JDY Fiction - Suburban Homestead

[Jerry D Young]

[SIZE=5]Suburban Homestead - Prolog

[Jerry D Young]

Other than that, he could only come up with burying the waste, either on the property, or elsewhere it wouldn’t cause a problem. There really wasn’t a good place to put in an outhouse. At least not in the back yard. And in the front yard was certainly out of the question. At least at the moment.

Christmas was another good time, though they didn’t splurge much at all. Without the yearly Christmas bonus and the lack of any side work that Jacob was actively looking for, they kept things simple and inexpensive.

Jacob was glad they did when he was called into Gus’ office on January Second. “Stevens, things are getting tight. I’m going to have to let someone go. I need to know, honestly, if you can pick up the slack if I let either Janis or Marcum go. What they do is somewhat outside your specialty…”

Jacob made sure to pause a moment and look thoughtful before he said, “I’m sure I can, Gus. I hate that someone has to go. But I honestly think I am a better fit than one of the others trying to take over my work load.”

“Might mean some long hours. And you’re exempt. No overtime pay.”

“I know. Gus, I will get the jobs done, no matter what it takes.”

“Okay. Well, I’m going to interview the others and get their opinions. I’m sure they’ll be similar to your own, but will think about it all until next payday. Someone simply will get the pink slip at that time.”

“Okay Gus. I know you have to do what you have to do.”

Jacob couldn’t say he was surprised. The handwriting on the wall had been obvious, at least to him, for the last four months. Just not enough business to maintain a full office staff of specialists. The two that stayed were just going to have to broaden their skill sets. Jacob knew he wouldn’t have a problem doing so, but also knew that Gus could be a bit arbitrary about things.

He told Debra that night about the meeting, before they went to bed. It didn’t upset her as much as Jacob thought it would. She was worried, sure, but was confident that things would be all right.

And they were. Again. Jacob kept the job, but was putting in long hours with the extra workload. It would eventually get easier, and he would be able to do all the work with only an extra hour every three days instead of two hours every weekday while learning the new skills.

But the possibility was still in the back of their minds as Jacob and Debra planned out the coming year. The previous one had been a good one, with projects completed, and the food situation stable. They thought long and hard about what else they could do to reduce expenses, and reduce their dependence on the infrastructure.

Nothing came to mind in January, but one of Jacob’s friends, laid off from his normal job, had joined forces with another of his friends and begun a firewood business.

They needed one more part time person to make the job easier and more efficient, and Andrew approached Jacob about doing deliveries on the weekends for them using Jacob’s pickup truck.

Jacob talked it over with Debra, as it would again reduce the time he had with her and Cheryl. But Andrew had mentioned getting into the outside wood/coal furnace business with a small business loan. He’d asked Jacob’s opinion on it, as well.

After studying the benefits of the units, Jacob and Debra decided that Jacob should take the job with Andrew, taking the pay in firewood, and a nice discount on the first furnace unit that Andrew would help install for free to get the experience.

So the family was able to reduce the natural gas bill for heating and hot water significantly. And after Debra found a pristine wood/coal kitchen stove, the natural gas usage was cut even further back. The kitchen stove was installed in the newly covered patio room that Jacob built on the existing patio slab.

While she used the natural gas kitchen stove for some things, Debra started using the new stove for much of the stovetop cooking and all the baking, after picking up the skills from some of friends in the food preservation group. It was now also a cooking, gardening, and sewing group with several new members looking to save money the way Jacob and Debra were.

Wanting to further reduce their food bill, but more as a move to gain more in the way of self-sufficiency, Jacob again went to the planning commission and checked zoning laws.

Having a milk cow and raising the calf and a pig were out of the question as much for the lack of space as anything, including the restriction against it. Jacob looked into the planting of additional crops on the front lawn.

He discovered that only ornamentals could be grown on the street side of the line that included the main front wall of the house. And even fruit and nut trees were discouraged as they usually became ‘attractive nuisances’ when kids and even adults trespassed to pick the fruit and nuts.

Technically, the trespassers would be in the wrong, but the draw of the fruits and nuts was so high that the presence of the trees was considered more ‘wrong’ than the trespassing and theft of the fruits and nuts.

Even with a front fence, which they couldn’t afford at the moment, any fruit or nut plants in the front yard would still be considered as ‘attractive nuisances.”

But Jacob did decide that growing grape vines on the southern, the larger of the two side yards, would be legal. And adding a short fence on the side of the house to tie the front corner of the house to the existing side fence would take them out of the ‘attractive nuisance’ category that might be applied if the grapes were easily accessible.

So Jacob started that project and looked elsewhere for the other things he and Debra wanted to do. Again Debra’s group came through for them that spring. The wife of a husband and wife team that had a newly established small homestead just outside of town joined the group.

The two had some experience, from when they were young, but wanted more training in several of the aspects that the group could provide, in addition to the community college courses they were taking.

The group was glad to have her, especially when the subject of what they were going to raise on the homestead came up. Jillian Hastings told them they were going mostly with small stock, but would have one or two milk cows, half a dozen beef cattle, and two or three breeding sows to raise market pigs, using stud services from the State University’s agriculture school animals.

Debra quickly made an attractive deal to purchase one of the market weight steers when one became available, as well as two whole hogs when they were at market weight, as well as a regular supply of whole milk.

A bit gingerly, Debra brought up the subject that evening after Cheryl had done her practice music and homework and gone to bed.

“Honey… Well I need to tell you… and get your approval on something.”

