ShopTalk Sunday: Prepping Disaster – Field Day

by

Famine is coming.

Yeah, sure, Roe, Wade, demonstrations, hype.  Have fun with that.

The larger reality is there’s no caloric payoff to any of it and damn few people will have noticed the recent Newsweek story Gathering Storm of Famine Looms Over Many Nations.

What Preppers Miss

Most preppers I know have never done a “dry run” of survival gardening.  “I have stored food, so I’m good.”

No, not really.

Unless someone tells you to get Ace 55 tomatoes – which can produce in a little over 2 months in reality – you are in for an ugly and hungry surprise.

Most crops take 120-days, or so.  Which means if you have 120-days of food stored, you’ll only be alive four months while society finishes burning out.

At some point, you will have to wean off the freeze-dried and get back to survival food sourcing.  Eating squirrels shot with the .22 are going to depopulate quickly, too.  Along with other meat sources.  Why do you think beans were so important in the West?

At best, you might get three gardens in per year: spring, summer, and fall.  But, what about the water supply for them?  We can tell you from experience that our rainwater collection system was emptied last month and we’re on the second mains refill now.

Tomato Crisis

We were, as preppers very pleased with the “early results” of our tomatoes.

Why, we could almost taste these delicious fruits.

But a few morning’s later, a trip to the garden revealed this:

Birds had eaten our fledgling tom’s and as the blue arrow shows, it doesn’t take a “rocket surgeon” to figure out who the perps were.

REALITY CHECK:  Have you really figured out how to garden when society collapses?  Because right now – in our misadventure into self-sufficiency, we can get on the web and load up with all kinds of “scare tape” and bird netting on the cheap.  It’s all on the way.

When EMP or surprise first strike comes along (or just descent into general anarchy because people are SOOO stupid!) recovering from this kind of gaffe won’t be an option.

Ground Problems Too

And what about Ure’s prized cantaloupes?  Same story, different culprit:

And do remember those sugar pumpkins that sprouted from the 30-foot runner we let escape from the raised bed?  I mean, this looked just dandy!

Until along came squirrels.  Then, a pumpkin half again the size of a soft ball was eaten overnight by some kind of ground critter.

In our prepping inventory, the only quick option was a large sticky trap designed for rats and such.  We’ll see how this works when the blooms turn to edibles in the next week, or four.

Point is?

If you don’t have absolutely everything in stock and on-hand to get serious food production online again within 120-days year-round, your prepping efforts are likely just a one-way ticket to hell. Sorry to report.

The good news is that rather than piss away time into media distractions, you can be container gardening like crazy.  Building that lean-to green house and doing all kinds of other basic food production work.  Hydroponics, for example.

Just thought you might want to know – if we were forced to eat ONLY what we have grown here, we’d both be thin as rails.  For now – short of famine knocking – skinny is Elaine’s province, not mine.

Cold Air Idea

Want a free 2-degrees cooler from your air conditioner?

I got to looking at the window mounted units in the shop and my office this week.  Did some “wet finger testing” to see how the air flows were doing.

And made the useful discovery that air tumbling was causing the a/c units to work less efficiently.

See, when cooled air comes out of the a/c unit, it tumbles – air turbulence.

This already cool air – at least some of it – drops down and recycles into the intake area.

Naturally, it’s obvious that if 100 percent of air was moved away from the cooler, it would be more usefully employed in cooling the room!

The solution is two small pieces of thin plywood though you could use some duct tape and cardboard, too:

These make the return path (from outflow to intake) much longer as shown by the white arrow.

Thanks to 100-degree days this week I was able to do some serious testing.  The overall improvement (because a laser printer is close to the a/c (as you can see lower left in the picture) was about 2-degrees.

That seemed like a pretty good payoff for literally 4-minutes of thinking and doing.

Ham Radio Field Day

This being the last weekend of the month ahead of the Fourth, it’s Ham Radio Field Day.

The event is held twice a year and is sponsored by the American Radio Relay League.  Contest rules are over here; Field Day 2006 Rules (arrl.org)

The basics of ham radio are not difficult to learn.  With the Morse Code requirement being dropped a couple of decades back, robust citizen radio with global reach is widely accessible.

