As the real economy continues to get worse (not the artificial reality economy that the government and media is continually portraying) and people awaken to the many frailties of modern life and systems, the preparedness movement has been growing at an increasing rate.
TV shows such as Doomsday Preppers have become mainstream hits, and weekly thousands more join the effort to prepare for numerous potential natural and manmade disasters.
One of the publicly visible figures in the preparedness movement is Rick Austin and his wife Jane. We visited with and interviewed Rick for the Beyond Off Grid film at his homestead in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, and he has taught two of our most popular webinars based on his books Secret Garden of Survival and Secret Greenhouse of Survival. Rick is also the founder and host of the Prepper Camp that we were privileged to be a part of last fall.
Now, Rick and Jane have been featured in a new special edition issue of Newsweek magazine called Off Grid.
Rick and Jane practice and preach self-reliance and lifestyle preparedness.
When asked why they prepare, Rick wisely answers “It almost doesn’t matter what the disaster is, because it is just a catalyst. If any disaster goes on long enough, the results will be the same: a lack of food, water, power and shelter for the unprepared. It is also important to understand that in today’s computerized age of “just in time delivery” there are less than three days’ inventory on the shelves of any grocery store.”
Rick’s Secret Garden of Survival methodology even gets its own feature page in the magazine. He explains the highlights of his system, which focuses on perennial plants, symbiotic plant combinations, and a food forest approach instead of traditional row gardening.
In the interview, they offer numerous pieces of helpful advice, and they end it with this really important guidance from Rick:
“What you need more than anything is practice. You need skills. Don’t think you can buy seeds and then can grow a garden when you need it. That is folly.”
This aligns well with our viewpoint here at Beyond Off Grid – you need to live a lifestyle of reduced dependence upon the modern economy and systems, so that you can be prepared to do without them whenever a disaster happens, regardless of the scenario.
You can get the Off Grid Newsweek Special Edition on Amazon.
Rick will be one of the experts that will be joining us for a first-ever and very unique training event we’re planning to announce soon. Stay tuned for details shortly.
Want to grow more of your own food and be better prepared for whatever may come? Check out heirloom seeds from Seeds for Generations.