Jacob turned away from the laptop computer he was using. “Of course, Debra. I can’t think of anything you would need my approval for.”

“Well, you know how we bought the meat last time?”

“Of course. That was a good deal. We saved a bundle.”

“Yes. Well, there is someone new in the self-sufficiency group. She and her husband have started a small homestead not far out of town. I’m afraid I went ahead and cut a deal for a whole beef and two pigs when they are available. Plus five gallons of whole fresh milk a week.”

“Oh. Well that sounds great, then! I take it you got a bargain.”

Eagerly, Debra told Jacob all about how it had come about and what she had offered on the deal.

“Yep. You did great, Debra!” Debra could see he was genuinely pleased. But then he shook his head. “I’m still trying to find a way to get additional food stables.” He looked over at Debra. “Don’t suppose they will be raising grains to feed their stock?”

“No,” Debra replied. “I asked about that, actually, because of what we are wanting to do. For the immediate future they are going to buy feed. They eventually want to grow their own, but Hammond, that is Jillian’s husband, wants to learn the stock end of it first.”

“Hm,” said Jacob. “Still have to try and figure out some…”

Debra saw his eyes light up as he suddenly had an idea. “Oh, man! I should have thought of this earlier! You know the way your group shares the work, but have your own gardens and such?”

Debra nodded.

“Well, when I was researching whether or not we could plant some wheat, rice, oats and a couple more things, I found out that it is legal to have a community garden. Which I didn’t really key on since everyone has good gardens anyway. But what if we see if some of the others want to go in on a grain and specialty foods garden?

“Grains, especially rice, aren’t considered home garden crops, but there is no real reason they can’t be grown on a small scale. The rice doesn’t have to be flooded, though most people believe it does. Flooding does keep insects and all down, but rice can be grown as long as there is adequate soil moisture. And that can be done with irrigation, not flooding.”

Debra looked thoughtful. “You know, a couple of the ladies were complaining about the price of bread, and especially pasta. Now that we can our own sauces, the price of the pasta is annoying. I think some of the others might just be interested.”

Before Jacob could comment, Debra looked a bit uncertain. “But grain grinders… the good ones… are pretty expensive.”

“What if we invest in a good one, and offer to grind the wheat and other things that need it as part of our contribution to the effort? We’d still help with the other aspects, too, but take just another small share for the grinding?”

Looking thoughtful for a moment, Debra then nodded her head. “I like it, Jacob. I’ll bring it up at this weekend’s canning party over at Carman and Juan’s. Most of us will be there. I guess we need to do it quickly if we are going to do it at all. Probably need to get things planted.”

“Yes. I’ll look into what property the city will allow us to use for a community garden, while you see about who wants to be involved.”

Four days later Debra showed Jacob the signup sheet of those wanting to participate in the grain garden. And Jacob had a location, reluctantly agreed upon by the planning commission, that was suitable for the purpose. He’d made sure, without saying outright that they would be growing grains, rather than the normal garden fare, that it would be allowed.

There was even a large spring fed pond on the property that could be used for irrigation. That spring was the main reason for the park. The land couldn’t be developed due to the expense of handling the water from the spring. And without that piece of property being available, it was holding up development around it.

Since the evaporation from the pond was such that there was no runoff, Jacob was able to get the permission needed to use the water for irrigation, since the water would all be staying on the property.

To show good faith, and their readiness to invest in the project, Jacob and Debra put together the money to buy not only a Diamant 525 grain grinder and other associated grain processing components, but also a BCS 853 walk behind garden tractor and the implements needed to work the crops.

There was much doubt about growing rice, so Jacob agreed to only doing a small plot, for him, Debra, and Cheryl, on their own, while working with the others on the rest of the crops.

And there was some discussion on those, as well. Wheat was a given. Bread wheat or hard red winter wheat. But Durum wheat was added for pasta, and soft red winter wheat suitable for cakes and pastries included.

So were hulless oats, corn for corn meal and corn flour, popcorn, and small plots of rye, sorghum, sunflower, barley, millet, and buckwheat, to see how they would do and to learn how to grow, process and use them.

Dried beans were also discussed. It seemed everyone had a favorite, so moderate sized plots of six different beans, plus lentils, were planted.

Jacob, on top of his other research for the project, had looked for grain harvesting equipment for use with the BCS walk behind tractor, and then small, self-propelled combines. He found there simply wasn’t anything available in his price range.

So with hand tools the only way to go, Jacob was tasked with finding the right ones to harvest the crops and then process them into usable grains. It was the only real drawback to the project, but worth the labor, or so the group decided after long discussion.

It was a long, but productive, spring, summer and fall, with all the projects coming to fruition with great success. The grain harvest had gone better than expected, with everyone wanting a portion of the wheat spending some time with the grain cradle harvesting scythes Jacob found.

The threshing was done with flails on a moderate sized concrete pad the group poured and finished at the garden site, and winnowing done with shovels over several windy days. The grains were then scooped up into four gallon pails for distribution. There was loss, but the yield was more than adequate for their purposes.

Jacob ground at least one bucket of grain for each family initially. The group would then grind every other week to keep everyone in flour that didn’t have a grinder of their own.

The wheat and various beans were a hit, but the sorghum, millet, and buckwheat less so. The sunflowers, barley and rye went mostly to Jacob and Debra, the rye for the dark rye breads that Jacob liked, and the sunflowers for chicken feed. The barley Jacob would use in his brewing.