The best way to play at field day – is to use low power, a suitable antenna, and an off the grid power source.  Batteries or solar – whatever is at hand.

A low power radio is good, too.

We usually have several, including the USDX(plus) which son G2 has with him on whatever mission he’s out on (doesn’t talk about it).  You can find these radios on eBay for between $120 and $150.  Be aware of gougers, though.

The radio I’m thinking about putting on line today is my uBITX.  This radio can be had for just over $200 from HF Signals.com.

The uBITX is a much more capable radio mainly because of better power output at 12.volts and a much more mature receiver.  Still, any radio in a storm, huh?

The best antenna for these kinds of exercises (I mean really portable) would be an off-center fed dipole.  135-140 feet of wire, with a balance to unbalanced transformer (4 to 1) because the antenna will be around 2oo ohms of impedance (AC resistance) and the coaxial feedline will be 50-ohms, or so.

William at the Radio Ranch is partial to the one other good antenna for such events:  An End-Fed Half Wave (EFHW).  These use a higher turns ratio for antenna matching (often 9:1) and they work quite well.  My problem with them is you need to get two ends as high as possible.

The Off-Center Fed Dipole (OFCD) will work well in an “inverted vee” (think droopy ends) off a single center support.

Whichever way you go, great weekend to look in on public parks and such.  If you see a collection of people (often looking up into trees for no obvious reason) those are likely hams.  Go say hi and tell ’em AC7X sends 73s.  *(my call sign, and 73 is the Morse abbreviation for “best regards”).

On that note, still some phantom rain in the forecast to time to fire up the riding mower and prune 3-acres of time sink.

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

51 thoughts on “ShopTalk Sunday: Prepping Disaster – Field Day”

  1. “I have stored food, so I’m good.”

    LOL most people.. don’t have a clue.. I didn’t have a clue…. until it happened to me..
    the average person in their preps.. Prep with modern services in mind.. Like what @olfart said… “And don’t forget you’ll need fuel to run it, too! ” so how do you run a chainsaw…without gas.. most people see a few pounds of burger a couple of roasts a few cans of beans.. as being prepared..
    the boss.. as much as she cares.. didn’t understand until.. we went a year without an income.. then it dawned on her about my obsession to do as much to be as ready for the unexpected.. since I was but a child I had dreams.. where when the day came I would be teaching people the crap that has been forgotten.. to pass it on..
    which brought the good day the bad day and the compliment and awe honey please.. it was nice.. the kids have to redo their roof… they took down two dishes.. one a DISH network dish.. and one a DIRECT TV dish.. I go over and drag them out of the lets scrap this crap pile..
    The boss. comes and says.. What are you collecting that stuff for.. ( years ago I taught the grand kids how to turn one of those into a solar cooker and a solar beer chiller LOL…. ) she said no it is just more crap .. put it back.. that is the awe honey please.. LOL but into the refuse pile..
    the good day.. great temps.. and at a farmers market.. well I get tea …
    the bad day.. one of the grandkids fell and got hurt.. not bad thank god..
    then the compliment.. I had wonderful parents.. I had never seen them so much as argue while growing up.. a G rated household.. lots of hugs and compliments.. Memories of those two going for their walk hand in hand will go to my grave with me..
    Most families are not like that.. and it took me till I was a teenager to realize that most families are nowhere even close to that..
    My first wife seen stuff like that as weakness .. women were not to be treated with sentimental expressions and hand in hand.. or snuggle on the ole couch together and watch tv.. my god who ever even heard of doing something like that.. but it is how I was taught.. and I cannot change that.. my first wifes family was taught otherwise.. my first wife was raised in a home where dad didn’t buy mom flowers.. barely even talked to her.. only time to give hugs was if they were going to do the wild monkey routine..
    My wife now.. same thing.. but not nearly as bad.. why give flowers .. they got me don’t they attitude is prominent..
    When my father passed on.. I didn’t have any of those .. I wish I could tell them feelings.. I had memories..
    Our kids.. welcomed with a hug.. leave with a hug.. if I died before they see me.. they know that the last thing I did was tell them how much theyh mean.. its not sexual.. it is gratitude for sharing their time and life with me.. It is common.. and done all the time..
    well the kids were sitting around the evening on the veranda and someone other than the family was there with us.. and they asked.. why does grandpa give everyone a hug.. and everyone said.. its his way.. show those that matter that you matter.. that way you won’t ever have any questions on it at the end..
    I still get a little teary eyed that I can’t have those two dishes LOL but I will think of something else to use in a summer spearamint I am thinking maybe a ceramic heater.. using a pop can.. It is smaller.. LOL

    • “why give flowers .. they got me don’t they attitude is prominent..”

