Even if you have a cute little garden you won't produce enough to live or feed a family in a societal collapse. You will always need other people. You will have to work your ass off every day and fight men at the same time. Y'all don't put laundry away for days.
maybe I'm just a quitter or too cognizant of how horrible humans are, but I've never wanted to be in a group of "survivors" - if a bomb is coming I want to drive towards it to be wiped out fast - no interest in scratching out a miserable existence a la Walking Dead, Mad Max, 28 Days Later, etc.
I do stuff in a community garden. Since I started there I realised just how much land you'd need to feed a family for a year with a variety of crops. Never mind things like threshing, milling, storage etc.
People who think you can do it are deluded.
I would have failed in the first year if not for my neighbor offering advice, lots of chicken eggs, and listening to me vent. Doing this homestead stuff showed me how crucial community is, not rugged individualism.
My parents have 10 acres and I have periodically in my life lived on that land with them and farmed it (diversified style). It is endless back-breaking work, even in winter. And even with livestock, producing enough food to feed all of us, much less to trade for other shit we need, was out of reach
I know if we needed to, if they (and my now-adult child) had also dedicated all their time and if they would have allowed me a milk cow, it could’ve been done. But woof. These cottage-core TikTokers aren’t gonna do it unless they form communes with people who have diverse skills.
That being said, that land goes to me if it isn’t sold to pay for my parents end of life care (yay America) and I have been developing a plan for years to form a commune on it. Not developing in earnest because I’m not joyfully anticipating that day. Nor even relying on it.
yep. Gardening ≠ farming. I do it for joy and the occasional benefit of sustenance, plus benefit to environment. No illusions. Plus stuff doesn't grow in winter.
These days I do think about what to grow in terms of price (eg grow the pricier stuff if possible).
