Here I was thinking about buying a farm to live on as a second job that would also be a potential safety net if something major happens to the power grid or internet as I don’t see myself trading snippets of code with my neighbors for supplies…
I always say that as a developer, I'll be one of the first to die come the apocalypse. I'll be the useless guy with nothing to trade and no survival skills.
Keep yourself fit and at least you’ll be a good laborer.
Ok, I'll need coders after the apocalypse and you can't just make someone a laborer that hasn't done that their whole life, that's not how that works. No gym fit is farmer fit enough.
>you can't just make someone a laborer that hasn't done that their whole life
You can, my brother and I worked on my Uncle's farm over the summmers for at least ages 14-18 and had no special "laborer" training, we went from high school classes to slopping hog, feeding cows, stacking hay, etc. Sore muscles and blisters are the norm for the first few weeks, but it doesn't take long for muscles to adapt and callouses to form.
Go to gym during the week and do gardening/landscaping work on weekends. Should get you a good portion of the way there.
Subsistence farming without using modern amenities is a whole different ballgame from the sorts of farms in the article.
Friends parents have a 14 acre plot of land with chicken and a pretty sizable garden. They have to give away their eggs in the warmer months as there are too many. Unfortunately they haven't been gardening due to health but the chickens are still going. Most of the lot is wooded and is not difficult to maintain. It's no farm but I imagine it could support a few people.
Edit: forgot to add they have about 25 or so chickens as of now. They have lost one to a fox so have these weather proof radios playing talk radio which keeps them away.
Farmer will be just a fucked if the power goes off and doesn't come back on. Obviously not all of them but they are by no means just going to survive something like that.