I'm a homesteader/prepper ask me anything

[Ftheog]

Unless you want to provide some solid evidence behind your arguments. Otherwise, I am happy not to discuss it further.

I would, but I have a feeling it would be deleted quick (I'm looking at you evo)

 

[Ftheog]

that was a joke, don't ban me

[PLAIN]http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001847503/467500348_come_to_the_dark_side_we_have_cookies_208415_answer_2_xlarge.jpeg

 

[Evo]

As far as living through disasters, I lived in Houston, TX the first half of my life. I lived through a Cat 5 hurricane, my aunt and uncle were visiting and my mother insisted they leave the apartment his job had put them in and stay with us. They had a second floor apartment, after the storm, there was no second floor. We cooked on a tiny grill set on the toilet of the hall bath under a window, we lived in a pine forest and most of it ended up on top of our house.

I've lived through many othjer hurricanes, floods, I had to canoe to a 7-11 to buy formula for my baby. I've been through the blizzard of the century in upstate NY in 1993, only to move to the flood of the century a month later. My youngest was born during a blizzard.

I've had to heat a room with candles during blizzards where electricity and communications where knocked out, I put a couple of bricks in the fireplace and rigged a wire mesh to make a grill so I could cook food for my kids. I was never scared, and I made it a fun time for them. My only worry was that it would warm up and the food in my freezer might go bad. I had enough prepared food to feed an army because I like to buy lots when stuff is on sale, I'm frugal.

 

[Evo]

actually, I'll tell you a quick story. Last summer my wife and daughter were away at her parents. I got off work late and missed deadliest catch(rip phil harris) I decided to stay up till 12:00 to watch the late showing. About half way thru my eyes started getting tired, so I decided to get to bed. I went in the bathroom and started brushing my teeth. At that moment I heard our side buzzer go off, we have a driveway alarm there, because with being a earthen bermed house, we can't see if someone is coming around. I figured it was my father coming home.About 10 seconds later my dog starts going insane, I walk out the bathroom and the front motion light is on but no one is out there. I look in my fathers room and he's sitting there on the computer. I switch the tv over to security cameras and see someone coming towards our front door with a screwdriver in his hand. He was turning towards our front door, when my dog started going nuts, and then ran off into the woods. I called 911. "911 what is your emergency?" I just had a intruder on my property and it looked like they were trying to come in the front door. " Is your property posted sir?" excuse me? " is your property posted sir?" yes, but what the heck does that have to do with anything? "just checking, we'll send someone right out"

The police and govt are not a protective force, they are a responsive force, it is up to us as individuals to make sure our loved ones are taken care of and safe

If you are in an area that draws certain types, and/or it's know that you are a prepper so could have lots of cash, guns, and other valuables stockplied, you would be a target. This is especially true if you are not part of a close knit community where everyone has your back.

 

[Ftheog]

I understand that perfectly well, but I'm just saying that it doesn't do you good. Let's say I was trying to find more information for preppers because I might become one. I go on that forum and I see statements about killing people because they are in the way. I'd be disgusted and I would leave, and I would think preppers are crazy (which they are most definitely not).

Anyway, another question. I would think that preppers are mostly right-wing in politics. Am I correct on that?

you are correct on that, there are people on the fringe of all groups, that's why I search out homesteading, animal husbandry, ect. Unfortunately there is a gray area between what I believe and what the hardcore survivalist believes. Don't get me wrong, there are some people like the ones portrayed in the show, but it is unjustified to paint everyone with the same stroke of the brush

 

[Ftheog]

I

Anyway, another question. I would think that preppers are mostly right-wing in politics. Am I correct on that?

forgot this part, yes I would agree a lot of preppers are conservative and want a small govt and less intrusion on personal rights and freedoms. I don't get wrapped up in the whole republican versus democrat, they both serve their own interests.

 

[Ftheog]

As far as living through disasters, I lived in Houston, TX the first half of my life. I lived through a Cat 5 hurricane, my aunt and uncle were visiting and my mother insisted they leave the apartment his job had put them in and stay with us. They had a second floor apartment, after the storm, there was no second floor. We cooked on a tiny grill set on the toilet of the hall bath under a window, we lived in a pine forest and most of it ended up on top of our house.

I've lived through many othjer hurricanes, floods, I had to canoe to a 7-11 to buy formula for my baby. I've been through the blizzard of the century in upstate NY in 1993, only to move to the flood of the century a month later. My youngest was born during a blizzard.

