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The big complaint you mentioned about peppers is that they store tons of food they bought, then don't know how to use it (or it has gone bad) when an emergency comes. In our house, we store what we use and use what we store in our everyday menus. That way, we know how to use our food storage, keep it in rotation, AND we don't have the problem with our bodies having to adjust to new food during a high stress emergency. We do also keep a regular garden and try to learn basic sufficiency skills along with our prepping, because the best solution is not one or the other. It's maintaining the best of both worlds.

@ronniecupp6778

Жыл бұрын

Right now I'm still preping. Have ways to go, but I'm learning things also. And getting skills that weren't needed in big city life So I'm not where you are but still going forward.

As a truck driver that is constantly on call and on the move, I have one week a month to do everything I need to do at home. As a result, having a garden or chickens doesn't make sense to me. I adapt to that shortcoming by dehydrating or canning my fruits, veggies and meats I purchase on sale. My friends have chickens and the eggs that they donate when they can no longer store extras get frozen into ice cube trays and put in the deep freezer. Most meals I cook are in bulk. It allows me to turn them into about three weeks of freezer meals, which I take out on the road with me. I make my own lotions, salves and other personal care items and cleaning products since I have many allergies to commercially made products. I tried laundry soap but had the same issue with hard water so I switched to Ecos brand at Costco and grab it when it's on sale for four cents a load. One jug will last me an entire year. I line dry most of my laundry and only use my dryer for bulky comforters and pillows to save money and lengthen the life of the fabrics. I started down this rabbit hole fifteen years ago to save money and it has allowed me to be more self sufficient.

Learning the skills needed to be self reliant are priceless. For those unable to grow a garden, learning other skills like home repairs, clothing repair, and other ‘fix it’ techniques will add barter power to your self reliance goals. What you are unable to grow yourself you can trade for.

Our household is in the Mohave Desert where there is very little rainfall, a lot of very poor soil and two very short growing seasons before it is either too hot or too cold for temperate zone vegetable plants. We have chosen to not invest in a greenhouse to try to grow vegetables during our mild winters. This would not be cost effective. The only food plants we have been able to reliably grow in our desert soil and climate without a lot of babying are rosemary bushes and pomegranate bushes and neither provide much in the way of food calories. Yes, we have seeds for producing edible sprouts indoors and some outdoor container gardens for short-season greens (something tiny skeletonized all our kale leaves within 48 hours this last spring). So, small scale farming does not make sense where we live but stockpiling long-term storage food does. We shop from the online Home Storage Center and Amazon Prime. Occasionally we buy #10 cans of food storage from our local WinCo supermarket when they have a better price than the vendors on Amazon. Sometimes Wal-Mart has lower prices on boxes of Mt. House instant meals than the six-pack bundles of Mt. House pouches from Amazon. Our most recent purchases were some 25-lb buckets of red wheat grain, a 12-lb. bucket of white soybeans and #10 cans of freeze-dried shredded cheese, ground beef, diced beef, diced chicken, milk alternative, scrambled egg mix and instant beans. Currently we are waiting to receive delivery of a #10 can of popcorn seeds and a #10 can of mixed freeze-dried vegetables. In addition to commercially packaged long-term food storage items, we have also dehydrated store-bought fresh or frozen vegetables and fruit and packaged the dry food in heat-sealed Mylar along with some oxygen absorbers. We also have an electric grain mill and two hand-cranked grain mills as well as multiple ways of doing grid-down cooking. And yes, we have experience doing grid-down cooking and making tasty meals from our food storage. We keep a binder filled with food storage recipes printed off the internet in addition to several food storage cookbooks. You do not have to be a farmer or vegetable gardener to be well-fed during supply chain disruptions, but you do have to plan ahead, manage your budget and stockpile what you will need.

