I agree to some extent – as you said, livestock owners are still extremely dependent on the supply chains. My animals still need feed and medicines that I can’t produce on my own. Poultry in particular require seed/grain based diets and unless people are somehow able to produce their own grains to support their flock, they are going to be dealing with starving chickens eventually. Similarly, many people keep livestock like horses as pets which is a totally different arrangement than keeping animals for food and culling them when needed. At the same time, I still view *some” animals as a valuable (albeit costly and time intensive) prep. I view our livestock more as a key supplement to our diet and survival-time extender in a crisis, than a fool proof insurance policy that can take on the end of the world. A homestead with a few months stockpile of feed is going to have eggs and meat on the table alot longer than the average American’s home where they produce nothing on site. We would run out of feed eventually, but it buys us a few more months than most. A few extra months of not scrounging for food is more time for you to figure out a better long term plan, if you can.

As a mom, I have been crying on and off since the news broke about Uvalde. It’s nauseating. Run/Hide/Fight makes a ton of sense from an individual perspective, but I’m wondering about whether or not it is giving us the results we need as a society. It is definitely the way to go for saving your own skin in the heat of the moment, but it does nothing to effectively save others given that there are always individuals who can’t run/hide/fight (like say, a classroom filled with 19 school children). A big reason our mass shootings are so deadly, it seems to me, is precisely because we all run to save ourselves rather than rounding on the attacker as a team immediately, the way some animal species handle threats. When we are all running to save ourselves, the attacker has minutes of unimpeded violence on those left behind. When they are left staring down the barrel of a gun alone, they can try to fight, but they will be fighting alone because we all ran away. If instead we all ran towards a threat to stop the attack as quickly as possible as a group, we would probably lose fewer lives overall and might even deter future shooters from attempting these things. In other words, perhaps a collectivist response would be far better overall, but it would come at the cost of the individual. I don’t have any answers and I won’t pretend to know what to do in an emergency like this (probably freeze up or become hysterical most likely). All I know is that as a mom to little kids who can’t run/hide/fight, it seems to me that the general “plan” everyone has for us is that we are just expected to be cannon fodder while everyone else saves themselves. 

I have my annual chick order in for May. The big hatcheries are taking great pains for biosecurity and I figure the day olds are probably relatively safe given that they are packaged and shipped so quickly and only really come into contact with their hatch mates. What freaks me out are the backyard keepers around here who are swapping free ranging birds left and right even as flocks are getting infected in the region. 

I don’t prep for nuclear war – too hard and too unlikely. I’m more of an “every day” type prepper. But it’s fun to put your thinking cap on and try to imagine what you might do in that scenario, so here it goes. I figure that nuclear winter would be far harder to survive than the bombs themselves if you live in a rural area and aren’t wiped out by the blasts/immediate aftermath. So what does a rural prepper do when you emerge 2 weeks after the bombs have stopped, the radiation has dropped, and you are staring down an oncoming nuclear winter? My understanding of “realistic” nuclear winter is that 1- you actually have a few weeks to months before it descends which buys you a bit of time to get better equipped, 2) sunlight is dramatically reduced, 3) temps drop, 4) precipitation drops. Since most of our food system relies on sun loving and water hungry crops, the result is mass crop failure, famine, and a rapid wipe-out of most of the people on the planet. But unless we are talking about nonstop subzero arctic temps and perpetual darkness, it’s actually likely that a decent number of plant species could survive at least for a while. With a whole lot of luck (ie: cold but not persistent sub0 temps, some sunlight just not as much) there could still be plant options that adaptive and knowledgeable people could use as food sources… 1- shade and drought tolerant grass/weed/forest floor species 2 – mosses and lichens 3- Fungi (mushrooms) 4 – Frost hardy/cold tolerant vegetables like the cruciferous veggies, root veggies, and some leafy greens (especially if protected in a greenhouse to maximize warmth and light exposure and reduce water evaporation) 5 – Seaweed 6 – Pine and other cold hardy trees (will probably die over time but not right away) And where these species still hold on, there will also be insect and small wildlife species around as potential protein sources. Also – and this might seem really morbid – the extremely rapid die off of the population caused by the war would mean that there would be alot of supplies (including jarred and canned foods) readily available in abandoned homes which could be scavenged. So between the left behind products of the big ag food system and the more hardy plant/animal species that can stick around for a couple years, rural communities might be able to come up with a better plan for long term survival even under these horrible conditions (ie: biodomes that magnify light for crop growth). The key might be to just survive long enough for that better plan to materialize. So as a homesteader, if I were to prep for nuclear winter, I wouldn’t just go out and try to save 10 years worth of food in my basement. Instead I’d get real familiar and comfortable with winter foraging, growing frost hardy crops, learning local seaweed species, starting mushroom stands on my property, etc.