I've had to heat a room with candles during blizzards where electricity and communications where knocked out, I put a couple of bricks in the fireplace and rigged a wire mesh to make a grill so I could cook food for my kids. I was never scared, and I made it a fun time for them. My only worry was that it would warm up and the food in my freezer might go bad. I had enough prepared food to feed an army because I like to buy lots when stuff is on sale, I'm frugal.

I knew you were a prepper, doth protest to much.


seriously though, I just take it to the next level, I plan for outages for a month or more. We had a ice storm that left us without power for 6 weeks

 

[Evo]

It's almost time for me to watch the new ridiculous tv reality cooking show. I need soemthing to laugh at. I think they have run out of ideas.

Rock the Block: Chefs must cook with unmarked canned goods when they're dropped off in a neighborhood in Newhall, Cal. Later, they must knock on residents' doors to gather cooking materials, and prepare hot appetizers on the block of a car engine

Thanks ftheog for sharing. I'd like to hear more about your garden, your farm animals, I expect you can and preserve most of your food? Turbo does all of his own, he does not eat processed food. He catches fish in the wild, hunts for wild animals, he lives off the land. He does all of his own butchering and preserving. So, we'd love to hear about what you do.

Myself, I want to have goats and cows and make my own cheese. My grandmother had her own cows, chickens, etc... She lived in an ancient stone lodge in the Alps and cooked on a wood stove. No bathtubs, no showers, you heated water on the stove, then poured some into a basin. No running water, no toilets. I was never happier than when I was there. No tv, no telephone, no means of communication. Just working in the garden, collecting eggs, and helping around the house. I'm an expert egg candler, learned that as soon as I could hold an egg.

 

[Ftheog]

If you are in an area that draws certain types, and/or it's know that you are a prepper so could have lots of cash, guns, and other valuables stockplied, you would be a target. This is especially true if you are not part of a close knit community where everyone has your back.

I live in a rural new england town of 3000 people. It's not known what we have, just that we try and live self sustainable and garden and raise animals. We recognized the person, it was the town managers son who has a drug problem and has been arrested numerous times for breaking and entering. Let's be real here, people are getting shot for 10 dollars, you see that in the news all the time.

 

[Ftheog]

actually. I got to let the dogs out and put the pigs and chickens up for the night, i'll check back on this later, peace

 

[Evo]

I live in a rural new england town of 3000 people. It's not known what we have, just that we try and live self sustainable and garden and raise animals. We recognized the person, it was the town managers son who has a drug problem and has been arrested numerous times for breaking and entering. Let's be real here, people are getting shot for 10 dollars, you see that in the news all the time.

Is your video not enough to get him arrested for tresspassing? Or because of who's son he is, he's the town menace until something goes wrong.

Deinitely keep a low profile about what you have at home. I'd be more afraid of stupid teenagers and common crooks than any doomsday scenario.

 

[Ftheog]

Is your video not enough to get him arrested for tresspassing? Or because of who's son he is, he's the town menace until something goes wrong.

Deinitely keep a low profile about what you have at home. I'd be more afraid of stupid teenagers and common crooks than any doomsday scenario.

unfortunately no, the one spot he came through our property, there was not a posted sign, I'm talking like 40 foot span between signs, so all the police legally could do was give him a no trespass notice. My wife went and picked up signs the next day, we now have one like every 10 feet, sad you have to do that, isn't it? so much for rights of land ownership. So I confronted the 22 year old "kid" and told him for the safety of him and my family, stay off my property. I also communicated that to his father as well.

 

[Ftheog]

People in South America tend to have a different mindset than Americans. If I lived there I'd probably think differently.

Basically, many of the people on this forum live close to the land if possible, just because they enjoy it and for no other reason.

Obviously college kids don't have that option. But those of us that are older and settled prefer to do things for ourselves, share with our neighbors, and help strangers in need, even if it means we have less for ourselves.

When I think back to WWII and all of the people that lost their lives to take in and protect complete strangers, it brings tears to my eyes. I don't know if I would ever have that much courage.

true, argentina was more european than american, I'm just using that as a example of what I think a concern might be

 

[Ftheog]

wrong one

 

[Evo]

true, argentina was more european than american, I'm just using that as a example of what I think a concern might be

No, we have a member that is european and is currently in Argentina (or is it Venezuela), anyway both are backwards and much, much, much more violent than europe. Europe is less violent than the US.

 

[DaveC426913]

My wife came up with a truly brilliant strategy when we started talking about disaster scenarios.