The next season would see some adjustment of the size of some plots and the elimination of the grains that had not gone over well, and the addition of hops, also for Jacob’s brewing. With the success of Jacob and Debra’s irrigated rice crop, substantially more room would be made for it.

Thanksgiving had been good, and Christmas was shaping up to be another nice one when the other shoe that Jacob had worried about dropped. At least for Jacob, Debra, and Cheryl.

The week before Christmas Gus called Jacob into his office. Jacob thought Gus was about to cry before he started talking. “Look, Stevens… Jacob… This is something… Well… I have to do it. You really did great when I had to lay off someone last year and pulled your weight and more.

“But… Well… Cathy’s brother just lost his job… And… Well… Family has to come first. I don’t know what to say, but just say it, I guess. I have to let you go. It is nepotism, pure and simple, but family comes first.”

Jacob nodded slowly. The business was doing okay and he hadn’t expected the loss of his job. He thought he was pretty secure in the job now, for, just as Gus had said, Jacob had come through for him.

But deep down, Jacob could understand Gus’ feelings about family. He decided it would be in his best interest to deal with the situation professionally. It wasn’t really in him to make a scene or throw a fit, anyway. So Jacob nodded again and said. “I understand, Gus. When do you need me out?”

Again Jacob thought Gus would cry, this time with relief. He stood and shook Jacob’s hand enthusiastically. “You are a good man, Jacob. I appreciate you taking this so well. I know it is a lot to ask, considering, but I’d like you to work with Jimbo this week and he’ll take over after Christmas.”

“Okay, Gus. That won’t be a problem. I am hoping I can get a letter of recommendation…”

“Oh, yes! Yes! Of course! You are one great employee and I’ll make that very clear in the letter. That you were let go for… other reasons… economic reasons!”

“Thank you, Gus. Means a lot. Well, I’d better get back at it and set up a training course for… Jimbo, is it?”

“Yes. Well, James, but Cathy has me calling him Jimbo like they do.” Gus followed Jacob over to the office door and watched him walk purposefully to his office, shoulders straight and up.

When Jacob told Debra that evening when he got home she began to cry. But Jacob reassured her that things would be fine. “Gus is going to give me a good letter of recommendation, and I am very good at what I do. I should be able to get a job relatively soon. We have our preps to fall back on, so things shouldn’t be too much different. You’ll just have to put up with me being around rather more.” Jacob chuckled.

“Don’t make jokes, Jacob! This is serious.”

Jacob took Debra’s hands in his. “I know, Debra. I know. I don’t mean to make light of it, but it isn’t the end of the world. Things will work out for us. They always do. With you and Cheryl in my corner, how could they not?”

Copyright 2013

[Jerry D Young]

[SIZE=5]Cheryl, ten now, could tell something was wrong that evening. Jacob explained that he

[Jerry D Young]

“If you would, Jacob, I’ll throw in a really nice Christmas turkey and a ham. Real ham. None of that water product stuff.”

Jacob felt guilty enough to say, “That isn’t necessary Gus. I’ll be there in an hour or so.”

When Jacob turned around he saw Debra and Cheryl looking at him. Debra’s hands were at her mouth and Cheryl was grinning.

“You got the job back?” Debra asked.

“Yes, I did. I’ll give you the details later. For the moment, I need to get a shower, change clothes, and get going. Gus really does sound desperate.”

“Oh, honey! That is so great!” Jacob caught her when she almost leaped into his arms. After a quick hug Jacob released her with a grin.

“Yes, it is. Now I really do have to get going.”

Jacob was glad he’d let Gus keep talking, after getting to the office and seeing what Jimbo, nowhere in evidence, had accomplished in his year at the place.

“Gus, I honestly taught Jimbo how to avoid these mistakes. I hope you don’t think I sabotaged things in some way.”

“No, of course not!” Gus exclaimed. “Jimbo just… well… he just isn’t as educated as I gave him credit for. He pulled the wool over my eyes for several months, hiding the problems. Jacob, Jimbo is a functional illiterate.”

“Ah, man! I’m sorry, Gus!”

Gus sighed and shook his head. “Even my wife didn’t know. We’re getting him some help, but it is going to be a long time before he can get a real job where he can make real money. It explains why he was going from job to job constantly.

“And you’d better know why I’m desperate. I’m way behind on taxes and can’t even get a reasonable estimate until you get something I can base it on.”

“Yeah. I guess I’d better get started,” Jacob said, determined to put out this fire for Gus. How could one be mad at someone that was illiterate in this day and age? Jacob found he couldn’t even imagine how hard and stressful it would be.

Jacob worked every day, only taking off a few hours late on Christmas Eve and early on Christmas Day, and worked twelve hour days straight through January Second. But he had the data bases repaired, backed up, and the data recovered or duplicated for Gus’ meeting with the IRS.

Jacob hadn’t asked, and Gus hadn’t offered up the package he’d told Jacob he would get during that time. But Gus was smiling when he returned to the office that afternoon.

“You did it, Jacob. Everything is fine. I’ve been so worried, I forgot all about our agreement, other than you working again. I’ll get that all set up and have it ready for you when you get here tomorrow morning. Thanks, man. You pulled a miracle off for me and I won’t forget it.” The two men shook hands and Jacob let it go at that.

There was still much work to be done to have the accounts and databases back up to the professional level Jacob had left them in, so he put in quite a few extra hours in January. But the unexpected signup bonus was more than worth it.

