what are your prepping goals for the next year (or two)?

[bigpaul]

I just keep trying to survive and keep prepping slowly and surely.....simples.

 

[Brent S]

I haven't added a rooster yet, as I'm not looking into getting into chick production yet...just eggs. Your little guy sounds adorable, hehe. I think it's just one of the girls (who they call "Big Mamma") who is producing now....but she's at least a couple weeks older than the rest (as when we got the hens as pullets, she was the only one of the older set at the feed store). So, the rest should start laying more soon.

the rooster is a good idea as one predator can wipe out most of your birds in one night. At least with him you stand a better chance of both protection and propigation.

 

[Brent S]

All 8 of mine are RIR's. (Rhode Island Reds). I suspect we'll be in for more eggs after this cold snap. I still think it will be a cold, cold winter.



Best advice...know WHAT you are going to store, before building/getting the shelves to hold it.

RIR's are my favorite breed. There large, sturdy and produce lots of eggs with minimal investment. The domineckers are a close second.

 

[Brent S]

Yeah, I'd love to get a wood stove too. Just have no idea where I'd put it. Probably the back porch area, like you mentioned....but more in the area off the master bedroom.

One thing that suprised me with wood stoves is the flue will cost as much as the stove! I can't imagine not having one though, as a prepper I try to cover as many bases as I can, and having backup heat is necessary in my opinion. I probably use it more than the electric heat anyways.

 

[Silent Earth]

"what are your prepping goals for the next year"

To stop Jonnte invading Russia

 

[jontte]

for that I could use some help,one or two will do if we take kremlin first,rest will be a pick nick

 

[Silent Earth]

Oh god Jontte is turning into Animal off the muppets or Taz from the cartoon.

 

[jimLE]

i was thinking cookie monster...

 

[Gazrok]

One thing that suprised me with wood stoves is the flue will cost as much as the stove! I can't imagine not having one though, as a prepper I try to cover as many bases as I can, and having backup heat is necessary in my opinion. I probably use it more than the electric heat anyways.

We pretty much already have the fireplace, so in a SHTF situation, I imagine we'd all sleep in the den around the fire. With the wood stove and where I want to put it, wouldn't be too hard to just rig up a stove pipe.

 

[Graynomad]

One thing that suprised me with wood stoves is the flue will cost as much as the stove!

Our recently purchased stove/oven cost about $2000 and the flu kit was an extra $300, so that wasn't too bad.

We've had it operational for a few weeks and just love it, even though it's getting warm now we still fire it up most nights, I guess the novelty will wear off by next summer .

We have done a lot of cooking on/in it and cut a lot of firewood (free, a life time's supply within a few 100 yards on our land), all-in-all a good step in our independence journey. We still use gas for cooking because we have the gear and let's face it it is easier, but in general we are now totally free from external dependencies for cooking and heating.

Add to that that our electricity is 100% from solar and I think I can pretty much cross energy off the list. Likewise with a lot of other stuff as well but the elephant in the room is food, we still buy everything from the shop. That will be one of the main things to address next year.

 

[Brent S]

Our recently purchased stove/oven cost about $2000 and the flu kit was an extra $300, so that wasn't too bad.

We've had it operational for a few weeks and just love it, even though it's getting warm now we still fire it up most nights, I guess the novelty will wear off by next summer .

We have done a lot of cooking on/in it and cut a lot of firewood (free, a life time's supply within a few 100 yards on our land), all-in-all a good step in our independence journey. We still use gas for cooking because we have the gear and let's face it it is easier, but in general we are now totally free from external dependencies for cooking and heating.

Add to that that our electricity is 100% from solar and I think I can pretty much cross energy off the list. Likewise with a lot of other stuff as well but the elephant in the room is food, we still buy everything from the shop. That will be one of the main things to address next year.

I have most of the food covered, but the energy independence is still in its infancy. I just got a nice gas stovetop unit, which is going to go towards the outside kitchen. I guess propane is'nt "off grid" but it is at least an alternate to electricity. Just curious, what size solar setup do you have. I think the propane will eat most of my tax return this year, but am hoping to at least get a start to the solar set up.
I am excited to start forming the roof on my storm/root cellar this week. I should have had it done by now but two back to back injuries slowed me down fro a while. If things go well I will get it poured this week too, but will probably just get it ready to.

 

[jontte]

you will put pics about that cellar,will you???
that type of cellar is in my dreams also....found a beautiful place with a small house,wood stove,sauna and lots of space around for garden and a root cellar, now I need only to finish my school or win in the lottery which ever comes first..

 

[hlrive]

I have been looking into getting a solar powered generator, has anyone used one?? Looks like it would be easier then the gas one. It's nothing big but says it will cool a fridge for 4 hours. That would keep stuff good for awhile. Solar to me would be our best bet because if something bad happens and we can't get guess we will be up the creek without a paddle when the gas generator runs out. The cost was about $400 for the solar one, about the same as my little gas one. The only difference is the solar one has only 1 plug, and the gas one I can plug in 2 things.

 

[Brent S]

you will put pics about that cellar,will you???
that type of cellar is in my dreams also....found a beautiful place with a small house,wood stove,sauna and lots of space around for garden and a root cellar, now I need only to finish my school or win in the lottery which ever comes first..

I posted a thread on underground shelters with Picts. and will add more as I form it and do the rebar. Hopefully I'll get to pour concrete this week but am thinking that's a little ambitious with all the other projects I need to do as well.

