Feeding Yourself and the Homestead when the SHTF

[Shiloh Acres]

Bee, that sounds really well thought out. I was thinking earlier when I answered this question that the fields and woods nearby that are not really part of my property would yield a lot of grazing and foraging. Some of them are practically abandoned now.

Water would be my big problem. And that is MAJOR. I do know there's a large creek that runs somewhat parallel to the county road. It should be within hiking distance straight through, if passage is available. I suppose I'd need to teach the llamas to pack and find a way for them to help carry water. I'd need a lot of it, and I can't store much.

Hoping to put in a new well next year. There is one but it's had junk thrown in and I am not sure why. But even with no disaster, I'd like a well for the animals and gardens to cut utility costs.

 

[Rebecka]

Just a year? Oh, well then. I wouldn't be doing much differently. There is never enough wood cut. The dog loves mole hunting, so she will be okay. The chickens and turkeys can free range. Most of the cats will be okay to hunt for themselves , except the 19 year old and he would get portions of my food. After 19 years in my lap, I am not going to let him go hungry. I guess we would just have to do without dairy :/

 

[BarredBuff]

Beekissed!! You have a well thought out plan. If you boil water is it sterillyzed?

 

[justusnak]

We would just keep on...keeping on. We have a well..altho it would have to be "bucket and rope" Its doable. We have plenty hand tools for the garden, harvesting wood, meat etc. We have tools for "protection" I know how to make snare traps for rabbit, squirell, and other small game, and yes, I can clean and process them. We have a small pond with a variety of fish..and plenty fishing gear....and that would water the animals. We have enough woods for our wood supply...and forage for the sheep and goats. The chickens would of course free range. Because of the shortage of gas, for lawn mowers etc.....we would let the grass grow tall, and then hand cut it for winter feed for the ruminants. We have plenty blankets and warm clothing. Extra hats, gloves,boots, etc. We would EASILY be able to sustain ourselves...and possibly my closest son, his wife, and 2 children. Just for a year?? Yup, we would just keep on...keeping on.
ETA: I forgot ... the FIRST thing I would do would be to get down on my knees and thank God for letting me find this place...and for all the friends that have helped me to refine my skills in food sotrage. I would then pray for my family and friends that are too far from me to get here safely..and if course I would cry daily for my grandchildren who I know would not be able to make it in the urban jungle they are living in, so far from me. It would be THEN....that I would get to work.

 

[i_am2bz]

plant a lot of sunflowers for your chickens. Store the heads. They can pick the seeds out in the winter. High in protien

Great idea - but how do you keep the wild birds out of the flowers?? My SIL planted sunflowers for themselves, & never got a single seed, the birds ate them all! :/

 

[Beekissed]

You can place bridal netting over each head...it ain't pretty but it works. You might also remember to store those heads where mice cannot access them or you will find your flower head empty and nice little seed casings scattered around.

 

[BarredBuff]

Bee, what kind of hand tools do you keep around?

 

[Beekissed]

A shorter list would be, what kind do I not keep around?

Various hand saws, the largest of which is a two man cross cut saw.
Hand Drills
Axes
Maul
Scythe, sickle, weed whacker, mini-scythe
Hammers...normal, ball peen, sledge, tack, etc.
The usual screw drivers and socket sets
Come along
log peelers
Planer
various files and rasps
large and small pruners
hoes, pitchforks, rakes, shovels of various sizes and makes
brush hooks, apple pickers, fence stretchers, pliers of all makes and models, wire cutters, tin snips

Well....you get the idea. If they make it, I generally have it. Some are my father's old tools, some I made a point of collecting at yard sales and auctions.

I really need to get a deep well hand pump, manual wheat and meat grinders, hand plows and some pony harness...among other things.

 

[FarmerDenise]

Where we are, we have two big worries, security and water. If we didn't have to worry about people stealing or worse from/to us, we have to worry about getting water. We have a well, but don't have an alternate way of getting the water out. I am sure we could come up with something creative eventually. I also know of a well close by that has a bigger diameter pipe than the one here.
We would stick close to our neighbors so we could all help each other out. We all have different accets and capabilities. We have enough food for the two of us for a year at least. The neighbor does also, but different stuff. We both have chickens, cats and rabbits. We would work together to feed our critters and us, just as we help each other out now.
I think for us the most important thing would be to build community to help and protect each other. We have a good start.

 

[Icu4dzs]

Perhaps we all think about a situation with TSHTF, but do we really understand how serious it could be?

Movie makers seem to have some ideas. A recent movie with Vigo Mortenson "The Road" is an outstanding example. "The Postman" with Kevin Costner is excellent. "The Book of Eli" tackles the subject. Each of these looks at the subject in a variety of ways, but most seem to predicate it on a post-nuclear disaster type scenario. The TV series Jericho does a good job as well.
The Road is rather well done technically except for the dialog being hard to hear.

Each movie tends to look at things from similar perspectives but when you get right down to it, NOT one of us can imagine what will happen or how we will adapt to the changes. Sure we have been working feverishly to be "prepared" for such an event but then we have to account for those who would interupt our plans with their own issues, violence being the first and most annoying.

So many of us sense the impending danger of such an event, but can any of us really imagine what will happen, how severe it will be or how we will react? At the moment, I don't think so. It is too horrendous to imagine most of humanity destroyed and what's left being so desperate that they will resort to canibalism after a while.

It occurred to me that one of the most valueable of all issues in the specific TSHTF scenario is to be able to survive "on the move"
Knowing wild plants, being able to start a fire, creating shelter in a safe location rather than the obvious abandoned structures, etc.
The Road brought this home to me today in vivid detail.
All the plans in the world yield nothing if we are displaced from where we set up all those plans by vandals, etc.

Being in an area that is so remote or so inaccessable to all but the most challenging of travelers leaves us ALL way more vulnerable than I had previously imagined. Do you live in such a location? Are you off the grid and really hard to find unless someone knows where to go? These are questions I now ask myself daily. The answers are complicated by the reality of the weather which in my area can be so hostile as to be nearly unsurvivable in the best of conditions. Try to imagine this...then think about what you really need to "survive".

Being mobile and taking what you can carry/use seems to be a more viable perspective. I agree with Bee who has a marvelous list of preparedness items. I have done much the same thing, but then I think about "what can I take with me if I suddenly have to leave all that I have prepared? This then is the real challenge to me.
YMMV