Self sufficiency thread

[MasterBlaster]

Lots of times they would find Ma and Pa dead in the dugout in the spring, either that or they managed to escape. Imagine 40 below and several feet of snow.

HuH???

 

[cory]

'Crappers' would be cheap I 'spect, but get a price on good wood too. Doesn't hurt to find out. I don't have a guesstimate re cost, sorry.

 

[FireFighterZero]

I buy all my rough cut fir from a guy three hours south of me Cory. I need a few thousand more board feet anyway, I might ask him.

Folks would get wintered in Butch and starve to death or freeze. Sometimes they would be able to make it to a neighbor, sometimes not.

There must have been a timeline I suppose. If you can make it a couple of years you would have it made.

 

[sotc]

Good hard wood here runs 9-1100 a load delivered.
Chris, how'd you know i have a Rambo bandanna?

 

[MasterBlaster]

I'd move my ass to a warmer climate!

 

[sotc]

It's around 8-9 cords generally

 

[FireFighterZero]

That would be pretty economical wouldn't it Willie?

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Rob really reaps benefits with the dehydrator. He built one the size of a nice sized shed with shelves. Used plastic sheeting (4 mil maybe?) and just a couple box fans. Shelves of dried tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, onions, fruit. Tons of stuff to use over the winter. We had some of his stuff at camp made into mashed potatoes and hash browns. Spaghetti sauce. I crushed some onions and seasoned the chicken with it.
We freeze a lot too. But that takes electricity. I want some solar set up soon.
A client of ours has a well on solar that can easily be switched to hand pumping if SHTF.
But Some solar water and electricity would go a long way for us. I am going to play with building a little man cave out back for my office that will be all low voltage and such. Something about 10'X12' with a loft. Pretty much a room below that with a kitchenette. See what I can do in a small space.

 

[BIGTWIG]

Jim,

I have a mountain of junk wood. A mountain.


Figure out a way to get it up there and you can have as much as you could dream of.

You'd be helping both of us


Firewood pine semi loads go for $1200-$1700 around here FYI.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Hell, Jim... come get some logs man...

 

[Tucker943]

The word homesteading caught my eye. I think that's a fantastic lifestyle.

 

[DMc]

Jim,I have a mountain of junk wood. A mountain.
Figure out a way to get it up there and you can have as much as you could dream of....

Tom, that is a fantastic offer!

 

[DMc]

....until they found some soft coal, which is abundant. Our soft coal is brown and just a grade better than peat....

Jim, do you have any of that on your property? If so look up the definition of lignite or Leonardite. A source of humates could possibly be of great use depending on the complexity of extraction and processing.

We collect rain water off our roof. A 1000 sq ft roof captures about 600 gal per inch of rain. That equates to 26,136 gal per acre. In Montana, water is the limiting factor for tree growth. Capturing and utilizing small amounts of water over large areas of land is what de-desertification is all about. You very well might be able to grow trees on some of your land.

 

[sotc]

That would be pretty economical wouldn't it Willie?

It's fair. The best part for most people that do it is they they don't have to drive around looking for wood, can work on it as they have time and handle it fewer times.

Tom, that is a fantastic offer!

No kidding, next time tou have to haul a load of cattle 300 miles to Bozeman you can come back with wood!

 

[stig]

Buy John Seymour's book from 1976, Jim. It really has everything you need in it: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...-keywords=john+seymour&sprefix=john+se,mi,265

 

[DMc]

I have my great grandparents Majestic wood cook stove in my house.... Once I figure out how to make bread in that oven I will be unstoppable!.....

That is really cool, Jim! We have a Heartland Oval that gets used every day. Everything cooked on or in a wood stove somehow just tastes better.

Making bread is easy if you use the right wood in the fire box. Cottonwood! Bread and most baking requires moderate, stable temperatures, around 350º f. The much maligned cottonwood holds this low temperature better that most others.

 

[Peter]

Buy John Seymour's book from 1976, Jim. It really has everything you need in it: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...-keywords=john+seymour&sprefix=john+se,mi,265

I have that one, and the foxfire book.