Excellent video, it makes sense to be both and save time and money. I live in a apartment as a hobby I grow a little in my window sills. I choose crops that produce a lot from one plant, like potatoes in a 5 gallon bucket. I live alone and I'm 72 years so that will be plenty for me, 2 cabbages, and tomatoes. Soap would be something I would like to learn, my mother use to make her own soap. My granddaughter makes her own soap so the skill so far has not been lost. I still have to buy from others because of my age and capability of doing labor. I am learning to forage for what God gives us in nature for herbs and easy harvesting and being able to create a meal. Like Dandelions grow everywhere. and they are free, big savings and the time is my exercise time. I do all of this using my walker and I have so much fun foraging. I feel connect to my ancestors who had to live this way long ago. I am learning how to cook with less like people in 1700's and 1800's and still create a delicious meal.From your videos I have learned a lot of how to be able to go about my life and be happy in good or bad times. Thank you. God Bless you and your family. Oh the young man you showed holding the apple looks so much like your husband.

Great thoughts! I once grew sugar beets in the backyard just for the fun of producing my own sugar, but it's definitely not efficient on that scale. Ditto with kamut and oats (fun and easy to grow, but not an efficient use of space for the backyard gardener). I agree with your comments about corn, too. And I've never had much luck with broccoli or cauliflower, so I generally buy those. I grow just about everything else, though, including dry beans and sweet potatoes. Not just cheaper but more tasty and fresh. Your point also goes for other skills -- for example, I know how to knit socks and weave fabric, but it takes me so long, it's better to leave that up to the professionals. It gives me confidence knowing that the knowledge is there and I have the means to do it myself if necessary, but yes, be choosy about how you spend your limited time and resources, so you get the most bang for your effort.

It is the rare person who is truly self-sufficient. You have done an excellent job of being self-reliant. One of the big things I am unable to grow is spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg. Homemade apple pie sure wouldn't be the same without these.

@daval5563

Жыл бұрын

I've been growing Ginger indoors for over three years and have my second harvest coming in now. All the rest of my spices get packed into 1/4 and 1/2 pint mason jars with an oxygen absorber and stashed away. Good luck.

We currently have the income, so we support small farmers in our area. I can much of our favorites for winter. I can for young mothers who just don’t have the time. My husband can fix anything….

I'm a combination of the 2. I can't grow rice ,wheat ,or process salt and sugar. Vegetables I can grow and I have chickens (haven't bought eggs in 8y). I stock what I can't produce.

Excellent points. If I don't have the skill, I act as if the product/service is not available for purchase so that I can build that skill set. Once mastered, I analyze the ROI. Time is my most valuable asset. I have no problem buying instead of producing as long as I'm not doing so out of complete dependency, but rather efficiency. And that analysis can change quickly as availability and cost of goods continues to change.

I love this topic. I've encountered so many binary thinkers who think only one solution (self-reliance vs self sufficient) is correct. Both are wise. A farmer friend told me repeatedly that he doesn't need to store food (self reliance) because he can grow his own food (self sufficient). This year, almost all of his crops failed. He had to ask for food from us due to some shortages. Now he admits that having some food stored makes sense. The same is true the other way around - if we don't have the means/skills to be self sufficient then we will only last as long as we've stored for. We can't be 100% at either but we can take meaningful steps to be as self reliant AND self sufficient as we can. Prudence and wisdom should dictate how we apply these principles to our unique circumstances.

Moved across town 7 or 8 years ago from a house to a condo. I miss having a garage , I miss my pear, lime & Myers’s lemon trees. However, I have a 10’x6’ plot in a community garden that I’ve been able to grow vegetables 3/4 of the year, with an experiment on that last 1/4 of the year. So, even in an Apt or condo a garden is possible. Our other experiment for this winter is to figure out how to grow bean sprouts & broccoli sprouts in a mason jar. To me sprouts are so 1970s when you could get crunchy bean sprouts on a deli sandwich instead of lettuce. We want to try the broccoli sprouts because they are supposed to have a zillion times more of the nutrients than the head of broccoli 🥦. I would encourage other Apt/condo dwellers to try growing sprouts as a simple indoor vegetable.

Very good info. Im so happy someone out here is telling others to use common sense.

