Prepping 1873

[David-Audrey]

A few weeks back during a Wed. night Ham session, we were asked to name our favorite book and movie related to prepping.  I mentioned a TV series on PBS.  I believe that there are many that will enjoy watching it so I'm bringing it to everyone's attention. 

In this series titled, "Frontier House," 3 families step away from their modern lives and are placed in Montana in early spring.  They are allowed only what they would have had available at the appropriate time in the late 1800's.  They have several months to build/grow/gather everything they would need to live through that first Montana winter. 

There is a lot to learn from this entertaining series about prepping and becoming self-sufficient.  There is a lot to learn about creating a community.  There is a lot to learn in so many areas.  If you have time, I think you might enjoy watching it so here is the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-prRxB1ggg   -   From this location, you will be able to access the other episodes in the series.

In addition the above series, below is the link to a similar series that I found on National Geographic.  The concept was similar with one huge exception.  These "pioneers" FAILED!  Yet here too, there are many lessons that apply today.  One of my favorite is an obvious one.  In the scene I'm thinking about, three women are hunting and come up on a rabbit.  The lady with the .308 shoots the rabbit; not the one with a .22 rifle.  There wasn't much left...Guess they didn't know if you shoot a rabbit with a cannon, you don't get to eat a lot of the rabbit.

Strongly recommend the first one, but this one is entertaining as well.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/the-pioneers/videos/living-off-the-land/

Enjoy!

[TWP]

We'll be watching these ourselves, thanks for the links.

[David-Audrey]

Living off the land in Reno - 2015

After posting the above links, I was struck by just how self-sufficient one can be, even today, when I read an article about a family of four in Reno that lives on $7,000 per year (and as the article says, “That’s not a misprint – no lost zeros.”)

The couple and their two young sons live happy, healthy, joyful lives 3 miles from downtown Reno on about ½ acre.  “They have no electricity, or car.  They use candles, a woodstove, a root cellar and passive solar ovens, heaters and dehydrators.”  They walk, bike or use public transportation.

Their diet is largely based on fruits and veggies they grow, as well as, eggs, chickens, honey and rabbits.  They “further rely on a gift economy, a system in which they give freely of what they have and believe that abundance will be returned to them by the generous spirits of others.”

While radically simple, the fact that someone is doing this today, here in Reno, reassures me that should a man-made or natural disaster ever occur and we need to live only on our preps, it certainly can be done.