Surviving Food Shortages, Ducks, Gardening

[MrMan]

My wife is really into gardening now. We recently purchased a couple of ducks. Now we have a source of protein, hopefully, if the supply chain shuts down.

I hear ducks are cleaner than chickens, and they can produce two instead of one egg per day, though they stop being heavy layers quicker than chickens. A duck was $18. We bought duck food, which was probably unnecessary. I probably should have bought cracked corn and soybeans or cracked it myself, and let them eat grass and bugs in the yard.

I helped get the garden going and I lift bags of stuff from time to time, but mainly it is my wife's project. We are getting to the point where we cannot eat all the squash ourselves, not if we don't preserve it, and now the eggplant is getting to be the same way. At some point, these volunteer cantaloupe will be able to be harvested. We have daikon, so we can get the greens from that. There are greens from sweet potatoes. Squash greens are edible, but my wife doesn't care for harvesting prickly greens and she does the pruning. We have a little kankung (water spinach), bok choy. We also have banana and poblano peppers. Later, we should have potatoes. The berries haven't come in.

We have a very large freezer, two fridges with freezer on them, and a smaller freezer. We also have bags of rice and a bag of soybeans. I've got a genset, but that doesn't last very long. We've looked at solar, but the last vendor wanted to charge 20 or 30K above the value of the panels, comparing it to what I would pay for electricity instead of basing their prices on market value. But the power would go off if the grid went down since it would be sold to the network, so what is the point?

The next project would be to set up some kind of system to catch water so if everything goes out, we could still have some water to boil. I have some gas tanks and a grill and burner and small gas cans for a camping type stove that a lot of Asians keep around. It's good for day trips to the lake and for putting under big pots of soup on the table at parties.

We are supposed to go pay for a couple of sheep here at some point that someone else will raise an hour from our house. We are supposed to pay for feed. That should make for a source for meat if we have it slaughtered young enough to where it will still taste decent.

Have any of you done any survival prep in case things take a down turn or the food shortage gets really serious?

[rudder]

Keep going. Always do more. Keep it up and keep pushing forward. My life goal was to produce all my own food. We're getting closer. We're growing different kinds of fruit on ten hectares of land with thousands of trees planted, living off-grid (I really can't recommend living off-grid though). We raise mostly chickens and muscovies but also have a few guineas and geese. The next step will probably be to add meat sheep and do silvopasture amongst our tree plantings. I recommend concentrating on animals that can take care of themselves. I.e. grazing animals. Grain-eating animals will leave you exposed to market fluctuations among the global grain market. Buying feed for the animals is not bad though, because you can look at it as a form of fertilizer input for your land to receive a net gain of nutrients vs. just recycling the nutrients already present on the land. Just don't depend on such inputs for the long-term.

P.S. I'm jealous of your Kang Kong. Isn't that Ipomoea aquatica? I think that's the fastest growing leaf crop in the world.

[MrMan]

Kangkung is fast growing. It is good with tauco, fermented soy. Ours is in dirt, not a marshy area. Our ducks have been pecking at it.

[janamacon]

It's great to hear that you and your wife are engaging in gardening and exploring self-sufficiency options like raising ducks and potentially sheep. Being prepared for potential disruptions or food shortages is a responsible approach, especially considering the uncertainties that can arise in various situations. While I can provide some general information and suggestions, it's important to note that individual circumstances may vary, and it's always advisable to consult experts or professionals in relevant fields for specific guidance. One of my suggestions would be to get fruit provisions as many as you can. Eventually, you can prepare smoothie recipes that are well-balanced and contain a variety of nutrients. For instance, the cherry smoothies recipe will replace a whole breakfast or other meal.

Good luck!