Glad to have found this site! I need a place to go for my survivalist tendancies, as my husband is starting to look more and more concerned every time I start talking about prepping topics! lol A few years ago we had a power outage for five days. That taught us a thing or two about being prepared (helped us think of a lot of 'what if' scenarios, too). Then my husband lost his job, and we found ourselves living off the bulk food stored in the house. Here I'd been buying in bulk whenever it was cheaper and storing the bulk in the basement, but that bulk turned out to be a lifeline for us. Since then I've just had this need imprinted on my heart (for lack of a better description) to be prepared. We recently moved a little ways into the country (more land, less taxes), and have put in lots of fruit and nut trees. My husband and I both really want to be more self-sufficient, and we've been getting quite and education (logging, gardening, canning & drying, etc.). We have yet to get the kids on board. Looking forward to learning more, and hopefully being able to give back as much knowledge as I receive.
:welcome: to the forum fellow Ohioan! :wave: :congrat: on the rural property what type of fruit/nut trees did you plant? have you thought about maple trees for syrup?
Fruit: half dozen apple trees, some pears, some cherries, some plums - all semi-dwarf. Nut: all english/persian walnuts (already have black walnuts and hickory nuts producing on the property) And yes, we've definitely thought of maples for syrup! We have a huge, huge old sugar maple in the front that may very well pre-date statehood - I'd be reluctant to tap into it. But we're looking to put a bunch of baby sugars in next year (small trees to go with the small budget). The syrup process seems a bit daunting - is it something you do?
