by Randy Dyess
During the week when Mark wasn’t working with Owen, he spent time trying to straighten out everything that had been going on with him and Kelly and their preparations. The amount of stuff they needed to do and the short time they had left to get everything done was putting Mark over the edge. There was too much to do and he felt they were fighting an uphill battle since he was constantly adding something else to the list. He finally gave up late Friday night deciding they would do what they were able to over the next two years. What was done was done and what wasn’t, they would just have to manage once he lost his job.
When Saturday morning rolled around, Mark ate a quick breakfast and started organizing his thoughts for when he had to talk to his mom and dad and Kelly’s parents. The kids finally finished up and went to watch cartoons upstairs and Kelly came into the living room. “You look at little down in the dumps.”
Mark sighed and looked at her, “There is just so much we have to do. It’s like we haven’t done anything over the last twenty years which will help us in this situation. We now have a two year deadline to make up for the last twenty. I’m a little overwhelmed right now trying to figure everything out.” Mark went on and started talking about the farm and its needs. He did not see much of the farm the day they took granny to the farm. He only got a quick glance at the house and barns from the driveway before they left for the lawyer’s office. Mark remembered all the buildings and most of the fences were all dilapidated and he felt like they would have to tear them down and start over.
“Plus,” he continued. “I think with the amount of work we have to finish on the farm, we are going to have to buy a pickup to replace my car. We need something we can haul stuff in, tow a trailer, and hold the entire family. I looked around and found several used diesel pickups on lots nearby and think we should get one of those dual cab trucks. It would be powerful enough to haul anything we need. Most of them have enough room for 5 adults to sit comfortable and will be large enough for all four of us to ride in at once.”
“Why a used one and not a new one?” Kelly asked.
“If fuel prices keep going up, it will only be useful for a few more years before we can’t afford to drive one of those gas eating monsters around. They get horrible gas mileage, but they are useful for what we need to do. I’ve done a little research on biodiesel, but haven’t convinced myself that I can make enough to keep one of those pickups full enough to be useful. It may be an expensive object sitting in some shed in a few years and rusting away, but we need it today.”
“I also found a few used tractors with front-end loaders and mowers. I think we need one of those as well.” Mark continued on by listing several more items he would need in order to clean up the land surrounding the house and level the house and barns. He told her he estimated to get started on the farm they would have to spend about $65,000. Another $20,000 would be needed to replace the septic system and water well. This would only leave around $15,000 out of their savings left to do everything else they needed to do.
Kelly sighed and sat there for a few minutes before asking, “How much do you think it would cost to get the farm up and running without a house? If we could get electricity, water and the septic fixed we can pull a camper up there in case we wanted to stay several days. I think we can get a used camper for almost nothing today. This would give us something to start with. If things go down faster than we think they will at least we would have water, septic, and something over our heads.”
“So if I had to build a farm without living on the land right away. We would still need the majority of the infrastructure in place to be somewhat self-sufficient in case of a collapse--,” Mark said out loud while talking to himself. He walked around the room thinking for a few more minutes. “I think I might be able to get a small farm up and running by early spring of next year for about $100,000. This would get us everything from the pickup to fencing for the pastures. It wouldn’t make use of all 287 acres. We may not be able to have a herd of cattle or horses, but we could grow enough food to feed everyone. We would be able to have vegetable gardens, fruit orchards, and raise small animals like chickens, rabbits, and goats. This amount would pay for all buildings, fences, equipment, and tools we would need to start the farm. It would also allow us to put in a little extra to maintain the farm after a meltdown. There may still be a lot of stuff I’m not thinking of right now, but those items should only be another ten or so thousand dollars. I think the original figure would even be enough to pay for the gas to go up there and work on the place whenever we have free time. Although, if the gas keeps going up like it has this month, we may be out of luck on that part.” Mark said. He was referring to the fact the price of gas had risen by more than $1 in the last twenty days. The price was supposed to go up another fifty cents right after Memorial Day. He thought it would go up at least another $1 this summer and would not go down in the fall like it usually did after the summer driving season ended.
Mark’s internal dialog stopped when Kelly said, “Look, I know you have taken this whole fuel shortage planning thing mostly on by yourself. I know you know I’m behind you 100%, but it seems to me you are trying to do everything yourself and I’m just here for the ride. Why don’t we divide things up and each do everything on their lists? We can do what we have always done at work and have status reports. We can use these meetings to keep each other informed of our progress and anything we might need that will cost a large amount of money. That is if you trust me to do my part without you looking over my shoulder.”
“Of course I trust you. We might as well make some use of what we have done in the last twenty years. It seems like we will not have many other skills which will be useful in the future. How do you want to divide things up?”
“I want to handle the garden,” Kelly said. “I will work with you to build the garden, but I will handle what we plant. I will also handle the canning and storage and cooking of everything we grow.”
“Really? I didn’t think you like to cook.”
“I’m getting into it. I like how everyone looks when they eat what I cook.”
She thought for a moment and said, “I don’t want to be the one who slaughters whatever we eat, but I’ll put it away and cook it when necessary.”
