#1 Amazon Disaster Relief Best Seller

Well guys, thanks to you, “The Modern Survival Manual” reached the #1 Top of the list in the Disaster Relief Category and is currently #4 in Survival Skills.

I can’t tank you enough for your help and I hope people do take the content of the book into account. It will sure make life a hole lot easier as things in general get more complicated.
Again, thank you!

PS:The guys from Amazon themselves phoned me a few months ago, they couldn’t understand how a print on demand book, with no publishing company could sell so well. He asked what it was about, I told him to read it. :-)
FerFAL

Market gardening during an economic crisis‏

Hi Fernando,

I listened to Rawles's interview and even if I like his blog, I think he's too radical. I'd like to hear you and I sent an email to C2C as you asked.

I email you today to ask you about veggies during the economic crisis in your country. I'm working for an organic market gardener and I'm planning to run a small scale market garden in two or three years. I wonder what were the availability and prices of vegetables in post-2001 Argentina ? Are there CSA or box schemes ? Do people started to plant private gardens (that's competition for the professionals indeed) ? Is there a strong market for seedlings (which would be a direct result of more people gardening their yard) ?

Regarding security and transportation, I suppose it would be wise to have my garden on the edge of a small town, so that I'm not isolated and I don't have hundred miles to drive to sell my products. What's your opinion ?

Your readers interested in market gardening should buy Eliot Coleman's "The New Organic Grower", it contains relevant informations for those who want to start such a business IMHO.

I read Don Williams's comment about self-sufficient agriculture on the meat prices surge topic and I disagree about fertilizers being a problem. Before we mined phosphate rock, we had to make do with cow poo and other organic matter !! Crop rotation, greem manures, composting grazers' poo : these are the solutions. And don't forget humanure, because it's the only way to fully close the nutrients cycle. China used it for thousand of years (it's like gold in a way xD).

Another thing : you mentioned in your book the availability of game in the city. I can add rabbit to your list as I found some of them on the edge of a half-a-million souls' city. I think they would be wiped out if the push come to the shove but it's interesting thing to know.

Bye,
Etienne

Hi Etienne,

Thanks for sending an email. Every single one helps and I’m sure I’ll eventually get a call. (I aslo so several new 5 star reviews in Amazon, so thanks a lot for that as well guys)

Prices went up consistently but that doesn’t mean gardening will make you rich.

Its usually due to prices in general going up, the middle man’s cost, transportation, rent, power and taxes for the grocery store going up as well, as well as everyone increasing their own profit margin trying to stay up to date with inflation.

The Hollywood survival theory says that you’ll grow your food, feed yourself and your family, and sell/trade what’s left for whatever products and services you need but don’t produce yourself.

Why, according to that logic, half of the poor in Latin America should be rich or at least well off since that’s what they do.

So, it doesn’t work that way in 3^rd world countries or after a collapsed economy.

When I say it doesn’t work, I mean that you have several other much more profitable jobs and income generating activities that make small scale gardening for a living in most cases impractical. (there are exception and we’ll talk about that later)

First, its impossible to produce yourself everything you need for a balanced diet. As my buddy Nomad concluded after years of survival and preparedness research and some time in Emergency Response school “Money makes the world go around” , even after SHTF, I might add.

Again the Hollywood based theory says you’ll sell your beans and tomatoes for whatever you need, it’s a perfect plan!

Well… no. 

I’ve even read some comments in forums ( and I’m pretty sure the posters did consider it a joke) say that they’ll trade one of their chickens for a bar of gold. Because that would be HIS price… after SHTF.

Today he would be just a fool for even suggesting such a trade, what on earth makes these people believe that will change with a worse or collapsed economy?

Unless you’re dealing with a guy with a bar of gold in a stranded island, that unrealistic.

Neither you nor I set the price of gold or anything else for that matter, the market does it. You can either accept it or customers will go somewhere else.

But then again, food, just like everything else is expensive when you have hyperinflation.

It was just last year or the year before, that tomato reached a world wide historic record in Argentina, a kilo of tomato cost about 4 dollars in grocery stores and supermarkets. The small producers thoughts they could just grow gold, but as soon as everyone got into tomatoes, the excess of production sent it back to normal prices, even below that. Damned tomatoes where everywhere.

The truth is that, while the price is inflated at the grocery, the guy actually growing and otherwise producing the food isn’t getting rich.

He gets a couple cents for what he does, he needs BULK, and that’s why the great majority of small producers are poor.

Poor as in they would be better of getting a regular job in town.

