Today I made / bought / learnt (for a post oil world) 4

[Ludi]

Raccoons are the worst. They can get into almost any coop, and will randomly kill and injure many more birds than they can eat. They even work in teams.

[patience]

argyle,

I don't know anything about Kiwi's. I guess I should learn! Grapes do well here, it is just getting them started from cuttings that requires lots of care. We have 8 cuttings started from a very old local vine I'm trying to preserve. Excellent big grapes, but long season. Very hardy, too. Seem to be resistant to about everything for the past 120 years on a couple of farms here. Our problem is we live on a North facing hillside lot, so the grapes have to go near the top of the hill to get enough sun.

A couple weeks ago we had our older pickup truck repaired with many new parts, so it is in fine shape now. Today I sent our younger old truck to the mechanic, and it looks like about $1K worth of parts to get it in good shape. He's on it now, and should have it finished in 2-3 days. I dont want to see the US dollar go down badly and parts go up to where I can't afford them. Our general plan is to get to a point where we can go for a year or more with bare minimum expenses, and have long term reductions in our food and energy costs. So, money spent now on long term items makes sense for us.

I planted Walking onions yesterday (Egyptian, or Multiplying onions) and have some left for DD.

[DomusAlbion]

It's fall and we are canning, canning, canning ... And freezing. This is the first year our 4 year old orchard has produced prodigious amounts of fruit and the garden yielded a bumper crop of tomatoes & peppers; spaghetti sauce, pear chutney, spicy pear sauce, straight preserved pears, plum sauce, plum jam. Next week we will can the apples and in about two weeks the quince.

[Ludi]

Congratulations DomusAlbion!

[DomusAlbion]

Yes, I'm very happy. Five years ago when we bought this place the orchard area was overrun with Hemlock and other noxious weeds. Now there is a fenced (against deer) area with 40+ trees and a garden with raised beds with grass and clover growing in between. Most of the trees from ther original planting have survived, are mature and bearing fruit. This is a major goal on our way to a more self-sustaining lifestyle.

Next Dexter cattle!

[Ludi]

A friend had Dexters and she liked them a lot but they were too much for a single, middle-aged disabled lady to manage so she had to sell them.

Today I worked on more hugel beds in the kitchen garden, and cleaning out the feed shed. It's wonderful to be able to work now it's cool out.

Also worked a bit for $, which is going very well lately.

[argyle]

A friend had Dexters and she liked them a lot but they were too much for a single, middle-aged disabled lady to manage so she had to sell them.

Today I worked on more hugel beds in the kitchen garden, and cleaning out the feed shed. It's wonderful to be able to work now it's cool out.

Also worked a bit for $, which is going very well lately.

As much as I like the idea of dexters and other "special" or miniature cattle, the problem I have with special/rare breeds is that.. if SHTF, it will be a lot harder to get to new blood (like bull) for breeding..

[Ludi]

As much as I like the idea of dexters and other "special" or miniature cattle, the problem I have with special/rare breeds is that.. if SHTF, it will be a lot harder to get to new blood (like bull) for breeding..

Only if you're intent on maintaining pure breeds. After TSHTF you can breed your special cattle to any other similar-sized cattle. For instance breeding Dexters with Jerseys. Dexters are becoming so popular around here it's probably possible to find another breeder within 20 miles. Of course this doesn't mean those breeders will keep their stock after TSHTF but that's a problem you would face with any kind of livestock in some regions.

[Ludi]

Filled in another hugel bed and planted fava beans and winter greens.

[Ludi]

Filled in another small hugel bed and planted fava beans, winter greens, turnips, and some herbs and flowers.

[patience]

Wife and I did a little shopping for prep items today, being rather nervous about what the current "gold rush" means in terms of a failing US dollar. We bought spare parts for the hand pump, some LTS groceries, filled gas cans, and got fruit tree spray and a spare gasket for the pressure canner. Every dollar spent now on preps is a dollar that is protected from devaluation.

Next for me is to fill welding gas tanks and shop for other odds and ends, while my wife starts canning sweet potatoes I dug yesterday. We are trying our best to have the pantry as full as possible. The international currency wars going on now have us worried. I plan to order steel for the welding shop this week, to assure we could turn the shop business back on in a heartbeat, if needed. We will leave it closed as long as possible to gain time for finishing our own work. There is much to do here to finish our plans.

[rangerone314]

I learned that it is possible to kill a chicken-murdering fox that is running by throwing an aluminum baseball at it from 50 feet away.

[careinke]

I learned that it is possible to kill a chicken-murdering fox that is running by throwing an aluminum baseball at it from 50 feet away.

AWESOME and congrats!!!

[Revi]

Nice shot Rangerone. We have been shooting red squirrels all summer. They are bound and determined to get in the house.

I am thinking of stocking up again on food. We still have some from the 08 scare, but I'm going to rotate all that and get new stuff. I think it's a good idea to buy non perishable stuff now as our dollars may not buy as much soon.

Everything is going up by at least 15% when this inflation ripples through the economy.

[Revi]

double post

[Hawkcreek]

Bought a new car - VW jetta diesel that gets 50 miles to a gallon.
Actually I figure that veggie oil will be around even in a post oil world, so this may be usable even then. And till then I can go visit my kids and grandkids pretty cheaply.

[Ludi]

Beware - when we had a Jetta it was a theft magnet!

Other than that, my husband says it was the best car he ever had.

[Hawkcreek]

Beware - when we had a Jetta it was a theft magnet!

Other than that, my husband says it was the best car he ever had.

Good to know - my next purchase may be an alarm system and more ammo.

[Ludi]

Finished my 20 foot run of hugel bed and planted some more fall vegetables in the spaces not reserved for asparagus. It's been going a lot faster lately because I am re-digging some areas that already had the top layer of rocks removed.

I haven't decided where to put the paths in the new garden layout, so I'm just putting in stepping stones for now.

Recently planted areas:

[Ludi]

Harvesting salad from my first Fall planting.