Is the bank the best place to leave your money?
Moderator: Peak Moderation
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kenneal - lagger
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- Joined: 20 Sep 2006, 02:35
- Location: Newbury, Berkshire
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Innit. You can't eat 'gold'.kenneal wrote:It's wonderful what a bit of hunger will do.
... or 'money'.
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Heard a story once (a joke) from a guy who was born in Germany in 1919:
'... You'd queue for hours to by a loaf of bread with a wheelbarrow full of cash... if you left it unguarded, some bugger would nick the wheelbarrow!'
I'm not sure how many here would agree that Rats, moths and rust are powerful logicians.
Perhaps it's a case of 'Better Red than Dead'?
Either way, a systemic need for 'growth' probably shouldn't feature in whatever 'economy' we participate in... I mean, look where that got us.
Apparently a sub-5-acre plot is manageable for two people using good hand tools, hence the smaller plot probably being of more use. If there are a few small plots specialising in different types of produce, e.g vegies, greenhouses, livestock, fibres etc. then it makes things look a bit more realistic. Pie in the sky thinking tho - who knows at the end of the day!!
Life's too short
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SILVERHARP2
- Posts: 611
- Joined: 14 Feb 2006, 17:02
- Location: DUBLIN
Fascinating discussion, it just goes to show how variable peoples reaction to PO will be. This is good as if we all did the same thing it would lead to utter stagnation, the key to surviving PO is to equip yourself with the skills needed to survive with what is around you, not relying for a government or organisation to come and look after you, they will not.
After reading in the early nineties John Seymour?s seminal work ?The complete guide to self sufficiency? I bought the two acres at the back of my house and put into practice the principles in the book, between 93-97 it accounted for approximately 80% of the food we and the animals ate. We became self sufficient in poultry, pork , lamb, fruit and veg.
However, what the book did not tell you was how you would grow as a person, in terms of confidence, multifaceting, satisfaction, the ability to turn your hand to any job, become academic, have the ability to plan for the future, this book did it all, probably without meaning to.
As to the discussion whether to purchase land, two things spring to mind. The first is make sure the land you buy is easily accessible by foot from where you live. The second is make sure you use it and do not become an armchair philosopher, the skills that I have put to rewarding use in my current job were all honed by absolute success or abysmal failure as a self supporter.
The big question, that most people will face will be there complete reliance on fossil fuel to do everything for them such as ready meals, nicely presented chilled meat, gas fires that come on at the flick of a switch and shops that provide everything they want.
A salient example of the 'skills?' which will help you PO is Kenneals post of driving the Pig an 80 mile round trip to get it slaughtered, except when I was ready to kill my first pig i had spent every penny on buying the land and could not afford a van or trailer to get the pig to a EU slaughter house.
So as a 25 year old who was brought up in a town, I led the pig into the garage, where i had constructed a make shift bench ,and killed it. It made me feel sick to the pit of my stomach, the second one was better and done more efficiently, by the time the next batch of pigs were ready it was not too traumatic.
I cannot describe how this type of situation changes the way you think about differnt situations and the ability it gives you to deal with them.
The last 12 months the energy/ peak oil issue has really hit home, the hike in gas prices, Russians turning off the gas in January etc, has made me commit to providing ALL my own energy needs by April 07.
At the moment i'm about 50% there, The project next week is to get about 10 tons of fuel delivered for nothing by registering for an exemption with the enviroment agency, If it works (50-50 chance) I will let you all know the details.
After reading in the early nineties John Seymour?s seminal work ?The complete guide to self sufficiency? I bought the two acres at the back of my house and put into practice the principles in the book, between 93-97 it accounted for approximately 80% of the food we and the animals ate. We became self sufficient in poultry, pork , lamb, fruit and veg.
However, what the book did not tell you was how you would grow as a person, in terms of confidence, multifaceting, satisfaction, the ability to turn your hand to any job, become academic, have the ability to plan for the future, this book did it all, probably without meaning to.
As to the discussion whether to purchase land, two things spring to mind. The first is make sure the land you buy is easily accessible by foot from where you live. The second is make sure you use it and do not become an armchair philosopher, the skills that I have put to rewarding use in my current job were all honed by absolute success or abysmal failure as a self supporter.
The big question, that most people will face will be there complete reliance on fossil fuel to do everything for them such as ready meals, nicely presented chilled meat, gas fires that come on at the flick of a switch and shops that provide everything they want.
A salient example of the 'skills?' which will help you PO is Kenneals post of driving the Pig an 80 mile round trip to get it slaughtered, except when I was ready to kill my first pig i had spent every penny on buying the land and could not afford a van or trailer to get the pig to a EU slaughter house.
So as a 25 year old who was brought up in a town, I led the pig into the garage, where i had constructed a make shift bench ,and killed it. It made me feel sick to the pit of my stomach, the second one was better and done more efficiently, by the time the next batch of pigs were ready it was not too traumatic.
I cannot describe how this type of situation changes the way you think about differnt situations and the ability it gives you to deal with them.
The last 12 months the energy/ peak oil issue has really hit home, the hike in gas prices, Russians turning off the gas in January etc, has made me commit to providing ALL my own energy needs by April 07.
At the moment i'm about 50% there, The project next week is to get about 10 tons of fuel delivered for nothing by registering for an exemption with the enviroment agency, If it works (50-50 chance) I will let you all know the details.