We have had a gardens for many years. Not just vegetable but flower gardens too. We love to garden and we love fresh vegetables. This was not initiated, or driven, by prepper culture but it fits right in there. We just like to garden, especially my wife.

Four years ago I was in a position to help organize a community garden. We got enough people together to get it going. It is not large plot but interest is growing and the garden is flourishing, with more people joining every year. There is no cost to participate and you can grow what you want. One elderly couple harvested enough potatoes in 2011 them a whole year. We learn from each other and help each other out. At harvest time we all pitch in some fresh, home grown produce and donate it to the local food bank. The group ranges in age from those in their 20's to those in their 70's all working together for a common goal.

It is endeavors like these that renew my faith in humanity.

We have had a gardens for many years. Not just vegetable but flower gardens too. We love to garden and we love fresh vegetables. This was not initiated, or driven, by prepper culture but it fits right in there. We just like to garden, especially my wife.

Four years ago I was in a position to help organize a community garden. We got enough people together to get it going. It is not large plot but interest is growing and the garden is flourishing, with more people joining every year. There is no cost to participate and you can grow what you want. One elderly couple harvested enough potatoes in 2011 them a whole year. We learn from each other and help each other out. At harvest time we all pitch in some fresh, home grown produce and donate it to the local food bank. The group ranges in age from those in their 20's to those in their 70's all working together for a common goal.

It is endeavors like these that renew my faith in humanity.

Well done ICRCC! We need more of this kinda thing.

I have been called red neck, hillbilly and a few other less than complimentary terms one sister-in-law, she can't figure out why I would want to grow my own food and is not willing to actually listen to what I say when it comes to anything organic and what the food ind. is doing to us. One brother just ignores me entirly when I say anything not related to cars. The other one and his wife are, at least, growing a small garden where they live but still think the gov't will save us all when something happens.

The in-laws are trying to do some prepping and definetly support us in our trials, unfortuatly their health isn't very good (diabetic heart problems severlly overweight) and they have the most wonderful drug dealling neighbours stealling anything that's not bolted down. Makes it very hard for them to get anything done. Wish I could convince them to sell the place and move up here.

Find it kind of amusing, my family seems to try to diswade me from doing what needs to be done and beleive in the gov't and my wife's family fully supports us. Ah well, can't choose you family but you can choose your wife. Think I made the right choice.

i know what its like susannah. everyone in my family thinks im nuts apart from my mum, but then she cant stomach being crazy so she makes jokes about me to everyone else but when the SHTF they will be the ones in trouble. my sister thinks nothing bad ever happens in new zealand... theres a shooting on the news and instantly "its probably fake new zealanders aren't like that" so i have come to the conclusion that she will die of ignorance refusing to accept what is happening.

Hmmm... I'm regarded as the renegade survivalist by family and friends. I make a point of serving home grown right after a sample of store bought so flavor alone sells the garden. The dirt here is little more than sandy clay which I have converted into rich black soil with the help of a high speed composter. (I might put 'flame decals' on the drum 😆 ) Having abundant light and heat when the power goes out has the neighbors wondering. I do have a few friends with a 'Mormon cupboard' who are interested in what I am doing and prepping to some extent themselves but they are few and far between.

For the most part my efforts while respected are also regarded as a bit 'eccentric' ?

If you want a good look at wood mulch gardening please check out http://backtoedenfilm.com/ I have yet to try it (next year for sure!) but have seen several video's that claim it is repeatable in many climates. I call it 'working with mother nature, not against her'.

My partner and I moved in with my parents to help them out. They're getting up there in years and can't do a lot of what needs done. My partner and I have been prepping for about a year. We keep this under wraps, because the folks would NOT understand. I am suspicious of everything our government tells us (we're in Canada), and I know that when anything happens, we'll be on our own. The folks don't see things that way. We all live out in the bush, (Northern Ontario), and recently a community not too many hours away lost a major route (the only way I think) into town. For those that had thought ahead and planned for what *might* happen, it wouldn't have been too much a hardship. Every month, there is another example of why we should prep, but the folks don't see things that way.
So we prep where we can, enough for the whole family. If the SHTF, they're going to turn to us anyway, so we might as well anticipate it, right?
To that end, I plan to plant as many gardens as I can handle. Corn, potatoes, berries, apple trees, carrots, peas, tomatoes, green beans; everything that has become a staple for us.

