I am not saying it is too late to prepare for what is coming because we will be continuing our preps for a long time. Truth is in my opinion the collapse is already well under way for many people out there even here at the Small-Hold we are utilizing much of the prep work we finished up years ago. The difference is now things like increased garden areas, deep stored dried food stuffs and the like have made a huge difference due to the artificial shortages or prices.
What Preps you may or may not have had to begin using is different depending on location and circumstance of course. As I said there is still time to be getting improvements and last minute preps done regardless but one thing it would be best to have right now is your final location for riding this thing out.
Russia, China and OPEC have pretty much officially thrown the Petro Dollar aside. India is now taking over a large chunk of world trade and the shortages we are witnessing will continue to get worse I imagine. This is only the beginning and the speed of which that it can grow is a bit beyond my calculating right now. It can go fast but it will take some time for the Bric nations to wean themselves off the Dollar in a painless manner.
It really boils down to how far the American and Western Liberal Femocrats decide to push things. Russia and China are ready to throw the US yoke off even if it causes them pain to do so.
Depending how this Winter shapes up I will probably increase the garden area by at least 100% and I may acquire a new Ram to begin breeding the two new breeding age Ewes I still have. Perhaps work my way up further if I need to and cross the shearing problem when it comes.
The point is it is obvious to me now, although not a new or original theory by any means, that brain dead BiteMe is just an undead zombie O'Dumbo puppet regime set up to take the fall for all the tyranny O'Bummer wanted to do but couldn't. This means there is no limit to how far the ruination of America will go since BiteMe is too far gone to even know what is happening.
The next election might slow it down some. We could debate if it will matter for days. Regardless we need to already be in place with our base preps up and running.
This Winter maybe the time.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!
Agreed. It's a rare day that goes by here without something prep related, and still I worry it's not going to be enough.
ReplyDeleteSbgirl - I am sure the slide down is still going to be slow but immensely obvious now so we should all have time for prepping the smaller stuff. Moving to a new area may be problematic a bit though.
DeleteEvery little bit helps, every extra bit you can produce using on farm assets is something you don't have to buy and extends what you have on hand.
ReplyDeleteI say on farm assets as I know too many friends who do weekly trips to Tractor Supply for feed and replacement hens as they don't DO Roosters. Yes, they have fresh eggs but how to feed if money or Tractor Supply fails?
Could I ask what breed sheep you're running and your reasoning?
Michael - No issues with roosters here. We always have at least one around and I am kinda wondering if one of our new chicks isn't actually a rooster anyway. I do still buy grain from Orschlen's I will admit but we use little grain and what livestock we have left could go without it until next year when I would have time to actually plant some again. I even still have a hand crank cracker for corn if needed. I got enough hay and other stuff to keep em all fed for years as it stands now though and enough pasture to keep em fed if it came to that too.
DeleteI have Blue Faced as primaries with Romney's as secondaries. No Tertiary anymore. We originally used the three level English method to breed but all I have left is my very old retired primary Ram who is a Blue Face and two non-related Ewe's that are at the end of their breeding lives. I could maybe kick out another 4 lambs this season but it might put a strain on the Old boy and then A season of lambing without the different wormers to get the ewe's through the Barberpole/nursing period which would be dangerous. I would need to find another breedable Ram to really expand once again.
We used to have a wonderful brown and badgerfaced combination the hand spinners loved but sadly the brown wool line is pretty much gone now when I lost the main breeding ewe last Summer and she kicked out two Whethers her last season.
We're contending against nature this year. It's dry as the hot side of hell here in the Wild West. The soil has NO moisture in it at all. Usually I can dig down about a foot and hit moist soil. Not this year! Even the CACTUS is needing irrigation to stay alive! The dry weather is forcing all the prey animals into the outskirts of town where we live. This in turn is drawing in the coyotes. I've lost over fifteen hens and two roosters to Wile E. this year so far! This is the reality of prepping though, and outsmarting wild dogs is a part of it. Better to learn now, while I can still replace birds and figure out how to keep the garden alive! ...This is not the time to rest...
ReplyDeleteDang sorry to hear that Pete. We are hot and dry here but my heavy mulch and the fact we sit in the middle of fenced in paddocks has kept the garden moist and stops coyotes from getting to my chickens. The sheep don't much allow coyotes passed the outer paddocks. My problems right now is the heat and constant Sun. Not much actual fruit setting and my beans have zero pods this year. Zero. I have never seen that happen in over 20 years of raising this particular strain of pole beans. Ever. I hope we pull out of it. I can still use last years saved beans to start over, or even go back years as the seeds stay viable for years but it concerns me as I thought I had all the possible issues covered with this particular cross bred strain I have been using for over a decade. Live and Learn I guess.
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