Is Recession Preparing a New Breed of Survivalist? [Survival Today - an On going Thread #2]

May 05th,2008

[CottonBall]

Wow - that’s some scary reading. Thanks for the link. Nothing like hearing it from someone whose been through the worst. I have already stocked up on a lot of stuff, but never thought of a bullet-proof vest. And I jotted down a few other items to get more of.

Thanks again.

[CottonBall]

I'm in CO at over 9,000 feet with an air-freezing index of about 2,500 (snows in July, sometimes, 110 mph wind loads in building codes, 120 for commercial), and we'll try to get the first of several greenhouses up before next winter. ...did some testing with a smaller one a couple of years ago, while designing the next one for low cost, more durability and more warmth (both passive and active solar). Oh...and there are bears.

Keep me aprised of how it goes. We will be going ot our cabin when TSHTF at 7200 feet. This summer, I will be experimenting with gardening for the first time there - and visiting a friend a lot who has been gardening up there for years. ;) Bears? Will they eat my produce? We've had one eat a snowmobile seat two years in a row now...

[is_russia_western]

bttt

[CottonBall]

Nice bread-baking post, granny.

BTW, I just got my grain mill delivered by UPS! But...the wheat in #10 cans won’t be here until tomorrow. I have 45# SuperPails, but don’t want to open one just to experiment.

[Marmolade]

I was thinking of getting an old fashioned one so that if we needed to, we could use it outside (camping or cooking without a stove). I appreciate all the great advice. I already pulled out my cookbook: “Old Fashioned Dutch Oven Cookbook” by Don Holm, c.1969.

[CottonBall]

Thanks for the info. I had read not to just plant a potato from the store, because of diseases.

[CottonBall]

Boy, i have a lot to learn!

When TSHTF, we’ll be moving to a cabin in the mountains - our of the city! ;)

Problem is - there will be snow on the ground until May and I’ll get (according to some googling) about 40 days to grow things. Will potatoes mature in that time?

[CARDINALRULES]

On each thread under the Topics and Keywords is Bookmark (also where you report abuse)- and right above the first comment.

It is right above Navigation when there is multiple pages of the thread.

You can access them on your FR profile page under Links.

---

You can add to the name so you can find a group of threads easier in your bookmarks - like I put 911, WTC or whatever so they are grouped together or use CTRL + F to search in my links. And I have a lot of links to go through. lol

[DelaWhere]

djf is correct in saying to buy seed potatoes. The ones you buy in the grocery store have been treated with a sprout inhibitor. (just what we want to be eating - right...)

Potato Sprout Inhibitors The purpose of sprout inhibitors is to prevent sprouting in storage. When applied to the potato crop in the field, they also prevent growth of volunteer potatoes in the following rotation crop. Sprout inhibitors function by inhibiting cell division, therefore they should never be applied to seed potatoes and care needs to be taken to avoid drift or movement of sprout inhibitors into areas where seed potatoes are present. Maleic hydrazide and chlorpropham (CIPC) are the compounds most commonly used as sprout inhibitors. Maleic hydrazide is applied to the growing potato crop and is translocated to the developing tubers where it arrests cell division, but does not limit cell expansion. If it is applied too early during tuber development it will limit tuber size and yield. Chlorpropham is applied to potatoes in storage. It is a potent inhibitor of cell division and should not be applied until after wound healing.

Some seed houses either carry them too or sometimes they dropship them from specialist growers. They run about $1.80 per pound plus shipping. Your local garden supply or hardware store (Ace Hardware here does) should carry them over the next couple of months - but don't wait they will be gone fast, and they don't reorder them.

[familyop]

Thank you very much for the link to FerFAL’s blog! Learning about interactions between business and politics in other countries is a hobby—one that might help us out in the near future. BTW, at least a couple of other countries to our south have been economic and political hobby horses for some of the more affluent constituents here (USA), the UK, and similarly developed countries.

[djf]

My habit always was to take a seed potato and cut it into as many sections as it had eyes, then plant the chunks.

This usually meant each potato would get cut into four or five pieces.

Last year, I said to heck with that, and just cut them in half. To my surprise, they did much better than in the past, and I figured it out.

The plant itself “lives” off of the energy stored in the potato. So before it gets good stems and roots and leaves going, it needs that chunk of potato.

