Posted on 12/17/2020 5:33:21 PM PST by GrootheWanderer
Contractor trash bags preferred
SOG / Leatherman multi-tool with pliers, knife, screwdriver , mini-saw, etc,
Oscillating multi tool / power tool (cuts, saw) especially helful if you can find one battery operated
Survival knife – large bladed with sheath
Axe / Hatchet - useful for large wood projects, trimming, clearing brush
Sharpening Stone – for knife edge maintenance
Fold able Trenching tool – for earth removal, fire pit construction
Battery Operated tools - along with charger/ solar charger
More canning supplies, especially lids.
L
That and much more time at the reloading press. 5.56 soft points and .45 hollow points till my arm is sore.
Revolver cartridges are next.
L
“I also have come to trust no one in the government.”
Amen, Sister!
I’ve been that way for a very long time. Didn’t think my distrust/loathing/all-out HATRED could grow - but it did!
LIBERATE WISCONSIN! LIBERATE AMERICA!
“plus Spanish Queen olives, Luxardo maraschino cherries, and lots of cocktail bitters.”
Nice to see a civilized man wander through.
L
Q: What are you doing differently now than you were a year ago?
A: Having more food, household and pet supplies delivered. If they’re going to deliver it to me for free, why not? I like seeing entrepreneurs in action! I put off VA medical visits (just check ups) because I would’ve had to travel into ‘The People’s Republik of Madistan’ which is riddled with Covid. Blech! VA has put all billing on hold until after January 2021, which was nice of them. (I owe them a whopping $38 dollars, LOL!)
Q: What, if anything, caught you off guard?
A: Nothing, really. We live very rural and have no need to travel. I only leave the farm once a week, tops, as it is during non-bogus pandemic times. ;)
Q: What lessons have you learned from the pandemic that have caused you to change what you do?
A: Less trust in Government and the stupid ‘experts’ trotted out every 15 minutes. ‘It is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.’ ~ Macbeth (Shakespeare)
And lastly, we would not bug out.* We’re too rural for the BLM pukes to travel this far from the cities. Not much in our immediate lives has changed. We’ll just keep on living close to the land, hunting, gardening, fishing, etc.
*If a tornado destroyed our home, I guess we’d have to go elsewhere. If it’s a blizzard or ice storm we’re stuck here, for sure! A forest fire is not an issue for us.
Biggest surprise this year was my dad suddenly deciding that growing, preserving, and stockpiling food is a good idea.
For decades, his biggest complaint was always “we’ve got too much food in this house!” I haven’t heard him say that since March. He’s even started buying canning lids whenever he sees some, instead of complaining that we already have some and don’t need more. I even heard him talking about getting a pair of rabbits!
For next year, I’m trying, once again, to grow “hygiene crops” in addition to food and medicinals. I’ve tried growing them before, but never with as much focus as my other crops. Luffa gourds for scrubbing sponges. Soapwort and other saponin-rich plants for soaps. I’m even keeping an eye out for horse chestnuts so I can plant a couple trees, the nuts can be used for laundry soap.
I’m also experimenting more with staple crops I don’t normally grow. Last year I tried to grow wheat for the first time. My harvest was easier to measure in “lessons learned” than in pounds. But that was largely the point. Better to figure it out before your life depends on it, right?
I’ll also be growing more potatoes, carrots, etc. This year I tested a bunch of different potato varieties, and saved seed potatoes from the ones that did best. Next year I’ll plant an even bigger patch.
I have come to the conclusion that, with my back and muscle problems, I really need to work on getting the right equipment to manage my farm with. But, my farm is an awkward in-between size. Too big for push or walk-behind equipment, too small for the big tractors. One of my favorite tools is a riding-tiller that my dad built. It’s as heavy-duty as the tillers you’d see on a giant tractor, but small enough that it attaches to a little riding mower. I’m working on prototyping similar equipment for other tasks. I have a pretty good idea for a single-row bean harvester that can fit like a sidecar onto a little garden tractor. I just need to get it put together. If there are more food shortages next year, I’ll want a way to harvest large amounts without hurting myself like I do now. Even if there aren’t food shortages, I can expand my seed-growing operation if I can get the right equipment.
Best plan is to live where you can bug in.
True that !
That is the ideal location, whereby you know all the approach points,
already know of any weaknesses, and can organize in preparation for a suitable welcome.
Also, since you know the location well, you can establish any perimeter alarm system
and can establish 'choke points' to minimize any surprises.
My first crop of buckwheat was a shock when we had an unexpected frost one night
and all the pods and seeds were all over the ground and not harvestable. Lesson learned about effect of unexpected frost.
Might I suggest :
reading books written by Eric Sloane at Good Reads (free) :
http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/250725.Eric_Sloane
"Diary of an Early American Boy"
"A Museum of Early American Tools" (agriculture tool adaptability and hand tools)
"The Seasons of America Past" (when America was primarily agricultural)
"Do's and Don'ts of Yesteryear: A Treasury of Early American Folk Wisdom "
"Eric Sloane's I Remember America"
I live in a rural area in Trump country.
Not my dream home, but pretty darn good.
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