Jacob filled a couple of holes in the preps created when they were used during the layoff. Then, after discussions with Debra, and now Cheryl, who was old enough to give an opinion, a color was chosen to paint the Suburban and trailer. It was still a ‘no’ reply to camouflage paint on the two, but the pair were painted, a light tan.

A few features were added to it, such as a front winch, some spare parts, roof rack, and pioneer tools. Not much was done to the trailer other than the paint job.

But after a long discussion Jacob was able to convince, primarily Debra, as Cheryl was all for it, to build a disaster shelter using some of the money from Gus. As there was no room in the back or either side of the house, it was decided to build the shelter into the existing garage and build a new garage in front of the old one, with a redone driveway that would include a slot for parking the trailer.

For three reasons. One was that the shelter could be constructed without anyone the wiser. The second was to provide a dedicated storage room for preps in the available space and still leave a hallway from the existing kitchen doorway in the old garage to the new garage.

And the third was that Debra was reluctant to lose the garage, so the compromise of building a new one satisfied that requirement. Jacob had to check with zoning, just to be sure that they could extend the garage out that far, and to the side. It was frowned upon, but legal.

He also had to work on the design quite a while to get the three bays and still have the place looking good from the street. He finally worked one out that Debra approved.

Since Jeff was more than happy to honor his offer to Jacob about a large discount on anything his store carried or could get, Jacob decided to add a good security fence to the front yard. Though there was a pretty good setback, the new garage was going to be closer to the sidewalk than Jacob felt comfortable with, without the fence as a barrier.

Feeling better about things than he had in some time, Jacob, with a little help from Debra, and quite a bit from Cheryl, worked hard that summer with the garden; small stock; community garden; and the shelter, garage, and fence projects.

The gardens, orchard, berries, and stock were bringing in a little additional cash, since things were kept well irrigated. The grapes weren’t producing yet. It would be two or three more years before they did.

But the community garden was doing well, too, and the family was able to get some additional funds from the sale of the part of their share they couldn’t use. At least until the additional storage became available when the shelter and store room were finished.

The shelter would be built very similarly to the root cellar, which had proven its worth the last few years, with the mass for radiation protection rather than heat moderation, though that was just a plus.

The three new exterior garage walls were built with ICF and CMU units on wide foundations. The twelve inch insulated, reinforced concrete forms were filled with concrete and then faced with eight inch concrete masonry units, also reinforced and concrete filled.

With the addition of the twelve inch ICF roof panels filled with reinforced concrete, capped with a standing seam metal roof, the garage was proof against most situations that Jacob thought likely, including a fire attack with Molotov cocktails.

Though the Suburban took up one full bay of the garage, the Subaru and the pickup bed trailer took up only about two-thirds of the other two bays. That extra space was designed to facilitate the processing of the various products the small homestead and community garden provided, with work benches and storage units for the tools and equipment that Jacob had collected and made available to the other members of the savings group.

With those projects complete by Thanksgiving, the family celebrated their success. And planned out three more projects that would take precedence in the coming months, as they were able to save money for them specifically, on top of their regular savings and emergency fund.

After another check with the zoning commission, Jacob began the preliminary work to get a communications antenna tower installed, a GALE vertical axis windmill installed, and a 12.5kw diesel generator installed.

Jacob was able to buy just the necessary components for the concrete work. The concrete block with the tower base bracket was installed before the weather got cold, as was the concrete base for the windmill, and the footings and slab for the generator and battery house.

The units, along with a two thousand gallon diesel tank for the generator, would be installed some time during the next year, if things went as planned. First would be the generator and battery house, and then the generator. The batteries and inverter system would be next, and then the GALE installed and connected to the system.

Finally the retracting, fold-over antenna tower would be installed on the base. Jacob was watching for good prices, especially sales, of the various types of communications gear he wanted to get. If something was found, and the budget allowed, it would be picked up and stored until needed.

Everything was going on the narrow north side of the house. After the earlier projects, the open area had rather begged for something to be put there, since the back yard and other side yard were full up. Jacob felt he’d maximized the use of space, except for the front yard. And he had to admit, having the large patch of green grass made the place look pretty much standard, like the houses around it.

Only when one went down either side of the house, or into the back yard, did one realize the capability of the place. With the original tall privacy fences that circled the back yard, including along the alley, things really weren’t that visible from the neighbors or the alley, unless the alley gate was opened.

It took several months of buying diesel two hundred gallons at a time to get the tank filled while the other things were being done.

The generator, when it was installed, was not sufficient to run the entire house load, so Jacob had an electrician break out into another breaker panel the critical circuits he wanted to have power to in a power failure. The refrigerators, freezers, some lights and receptacles, controls for the HVAC system, security systems and such were included. The automatic transfer switch was installed between the main panel and the emergency circuit panel and fed from the generator and battery house.

Due to the noise the generator made, even with the extra quiet mufflers and being in the sound and weather insulated generator and battery house, when the power went off the battery and inverter system would take up the emergency load.

The battery banks, when fully charged, would run things for at least four days. More if the wind was blowing at all and the GALE vertical windmill generator could keep charging them at the same time.

If the GALE couldn’t keep up with charging the batteries, when they got below fifty percent charge, the generator would start, powering up just those emergency circuits and helping the GALE in recharging the batteries. With the combination, they could have full emergency power for a very long time, and even some limited power from the GALE if they did run out of fuel for the generator.

They were well along into the next summer, with a lull after the finished projects, before planning any more, when the country was hit with what was shaping up to be the hottest summer and fall in recorded history.

