CRAZY PREPARED

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I've heard that those can work even in areas where the sun is dubious and patchy, but I don't know anyone who's tried it.

Useful for the desert, when there's little available for burning

less useful here, where there is a lot of wood but little sun. Hey, that reminds me that I was going to get a tripod and a bigger Dutch Oven before the apocalypse hits.

[Requia ☣]

Supposedly it worked in Seattle.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Supposedly it worked in Seattle.

Seattle has less random overcast but heavier rainfall.

Portland has a lot of "Hey it's sunny! Oh wait. Oh yay it's sunny again... ohhh, no, never mind. Sun! oh now it's drizzling. The sun came out wanna go hi... oh forget it, let's get beer."

[Rumckle]

Ctrl+(1-8) pop to the first 8 tabs. Ctrl+9 hops to the last one.

or control-tab

[Reginald Ret]

If you happen to have a bit of land to grow food on nitrogen depletion will most likely be a problem AKA 'Why the fuck do my potatoes shrink every year?'

Tossing some shit or dead animal parts (even bone works) on the soil will work but longpigs get annoyed when you slaughter one each year. One alternative solution is socalled green manure: plants that make their own nitrogen with a little help from their symbiotic fungi and bacteria. This replenishes the soil's nitrogen content and keeps weeds from taking up all the already present nutrients.
http://www.allotment.org.uk/fertilizer/green-manures.php

TL:DR version: after harvesting your potatoes(or whatever) plant clover and beans. before planting potatoes cut up clover and beans, let it rot for a couple of days and bury it in your soil.

[Requia ☣]

Isn't crop rotation agriculture 101?

I mean even I fucking know that.  Of course, modern farms ditched that in favor of pumping ammonia (ammonium? i can never remember which is which) into the ground.

[Cainad (dec.)]

Isn't crop rotation agriculture 101?

I mean even I fucking know that.  Of course, modern farms ditched that in favor of pumping ammonia (ammonium? i can never remember which is which) into the ground.

Uh... dude?


You basically just assumed that at least a majority of the population knows something that has nothing to do with TV or popular culture. That's like saying, "Can't more than half of Americans name all the planets of our solar system in order of distance from the sun? I mean, even I know that."

[Richter]

I suppose it's a bit late to offer mission statement clarification but:  CRAZY PREPARED takes a few situations into account.

1.  Shit is bad / collapsed.  Whatever IT is, you can't buy IT.  You have to make, improvise, work around, or do without IT.

2.  IT is  not cheap, so figuring out one of the above methods is worth the while.

3.  You need IT NOW.  Convoluted thought it may seem one of the above will be efficient enough to get things done / save yo ass.


If you don't have an industrial or sewage separation complex providing the cheap surplus ammonia, though, rotating to a nitrogen fixing crop, like alfalfa, for a few seasons, is GOOD.

Edit:

Isn't crop rotation agriculture 101?

I mean even I fucking know that.  Of course, modern farms ditched that in favor of pumping ammonia (ammonium? i can never remember which is which) into the ground.

Uh... dude?


You basically just assumed that at least a majority of the population knows something that has nothing to do with TV or popular culture. That's like saying, "Can't more than half of Americans name all the planets of our solar system in order of distance from the sun? I mean, even I know that."

This is a perfect example of a situation where taking 5 min. to read a thread gives you valuable, though painfully specific, info that has the potential to be VERY useful. 

[Requia ☣]

Isn't crop rotation agriculture 101?

I mean even I fucking know that.  Of course, modern farms ditched that in favor of pumping ammonia (ammonium? i can never remember which is which) into the ground.

Uh... dude?


You basically just assumed that at least a majority of the population knows something that has nothing to do with TV or popular culture. That's like saying, "Can't more than half of Americans name all the planets of our solar system in order of distance from the sun? I mean, even I know that."

They can't?  Not even half?

Fuck, I'm horribly under estimating stupidity again aren't I?

[Cainad (dec.)]

Isn't crop rotation agriculture 101?

I mean even I fucking know that.  Of course, modern farms ditched that in favor of pumping ammonia (ammonium? i can never remember which is which) into the ground.

Uh... dude?


You basically just assumed that at least a majority of the population knows something that has nothing to do with TV or popular culture. That's like saying, "Can't more than half of Americans name all the planets of our solar system in order of distance from the sun? I mean, even I know that."

They can't?  Not even half?

Fuck, I'm horribly under estimating stupidity again aren't I?

Remember those hilarious (as in ) polls about how many Americans could locate Iraq on a map? Yeah.

[Requia ☣]

Actually, I dunno if I could find Iraq either.  Depends on the map I guess (I know it borders Turkey, but I don't know where Turkey is either).

[the other anonymous]

Actually, I dunno if I could find Iraq either.  Depends on the map I guess (I know it borders Turkey, but I don't know where Turkey is either).

I know where Turkey is! It's the Garden of Eden:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe

[Requia ☣]

Oh, its next to Syria too... that I can find.

[Reginald Ret]

Another fun question to ask americans on the street is 'Can you name a country starting with a U?'

[Richter]

Uganda? 

Playing with Goole Maps / Google Earth at work or home can help general geography knowledge.  If you're geology inclined, you can take screenshots (map / satellite / topography) of a given feature and play a game we called "Caldera, Crater, or Lake?"