In response to a recent post on inflation longtime friend of the website Scout commented and asked a few questions. Scout’s comment is below and I’ll follow it up with a few answers/thoughts.
From Scout:
It’s always just been my wife and I for 39 years. we don’t buy any more than we did 5 years ago and the grocery bill has doubled from 75 a week to 150. We have always planted large gardens but fertilizer has gone from 20 dollars a hundred lbs to 50 in 4 years. It’s cheaper to buy from the local farmers and local fruit stands now than it is to grow it ourselves. Bare in mind that when we plant we plant in acres. G90 sweet corn seed was 40 bucks a lb this year. That’s about 200 dollars an acre in seed and a hundred dollars in fertilizer.
John, how much money have you invested in your small garden? Will it feed you for a year or more? No, deer and squirrel’s won’t feed you for long. Chickens long-term won’t sustain you forever, we have kept and swapped them forever. 6 years if you’re lucky with a hobby farm. I have a real good Incubator but it takes a constant supply of 110-volt power for 28 days to get chicks. There has to be a cheaper way and organic/compost won’t cover 5 acres. We have always practiced crop rotation and soil management but without a fertilizer, you won’t make much even if the seeds you store come up.
I always try and think long, long term as in it’s never coming back. I feel that if I’m ready for that I’ll be ahead of most. I’m retired, bored, and it’s something to do.
I appreciate Scout sharing examples of how inflation has impacted him. No doubt most everyone can provide examples with most showing things are more severe than what both the news and the government suggest.
Now – Scout asked me a couple questions. I figured this would be a good place to answer:
- John, how much money have you invested in your small garden? Good question and I’m really not sure. I’d guess somewhere south of $1,200 to get started. This would include soil that I had brought in, some other amendments, purchased raised beds, and a few other items. We plan to add another garden space in the backyard in the Spring.
- Will it feed you for a year or more? Not even close. As mentioned, next Spring we will double our gardening space and hopefully double our food production. Will we be able to feed us for a year or more? Still, the answer is no. It will supplement food storage and purchased food.
As far as the other items mentioned such as hunting deer and squirrels for sustainment I agree. While the deer population is good and there are lots of other game if everyone was hunting them they would become scarce fast. We are going to be adding chickens to the property soon and they will be key to year-round food production. The goal is to have enough chickens to provide eggs daily as well as additional chickens for meat and reproduction. Right now we have a chicken run and the coop. We have a lot of ongoing projects and getting chickens will hopefully happen very soon, otherwise it will be in the Spring.
Everyone has a different perspective on what they see as far as a SHTF event. Some see a complete, grid-down collapse with 90% die-off and cannibalistic gangs going from town to town feeding on defenseless victims. I’ve been in the group of preparing for something like what occurs in the book series, 299 Days. The impact and severity of the events in 299 Days depended on geographical conditions as well as population density.
We continue to take steps to be as self-reliant as possible with each completed project and task. That’s the best we can do.
Take care all –
Rourke