Most of the US was getting into the high nineties in the northern tier of states, with more southerly ones often above one hundred fifteen degrees, usually with high humidity. Although the differential was less the closer one got to the equator, that area was experiencing one twenty plus temperatures with ninety-five percent or higher humidity levels.

The US might not be able to feed its population that winter, much less export any meaningful amounts of food. If there was any rain, the extended hot spells could have meant more crops, but the dry heat was killing the plants shortly after they emerged from the ground, if they germinated at all.

An avid watcher of the Weather Channel, Jacob saw the handwriting on the wall early on. After having the insulation of the house upgraded significantly, he invested in some lightweight aluminum conduit and fittings, heavy weight aluminum conduit and fittings, some PVC pipe and fittings, misting nozzles, and garden shade material while it all was still available and relatively cheap.

Jacob was ready when the temperatures at the suburban homestead hit one hundred degrees. The lightweight conduit was used to build a support structure to carry the PVC pipe with misting nozzles attached, and support the shade cloth over the entire garden area before the weather became almost unbearable.

The stronger conduit was used to raise misting nozzles above the trees in the orchard. Pretty much wherever the family had something growing, Jacob had shaded and prepared so the plants could be misted.

Jacob conserved water when he could, but the combination of shade and fine mist kept the burning sunlight and the temperatures at plant level down enough to be able to continue to get the normal amount of product from them initially.

He’d tried his best to get those involved with the community garden to do something similar. When too few agreed to help defray the costs, Jacob abandoned the idea. There was no way he could afford the expense of the materials or the labor to install any meaningful amount to protect the grains on a large scale. The community garden would have to make it with the basic irrigation they had been doing.

In addition to cooling the garden areas, Jacob would turn on the roof sprinklers of the house during the hottest part of the day to greatly reduce the cooling load on the air conditioner. That water went back to the large rainwater cistern under the root cellar.

The whole family found themselves looking for excuses to be in the root cellar or the shelter, as they were so much cooler than even the house, unless the air conditioning was running full bore.

The family had decided to save money by letting the temperature in the house rise to eighty-five degrees before having the air conditioner kick in. It was still low enough to keep from damaging interior furnishings and appliances. It just wasn’t very pleasant.

Another thing Jacob and Debra decided to do was to get two large chest type freezers for the storage room to hold additional meat that their homesteading friend was selling off before they had to be destroyed because of the conditions.

During the middle of the summer, while the Stevens family began harvesting from their gardens, one after another of the savings group asked to buy as much as they could. Their gardens just weren’t producing much because of the weather. The community garden was essentially a total loss, just like many of the farms in the area.

There was some food being brought in from areas not hit quite as hard, but it was scarce, and very expensive. And some of it simply was not of good quality, especially compared to the home grown foods the group was used to.

It was a little disconcerting to see some the members of the group become a little aggressive in their demands for a portion of the products that the family was producing. Only three or four of them, but they seemed to feel they were entitled. It really bothered Debra, even more so than Jacob.

From that point, Jacob and Debra were more cautious about letting anyone know just how much they were harvesting, rather than letting members of the group harvest what they wanted themselves. It was certainly more work, but it lessened the stress of dealing with the group.

With that eye opening experience, the Stevens family discussed security, in terms of people knowing their situation, as well as physical security. Jacob had already incorporated some security features, just in the way he’d laid out the various components of the small homestead, and specific things like the front fence, which, while decorative, was also a good security fence.

The property had come with the tall privacy fences, so the work that the family had done over the years wasn’t too obvious to the close neighbors. And none of the three had been very talkative to others about preps, other than a little bit with the savings group.

Cheryl, from the time she could understand the situation, had been very close mouthed to her friends about it. Mostly due to Jacob’s and Debra’s encouragement, but also due to the looks and comments she got from her friends when that type of subject came up and she commented on it. So she just didn’t discuss prepping with anyone other than her parents.

So the real extent of their preps wasn’t well known to very many. But some was known, and they decided on what to do about it. While Jacob was no aficionado of weapons, he had a passing knowledge of them. Debra, on the other hand was basically scared of them. And Cheryl, while bombarded with anti-gun sentiments at school, was curious and rather open minded.

Debra quickly decided that Jacob should learn more about guns and get something to help protect the family. It took rather longer for Jacob to convince her to go along with him and do the same. At least learn about them from a safety standpoint since there would soon be guns in the house, though in a gun safe.

It was even a harder sell for Jacob to persuade Debra to include Cheryl in the activities. But with Cheryl adamantly asking to learn about firearms and how to shoot, Debra admitted that she should at least learn the safety aspects the way Debra herself was planning on doing.

As is often the case, one not very familiar with firearms, once they learn that they are not anything evil on their own, find they actually enjoy the shooting sports. Debra was one of those. With the professional training each member of the family received, all three became quite proficient with the small battery of firearms they decided to purchase after trying many different ones in their training sessions at the range.

With her interest strictly in defending the family from attack, and being rather recoil sensitive, Debra’s choice of an Auto Ordnance .30 M1 Carbine, which she fell in love with upon her first trial shots, made sense for her.

She didn’t particularly want a handgun, but Jacob’s choice of a Beretta Tomcat .32 ACP pocket gun, when she tried it out, was much like the M1 Carbine. Small, easy to handle, and little recoil. With both mother and father having one, Cheryl tried one and liked it well enough to decide she wanted one, too.

Cheryl had never been especially athletic, and was of slight build, like her mother, so the decision for her to have her own .30 M1 Carbine, like the one her mother had chosen, was quickly accepted.