I was busy thinking how we would fight the other 4 million people north out of the city and how we would defend our supplies.

She said, forget that. Go 300 yards *South* to the boat. Self-contained mobile house with all the supplies for living - and no traffic!

Any preppers think of a sailboat as the ideal stash?

 

[Evo]

And tell me that those pigs are decorative. I almost died when the Beekman Boys decided to eat their pet pigs and showed them being shot between the eyes.

Pigs are intelligent, it would be like shooting a dolphin.

Of course anything that gets in turbo's way dies of lead poisoning, if you get my drift.

 

[Ftheog]

My wife came up with a truly brilliant strategy when we started talking about disaster scenarios.

I was busy thinking how we would fight the other 4 million people north out of the city and how we would defend our supplies.

She said, forget that. Go 300 yards *South* to the boat. Self-contained mobile house with all the supplies for living - and no traffic!

Any preppers think of a sailboat as the ideal stash?

yep, quite a few, they also make great root cellars!

http://w3.gorge.net/dsines/BoatInAHole.htm"

 

[Ftheog]

And tell me that those pigs are decorative. I almost died when the Beekman Boys decided to eat their pet pigs and showed them being shot between the eyes.

Pigs are intelligent, it would be like shooting a dolphin.

Of course anything that gets in turbo's way dies of lead poisoning, if you get my drift.

nope, they are going down in the fall, they are great animals, I will miss them

 

[Evo]

That's nothing, the huge church fortress up the hill from me has helicopters!

 

[Evo]

nope, they are going down in the fall, they are great animals, I will miss them

NOOOOO! They're babies! I'll trade you twice their weight in fine preserved natural acorn fed pork. The stuff costs over $80 a pound and is said to be the finest in the world.

Ok, I'm kidding, but I wish I could afford to trade you for them.

 

[Ftheog]

No, we have a member that is european and is currently in Argentina (or is it Venezuela), anyway both are backwards and much, much, much more violent than europe. Europe is less violent than the US.

Statistics can be construed many ways, what makes me chuckle when people blame violence in america because of gun ownership, I ask them if they can explain switzerland, they usually look confused,


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nf1OgV449g

 

[Ftheog]

NOOOOO! They're babies! I'll trade you twice their weight in fine preserved natural acorn fed pork. The stuff costs over $80 a pound and is said to be the finest in the world.

Ok, I'm kidding, but I wish I could afford to trade you for them.

they aren't babies

that probably wasn't the right picture to post, was it

 

[Evo]

Statistics can be construed many ways, what makes me chuckle when people blame violence in america because of gun ownership, I ask them if they can explain switzerland, they usually look confused,


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nf1OgV449g

Shhhh, a large portion of our members are gun owners and experts. I don't want this to become another pro-gun thread.

Anyway, it's because military service is mandatory in Switzerland and the men must keep their guns after they finish service.

 

[Evo]

they aren't babies

that probably wasn't the right picture to post, was it

Wilbur!

They're all babies to me. <sniff>

 

[Ftheog]

Shhhh, a large portion of our members are gun owners and experts. I don't want this to become another pro-gun thread.

Anyway, it's because military service is mandatory in Switzerland and the men must keep their guns after they finish service.

exactly, it's the culture, not gun ownership that creates the violence, I won't mention it again


(unless someone asks me what my preferred weapon of choice is :) )

 

[Ftheog]

oh and I just want to put a disclaimer, I am not talking for everyone in the homesteading/prepper/survivalist lifestyle. I am just giving my experience and opinion

 

[Evo]

oh and I just want to put a disclaimer, I am not talking for everyone in the homesteading/prepper/survivalist lifestyle. I am just giving my experience and opinion

Funny, a lot of people here know how to live off the land, have all of the basic survival skills, and then some. We've been this way all of our lives and could probably teach a trick or two to people that have been trying to learn what we already know.

Did you know that you don't have to add yeast to bread? There is enough natural yeast spores in the air that if you let the dough mix set out exposed to open air for a few days days that it will collect enough yeast to make yeast bread?

But I get the feeling that preppers are mainly into gathering and storing rather than knowing how to live off the land.

 

[Ftheog]

yep, also can make great lambic the same way

 

[Ftheog]

But I get the feeling that preppers are mainly into gathering and storing rather than knowing how to live off the land.

not at all, there two groups, people who try and buy their experience and people that build their experience, usually you start off as a buyer and slowly move into a builder, but for people that live in urban areas, they are usually stuck in the buying phase

 

[DaveC426913]

Funny, a lot of people here know how to live off the land, have all of the basic survival skills, and then some.