      I would give flowers randomly and occasionally, just for the hell of it. No reason, no occasion, no holiday or whatever. ‘Seemed to brighten the day of all concerned…

      • Valentine day.. mothers day and birthday LOL… the three must haves.. well the dishes went into the trash.. boo hoo for me.. but then the kids dragged a new toy for me to play with out of the trash someplace.. a fifty pound magnet.. dam dam dam.. am I going to have fun with this thing…. when I had gravel put down years ago.. I had dropped a screw.. well at the time I couldn’t find it then with the magnets I had and figured with eight inches of gravel .. it would be safe…. ( and I have some good ones..) so I thought what the hell.. let me try.. I dragged that heavy butt thing and you know what.. found it.. it brought it up through eight inches of gravel LOL LOL LOL you can feel it pull ….. don’t want to get it close to any thing iron I will never get it off of it and it would probably drag me to it LOL LOL now..
        then the new thought.. what if.. we already know that we can heat with sound.. can I freeze water with sound.. thermo acoustics.. and could I do it here at home with the crap in the ole mans shed.. LOL LOL LOL.. new summer project..

  2. Good morning George and hoping that you two are doing well.

    I don’t know how many “preppers” that I have talked too that said “I’ll plant a garden”. “Do you have seeds?” was my questions. “Well”, mumble, mumble. ” Do you have at least 3 months of food while your garden starts to produce?” “Well”, mumble, mumble.

    Crop yield? When I was following my grandfather, down the furrow, (plowed by a single tree plow and a mule) dropping corn and bean seeds into the furrow he said ” One for the Lord, One for the weather, One for the crows and One for me”. Which is 25% for eating and canning. A lot of work!

    As for squirrels, grandma used to par-boil them before breading and frying, And then pan scrapings gravy over biscuits . Mmm, yummy.

    My cousins and I used to try for ‘head’ shots or “bark’ the squirrels. Barking was shooting close to the head and the concussion would stun the squirrel so they would drop off the tree where we would pick them up and wring their necks. Both ways of squirrel hunting saved the meat. A 410 meant picking shot outa your teeth!

    Most people just do not remember the Boy Scouts motto, “Be Prepared”.

    Here in Costa Rica I can get 3 crops, but not all of the vegetables that we are used to in the USofA will do well here. Experiment where ever you are or starve.

    Cheers and hang in there!

    • “Do you have at least 3 months of food while your garden starts to produce?” “Well”, mumble, mumble.”

      Hmm it may be to late ffg or the one can food stock method..mist important Is pantry rotation.. if it gets close to due date.. th we n freeze dry it..

    • “My cousins and I used to try for ‘head’ shots or “bark’ the squirrels.”

      Yep. Good way to save meat. However, don’t try that with a hyper velocity (CCI Stinger or Remington Yellow Jacket), etc. .22 round. I did that many years ago and made a perfect head shot, but it took off most of the squirrel’s head and left lead fragments all the way down the back. Worse than picking shotgun pellets out of the meat.

