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| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 6 2010, 10:58 PM (1,058 Views) | |
| Mommacat | Nov 15 2010, 12:41 AM Post #11 |
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The hand pumps are probably not good for all areas. However, in our area, if you dig a hole almost anywhere, it will fill up with water quite quickly - the water table is very close to the surface. As for the "deep wells" that are mandated in many areas - wonder who's gonna go checking into "permitted" water sources after SHTF? And, you can have shallow wells for livestock, so if you had a shallow well now, you can't get into any trouble if it isn't the source of your house water. I guess I'd check into it to be sure how the laws are in a person's particular area, but that's how it is here. Also, good to keep some water testing supplies on hand and a supply of chlorine bleach - I vaguely remember a neighbor had to dump bleach into their well to kill some bacteria - don't know the details, but seems like something a person should get familiar with in case your local Extension Agency is thing of the past. Radios and codes - might not be a bad idea, Raven. But, having said that, there isn't a code out there that is very secure - so, I think maybe the simpler it is the better. The less a person has to remember the better in a dangerous or stressful situation. But, maybe something like secure comms could be on off-beat channels, or bounced off distant towers and then back? As I've always said, I don't know anything about HAM and so don't know what the capability of that kind of manuever would be. I guess my point is mostly that we're all just ordinary people, not CIA agents and its feasible that a group's "comm expert" might not be available and so another group member would have to try to keep it going? I guess if you said, "my hayshed burned", and everyone would know that meant that the "enemy had taken over your town, etc., that would be a simple enough thing and doesn't SOUND like code-talk. Make sense? I do very much agree that the old-fashioned way of doing things worked very well and could again. Grizzly, you identified an excellent point, though - parts for that old fashioned equipment. And, its such a hard thing to spend money on things you may never even have to use. I have this sneaking feeling that, if I meet my demise before SHTF, my kids are going to wonder just why in the hell I had 5 hand-turn can openers, new in the box, and be very irritated at having to get rid of all that "useless crap"! So, yeah, its a tough call - especially when the money for what we need right now seems to buy less and less. Which makes it even harder to justify spending on prepping. |
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| Grizzly | Nov 15 2010, 01:12 AM Post #12 |
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I just had to laugh at your last paragraph. It reminded me of cleaning out my parents house when they moved to the care center. They grew up in the depression and war and now that I look back, it wasn't so weird after all. They were preppers but we all laughed and wondered what the hell were they doing with all this stuff! I just wish they were still around to help us with all this. I'm doing most of it from memory of how they did when I was growing up. |
| Our ancestors left Europe to get away from this crap...as seen on a bumpersticker fns | |
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| Mommacat | Nov 15 2010, 10:17 AM Post #13 |
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I'm with you there, wishing the "old folks" were still around, cuz now I'd LISTEN to them! Its like the neighbor with the bleach down the well - just a vague memory, but now I wish I'd have paid attention. When people make fun of preppers I often think of my gramma. For years she had stashed pieces of cloth. When she got into her 70's and her work load slowed down, she started making the most beautiful quilts. I still have the one she made for me 25 years ago. I'm glad she didn't give in to my aunts' nagging and toss out all that material! |
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| Raven | Nov 15 2010, 04:23 PM Post #14 |
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Your neighbor "shocked" his well. You pour a bunch of bleach down there if you have a bacterial contamination or if you have had to have your pump replace/repaired. Some people use the chlorine crystals that are for swimming pools. How much you use depends on how deep your well is. Well depth 100' - 3 cups Clorox or 2 oz. of granules. Well depth 200' - 6 cups Clorox or 4 oz. of granules. Well depth 300' - 9 cups Clorox or 6 oz. of granules. Well depth 400' - 12 cups Clorox or 9 oz. of granules. Well depth 500' - 1 gallon Clorox or 12 oz. of granules. NOTE to be accurate in reaching the necessary concentration of chlorine in your well, treat the "depths" listed above as if they were the height of the actual column of water in your well (assuming a standard casing which is 1.5 gallons per foot of height). So if your well is 400 feet deep, but if 100 feet of it is air, your water depth is actually 300 ft. You pour the stuff in the top, rinse the sides so all of it goes down in the water, don't use to much to rinse or you have to recalculate the chlorine. Run it through the pump for a few minutes by turning on all of the faucets in the house. When you smell the bleach coming out of the faucets, let it set for 24 hours without using water from it. After the 24 hours is done you run the water out on the ground until you can't smell the chlorine anymore. Don't run it into your septic tank and run an empty washing machine to make sure your clothes are not ruined. |
