Why your Preps are not enough! And Even misguided

[.45 Dave]

You might look into supplements that are growing right in your yard now. Dandelions are good food source, so is Pokeweed. There are several plants that grow in fields and woods right around you and all are supplemental food sources and fairly easily harvested. Learn now which ones can be eaten and look online for recipes. Put them in a book and add it to your SHTF reference library.

 

[Kmcinnes]

I agree, that is why we started growing and raising as much of our own food as we can. I have said all along that my food preps are there to get me through the next growing season and or to help suppliment a bad growing season. I dont know about the United States running out of food, I am more concerned with the US running out of drinkable water.

 

[buckstopshere]

We started a garden this year and it's done extremely well. All heirloom seeds and we plan on letting some grow to seed before the season is over and use them next year. It's been a great experience for all of us.

I would add though that if you're planning on long term sustainability, having a few chickens around for egg production as well as raising bunnies. They reproduce like crazy and would be an excellent meat source. This also lowers the amount of big game needed to be hunted.

 

[churchmouse]

I agree, that is why we started growing and raising as much of our own food as we can. I have said all along that my food preps are there to get me through the next growing season and or to help suppliment a bad growing season. I dont know about the United States running out of food, I am more concerned with the US running out of drinkable water.

^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[88GT]

This is not by accident. Seed dealers and developers want to make money, too. If you can just save some of last year's seeds and plant again, where's the economic future in that? Locally grown heirloom seeds are the best bet.

And don't pay attention to official inflation figures. They lie. Anyone who shops for food knows they lie.

Neither is it entirely true. Not all seeds produced from hybrids are worthless. Some will not germinate, it's true. Some will not produce fruit/crop, it's true. But just as many will. (I do it every year in my garden.)

In fact, I would argue that the vast majority of hybrid plants will produce viable seeds that will produce edible stock. What they can't do is reproduce the characteristics of the hybrid plant that produced the seed.

A hybrid plant is the result of a cross. Let's say T1 and L2. We'll call the hybrid Jx. Seeds from Jx will germinate, and will produce a plant (Jx2) with edible stock. But the Jx2 plants will not have Jx characteristics. They will have T1 characteristics or L2 characteristics.

IOW, hybrids do not produce true-to-form seeds. But there is nothing inherently inedible about the crop produced from seeds from hybrid plants.

 

[Kutnupe14]

I call shenanigans. A person that has 5 years of food stocked up, is in great shape. Somebody has to, and always will survive. If you have a head start on everybody else, you increased your survival odds significantly. As for hunting game to extinction, won't happen. There aren't enough hunters capable of putting a legitimate dent in ALL forms of wildlife. Sure deer, quail, boar, and other typical game animals will get scare quick, but there are a great many other edible life. Dogs, cats, every winged fowl on the air, rats there are millions upon millions of "live" things to eat, and if you won't eat them, I certainly will...
...and this assuming that our population stays constant at 300 million. You can rest assured that in collapse so significant that entire infrastructure ceases, we would probably lose upwards of a quarter of our population within a year; starting with elderly, infirm, and adolescents. The next year would see the more "fall by the wayside" consisting of inner city populaces, and those that hadn't the foresight to prepare. I'd imagine by the end of the 3rd year, to population would be sub 100 million, and those who have lasted that long have a fair chance of survival, foodwise.

 

[Iroquois]

Did you hear about the looming wheat shortage in Africa...probably not. Only reason I got wind of it was cause I was researching the red fungus on my winter wheat[rust].
It seems our rust resistant wheat has an unexpected side effect; tougher rust.
Next year, tougher wheat!

 

[kolob10]

SHTF

HANDGUN makes a valid point. If you are able, grow what you eat and eat what you grow. I am fortunate to have some acreage on which we have a garden, orchard, livestock, berries, nuts, and a pond. We started prepping many years ago. Instead of purchasing motorcycles, motor homes, boats, fancy clothes, big house and fast foods, we prepared to be as self sufficient as we could raising 8 children. It has been a pleasure avoiding debt while building security. We now owe no one while being able to live on "enough". The key to preparedness is to have a plan and execute it. It will require some perceived sacrifices.

A wise man once said that success in life was being able to embrace the principle of "Constancy amid Change".

