Posted on 03/03/2011 9:08:03 PM PST by blam
Yes, You Can Survive The Coming Economic Nightmare – One Family In California Grows 6,000 Pounds Of Produce On Just 1/10th Of An Acre
If you work hard and get prepared, you can survive the economic nightmare that is coming. All over the United States and around the world there are millions of people that are learning how to become more self-sufficient. For example, there is one family that is actually producing 6000 pounds of produce on just 1/10th of an acre right in the middle of Pasadena, California. In fact, they grow so much food that they are able to sell much of it to restaurants in the area. Video of this incredible "urban homestead" is posted below.
The key is to start with what you have. The family in the video below would like to have a large acreage, but for now they have turned what they do have into an absolute miracle. Yes, a horrific economic nightmare is coming to this country, but you don't have to be afraid. One of the main reasons why so many of us are trying to warn people about what is coming is so that they will wake up and take massive action to become self-sufficient like the people in the video below have.
If you are not already growing your own food, now is a great time to get started. According to The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the global price of food rose 2.2% during the month of February to a new all-time record high. In fact, this was the third month in a row that the global price of food has set a new record.
2.2% may not sound like a lot, but if the global price of food were to increase by that amount every single month during 2011 by the end of the year the global price of food will have gone up by 26.4%.
26.4% food inflation is something that is very, very serious - especially in those areas of the world where millions are already teetering on the brink of starvation.
As I have written about previously, the world is on the verge of a major food crisis. The price of corn has increased by 33 percent just since December, and according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. corn reserves will drop to a 15 year low by the end of 2011. Many other agricultural commodities are also in short supply and are experiencing significant increases in price.
So now is a great time to try to become more self-sufficient.
After all, do you really want to eat the garbage they sell you in the stores anyway? Today, virtually all corn and virtually all soy has been genetically-modified, and more "frankenfoods" are being approved by the government all the time.
But it isn't just genetic modification that we need to be concerned about. The reality of the situation is that most of the food that we buy is complete and total garbage. The next time you go to the grocery store just take a few moments and read some of the labels of the products that you are buying. The truth is that our foods are absolutely loaded with chemicals, poisons and toxins.
Those that learn to grow their own food will end up a lot more healthy in the long run.
But food is not the only area where we should be striving for self-sufficiency. Water is being called "the oil of the 21st century" and already some very significant shortages are being reported in many areas of the United States.
In fact, some cities have already started to turn toilet water into tap water. Fortunately this is not a widespread thing in the United States yet, but a number of localities are now seriously considering going to such a system.
Would you want to drink your own recycled toilet water in the future?
If not, perhaps now would be a great time to learn how to become more self-sufficient when it comes to water.
Even now, most localities are dumping massive amounts of fluoride and other toxic chemicals into our drinking water. The tap water in most cities is so absolutely disgusting that it is a wonder that anyone is still willing to drink it.
In any event, the key is not to focus on the problems once you realize the truth. Instead, the key is to focus on the solutions.
That is what one family in Pasadena, California is doing. As mentioned above, they are producing a whopping 6,000 pounds of produce each year on just 1/10th of an acre....
(click to the site to see a nice video of what they're doing)
Isn't what that family is doing absolutely amazing?
Well, you can do it too.
For most Americans, the coming financial apocalypse is going to absolutely blindside them.
But that does not have to happen to you. You know what is coming. You have time to get prepared.
As I have written about previously, there are many other ways that you can start becoming more self-sufficient.
If you are currently dependent on a job, you can start developing alternate sources of income on the side.
If you are enslaved to the banks, you can reduce your expenses and start paying down debt.
If you have never had any self-defense training, now is a great time to get started.
There are hundreds of practical ways that you can begin preparing for the coming economic nightmare right now. Just putting up some solar panels or starting a "victory garden" would be a great first step for many people.
The key is to stop fretting about things so much and to start taking action.
We have now entered a time in human history that is going to be extremely unstable, but that doesn't mean that we have to live in fear.
If you are new to all this and have no idea how to start becoming more self-sufficient, there are a lot of great websites out there that can help you out. Some of the most popular ones are Prepper.Org, American Preppers Network and The Suburban Prepper.
But it doesn't have to be complicated. Just start to take action. Your family is going to need food, water, energy and shelter when the economy collapses. Begin preparing now so that you will have those things when you need them.
You can improve your backyard by nailing together some planks of wood to make a raised bed with good soil dumped in to fill the planters.
Increase your vegetable yields by training your plants to grow up instead of out on trellis or strings, etc. You can expand your growing area using 5 gallon buckets to hold plants and place on a deck, porch, or the edge of buildings.
If you need motivation, picture your local grocery during any weather emergency, empty right? Now picture the store remaining that way for weeks on end. If you can move, do so. If you can’t, plan on sheltering in place because you might not be able to run away when you need to. If sheltering in place is not an option, make a bug out plan. You will need food, water, fuel, first aid, firearms and a vehicle that can be driven where there is no road. The roads will be too jammed with others fleeing.
You will need to have a location already chosen, hopefully with pre-positioned supplies. Showing up at someone’s door unannounced might get you shot. If they give you their food and supplies, they too will die. Looters are looters after all.
