65 Comments
Apr 14Liked by Theodore Atkinson

Excellent article! Homesteading is all the rage for those of us in the know. As more people figure it out, it becomes harder and harder to find an ideal homestead property, so no better time than the present.

I wanted to share a recent revelation I just discovered. Since chickens are most beginners starting point, it's wise to investigate the many benefits of rabbits over chickens for a meat supply. Yeah,they're cute and cuddly (actually another perk), but if you line up the pros/cons of rabbits and chickens, they out perform in EVERY way. Turns out there's gobs of videos and articles on this topic so I won't waste any more of your time, but get to learning more if you're considering yard birds!

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Apr 15·edited Apr 15Author

Oh yeah. Good homesteading property will be a hot commodity when more people clue in.

We're doing meat chickens this year, but I'm planning on rabbits next year because we have a ton of the infrastructure in the back not really suited for chickens but ideal for rabbits. I'm also putting in fruit trees, so I'm kinda tapped out on projects.

The good thing about rabbits is they don't need protein, so just plain old grass will do. I'd like to get a small pellet mill too so I can make my own feed. But takes time... which I need more of.

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Apr 15Liked by Theodore Atkinson

I saw a video where a farmer used his pellet mill to make fuel pellets out of sawdust and small wood chips.

I am getting closer to getting my own homestead hopefully by the end of the year and plan on getting a pellet mill. Multiple redundant systems for resiliency.

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I've seen the same thing actually and it looks handy. I'm intent on getting one now.

I'd also like to spend time reading these books and trying to learn how to make everything from scratch, but that's a long long term goal.

https://www.amazon.com/Build-Metal-Working-Scrap-Complete/dp/1878087355

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Apr 15Liked by Theodore Atkinson

So much! I really enjoy watching “primitive skills” videos. Absolutely amazing stuff watching someone walk into the jungle with nothing but a pair of shorts and build up a functioning Iron Age farmstead.

WHEN I get my land I want to dedicate a little corner of it for just this purpose. My version will have a timber frame cabin/barn/mead hall with a cellar and a smithy.

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Apr 22Liked by Theodore Atkinson

Being totally self sufficient is WAY harder than most people realize! (By the way, we share the last name of Atkinson👍) But I think we must also put trust in God. My friend at Bible study once discussed how we should set up a bug out place, to stockpile arms, and food. I agreed. That night I had the most vivid dream ever! I stepped outside and planes were crashing out of the sky. Everything was on fire. People were yelling for help. But suddenly I felt a hand rest upon my head from above. And I immediately felt complete peace and calm. I walked down the street and little children came to me and grasped onto my fingers. I walked with them, and told them “Do not fear, no harm can come to you.” And we walked, as if totally invincible, amid total chaos. I awoke and I knew the message. God told me that if I trust in what I can do, destruction will come. I could do all kinds of preparation and one person with a gun could take it, or one stone from Heaven could kill me. Spiritual preparation was the most important, and knowing that only God, and the spirit of Jesus can offer ultimate protection.

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Apr 15Liked by Theodore Atkinson

Genius minds... :D

Yep, babies are cared for by their mom until old enough to eat pellets (unlike chickens that need special care), are quiet (great for pesky neighbors), not prone to being killed by predators, easy to clean for cooking, pelts could be useful in a pinch, can graze on grass so cheaper to feed, manure is much nicer (less smelly, easy to manage) just spread it around the garden...

All that to say,I'd still opt for a few yard birds, nice to have some chicken meat and eggs...

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May 13Liked by Theodore Atkinson

It's my understanding that one cannot live on rabbits - not enough fat. The term "rabbit starvation" when there's nothing to eat but rabbit.

I've often thought a horse trough with circulation for tilapia would be a good plan.

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Apr 23Liked by Theodore Atkinson

Yep so glad I got out of the city 5 years ago and moved onto an acre of land in a wilderness area. Homesteaders are the last truly free Americans.

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It's the last stand and the only practical option left.

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Apr 23Liked by Theodore Atkinson

I would move further out into the woods if I could, the evil is getting deeper and darker by the day.

