Has anyone calculated the optimal amount of......

unless you have some serious land and some serious farm equipment,you won`t be able to grow enough food to sustain a family of 4 for very many months and even if you do have that much land and farm equipment,when the SHTF people will come and steal it all anyways, unless you have an army to protect it.

a reply to: mcsjr454

Wool is easier because the fibre is often practically ready to use straight off the sheep. You can tease it out with your fingers to get it ready to spin, then wash it in skeins after spinning and its ready for knitting or weaving. Vegetable fibres like hemp or flax need much more preparation to get fibres ready for spinning.



The sheep doesn't seem to be enjoying this but it makes the point very little preparation is needed with a suitable fleece.




Preparing flax fibre for spinning.
Here from 1:19 he shows the basic processes for preparing a small amount of flax fibre and from 2:19 the equipment needed for larger amounts. This is after the crop has been grown, harvested and retted.

There are two ways of retting flax, water retting and dew retting. Dew retting takes longer, but is much easier for a beginner, it is also much less smelly than water retting. Dew retting produces a darker, more silver fibre than water retting, which tends to produce a more golden colour.


Dew Retting Flax
Spread your flax thinly on a lawn or grass field, so that you can still see the grass through the flax; make sure all the roots point in the same direction. Turn the flax once a week, so that it rets evenly. If the weather is dry, water the plants with a watering can. Dew retting takes between 3 and 6 weeks, depending on the weather. The process is easy but the trick is to know when the fibres are retted.

After the first three weeks have passed, pick one stem with both hands and gently break it. Wiggle the stem and gently bend it. If the fibre separates easily from the core, retting may be complete. Bring the fibre indoors to dry.

Several books say that if the fibre comes away in ribbons it is insufficiently retted. However, I found that when I waited for the ribbons to ret into individual fibres my flax became over-retted and the fibres broke into small pieces. You can still use over-retted fibres by carding them with wool or using them in paper making.

Water Retting Flax
Put the flax in water, for example inside a water butt, paddling pool or an old bath. You might need to put a weight on top to keep the fibre submerged. The fibre usually rets in about five day

You might have five sheep per acre. There will be variations in wool quality. Some will be softer. The amount of wool soft enough to be worn without itching depends on breed, age and individual sheep.

You'll get more shirts per acre with vegetable fibres but only wool will keep you warm.

a reply to: mcsjr454

Thanks everyone for the great input, links, pics, and opinions. This was just a thought process for a self sustaining community with a common goal in mind. Not a SHTF moment, but a better way of life.

With that in mind, and keeping with the previous statements, lets think about animals that would need to be kept for food, clothing, and work. I have saw chickens and sheep as two already on the list. I would add rabbits due to how fast they can procreate. What are your suggestions?

Just to clarify, the SHTF scenario you are/have all prepared for~is Planet X, this will then filter down into money being worthless and all the rest of it etc..

How will all the gun aficionados cope with unprecedented dust levels from planets x's tail? (Red iro oxide and gasses, tar etc~'when we pass through x's tail) This will render most guns useless, unless someone has a full cleaning kit, not so hard to imagine, but they will take diligent cleaning at the best of times, let alone Out PX scenario.

I've jumped ahead of myself here.. Don't mean to also be negative. But every person in every home will
HAVE to move at some point, as all buildings will fall victim to the 9++ mag global earthquake. So as for the plans OP? Sounds great! but it'll be temporary.

For example are you on the US west coast? No worries of looters there, as all within a certain distance away fromthe coast will be dead. Knowing how the earth changes will effect your local area is a big must, as this will tell you where potential looters etc could come from.

As others have said knowledge is one of the keys. Use this! Here we have pine Forests. Seems dead here in winter, but now I know I can harvest cambium to eat, I can tap that tree for filtered water (only at certain times albeit), I can eat nuts, have pine needle tea and I think that's it. But now knowing just this one example, has given me more confidence in comprehending what will happen.

Many eggs in many baskets, prepare for the worst.

Good luck! we don't have long until the threshold is met..

www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: mcsjr454

Ducks if you have water.

Something to consider....you're going to have to have about 3 different "shifts" in your little utopia.

Because having all of this, you're going to need constant GUARDING to protect it. So you'll actually have at least 3 different sleep times, meal schedules, etc. (because during all that, SOMEONE needs to be on watch...)

Even if you think you are concealed, what happens when a wandering group sees the smoke from a fire in the distance? Someone WILL find you, at some point.