6,000 lbs. on 1/10th of an acre? Doesn’t sound right to me.
Thanks for posting. Great article. What surprises most is the number of naysayers on this thread.
Yeah, I just finished Amnity Shales, The Forgotten Man. Should be required reading, or listening to every person in the country. FDR was, like Democrats in general, an economic idiot.
You must be hard of reading. I never said they were bad people or that being self sufficient was bad.
You must also be young if you don’t know what the hippie counterculture movement was about. If they prefer to be identified as hippies, then more power to them. They’re in a good place for that lifestyle.
Actually, I’ve eaten food grown in a greenhouse and they’re actually quite good, mostly because in a greenhouse you can precisely measure the amount of fertilizer needed and the amount of water you use and in a greenhouse, there’s a lot less need for pesticides and herbicides (natural or not!).
Actually it is...they sell excess to the restaurants.
If you have the money the following technology truly enables you to grow an enormous amount in a very small space and if you go with their injectors your maintenance is dramatically reduced.
This is one of the most water-efficient gardening systems I have used.
People who sue for exclusive use of wording which has been used in the past deserve nothing but contempt.
pinging the wife
It’s amazing what can be done with ideas and hard work;
http://www.fourseasonfarm.com/
Coleman has been at the forefront of sustainable food production IN MAINE.
For you old hippies, he purchased his land from Helen and Scott Nearing.
I have almost no back yard and it would be fruitless to grow stuff for others to pick in my front yard. So I guess I’m screwed. But, I guess I will have plenty of company and we can forage together or maybe not;(.
Mexicans strip our pear trees regularly even thought the small orchard is posted.
Almost certainly a zoning violation...
That is true. My own hydroponic tomatoes, lettuce and romaine have improved since I began using 3-part liquid nutrients and vary the mix for the stages of growth. It takes some experimentation to find the right varieties. True dwarfs/miniatures are best.
The best winter tomatoes available, IMO, are Campari, which are greenhouse grown in Canada. For some reason, they are hard to find for the past couple of months. I have only been able to find the large flats at Sam’s. $6/flat, but by putting them in Green Bags on the counter, they last us about 3 weeks. Like everything else, they have increased in price in the past 3-4 months, so it isn’t just the February freeze.
I let the miniature romaine and lettuce mature into heads with a fairly thick stalk, harvest the entire head, bag in regular ziplocks and refrigerate for at least 24 hours to get them crisp. Transfer into Green Bags with a sheet of paper toweling and they last several weeks.
Pea pods need a larger setup to get any sort of decent harvest, but they are crisp and flavorful, too.
The real drawback is light and temperature. It takes electricity and high output CFLs, but the newest lights and a small pump are only about 65 watts and at 16-hours/day are still affordable. These are small tabletop units, not a big greenhouse. I couldn’t afford a real greenhouse in the winter up here.
We used the grids, they really came in handy.
We assembled 2 X 12s into the 4’X 8’ beds, stapled landscaping cloth to a side, turned it over (cloth down) and then measured off foot lengths of the sides and ends. Then we ran nylon string back and forth, stapling it down at the measured off marks, to create the grid.
We used potting soil, compost, and sphagnum peat moss in about equal parts to fill the beds to about 9” deep. I read that coconut coir is much cheaper and holds the water as well if not better than the peat moss. Next beds we build, I’m going to try that.
The SFG book says you can plant in as little as 6” of soil, but I wanted some carrots, so we went a little wider (deeper) on our framework.
The SFG book says to put 9 green bean plants per square foot. We did that, filling one of our 4’ X 8’ beds with nothing but Blue Lake green beans. I wanted to gauge how much we’d get. I noticed when we were cleaning up at the end of the season that none of the squares had more than 7 plants left, guess the weak plants were crowded out. Seriously thinking about only planting 6 or 7 per SF this year.
We got a MARVELOUS crop, btw. I canned 85 pints of GBs, froze about 5 pounds and dehydrated probably 10 lbs. All out of 4’ X 8’.
We used Miracle Grow once - after everything had sprouted and was starting to grow.
It's a lot of work, but I enjoy it. You simply can't beat the produce quality. Light years ahead of what you can buy in the store. I've been selling some of my excess to local restaurants for several years now. Some neighbors buy from me, too, or swap for something I'm not growing or don't have enough of. I've been selling sweet corn, peppers, tomatoes, eggs, okra, etc. and swapping one neighbor sweet corn for blueberries the past couple of years. My barber will take fresh squash and corn in exchange for a haircut. The main question everybody asks is "when are you going to have more?".....
I built a 12’x24’ greenhouse kit about 3 years ago. I put raised beds in it with mushroom compost and the amount of produce it puts off in the wintertime is amazing. Carrots, celery, lettuce, onions, Brussels sprouts, shallots, broccoli. The taste blows away what you can buy in the store. The carrots and Brussels sprouts are especially good. Way more than the wife and I can eat, too. Doesn’t work too well in the summer. It gets too hot in there, but that’s when the outdoor garden is going.
Thank you! Is that mixture of potting soil, peat and sphagnum the Mel’s mix I’ve heard about?
I think the amount of beans we’re planning on planting is way too much, based on what you said you got. We have 6 4x8 beds planned as well. Going to have to rethink this!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.