Saw this on another site - What are we doing to teach ourselves to not need [them]?
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I am in the process of purchasing some land. My goal is to eventually have a homestead that is self-sufficient/self-sustaining so I do not have to rely on stores for the essentials. While I have a long way to go when it comes to learning skills, at least I am making an effort. I would love advice for some books or links to things I can learn to do! ThanQ in advance!
What are you doing?
Are you on Gab? I found this group about homesteading and off grid tricks and tips, it's got a lot of members.
https://gab.com/groups/5779
Thanks for this Precocious13....just joined!
Cool, I haven't had much time to explore it yet, I only joined a week ago myself, and gab is still slow for me, but it looks like a great group!
Have you ever visited naturalnews.com?
And the owner Mike Adams is serious patriot and has his own show.
Yeah he knows his stuff, that's for sure. He makes a living of it. His articles can be a little over the top sometimes but he's good for opening eyes. And he sugar coats nothing.
I have not! I will definitely take a look! Thank you!
Saw this earlier today, seems to be a wealth of information for this:
https://greatawakening.win/p/12hRQPPzQm/suhvival-reading-drop--download-/c/
Ebay! Lots of used books on there cheap, $4-10 is usually what I pay. I look at reviews on Amazon or whatever and then go to ebay to buy them. Check farm and garden stores at the end of season, they'll Mark them down significantly sometimes.
Country wisdom and know how is a good one.
Look for organic gardening books, being self sufficient means not relying on pesticides most of the time. Better for you too.
Chickens are super easy, basically you just feed them and protect them from predators. They should have a coup, but mine sleep pretty much everywhere but the coup.
Look into mini cows, they produce more meat/milk per pound of feed than the full size versions.
Find other farmers in your area. One, they'll have a lot of good advice for growing in your specific part of the country. Two, you can barter. Trying to keep up a garden, chase down run away chickens, put out hay for cows, keep up fencing, it's a ton of work. Easier to have lots of cows or chickens and a garden, then trade/sell.
Consider growing or raising some specialty things. Mini cows are really popular, or certain breeds of chickens. Lemon cucumbers, or black tomatoes. People will pay a premium for that kind of stuff.
Finally, learn about tractors. They are essential. Plowing a garden plot, putting out hay, bush hogging, getting a truck out of the mud, pulling down a dead tree, it's endless really. Find an older model and learn how to care for it yourself. They'll last forever if you know what your doing.
I bought all of the Foxfire books (four volumes) in the late 70s to learn how people did things in Appalachia before modern life.
That's awesome! I actually live in the Appalachian mountains, so I've been fortunate to actually know some of the old timers.
There are 14 volumes now. I have all the older ones as PDF files that I can carry in my pocket.
That's great. I had thought the project ended after the fourth volume. Thanks for telling me this.
Find out if your soil needs any specific nutrients and provide them while you can. It's hard to do every single thing for yourself. Share skills with neighbors if possible.
And those who do farm and prep are considered to be bodunk hillbilly paranoid morons.
I am, in fact, a paranoid hillbilly - so, I take no offense. :)
The disrespect leftists show to farmers is pretty gross.
If you ever have any specific farming, gardening, hunting, etc., advice/info, feel free to message me direct. I'll help however I can. I was raised to be self-sufficient in a very rural farm area.
I just bought my first hunting weapon. I have never been. I am worried I will get something (probably not the first time) and I will have no idea what to do with it. So, when winter comes back around, be ready! Any chance you are in NC? haha
SW Missouri There's a lot of info online as far as field-dressing (critical to do ASAP) wild game as well as processing, storing, and cooking. Not hard, I harvested and processed 2 deer, 2 turkey, and numerous squirrel and rabbit last year. Look to conservation websites!
Things like this:
https://huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer/deer-getting-started/field-dressing-your-deer
We as a nation needs to go back to our agrarian roots. Get away from corporate farms that spray our food with chemicals and poison the land and water.
Wow. I wish I was that far along. Still stuck in a city but saving for land in the country. Reading books on farming and caring for animals. You are blessed wexit-delecto
There are a lot of prepper sites out there.
One thing you need to realize is that you can be self-sufficient in a lot of things, but metal tools break or get lost, so you need to buy lots of extras and also learn the skills to make tools out of scrap metal.
If you are stuck in an area with a good number of people around, and you don't have that much land, one trick is to plant food plants along the roadsides and in the edges of the woods. The average sheep now doesn't know what food plants look like. You can have an almost endless supply of ditch bank potatoes.
There are also the wild plants, such as Queen Anne's lace roots (similar to carrots), and wild onions that are just a stronger version of regular onions.
Before the SHTF, you need to practice gardening and other skills while you have normal supplies as a backup.