I have a plan where I have some very long-term storage of basic dry goods, some items that are medium term that will be pulled into rotation in an appropriate timeframe and the stuff that gets used and rotated in annually. There will be loss as that is all a part of it but having a logical plan and storing properly means way less loss.

I’m self reliant, luckily I have never been instructed to be self sufficient. I might not be able to make it 100 years ago, but someone from a 100 years ago would have a heck of a time making it now.

My Dad was poor and wanted to live for free. Free is difficult, very expensive, constraining, and fearful. I wanted to get rich so I could buy what I need. I buy stuff and store it away or buy at Aldis for my garden. Garden food is way too expensive for me. If at home 24/7/365 with eight kids some things make sense. I have a house, a cabin, and home in Florida and really prefer storing up a years supply of basics. So far, even with Covid, there is so much abundance in America. We are blessed.

I am open to learning new skills and that includes many things. But renting an apt presents many many problems so I have to work with what I have. I am learning to try to be creative in growing some things in very small quantities in my small space. Sprouts! Wonderful..fresh herbs! Medicinal and nutrient rich...I think anything you do that you can do for yourself has wealth of importance and can really make a difference in your world even if it seems small. Anything you can do for yourself matters as long as it makes logical sense to take the time and expense to do it.

I just had to get a new washing machine and was wondering about my homemade soap and being safe to use. I too have very hard water. I guess I’ll keep what I have on hand to make soap in case I need to wash by hand, but won’t buy more.

Great video - i go through that thought process when determining whether or not to buy or make - although it may be cheaper to buy sometimes I make it because I enjoy the process and the results, such as my bread - The eggs although we can purchase them cheaper the ones you get from your own chickens will always be fresher and they should be more nutritious as you control what they eat. Its my belief no one is or ever has be 100% self sufficient - for thousands of years people have traded off to others for things they themselves can not produce or just not worth doing it themselves due to time constraints - a good example would be black- smithing or shoemaker (cobbler-cordwainer)

One item, in general, is tools. I buy my tools since I can't make them very easy. Hand tools like screw drivers, pliers, saws, etc., also power tools like battery powered drills, impact wrenches, circular saw and so on. I include knives in the hand tool pile, and I have several different types of knives. I also include eating utensils like spoons and forks.

We buy cheese when it is o sale then cold smoke it. It makes store brand cheddar taste very fancy! It also retains the smoky flavor after freeze drying and packaging.

I rely on outside resources for most things and will continue to do so until they are no longer available. In the meantime, I am stocking up on knowledge on how to become more self-sufficient, as well as acquiring the tools I might/will need. For example, I buy fresh carrots which are grown and/or sold by others, but I also buy heirloom carrot seeds in case my suppliers run out or decide to stop growing them. If I have to resort to growing my own, I will leave some carrot plants in the ground, so they can produce seed heads, at which point, I will harvest the seeds so I will have some to plant in the future. However, harvesting carrot seeds (or any kind of seed, really) requires knowledge on how the process works. Such knowledge can be obtained from books, videos, websites, and talking to people who have successfully done it. As for me, personally, I have already watched several videos on the topic and have tried by best to memorize the steps. However, I have not tried to harvest any seeds myself, simply because I choose to concentrate on stocking up on survival supplies and other food products. I really should go ahead and plant a few carrot seeds to see if I can actually do it. Unfortunately, there's not enough hours in a day to learn how to do EVERYTHING. I have to pick my battles and cross certain bridges when I come to them. Anticipating in advance what I will need after a total collapse or a grid-down scenario seems to gobble up what precious little time we have left before the SHTF. Therefore, I will end this here and get back to that. Have a great day and God bless.

My husband got us the grain mill for Christmas that has been on my wish list for ages! Will I bake all my bread from whole grains I mill myself? Probably not. Do I want to do some of it? And learn how when we have power and plenty of bread in stores and clear roads? Yes.

We do some seed saving but you have to be careful about cross pollination, at the least you can wind up with weird looking products. Here in Illinois we can’t seed save carrots, they can cross pollinate with Queen Ann’s lace and the next year’s carrots will be poisonous. Check it out with your local ag extension!

