Lets see some discussion on this topic.
0% I have to have a grocery store
1-25% I'm making an effort, but not nearly enough food to live on.
26-50% I'm growing a decent amount but less than half of what I need
51-75% I'm doing well, but still not enough to live on totally.
76-100% I can live on what I grow, maybe even enough to barter
Lets see some discussion on this topic.
Last edited by bacpacker; 10-03-2011 at 11:00 AM. Reason: Repair thread
As Newbie Gardeners, I'd say we are less than 25%...maybe 10% right now. Soil conditions are a big factor for us and we are working on it. Bugs, well, lets just say bugs either eat more of our harvest than we do or kill off our plants before anything can fruit. Gardening in Florida is a super huge, major challenge. We don't have enough frost/freeze days to kill of the critters so it's a CONSTANT battle. Not only have there been days when I wished I owned a Flame Thrower, I've actually dreamed about it. And I liked it.
I went with 25-50%. I grow a large garden every year, but looking at what it would take to live on for 2 folks for a year, I grow very little fruit right now, although I have planted several fruit trees and bushes. I do have an established vinyard but not a large one. I am also just getting started raising chickens and have started to get eggs, but I don't have a large enough flock to produce meat yet. I have no other animals for meat. There are some deer and turkey around, but I don't think they would last long.
Things are improving since last year, but still have a long way to go. I have located a share of a beef that will be coming later this year.
Last edited by bacpacker; 10-03-2011 at 11:05 AM.
Not sure how to translate this into a percentage.
Mrs Stig grows some basil in a pot out back.
So, say .00000001% ?
What do I win?
If you think that come SHTF you are gonna jock up in all your kit and be a death-dealing one man army, you're an idiot - izzyscout
I voted 0% because I wasn't sure rosemary, basil, and thai basil count as food. (i live in an apartment)
Well I have grown apples, cukes, lettuce, yellow squash, black zuccini, broccoli, green and yellow beans, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, attempted red onions, have asparagus in now, attempted cauliflower, carrots, radishes, greek oregano, dill, sorrano peppers, sweet banana peppers, thai peppers, huckleberry, rosemary, lavender, lemon balm, aloe (for medicinal uses), pears (from the neighbors trees - they beg me to take them), eggs from my sister's chickens, this year I'm going to have my sister buy some extra chicks and have her add them to hers and I'll pay for them and pay for food since she's already raising them so I will have chicken meat. A neighbor has cows so we may talk to him about buying half a cow when he slaughters this year. We don't want to add animals on this property so it's easier for us to use the resources we have available to us and it's a win win for each party. I'm getting ready to plant German garlic so we'll see how that goes next year. I have tons of heirloom seeds put back for when the time comes and I have to grow our food.
I tend to grow tomatoes, cukes and squash with a venture into collards and turnips now. My work schedule limits how much I can put in and attend to properly. I do go wild edibles gathering. But most of what I supply myself comes from fishing. After my last tuna trip I'm pretty set for the next 6 months. But I'm putting in my winter garden right now, so more on that later. Also,I'm fighting the @#$%^%$#@@$ gophers for my garden. I don't want to use poison as Mad Max, my blue heeler, like to excavate and catch them.
I have my herbs in pots that I can bring inside when the weather is bad. I also have chives and such outside that can winter over. My mandarin orange tree doesn't give but about 50-60 oranges a year. But I had a bumper crop of strawberries this year. I use them as ground cover in front of the porch.
We also have this year used some open space we have at the plant to grow veggies and such. Sort of a community project, but here we have to fight the ground squirrels. We divvy up the produce between the guys who worked on the garden.
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me Liberty or give me death." Patrick Henry, Virginia House of Burgesses, March 23, 1775
Quo Vadis?
Luke 22:36, And he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
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Herbs count as food. At a minimum they make most anything else taste better. They also have many uses as herbal medicinals.
Glad to see the volume and variety being grown.
I keep borrowing apples from my neighbors tree when he is at work, how much does that count?
Be ready now, you won't have that chance later.
I run a small 8 family (in addition to our own) CSA and we raise chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, rabbits and goats. At this point I raise roughly 80% of our food, and certainly have some to barter I give alot away to the food bank. What I can't produce: coffee, grains, salt etc I buy in bulk. In the event shtf, I think we are well set to barter.
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