I confess, I am astonished at how many people here seem to live very close to the land.

I'd bet the folks over on that prepper board would be quite surprised.

 

[Evo]

yep, also can make great lambic the same way

Have you seen our homemade beer thread?

 

[Ftheog]

I confess, I am astonished at how many people here seem to live very close to the land.

I'd bet the folks over on that prepper board would be quite surprised.

I conveyed that to a lot of the other forums that linked to the original thread

 

[Evo]

I confess, I am astonished at how many people here seem to live very close to the land.

I'd bet the folks over on that prepper board would be quite surprised.

Yeah, I was surprised too. We're a very well rounded group. Maybe it's our interest in science that makes us appreciate what is around us.

 

[Ftheog]

Have you seen our homemade beer thread?

I perused some of it, I use to brew beer, but with all our strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, grapes, apples, cherries, plums and peaches, I moved onto wines and meads, I made a killer strawberry/blackberry last summer.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I confess, I am astonished at how many people here seem to live very close to the land.

Does stealing my neighbor's avocados count?

 

[Evo]

I perused some of it, I use to brew beer, but with all our strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, grapes, apples, cherries, plums and peaches, I moved onto wines and meads, I made a killer strawberry/blackberry last summer.

Sounds awesome, i remember making my first homemade wine when I was 12. I put a baloon over the bottle opening to capture the gas. My older girl friend was to blame. :p

Does stealing my neighbor's avocados count?

I hate you. I love avocados, but a $1-3 dollars each, I won't buy them. I want to go back to Sicily, even at christamas the lemon tress were loaded, anything you could imagine wanting was there for the taking.

 

[Ftheog]

I'm hitting the hay, I just want to leave you guys with this comment from someone in the survivalist community, he sums up pretty well what a lot of us think, he also has a great blog for any Canadians on here, peace

"I don't mean to be so presumptious to think that I could as elegantly say what CH has said. There was something...I don't know...transcendent about that post. It just reverberates.

However, I would like to add my reasons for following a preparedness philosophy in my life. Maybe someone new to this way of thinking may find motivation in it. The stereotypical motivations of fighting the NWO or other things like that are so emotion based as to not be sustainable. But having a goal is sustaining. Well, without further ado...

Preparedness as a Retirement Plan

The concept of retirement is a relatively new one. Not so long ago, when we were a more agrarian based society, few people ever retired. Their daily duties just changed. As we grew older, we would take over running the farm, and then we would maybe step back and let our kids do that. Maybe we would take over maintenance of the equipment or something little less physically demanding, but required experience. Maybe we would help out more inside the home. But flat out retirement to travel south or play golf all day was the domain of the ultra rich. Even then, most tycoons were still wheeling and dealing well into their 60’s and beyond.

Nowadays. with retirement plans tanking and pension funds bleeding out, we may find ourselves without the ability to retire once again. However, this time, we won’t have the farm to feed us and the multi-generational home to keep us occupied and close to our loved ones. If we’re very fortunate, we may be able to find a spot in a retirement home and sell our current homes to pay for it.

Me, I have a different plan. My plan depends on me getting prepared to take care of myself and my wife for as long as we are physically able. If my plan works, we’ll also be able to ‘retire’ early. That plan is preparedness.

When you think about it, if you can provide most of your own food, utilities, and medicine and your shelter is bought and paid for, how much money do you really need? Enough to pay the property taxes, run your vehicle, and take care of emergencies. Maybe you need some money for a bit of travel as well. But not as much money as two people working for more than 40 hours a week each generate.

It’s not hard to imagine a household income of around $100,000 a year or about $73,000 after taxes. (Remember, I'm in Canada. Our dollars are about 80% of the USD.) Now, we know a lot of people are going to have mortgage payments around $1400 a month, utilities of at least $400 a month, TV and Internet for another $200 a month, $500 for food, $400 for various insurances, $200 for gas for the vehicles…it goes on and on.

So just the cost of living consumes $3100 of your after-tax income. Yearly, that’s about half of your income. If you can pay off your home, produce half of your utilities, drop the fancy TV package and step down a notch on the Internet access (that’s a tough one for me) and produce half of your food, you cut that outlay to about $1100 dollars a month. At that point, one of you can effectively retire. Or, the two of you can work half as much.

So what do you do with the extra 20-30 hours a week? Do the soul-building things like work your garden, love your spouse, split some wood, read books, start a business, whatever! Now, you are working for you. And should everything go for a poop, you are completely prepared to live comfortably and well with little to no income.