With the succession of economy crisis in Argentina that’s what most people ended up doing. Buenos Aires got overpopulated and many of the small towns in the country just died.

Another example, milk costs around one dollar if you want one that isn’t shamelessly cut with water. That’s around 3 pesos per liter. The producer? He gets paid 7 cents per liter, that’s pesos guys, so he gets 0,02 dollars per liter of milk produced. The inflation makes it expensive at the shelf. Go with a truck full of milk and sell it yourself? Good luck with that.

 Argentine farmers protest in the province of Santa Fe during the the "Country Crisis"(Crisis del Campo)

  Some people do sell vegetables on the streets or in market fairs. I don’t envy their lifestyle nor does anyone that has at least a minimum wage job.

What I mean by this is the following:

Please, understand I’ve got nothing against gardening, or hard working people, specially farmers which is such a honorable job. What I’m saying is that its only going to be harder to make money out of it, not easier as the couch survivalists that apparently didn’t bother to check their own country’s history seem to believe.

http://www.iptv.org/iowapathways/mypath.cfm?ounid=ob_000064

Now, for the good news, you do have options if you know how to market your products well, find several organic stores that may be willing to sell your products.

“Farm chicken” and “Farm butcher” are still pretty popular here and they usually have cheaper prices that supermarkets. That means people will buy. They offer these products supposedly free of all the junk found in the mass produced supermarket meats, but the price is the most attractive thing people notice.

You’ll either need: a) A store somewhere where there’s enough clients b) Store owners, groceries, butchers or organic food stores that may be interested.

If you market it well and the price is right you may do good money.

If you’re planning on getting involved in this type of activity, specially with hard economic times already here and getting worse, I’d tell you that without a doubt the mot important aspect of your business and the key for its survival will be the connections you have to offer your product and how well you market it. You have to be clever regarding doing business. Just producing a good product wont cut it.

Another tip, aim for clients with good income levels.

The poor guy will find a way to save as much money as he can. Even with inflated grocery prices, you still have places like Mercado Central where meat, milk, fruits and vegetables cost 5 to 10 times less.

Takes time, requires you to go to some dangerous parts of town but people do find away, so aim for the higher income client interested in “organic” “green” “pesticide free””100% natural” “ I read Hamlet to the chickens before cutting their heads off”.

 The “CSA or box schemes” may work beautifully... if you know how to market it well and have the right clients.

Advertising is important, fliers in your target neighborhoods, maybe publicity in local radio, TV or papers, but so is connections, developing friendly business relations and word of mouth reputation spreading in your community.

Edible game does disappear pretty fast when things like these occur. Suddenly everyone feels like hunting instead of paying for burgers. It happened during the Great Depression and it happened here too, anything that can be eaten it hunted almost to extinction fast.

FerFAL

Items ready for this weekend’s CQB Dinamic Entry course

Bersa 9mm
Extra magazines
Eye protection
BA vest

Oh, and a bunch of ammo! :-)


Just came back from the movies by the way, we saw "The Book of Eli", pretty good movie.

I also wanted to thank all of you that helped with the emails to the different radio stations. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and I’ll let you all know if there’s any news.
I also saw several new reviews at Amazon, thanks so much for your time!

Again, thanks!

FerFAL

I need your help

Since I started blogging, I’ve been offered all kind of help by caring readers. I thank them for their kindness and explain to them that I’m all set and there’s people that need it more than I do.
This time, I really do need your help, and it will only take a minute of your time, maybe less.

I’m trying to make an appearance in the George Noory’s Coast to Coast radio show.
The idea is to talk about economic collapse survival and all these aspects of more realistic survival situations not often discussed, things people can do as of right now instead of waiting for zombie hordes. Same stuff we talk about here.
I have no doubt it will be a breath of fresh air for most listeners used to the typical doom and gloom speech.

A bunch of emails wont be enough. To get into one of these shows you either need a contact, or hundreds if not thousands of emails asking for your appearance.
That’s why every single email counts.

If you enjoy my blog, do take a minute of your time to help me out. Don’t think others will do it instead.
When that happens no one sends them and all you get is a dozen emails that get lost in the crowd.
I need the help of every single one of you.

Right now I’m going for Coast to Coast AM:
CoastProducer@aol.com
george@coasttocoastam.com
ian@coasttocoastam.com
lisa@coasttocoastam.com
tom@coasttocoastam.com

Other radio talk shows that may be interested as well:
me@glennbeck.com
stu@glennbeck.com
http://www.infowars.com/contact.html

It’s much better if you write your own (otherwise it may look like spam), but here’s an example:

Subject: Interview Economic Crisis survival author, Fernando Aguirre.