Over the past few years my family has ranged in their attitude towards prepping. I've a few family members who are in, wholly helping me prep and expand our current preps. Then there are the mediums who aren't quite sure, do some things because it's convenient to them but do believe that the government will help and some people in my family have no clue and would scoff if I told them. When the medium to no clue/scoffers ask why I do what I do, I tell them I have allergies. I need to know what is in my food. I need to know what is in my soaps. (Allergies are such a convenient excuse especially when it's true!) We've always had a wood burning furnace and a windmill for water so that's not even a blip on their radar. As for the rest, what the mind doesn't know the heart won't fret over... However, I am putting away extra because when SHTF who do you think will be hosting all these extra relatives?? 😯

In our family we're getting looked at as being a little nuts, including the kids seeing us that way. Sadly, I must confess to going through a period of "Keeping up with the Jones", then the DH and I had an awakening. What were we doing? In the last 4 years we've sold our huge suburban house in the city and moved to a small house on 5 acres in the country, I lost my corporate job and watched my savings vanish and credit card debt balloon, and we started a family business that is still a lot of work. This year we are launching a major garden. We're not new to gardening, but we got away from it for a few years. The kids don't really remember getting food from the garden, so they're not sure about this project. The parents are worried we'll burn out with all our plans ("that's what children are for Mother"). Our folks think the government will take care of everyone, yet without thinking they have a large well stocked pantry, a vegetable garden, alternate sources of light and heat, bottled water, and wilderness skills. (Don't tell them this, but they're preppers too 😆 )

I have my parents to thank for giving me a sense of gardening/ look after yourself. Growing up we always had a large garden and mom put away much of what we grew, but it was always more of saving money on the food bill during the winter then just cause we wanted to. Dad worked seasonal construction and money was tight in the winter with three kids and foster children even with mom working full time. Although we didn't have a farm or many animals we had lots of land for growing. My uncle though is a full time farmer and i spent many a days helping him and i belive thats where i get my love for it. I bought my little farm when i was 21 but the last 10 years haven't done much with it, wish i wouldv'e done more, though its a old homestead sadly much of the land has grown up or the old fields planted with white pine(grrr). now we only have about 8 acres thats useable but we're working on expanding/ recaiming it now that we're taking prepping/ self reliance a lot more seriously. so if i was to tell the extended family we were prepping i'd probably get some looks and a raised eyebrow but if we say were growing our own food for us and the animals then its lots of support. But when SHTF i know where everyone would be heading, even the inlaws who put up lots of canned food but got no back up power/heat or water would be here. My wife works full time but she doesn't like her job and wants to quit so i told her when we can grow enough food to sustain us she can and when we're debt free mabey i can leave my job to(haha). But for now we'll keep working on farm trying to bring it back to its original golry and keep working on being as self reliant as possible, you have to start somewhere...

I'm lucky, mine does. My wife is from New Brunswick but she has a sister who lives about an hours drive from us. One day prepping came up in a conversation and we explained to her sister and husband what we're doing and why. Now they prep. I also explained to my brother and sister what we do and why and they've come on board with their families. Two of my neices and my nephew have started to prep. My wifes best friend and and her daughter have gotten into it and several of my friends have started.
Right now we live in the city and I have a job I enjoy but, I'm hoping to move out to the acreage next year. We still have a lot of work to do but it's slowly getting done. In a couple of months I'm taking two weeks off to build a shop at the acreage. After that, a greenhouse, a well shed and more storage. I guess we're further ahead than most but we still have a long way to go. This summer I've made arrangements with some very well trained professionals to give us lessons on long range, precision shooting and security. The friends and family members who are in our group have a good variety of useful skills including, gardening, carpentry, welding, mechanics, military, medical and plumbing & electrical. We're still trying to learn more about dehydrating and canning. We're getting there slowly but we're getting there. I know we'll never be completely ready but we keep plugging along.

TAZ

Hi Guys,

So, just putting it out there, how many of us have family that gets it? when it comes to our choices in regards to gardening, canning, farming, and the list goes on! Is it the norm or is it the odd one out?

