Doom and Gloom (and Boom?)

[beauanderos]

I know there are more than 500 "good places" for a redoubt. It may be a good idea for people here to suggest particular places, and why they suggest them. As for me, I'm in a good place, Twin Falls, Idaho.

This region sits on the Snake River Aquafier. That is an underground body of water the size of Lake Erie. Most of the power in this area is hydroelectric, off the Snake River. My well is 150 feet deep.

This area has a lot more food than people.

Because of plentiful water from the Snake and the aquafier, this area is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. The large-acre farmers grow sugar beet, potato, corn, wheat, alfalfa, bean, and onion. There are a lot of dairy farms, meat cattle, and buffalo being raised.

There are several sugar factories, cheese factories, and potato processors (french fries, chips, etc.)

There are old silver mining areas in the mountains about 100 miles away.

There are only two cities within one tank of gas, Boise and Salt Lake City.



About 25% of the locals are Mormon, and they are prepped for 1 to 2 years.

As for Twin Falls itself, the town is about 40,000, but it is the hub for the local region of about 150,000. There is a mall with all the usual stores, most of the fast-food places and several national chain restaurants. We just opened a new hospital a few months ago, and the College of Southern Idaho is here.

I don't need to run anywhere, this is a good place. If the group can gin up the capital to buy 160 acres or more, I'm happy to help make it happen.

How's the weather there? Aren't you guys snow-bound several months of the year?

[IdahoCopper]

If Yellowstone pops, we will all be wishing we had invested in a fleet of sailing yachts, instead of farms, lol.

Fortunately, it only pops every 600,000 years or so. Odds are darn good that it won't blow in the next 100 years.

[IdahoCopper]

How's the weather there? Aren't you guys snow-bound several months of the year?

We get real winter. It gets down to about 15-20F. We have persistent snow on the ground for about 20-30 days in the winter. Snow maybe get 18" deep, max. It is a good idea to have a 4WD vehicle, but it is not really required.

The good news is when it gets that cold for 20 days, the flies are almost all killed and it takes until August before they repopulate to annoying levels.

We have summers in the mid to high 90s, the humidity does not get oppressively high. The mosquitoes never get too bad.

[IdahoCopper]

Here is an overview with photos:

http://www.city-data.com/city/Twin-Falls-Idaho.html

[beauanderos]

Here is an overview with photos:

http://www.city-data.com/city/Twin-Falls-Idaho.html

Duh! Twin Falls? The name should have given it away, but I'd never given it any thought. Those are the first pics I've seen of your burg.... and those falls are awesome! I might have to look into that area some more, once I get tired of working in (too) Sunny California.

[neilgin1]

I know there are more than 500 "good places" for a redoubt. It may be a good idea for people here to suggest particular places, and why they suggest them. As for me, I'm in a good place, Twin Falls, Idaho.

This region sits on the Snake River Aquafier. That is an underground body of water the size of Lake Erie. Most of the power in this area is hydroelectric, off the Snake River. My well is 150 feet deep.

This area has a lot more food than people.

Because of plentiful water from the Snake and the aquafier, this area is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. The large-acre farmers grow sugar beet, potato, corn, wheat, alfalfa, bean, and onion. There are a lot of dairy farms, meat cattle, and buffalo being raised.

There are several sugar factories, cheese factories, and potato processors (french fries, chips, etc.)

There are old silver mining areas in the mountains about 100 miles away.

There are only two cities within one tank of gas, Boise and Salt Lake City.

About 25% of the locals are Mormon, and they are prepped for 1 to 2 years.

As for Twin Falls itself, the town is about 40,000, but it is the hub for the local region of about 150,000. There is a mall with all the usual stores, most of the fast-food places and several national chain restaurants. We just opened a new hospital a few months ago, and the College of Southern Idaho is here.

I don't need to run anywhere, this is a good place. If the group can gin up the capital to buy 160 acres or more, I'm happy to help make it happen.

Idaho, that IS a sweet region you all got.....i did my Upper Midwest region coz i been coming up here for 30 years, know the land well, got long term friends up here..community...and i'm just AM so "Midwest, its where i feel comfortable.....our areas are very similiar in physical attributes, that JWR actually mentioned our area ONCE in his blog as an "ideal" retreat zone, which caused me to scream at the screen..."no no no!!! ssssh!"....i only say that coz we're the size of Tolkien's "Shire", maybe 70 miles by 70 miles across...maybe up to a 100 by 100, and JWR has a HUGE readership...i know that sounds selfish, but its the intensity of the winters that dissuade folks from this area.....you really have to be prepped and have your mind wrapped around the ideal that its gonna get VERY cold and the snows gonna get BIG. be blessed, neil

[IdahoCopper]

If you zoom out a click or two on Google satellite, you can see how extensively farmed the area is:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=w ... 2C%20idaho

[Treetop]

If you zoom out a click or two on Google satellite, you can see how extensively farmed the area is:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=w ... 2C%20idaho

what types of farms? because conventional farms relying on syn ferts could be nearly worthless without oil around. heck most organic farms would be to, because they also rely on outside inputs..... though they atleast would have a bit healthier soil. Im on many gardening forums and besides the basics like manure and a bit of cover cropping few understand imo how to keep a soil truly fertile..... to be honest most conventional farmers would have little clue how to truly farm a land post oil. heck the bulk of them wouldnt even have seeds, or atleast not ideal ones for the new paradigm. depends how it plays out of course, but having lots of farms around isnt necessarily as good as it seems....

[Lemon Thrower]

Here is the best explanation I have heard on the subject, courtesy of FOFOA.

http://fofoa.blogspot.com/2011/04/defla ... ation.html

"It is a comment that explains the old truism, "you can't eat your gold." That's right, gold is not at its highest and best use being spent (circulated) as a currency during a hunger crisis. Instead, if you are one with PLENTY of net worth, gold is the very best way to shuttle your wealth THROUGH a crisis to the other side. If you are forced to deploy this wealth for food during a crisis, then you apparently planned poorly."

I stopped reading FOFOA a while back because he was long winded. looks like he was just getting started. the link you posted is a psot that is 13,775 words long!

[IdahoCopper]

what types of farms? because conventional farms relying on syn ferts could be nearly worthless without oil around. heck most organic farms would be to, because they also rely on outside inputs..... though they atleast would have a bit healthier soil. Im on many gardening forums and besides the basics like manure and a bit of cover cropping few understand imo how to keep a soil truly fertile..... to be honest most conventional farmers would have little clue how to truly farm a land post oil. heck the bulk of them wouldnt even have seeds, or atleast not ideal ones for the new paradigm. depends how it plays out of course, but having lots of farms around isnt necessarily as good as it seems....

There is a heck of a lot of dairy farms around here. The manure is spread far and wide on the farms.

I'm sure some farms use synthetic fertilizer, but a lot do not.

[Treetop]

sounds pretty good then. still would be wise to have the right varieties of seed around, chances are most of those farmers buy seed yearly.

[68Camaro]

Wow - have only visited briefly one part of Idaho, haven't really gotten around. The pics are beautiful and the city and area look nice. Hmmmm. Makes me want to have a visit there with the wife sometime.