Stocking Up, Putting Back, Prepping = Paranoia?

[CrimsonRose]

I've never been asked or even looked at when shopping and I buy a ton! but that could be because I always have my kiddos with me... either they see I have a larger sized family or they are terrified to stop a crazy lady on a mission... I'm typically all wild eyed trying to get in and out of a store without having the kiddo pester for junk till I go insane...

 

[Wifezilla]

Took me YEARS to figure that out. The dumb thing was I KNEW the importance of lumens when it came to humans and SAD. I just never figured out the PLANTS needed high lumen light and kept buying those crappy grow lights and then had my starter plants get all leggy and sick. Then most would die when I tried to harden them off

Someone on www.TheEasyGarden.com posted an article about lumens and plants and it all clicked. Now I just use the brooder type light housings (since I have those on hand for ducklings and quail chicks anyway) and get the highest wattage equivalent in the curly q's I can (150s are best...but I can usually only get 100s) and grow all kinds of stuff. Of course once I got the lighting issue all worked out, I got hit with a bad invasion of aphids and had to kill off all the indoor plants. My favorite plant was a chiltepin pepper. It was 3 years old when the bugs got it.

I am starting over again next spring with early starts. Ground cherries really do well indoors with curly q's. Some tomato varieties do too. Basil and pepper plants overwinter inside just fine under the curly lights.

 

[Tractor girl]

Hi! I'm new to comment, but have been lurking for some time now.

I just wanted to add my two cents as to why I prepare, stockpile, whatever you want to call it.
My mother came from war-torn Europe. What became Communist East Germany, actually. She knew the deprivations of war and the aftermath. Food was very short during war times, but there was very little, afterwards, and when the Russians came through, she was forced to work in the farm work camps, like all the other young people. She brought home carrots, or beets, or whatever they were harvesting, that she could tuck into her jacket without someone seeing her. Death penalty if they caught her---delivered swiftly, and on the spot. That little bit of food helped keep her parents and her alive.
We moved to the little family farm when I was about three. A few years later the Cuban Missile crisis happened, and I remember my mother trying to stockpile food and water in our only little walk-in closet, crying as she thought she had left war behind her, and how was she going to feed her babies?
Then a major storm hit our area (later graded as a Hurricane) and we were without power or tap water for an extended time. My parents had "prepped" and so we never went without, though.
Later, when I was in high school, my father needed major surgery, suddenly. He nearly died on the operating room table, and then almost bled out a week after surgery, while still in the hospital. He was off of work for approximately five months. The cost of surgery (even with insurance) wiped out every bit of savings we had. We were all very grateful that my dad was a stickler for paying things off, and so he had paid off the mortgage on the farm years before. If it wouldn't have been for all the food that my parents had "put by", I don't know what we would have done.
My point is. . . you may not see the need to "prep" until the situation is right on top of you.
My husband has faced unemployment several times in the last twenty years, and he has had several injuries and illnesses that have kept him from working for extended periods of time. Keeping a pantry and freezer full helped get us through those times.
As far as a great major event happening. . . I can see that on the horizon. I work in the medical field, and it is all too apparent how close to feral many people I have met really are. It won't take much and things will get ugly. It is very unfortunate, but I think what we are facing is a media-oriented generation who believe that they are entitled to whatever they want. I see it in some of my relatives, I see it in some patients, I see it in people at the grocery store, the armory or the mall. Many people are no longer kind to each other. The niceties are no longer observed in many social situations.

I am not a Mormon, but I take a page from their book, buying extra every time I shop, rotating my stores, doing some canning and preserving (though my husband tries to eat it all as soon as I put it up ), I have several raised garden beds, am planting fruit trees, considering an area for grapes, have another garden plot, and keep approximately 24 chickens, including a ninja rooster, who will leave if nothing big happens in a few months, but if TSHTF, he will be staying to provide fertile eggs for my broodies to hatch (I have two currently) to provide us with meat and more eggs. I also came here hoping to learn a little more about soap-making and candle-making, and would have goats and ducks if we had more space.

If you prepare, the worst that will happen is that you won't need it. . . .

 

[Wannabefree]

Hi tractorgirl Interesting background.

 

[Farmfresh]

Great stories! Glad to have you on the forum.

 

[Wifezilla]

Thanks for sharing your story. It is easy to believe things will never get that bad here...but history shows things can turn on a dime.

And apparently our husbands are related

 

[Tractor girl]

Thanks for the kind welcomes! back atcha!

 

[BarredBuff]

Welcome!

Interesting background.

 

[TanksHill]

Welcome TractorGirl!!!

 

[JRmom]

As far as a great major event happening. . . I can see that on the horizon. I work in the medical field, and it is all too apparent how close to feral many people I have met really are. It won't take much and things will get ugly. It is very unfortunate, but I think what we are facing is a media-oriented generation who believe that they are entitled to whatever they want. I see it in some of my relatives, I see it in some patients, I see it in people at the grocery store, the armory or the mall. Many people are no longer kind to each other. The niceties are no longer observed in many social situations.

I see this too... feral people... love that term. While there are still many many people around who observe the niceties, I'm seeing more and more ugliness when I'm out and about, and definitely the "entitlement" mindset is spreading.

A small silly example (but it has stuck in my mind)... A few weeks ago I was at the flea market, it was crowded. I accidently bumped a lady with my bag of produce. I immediately apologized. She glared at me and pushed by, swearing at me.