Posted on 12/21/2010 5:00:48 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
It's been a crazy past few years. We've seen gas prices hit all-time highs, been hit by major and catastrophic weather disasters, and watched as banks and major financial institutions disappear overnight in the midst of what appears to be an actual, real-life economic depression. Our stable, comfortable lives suddenly don't seem so stable any more.
Here are 10 things you can do to improve your chances of riding out a major disaster without looking like a total lunatic. If you get all 10 of these items checked off, let me know so I can come crash at your place when aliens attack.
If I were a real masochist, instead of just a dilettante, I would also buy one of their Dexter cows. Instead, I'll leave that for the friends we sold 20 acres to.
I like that ponzi scheme idea; but I think I'll just advertise in the back of comic books:
BOYS! You too easily can make B.I.G. M.O.N.E.Y. raising rabbits in your basement!
Got some more free styrofoam insulation today, in the form of 4 produce boxes at the store. The distributor doesn't want them back, so the produce manager is happy to let us have them.
Turns out our local (20 miles) sawmill is now selling 1000 foot bundles of 8', bark on, log cants (outside cut) for $80--$60 for 6'. Momma already has a long list of projects to use a bunch of them. Makes me double glad I also bought a framing nailer when I bought the shingle nailer.
Oh, Man! Don’t get me started on Dexters! I so very badly want one! :) Maybe Dad will buy me one come Spring? He’s rather indulgent of his ‘Farm Gal Daughter’ who he raised on The Mean Streets of Milwaukee and is constantly amazed and perplexed at how much she loves Farm Life, LOL!
Milking twice a day, so I’m told, builds character.
However, we don’t have any kids, and my wife thinks I’m almost too much of a character already, so dairying is out.
After reading the article, I went looking for the date, as it seemed familiar. Seems to me, they also did some articles on Dexters in the 70s/80s, as ‘the ideal homestead cow’.
I notice that the archives are no longer directly accessable online, but instead are now for sale on DVD. Shame. Lots of nagware popups, too.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
The Amazing Irish Dexters
Mother Earth News - Issue # 62 - March/April 1980
Article and Photo by Randy Kidd
http://pdca-one.blogspot.com/2005_06_01_archive.html
Scroll down; it’s the third article on the page. Unfortunately, the link after the lead in is broken, but the issue information is above to look it up in the saved (you DID save all your issues, didn’t you?) magazine.
FYI, there’s a Yahoo group for Dexters: http://tech.dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/dextercattleonly/?v=1&t=directory&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=dir&slk=6
I know I’m a week late on this, but, it’s Christmas.
My daughters, in their 20’s, are big on learning the ‘lost’ skills. They’re sewing, knitting, gardening, canning, and home schooling. Woman work. Our Hubby’s are chopping wood, hunting, fishing, carpentry, Man work....... etc.
For those of us that get it, we haven’t lost those skills, we’re just fine tuning them. And I’m seeing more and more 20 somethings jumping on board the prep bandwagon.
There is a portion of society that has no clue. When tshtf, we’ll be ready, they’ll be lost. Perhaps darwin will bite them in their liberal butts. Survival of the fittest. Their big fancy jobs in Chicago and New York won’t matter. We’ll have been honing our bartering and prepping skills. Their cell phone will be useless.
We have soap recipes ready to go, a hand pump for our well. Their Chinese take out will be history.
It’s great to be a conservative!
The only people I’m telling I’m prepared is others who are preparing, our ‘network’. We’re also preparing for the leaches. Those of us who prep need to realize, the sloths will be out if force. That is a topic we should have a discussion on. How to fight off the clueless.
Go to pick your own farms. We picked 45 pounds of strawberries and made 75 jars of jam for 60 bucks. Learn what your yard can grow. We have a ton of trees.
Start small, manage that, then expand. I've learned, our yard sucks, the only place I can grow is where the deer flies attack, so I head to the farmers market. Another place to find is dented cans stores. We have one near us. I can get hundreds of cans of everyday produce for 15 cents a can.
No kidding, it went from 60 to 0 in minutes. That's been my excuse for barrels, we have a well.
pingy wifey
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