I find the thought of retiring to my homestead around the age of 50 to be a much more motivating and positive thought, than to think of prepping to cope with worldwide disaster. Disaster may never come, but time always marches on."

 

[turbo]

Does stealing my neighbor's avocados count?

Poaching your neighbors' crows would count... Poaching them with glazed avocados and baby carrots with an orange-lemon glaze would bring you into the Maine need-to-marry-club. You might not even need an Evinrude Lightwin Three. I could get you hitched even without that, though most city-girls can't get over that bar.

 

[HowlerMonkey]

If any major country suffers an event that destabilizes it to the point that people abandon their stations at the nuke plants and oil platforms, there won't be any place on Earth to hide.

If the prepping is for a lesser event, best advice is to leave the population centers because, 15 minutes after the last delivery truck brings it's last load of egg mcmuffins or fuel, all bets are off.

 

[Ftheog]

If the prepping is for a lesser event, best advice is to leave the population centers because, 15 minutes after the last delivery truck brings it's last load of egg mcmuffins or fuel, all bets are off.

true, society only has a thin veneer of civilization on it, sometimes I think it's getting thinner and thinner. I can't watch the news anymore, it's to negative and it's not even news, it's entertainment.

 

[Ms Music]

Hi Ftheog. This was an interesting read this morning. Welcome to the forum.

I have now read the entire thread, but one thing that still puzzles me, is what do you see the difference between you and your "group", and us? Many here have stated they live the life currently, have lived that way in the past, or are working towards a life of what I want to call self sustainability. Why do you label yourselves as "preppers?" Why do you feel the NEED for the label? I find it very curious. I would like to understand the difference between you and your wife and community, and turbo and his wife and local community.

(also, dumb question - what is og?)

 

[turbo]

Hi Ftheog. This was an interesting read this morning. Welcome to the forum.

I have now read the entire thread, but one thing that still puzzles me, is what do you see the difference between you and your "group", and us? Many here have stated they live the life currently, have lived that way in the past, or are working towards a life of what I want to call self sustainability. Why do you label yourselves as "preppers?" Why do you feel the NEED for the label? I find it very curious. I would like to understand the difference between you and your wife and community, and turbo and his wife and local community.

(also, dumb question - what is og?)

I have a similar confusion. Why is raising most of your food, hunting for game, catching fish, etc somehow worthy of a name or category? I am of French-Catholic-Canadian-Indian heritage on my mother's side and Hessian-Irish-Indian heritage on my father's side (the Irish emigrated during the potato famine), and I have lived this way all my life. Pick fiddleheads, wild berries in season, apples from long-abandoned farms, and grow as much food as possible. Make preserves, can foods, and freeze what can't be canned easily. This is not a survivalist mentality - it is a pretty sustainable life-style with minimal impact on the land and environment. I like to burn wood for heat because it's carbon-neutral (negative, actually), with trees on my 10 acres sequestering carbon faster than I can burn it. I love living this way, but never thought it would end up being a fad, wrapped up with a defensive (stay away or I'll shoot you) mentality.

My wife and I are both pretty competent with our pistols, not just because we want to be able to defend against home-invasions and burglary, but because that's the responsible thing to do. If you are a gun-owner, and you are not keeping up with your range-time to keep your skills up, that is irresponsible IMO. She doesn't like to practice with the 10mm Glock (recoil!), but you sure don't want to be downrange if she's got the P38 in her hands. Still, we regard our neighbors as partners, not threats, and if things went to hell we'd be teaming up with them to stretch out our resources and make sure everybody got fair shares of support.

 

[Ms Music]

For the record turbo, I envy what you and your wife have!

While I haven't canned in many many years, I dream of getting back to that point in my life, where I have a pantry, and time to can. I grew up canning. My parents had a small vegetable garden at our house, and big gardens at two of my brother's houses, plus fruit trees. What we couldn't grow locally, we would go to Eastern Washington every summer and pick from the fields. Then can it (or freeze) all over the next few days. I was so spoiled on home grown and fresh picked orchard fruit and veggies, that I can not stand fruits and vegetables from the grocery store. I would love to get back to the point where I have enough to can for winter. Right now, we only grow enough food to barely make it. There were many times last winter that I bought kale from the store, because it just didn't grow quick enough to quench our craving for winter greens. But hey, I live in the city. We have doubled garden space this year, and should be able to live a little more off winter greens and squash. But I don't do this for armageddon, I do this because it is more nutritious and better tasting than store bought stuff. But I do know that my gardening skills and my survival skills would mean I will be fine if armageddon DOES happen. But I am not holding my breath waiting for anything to happen. And I keep praying that SOME day I get to live on my 5 acres!