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What I find most amusing about the complaints of inflation is they generally come from the same types of people who were suggesting that people like me were evil because we saw that shutting down the economy for a “virus” was going to have severe longterm consequences.

This is before getting into central banking, peak oil, falling EROI, and other complex topics. The average person is incapable (and as Carlin reminds us from the grave, 50% are below that) of even beginning to understand the future that awaits them. They have no concept of why the way things are now and why they will be different in the future beyond “I’ll buy fewer Doritos”.

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“I’ll buy fewer Doritos” killed me. Like are you people serious? They advocated for shutting down the global economy, scapegoated an entire population, violated their rights, killed more people than were "saved," and when those retarded ideas shockingly don't work one of the answers is to eat less Doritos.

Are there multiple subspecies in human populations?

They're not gonna like Kali's black unlubed dildo of consequences.

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Apr 23Liked by Theodore Atkinson

"They're not gonna like Kali's black unlubed dildo of consequences."

That's the kind of harsh wake up call poetry people need now.

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Apr 14Liked by Theodore Atkinson

Adoption of the «Food Programme» in 1982 was perhaps the first time Soviet leadership admitted that the country isn't well and isn't moving in the right direction. From there, it however took another nine years for the USSR to circle the drain one last time.

This might be roughly the point where the West is now, which might mean false revival («perestroika») is still ahead of us.

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Food security seems to be the signal before a nasty flush, and I suspect you're correct that the West is in a similar state. The problem is the time scale, because this could drag out for a long time since it's not isolated to a single country or state.

I've been trying a few alternatives over the years, like homemade soap, which kinda sucks. I hope there's more time because getting good alternatives is hard.

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Apr 21Liked by Theodore Atkinson

We used to homestead... I don't know if you've ever 'grated' a fav. soap bar then dissolved it in a big pan of water...voilà - liquid soap. Lasts for ages at a tiny fraction of the price. Our children would 'play' outdoors with full bottles of Bronners liquid soap which cost about $20 compared to $2 for a bar. They wouldn't play with the boiled down type but it still functioned well as soap.

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I've used the grated version sparsely before, but I've made liquid soap with KOH. The results weren't the greatest and I ended up using it as a bug spray in the garden. We started ordering a whole beef every year and I've been playing with the idea of using the tallow for something useful.

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Apr 22Liked by Theodore Atkinson

Yes - tallow used/use for moisturiser, it's incredible, that and pig fat. One of many lessons I didn't abandon when we sold up and moved to Europe.

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I don't think we need to return to an agrarian way of life, I just think people need to learn to grow more of their own food, and that's different. People used to get a lot more of their fruits and vegetables from the garden, which is also a way better way to do it because a lot of what's sold in stores is there based on what can be preserved easily, not based on what people like the most. I don't think there's anything wrong with agriculture but I don't think everyone needs to go run back to the countryside. Modern agriculture is industrial anyway.

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Everyone has a different assessment of the situation. An agrarian way of life puts more control back into the individual's hands, but I understand not everyone can handle that. The issue being governments and large corporations can easily get their claws into industrialized systems through technology and regulation, which they're currently doing. The risk adverse philosophy is to eliminate third parties as much as possible if trust and confidence have deteriorated.

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It's not about wanting to be self-sufficient or whatever in my opinion, it's just agrarians didn't land on the Moon or invent the Internet, the printing press, or half the technologies we use today. The risk isn't for convenience, it's for what people can achieve when they work together. I think I'd rather take that risk even if not everyone can handle it.

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Apr 15·edited Apr 15Author

"... it's for what people can achieve when they work together."

That is the problem with monetary collapse, people stop working together because there's a breakdown in the division of labour, which is why food and energy are the highest priorities in countries experiencing hyperinflation. This is also why dictatorships and totalitarianism often follows because it reorganizes society through a command economy.

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May 13Liked by Theodore Atkinson

We each have different skills. I am excellent at making candles. I know herbal medicine. I'm crap at growing food, and preserving, but my mate is excellent at canning. I see barter in our future. My skills, services & products for yours.

