Saturday, September 8, 2012

New Book - Food Self-Sufficieny: Reality Check

It's here!
 
 

    More great information for preppers, homesteaders, and others who have a goal to work toward food self-sufficiency!  Find out what you'll need and how much, to produce and store your own food!  Read great tips from my own experiences.  A great deal, for only .99 on Amazon!

http://www.amazon.com/Food-Self-Sufficiency-Reality-Check-ebook/dp/B0097G797U/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1347456082&sr=8-14&keywords=susan+gregersen

Here's a list of the chapters in the book, so you can see if there's a subject of particular interest to you:


Table of Contents

Chapter 2 Jars
Chapter 3 Chickens
Chapter 4 Other Domestic Meat Animals
Chapter 5 Grains
Chapter 6 Foraging
Chapter 7 Hunting
Chapter 8 Fishing
Chapter 9 Conclusion

And here's the Introduction, copied and pasted from the book file.  It'll might help you decide whether to buy the book.


Introduction

     Often in conversations the subject comes up about growing or producing our own food. Some people want to move to the country and get into small-time farming, and some just want to have a garden. Others want to have a few meat animals around, such as chickens or rabbits.
    There are also those who want to work toward producing most or all of their own food. Some like the independence and some worry about future hardships, either from natural disasters or man-made events.
         But if you're going to grow a garden or crops, what do you need to do that? How much land? What type of land? How will you preserve and store the food you grow?
Animals need shelter and food. Do you have a place to put your chickens, rabbits, goats, calves, or other animals? What will you feed them if times are hard? How will you feed them now, if your goal is self-sufficiency? Will your plan include buying feed, or growing it yourself?
         In addition to gardening and raising animals, other sources for food self-sufficiency include foraging, hunting, and fishing. What supplies or equipment will you need to do these things? What laws will you have to follow, and do they allow you enough plants or animals to meet your needs.
         This books is about the numbers. It's not a how-to book, it's about what you need for the “how to”. We'll look at how to figure out how much space you need for gardens or animals, how many jars you'll need if you plan to get into canning, and what other options there are for storing food.
         I'll talk about animals and their needs, and suggest ways to feed and shelter them that won't break your bank account. I'll try to point you the right direction to find out what you need to know about foraging, hunting, and fishing, plus share some tips from my own experiences.
        This book is geared toward those with limited funds, but will also be helpful to more prosperous readers who are considering growing or otherwise providing for most or all of their own food. The 'how-to' may vary but the numbers are the same, whether you're rich or poor.
         Some people are 'preppers' and have been buying and storing food in case of hard times. It's a great plan, but knowing how to produce your own food is real security. Hand in hand with that is knowing what you'll need to produce, preserve, and store that food. That is what this book is about.
 
This book kind of snuck it's way from my mind and out my fingers on the computer keyboard.  It's not the second book I'd planned to write, and still plan to write.  But now that one will be Poverty Prepping, Volume 3, and whatever subtitle I give it.
 
So keep those stories and comments coming.  The winners of our prep items contest will be in the third book...the one that was meant to be the second book!
 
Susan

3 comments:

  1. Hi Susan
    Just read the book and really enjoyed getting some great new ideas and very sound and practical ideas. I'll be referring to it over and over.
    I wanted to throw out the idea of raising earthworms as composers for scraps that chickens won't eat, as food for the chickens themselves, fishing bait, and barter tools!
    It's as easy as digging them up from your garden ( or purchase is desired) and keeping them in a plastic tote in a corner somewhere. Shredded newspaper is a bedding starter with just a handful of dirt thrown in and some kitchen scraps every few days. In addition to all the things above, you will have the best soil amendment ever- worm castings!

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    1. What a great idea! Thanks, Deb! If you got enough worms in there you'd have a source of protein for the chickens. That reminds me of another tip I heard, about putting meat scraps in a bag and letting maggots grow on it, and shaking the maggots into the chicken pen as a food supplement.

      How do you know when the dirt/worm castings are ready for "harvest"? Do you just scoop it all out, sift through and remove the worms and put them back in the plastic tote, and add more shredded paper and dirt?

      I'm glad you enjoyed the book. Thanks for writing!
      Susan

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  2. Maggots! Eeeuuu...but the girls would definitely love them!
    Here's a link to one of many websites about earthworm farming.
    Worms4earth.com/Raiseworms.htm
    An old tote with holes drilled or pinched along the top for ventilation will work fine. There are more complicated set ups but thatll do. Caution: don't let standing water build up in the bottom. For this reason some folks drill drain holes in the bottom and then use something to put under there to catch any leaks.
    When the bedding has all turned to castings and there's no recognizable paper or scraps to speak of, then you can dump it out, separate your worms and start over.

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