Inflation

[Wifezilla]

From my latest "Backyard food production" newsletter...

"Do You Need a Gun to Grow a Garden?

Well guns aren't really that useful for digging or anything like that. But do you need a gun if you are becoming self-reliant? Let me tell you a true story that happened to me which had me re-think the whole concept of security.

Back when we were first starting to sell the DVD Food Production Systems for a Backyard or Small Farm I had a very shocking experience. When I say shocking, I mean I was really dumbfounded, and almost couldn't speak for a long time.

I was at a local shop talking with the owner about carrying the DVD in his store. He was congenial enough, but looked me right in the eye and told me "I will never need to grow food". I told him that you never knew what was coming and being able to grow food could be a crucial skill. He flatly told me he would never have to grow food. I asked him why, and he said "because I have this", and from under the counter he pulled out a big black semi-automatic gun.

I stared at the gun not understanding, and I asked him 'What do you mean?"

"Well, if anything happens" he said, "it is like this; with this gun I can get all the food I need from people like you who grow it".

Several customers who had been listening in on the conversation agreed with the shop owner. They were ordinary looking people and I would have never guessed they would have this kind of thinking."

So yeah. Something to consider.

 

[jennh]

Quote:
I live in Amish and Mennonite country. I really admire their way of living, especially the Amish. A lot of people here get upset with the Amish because of their buggies on the road, tying up traffic. At least they're not polluting the air with fumes! Anyway, I'm not sure about the Amish and indoor plumbing, but I think they have it. There is an Amish farm about a half mile from my house, and I see no outhouse. Aren't they against the law now? I DO know, however, that they have indoor running water. They HAVE to have it, or they wouldn't be allowed to sell their food items.

 

[rufus]

Backyard gardening sort of depends upon the individual's circumstances. In Tennessee it is possible. Where some of us live it is impossible. Where I live, the water is so expensive that it is cheaper to buy vegetables in the market rather than try to raise them.

People use gray water to water their lawns and fruit trees, but to raise something like corn or other water intensive vegetables is impossible. I do have some turnips and squashes planted, and maybe I might get something off of them. I sure hope they don't taste like laundry soap.

I have found that in my neighborhood, if I am going to raise any vegetables, they really should be something like root crops. Thieves like things that are easy to pick, like tomatoes and chili peppers. They are not into stealing things that involve a lot of digging, like potatoes.

I did plant some russet potatoes that had been around too long, but they just came up, and I planted them in January. It hit a hundred degrees yesterday, and I don't think I am going to have enough water to carry them to maturity.

Rufus

 

[rufus]

Quote:
Us fat folks will either be the last to starve or the first to be eaten.

Rufus

 

[bakerjw]

Hunger is a heck of a motivator. I like to push my limits sometimes and a few years ago decided to see how long I could go with only water. I did make it a week and it was almost as hard as quitting smoking. it was really quite interesting and something everyone should do once. All about knowing your limits. If people go hungry there is no telling what they will do or to what extreme they will go in order to get anything for themselves or their families.

I don't need a gun to plant a garden nor do I need one to raise chickens. BUT I do... I am actually a collector. So defense of myself, my family, and our assets is not a problem. Someone wants to talk big about coming and taking anything that we have will be met with a smile and some friendly advice that if they decide to try it then they'd better be darn good. Now if that same person walked up to my door (in a non threatening manner) and politely asked for some food for their family I'd probably give them something. I might be getting set up but I believe that good deeds do come back around in the long run.

 

[rufus]

Yes, hunger is a motivator. Our nation is hooked on the opium of social welfare, but that is coming to an end rapidly No mater how much money the government prints, the more they print, the less it is worth. The end is near.

Our past economic success has lead to some strange outlooks on life. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. Check out this guy's ideas.

I hope the link worked.

Rufus

 

[Q9]

Quote:
Apparently the guy doesn't get that some of us have even bigger guns that are far more effective than a handgun.

It's ones like him who'll be the first to go if the SHTF.

 

[Robo]

Quote:
Apparently the guy doesn't get that some of us have even bigger guns that are far more effective than a handgun.

It's ones like him who'll be the first to go if the SHTF.

If it gets bad I'll round up all my birds and go to the walk in closet with the gun safe. take a 55 gallon drum of mountain dew, some birds, and a propane stove. Then drill a hole through the roof. Defend the closet fort from the aliens!

 

[SourRoses]

Yeah the Amish are pretty darn neat... I personally like the horse and buggies.. I wish cars had never been invented so I could just ride wherever I needed to go

But I did get worried about them when we were in Ohio... some cars whiz past them or cut them off so close! Come on guys, youre going to scare the horse! If we illegalized cars... think about the good that would do us all, the planet, and the horses

But really, the creativity to work with your hands, raise buildings together, and live so simply is really fascinating. Im pretty sure they do indeed, have indoor plumbing, working faucets, ect, now, from a documentary I saw.

I forget what it was called, but I was just talking the other day to someone, about a show the discovery channel or PBS or Nova had.... city slicker folks all signed up to go live like the pioneers. They had to build their own cabins, from trees they had to fell, raise livestock, wear period clothing (poor women), learn to knit, sew, darn... and it seemed the most difficult of all.. they had to cook period dishes in the manner of that time. That poor wife, I remember, it took her the *entire* day to mash out flour, make the dough, and bake the bread cake things... and then no one liked them

The kids had to all sleep together in a tiny loft on straw cots... there sure was a lot of whining and shivering!
I couldn't of done that!

 

[GarlicEater]

Quote:
There's an essay out there titled "MZB!". It's excellent. MZB stands for Mutant Zombie Biker, a sort of tongue-in-cheek prepper term for the baddies, the ticked-off suburbanites, those who did NOT prepare and figure they can take what they want/need because well, they deserve it.

The Welfare/Everyone's A Winner/Self-esteem/phonics? culture did a lot to create this. This is why although I make I dunno, less than 1/4 the official "poverty rate" income for an individual in the US, I refuse to take Food Stamps, Welfare, Big Momma's Gov't Teat. I'm eating OK, quite well actually, and I don't figure the taxpayers owe me, actually.

But plenty do.

If you can find "MZB!" read it. If you can't, well, it's by a guy who owns a small biz he put his heart and soul, and savings, into and eventually it paid off. He had a decent living, and was able to employ a few workers. So one day he's having dinner and one of the guys who works with him is invited and they're eating together and talking, and the conversation wanders onto the subject of the coming times. To the guy's astonishment, the worker goes on and on about how in the hard times, This is when he'll take what this guy has, to pay him back for being "the boss" all this time and getting rich off of the worker's labor etc yadda yadda. And this is where the guy, the business owner, realizes he's looking at an MZB.

My own personal take is, in the End Times, the average person has 4 skills: Begging, stealing, killing, and um, selling their body for lascivious purposes. I moved where I am because the land owner isn't just talking about permaculture, he's doing it. I'm a very resourceful, humble, and relatively hard working guy. But I realized if things get tuff all of a sudden, I'd just be another MZB. I saw moving here as eliminating one MZB, by becoming a skilled producer. And I'm learning a lot, by osmosis and doing.

The hardest thing to accept is that the MZBs, if we have to deal with them, are going to be your family, friends, associates, who come to YOUR place when things get tough.