Copyright 2013

[Jerry D Young]

[SIZE=5]Between the two weapons, the three felt that Debra and Cheryl could defend themselves adequately, in short range situations. Anything with much more recoil or complexity would be to their disadvantage.

Jacob, on the other hand, wanted something with more power and range than the .30 Carbine round and .32 ACP, though he did get one of each for himself. From his research he had decided on a .308 Winchester round as his primary rifle round. After looking at, handling, and then shooting, several of the available models of magazine fed semi-auto rifles, he chose the PTR-91 GI for his use.

He opted to swap out the full length butt stock for the HK telescoping stock for compactness when needed. As with the M1 carbines, Jacob loaded up on magazines for the rifles and carbines.

Jacob, for something more effective than the Tomcat that he could carry when the PTR wasn

[Jerry D Young]

Some didn’t like it, having put in their share of time. But all agreed to simply harvest what they could when they could and let the garden go, just as Jacob said he, Debra, and Cheryl were going to do.

The only things that they were able to get any reasonable amount for themselves were the grain crops, hops, and sunflowers. It seemed that no one else either knew how to gather them or process them, so the wheat, oats, rice, hops, barley, and rye, that weren’t trampled down accidently or out of spite, were harvested by Jacob.

He gave a share of the wheat, rice, and oats to all those still in the group, but since the Stevens had done the overwhelming majority of the work, kept the largest share for them.

The rest of the garden was essentially destroyed by those that were raiding it, as few of them knew or cared about protecting anything for a future day, long before it would have quit producing, given even a modicum of care.


“Jacob, what should we do?” Debra asked one fall day, after picking the produce the homestead had produced that day. “I feel so bad for the people that aren’t getting enough. Bridgett was basically begging me for anything we had to spare. I know we agreed to build our stocks back up, but…”

Jacob looked at Debra, and then at Cheryl, now fifteen. Both looked at him expectantly.

“You want to distribute some, I take it?” Jacob asked softly.

Debra bit her lip, but nodded.

“I think we should, Dad,” Cheryl said. “There are some kids at school that are only getting two meals a day, and one of them is that junk they have at school. I know we can’t help everyone…” Her eyes filling with tears, her words faded away.

“Okay,” Jacob said. “I’d come to the same conclusion. You beat me to it. Don’t cry, Cheryl. We’ll do what we can. Earmark ten percent of what we produce, and trade for with what we produce, to those that are still part of the savings group that have stuck by us.

“Another ten percent to the food bank at church, anonymously, in addition to what we’ve always given. And ten percent that we’ll do ourselves to those we think that need it the worst. Also anonymously. We have to be very careful, just as in the past, or even more so.

“People don’t have nearly the options they used to, and you know how it was there for a while.”

“Oh, Dad! Thank you!” Cheryl stepped forward and hugged Jacob tightly. “I know the families of some of the kids at school that sure could use anything we can do. And I understand about keeping it anonymous.”

“Yes, Jacob,” Debra said. Taking his hand in hers for a quick squeeze of agreement. “One thing… I didn’t quite understand what you meant about the things we trade for.”

“People are going to need protein, quality protein… Meat. And with the new agreement with the new owners of the homestead that Jillian and her husband had, we can provide more than just rabbit, chicken, and fish. A little beef and pork. Not much. But enough to give those we help at least a solid serving of each once a week.”

“You have been thinking about this!” Debra said pleased more than she could say. Jacob had been very firm about some things, especially when those of the savings group had given them such a hard time. But he hadn’t lost his humanity. Far from it. He was offering to do much more than Debra had even envisioned.

With Debra still holding one hand, and the other arm still around Cheryl’s shoulder, Jacob said, “So, I guess we need to sit down and decide who is to get what. After we take care of the bounty of the day.”

That took well into the night, after the food was processed. The next day was Sunday, and Jacob carefully packed up a large box of preserved foods, in addition to the smaller box they’d been giving to the church food bank every week since the crises had started two years previously.

But rather than carrying the second box in with them to put in the receiving box the way he did the smaller box, Jacob left the second for later. They would drop it off at the rear door of the church after church was over and most everyone would be gone.

They’d discussed it, and to avoid problems, it perhaps being taken by someone else, or being overlooked and ruined, Jacob would tell the minister about it privately and give it directly to him, with his assurance that no mention of it would be made. In church or out of it. The minister was big on giving thanks, by name, to those that helped out a bit more than usual. Which was exactly what the Stevens didn’t want.

Jacob had to stand firm with Fred Stearn and his wife, the new owners of the former Hastings’ homestead, about their agreement for Jacob to get first refusal rights, at a set price, for the milk, beef, and swine they were producing. The Stevens steady buying and trading had kept the Stearns going during the worst of the weather problems. Only that money had allowed them to keep the animals sheltered and fed.

Now Fred wanted to sell to the highest bidder, despite the agreement. Jacob’s warning that if things were to change again for the worst, there would be no help forthcoming as there had been in the past. It was enough to convince Fred to let Jacob have the products he wanted, since they were only a portion of what he had available now.

With many pounds of various cheeses, butter, and other dairy products put by, Jacob cut the milk order down from the five gallons a week they had been getting and processing, to just two gallons a week.

But he stood firm on the two full beef and five hogs he’d ordered the previous fall, when things were tough and Fred was struggling to keep just his breeding stock alive, for delivery this fall, all on a handshake deal, with, at the time, very good prices paid in advance. To sweeten the pot, Jacob put half down, at slightly higher prices, on the same number of animals for the next fall.