Not yet! The thornless varieties would be ideal for the kids, but I am also intrigued by the primocane blackberries they’ve developed. Maybe I’ll add that to my goals this year!

Our plans focus on our homestead activities: 1. Expand the summer veggie garden by 30% 2. Get a root vegetable storage rack for fall/winter to keep our apples from rotting so quickly and provide better airflow for our squashes, pumpkins, and potatoes 3. Grow enough peas for freezing and store more root veggies than last year (we usually eat almost all of our produce right away so I need to get better at saving more of it) 4. Raise a couple dozen pastured broilers for the freezer 5. Replace a couple of dead apple trees with new ones 6. Continue to expand our small native blackberry patches by transplanting the errant babies we find scattered about the property 7. Add new layers to the laying flock to keep egg production elevated as my older girls’ production declines 8. Reseed the back pasture for the broilers in early spring so they have better forage  I have my seeds waiting in the pantry, and my chick order is in. Everything else will have to wait until the weather warms up. Our biggest challenge is time. We have a gaggle of young kids under 6, including a toddler and a baby, so it’s a bit of a juggling act trying to find the time to get everything done!

I’m a stay at home mom and my husband works in tech. We have a higher income over 150k/yr which may be impressive or not based on your perspective (it’s actually a pretty typical higher income in our HCOL region). Having me at home to do chores during the day is a huge help – it would be crazy trying to live this lifestyle if we were both working full time outside the home and commuting.  That being said, I also know homesteading families with incomes low enough to qualify for government programs like WIC and CHIP. These families are able to pull it off by “right sizing” their homesteads to their finances, and by creatively adapting less expensive rural residential properties. So instead of buying an expensive homestead/farm/acreage from the get go, they buy a rural home in a less expensive town (often in need of some DIY care) and then slowly add in the least expensive/most cost effective homestead activities, like kitchen gardens from seed and small flocks of chickens. None of the families I’m thinking of have solar panels or permanent generators, but they have portable generators, woodstoves, and other useful resilience-building preps. Their smaller lots can be maintained with a regular mower and weed whacker instead of ride-on equipment, and they might convert an old shed to a chicken coop rather than build a barn. Since they aren’t dealing with large livestock, they don’t have a need for expensive fencing projects, big barns, trailers, or even a pick up. So it is clearly do-able with less money too, the expectations for what a homestead looks like just has to change a bit.

We aren’t a true “off grid” homestead – instead we are slowly retrofitting an existing rural residential property/small farm to make it more resilient. I think this path is probably alot more cost effective and less expensive for most people than building a brand new homestead from the ground up, but it’s still expensive to pull off. Below is a breakdown of approximate expenses we’ve incurred. Property Our home and property in the pricier Northeast cost well over 500k when we bought it a few years ago, and it’s small – 5 acres. It’s half cleared and came with a newer barn in good shape, plus existing fencing/paddocks. A bigger plot with the same features would have been a million plus in our region back when we bought it years ago. Ours is probably worth about that now. Power/Heat/Water Even with our good luck at finding such a great property, we still have to retrofit resilience-building power/heat sources – things like wood/pellet stove, solar panels, and generators. A permanent, whole house generator like a Generac, connected to our propane would set us back 10-12k so we use a portable one that cost us about $1000. We have yet to put in solar because we are looking at about a 40-50k layout (we want the battery system to store the energy on property for private use which makes it much more expensive). Our pellet stove for supplemental heat was about 6k to buy and install. We also had to put in some special whole house water filtration systems for our well because arsenic and radon are big issues around here – those can set you back about 10k+ depending on what systems you need. Total approximate cost: 70K Power Equipment/Homestead Maintenance There are the other big upfront expenses for a homestead – things like power equipment, fencing, etc. Tractors (and attendant attachments), ride-on mowers, snowblowers, chippers, chainsaws, etc – these things can set you back tens of thousands total. Fencing is surprisingly expensive but luckily we have only ever had to invest in wire fencing because ours already came with existing wood fencing where needed. Most of us have a truck too because of all the hauling we do – so you could also theoretically include the purchase of a used SUV or pickup to the list if you don’t already have one. Large livestock will require a trailer too. Total approximate upfront cost for 1st year power equipment purchases: 15k (a ride on mower, snowblower, new chainsaw, etc) Total approximate cost for a used pickup in good condition: 30k Ongoing Expenses Ongoing yearly expenses number in the hundreds to thousands depending on what you have going on – fence repairs/additions, reseeding pastures, livestock purchases, animal feed, butchering fees for the animals you don’t do on your own, maintenance on the outbuildings, etc. Generally the bigger and more diversified the homestead, the more costs you will have to maintain and keep it running. More gardens and animals need more fencing, housing, feed, medications, butchering supplies/fees, etc. Large livestock farming (beef, dairy production, horses) is particularly costly. We stick to small stuff – poultry, pigs, gardens – and that’s expensive enough as it is. It’s impossible to give cost estimates for this stuff as it’s so variable based on your circumstances. But my husband is constantly complaining that our home produced food makes Whole Foods look like a steal, largely due to the upfront costs of getting set up. 😛 All in all, I’d estimate we needed a bit over 100k just for the upfront homestead/prepper/rural specific purposes, which doesn’t include any money you’d need to do the usual home maintenance/repairs/upgrades to the house itself. After that, we probably spend a couple thousand a year in ongoing costs for the animals, gardens, etc.