Prepping is not only preparing for one big SHTF event but rather living frugally and sensibly with an eye toward the future. Keep an eye on the markets and a hand on your pocketbook! Eat healthy and be wise. Good shooting!

 

[strahd71]

We started a garden this year and it's done extremely well. All heirloom seeds and we plan on letting some grow to seed before the season is over and use them next year. It's been a great experience for all of us.

we did our first garden this year. my wife bought the seeds but now i wish i had known to look for heirlooms seeds etc. it's something i need to study up on

jake

 

[bwframe]

I think the problem is addressed incorrectly. This is the wrong group to be telling they cannot be self sustaining. The masses are a much bigger concern, be it the food stamp crowd or those who believe food comes from the McD's drive up.

 

[Bunnykid68]

I think the problem is addressed incorrectly. This is the wrong group to be telling they cannot be self sustaining. The masses are a much bigger concern, be it the food stamp crowd or those who believe food comes from the McD's drive up.

You are talking about the zombies

 

[churchmouse]

You are talking about the zombies

Point I have been making since on this forum. I see them daily in their migration to and from the corner package store. This usually occurs at dusk but you will see the occasional day walker.

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

I have, since I was a pretty little kid, just been amazed at America's slow and steady move AWAY from home gardening since WWII. I wasn't a survivalist as a kid, and was born in 62, so the reality of the late forties to the mid and even late 60's is something I have to trust newspapers, history books and older folks for. That said, I see that as affluence increased throughout the fifties and partularly with the Great Society programs of the 60's, people became less and less self reliant and more societally integrated, and more reliant on others for their food.
I see this sort of from the outside, since my dad was a cold warrior, and we routinely kept a few months worth of food on the shelves and in the freezers, a few basic meds, and a basic stock of weapons
and ammo.
Unlike pop, I wasn't a cold warrior or conspiracy theorist, but I always saw the practicality of keeping supplies and doing my own gardening. Relying on supply chains stretching thousands of miles for 100 percent of my food just seemed stupid to me. Still does.
In the absence of governmental/financial/societal meltdown, nature herself still commands more than sufficient respect from me. Fire, flood, earthquakes, and tornadoes can and do happen.

 

[ocsdor]

...Garden chemicals will dry up quickly also. Do you know how to compost to provide your own fertilizer? Do you know how to control cabbage lopper or ahpids? ...

I do. First, I don't use chemicals. Second, I do my best to have an environment that is friendly to these guys:

 

[ocsdor]

Dont eat [STRIKE]raw[/STRIKE] soybeans, they're bad for you

FIFY

 

[RockofStrength]

We started a garden this year and it's done extremely well. All heirloom seeds and we plan on letting some grow to seed before the season is over and use them next year. It's been a great experience for all of us.

I would add though that if you're planning on long term sustainability, having a few chickens around for egg production as well as raising bunnies. They reproduce like crazy and would be an excellent meat source. This also lowers the amount of big game needed to be hunted.

Just be aware that eating only bunnies will eventually kill you. If you can supplement with other stuff (eggs, small amounts of veggies) it's not a problem, but otherwise you end up dying from starvation because the calories required to consume rabbit meat is more than the calories gained by eating the rabbit.

That said, the meat is still a good source of protien and such, so it has its uses.

 

[Bunnykid68]

hossenfeffer

 

[1946]

Cake or pie?

 

[rhino]

I can't agree that production capacity has peaked. It has nowhere near reached its peak, unless you define production capacity very narrowly. There is a lot of land that used to be used for farming that is idle because it's not needed.

The big problem is distribution, not supply, which is the real problem in most third world countries. If and when we have a really bad situation in America (or what's left of it), the real issue will be distribution or from the consumer's end, acquisition. As mentioned, energy availability will play a huge role.

My family has always had a big garden and to call my father an accomplished gardener is an understatement. It may not be aesthetically pleasing to some, but he always delivers the produce! Knowing how to manage a garden is at least as important as having seeds and other supplies. Yeah, it's not rocket science, but it's not something you want to learn when you have no other options. Learn how when you have the choice whether or not to do so, then when you have fewer choices, it won't be as stressful.

I know they can be resource-intensive, but I still think the man who has pigs when things get bad will be the king! Heh!

 

[longbarrel]

And I will post this question again,What is the largest source of protein on the planet at the present time.

soybeans?