't even recognize it in a field) and some small game hunting, will feed a family.

It was only when man left the cave and made agrarian villages that he got anywhere. It was agraculture that fed mankind enough to reliably survive, not hunting.

Good going, Roy!:thumbup:
 
Are we talking about supplementing your income or living completely from your garden / flocks?

How many acres of corn/beans/squash/tomatoes does it take to feed a family of four?
What are your plans for the winter?

Mike
 
Magnussen said:
KEmSAT..... poetry..... pure poetry...

Don't forget about the "Bouncing Betty's" by the water collection cisterns.... click-pop-POW!




Rick
Click to expand...


Nope...shrapnel could puncture my collection system.

I'll probably just hide de-rattled Timber Rattlers out there somewhere. Maybe a nice, hidden, pig sticker spring trap or two.
Maybe a circular pit about three feet wide by 2 feet deep (just big enough to hop over if you know where to step) slap full of rusted, metal pointy things and broken glass.
Who knows, I'm a fairly creative and unbalanced person. I might well be hiding in the barrel with said big, sharp knife and toothy grin just waiting for some unsuspecting food...er...thief, to come callin'! :thumbup:

Once you learn the criminal's rules, and then absolutely pervert them to your own psychotic ends, survival can become entertainment!
 
This is a good post to get you thinking. A good friend of mine bought a small farm and put up a small house he heats using a wood stove. He raises chickens as a hobbie and permits a hunter to harvest one or two deer each year with the proviso that he gets half the kill. To hear him talk, he's pretty self-sufficient.
 
Don Rearic said:
uh...yeah.
Click to expand...

No kiddin', Don. Personally, I'm not into the booby-trap thing. If someone is so desperately hungry they're willing to sneak in and steal my peas or tomatoes, maybe they need 'em more than I do. Call me paranoid, but what if my kid wanders onto your property and loses a leg or her life? You are gonna have a lot bigger problems than any crop-loss, I promise you that. Post that kind of post-apocalyptic nonsense in Prac Tac, guys, they love it there. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I too applaud the OP for his ideas and initiative. I've only had a couple small gardens, but it was definitely worth the effort.
 
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James_Terrio said:
No kiddin', Don. Personally, I'm not into the booby-trap thing. If someone is so desperately hungry they're willing to sneak in and steal my peas or tomatoes, maybe they need 'em more than I do. Call me paranoid, but what if my kid wanders onto your property and loses a leg or her life? You are gonna have a lot bigger problems than any crop-loss, I promise you that. Post that kind of post-apocalyptic nonsense in Prac Tac, guys, they love it there. :rolleyes:

Anyway, I too applaud the OP for his ideas and initiative. I've only had a couple small gardens, but it was definitely worth the effort.
Click to expand...

I tried talking to the guys in prac tac about my gardening ideas. They kept wanting to know if the Green Beans were OD and if the Blackberries were tactical stealth pattern...whatever that means...
 
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