Red and I are fortunate and paid our house off 5 years ago. We live on an 1 1/2 acres and have plenty of room to garden. I work with a guy who sells meat and pork and have our freezer stocked for sometime.

We have bills but if worse came to worse I could make enough money to keep the utilities on and the other bills would have to wait. We have 2 cars paid off and have kept them maintained so knock on wood for that.

We are both about pitching in whenever we can. We have good neighbors and I am confident that we would all help each other if it got really bad. Of course we would open our home to any of our community, family and friends if that was needed.

I have often wondered what we could do on here to help those who are in need of things. Any ideas?

http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.co...gardening.html

This article is about no till gardening. At the bottom of the page is links to raised gardens, strawbale gardening, square foot gardening, and lasagna gardening.

Since you have so much land why not organize a large shared garden project. My garden was not as large this year as it has been in the past, however any extra food, which there always is, I drop off at the food bank on my way to get Mia. Maybe there are a few people here in your area or other like minds that live close enough to share labor and resources. You can plan projects together, preserve together and come up with a good local plan to help some families in need.

Most food can be dried and preserved somehow. Just make sure you store properly and rotate and or mark dates.

Or just ask me. lol
I've done almost all of them. To date my fav is still raised beds because you can double them as cold frames. Strawbales very good IF you don't get a lot of seed that sprouts once you start watering. You also need to think about watering a lot or set up irrigation. Square foot gardening is good for small gardens, however a sustainable plan would mean growing more and preserving some.

Here is a thread on Growing and Preserving. Lots of good info.

http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/foru...ead.php?t=1056


So lets start pulling it together.

You've got your tiny house and maybe even a tiny yard. You have part solar and part electric. What things do you think you'd need to run off solar? Let's say shit hit the fan, you had no money at all, therefore no electric. You want to reserve your solar panels and batteries for essentials. What are they?

You can catch water with a reservoir and depending on the time of year or tank it can have its own solar effect to heat. You can heat and cook with wood.

How about building a small glass green house attached to your tiny house? If you use poly you'll have to replace it in 4 years. Glass is forever. It can also help heat your house if done properly

We had a straw bale garden this year but a drought hit us and we were not allowed any outside watering. The only thing that survived was the rosemary and the basil. I am hoping some friends will want to participate this next year.

yes you definitely don't want strawbale if water is an issue. In drought areas or where you have problems getting water you need to consider beds and adding soil mixes that retain moisture. It's not really organic but you can buy bulk bags of of a polymar like Terrasorb (not sure how to spell it). I use a ProMix that has peat and perlite, no dirt. But I also add lost of compost and then use straw, hay or dried leaves for mulch. Water is not a problem here.

But even still I had to water the bales everyday, sometimes twice depending how hot or dry. If I did it again it would be a drip irrigation with a fertilizer injector with compost tea.... constantly dripping and feeding the roots.

This is such a valuable list I reposted it in case people don't start reading the thread at the beginning (I seldom do!)

I am doing eldercare for my Mom these days, and for the rest of her life I suppose. Can someone recommend a good book on herbal medicine and natural healing? I think I should start growing my pharmacy now. I am trying to build a reference library. Where we have land there isn't good internet access. I already am not dependent on "calling the google" to find answers.

Thanks!

Dr. Duke's The Green Pharmacy is the usually the first thing I turn to. I can post or PM some more if you need it.

http://www.greenpharmacy.com/

http://www.christopherpublications.c...mes%20Duke.jpg

I have a lot of experience with herbs and essential oils, however in the last few years i've learned so much about radical intensive healing. check out a book on Amazon and research Gerson Therapy. Try it, seriously. I take my mom fresh foods because she can't afford to buy food on her monthly piddlings SS gives her. She worked all her life, they used her money and now she gets shit. Anyhow, we are seeing amazing things. Its not always easy but it works.

As for herbs- anything plant based is good and the fresher the better. Micro nutrients provide intensive healing. You could never get this with dried herbs. You can juice and use lots of fresh herbs such as cilantro, parsley, basil, etc. These should be a regular part of your diet.

Have you thought about growing some of this indoors under simple plant lighting? Doesnt have to be expensive. You and your mom would great benefit from the effort.

Thank you both for the recommendations!
I have to admit I'm more interested in building irrigation and grey water systems and greenhouses than in growing things, but I'm going to apply myself to this healing stuff.

