Posted on 02/09/2009 12:36:11 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny
Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training
I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood
The only reason food prices have remained the same or fallen around me is that the sizes have all shrunk!
Self Reliant/Survivalist ping list.
Granny, TenthAmendmentChampion and others have posted some excellent info. and links. Worth a look. My printer is smokin.
“‘Pink Reliance’ grape”
Hmmmmmmmm, interesting.
That’s some scary stuff.
I fear for our grands, WKB.
http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/etext03/rggcm10.htm
Organic Gardener’s Composting
Solomon, Steve
[Full book on page and check the biblo for more interesting reading on organic gardening...granny]
My personal survival definition is being a minimalist and living entirely off the land and bringing nothing but my ability to live off of.
Going camping I use the can opener, the sleeping bag, the propane and electric lanterns etc but I practice my minimalist skills.
In reality I would probably bring guns and ammo, knives for skinning, self defense. One throwing knife would be perfect to attach to a shaft and it would make an ideal spear for throwing.
One idea I had recently was instead of chasing down game, set some people on the far side of a river and take a couple others to scare and herd the animals toward the river. When the animals cross and are mid stream your companions on the other side spring into action. Thus, the animals in the water would panic and we could make easy targets of the ones we wish to kill. It would be an easy hunt and the only ones taken would be enough to last for 3-4 months.
hides would eventually replace sleeping bags and winter clothing. Fuel would be anything from wood to rendered fat. Weapons would gradually give way to bow and arrow as well to spears.
Learning practical uses for others garbage (tin can, buckets etc) would be a necessity.
http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/etext02/wldfl10.htm
WILD FLOWERS.
An Aid to Knowledge of Our Wild Flowers and Their Insect Visitors
By Neltje Blanchan
PREFACE
Surely a foreword of explanation is called for from one who has
the temerity to offer a surfeited public still another book on
wild flowers. Inasmuch as science has proved that almost every
blossom in the world is everything it is because of its necessity
to attract insect friends or to repel its foes - its form,
mechanism, color, markings, odor, time of opening and closing,
and its season of blooming being the result of natural selection
by that special insect upon which each depends more or less
absolutely for help in perpetuating its species - it seems fully
time that the vitally important and interesting relationship
existing between our common wild flowers and their winged
benefactors should be presented in a popular book.
Is it enough to know merely the name of the flower you meet in
the meadow? The blossom has an inner meaning, hopes and fears
that inspire its brief existence, a scheme of salvation for its
species in the struggle for survival that it has been slowly
perfecting with some insect’s help through the ages. It is not a
passive thing to be admired by human eyes, nor does it waste its
sweetness on the desert air. It is a sentient being, impelled to
act intelligently through the same strong desires that animate
us, and endowed with certain powers differing only in degree, but
not in kind, from those of the animal creation. Desire ever
creates form.
Do you doubt it? Then study the mechanism of one of our common
orchids or milkweeds that are adjusted with such marvelous
delicacy to the length of a bee’s tongue or of a butterfly’s leg;
learn why so many flowers have sticky calices or protective
hairs; why the skunk cabbage, purple trillium, and carrion flower
emit a fetid odor while other flowers, especially the white or
pale yellow night bloomers, charm with their delicious breath;
see if you cannot discover why the immigrant daisy already
whitens our fields with descendants as numerous as the sands of
the seashore, whereas you may tramp a whole day without finding a
single native ladies’ slipper. What of the sundew that not only
catches insects, but secretes gastric juice to digest them? What
of the bladderwort, in whose inflated traps tiny crustaceans are
imprisoned, or the pitcher plant, that makes soup of its guests?
Why are gnats and flies seen about certain flowers, bees,
butterflies, moths or humming birds about others, each visitor
choosing the restaurant most to his liking? With what infinite
pains the wants of each guest are catered to! How relentlessly
are pilferers punished! The endless devices of the more ambitious
flowers to save their species from degeneracy by close inbreeding
through fertilization with their own pollen, alone prove the
operation of Mind through them. How plants travel, how they send
seeds abroad in the world to found new colonies, might be studied
with profit by Anglo-Saxon expansionists. Do vice and virtue
exist side by side in the vegetable world also? Yes, and every
sinner is branded as surely as was Cain. The dodder, Indian pipe,
broomrape and beech-drops wear the floral equivalent of the
striped suit and the shaved head. Although claiming most
respectable and exalted kinsfolk, they are degenerates not far
above the fungi. In short, this is a universe that we live in;
and all that share the One Life are one in essence, for natural
law is spiritual law. “Through Nature to God,” flowers show a way
to the scientist lacking faith.
Although it has been stated by evolutionists for many years that
in order to know the flowers, their insect relationships must
first be understood, it is believed that “Nature’s Garden” is the
first American work to explain them in any considerable number of
species. Dr. Asa Gray, William Hamilton Gibson, Clarence Moores
Weed, and Miss Maud Going in their delightful books or lectures
have shown the interdependence of a score or more of different
blossoms and their insect visitors. Hidden away in the
proceedings of scientific societies’ technical papers are the
invaluable observations of such men as Dr. William Trelease of
Wisconsin and Professor Charles Robertson of Illinois. To the
latter especially, I am glad to acknowledge my indebtedness.