      • animals become pets.. rocky and his mate.. I place corn out.. I use to have a photo of rocky with his little arm around mrs. rocky.. LOL LOL as they sat there eating.. how can you shoot something like that.. what was funny is rocky being inquisitive .. LOL LOL he was going up a tree.. momma bird didn’t want him near her nest.. she tried her best to get him to leave that dam tree.. finally you could tell she was frustrated and anxious.. she flew to a high power pole and you could hear her screech.. the next thing you knew.. birds from just about every species in the area came flying as fast as they could.. and chased rocky down the street.. community.. it was the same with momma sparrow.. you could tell that she didn’t know how to find the worms.. she never learned.. she to was frustraited.. and birds of all species again.. there were robins black birds sparrows etc.. all flew across the street and would stand there.. what they were doing is finding the worms for her.. then standing above them until she came and got them to feed her baby birds..
        I hear people tell me that animals don’t have feelings or communication.. then I see stuff like that.. and know they are just like us.. so my suggestion is feed them.. buy a small bowl of cat food or some corn.. then place a feeder away from your garden.. I can tell you from my personal experience.. they respect what is yours and what is theirs.. I have no problems with pests.. but then I have a field of lettuce for them to eat away from my garden.. when I was learning how to garden and was in a wheel chair.. peanut was a baby bunny and it would play at my feet.. its children still lives around here.. and I of course plant food that they can eat.. sugar beats for the deer.. etc.. never will i shoot them.. I couldnt’ even kill the tilapia I had in my aquaponics .. I ended up giving them to someone that I knew could harvest them.. flipper was so big.. almost ten pounds and two foot long..

  3. Farmer G,

    Sounds like you got Ureself a critter problem,Possums, Coons, Skunks or all 3. We use large Have-A Heart walk in traps, works just dandy on wandering pussy as well https://youtu.be/Jxg9zTTCzxg.
    Seems to this observer that food storage is the real bugaboo. Peeps – need somewhere cool, dark and dry to store their root crops..you do have root crops ?? Same with Ure sack o beans red/black/pintos/navies….A Fallout shelter could be good subsitute for a root cellar. Got wood ? ..chopped and stacked for Winter heating/cooking back up ? Ya do know why they are called “busy beavers”, no?

    achtung baby indeed – latest from the front( psi-war) – nano particles/particulates are inhibited by what class of Drugs, what drug did tRump suggest for covert19 prophylactic treatment early on. Whats in the bioweapon-vaxx material from german chemical giant merck? Every vaxx manufacturer uses/used same source of material from merck. rutrow wraggy!

    Tangueray & Tonics anyone?

  4. From the photo of your punkin vine it looks like you also may have powdery mildew along with hungry uninvited guests. Bad stuff but easily controlled. Mouse traps in your containers are a good method of passive invasion deterrent. The squirrels would get into the flowers and salad fixins on the patio so I found those to work pretty well. Don’t know which was more funny, my wife running out the patio door screaming at the squirrels or one of them limping across the yard with a mouse trap attached to one of its legs.
    Maybe try to get on the air later this evening. Fence repairs are on the agenda today after church. Barney got a little horny and busted through a line fence to visit the ladies.

    Stay safe. 73

    • Yep, powdery mildew on the melons. Neem oil will take care of it, 2 to 3 treatments 5 days apart. Don’t wait too long to treat because the mildew will choke off the leaves and they won’t be able to absorb light properly.

    • That thar is hilarious! Don’t forget about fishing. Lake trout are biting year round. Since I relocated from the beach to the mountains I aim to polish my pole skills up here.

      Interesting to note George, I’m back up at Iron Mountain again. Last time I was up here. You found that Iron Mountain report. Maybe I aught to read it this time. Have a gander.

      I’m just up here for a bit. Take some time away from the big city. I really missed country living. Crickets in the morning and frogs at night. Go back up to that place I was 4 years ago where I had it out with THE DUDE about stuff. And I saw the Angel of the Lord in the reflection of a unnamed lake about 8 mile hike up passed where the road runs out. No trail. I just kept going up in to the woods until I found that lake. Big trout in that lake. Never seen anyone up there before. Most people are afraid of the critters up there mostly bears I reckon. Me, I ain’t afraid of much except a cute little lady in cowboy boots and daisy’s that can work her way past into the gooey section of my heart then turn into a veloca rapter in there and my first ex wife. Hahaha. She is definitely a better shot than me and way smarter. Haha.

      Saw a Daewoo Van today lifted with Mudders on it up in the mountains. Don’t see that every day. Reminded me of when you had goats and a Daewoo. Lol

      So thought I’d say hi, before I live off grid for a bit, and keep grabbing gears until THE DUDE let’s me know other wise.

      Made a few posts on the Time traveler thread you may or not find informative.

      Ya….. I sure missed living in the country. So much more peaceful, nicer folks out here and alot less people with blue hair.

      Cowboy up old man!