@jabolbot9371

Жыл бұрын

Hey, thanks for that. I’m going to try carrots this year, and thought about seed saving. Suburbs have lots of Queen Ann’s Lace.

@daval5563

Жыл бұрын

Well, well, well, ... I learn something new every day, ... we too are polluted with Queens Ann's weed and wild Parsnip. It will not stop me from trying to grow carrot seed in a greenhouse to prevent the cross pollination thing. I had the top of a carrot "rooting" and growing like crazy in water but when I put it into dirt, it died within two weeks. Go figure. Good luck.

@mothra4445

Жыл бұрын

@@daval5563 the only way I’ve had any luck with starting carrot tops is by hydroponics and that uses too much energy and space to be really viable! Have to do it the old fashion way!

I am in middle South Carolina. No luck with corn at all. Found Seminole pumpkins thru David The Good and they are a gamechanger for survival food. I had one last on my kitchen counter for 1 year.. You have to get out there and try different things.

One of the things that I have that is very doable living in a townhouse with no yard is a worm farm. We live at a high altitude with a very short growing season so we like to do big container gardening on wheels that we can bring out on the deck and back in the house when necessary. The worm farm is very low maintenance takes up hardly any space doesn't have a smell and provides the most nutritious concentrated compost available. I have had them for 2 years in stackable totes that I drilled holes into the bottoms with the lowest level sitting on a brick so that they're not in their own liquid. My worms have freedom to travel within 3 levels. Since i always add the food at the top i can harvest the bottom layor when need be. I highly recommend blending up the food you give them and freezing it in ice cube trays for easy feeding. This really keeps them happy and it keeps the bin fresh. I recommend keeping them in small bins so that they are easy to lift because they are very heavy. I start out with pure peat moss that has no chemicals in it to give them something to live in. Because I add water to the food I mulch I don't have to water the bin. The worms will only reproduce to a certain number based on the size of the container. The way to know that they are happy is that they do not try to leave. You don't have to try to keep them in with a tight lid, they won't go anywhere if they like their environment, but they do like the dark. It's really fun to see the baby worms. They are incredibly tiny. Here is a super helpful channel to get started. He has a 2 part video on this. kzread.info/dash/bejne/l6yYuq2kY8yogLw.html

I'm terrible at rotating. My favorite meal is salad with chicken and I eat a lot of it. So everything else sits on the shelves. In a grid down situation, I would eat what I have. However, in January I will go through our storage and pull everything that will expire in 2023 and put it on the counters to remind us to eat it. But it won't be my favorite. For me, to store what I eat and eat what I store, is very hard. I don't like canned food. I LOVE a fresh salad, but I can't store romaine, cucumber and tomatoes. This year will be try #3 for a garden. Fingers crossed we are gong to actually produce vegetables this year! It's been a huge learning experience as well as a huge investment, but hopefully, we've got it now.

Great video! Thank you. I can some things. Grown some things. I have some skills. Looking into permaculture to make areas of my yard look “landscaped “ but with berries and veggies.(just in case city ordinance changes to no garden).

Great content and analysis. I love your channel. This is exactly how I think

Oh, my. I missed the video on gardening with a disability. I'm hunting for it now!

Thanks so much AND for linking the hypochlorite!

Very good, thought-provoking video. Thank you.

Back when I was young and foolish, (now I'm just foolish) I sought to be "independent", only to learn how interdependent I truly am. I count on everybody to do their job eh? The truck driver to deliver the Oil, the Technician to fix the power lines, the farmers to farm, .... I've never forgot those lessons. To day, like all people are, I'm addicted to convenience and like all good junkies I agreed to exchange my life for a privately owned" for profit" road of convenience that has taken humanity so far from all that is natural and organic, such as the ability to feed, cloth, and shelter ourselves, that when the proven unsustainable road of "eternal growth and profit" collapses, ... there's going to be one heck of a lot of hurting junkies out there. Withdrawal anyone? It can be fatal you know. The sad part is, that all that these junkies understand, worship, and practice, is meaningless and disrespectful childish games of win/lose to structure their every affair with as civilized, sane, wise, and honorable. Obviously we are too mentally compromised by the Self Inflicted Retardation of the win/lose paradigm too ever work together in respect, dignity, and diplomacy, for the greater good, the highest potential, the Holy and Divine Win/Win, ... It does not bode well for the poor perverted people of the win/lose. Good luck.