So, even with their generosity, Jacob, Debra, and Cheryl went into the Christmas season fairly well off in supplies, though their cash was lower than they liked. They had been spending it, investing it actually, just as they’d done with Andrew and the firewood business and Fred with the arrangements they’d made with him.

Though they were doing okay, and Jacob was fairly busy with Andrew, not having a good paying job with benefits was bothering him. There was some cash from the firewood, but the family still took a significant portion of Jacob’s wages in seasoned hardwood firewood.

It was something of a miracle that none of them had any major health problems or accidents during the last couple of years, but it was almost a certainty that medical care would be needed at some point and Jacob wanted insurance, to keep the emergency fund and their retirement plans intact.

He went looking for computer work after the first of the year. The economy was still in the dumps, but there was still an economy, with people, a few less now, still buying and selling and needing financial work done.

Jacob kept his standards up, and decided to pass on a couple of jobs that he was very over qualified for, with salaries that were an insult, and with minimal benefits, to boot.

But Gus’ reputation had been good in the area, and the letter of recommendation that Jacob had held onto stood Jacob in good stead when he applied to a series of computer management level positions at half a dozen of the larger corporations still functioning in the area.

He interviewed for three of the positions he applied for, turned one down, and then wavered between the other two. He wasn’t much to play one person against another, but he was thinking of his family and essentially gave each of the HR people the same idea that he was considering the other company, and wanted a bit more than was being offered from the one he was talking to at the moment.

Jacob was relieved when the ploy worked, without much effort, actually. The company he was really hoping to get on with upped the offer two percent, and added a couple of financial perks and several smaller perks, such as a dedicated parking spot and a grander job title.

He was also guaranteed time off when he needed it to handle the fall harvest and meat processing, though he didn’t put it quite that way when he asked for the specific times off in lieu of a couple of other perks offered he didn’t care about.

It put a lot of pressure on Debra, with Cheryl in school and doing very well with her music training, to get everything done at home. Jacob saw how tired she was, though she never complained. He called another family meeting and brought up the subject.

“Debra, I know the load on you is tremendous, and you are doing a great job, but I think, now that I’m working again and can’t do as much as I have for the last year or so that we need to get you some domestic help. We need the benefits, and the cash coming in is nice, and we need it, too, but I’m making enough to get someone to help you with the routine things so you can concentrate on the things you want to do. You haven’t taken a class in some time and I know you miss it.”

“It is okay, Jacob. I’m managing.”

“Mom,” Cheryl said quietly, “I think that is the point Dad is trying to make. You’re managing, but some of the spark and sparkle is gone. You work from before I get up to late at night. It isn’t good for you.”

There were tears in Debra’s eyes. “I don’t want to let you down. Either of you. Cheryl, you keep your room cleaned and help with the laundry and... And Jacob, you…”

Jacob took her hands into his. “You aren’t letting us down. And sure we help. But we’ve created a place here that takes more than one person to handle day in and day out. Even you with your almost inexhaustible supply of energy. You haven’t had a real break in months.”

Debra was openly crying now. “But we need to keep ahead… I don’t want to spend money on things in case we need it for… for something else…”

“We’ve made it through tough times before, Honey. We probably will again. But while things are going good, let’s lower the work load for you, significantly, and on Cheryl and I a little. A domestic to help you will let you get back to doing some of the things you love. And they always seem to come in handy when we need something when the times are hard.”

“But…” Debra slid her hands from Jacob’s and wiped her eyes with a tissue. “I don’t know… Do you think we could find someone we could trust? We have so much to lose now, if word gets out about what we do have here.”

“I know someone,” Cheryl said suddenly.

Jacob and Debra both looked at Cheryl in surprise. “You know a domestic that would work for us the way we need?” Jacob asked.

Cheryl nodded her head with certainty. “Yes. Mrs. Russell.” Cheryl colored slightly. “Brian’s mother…”

“She’s one of the ones you had us help…” Debra said.

“And Brian?” Jacob asked, a twinkle in his eye and humor in his voice.”

“Well… Okay. I kind of like him. A little… I guess.” She saw her mother and father both smile. “But really. Mrs. Russell is a good worker and really needs the job. You saw how she was at that last event we had at school.

“She’s just like you, Mom. Always willing to help, no matter what, and almost never asks for help herself, or take anything for helping. Brian is like that, too. I think she could be trusted. And Brian. They really do need some help. Brian is so thin… and Mrs. Russell is just as thin.”

“Well, then. I think you should approach her and see what you think, Debra.”

Debra was looking at Cheryl. She looked over at Jacob. “Me? But you…”

“Don’t want to approach a woman, try to find out about her, and then offer her a household job right out of the blue. Nope. I don’t think so.”

“He’s right, Mom. Brian said… Well… A lot of people know the situation they are in. And Mrs. Russell is really pretty, even as thin as she is. You’ve seen her.

“A couple of men have sort of tried to take advantage of the situation… Brian almost got into a fight with one of them. He said… Well, he didn’t really say, just implied, that it wasn’t right in any way what the guy was offering.”

“I see,” Debra said. She looked at Jacob again. “You are right. I think in that situation I would be very careful about who I talked to and about what. If you two really think this is the right thing to do…”

“I do,” Jacob said.

“Me, too, Mom,” Cheryl added. “Good for you and us, and for Mrs. Russell and Brian.”

“Well, I guess it is settled, then. What would be the best way for me to contact her, Cheryl?” Debra asked.