So the ones that I just cut in half got going, grew faster, and got bigger, and produced more potatoes themselves because it had a good energy store to get it going strong and vigorous.

So turn the dirt over good 16-24 inches deep, plant them with a bit of compost or manure if you have it, water them very heavy right after you put them in, and let them grow.

Forty days is kind of short but don’t deceive yourself, I’ve had potato plants sprout (and start to make potatoes) during warm spells in November!

[familyop]

"Keep me aprised of how it goes."

I will.

"We will be going ot our cabin when TSHTF at 7200 feet. "

That's wise, IMO. If enough people go rural again, that will lighten some of the economic and logistical pressures on all. I say welcome. There's more than enough "open space" in areas like mine for sure. Only the most spoiled and selfish people play the First Settler Syndrome games (regulating against others building on their own properties), and they are downright un-American with their putsches against property rights and dishonest efforts against local competitors (builders' rackets).

And yes, bear do love vegetable gardens--especially in treed areas. They can eat just about anything that we eat and more. ...haven't had any problem with bears breaking into my own test gardens, yet, though. I'll try to design a stand-alone solar panel/battery electric fence system for that, but it might end-up being a little too expensive.

[CottonBall]

Can I store them (ie., have them be dormant?) I cannot plant until the snow melts in the mountains, April or May. I suppose I can plant them here (in the city) and then transplant, if they’ll survive that. But I’m trying to see what I can grow up there, without the help of being in the valley - I’m assuming cities will be dangerous places to be.

[CottonBall]

Only the most spoiled and selfish people play the First Settler Syndrome games (regulating against others building on their own properties), and they are downright un-American with their putsches against property rights and dishonest efforts against local competitors (builders' rackets).

We have some like that. They're the environmental wackos. One even trespassed on other's properties, and then calls the Fish and Game to file a 'violation' of some sort! We're all hoping she'll get her truck stuck in the snow - and we'll all drive by and wave. Or charge her $500 to pull her out!

[familyop]

"Biggest thing I worry about is that they know we've got guns. They don't have a clue as to how many but to them, more than 1 is lots. ~sigh~ Wish that could have been avoided. OTOH - it was discovered when somebody popped up to an open window one night while I was up reading. I almost shot the neighbor woman. Now everyone in the neighborhood knows. gees......."

Get a safe for those, have one built, or build one. If you're in a trailer house or something like that, consider securing it with concrete in the ground (sleeved through the floor). It can be quite a project but can also be well worthwhile. Let the neighbors think that it's going to be some kind of greenie heat storage/exchanger tank (something that I play with). Avoid the flimsy firearms safes at the sporting goods stores.

[CottonBall]

That makes sense. I’m glad you told me - I would’ve been cheap and tried to make as many potato plants from one potato that I could!

40 days is probably a short estimate. I got it from a gardening book about this area. We certainly have from mid-June to August - that’s at least 75 days of growing weather. And it doesn’t always get cold in September right away either. Potatoes might be perfect for up there because it stays pretty cool, especially at night. Can potatoes handle a large temperature variation from day to night?

[CottonBall]

Now, don’t I feel silly ;) I’ve seen that link so, so many times and never even wondered about it. NOW I know.

Very handy. Thanks so much. (And thanks for not laughing)

[djf]

Yup.

But I’ll tell ya what - if you were to plant them now, I guarantee they would be coming out of the ground by mid April.

If not sooner.

They are a good cold weather crop. They are native to the Andes mountains in South America. In fact my potatoes always do really, really well in the spring and early summer but start to fade by the 4th of July or so.

[Wneighbor]

Well those are cool! I like to look these over just to see what I’m forgetting. And I always find something.

You are right about the humdrum of most survival food sites. If we can find the place we want to be, far from other people we’ll be eating a lot more variety just because of the odds and ends put up. All that standard fare will get ya through, but it sure will be a lot more pleasant with the extras.

[Wneighbor]

I am planted my taters in trash bags this year one month earlier than normal... you might try it with a short season and see if it works for ya. My taters are up now.

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/gr_fruits_vegetables/article/0,2029,DIY_13846_4463475,00.html

That’s where I got the information. One of the older ladies around here laughed at me but they’ve started!!!