Thumbs up on the homemade applesauce. The first time I made it I was blown away.

I can’t have chickens but I buy local fresh and freeze dry some too

Great advice!

pre 2020, id say focus on things that you cant get in a store or are expensive to buy, (like the raspberries) but post 2020, id say at least half the effort should be on things you may not be able to get, or get cheaply, but that you want security of supply on, (like the eggs and or squash) sort of like how the govt has "strategic reserves" of things. Pre 2020, I'd have said growing potatoes was not a good ROI of ur time and land space vs high $$ items to buy, but now, with supply chains, etc. ppl have to focus on the basics, even if still available for cheap at the store. Main focus for 2023 should be protein, as prices will rise as culled animals from the drought are worked out of the system and feed/fertilizer prices go up.

Great things to think about. Some things are definitely cheaper to hand sew or to sew on your own but like jeans so much better to buy them 11:11

What a great video!! 😊

We grow our own green beans, but buy corn from a farmer and freeze it.

A high tunnel sounds like what you need for sweet spuds and other things that might be outside of your zone. We're growing melons & nectarines in large areas of Alaska these days.

I don't think there is anyone in America who is truly self-sufficient today. Do they make their own shoes and clothes? Do they grown the cotton, process it, make the thread and weave it into cloth then cut and sew it into clothes? We can try to be as self-reliant as possible but that's all.

My family agrees about the applesauce. I haven't bought it in several years. Even in an apartment look into the small hydroponics inbloom aerogarden idoo to name a few. Soapmaking is therapy for me.

😊

I do store things I don’t use. It’s my barter some, the rest is for other family members, they will be coming. I use homemade laundry detergent in my high capacity . Have for 6 years now, if my washer is going to break i want to know now, I will be getting a basic washer to replace it. We use nut milks so I planted the trees. I have veggans vegetarians and lactose intolerant.

I live in the city and the ordinances won't allow gardens, so that's shot, but I do make my own laundry soap. I do this because as I have grown older, I have begun to develop reactions to common items I just to use. For example, laundry soap, if I use a wash cloth that was washed in a commercial soap wherever I used the cloth, I develop a rash, the home made one I have no reaction. The same is true with oven cleaners and fabric softener.

@kirchfam

Жыл бұрын

How can a city not allow gardens? That's unbelievable.

@amishatheart47

Жыл бұрын

@@kirchfam Rockford has ordinances that forbid the growing of vegetables "in the ground" within the city limits, I've invested in raised bed gardens for next year because then I'm not planting "in the Ground" but above ground (a bit of a technicality but well worth exploiting). The city has just now passed an ordinance allowing a property owner to have up to 4 hens on their property- no roosters allowed. The only way this city will change anything is for the elected officials to start feeling the pinch in the wallet and begin to want/need to change.

I add soda crystals to my wash I have hard Water it softens the water for cleaner clothes

How long do your soaps and salves last for storage?

I would love to say that I'm totally self-sufficient, but I do a mix of self-sufficient and self-reliant because I have no interest in living without little things such as coffee, chocolate, cinnamon, canning lids, etc. I can not grow certain things. I can not produce certain things. Could I survive without buying those things? Sure ~ but life would not be as satisfying or good from a moral perspective. I would if I had to, but while I don't have to I will absolutely straddle the fence. I do stock up on Tattler lids and other things I can't produce but most of those items do have a shelf life, are used and rotated regularly, and if it ever became necessary I would press on without them. Barring any natural or man-made disaster that wiped out everything we have, we could live self-sufficiently for years (but I can say for certain that when the coffee ran out, when I couldn't make sticky buns/not at all like cinnamon rolls, and if the last piece of chocolate was just a memory that I would be a very sad and cranky self-sufficient person).