      Truly I am Blessed and Highly Fortunate!

      • Over here.

        Start with the Cro,

        I assure you. To my read of things with later confirmation after the post was made through the language of creation around me. That is 100% correct. The distance between the end of the huskies seas0n and the field of crows and the graduation and the field of graduates sitting there looking like a field of crows is the distance between the Launch of CRO at Fifa and its acceptance and establishment as the world currency from my read of the language of creation. Aka finger prints of God.

        I won’t comment there again for sometime. Or Here for that matter. I will be busy angling a fish or two and thinking about things among grabbing gears this summer. Enjoying life before things get difficult.

        I have to tell you. It’s really hard for me not to prepare knowing what I know and seeing what I see in advance and reading things before they happen. However I have been told so many times you won’t need it. Keep a full tank of gas, an extra can or two in the car, a bag packed by the door, with the items you were told to put in it, and you will know when time is to go and where exacrly to go, everything you need is provided already where you are going. And I won’t know where that is until the day it’s time for me to bounce.

        Faith, ya know. Trust THE DUDE and HIS ways. He knows the shit I don’t. I only know a little. Which is far more than most do. And I’m grateful for the little I do know.

        Sigh…. if I could change the trajectory we are heading. To make it softer and easier for everyone, especially the clueless people in the masses. I would. And I don’t like being right. But I am. Because I don’t want people to suffer and die.

        The hard times forge great me and women who normally wouldn’t rise to lead people and establish great changes for the betterment of all humanity. So for them and those who are about to Rock, I salute you.

        There is other available options for me to rise to a position of power. However, I don’t if that is such a good thing or not. I think it’s better to remain off the radar and let them sort it all out themselves. Do my small part and let it be between THE DUDE and me. HE knows. and that is good enough for me. Unless HE dictates otherwise, I’d rather be the unknown man back stage and on pass gate instead of the star on stage doing the performance to usher in the next Aeon and end the last one. If ya catch my drift. Be the Q not the captain of the enterprise as the doctor said. I already am the Q in the garden. That seems much better.

        See ya man. Good to read your gardening tips.

        Be back when I get back if there is an internet then.

  6. Not sure where folks are getting their information or if they are just doing the calculation of price increases at present rate of speed, but I find a lot of people seem to be aware of what’s coming.

    Store clerks seem to want to talk, beyond normal greetings and at checkouts. Specially over by the clearance section. They mention shortages by the end of the year.

    Colleagues, in various distant locations around the country, take care of business then mention, “Hey, by the way … there’s gonna be a food shortage by the end of the year. You might want to stock up.” These people are busy but squeeze that in before the call is completed.

    It happens more than just a coincidence, aware folks giving a heads up.

    Interesting that the Universe is expanding the awareness … just wish it would impart solutions. Or at least, the means for theses folks to ride this out safely … maybe that’s coming, who knows?

    As for me, we’re doing the best we can here. Trying to keep things right between me and The Dude.

    Sometimes, my mind gets a bit foggy in all this mental chaos we’re bombarded with, and like a radio, sometimes I’m not quite tuned in. Comes from overthinking, I guess. So knowing The Dude has a much better signal, I ask for assistance and the fog clears. Thinking about things differently – without all the extra mountains of mole hills – and seeing things clearer for what they are. (Make sense?)

    And hey George, thanks for the A/C tip. Never knew the air tumbled. Cut outs for our units is on my list of projects for today. Thanks !! :)

    • “but I find a lot of people seem to be aware of what’s coming.”

      What I hear and and fear myself..is its looking inevitable.. and everyone in the beltway is ignorant of its speedy aririval.. ir they just don’t give a shitz about what they’re doing..
      With today’s headline about seal and UK special forces involvement just made us more of a taret.

  7. Our spring garden has about sprung. I pulled up the bean plants last week after canning 26 pints. The purplehull peas will be ready to pick next week, and it looks like I could get 25 – 30 pints of those. Tomatoes are about to dry up, and the okra has not yet hit its stride. If I can keep water on it, we may have a fair crop of okra.