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Even if we assumed you were correct about me being bitter about becoming a helicopter pilot (read more closely), none of that addresses the issue I’ve raised: human beings turn to goo after even short amounts of time in zero G. Space is not our home. It is a giant ass waste of resources to go there. We can’t live there. But keep repeating the brainwashing you’ve received about it. It seems to be working well for you.

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You just talked past me. I asked if the person spliced with tardigrade genes was a Homo sapiens. <The nature of life is change; this is how it differs from the rocks...> I don't care about "our" home, I don't care about who "we" are, the point is that things progress and if you don't progress with them you shall take your place among the fossils so I don't care.

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And how many people did landing on the Moon feed, precisely? How many human beings were lifted out of poverty by Apollo 11? What are we Eartbound mortals supposed to do with this lunar landing paid for with our tax dollars? (Which actually just contracted/bought most of Hughes Aircraft company's rocketry division lock, stock, and barrel - because Hughes had already gone to the Moon with Surveyor.)

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https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1176826141609308231/1229323125834121236/quote-as-the-struggle-for-survival-has-subsided-the-question-has-emerged-survival-for-what-viktor-e-frankl-41-30-94.png?ex=662f4360&is=661cce60&hm=97a9c195b8a5c832807008be5b74380032e9812dceadf9fef4f5d8c082154bff&

Man does not live by bread alone, except for you apparently. You need that munchy munchy bread on the table, doesn’t matter if you have anything for your mind. I often wonder if it was the government’s job to land on the Moon and if NASA didn’t set us back by decades, but that doesn’t change the fact someone needed to do it.

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I'm kinda yanking your chain because you used the Moon landing as an example - and I recently wrote a bit of a screed about this exact topic: people being propagandized into believing the lunar landing is some kind of pinnacle of achievement. (BTW, I feel the exact same way about Musk going to Mars).

https://theabjectlesson.substack.com/p/the-real-false-narrative-around-the

I can appreciate the engineering and the goal, but I would respectfully suggest that it really is more Ego trip (mixed with sci-fi escapism) than anything else. It's not helping Man in any concrete way and ignoring a massive amount of problems that could help actually people starving in the here and now. I'd say that your Biblical quote might be misplaced; I don't think Christ would have been applauding Elon while the homeless are starving in our streets.

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Elon hasn't gone to Mars. America saved people from starving unlike Soviet Russia so the Moon landing was a symbol of freedom and prosperity. The lunar landing is some kind of pinnacle of achievement even if we should've done more and maybe the government shouldn't have been involved in space travel because we didn't do more.

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Apr 14Liked by Theodore Atkinson

> Canada's inflation rate is falling, so why are grocery prices still so expensive?

What an incredibly stupid question. What do people think inflation is? The balloon is getting bigger slower than it was a minute ago, so why isn't it smaller?

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I think there's people out there dumb enough to be tricked by that wordplay, but also others who are wilfully blind and want to live in their fantasy world where companies are just rudely ripping people off for no reason. I dunno.

Those CBC articles are painful to read.

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😳YOU READ “CBC ARTICLES”???

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Hey it can be good comedy.

Plus if you negate everything you get a good idea of what they don't want you to think, which can be revealing, but I do have my limits...

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Apr 14Liked by Theodore Atkinson

Amen.

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Apr 23Liked by Theodore Atkinson

Have you ever read Ivan Illich? He was onto the fact that our social institutions were doing the opposite of what they said they were doing back in the 70s and early 80s. Medical Nemesis is particularly relevant to the Covid era, and Tools for Conviviality is the white pill book he wrote.

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I haven't actually. Interesting guy, and from almost 50 years ago.

"Illich says that the presence of American 'do-gooders' is causing more harm than good."

Seems there were a lot of voices aware of where the tides were headed, but they all died around the turn of the century. Apparently when the soldiers and visionaries from the last great war die out, a new war begins.

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Apr 15Liked by Theodore Atkinson

i would like to meet the 26% of the people who are making over 200K,and don't find it easy to feed their families and household. 220K a year is upper middle class, and 74% said it was easy to feed their family's. doesn't make sense that it's not closer to 100% or at least the mid 90's. what say you?

