Posted on 02/09/2009 12:36:11 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny
Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training
I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood
Good information, important to know.
So far I have worn my plastic lightly, so it has worked for me.
The real old time prospectors in the west wore wool slacks the year round, said they stayed warm in the winter and the wool absorbed the body’s sweat and served to keep them cooler.
You are welcome and do come and learn with us, if we each share a little that we have learned, we all learn.
Thank you for pinging your group, it helps.
Thanks for coming to read, do join in when you have time.
Gotta pack light when you’re haulin’ ALL your supplies on your back! <<<
You are right and plastic bags should be in all the bug out bags.
LOL, you put supplies in your back pack?? I always over filled mine with rocks and that was one thing Bill refused to do, was carry my rock bag.
He only wanted to haul out the choice ones for lapidary, but not I, if they were weird enough, I thought of ‘crafts’...
LOL, Yes, my Texas words make good sense to me.
Actually, food prices have fallen this year.
That won't work in an urban area; the neighbors will steal him blind!
bookmark
We have the same problem, 5 of us and only 2 are able to live in the country and survive on what we have.
They all have the same mother and father, who both were able to stretch things and make things that did not cost an arm and a leg.
They are taught in school and on the tv that they must be modern and up to date.
They have no God, no love of family and if you read it, the communist manifesto from 1963 was written with this goal on purpose.
Listen to your police scanners, you can on the internet, it is already happening, they take what they want, it is not all money for drugs that is the goal for the robber.
For people like us, we are not what they want to see, the weak ones, who want a handout, are the ones who votes the crooks in office over and over.
New Orleans is a fine example of what can be done to people, they even voted the mayor back in.
There is already killing on our streets for no real reason and it is getting worse.
I’ll add a couple. No life changers, but every little bit helps, including small pleasures.
1) Grow a tomato in a bucket. Get a pickle bucket with a lid. Cut a 3” hole in the bottom. Hang the bucket waist high or so using the handle so you can work comfortably. Stick a tomato plant through the hole in the bottom and arrange news paper around the stem to hold it in. Fill the bucket with good soil, firmly packed. Put the lid on the bucket. Turn the bucket over so the plant is sticking up. Grow like this for a week or so. Once the roots are set, hang the bucket by the handle so the plant grows down. If you have a clothesline, you can hang several on each end. Water and feed through “lid.”
2) Yogurt: If you like yogurt and hate the price, make your own. It is terribly simple. Heat 2 quarts of milk to 185 degrees. While hot, stir in 3 teaspoons of vanilla and a half cup of sugar or equivalent sweetener to taste. Let cool to 105 degrees. Take a half cup or so (of store bought the first time) yogurt and stir in 1/2 cup or so of the warm milk (to temper the starter.) Stir the starter in the milk and cover. Place in a warm spot for 4, up to 6 hours and then refrigerate. Our microwave is built in and has a light under it. When on, the inside of the microwave will stay a perfect 100 degrees. The light in your oven will keep the oven warm as well. You can use from your homemade for starter for your next batch. The culture will live as long as you don’t let it spoil. Stir in fruit, nuts, cereal, etc to your taste when you serve. Don’t put the fruit in when you culture it, it will go rancid.
Thank you, glad you came to read the thread.
I knew that back in the beginning of the solar greenhouses, some had been built to have a cement water tank for passive heat storage and also grew fish in them, Tilipia [sp?] is popular for that.
I do not like fish that well, but do like good ideas.
Early on the first thread, I posted a different article on fish in a barrel.
There are several interesting posts on that site, altho I don’t agree with his other opinions, they are good articles that he found and posted.
Good, glad to have all the readers we can gather.
I am out of Kingman, at the 3,300’ level and heard the sleet for the past couple hours, plus it is getting very cold.
(Bean and three-grain loaf at under 8 cents a pound)<<
Let us know if it is good....LOL
Please....
Welcome to the thread.
Thank you for the movie suggestion, I think I would understand it.
When Mary told me what had happened to her and Jay that day, we were standing in front of the old bank building, it is on what they made into a mall, in the old portion of Yuma.
Or that is what it was 35 years ago, I haven’t been back in about 30 years.
I have their horse drawn cultivator in my yard, moved it up here, as I knew Mary had liked using it on the farm.
Hey, great can hardly wait to hear how the ‘mellon wine’ turns out.
On Texas Culture, I learned to love it. Never will forget many things about it. Like when I was in the Army, and finished training at Ft. Devens, Mass., and was transferred to Ft. Wolters, TX - we flew from Boston (where they gave you a long silent down their nose look if you asked them what time it was.) and then we flew to Dallas, bus to Ft. Worth and then another bus to Ft. Wolters. Well, three of us were walking around looking over the town while waiting for one of the bus connections and asked a feller wearing an old western hat and shirt, jeans and old boots if he would recommend some place to get a bite to eat - he immediately said “Sure fellas, was just gettin ready to have a bite myself - how bout joinin me” He took us to the Farmer’s Daughter (WOW what a restaurant) and we had HUGE steaks - fantastic! When the bill came, he told the waitress -”These fellers got a job to do - I’m payin for their meals.” I have tried to carry on his act ever since.
Yep Granny, it works-
About 30 years ago I tried some aquaculture - there had been testing at the University of Delaware along with other colleges and you could raise a pound of catfish in a gallon of water!
I modified it a bit by raising tilapia which are oral brooders and didn’t have to buy fry (baby fish). The feed conversion was fantastic too. You could raise a pound of fish with 1.1 pounds of feed. My problem with it was that the tilapia were temperature vulnerable and the catfish feed that we were feeding was heavily dependent on menhaden fish meal which made it not so sustainable. Never got too involved in it commercially as I made more money from the fancy guppies I raised and sold on the top of the biofilter.
We have a neighbor who is raising tilapia - he has two houses - total of about $1.4 million invested and produces about 600,000 pounds of fish a year.
Well, believe it or not many greenhouses are now pollinating with bumblebees!
They don’t forage over too large an area, sting less, and are not susceptible to the latest colony disappearances.
When I used to have my 24 X 96 greenhouse full of tomatoes, I felt that the shaking wasn’t quite doing the job, so I took a ball of cotton and glued it to the end of a dowel rod. It only took a gentle tap on each blossom with the cotton ball and the yield went very noticeably. Not only did I find that pollination was better, but I was much more in tune with what was going on in the greenhouse - aphids, and other bugs as well as re-tying the vines.
I am glad that the food prices has fallen where you are, but in Kingman, Az they are almost double in the past year.
It is to the point that I am already saying to not buy this and that.
You are right, today they will steal the food because it looks good and in the future, it will be hunger.
Or worse yet, vandalize it to show they can.
I am glad you will come back to read with us, and if you want share your knowledge with the group.
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