I am a decent gardener. I did not know there was anything at the end of Queen Ann's lace! I used to make crowns out of those when I was a kid! I buy most of my tools from estate and yard sales to get bulk for a good price. Also, the older tools are usually better quality.
Survivalistboards dot com
All the information you could ever need to not have to depend on the system during your own personal shtf scenario. Long term food storage, gardening, farming, comms, personal protection, backup energy sources etc. It used to be a mostly conservative leaning site, but had started to lean towards the center a bit since Trump got elected and libs with TDS started to research shtf. A good influx of maga folks would be most welcome to restore it to its old glory. Either way the info there is invaluable.
Thank you so much!
Glad to help Durbs.
No problem Drink. That site will point you in the right direction.
During the Covid year we built a 100 hen laying house with outdoor covered runs. Watching how little it really took to mess up the ‘made to order’ food to market industry woke us up big time. While we are grain feeding now through winter we will have large compost piles and fenced in free range acreage this Spring to reduce/eliminate feed bills.
Once fencing is done we will have pigs and turkeys on boarding by May 2021. We also spent a considerable amount of time experimenting with heritage seeds and even some hydroponic gardening to verify what all could be produced and what grew well that way. We then stockpiled hundreds of thousands of seeds and all the nutrients/fertilizers and all of the recipes written in paper log books for this type of gardening. It starts out a bit overwhelming but I can now in one hour pass off the most important do’s/dont’s, most efficient places to buy necessities, and train another person quickly.
We have also studied long term storage methods and prepped tons of rice, beans, grains, flour, sugar, salt etc and can now say fuck you to Walmart for years if need be. Do I want to? No. But I’m doing what I feel needs to be done in preparation for a ‘planned’ food crisis that will be used for population control. Yes, I’ve spent years studying, experimenting, and have 15-20k tied up in preparations that I may never need....? I like to look at them like condoms or rain jackets; I’d rather have them and not need them than need them and not have em’.
What you have done is truly inspiring to me. We are looking into egg laying chickens. I am afraid I will get myself too upside down in cost to maintain versus return so I want to start small and add on as I can. I am pretty good with gardening. Part of our land will be cleared and I intend to dig an underground greenhouse. I have done the research and, theoretically, will allow me to grow almost year round. Have you heard of this?
No I’m. It familiar w the underground greenhouse. Where are you roughly located? We’re in TX so aside from the arctic blast we are currently experiencing we can generally grow in standard greenhouses throughout the winter.
The egg laying chickens are a no brainer. Very easy and your family could easily survive on the eggs, an easy stored grain like rice, and some greens that you can grow. Combine those with fresh water and you are not a slave. Keep it simple and how to best accomplish those 4 things water, eggs, grain, greens and then you can get as extravagant as you want.
Just remember to plan ahead. We have planted 60 Apple/pear differing varieties so that different trees will bear fruit from late June all the way to November-December. These fruits can be readily eaten, canned/sauced or fed to farm animals (pigs). The orchard was started 2 years prior to our acquiring the pigs so we would have some supplemental food sources once they were here. The pigs will be kunekunes variety which are grazing pigs that came from New Zealand so they can actually be grown fully on Bermuda grass if you choose.
I can grow potatoes in giant containers. That’s about it.
This is amazing! Do you have a link for how to do this?
I've seen some videos explaining how this is done. It's amazing how much food can be grown in a small area. Potatoes can make the difference between starvation and survival. All homesteaders should consider doing this along with greenhouses. Btw, some varieties of potatoes are better for this then others.
It’s the simplest thing. Make sure you get a few organic potatoes (non organic ones are sprayed with something to make them not sprout). Let them sit in a dark area for a few weeks till they start to sprout out of their eyes. (I just keep them in a brown paper bag). Then find a big container (garbage pail, bin,etc) and drill holes in the bottom for drainage. Put a layer of rocks down (to help with drainage) then a few inches of soil. Cut the potatoes into thirds, make sure there are one or two sprouts on each piece. Lay the pieces on the soil about one piece per 10 inches squared area. Cover a few inches of soil. Don’t over water, once a day is enough. Once you see the greenage come through the soil an inch or two then cover again with more soil. Do that every time you see the greens come through the soil. Each time you do that you encourage more sprouts. Once you get to the top of your bin just wait till you see pretty little white flowers grow out of the greenery. Once the flowers start to die off your potatoes are ready. The whole process from start to finish is about three months. The bigger the bin and the more space you allow the bigger the potatoes will be. And they are delish.
That's great. Knowing how to grow potatoes is very important.