 

[Graynomad]

I have most of the food covered, but the energy independence is still in its infancy.

To be honest food is way more important than power, it's just that as an electronics engineer I like the techo stuff and so have concentrated on that. I've never been the slightest bit interested in growing stuff but at least that is slowly changing and I'm sure I will get real keen after seeing the first few radishes grow.

what size solar setup do you have

Right now we have 1700W of panels on the roof of the truck (RV), but we are parked in a spot that gets shaded a lot so it's not really cutting it with our current usage. But when out in the sun that's plenty.

For 7 years we lived quite happily with 500W, but we only had a single fridge and were VERY conscious of our usage, everything not being used was turned off at the wall. We have got slack lately and just leave everything on standby, plus we are running three fridges.

I have lived quite comfortably out of a 4x4 for months with just 240w of solar. That could be extended indefinitely.

I am now planning a new system for the container house, that may be up to 3000W, or for redundancy I may still use the truck's existing system and add another separate system of about 1500w.

Our neighbours are about to install a new system, they have been assured that 2000w will do all they need and I concur.

Other friends have just installed a 5000w system, they did that because they can (he does the work himself so it only cost about $15k) and they just wanted a system that was so large they never even thought about what they used.

Other friends have a 10,000w system, I built my current motorhome there, including all the cutting, welding, etc you can imagine.

NOTE: None of the above includes air conditioning, nice as it is I've never had AC and never seen the need for AC. If you do need it then I'm not sure that even a 10,000w system will do the job. Certainly those friends with the 10kw system have to use a generator if they want to fire up the AC.

I have been looking into getting a solar powered generator, has anyone used one?

What the heck is a solar-powered generator? Seems like a contradiction in terms. Do you have a link?

 

[Brent S]

To be honest food is way more important than power, it's just that as an electronics engineer I like the techo stuff and so have concentrated on that. I've never been the slightest bit interested in growing stuff but at least that is slowly changing and I'm sure I will get real keen after seeing the first few radishes grow.
I didn't know how to grow anything 5 yrs ago, but am getting better each year. The best advice I can give is go see and talk with others in your area to see what grows well there. If it's a native plant you'll have a lot more success. I planted a lot of super sweet peach trees here. They taste amazing, but need a lot of pampering. Each year I loose one or two. The apples though are tough, and thrive without doing anything other than the occasional watering. So far I've learned muscadine grapes, apples, pears, blueberries, strawberries, kale, carrots, okra, bell peppers, lettuce, and a few others do really well here. Try to start with what will do well in your climate and soil.


Right now we have 1700W of panels on the roof of the truck (RV), but we are parked in a spot that gets shaded a lot so it's not really cutting it with our current usage. But when out in the sun that's plenty.
I was going to try and get 1200 kW this spring. I don't know if I'll get all 3 400w panels pkgs, but that's the goal. I'm a big do it yourselfer, and even though I have never worked on solar before will figure it out for the install.
For 7 years we lived quite happily with 500W, but we only had a single fridge and were VERY conscious of our usage, everything not being used was turned off at the wall. We have got slack lately and just leave everything on standby, plus we are running three fridges.

I have lived quite comfortably out of a 4x4 for months with just 240w of solar. That could be extended indefinitely.
I've camped a lot in campers and am pretty good at conserving water and power, the wife however.
I am now planning a new system for the container house, that may be up to 3000W, or for redundancy I may still use the truck's existing system and add another separate system of about 1500w.

Our neighbours are about to install a new system, they have been assured that 2000w will do all they need and I concur.

Other friends have just installed a 5000w system, they did that because they can (he does the work himself so it only cost about $15k) and they just wanted a system that was so large they never even thought about what they used.

Other friends have a 10,000w system, I built my current motorhome there, including all the cutting, welding, etc you can imagine.

NOTE: None of the above includes air conditioning, nice as it is I've never had AC and never seen the need for AC. If you do need it then I'm not sure that even a 10,000w system will do the job. Certainly those friends with the 10kw system have to use a generator if they want to fire up the AC.
Yeah, everything I've read has talked about the ac being the holy grail of solar. A man I met has 25kw, with batteries and it runs it all. It sounds great but I think he has 30 thousand us in it. That's a long time to recoup your investment.

What the heck is a solar-powered generator? Seems like a contradiction in terms. Do you have a link?

It's probably just they way it was advertised. Since it can produce electricity they market it as a solar generator to sound cool.
Glad to see your still around nomad! Aren't you just going into your summer down there?

 

[Brent S]

That's wierd! I just responded to nomads post in depth, and it only posted the last couple sentences??? It put everything in the box I replied to. It's still there if you click on it.

 

[Graynomad]

Yeah I'm still around, still plugging away at the container house but been a bit quite on the forums of late. Yes heading into summer here, normally I like the heat but now I want it to be cold so I can use the new stove

I can only see two lines of your response, I hope you saved it.

 

[DrHenley]

As long as the temps get down at night with low humidity, I can live without A/C. But steamy sweltering nights in the Deep South are brutal without A/C. I grew up with it and never got used to it. If you get north of 34 degrees N latitude (Pine Bluff Arkansas, Clarksdale Mississippi) or higher elevation, the nights are cooler and bearable. But south of there in the Delta...been there done that...don't want to go back to miserable nights.

My brother-in-law suggested an underground solution for steamy nights at the BOL. (~33 degrees N latitude)

 

[Graynomad]

Yeah it's hard when the humidity is high.