    Our goat gave birth Friday afternoon while we were gone to town. We returned home to find her cleaning up one kid, but there was another on the ground dead. Mom was still obviously pregnant, as she was straining and groaning. After a couple of hours of that, we tried to reach in and see if we could straighten the kid enough for it to get out, but no luck. Our hands are too big. No vets available on a Friday night, so we loaded her in the car Saturday morning and took her to the only one that was open. He did a C-section and removed another dead kid. Mom is back home now and caring for her only surviving kid. At least she has plenty of milk. I’ll likely have to milk her at least once a day to keep her from drying up. Farm life definitely has its ups and downs.

  8. This is the reason we rarely get peaches from the trees at the ranch – and I gave up on the apple tree years ago. It’s just not the right environment for them.

    If it’s not the birds it’s the squirrels and then there’s the grass hoppers later on. As much as my granddaughter has said she wants to get a squirrel and try it for supper we never seem to see them when she’s around. Keeping the trees alive, watered and well fed is a labor of love and that’s about it. It’s not just us 2 legged critters that are trying to survive out there.

  9. “Birds had eaten our fledgling tom’s and as the blue arrow shows, it doesn’t take a “rocket surgeon” to figure out who the perps were.”

    Look closer. The bare stems where leaves used to be tell me you have a horn worm. Yes, they eat the fruit as well as the leaves. Get a UV flashlight and hunt them at night. They have distinctive markings that shout, “Here I am!” Much easier than hunting for their camouflaged bodies in daylight. Unfortunately bird netting won’t keep them out.

  10. Gardening has a steep learning curve.

    I read some years ago (email homesteading list) that a family used corn as their staple food for the year (corn something at every meal) and they had to grow 33 (as I remember it) corn plants per person to get that much corn.

    Beans as “the” main dish in your survival food until your garden gets going (squirrels, rabbits, deer & dogs in short supply) …. how much/many beans do you need to put away for each person for a year?

  11. Garden Security
    A friend of mine was raided last weekend. Someone [ or two ] carried off all twelve of his five gallon buckets of tomatoes and pepper. You had to of known they were there, as even looking over his fence they were out of sight. He is a bit miffed, as it had to of been someone he knew. Luckily, he has enough time to get another crop in – but the loss of his crop and trust of friends really hit home with him.
    – Protecting your important crops may be something you want on your agenda.

    • You might tell your friend that video cameras are cheap these days and knowing “who” it is stealing from you can be be a huge step in preventing the next theft.

    • A prof. At GWU told me.. he never even considered that he would need a NUG to protect his toilet paper..lol lol I said there was a good reason to have a Washington post subscription lol

      • Bit online though then it would have as much practical use as bitcoin lol

    • It could have been a random person who cased the area with a drone, but a known associate is more likely. I don’t like outdoor gardening as a rule because you control very little, but stealing plants? That’s a new one. I have cactuses outside and they’ve been with me for a while. No problems yet with them, but I’d not call them regular food.

      I like cameras. If something has to be outside, it should be on camera and recorded.

  12. I cannot grow enough food to feed myself without power equipment, and more of it. Grid down gardening at a subsistence level requires draft animals and a strong back, of which I have neither. There is too much competition here for foraging and hunting to be of practical value.
    What I would need to start with is a PTO tiller. Walking tillers, which I have, are simply brutal to the operator in the clay soils found here. In my last attempt to scale up production, I found I just couldn’t take the physical punishment I would need to do a full scale up with the equipment I own. One MRI negates cost savings from multiple seasons of gardening.
    A second gasoline-fueled tractor for fuel diversity is needed. I will also need an 8 ft critter fence around primary garden spots. Electric farm equipment outside of an electric fence charger is pretty much unavailable.
    My neighbor is in the process of building a new pond which will back water up to my main garden spot, so I will eventually get a break on irrigation water with a modest pump, provided the rains return, which is probably at least 4 months away. No need to drill dry holes.
    Even buying used equipment, I am looking at a 15 – 20K investment in farm stuff to get output up to the subsistence gardening level. A greenhouse would be even more.
    In the event of an extended grid-down scenario, I expect the situation to deteriorate into a Walking Dead-style sh!t storm within six months. My proximity to welfare-state intensive civilization precludes me from having that proverbial ice cream cone’s chance in hell in that scenario.
    Still, I enjoy listening to to G_____ and other readers and their ideas, and I am taking notes.