We were at first but haven’t for months now. Too time consuming for a form of transmission that appears to be relatively low risk as it is, and being from an area that has never had a particularly high amount of covid circulation. If we were higher risk and in a hotspot, then maybe we would still be doing it, but for us, the tradeoffs in terms of time, labor, and our unease with using so much disinfectant all the time, outweighed the risk of transmission from a package or groceries.

Wanted to add….we have good luck using the Repel Lemon Eucalyptus repellent for ticks (DEET free). My understanding is that lemon eucalyptus is one of the only natural repellents that is actually confirmed effective against ticks.

Ahhh ticks…they are my great nemesis April-October. We have hordes of them here. Just found the first one of the season on my sweater last night…no idea where it came from since I didn’t go anywhere near tick habitat yesterday. As far as their purpose goes, it appears their only ecological purpose is to be a disease vector. We get alot of Lyme around here, and anaplasmosis and babesiosis. But the really scary diagnoses are things like the rare Powassan virus which is often fatal. The odds of getting a tick borne illness increase the longer the tick is embedded on you. If you pull them off within a few minutes of a bite, chances of getting sick are very low. But if you are freaked out by ticks…do not google images of fully embedded ones! They bury their whole head and upper body in the skin. It’s absolutely revolting. That being said, ticks should not keep you from enjoying the outdoors. Long pants and calf high boots sprayed with bug repellent and thorough full body tick checks right after a hike will prevent the majority of bites. When we are in the woods with our kids, the first thing we do when we come home is to strip off our clothes and do a full tick check, toes to scalp (you must always check the whole body, as ticks climb up towards the head and face so you can easily find them in your hair). The clothes are thrown into the drier for 20 minutes on high to dessicate any ticks that might be stuck to the clothes. Turns out they are really dependent on high humidity for survival. It is a time consuming routine, but worth it. If you are hiking, you will need sharp tweezers and an antibiotic ointment if you need to remove them in the field. If you find an embedded tick that looks like it has been there for quite a few hours, you will often be prescribed antibiotics as a precaution.

We keep chickens but don’t use this. Maggot buckets are one of those ideas that sound nice in theory but are likely to be a major headache in real practice. Rotting animal products smell revolting, the flies could easily get way out of control, and predators would be attracted to the stench.  We use a combination of free ranging, kitchen scraps, and chicken feed to feed our birds. Their feed use is cut by a solid 50% in Spring-Fall when there is plenty of food available in the area, but they blow through commercial feed in the winter when the ground is frozen and covered in snow. In a true apocalyptic grid down scenario where you could’nt get any more chicken feed ever again, most keepers would have to carefully ration their stores as long as possible, find supplemental feeds they could produce at home (seeds, corn, etc), and make liberal use of all food scraps produced by the household.

