Posted on 11/23/2012 7:22:24 PM PST by Kartographer
Survival Diva here to discuss an important, life-saving tactic that too many Preppers leave out of their preparedness plan. We may think we have everything covered for survival, but what if we’ve prepared for six months or a year when a crisis comes that lingers for years? Few of us have the resources to put three, four, or five years of food storage and preparedness goods aside, but depending upon the emergency, we may need to figure out how to make it through a breakdown in infrastructure lasting that long.
As David has said before, the “stuff” that you store up is only there to help you get from one predictable source of provisions to the next. It won’t last forever, but it will give you time to figure out or set up sustainable solutions.
One of the most obvious choices for developing a sustainable food supply is through gardening…specifically with heirloom seed that can be dried and used season after season. In my opinion heirloom seed is imperative for long term survival. We will need a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits to combat appetite fatigue and for good health, especially when food storage begins to dwindle. If you can afford the cost, adding heirloom seed to your bartering goods stash will give you plenty of bartering leverage.
(Excerpt) Read more at survivethecomingcollapse.com ...
Preppers’ PING!!
just to be sarcastic and darker you should have added (besides your women)
Skills can help, big time!
If you can manufacture alcoholic beverages you have a bater item. The ability to repair simple machines would come in handy. You can repair in trade for other items. Like alcoholic beverages!
I expect Old Sarge to be along anytime now. ;-)
/johnny
lol
I am not certain how valuable it would be but for the last 20 years I have accumulated matches and various other fire starters. More than I would ever use.
One note is to not just assume something will work. I decided to waterproof a couple of boxes of strike anywhere matches by dipping them in hot candle wax. I kept them for several years assuming I had waterproof matches.
Well one day I decided to see how well they worked. They didn’t work at all. In fact even after I peeled off all the wax they still wouldn’t work. I had simply ruined a couple boxes of matches.
Nothing of value but I am glad I found out they didn’t work before really needing them.
Nice MkIII
Then the fun starts. In many cases it winds up with the Ruger in a box headed up to the gunsmith. ;)
/johnny
I have a few .50 cal ammo boxes full of various ammo.
Filled another one just since the election.
True enough.
Personally, I’m no gardener, and don’t know a thing about gardening, but... I wonder if anyone here knows this: Those seeds you buy in the gardening shop - the ones in the little envelopes for vegetables such as carrots, potatotes, corn,tomatoes and so on - how long will they keep and be viable when stored away in the closet?
Thank you for bringing that point up.
/johnny
That’s how it was for me I read everything I could get on it, watch endless video, study it night and day then I got married. I should have field tested it first. ;-)
I really think that the .22 LR will be the $1 or $5 bill soon.
I harvest seeds for stuff I use. The seeds I store also last about a year. It's a half life kind of thing.
First year is 75-80%, 2nd year is about 50%, much less on the third year.
I'm very pessemistic about storing seed. Especially commercial seed that's not from my garden that I processed.
/johnny
/johnny
First is food of course, but the next on my list as far as barter items is clothing. Or the ability to repair and alter clothing. Especially warm winter stuff. I keep most of what crosses my path, and I have a functional treadle sewing machine, if by chance electricity is gone, which it probably would be.
I try to teach the younger ones how to do the “old fashioned” stuff, in case whatever happens takes place after I’m gone, or drags on that long.
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