Sprengel, Darwin, Muller, Delpino, and Lubbock, among others,
have given the world classical volumes on European flora only,
but showing a vast array of facts which the theory of adaptation
to insects alone correlates and explains. That the results of
illumining researches should be so slow in enlightening the
popular mind can be due only to the technical, scientific
language used in setting them forth, language as foreign to the
average reader as Chinese, and not to be deciphered by the
average student either, without the help of a glossary. These
writings, as well as the vast array of popular books - too many
for individual mention - have been freely consulted after studies
made afield.
[continues, full book on this page]
>>>The only reason food prices have remained the same or fallen around me is that the sizes have all shrunk!<<<
Boy, did you ever get that right!
Wife was looking at creamed cheese - She said ‘Look this one is 10¢ cheaper than that one.’ I checked and they had gone from 16 ounces to 12 ounces (25% reduction in size) and price was down 3%.
Then I was looking at a Gov’t Cost of Living report - Down at the bottom was this:
Purchasing power of the consumer dollar
(1982-84=$1.00) $ .469
(1967=$1.00) $ .157
Shortly we will be taking wheelbarrows full to the market for a loaf of bread... (Hmmm, where have I heard that before?)
John, I hope you are practicing some of those skills...
Unless you incorporate them into your everyday living, you will definitely encounter transition shock.
While driving wildlife is an ancient hunting technique, remember that they have the advantage and the practice evading you - to them it means survival - everyday. I have seen deer outwit hunters almost arm in arm trying to drive them.
Skills like brain tanning a hide requires knowledge, and one heck of a lot of work. Making jerky to preserve large quantities of meat is quite an undertaking, tedious and very great risk of loosing it all - bears - greedy companions, spoilage, etc.
To me, it seems logical that we should work toward sustainability skills that involve utilizing the next stage in man’s progress, raising your own food and being able to preserve it rather than being a hunter/gatherer. So, let’s hope that we don’t have to go back quite that far in history to survive.
Not criticizing, just suggesting what I think is a more practical - doable approach.
This is so prevalent that it is no longer amusing.
One thing I learned is to learn how animals act when being chased. It is no exact science but good preparations can overcome many of the instincts they have.
preparing jerkey can be done with salt and / or vinegar and lots of heat. I have seen guys jerk their meat and hang them on the spine of cactus. It always requires keeping critters away for awhile. Once the scent diminishes, smoke seems to keep bugs and birds away. If flies are a problem it requires lots of attention.
any insights I may have missed?
Yup - practice.....
When you are extremely hungry, is no time to try to learn to outsmart a deer. Besides, how many companions do you think it would take? How many of them would continue being companions if a couple of them got really hurt by a charging wild boar (or buck, bear, elk, etc.)? Experienced hunters have been gutted themselves for carelessly going up to a downed animal too soon and gotten ripped open by a flailing hoof. A close kill is not going to be without much risk.
Better option is to build a fish weir and trap them. Easily done by one person with some time on their hands. In fact, trapping smaller animals is much more productive.
I still digress though - aren’t you better off having your own chickens, pigs, calves that you have raised and can slaughter at the appropriate time? Combine that with fresh dried or canned vegetables for a balanced diet that will help to keep you healthy for the long-term?
Don’t get me wrong - I have trained with Don Kepler at Penn State on minimalist survival back in the late ‘50’s, and can bake a cattail root like a potato, prepare a rattlesnake for eating, get fresh good water from a wild grape vine, set a trap for a rabbit, skin, gut, cook and eat it,make strong fishing line from the cambium layer of a sapling, make a fish hook from a button or bone, collect edible greens and nuts for a number of different dishes - all with nothing but one pocket knife (or sharp stone if needed). So I do appreciate what you are saying, but without practice, you are a dead duck in most cases.
On the other hand, consider having cases of your own preserved foods, pails of your own grown grain for bread, AND the resources to replenish it year after year. If you use that stock as your everyday food (as I do) there is no conversion shock at all. You have that down pat, and can focus on the new problems as they arise without having to be preoccupied with your next meal.
Does that make any sense?
Hi there and welcome to the thread. I see we are getting a lot of new readers. I am glad people are taking time to read and collect information that will help them now and in times to come. If you have questions or anything to share, please feel free. That’s what has made this thread so great over the last year. Granny is a terrific researcher and one question can lead to a bunch of posts all packed with information. Some posts even have a bunch of search terms which are REALLY helpful.
Hello, Sweetie.
Just passing through and saw your name.
Boots.
Hi there and welcome to the thread. I hope you find interesting and useful ideas here. Please ask questions or join in, that’s how we learn from each other. I’m amazed at how wise and resourceful our FReepers are. And we pray for each other and watch out for each other, too. This thread is a great place to hang out!
That was quick and smart thinking! I hope you get a lot of good canning jars. Lucky you!
A dot of red nail polish would work too. You can use the jars for dry storage such as grains, rice, etc. which is what I’m sure you do.
I find the thread easier to see and it can handle the dishwasher quite well.
I use them to store rice, popcorn, nuts, sunflower seeds, herbs, spices, etc.
I often put them in the freezer as well, because most grains and nuts freeze very well and the good seal that the canning jar lid provides very effectively prevents freezer burn or that funny freezer taste that things can get.
When the farmers first tried to grow figs in Fresno County, the trees grew beautifully and flowered well, but never set any fruit. The growers finally learned that the trees needed a certain kind of wasp to pollinate the fig flowers. After that it was a huge industry here growing figs at the turn of the century. The upscale area of Fresno is called Fig Garden and the kids in the 60s and 70s used to “party in the figs.” I don’t know how many fig trees are here any more.
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