    • With a total grid-down scenario I think it would be a lot less than six months.., probably closer to 60 days.

    • Depending on your condition, skills, and available time, I could see getting a small tractor with a broken engine for cheap and fitting it with an electric forklift motor and control circuitry. If you can get an old but usable battery and find the right place to mount it, you’d have a serviceable piece of equipment. Farm auctions and Craigslist are good for finding such things if you have the time and the ability to avoid buying everything you see.

  13. My first batch of seeds were taken by ants. My second planting didn’t do well because if the heat. Beans grew very well but both yellow and green beans were eaten as well as birds eating my tomatoes. So I planted blackberries, raspberries and blueberries. We had a good crop that disappeared before it was quite ripe. I’m thinking about putting up a large covered dog run/pen and gardening within that.

    • See, this is EXACTLY on pointy – thanks for sharing.
      The only way to make sure you will have food into the uncertain future is by actually growing some – and as you have found out, that’s not so easy!
      Thanks for sharing your real-life results

      • Regarding seeds, I’ve found that some major national name brand seed companies are distributing less than sterling quality seeds. This year’s batch of bean seeds was bought at a big box chain store due to the local farm supply being out of stock. What I got was nearly 50% other than advertised contents. Similar results with the tomato seeds I ordered through Amazon. These seeds will produce viable fruit, just not all the variety you expected.

    • My local farm store sells a fabric — looks like 3/16 hardware cloth, except it’s nylon or polypro. It comes in rolls 51″ wide and 5 kilometers long. I don’t know, but I’d guess it is “bird control” for crops.

      I bought a bunch of painted daisy seeds and hope to have a barrier against the bugs, shortly…

  14. I never use ceiling fans in the summer except at night. Leave the warm air up high. A separate dehumidifier gets used in the morning on muggy days (condensate is saved, natch). Bubble-wrap reflective insulation OUTSIDE on South and West windows that are not seen from the street works wonders. And a 12k BTU window unit helps keep the running hours down on the now obscenely priced heat pump.

  15. George, do you have any thoughts for after a hard grid down? Are you thinking years, decades or forever before we get a minimally functional infrastructure and possible grid? I’m definitely thinking about the Deagel forecasts as a guideline, but there’s no good info on what might happen after 2026 or so. Do you really think the world war would be over that quickly?

    • “Do you really think the world war would be over that quickly?”

      Do you really think whatever line is drawn, and between whom, the losing side would not delve into its nuclear arsenal within the first couple weeks…?

  16. Well, its started here in peaceful, serene, urban Pleasantville Canada. Not a break-in here in 20 years but late last night, a triple header.

    Thieves stole 2 bicycles in another neighbourhood, rode them to our community, parked them at the gated entrance, checked a few basement windows and found one unlocked. They broke in to the home with the single elderly woman asleep in bed. They quietly ransacked her house, taking money, computers, cell phone and car keys.

    After exiting the home, they started and stole her car and drove to the local golf course where they broke in to and ransacked the club house. They fled with their booty. The bicycles are still parked where they left them here.

    Our community mourns its loss of innocence but is awakened to the new crime order reality. Thankfully our neighbour lady did not wake up while the thieves were in her house as she would have had to use karate to protect herself. Here is our illustrious prime minister explaining Canadian rights to self protection.

    https://thepostmillennial.com/watch-trudeau-says-using-a-gun-for-self-defence-is-not-a-right-that-you-have-in-canada

  17. “… robust citizen radio with global reach is widely accessible.”

    And outer space, too! I talked to a live astronaut working NA1SS aboard the International Space Station as it orbited over us!

  18. Today I filled up the car with gasoline @ $4.89 a gallon. I was happy. .60 cent +/- a gallon off the top.

    Think of foodies the same way. I’ve been posting the links to the bug food companies. Cricket powders, flexi-burgers even cultured meat companies and such. Think about how fast a batch of bugs can be whipped out in a bleak situation. Don’t overlook bugs, the bug food companies aren’t.