I’d like to hear Fernando Aguirre, author of “The modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse”, being interviewed as a guest in your show.

His book can be found at:
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Survival-Manual-Surviving-Economic/dp/9870563457/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268845134&sr=8-9
His website is: http://www.ferfal.blogspot.com/

Fernando Aguirre’s email: ferfal308@hot(remove)mail.com

Regards,
XXXXXXX

Also, if you bought my book on Amazon but didn’t have the time to post a review, this would be a great time!

I don’t like asking for help but sometimes you have to. This is one of those cases.
Thanks guys!

FerFAL

My own Argentine experience‏

Ferfal-

It's been a pleasure reading your blog the past couple of years. I have to comment a bit about the Rawles thing - I heard his first charges of anti-semitism on his review of your blog. I had already found your blog and never noticed this. You should know that anyone who reads your postings can plainly see that any charges of anti-semitism are without merit.

I still look at the Rawles blog - but it is with a jaded eye. Your real world experience is a real asset to your readers. I do not think you (or most of your readers) realize how valuable your insight really is - I do believe many elements of your Argentine experiences are coming to America. They need to read about it so they don't have to learn the hard way.

Now for my Argentine Experience! I just thought of this because I just picked up my recently inherited (God bless my mother's soul) double-barreled shotgun from the gunsmith. This shotgun has two notches in it from an attack on my family home in Acasuso. It instilled upon me (at a very young age) the utility of firearms and even rudimentary training when faced with a dangerous situation. In 1970 my father was with the US Embassy in Argentina on a 3-year assignment. That was a tumultuous time even then. I remember my father giving me a 100,000 peso note to buy an ice cream. I thought I was rich, until I used it up on a couple of ice cream cones......

In any case, this was a crazy time there- there was a core of militants intent on gaining American clothes and documents for some nefarious purpose. There were kidnappings, break-ins and fires. One day, when my mother was home alone with my little sister, two guys tried to jimmy the locks on our front door. My poor mom told them in her best broken Spanish to leave her alone. They laughed at her from behind the door and kept trying to work the lock......but they stopped laughing when a shotgun blast came through the window. My father left my mom with a shotgun ready and some basic instruction on how to shoot it. It worked.

We left soon after that, but I loved my time in Argentina and hope to come back one day soon. What is interesting to me is that some of the things you write about happening today, I also remember from 1970.

Seriously though - don't sweat the assholes criticizing you for whatever reason. Keep the information and ideas coming. You are a good man.

Cheers,

Scott

Thanks for your support. There is a plan behind what he’s been doing since I first published my book, which he clearly sees as a threat to his retreat sales real estate business and (flawed in my opinion) survival theories.
I don’t do theories or assumptions here at “Surviving in Argentina”, I analyze what works and what doesn’t, and what other people have done or are currently doing in the real world.

Acasuso is a very nice neighborhood!
These days one of the finest and safest places to live in if you don’t take into account the gated private neighborhoods.
But the 70’s were hard years indeed, everyone here has a good idea because of what our parents told us and you occasionally talk to people that were “missing”, desaparecidos, and spent some time in some of the holes or police stations, tortured in case they had information. The lucky ones where released. The others…

When I was little I remember using the 10.000 Australes note. That bought you a plastic cup of Coke and sometimes a hot dog too.
There were no Coke cans in Argentina, or any other soda cans for that matter. Those were only available abroad and if you traveled to USA you usually brought a can of Coke and showed it around. It was a novelty.
Anything is a novelty in a country with no imports!

500.000 Australes was a lot of money for a kid back then.
If you had a 500.000 Australes note you could actually buy something you liked in a toy store.
I remember that for me it wasn’t a big deal, you just eliminated four zeros to know how much money you really had. That was much closer to the dollar exchange.
When they went to the new Peso currency I remember thinking, “Finally something that makes sense! They eliminated those worthless zeros!”
Kids are so innocent. :-) Man, I’m feeling old.

Those double barrels sure are simple to operate and the simplicity compensates for the lack of capacity when it comes to untrained people needing to defend themselves.
Better to take a few shooting lessons though.

History usually repeats itself, that’s why you see similarities. Hope things never end up like that in USA.
I hope people don’t have to start crossing out zeros in their heads for money to make sense.

Again, thanks for your support. Means a lot to know that my readers are backing me up.

FerFAL