Eating locally and/or home grown/produced only?

[sumi]

I'm with your husband there, NH Homesteader!

My original thought behind this thread wandered off, as my thoughts tend to do, between how reliant are we on shop-bought food, how much can and do we grow and produce ourselves, should we decide to or involuntarily go without buying food, like Barbara did in her book. Are we too dependant on supermarkets? How self-reliant can we be, if needed? What can we not do without, that we'd like to be able to buy always. Like sugar, coffee, etc….

 

[NH Homesteader]

I prepare by learning and by ensuring that we have sufficient weapons to defend ourselves and hunt for our food if need be. And I have enough food stocked up from a natural disaster standpoint that we'll be fine.

Anyway back to the point which is yes people are far too dependent on the grocery store. Myself included. I'm working on it though!

 

[baymule]

I have lived before, eating what I raised, but it was long ago. I am getting to that point again. Our freezer is full of vegetables and meat. I canned chicken this year. I finished year #2 on the garden, year #3 will be even better. We planted fruit trees, it will be several years before we see any return

 

[baymule]

Thank you @sumi it was 2 years in September that we closed on the house, will be 2 years in February that we moved in. It just doesn't seem that long. We have ewes soon to have their second lambing!

 

[NH Homesteader]

Yes my town library has it. I go there every couple weeks (for my daughter) anyway. Excited to read it!

 

[sumi]

Yes my town library has it. I go there every couple weeks (for my daughter) anyway. Excited to read it!

Enjoy! Apart from the chapter on asparagus it's a really interesting read.

 

[sumi]

@MoonShadows you made some good points. Feeding the neighbourhood won't get you very far, no. What I was thinking about this morning was say you are unable to get to a grocery store, or fall on hard times and are unable to buy much food for awhile.

Just how reliant are we on grocery stores and other food shops?

And what products would you all choose, if you had a limited number of items you were allowed. Excluding coffee, salt, sugar and chocolate of course. I mean, seriously no-one can live without those

 

[MoonShadows]

OPPS! Sorry @sumi. When I hear SHTF, I think of some major catastrophe...not falling on hard times or unable to get to the grocery store. For me, those wouldn't be a SHTF situation.

@NH Homesteader, it's not a matter of "worry"; it's a matter of working to be prepared as possible since we never know what the next disaster will be. Believe me, I don't worry, but I am preparing myself for hard times should they come....whether that be personal misfortune, hurricane, earth quake, economic collapse or war...just to name a few.

I put my future in the hands of God, as has been mentioned by some in different threads on this forum, but God has given me gifts and skills to take care of myself and loved ones, and to say something like "my life is in God's hands" does not mean to not prepare if he has given us the skills...to me that is flying in the face of God and the talents he has given us.

 

[sumi]

Moonshadows, no bother. SHTF moments happen, life happens. Happened to me a time or two… If anything I learned from it to be prepared, just in case.

 

[NH Homesteader]

Nice! That's kind of what we are doing. Independent on meat now too (Yay!) and next is dairy. Then produce. Or simultaneously really... I garden but I'm bad at it lol