    During the famines sometimes we’ll eat dense proteins like the squirrel. Those will give us the happy feelings of $4.89 gasoline. Other times we’ll have to eat the crickets, then we’ll have feelings similar to buying $6.00+ gasoline. People will fool themselves like they do putting ethanol in gasoline. Gelatize spare meat parts and call it head cheese. Deep fry the spare parts of a bull and call it land oysters.

    Most everything is edible it’s just the food may not bring $4.89 gasoline level happy.

  19. Yep the hams set up in the park right next door to our house. Haven’t seen them there in a few years, I reckon because of the pandemic, but they are back this year!

  20. You and your readers are right: gardening will take years to achieve real food independence. I have been working on my 43 acre place for almost 10 years and am just last year getting reliable and large yield. Two of the most critical finds:
    1. Figure out or talk to neighbors to learn what strains of plants will work in your soil, altitude, length of season and weather. I like heirloom seeds from Seeds of change, Fedco seeds and Baker Creek (at https://www.rareseeds.com/).
    2. Figure out how to keep all the local fauna from consuming too big a share of the growth. Here in eastern Colorado that solution is cattle panels (welded wire 4.5×20 feet) bent into a low hoop and covered with chicken wire and hail cloth. I put 4 in a row and anchor them into 2×8’s or 10’s or 12’s that I can scrounge from construction discards (with permission).
    Good luck to you all. Looks like rough times ahead.

  21. Ghislaine Maxwell, ex-lover of Jeffrey Epstein, placed on suicide watch ahead of sentencing

    Maxwell, who was convicted of helping ex-lover Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls, is scheduled to have a sentencing hearing on Tuesday. Ghislaine Maxwell has been placed on suicide watch just days before her sentencing hearing, despite not being suicidal, her attorneys announced.

    GHISLAINE MAXWELL’S CELLMATE CLAIMS SHE WAS ‘OFFERED MONEY’ TO KILL MAXWELL

    https://www.foxnews.com/us/ghislaine-maxwell-jeffrey-epstein-suicide-watch

    Suicide watch? Quick, look surprised…

    • Wait 4 it…..
      when U see/hear this – it will be that time, again..

      Twitter: “Ladies and Gentleman, the storm is upon us.”

      till then…just more smoke & mirrors .

  24. Never mind China’s new aircraft carrier, these are the ships the US should worry about

    Type 055 destroyer
    Launched in 2017, these 13,000-ton stealth guided-missile destroyers are considered by many to be the most powerful surface combatants in the world. The Type 055, big enough to be considered a cruiser by NATO standards, is equipped with 112 vertical launch tubes that can used to fire everything from anti-ship missiles to long-range land-attack missiles.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/25/asia/china-navy-aircraft-carrier-analysis-intl-hnk-ml-dst/index.html

  25. The situation in Ukraine is ‘overwhelmingly’ in favor of Russia: Lt Col Daniel Davis

    There is no rational basis upon which to hope that the war can turn around because Russia is methodically moving through and destroying the Ukrainian armed forces in the Donbas, more than capturing territory, they’re destroying their ability to defend the country anywhere else.

    https://www.foxnews.com/media/situation-ukraine-overwhelmingly-favor-russia-daniel-davis
    _______

    Commando Network Coordinates Flow of Weapons in Ukraine, Officials Say

    As Russian troops press ahead with a grinding campaign to seize eastern Ukraine, the nation’s ability to resist the onslaught depends more than ever on help from the United States and its allies — including a stealthy network of commandos and spies rushing to provide weapons, intelligence and training, according to U.S. and European officials.

    https://archive.ph/PCZGP#selection-645.13-645.358
    _______

    Ukraine – The West’s Response As It Meets With Reality

    This morning I watched an hour long discussion by ‘experts’ at the Center for Strategic & International Studies about assessing Russia’s war in Ukraine. I have to say that these folks know nothing that is relevant. They seem to have never heard of Sun Tsu’s dictum ‘Know your enemy’:

    Sun Tzu says, “To know your enemy, you must become your enemy,” but how do you become your enemy? You need to put yourself in the place of your enemy so you can predict his actions.

    Not once did the CSIS people consider the view of Russia or its real intent. They talk about this or that U.S. option but do not even once consider how the other side would react to it.

    https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/06/ukraine-the-wests-response-as-it-meets-with-reality.html

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