Great points. Thank you for your video. Having the knowledge of those forgotten skills is important and becoming even more important. I didn't know about black raspberries, I would like to add them to my garden. Could you share with me where you got them? Happy trails!

@fransitton2633

Жыл бұрын

Phil W . I have grown black raspberries for years. I bought my first plants from Tractor Supply and we wanted to expand the number of plants so ordered from Stark Brothers. You cannot plant them close to other raspberries because of the risk of fungus problems.

@philw7174

Жыл бұрын

@@fransitton2633 Thank you, I will check both those businesses for them. Looking forward to Springtime!

Boy, I would love a bar of your soap or a jar of your salve. Especially if one has pain relievers or skin softeners. Do you think you'll ever sell them?

I was with you until you said if you live in an apartment. I grew a garden while living in a van. You can grow food anywhere and in any space as long as you try.

It does if you want peace of mind

Don't laugh refill bottled water from my excellent water filter on my counter. When I have the individual bottled water right at hand I drink more water in a day.

I think it all boils down to your research, soul searching and being realistic before you even start prepping. Yea, it may be best, from a preparedness perspective, to have a homestead, be disconnected from the grid and be completely self sufficient. I think it is better to live your preferred life and do whatever you can to prepare for an emergency within those confines rather than upending your preferred life and potentially be unhappy just to prepare for an event that may never come to pass. I am a programmer, being in the city is almost a necessity for me. Would I feel better having a homestead, wood fireplace, garden, animals, sure, but it would come at too great a cost to my preferred life. So I prep, but am not self sufficient and I am fine with that.

My impression is the main reason for canning is to store meat lo g term. No better roi I can see.

Hi

I enjoy eating microgreens and can grow them myself for less than I can buy them. I also spin, knit and crochet, so I can make wool, alpaca, or other fine fiber items like hats and socks, for much less and of a better quality than anything that I could buy commercially. I have had absolutely no success gardening where I currently reside, so I am better off purchasing my produce at a farmers market. I am going to see how much money I can save by utilizing solar generator/power banks vs always relying on being plugged into the grid. There are a plethora of household appliances that utilize 12V outlets on a power bank.

@dessebasey2750

Жыл бұрын

I need to try making my own micro.greens.

Almost no one can be totally self-sufficient. Even before Europeans came to this country, Native American peoples traded with each other for things they needed and couldn't produce themselves or weren't to be found in their territories. As for me I am about as far from self-sufficient as can be.

I do both ways back ups for back ups..lol

I am making my laundry soap because l don't like the price of the one l usually buy.

@johnettehaines6291

Жыл бұрын

@@TheProvidentPrepper It has several pages. So to much info to type out. Could send you copy but to to know where too.

I leave in AZ and we have hard water. So are you saying not to use my homemade laundry soap? I just have a normal washing machine.

@tracyl5070

Жыл бұрын

I made my own with the ingredients sitting next to Kylene and don't ever see many suds at all in my HE machine. It's a top load.

@rangerannie5636

Жыл бұрын

Can you add baking soda to soften the wash water?

@johnettehaines6291

Жыл бұрын

How much baking soda?

@rangerannie5636

Жыл бұрын

@@johnettehaines6291 This is only a guess, but I would start by adding at least 1/2 cup of baking soda to a full washer load and see how that works...

@johnettehaines6291

Жыл бұрын

@@rangerannie5636 l still have some of my normal laundry soap left. So will try the baking soda next time l do laundry. Right l am making up laundry soap to have on hand while l can still find the ingredients. I am using the same ingredients she had next to her. But not the Zote soap the recipe l have calls for Fel-Naptha. I have a bar of the Zote, but have not used it since it weights more than the Fel-Naptha.

Unless youre making your own everything from clothes to medicine to tools ,objects etc.. then thats self sufficient.

At the price of eggs your better off having your own chickens

@Utah_Mike

Жыл бұрын

I gave up chickens when layer mash & corn scratch went up to $10 per 50#