| The truth is not for all men, but only for those that seek it. Ayn Rand | |
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| Grizzly | Nov 16 2010, 12:06 AM Post #15 |
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I remember my grandma doing the same thing with strips of cloth but she would make braided rugs. She had one rug so big it almost covered her entire living room floor! I still remember her garden which was nicer than what you'd see on TV. The walk paths between the groups of rows were so smooth she would use a broom to keep them clean. Colorful flowers would border all the plant rows. Too bad no one ever got pictures of it but that was in the 60's when I was in grade school. |
| Our ancestors left Europe to get away from this crap...as seen on a bumpersticker fns | |
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| Mommacat | Nov 16 2010, 09:50 AM Post #16 |
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Cool- thanks for the info, Raven - I copied it and pasted it into my "Useful Stuff Notebook"! Comment on Grizzly's gramma - my gramma also had a fantastic garden - and she didn't think it was all that much to brag about - but I've strived for that order, neatness. and abundance my whole life and never achieved it! Having the same garden plot for 50 some years might explain part of it, but I just can't ever seem to keep ahead of it like she did with so little effort! |
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| Bullmoose | Nov 16 2010, 11:28 PM Post #17 |
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Ok Mommacat, I for one know Gramma's garden had nothing to do with the plot she had. Remember the deer she always had problems with? Well, they sure miss her abilities cuz I cant get corn or potatoes to grow there. I was thinking about moving the garden just so I would have better reason to blame the soil. The good news is, I cured the deer problem. Now they must think it is a waste of effort to jump the fence for my limited bounty. |
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It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men. Samuel Adams | |
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| Mommacat | Nov 17 2010, 12:23 PM Post #18 |
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Bullmoose, I will say in your defense that the plot was dormant for quite a few years before you gave it a whirl. As for the deer, I was wondering what made them all disappear - thanks for the info!! LOL As for the potato problem, since the soil is sandy, but with clay underneath, its very important that you "hill" them - not sure if you did that. The corn - I've never been able to grow a decent crop, so can't offer any advice there except to say that you have to have some pretty rich soil and then have to keep "feeding" it. One other thing, since you do have such sandy soil, if I were you, I'd run several soaker/drip hoses throughout the garden - sand doesn't retain much water and that's one of the key elements to successful gardening. But, you just have to keep at it, eventually you'll find the best way for you to do your garden. And that, I am quite sure, will be unconventional, but nevertheless effective! |
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| Grizzly | Nov 18 2010, 12:30 AM Post #19 |
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As for bad soil, Can you have better soil brought in just for the garden? Maybe composting or manure from farm yard. Only problem with manure is weed seeds are brought in too. I read an article in backwoods home about long time gardeners that went to raised bed type and filled them with special soil. Some of them were even raised high enough so they didn't have to bend over. They raved about how well it worked. I wanted to try it but not sure what to build them out of that won't rot out right away. Treated or creosote might affect the plants. My wife e-mailed them but they never responded. If anyone has any ideas, let us know. |
| Our ancestors left Europe to get away from this crap...as seen on a bumpersticker fns | |
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| Mommacat | Nov 18 2010, 11:02 AM Post #20 |
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Having a couple dump loads of black dirt brought in is a good thing to get things started. Composting, etc. is a great thing to do to feed the soil, but if your soil is basically worthless, it takes too long to make any significant improvements. "Aged" manure is great for building rich soil, even though it's likely to have grass and weed seeds in it. The way to combat that is to mulch heavily or use plastic between the rows. As for raised beds, treated lumber works good, but it horrendously expensive. The treated lumber doesnt seem to affect the plants, but it may be one of those things that nobody realizes is a bad idea until they start to glow in the dark. You used to be able to get old railroad ties for dirt cheap, but not anymore. I knew a guy that used corrugated tin that he saved from an old building that he tore down. He sank the panels into the ground, leaving about 2 feet sticking out and filled them with black dirt. I love the idea of raised beds and used the plan for my herb and flower beds with excellent results. Do keep in mind that with raised beds, you're pretty much limited to doing everything by hand - a tiller is pretty hard to manage in a raised bed, for instance. However, the expense and labor involved kind of makes a flat garden area seem like a more practical approach. |
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