We had a funny thing happen when my brother (who thinks I'm nuts) got married, being career people they had chosen not to have kids themselves and didn't want kids at their wedding or reception.
Living five hours away and being that all the family would be at the wedding so no baby sitters available we said well sorry but we won't be able to come....the next day I got a call from my brother to say 'Bring the kids, bring the dogs, cats, goats and the chickens for all he cared just be there.' 😆
His brides father was not impressed at all with the kids being there and refused to acknowledge our presence 😉
They behaved very well as they have been well disciplined and never ever misbehaved anywhere...oh well, family 😆

I don't really talk about my thoughts to my family anymore as they have never really listened and only think I'm the crazy black sheep so I won't waste my breathe anymore.
I am the one that gets spoken about at family functions and never in a positive way, if I were thinner skinned I would be offended by many things that are said but instead I know I will get the last laugh so I try not to let them bother me.
I went and had a drink with my mum after my orchestra practice on the weekend and something was said about when we kiddies were young and she said yes you always were 'butch' and still are...she had only ever prior to this called me a tomboy which I didn't mind as it was true but not butch, I nearly cried on the inside but only said 'that's not very nice' so she corrected herself and said 'tough' oh dear she was making me feel like some sort of lesbian bikie covered in tattoes or something 🙁
I get critised for not dressing up etc but 90% of the time I am in my garden and look simply like a gardener which doesn't seem to disturb people who drop in to do a tour of my gardens and listen to me with respect but my family have little to no respect for me and my life choices.
My Dad knicknamed me 'Cares' because I cared so passionately about things...I think he understood me better because he too was a gardener...I so miss him!
I have a very funny family!!!

Don't we all. I know the feeling of the family talking about you in a not so positive way. I get it from my family no matter what I say or do, and they wonder why I don't bother to call, write, Skype, visit or have any thing to do with them anymore. Can't be bothered with it. If I wanted to be treated like that I would go back to school.

That being said, my in-laws are absolutely wonderful. They are supportive of what and why we prep and do some themselves. To bad I can't convince them to leave the coast and move here.

I don't really talk about prepping to anyone. My mom lives a couple of blocks away and she knows and is supportive and even helps out when she can, but financially she can't do much. So I am prepping for her as well as myself and my two daughters. We have a family with whom we are good friends and they know I prep, but even thought they aren't preppers, they are major gardeners and grow their own food every season. Other than that, no one knows and I would prefer to keep it that way. I will also invite the girls' dad, my ex, to be with us if and when the SHTF because he is the father of my children, but I would never tell him I am prepping because he would totally think I am wacko. The fewer people who know about it, then better IMO and in my situation.

My mom also knows I prep, she just doesn't know what it's called. To her, it's just what you do. She saw my pantry just after I built it, so it wasn't even half full yet.
She knows I grow as much of my own food as I can...she did too back in the day.
She knows I can a lot of what I produce...she did too back in the day.
She knows I store water...ok, she didn't do that because she grew up with a hand pump sticking out of the kitchen counter!
She knows I heat with wood, and when she heard how much money we spend on heating each year, wishes she could too!
She knows we stock up on things when they are on sale, and never have to run to the store for something we ran out of...yup she did that too back in the day.
Now, she lives alone in a little house in a small town, and although she does store a few things, not to the extent that I do, or that she used to either, but she would be ok for a week or two, and has my brother right in town who is quite resourceful. They would all be welcome here for something major.
Then there is my sister in T.O.
She spends like money is going out of style...if it fits on one of the credit cards, or can be split between a couple of them, then she can afford it in her mind!
My sister actually saw a few supplies in my mother's pantry and told her she shouldn't buy any more food until everything she had on hand was used up!
I told her to boost her water and get more canned food that didn't need cooking.
Funny how some kids get what their parents taught them and some don't!
Ya, sure, at 10 years of age I thought weeding in the garden was slave labor, now I can't wait for the snow to completely melt off my beds and get my hands dirty.
I just hope that my kids get it when I teach them!

Some great comments and points of view in this thread! We have been actively prepping for about a year. My wife was surprisingly up for it. I make a pretty good living but rather than spend it all on junk I view purchases of canned goods, bottled water, and other assorted survival supplies as better investments than putting money in the bank. When SHTF I say you had better have invested some of your money in bullets and beans! We have a garden in the backyard, it is not big but it gives us a few veggies over the summer but not enough for long term storage. I am playing with container gardening etc. to maximize our harvest. Our parents are pretty avid gardeners so for us to do this is not unusual. I haven't really told them about the other prepping activities we do, but I think they know me well enough to think it would be well within my character to do such a thing. I have often pondered aloud about leaving the city and getting some land to become more self sufficient. I think they would not think that would be too much out of character either. We are looked on like outdoorsy types anyway.