Moving out to the family farm this Fall. Getting ready for doom.

My family has 65 acres held in trust in semi-rural Arkansas. I have over a dozen family members who own land adjacent to this acreage. There are two houses, barns, wells, timber, and creek bottom for farming.

October first I'm moving the wife and kid out there. The extended family are all in agreement that now is the time to get ourselves into "defcon 1" mode. Economic doom is imminent. We've been watching it for years and are surprised it's made it this long. But the time is at hand.

I'm actually excited. I'm putting in a large garden; my first in 5 years. I'll bring in some minor livestock. A couple pigs or goats.

The family is all in together. One is specializing in chickens, of which he has a couple dozen. Another is doing rabbits. Of course everybody has a garden. My own specialization is bread. I've got 300 pounds of wheat (hope to double that by xmas) and a hand crank wheat mill. I'm well equipped and experienced in bread baking.

I look to grow dent corn and exchange some of it as corn meal or animal feed for sweet corn from my family members. I figure this'll eliminate cross pollination of the two corns. I'm contemplating milk goats for cheese and butter making. The pasture land has grown up bad so cows are out of the question. Great for goats though.

I figure I'm the spearhead that'll get the place ready for the extended family to come back home (those who don't live nearby or who lose their mortgages).

We collectively know almost all the neighbors and have for at least one generation. Most have gardens of their own. Some have livestock. I expect all own guns.

Doom looms and yet there is something comforting in getting back to simplicity. I do not fear what is coming. My grand parents grew up with no running water or electricity. Oil lamps, cotton pickin', and hog killin'. If it was good enough for them then it's good enough for me. If they could do it then so can I.

And my child will not know hunger because...

a country boy can survive.

I wish you all the best.