“Ok. For my part, I will build everything, plan for all the animals, and worry about the disaster stuff as well. I will also worry about all equipment and tools.”
“I want to be responsible for the house as well,” Kelly said. “I don’t know what we will end up with, but I’ll do the research on it.”
“That’s fine, but we will help each other out and learn about what the other is doing. Cross-train ourselves so if you are sick I know how to can whatever needs to be canned that weekend and you can help me build when necessary. I don’t want to fall into the ‘man/women’ roles that had happened in the past. We both should know as much as we can.”
“Deal,” Kelly smiled. “I know you will need the bulk of our savings for the farm and equipment. I will try to figure out the house without using what we have saved so far. How about I give us an eighteen month deadline to figure out the housing situation? If something happens before then, we can commute to the farm and stay in a camper if need be. If we happen to sell this one soon, we can rent something cheaper and closer to the farm until we lose our jobs. This will allow us to continue commuting to work, but would allow us to save even more money each month.”
“Ok. The difference between our current mortgage payments and the new rent goes into savings for the new house. Plus, anything we make off of the sale of this one will go into that savings account as well,” Mark said.
“I can live with that. I also get the 401ks when we close them out. And if I need to take out a mortgage for a new house, I can as long as I pay it off completely before the eighteen months is over.”
“I’ll agree to that,” Mark said with a big smile on his face. He had felt like a huge load had been taken off his shoulders. Kelly was beginning to be one of h
is greatest assets.
Kelly looked at Mark and said, “Why don’t you take off and go up to the farm. I know you want to look around and solidify your feelings about the place. Take some time to look over tractors and tools and such while you are there. I want to spend the days with the girls. We need to find work clothes for everyone if they are going to be spending time rebuilding the farm. None of us really have any clothes that would hold up during actual work. All of our clothes are made for style and not for actually doing anything in them. We basically need everything from hats to keep the sun off their heads to work boots and shoes.”
It was the time of year the temperatures were already reaching the upper 80’s. Mark left as soon as he was able to get ready to try to avoid the mid-afternoon heat. While he drove out to Madill, he stopped at a Tex-Mart and bought a GPS unit to mark the perimeter of his new property with GPS waypoints. He wanted to create waypoints for features he found on the land and put all the waypoints into a map of their place with all the features on it. The unit he bought allowed him to download USGS maps and pin his waypoints to those maps to build a detailed map of the farm he could print. He would use the maps to help plan what he would do with the property.
After arriving at the farm and spending some time taking a better look at things, Mark was surprised that the main barn still looked to be in decent shape. He didn’t think the building would be useful for a main barn because of its age. Although, the building did look like it only needed minor repairs to make it suitable for storing the equipment and tools. He was also surprised someone had disconnected the electricity to the other buildings but left it on in the main barn and the well house. This would allow him to have electricity and water during his construction which would make things a lot easier. He took a sample of the water so he could have the water tested. If the water was good, he would not have to rebuild the well. A good well would take a big item off his list of things to do. The other sheds, barns, and the house were total write-offs and he would need to just tear them down and start over. He also remembered he needed to get the electricity changed over to his name and see if there was a past due bill he needed to pay. He searched through the folder given to him by the lawyer and found the information he needed and made himself a note to take care of it early next week. Mark sat out in his car and started creating lists of supplies he thought he would need to rebuild the farm. He created a list for repairing the barn and for cutting down the weeds and small trees on the few acres surrounding the current home site. He created another list for new fencing and building the gardens. A third list for building animal housing and a chicken coop. He also create a list for items he would need while working on the farm. Mark even created a list of lists so he could track all the lists he had already created. He needed to be organized so he would be able to find the items as cheap as he could.
While driving home, Mark kept passing places selling little metal carports. He wondered if he might be able to figure out how to use those for the most of his outbuildings. Mark thought he would use them for the roof and wall structures, but then fill in the sides to make them useful for storage sheds and barns. He would need to find out how to make the carports more secure against high winds, but was confident he should be able to come up with something. Mark also stopped at a place outside of Madill which sold used tractors and talked to the owner about a few tractors and trailers he had on his lot. Not knowing much about tractors, Mark was happy he did not get the impression the man was taking advantage of him. The owner, Carl, talked to Mark about his plans and actually told him he needed a smaller tractor than the one Mark was looking at. Carl actually told Mark to rent something bigger for the initial build and then purchase a much smaller tractor for his ongoing needs. Mark liked Carl a lot and was so impressed with his honesty. He ended up purchasing a trailer and tractor and arranged for Carl to store them until he could buy a pickup and come back to pick them up. Mark also arranged for the rental of a larger tractor with mower attachment as well as a brush hog to cut down the smaller trees. He ended up renting Mark a large chainsaw and other assorted tools he would need to get the farm cleaned up. Carl gave Mark the name and number of his son who owned a bulldozer and told Mark to call him to arrange to tear down the house and barns. Carl said his son loved driving the thing and tearing up stuff, so the cost would be very cheap. Mark laughed and said he would call him the next week.
