the beginning of the end.

[BeardyMan]

Okay...

So, we've survived through the interesting bits, and now it's spring time and there's no one about...

So, lots of wild food around, lots of wildlife, and hardly any competition for resources. No probs with food then, nor shelter.

I'd be out and about "reclaiming" things that I'd run out of, or stuff that I need. I'd be certain to bump into other survivors when out and about, no point in any hostilities, there's plenty to go around for everyone.

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There does seem to be a train of thought in the thread that EVERYONE who lives in a city doesn't have a clue about the outside world/farming/food/growing things - what a crock of shit.

[bigpaul]

i was ACTUALLY hoping for some serious thoughts about homesteading and small scale farming, but all i seem to get is personal remarks as to how my personal plans wont work or "its not going to happen" this way or that way. who know how it will happen? but to say "it wont happen" is ludicrous, trouble is that is the attitude of the multitude, who all think that the human race is too big or too wonderful to fail....some hope, look around you and smell the roses peeps.

[NorthernRaider]

"Midnitemo
RE: the beginning of the end.
I love the idea of commune's and everybody helping each other , comunity spirit and all that but i've read Animal Farm and watched the unravelling of the Soviet union with all the corruption and human rights abuses that came to the fore when the iron curtain fell....man is an evil self serving creature , i've seen a pregnant woman punched and kicked to the ground for her MRE....be wary of mutual support when man is up against it. "
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Very wise words Mo, Socialism / commune(ism) is indeed great in theory but in reality rarely if ever successful as well can all tell from the USSR, North Korea, East Germany, Albania or the retards of the Labour parties left wing destructive policies. I think / feel that ORGANISED communes is a non start with strong willed free thinking preppers ( cept for TOF who appears to not like other peoples opinions). We inevitably see the evolution of a ruling elite or clique just as in Animal Farm.

I suggest a loose neighbourly mutual support system will probably be the most viable option of neighbours helping each other out in times of need. Still as history as proved time after time when faced with adversity some communities unite to help each other out ( like the folks on the Somerset levels) whilst others fragment and disintegrate ( like the Thames valley where they were stealing each others sand bags, looting homes, threatening EA workers etc)

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bigpaul

RE: the beginning of the end.
i was ACTUALLY hoping for some serious thoughts about homesteading and small scale farming, but all i seem to get is personal remarks as to how my personal plans wont work or "its not going to happen" this way or that way
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That's because unlike TOF you are not perfect and know what is best about everyone else.

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BeardyMan
RE: the beginning of the end.
Okay...

So, we've survived through the interesting bits, and now it's spring time and there's no one about...

So, lots of wild food around, lots of wildlife, and hardly any competition for resources. No probs with food then, nor shelter.

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First time I have agreed with you in years, but on the above details you are 100% right, My problems is I know what to salvage and collect but in many cases I dont to how to hand or use it. EG I can collect wheat grain easily enough but I have no idea on when or how to plant a crop for the following year, I can easily get a useful tool like a back hoe or bobcat but I dont know how to drive them.
Whilst my lists of gear to assemble and store are comprehensive my skills are still lacking in many areas and I'll probably end up resorting to hunter gathering within 2 or 3 years after TSHTF. So sharing skills with other survivors is going to be essential but it needs to be done without ending up as part of some bloody commune.

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TOF
RE: New Year's Resolutions?
For the first time in many years I have actually made a resolution...to not give a Rats behind what other people think, want, believe or say about me, my lifestyle, their lifestyle or how my lifestyle should be like their lifestyle.

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That resolution did not last very long did it?

[bigpaul]

i have never given a rats ass as to what people think about me, some people have said i have "forthright" views, maybe so, i originally came on forums(all those years ago) to find out information not to find a new best friend. some one once said "prepping is 99% common sense", others have a more philosophic point of view, we all do what is best for ourselves in our own personal situation, no one is better than anyone else, we just do it differently. some are prepping for unemployment/sickness/rising prices, some see an economic crash, others foretell a societal collapse, some see a minor collapse-6 months or so and then a re-emergence of TPTB, others may see a final end of civilisation as we know it. we all do it in our own way to suit what we see coming..whether that is immediately, in the near future or far off. no one person is 100% right and no one is 100% WRONG, as we say down here "you pays your money, and you makes your choice!"

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I just thought perhaps its best we don't all think alike, if we ALL thought like TOF no one would be prepping.

[NorthernRaider]

I DO give a rats ass what people think of me, they are absolutely welcome to disagree, dislike, like, or hate me, that's what makes us individuals and our individuality is what is our greatest strength because in general we can and do learn much from other peoples viewpoints and beliefs. People are absolutely welcome to agree or disagree with me or ignore me at their pleasure, it is how I generally deal with other people. I'll listen and consider other viewpoints and accept or ignore them as I deem fit.

What I do expect from other people is if they make FACTUAL comments about me that they are TRUE and ACCURATE, equally I may not like it but people are equally entitled to utterly disagree and even hate my point of view. but when they make a statement of fact I expect them to back it up with evidence, and if they can prove me wrong I will ( and do) willingly apologise.

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Mind you the IGNORE button works well for everyone as it prevents clashes tween incompatible characters

[bigpaul]

its a good job we are not all the same, life would be awfully boring!

[BeardyMan]

(21 February 2014, 12:28)bigpaul Wrote: its a good job we are not all the same, life would be awfully boring!

But you'd all be dashingly handsome like me...

[Midnitemo]

I dream of being "dashingly handsome"

[Tartar Horde]

NR brings up an important point when he talks about "wheat" and not understanding it's growing requirements, this is also very pertinent to other foods we take for granted. If we are looking at a total breakdown scenario then I believe we in the UK are looking at a serious famine, here's my reasons why.
In our society very few people grow our food, and that leaves a small knowledge base that will disappear. Very few people know how to keep and propagate their own food, either from seeds or cuttings, and allied to this is the knowledge when to plant certain crops. I see a country where our variety of crops and vegetables reduce in number due to the lack of knowledge in the general population, and only surviving with any variety and abundance in those people/families/communities that have the resources and knowledge to grow them.
An example where knowledge could save your life, and ties in nicely with NR's "wheat" comment.
A prepper family stumble across a sack of Wheat and plan to plant it next spring so they can have an Autumn harvest, not realising that modern varieties require "vernalisation" and so are planted in late Summer to overwinter and grow again in the Spring. The family thought that just like days of olde you plant wheat in the Spring and so their harvest failed, or was greatly reduced. I see the same problem with food like Potato's with the gradual diminishing of the varieties and number.

[BeardyMan]

But the information is widely available. Libraries hold books with such information, book stores etc.
A family of preppers should really have the information available if they don't know already