Sachita, don't even draw me on about how seniors have gotten robbed of their qualitIty of life!! My mom started shucking oysters when she was 5 years old to help her family, then produced a flock of children who work hard, vote and volunteer. And for all that she's contributed over 70+ years, our lovely system sends her about $600 a month. Good thing she is used to living simply.

She's a good gardener and is great at preserving what she's grown. I hope Mom can get well again, she's a wonderful person. She still makes her own clothes. I used to be embarrassed about that. :(

don't you build a greenhouse to grow things? even if you buy dried herbs, sometimes I do, it's missing elements IMO that help heal. So I think if you're doing greenhouses, irrigation etc, pop a few seeds in there.

http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/...ry/photo-4.jpg
My grocery store

http://i1143.photobucket.com/albums/...ry/photo-7.jpg

My gym.

I have to smile when my urban friends think that living in a rural area means living with "less"! If/when the current economy continues to fail, this life might look pretty good after all.

posted this in tiny homes


this is affordable and they have a lease buy program


http://parkcabins.com/

offers financing on their homes. What I like about them is they are super easy to convert into solar.

this is also kind of cool although not as pretty

http://www.earthbagbuilding.com/


also good info


Natural Building:
How to Build an Affordable Eco-Friendly Home

Ok let's ramp things up here and put some action to these words...

Do you think we need a new thread for this or prefer to keep it here?

After discussing community and people coming together to live and work together in order to save money and survive a failing economy, how about posting what your needs might be?

If you have space in your home, land, etc and would like to offer it to another BF person post it along with the ideal person. post what you have to offer and the type of person that will fit well with you. Others may post ideas and tips but please for continuity when re posting a Want Ad always add WANT AD at the top of the post and increase the font size so that people scrolling looking for arrangements can quickly find ads.

If you are seeking to live with with someone else, find an arrangement the same thing.

Please feel free to share, discuss and ask others to join in on the discussion. I'll be posting my own ad soon.

WANTED
 

WANTED

This is a situation that offers free room, electric and internet. It also pays a stipend.

I am seeking a roommate/helper. this person will have their own room, access to fresh eggs, whatever we grow together. I am private and enjoy being a lone. You are the same and although its nice to have company from time to time you're comfortable with your own space.

I am seeking someone with vision. Someone who really loves animals and rural living. You are also committed in helping me grow and expand to offer "The Farm" to others of like mind to build a small community. You are not afraid of hard work.

* You must be able to work 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.
* You must be healthy, able to lift 80 pounds, bend and do physical work
* You do not drink or smoke excessively.
* You are detailed oriented and have no problem cleaning, consider yourself a neat person and a self starter.
* You can dig, do some gardening and have at least some experience with this.
* You are not afraid of dogs.
* You are ok with a background check
* You prefer living rural and enjoy being outdoors.

The work is a little of everything. Basically giving me more time to work on other projects to earn more income to expand and build. You literally become my right hand and assist me in achieving this goal-

"To build a sustainable small community for conscious people. The community has projects to earn income and educate others."

The work can involve-

*Keep house and all animal areas clean.
* Feed and walk dogs
* gardening
* errands
* some cooking (I cook most of the time)
* Washing dogs
* Keeping barns, sheds, etc clean and organized.

For the "right" person that goes on and beyond I would be thrilled to give this person space at the farm to build a small cabin or house. The "right person is motivated, articulate and able to see a long term vision and not just get by. If you want to simply just do your job and get by you shouldn't apply.

The right person would even start to see bonuses (after a year) as a result of the fruition of projects I am able to complete because of their help.

Please inbox me with as many details as possible. Please also include a contact phone number.

Thanks!

Yes, this thread and any like it need to be recharged. The wake up calls are going to get louder because the denial is deep.

The IEA came out this week and essential said we have five years to reverse course before were extreme weather events become the norm (we're now averaging 10 a year, vs. 3.5 less than 20 years ago). We are closing in on 2 C (3.6 Fahrenheit), making the avoidance of disastrous scenarios must more difficult if not impossible.

So I am interested in how people are preparing to transition, and I will looking to form a community with a group of like-minded people.

I read that and hopefully the global governments are banning together and instead of fighting each other coming up with a plan to save the planet.

I think now more then ever people need to create mini tribes and start thinking about the future being different. I sat on the fence a while but decided I need to try and just do it. I need a good person to help me. I can earn more income if i wasn't running around all over the place doing a million things. Income that can go towards expanding and setting the foundation to create a community/tribe. I have so many things in place. It would not take much to make it happen.