[TT]

Last week we had a big wind. It was very localised. Just our little rural town copped it. It totally crushed our tunnel houses (hot houses). The seedlings that were growing so well didn't survive.

Late last week, after heaps of fencing and preparation we took possession of our two poddy calves. Almost immediately both of them got sick. Apparently they didn't get their colostrom after birth and have little resistance to disease. Last night one of them died and the vet thinks the remaining one has little chance of survival. He's on heaps of antibiotics and liquid replacement, but he's just not picking up.

Today unexpected rains came down. It rained and rained. The soil was too dry to absorb it and the little vegetable seedlings that I've been nursing for 4 weeks were washed away along with loads of soil. I can return the soil to the garden but I've lost the seedlings.

I'm feeling pretty depressed at the moment and really, really sad for our poor little poddies.

At least the chickens are doing well, even if they were all drenched today. Seems they do not have enough sense to get out of the rain.

[rogerhb]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TT', 'A')t least the chickens are doing well, even if they were all drenched today. Seems they do not have enough sense to get out of the rain.

[Zardoz]

Many envision a post-Peak future with themselves out in a rural area, living as a small farmer, growing what they need to be self-sufficient. Most have no idea of how difficult it is.

[TT]

Yep. It's very hard to be self sufficient. From my reading on this forum very few have the foggiest notion. Sitting around a camp fire, playing on a laptop and singing songs is a lovely dream, but so far removed from reality.

When the time comes that people have to be self reliant, people will learn that reality means hard work and bitter disappointment. And if that's the worst they learn they can consider themselves very lucky.

There's too much rain, or too little. An unexpected frost can kill an entire potato crop. Unexpected heavy rain can destroy a developing garden bed. Too little rain and the gardens fail unless we can store enough water.

Chickens will go off the lay - sometimes for unknown reasons. Occassionaly a fox will break into the hen house and kill the entire flock. All you have left is acres of feathers and bloody corpses. That would be a major food source gone in one night.

Roaming dogs can attack and maul sheep. It's happened here too often to even remember. Now we shoot any dog we can get in our sights.

Sometimes pasture doesn't grow enough to feed the cows. That means butchering earlier or buying in hay. Perhaps in the future it won't be possible to buy hay.

Around here we cook on a wood fired stove. That means cutting and splitting wood, starting the fire and then waiting for enough heat to start cooking. Too much heat and anything in the oven burns to a crisp. In summer it means that the kitchen is sweltering, but that's when the bulk of the canning needs to be done.

Heating is by wood heater only, as is our hot water. Cooling means throwing open a window and hoping for a breeze.

Washing is hung outdoors or indoors in front of the fire.

We have no town water. At the moment we are reliant on water tanks. We have a bore hole and are awaiting a Southern Cross windmill for a bore pump. Because we rely on stored water every cup is carefully rationed. No long showers or deep baths here. When our windmill arrives we should have water to spare.

We're rebuilding the hot houses. They're going to extend our growing season by months. This time we're stengthening the frames to withstand a hurricane if necessary.

Fortunately we didn't lose our potato crop, as it was mature enough to withstand the heavy rains. As a safety measure I always grow double the amount of seedlings. I plant half out in the garden and keep the others in a small green house. This way I can quickly replant the garden in case of disaster (like now).

Self sufficiency takes years of experience, a good selection of heirloom seeds, adequate land to farm, an ample supply of water, good access to fire wood, good breeding stock, and heaps and heaps of luck.

[NEOPO]

I understand and I feel for you man.

In a short time I will also be doing the same as you.
I suggest some raised garden beds of stone or wood.

The benefits are many and this would help alot with erosion.

I also suggest sinking your hothouses/greenhouses 2-3 feet into the ground with alot of pre installed runoff and water cetch capability and perhaps a raised bed around the parameter of the greenhouse.

Also in the greenhouse the use of containers filled with water dyed blue or red in order to hold heat but not so dark as to suck needed light away from plants which is why black dye is to be avoided.

This will help with temperature moderation and the buried part will help in resisting strong storms although nothing is impervious.

I also suggest a summer kitchen.Outside under an awning or something -anything to keep the heat out of the house in summer.

A water tank in the attic could supply you with water pressure and a smaller tank could be attached to a solar collector and give you hot water at least during summer months.

Not sure if you had thought about it or perhaps you did not build the house you currently reside in but we will build into the earth with stone and basically maintain a moderate temperature year round.

The bedrooms are built 3' higher then the "heating rooms" so that convection will gently carry the heat into the higher part of the house.
Doesnt work to well in summer but by nightfall its fairly tolerable.

If I had a normal raised home on my hands I would brick the lower floor as much as possible and cover as high as possible with dirt.

Some of what you are saying will apply to all of us as no one can think and plan for everything but I tell ya - after spending years planning, reading and discussing this with farmers (amish and other) I really believe that minus horrible climate changes that we will be able to make it.

and if not - see ya in the next world and dont be late - dont be late!!!

[TT]

I absolutely agree. We will make it. It won't necessarily be easy and there will be many setbacks along the way. But each setback teaches us valuable lessons and better prepares us to survive when shops will no longer be able to provide affordable foods.

We did not build this house. We bought it because it was as close as we could find to a peak oil house in our price bracket. It is made of double mud brick and rock. It was built to maximise both heating and cooling. The house never gets really cold or hot. This is also a mild climate area.

We are planning a summer kitchen. Hopefully we will be able to get it done in the next year or so. In the meantime I have a small gas cooker (camping type) that I intend to use.

We already have a pressure tank, both outside for cold water and under the roofline for hot water. The outside pressure tank is currently filled by an electric pump, but as soon as the windmill is installed it will pump directly into the pressure tank with the overflow going into our storage tanks. The hot water tank is filled by gravity pressure from the outside pressure tank. Our whole house runs on gravity pressure from the tank.

We have got a quote for a solar collector for the hot water. It's pretty expensive but we're trying to fit it into the budget.

As this is our first year on this property we are still discovering where water lays in winter and the best place for our gardens. Although we are both pretty experienced in vege gardening we have found that each property has its own special needs.

I agree that we can not think of everything, but that's where forums like this one are so valuable. Even though we are on opposite sides of the world we are all facing the same problems and future.

Although our discussions cannot change the future for the world we can at least help each other build small lifeboats.