Chapter 15
Kelly had a much harder time shopping for the things she wanted than Mark had finishing his tasks at the farm. It seemed to her many of the clothes sold in America were both cheaply made and expensive. After visiting several of her favorite stores, Kelly decided she didn’t know where to go buy clothes suited to the rigors of farm work. Even the children’s clothing she was looking for seemed to be more about flash and less about substance. Her old favorite clothing stores only had clothes suited for business meetings and school activities, not for actual work or rough play. The stores did not have anything that looked like they would hold up to Kelly working in the garden or kids playing in a barn or yard. Yet alone, Mark doing all the things he needed to do around the farm without everything coming apart at the seams the first day.
As the day crept by, Kelly became frustrated with her efforts and was about to give up when she passed a western wear place on the outskirts of the mall. “What the hell,” she thought to herself and pulled into the store. After looking around the store for several minutes, Kelly did find a few items on her list. It was not until she started talking to an older sales clerk that she made any headway. The clerk told her she always shopped for her husband’s gear at either Tex-Mart or an outdoor sporting supply store depending upon who she was buying for. She told Kelly only a few brands would hold up years of manual work. They were expensive, but the price was worth it for items such as coveralls and coats. All the other stuff would be better off bought in multiple pairs at Tex-Mart and you would just expect them to tear up easily. The clerk said not many clothes today would stand up to hard wear and tear. She advised not to pay a cent extra for any name brand except for a Carhartt and a few Levi items. The sales clerk told Kelly if she didn’t want to have to replace her kids clothing every few months, she had better learn to sew. Sewing would allow her to make minor repairs to their clothes before throwing them out.
As she was leaving the store, Kelly wondered if this was something she needed to think about. Clothes would tear up during the rough and rugged life ahead of them and there may be no money to replace them as frequently as she would need to. Should she learn how to sew and patch as much of their clothes as possible to make them last longer? She should stock up pants, underwear, socks, and t-shirts for both trading and to use for her own family. She thought it would make sense to stock up on sewing supplies as well. Buy the girls several sets of clothes in the various sizes they would need over the next few years. She would need to stock up on the repair supplies as well. Shoes would be important, but so would shoe laces. Extra buttons and zippers would be useful to repair clothing which could still be useful. Kelly also thought about how to keep the girls in clothing during their growth spurts. Maybe she could buy several pairs of shoes and boots in all sizes for the girls. If they didn’t need a size, that size could be used as barter in the future. She thought about this more and more as she stocked up at the outdoor supply store and while browsing through the clothing section at Tex-Mart.
While shopping at Tex-Mark, Kelly ran across a shelf full of canning equipment. It didn’t seem to Kelly, she would need a lot of equipment to start. Kelly ended up putting a water bath canner, basic canning supplies, and several cases of wide-mouth pint and quart jars into a shopping cart. She thought she would come back later to buy whatever spices she needed once she figured out what canning recipe she would begin with. Knowing she didn’t have a lot of cooking supplies at home, she went up and down the kitchen isles at Tex-Mart. She filled two baskets full of basic cooking supplies she thought she would need to start cooking at home. Ke
lly looked at the fruit and vegetables at Tex-Mart, but decided she would make a list of what she wanted to practice on. She would go to whole Foods or the Farmer’s Market to see if they had anything local before buying anything at a chain store like Tex-Mart.
After unloading everything and putting Mark’s stuff on the bed so he could try them on before she washed them, Kelly went to her computer to do some research. She wanted to start creating a list of recipes which might be made with ingredients they grew on the farm. She also wanted to start a collection of basic canning recipes so she could practice with her new canning equipment. She knew there would be no way she would learn enough about canning this summer to put away enough food for a whole year. She wanted to start learning how by practicing with vegetables and fruits she would be able to buy at almost any store. She wanted to do this now, so she could figure out recipes everyone liked. She needed to get basic methods down while they still had the money and ability to overcome her mistakes. Better to make the mistakes and throw out something when grocery stores are still around than to waste food when food would be hard to replace. She figured she would start on fruits and vegetables she bought from the Farmer’s market this summer as well as any organic items she bought at chain stores. After that, she would move on to items she could get at any store as she expanded her abilities. The store bought items might not be as tasteful or healthy as home-grown or farmer’s market produce, but they would give her a chance to practice. Her internal goal was to practice over the next year and by next summer she would have the recipes down. Once the garden started growing, she could use her own garden along with the local farmer’s markets to supply enough food for a whole year.
Kelly’s research took her much longer than she thought. She had to keep reminding herself just because a recipe looked good, the recipe might not be a good candidate for her needs. She needed recipes in which all ingredients could be harvested at the same time in her local area. She also needed recipes which would ingredients she could make ahead of time from last year harvest and store. This left out a lot of recipes she found. Today’s cooks didn’t worry about if lettuce would be available the same time as tomatoes or if you couldn’t get a certain type of apple in your area. The majority of the recipes she found were created in an age in which everything would be available year round. Many of the recipes also included ingredients not native to Kelly’s part of America. Kelly knew she would have no way of buying exotic items when fuel prices went through the roof. Food grown 12,000 miles away would no longer be available to the average person. She had to discard many recipes she thought would taste wonderful.
