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? Its 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
Ive been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe thats 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
Emailed that page to Lloyd.
Heck no I ain't sendin' him the news stuff. I like relaxing evenings. We need to let me do the worry/planning and just keep him busy going along with my plans...
oh no
did i really say that?
~looking both ways~
I'm sure nobody heard me. I probably just thought it.
However, I will learn to make wine so if somebody wants to trade me something spectacular like honey, I will have the barter tool. AND, wine keeps Lloyd a lot calmer when people like DelaWhere share news with him.
Nettles is a good weed to have around. I tried cooking them up like any other green for the first time about 7 or 8 years ago. Tastes like greens. Add a little salt, pepper, vinegar, bacon grease or butter and serve with cornbread and you got a good meal. Not bad for the nasty stickery stinging things. I only cooked and ate ‘em once. But now I know I can and they are good.
Well, I made cantaloupe preserves last week and they came out good. Next time you have too many you can just put up some preserves. I'll post on the thread when I make the wine and let ya'll know how it works.
Same thing with that ol nuisance Poke Weed...
I have had a couple of old folks who used to just love to come out in the spring and pick all the newly sprouted poke weed. Ate it like spinach. Geesh, only thing I thought it was good for was to make ink for kids... (Oh, and to get my dander up at how fast it grows and gets in the way!)
Never did try eating it though... Always had too much really ‘good’ stuff to eat.
You should see the response I get from people who tell me that I should to invest in gold like they did...
I look them straight in the eye and ask them how many of my eggs or chicken or vegetables they think they would get for their gold - Can’t eat it... Now bring me a side of smoked bacon or a nice ham, and I’ll bet we can strike up a deal. A really good one too.
Love it LOL. We live out of sight of the main road, so at times we have “activities” going on without “proper” permits.
I just love honey bees. We had our own hives for many, many years and sold our excess honey in a stand using the honor system. When I operated our “pick your own bouquet” business I had a sign warning anyone that was allergic to bee stings that there were many, many bees in the gardens. Never had one single complaint of a bee sting. When I was working in the gardens, often bees would crawl all over my hands, so busy collecting pollen and nectar that they were oblivious to my presense.
>>>I fixed Lloyd’s cinnamon/honey on toast in the kitchen <<<
OK, first the cantaloupe, now cinnamon/honey toast - I was thinking about a snack before bed like an apple or something, and now I am craving honey/cinnamon toast! I have that Honey Cracked Wheat bread that I made yesterday, Hmmm toast some of that - I’m going to be 300 pounds if I keep this up!
I am on the Seefood diet. I see food and I eat it...
I clean up all the pumpkins, watermelon, tomatoes, split cantaloupe, and squash to the chickens, and when I didn’t, they thought I was mad at them... I swear, they pouted...
Interesting post. The link doesn’t give enough info for larger gardens-maybe not practical for large gardens. Hubby has made his annual pronouncement “ no garden this year-too old-can buy what we use cheaper.” Maybe he really means it this year. I can sneak cukes, tomatoes, squash and watermelen into my flower beds, but green beans and especially sweet corn are my two favorite veggies and it’s real hard to plant these two in flower beds. It seems that I would need a lot of material for the top of the ground for no till to work. Have plenty of manure with a lot of shavings mixed in from daughter’s two miniature horses, but afraid it is not rotted sufficiently to use exclusively. Plenty of seaweed locally but read somewhere that it should be washed-probably because of the salt-never have washed it, but have never used it as a large percentage of the mix.
It’s a real quandry. Never been without a vegetable garden in our 60+ years of marriage. The no till method appeals to me as I have always maintained that these big tillers do more harm to the soil than good and the soil dries out faster when you fluff it up with a big tiller. Hubby’s tiller is awaiting a new bearing (what else is new).
Maybe I will just go ahead and start some tomatoes and he will change his mind as he does every year and we will wind up with a garden big enough to feed the whole neighborhood.
We ate a lot of poke salad when I was growing up. There's a particular time to pick it and way to cook it because the stuff is deadly poisonous if you don't do it right. Grama and her sister did it often. I forget the ways and means and I don't necesarily want to tangle with deadly poisonous when I can remember if I pick it on sunny days or cloudy days etc. I'll stick with the stuff I know.
Was it you or someone else who pointed out that most people wouldn't know a potato plant if they saw it? Well, I think most people wouldn't know a turnip plant. And they've got great greens and a starchy root. And they're not poisonous no matter which day you pick 'em or what method you use to cook 'em. LOL
I'm figuring on fair means of trade being food, meds, tools, utensils etc to barter. And the only other means of trade would be work. Now the unfair means of trade (okay not really "trade") will have to be taken care of by our stores of ammo. Which won't be available for barter. Only way anyone will get that will be at high velocity.
I am counting on that. As it is, I have bees flitting around my gardens often and don't have problems. I get ~slightly~ allergic to stings and am questioned by my kids whether it's really smart to want bees. But, I want bees. ~slightly~ allergic is not deadly allergic and to my mind the honey outweighs an occasional discomfort.
ummm... and I already know that tobacco and spit as a poultice takes the sting out so I got myself covered. LOL
You and Lloyd are indeed very alike.
The good part of that is that if I put something healthy to eat in front of him he sees it and eats it also. I just try to *not buy* the things he doesn't need. LOL
Lloyd is in pretty good health but diabetes runs in his family bad. I am attempting to stop the problem from happening as opposed to dealing with the disease.
I have a dog who pouts over things like that. If she doesn't get offered something that's going to compost she is definitely insulted. She would eat a little melon and she will eat anything that I have cooked but she will not eat tomatoes. Very funny to watch her. Goofiest dog you ever saw. But, has been my wonderful constant companion through some hellish years. She's old now. I mean, OLDDDDD for a dog. She is finally at a spot now where she's settled with her spot in front of the fire in the house and her spotS out in the sunshine when it's warm. And that's all she does, eats and lays in warm spots. LOL She deserves it.
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