As others have mentioned, you can definitely try to pick masks that are on the FDA approved list and look for warning signs of fakes (ie: masks that don’t have serial numbers etc).  We’ve been using the SupplyAid kn95s sold through Sunjoe and are happy with them for our needs. I’d recommend buying a pack and trying them out to see how they work for you before stocking up. How a mask fits your unique face is an important feature. I have a small face with a high nose bridge which makes it hard for most masks to fit properly, but these work quite well for me.  I can get a tight fit by using a hair elastic to make a modified  head loop to pull the mask tight to my face, which is more in line with how US n95s are designed. Double masking is also an option to explore if you find a kn95 you like but want to be extra safe and add another layer to them.

Thanks! The KN95s are the Chinese equivalent to the US made N95. In theory they should provide the same 95% filtration but many samples unfortunately don’t meet that requirement. There was a report that found that 70% of the KN95s they tested didn’t meet the 95% requirement. But it’s important to note that this doesn’t mean they aren’t still doing a great job at filtering out particles, just that healthcare workers and hospitals shouldn’t rely on them for their covid units, ERs, etc. A well fitting KN95 should be very effective for most people as long as they aren’t in contact or caring for covid patients. Basically, you might not want to intubate a covid patient with one, but they should provide great protection for going grocery shopping, at school, or going to the office. Here’s the ECRI release: https://www.ecri.org/press/up-to-70-of-chinese-kn95-masks-tested-by-ecri-dont-meet-minimum-standards

For us, not much has changed except we restocked our supply of decent kn95s a little bit sooner to make sure we have enough to get us through the summer. We aren’t worried about obtaining true N95s right now as we have very low public exposure, live in an area with low numbers, and aren’t likely to ever be in direct contact with an infected person. Our biggest concern right now with the new variant is that is has the potential to drag this high risk time out even longer and makes it harder to avoid the virus until vaccination. I’m unexpectedly pregnant again and was hoping I could spend most of my pregnancy in a lull after this big surge subsides. But if the UK variant takes off in March as some experts are saying, that means I’m looking at spending my entire pregnancy in the worst part of the pandemic. I can’t wait to get my vaccine but at this rate, I probably won’t be able to get it any time before May/June 🙁

Absolutely! I always try to make a note of where the oaks and other potentially life saving plants/trees are when I go out for hikes and walks. It’s an easy, free prep that could be immensely valuable in a true crisis.

Haha yes, wood is definitely one thing we have plenty of around here! The challenge is getting big enough supply of seasoned, dry wood that is ready for use. Relying on freshly cut wood would not be fun in an emergency, “I need fire NOW” situation.

Up here in the forests of northern New England. We get ice/snow storms, flash floods in the valleys, and occasional slides on steep mountainsides. Roads are rural, windy, unlit and can be impassible during or after storms. Many towns are miles from the nearest medical centers or big box stores. A sturdy all wheel drive vehicle is a must, as are the usual preps for winter storms (generators, car kits, shovels, etc).  Biting bugs are horrible May-Sept, so appropriate summer gear like long pants, calf high boots, and bug repellent are necessary too.   What makes our region really scary though is how difficult it would be to survive here year round in a true grid down/long term crisis scenario. The landscape is virtually barren from mid Nov-April 1, so even if the cold doesn’t manage to kill you, starvation easily will. Long term prepping/homestead/no grid must haves are a good woodstove with cooktop, extensive knowledge of gardening in an area with a short growing season and poor soil fertility, food preservation, small game trapping, and winter time foraging (knowing that you can eat pine bark might just save your life when the snow is a foot deep, the ground is frozen, and there are no other food sources in sight).  

I got into prepping due to finances. We knew we wanted to have me stay home with the kids, and we had to make some serious money moves to make that happen. Eliminating debt, a strong efund, and consistently living below our means was crucial to achieving the lifestyle we wanted.After we eliminated our debt and began accumulating wealth, I looked around and thought “what else can we do to improve our stability?” To me, having a bulked up pantry and ability to produce some of my own food just seemed like another form of the “asset diversification” discussed in the financial field.

Meanwhile, my family has started being more prepared which is fabulous. The odd part is that they used the summer/fall to overstock absurd amounts of some things, but not enough of others. For example, my mom and dad live alone and they have over 200 rolls of toilet paper. That’s 9 of those big 24 packs for two people, one of whom works outside the home most weekdays. But every time I talk to them, they keep talking about how they were out at this store and that store to pick up one grocery item or another. They are high risk and really shouldn’t be bopping around to multiple stores every weekend but they say they need to. *shrug*