I have a plan, get out of the suburb and use my cash to buy a homestead. I have some skills but what if my garden fails? What if my animals die? I also am looking for books. I bought a book on how to butcher most animals which has detailed instructions. I also need a canning book, would be good to memorize the basics.
My other recommendation is to find like minded people. Trying to do everything is a LOT of work. Trade eggs and veggies for wool or steaks that kinda thing.
That is exactly what my plan was. How do you go about finding other "prepers(?)" without putting a sign at the road that says "Hey! I am crazy and doomsday prepping! Wanna trade???" :)
Local fb groups, farmers market, farm shows, conversation at the feed or farm store. Most of us are pretty helpful and really like to talk about our animals or complain about the weather haha.
That's why you have reserves. Canned food (either purchased or from pervious years) dry goods, that kind of thing.
As for the animals, well chickens are pretty damn easy. They self replicate too haha. Chicken feed and shelter (not that mine ever use the coop I spent a ton of money and time on) and then predator protection. That's probably your biggest concern. Hawks, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, stray dogs all are a problem. IMO the most effective defense is an excellent flock guardian. I have large fenced area that the chickens stay in (mostly) and the dog stays out there. Anatolians are the best, but they aren't for novice dog owners. A great Pyrenees is also a good choice, but they require lots more grooming. You can also look into a mix. There's a few other breeds also but they aren't as common.
Goats are hardy but Hella hard to keep fenced. Like extremely hard. Don't get them unless your neighbors are cool with waking up to a goat occasionally.
If you want a cow, look into the mini versions. They produce more meat/milk per pound of feed than the full size version. Bonus, lots of people like them as pets so you can sell offspring for a good price.
I have no experience with sheep, other than that they are assholes and a pain in an ass to handle lol. If you want wool type stuff, I would recommend an alpac. Never had one, but they are on my list when I by a bigger farm.
I was told by a friend of mine that I don't want a goat because they are assholes and destroy everything. It sounds like you agree with that. kek
Some goats are OK. I really want some fainting goats. They definitely are not for everyone though. I'll only get them move to the Sticks. Then I'll put them in the center of the property, so they'll have to cross multiple fence lines before getting to the neighbors.
Yes, me too! I have learned to can this year. Butchering - not so sure about. :) I WANT to know how, just haven't learned.
I don’t think God intends us to sit behind a desk our whole lives.
I want to run through the prairie and turn rocks over in the creek to see what’s underneath. I want to eat a meal of my own produce, I want to care for animals and the earth.
You are clearly a flower child like myself!
There probably are books out there on this topic, but my suggestion is find information online and print it - make your own books. Then you can tab the stuff that's important to you and have it if the grid goes down. I do that with binders on nutrition and home remedies (like you can use raw garlic as an antibiotic - I've used it to cure a respiratory infection). Then your info is tailored to your interests, and you can refer to it whenever you need. This is something you can do in the meantime while you're working on getting out of the suburbs - something my husband and I are also working on. Best of luck to you!!
There are endless books. My go to is eBay, used books can be had for $4-10. Ink is Hella expensive, so this can be more cost effective.
I second the binders and notebooks. Especially for growing stuff, since a lot of things are very regional.
Another option is to download the books or info and save it to an SD card. Put the SD card into a phone or tablet. I have several power banks and then solar charges for them.
True, ink is expensive. Also great ideas! :)
I find a lot of good how-to books for sale at my public library for $.50
Yep, another great place.
Oh, and yard sales! You can find all kinds of useful things at yard sales. Estate sales are great if you are looking for equipment.
It’s true. We need to go back to a simpler time perhaps. But technology exists and it’s not going to go anywhere surely
If you depend on someone for anything, they can deny you everything.
I have been super busy with work today but I was so happy when I logged in and saw all of these comments! Thank you so, so much. From the bottom of my heart, you have no idea how much I appreciate you! I got some great advice today! I look forward to having many more conversations such as this with such amazing people!
Mhm....until the electric grid goes down and all that industry comes to a grinding halt.
It never harmed a soul to know how to use nature as a backup.
To add to what u/desertyote was saying, the products we are purchasing are filled with growth hormones, preservatives and pesticides. Because all (most) of our food is mass produced and farmers have numbers to meet, they have to use these means to increase their product. These are the things that are slowly killing us.
That's not the point. It's about knowing how to do things for ourselves. It's about being able to throw off the shackles of artificial dependencues that are used to control us. Civilization is incredibly fragile. Look at Ankor Wat.
When the systems start to fail, do we have the knowledge to persevere and rebuild? Do we have the resources to see us through? Are we prepared so that we don't get caught with our pants around our ankles?
That's not what I am saying at all. We need to take advantage of the technology that we have right now to prepare and insulate us against the chaos that will be caused when systems start to fail.