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I think the numbers are BS. Nothing they say makes sense anyway, and it has an odd symmetry with the lower income bracket which makes me think it's purely for narrative. The only good reason a household making that much money can't afford food is if they've choked themselves out with debt, like a massive mortgage.

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Apr 15Liked by Theodore Atkinson

Average yield per acre of rice in 2023 in the US was 7,649 pounds. Overall average can vary depending upon many factors and can be as low as 2,000 pounds per acre. Even at the lower end of the range it would only take about 1/5 of an acre to get a yield of a pound per day for a year. At the higher end of the average range you could do it on 2,000 square feet (a 50’ x 50’ square).

Potatoes yield 10,000 30,000 pounds per acre. You can grow and raise all your food and firewood needs on 10 acres.

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I've heard similar numbers where around 10-15 acres is the sweet spot, depending on the land. It's a lot of work though and takes years to setup. We finally got the land, but it's gonna take a few seasons to shape it into a homestead, but I'll take my chances doing that than rat utopia.

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Apr 15Liked by Theodore Atkinson

PERMACULTURE: This Is The Way

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Apr 15Liked by Theodore Atkinson

Edit: 2,500 square feet, not 2,000

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👍🙏🕊️

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Apr 14Liked by Theodore Atkinson

👍🏻

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Apr 23Liked by Theodore Atkinson

Fiat Money is not worth the paper that it isn’t printed on.

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Nor the screen it's displayed on.

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I ate the last of the cabbage I put away last fall, yesterday. We are almost out of carrots. Plenty of potatoes and squash left though. This year I will grow more carrots, cabbage and onions.

Basically I built a box around a basement window, keeping the window open adjusting it depending on the weather.

https://williamhunterduncan.substack.com/p/happy-thanksgiving

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Apr 16·edited Apr 16Author

I like the window idea. The cold room I have should be a little colder, but I need a decent way of regulating the temperature. How many cabbages did you put in to last that long? I'm going to go wild on pretty much everything but cabbages. Where I am it takes extra work because of the bugs, so I have to be careful how many I put in.

Actually, you should post roughly what your yields are and how long they lasted your family size. That's really useful information for everyone.

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I planted cabbages that were bred for storage. I probably put away about twenty of them, not including the 10-15 we used for saurkraut. I will not store red cabbage again as they do not last near as long. My mom just bought a cabbage at the grocery store and it is junk compared the last cabbage we ate. I will post a list at your request.

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Good info. I usually grow red so maybe I'll put in a bunch of green ones too.

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Apr 15Liked by Theodore Atkinson

Canadians should be proud to have such spokesperson as Theodore. Although y'all are pants due to the Royal ruling class. America is your ONLY hope. So please stop dreaming you'll ever be free as the USA. SUPPORT the USA and the RNC. So there may be hope for Canada and the rest of the shackled world citizens of God.

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Apr 15Liked by Theodore Atkinson

What a crazy place Canada has become. The only reason I can think of why one would stay is if the magnetic pole shift came soon and it went into the equator, which seems unlikely.

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It's not that easy to leave unfortunately. The best alternative is strategically relocating, especially to provinces that push back more against the federal government, but there's not a lot of options. I think Canada as a whole is basically finished, which is sad.

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Apr 15Liked by Theodore Atkinson

“In fact, 74 percent of those earning more than 200 thousand dollars found it very easy or easy.”

What on earth are the other 26 percent eating? Caviar and endangered species steaks covered in gold leaf?

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😂 I have no idea. It's hard to take those articles seriously.

I swear there's a hat they pull numbers out of, but maybe there are some people literally eating gold.

Who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Apr 15Liked by Theodore Atkinson

Matthias Desmet does a great job in his The Psychology of Totalitarianism explaining how totalitarian systems exploit the seeming objectivity of numbers to advance their goals. Government statistics are like a Jedi mind trick. They overpower the will of the weak minded masses, who don’t even consider the possibility that they could be totally made up.

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I like Matthias Desmet. Quite ironic how objectivity can be used to reveal the truth but also distort it.

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