“I’ll ask Brian to ask her to call. If they still have a phone. If not, maybe you could come down to the school. She helps out at play practice most of the time. Brian said she used to act in community plays and stuff and knows all about putting on plays and building sets and things.”

“I guess I have been a little lax in getting involved with your school activities this year, haven’t I?” Debra asked sadly.

“Oh, Mom. That’s okay. You’ve had more important things to do lately. This will give you more time for things like that.”

“When is the next play practice?” Jacob asked.

“Tomorrow, actually,” Cheryl said.

Jacob looked at Debra. “We can both go over and maybe I can lend a hand while you talk to Mrs. Russell.” Smiling he looked over at Cheryl. “Brian will probably be there, I take it?”

Cheryl looked a little uncertain, but she nodded.

“Might just run into him, then, and introduce myself.”

“Dad!”

Jacob chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll try not to embarrass you.”

Debra smiled and admonished. “Don’t tease her, Jacob. There will be plenty of times for us to check out Brian.”

“Mom!”

A red faced Cheryl found an excuse to make herself scarce, so Jacob and Debra could discuss the situation and possible duties and salary.

Jacob was impressed immediately with Brian. He came up and introduced himself before Jacob had a chance to do the same. And was very respectful in the process. It pained Jacob to see how thin the boy was. Cheryl was right. If Brian’s condition was any sign, the family needed some help. More than what they were already getting on the sly from the Stevens. He hoped that Debra found Mrs. Russell suitable for the job.

Jacob was helping Brian with rigging some of the sets, with Cheryl keeping an eagle eye on them, when Debra walked over with the woman in question beside her.

Jacob had to admit that Cheryl was right. Belinda Russell was quite pretty, despite being, as Cheryl had said, very thin. “Jacob, this is Belinda Russell. She’s agreed to work for us, if you approve.”

“I’ll leave that to you, Dear,” Jacob replied, shaking Belinda’s hand carefully, afraid he might actually hurt her. But she had a firm grip and he matched it, realizing that despite her appearance, she was a strong woman. In more ways than one.

“Don’t you want to ask me any questions?” Belinda asked.

Jacob shrugged and said, “No. Debra and I discussed what was required of someone to work for us and you obviously qualify or she wouldn’t have brought you over.”

“Actually, I think Belinda wanted to see if she’d be willing to work for us, depending on your… approach.”

The all saw Belinda color slightly. But she spoke up quietly. “I suppose I did. It has been rather… difficult lately.”

“Mom…” Brian said softly. All the Stevens could see he was hurting because of his mother’s past experiences.

“It is quite all right, Brian,” Belinda told her son. “You were right about this family. Very close and of a single mind, I think.” She paused and then looked at Cheryl, Brian in turn, and then Debra and Jacob. “You are the ones that have been leaving the food and things at the apartment, aren’t you?”

“That’s you guys?” Brian asked, startled. He looked over at Cheryl and saw from her look that his mother was right. “We’ll pay you back. Every cent… We don’t take charity… Well, we did, I guess, but we didn’t know where it was coming from and…”

Belinda put a hand on Brian’s arm and was about to speak when Cheryl spoke up first. “It was my idea, Brian. I know you didn’t want to take anything, but I was so worried about you and your mom…” Cheryl was close to tears and Brian knew it.

“It’s okay, Cheryl,” Brian said gently. “Really. You only did what you thought right, obviously. We really did need some help. I just want to be able to thank and repay that kindness.”

Copyright 2013

[Jerry D Young]

[SIZE=5]

[Jerry D Young]

Suburban Homestead – Epilog

The economy wasn’t doing all that great, either. But Jacob’s job was for a company that did well despite the economy. Perhaps even better when the economy was in the shape it was now. Though he worked in the offices of the company, and the manufacturing plant was in another city, one of Jacob’s perks was the employee discount he got on the company’s products.

The company manufactured, among many other things, a line of quality home, estate, and homestead tools. Jacob was able to pick up new tools, far in excess of what he already had for less than he had invested in the originals. With the use the originals had seen, the older ones were literally wearing out. The new ones, with the spare parts and extras he bought with the discount, would last for years of more hard work.

And it looked very much like that was going to be the norm for the foreseeable future. All indications were that the weather patterns were on the swing to near record bad winters and near record bad summers every couple of years. Within historical norms, but the worst of them.

The days of wonderful weather for years at a time were over for now. But it wasn’t expected to be as bad as it had turned there for a while, either. So the homestead would continue to be a major factor in the Stevens and Russell families’ lifestyles.

With the harsh conditions and deaths from the past disasters on many peoples’ minds, small homesteads like the Stevens’ were being developed in many places, for the same reasons the Stevens had started theirs.

The community grain and bean garden was again put into production with some of the old members of the group helping and teaching the many new people that wanted to have the benefits that it provided. The city came through with additional land that could be used for vegetable gardens, and even a couple more grain and bean gardens.

Debra, often with Stormy on her hip, was the leader and organizer, with Belinda’s help, of a renewed gardening, canning, and savings group.

And when Cheryl and Brian graduated college, Cheryl with dual degrees in music and animal husbandry, and Brian with one in farming, the on again, off again, out of town homestead was acquired and began to provide the groups with all the quality protein they would need in the still difficult times ahead.

But the Suburban Homestead was still the center of life for the family. Stormy would learn at his mother’s and father’s side what it took to take over the operation, years later, when they retired, happy with their lives, despite the occasional trial and tribulation they had so successfully handled.


End ********

Copyright 2013
Jerry D Young