 

[turbo]

For the record turbo, I envy what you and your wife have!

Thanks! We love living here and sharing with the neighbors. My first greenhouse planting of sweet peppers didn't "take" this spring, but a neighbor planted all kinds of extras in his greenhouse so we got all kinds of plants. When we had both planted enough plants for ourselves, he decided to give away the excess, and I alerted our new neighbors (recently purchased the place on a road across from us) and Amy rode down on her 4-wheeler and picked up an entire flat of plants. I tilled up their garden spot this spring, and expected mediocre yields for the first year, but those pepper plants are looking fantastic. Welcome, new neighbors from Weymouth, MA! I think they'll fit right in.

 

[Ftheog]

I have now read the entire thread, but one thing that still puzzles me, is what do you see the difference between you and your "group", and us? Many here have stated they live the life currently, have lived that way in the past, or are working towards a life of what I want to call self sustainability. Why do you label yourselves as "preppers?" Why do you feel the NEED for the label? I find it very curious. I would like to understand the difference between you and your wife and community, and turbo and his wife and local community.

Unfortunately anything outside of the mainstream is given a label, it is not normal for people in society to do what was considered normal just a generation ago. I don't consider what turbo does and what I do any different. We have different reasons why we do certain things but the outcome is the same. Like I said earlier in the thread, I'm not preparing for 2012, CME, invasion of aliens from planet x, ect. I am preparing for my own personal shtf moment. Loss of spouse, job, pension, ect. Since I prepare for different things that I feel will personally impact the well being of my loved ones and myself, I am a prepper. I assume most people here study physics or science, would they not be a physicist or scientist? Everyone has a label.

Let's be real though, most people in society live paycheck to paycheck and their idea of prepping is planning friday nights visit to olive garden. A IRA is nothing but a 3 letter word because the government is going to give me social security and medicaid. Do you get the projected social security statements that they send out based on your contributions? The last one I received said on the bottom that based on projected funding they expect only a 75% payment. What a Racket! Didn't Bernie Madoff just get convicted of a ponzi scheme? Yet we are forced to contribute into the biggest on in history perpetuated by our Government.

In 2007 my wife and I moved our IRA contributions into cd's that were giving us 3% and my accountant laughed at me and said we were leaving money on the table. When the market crashed in 2008, he wasn't laughing then.

My father in law retired and had his pension wiped out after the market crash in 2001. It was rebuilding and then 2008 happened, He's now back to working at the age of 70, I don't want that story to be mine.

As a child I loved Aesop's Fable, the ant and the grasshopper, I knew I was going to be a ant, unfortunately there a huge amount of grasshoppers in the world.

So since I try and prepare to minimize any hardships that can potentially harm the well being of myself and loved ones, I assume the mantle of prepper.

But hey, if things happen as they do in films and SHTF on a global scale, the crazy survivalist/prepper is the first one to die, and the smart brainy scientist comes and saves the day, at least you guys have that
going for you! :)

Seriously though I am quite impressed with the amount of people here with the same mindset.

Have a safe and happy independence day all!

 

[Ftheog]

Thanks! We love living here and sharing with the neighbors. My first greenhouse planting of sweet peppers didn't "take" this spring, but a neighbor planted all kinds of extras in his greenhouse so we got all kinds of plants. When we had both planted enough plants for ourselves, he decided to give away the excess, and I alerted our new neighbors (recently purchased the place on a road across from us) and Amy rode down on her 4-wheeler and picked up an entire flat of plants. I tilled up their garden spot this spring, and expected mediocre yields for the first year, but those pepper plants are looking fantastic. Welcome, new neighbors from Weymouth, MA! I think they'll fit right in.

it's been a weird spring with rain and cold, but all my warm crops took right off, while my cold crops I had to replant, but strawberries have been of biblical proportions, blackberries look they will be great in august as well

 

[Ftheog]

When I think back to WWII and all of the people that lost their lives to take in and protect complete strangers, it brings tears to my eyes. I don't know if I would ever have that much courage.

I meant to comment on this. I think the biggest difference is a sense of community and self reliance. There is none today. Look how many people today live in cookie cutter sub-divisions and don't even know their neighbors 3 house down.