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Thread: Irrigation, tree tapping, and wild gardening.....

  1. #1

    Default Irrigation, tree tapping, and wild gardening.....

    1. Irrigation- I would like to know the best ways to irrigate a bug-out camp from scratch. Any ideas?
    2. Tree tapping- What tools do i need to get sap and syrup, and what are their uses? Preferably for the sierra nevadas.
    3 Wild gardening- what are my limits, and what is the best to grow? Keep in mind the Sierra Nevadas.

    Anything should quench my thirst for knowledge.....
    Thank you!


  2. #2
    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    You're actually talking about moving then.

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    Senior Member DSJohnson's Avatar
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    What is your water source? Are you going to dig a well or use a spring or ground water or out of a creek?

    Have you ever done any gardening? Ever broke up a "new" spot that had not been used for a garden before? You will need a good long handled shovel, a real garden rake and maybe even a pick/mattox to start. I would start with about a 5 foot by 5 foot plot and see how that does? What seeds do you have? How long is your growing season?
    Last edited by DSJohnson; 05-07-2015 at 03:23 PM.

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    If your looking in the Sierra Nevadas you need to decide what area (public?) ...elevation...native plants...water source...(be mindful of water rights).......and crops you expect to grow.

    Sounds like you are gonna grow weed?....If not, be mindful of others that do, near water.
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    Senior Member randyt's Avatar
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    My rec would be to study the farming methods of the Incas. Not same same but I bet it could cross over.
    so the definition of a criminal is someone who breaks the law and you want me to believe that somehow more laws make less criminals?

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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    Want to know why there are no big farms in the area in question?

    Slope
    Soil fertility
    Lack of water
    Growing season

    This is 21st Century America, The frontier era was over 100 years ago, if that land could be farmed there would be farms there.

    The only reason they plant pot patches there is due to the high return on effort. Poor crops of pinto beans and carrots are hardly worth the sweat of turning the ground, only to lose the crop in mid season due to frost in July or August.

    And the "syrup trees" you seek are not native to the area in question.
    If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?

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    Quote Originally Posted by kyratshooter View Post
    Want to know why there are no big farms in the area in question?

    Slope
    Soil fertility
    Lack of water
    Growing season

    This is 21st Century America, The frontier era was over 100 years ago, if that land could be farmed there would be farms there.

    The only reason they plant pot patches there is due to the high return on effort. Poor crops of pinto beans and carrots are hardly worth the sweat of turning the ground, only to lose the crop in mid season due to frost in July or August.

    And the "syrup trees" you seek are not native to the area in question.
    Even if they *were* native, you need certain conditions for a good sap run. Syrup is possible because trees store starch in their roots and trunk prior to winter, which is converted to sugar. In the spring, the sap rises, and the sugar is carried with it. You need the right winter conditions followed by cold nights and warm days for a decent amount of time for good syrup. And, of course, a reasonable number of trees...the best being sugar maple, though other species of maple also work, as do birch trees. But you get a better yield from sugar maples.

    Now, assuming you found somewhere in the sierra nevadas that has the right climactic conditions...which I imagine *could* happen, with enough suitable trees...keep in mind the trees have to be mature..you need, bare minimum,a spile and a covered bucket, as well as something to boil the sap in, and containers to store the syrup. However, if you want really *good syrup*, you want a good filtration system, and a boiler that's going to maintain a proper temperature. I don't know what the temperature is off the top of my head, sorry about that, I just remember the guy I buy syrup from telling me that there is one.

    Beehives might be a better option.

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    Not too sure of the area myself but have you considered aquaponics?

    Might be more effort and materials in the initial set up and water might be an issue to find but once everything's in place you should be able to maintain a running garden no mater what the soil is like in that area.

    Basically the concept behind the system is it's like a hydroponics system but you have a man made pool with fish in it that you suck out the fishes waste to feed then plants and the plants filter said waste and filter it back to the plants.

    Also for a green house enclosure look up geodesic domes, If you can source materials and build most of the set up yourself it'll cut back on cost.

    Just FFT.

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    Another ROTTW post...
    If we are to have another contest in…our national existence I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's, but between patriotism & intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition & ignorance on the other…
    ~ President Ulysses S. Grant

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LowKey View Post
    Another ROTTW post...
    Yeah, Thought this was asked and answered last May.....

    Of Well,...... don't wanna throw rocks.
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    Been reading back posts and catching up, Sorry for the bump but wanted to add $0.02 not so much for the Bug out end of the world whatnot but just to put out some possible useful information for people looking for alternative ideas for gardens and the like.

    I intend to go the way of aquaponics myself as my location in pretty rocky and I can get most of my materials cheap or free and I'm trying to gear my gardens into being as weed free as possible and if I can automate it off grid then all the more power to me.

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    1893 no problem at all on the bump....just that the OP asked the question, didn't get the answer he wanted and moved on.....happens a lot.
    My response was to the quoted poster.

    Many old threads are brought back to life, with new perspective, and interesting information that is helpful to everyone.

    In this case, OP had a specific area, had not really done any research, thought he had figured out the "secret" of long term survival.

    Found out that although possible, just required a lot of work, labor and resources ( like aquaponics) that the average keyboard Bug-outer (is that a word?) plans on his survival around a big knife.

    So dig around, post away....everyone will be better for it.
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    Senior Member kyratshooter's Avatar
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    Yep, this was the last post Eaglescout123 made after asking about how to evade martial law, how to build a bug out bicycle and which bullet proof vest was the best buy.

    He either gave up, is freezing to death in the old hole dug by the Donner Party in the Sierra Nevada range, or his mother discovered his computer history and restricted his computer access.

    I am guessing probably the latter.
    If you didn't bring jerky what did I just eat?

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    Heh, Alright. I know I'm the newish guy around here and wasn't overly sure how to forum ran, Guessing you get allot of SHTF band wagon jumpers around here but good to know that I can bump some older threads with some new views.

    As for my set up it's on hold ATM due to winter but if I have time in the summer I'd like to get some of the trees I've got down bucked up into next years firewood and possibly some footings in. Taking as many steps as my finances, work scheduled, and materials can allow.

    Have to afford myself a Bosh Hammer at some point in time as well so I can load up my truck to start pulling and move some rocks and the stubborn ones I'll have to either drill and burn to stress fracture it or if it's getting onto winter fill the holes with water and let the ice stress fracture the rocks.

    I could fix up some tannerite and pop a few but I have to talk to the neighbors first so I'm not riling anyone up.

  16. #16

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    There are a LOT of good permaculture resources that will take you deeper than even this amazing forum. Having said that, we've been working for twenty seven years full time on developing a sustainable living year round calendar and water, sap, and forest gardens are a big part of that routine. First, you will always be tweaking, adding, adjusting, and modifying. It is what makes being self reliant fun Second, if you have maple, sycamore, or birch, you can tap them and boil that sap down. I would recommend biting it down completely into sugar as it is more stable than syrup. We tend our springs with great care and capture run-off for non-potable water to use for our gardens, showers, and washing. For food, look at the wild forms of the cultivars you want to introduce. Wild forms are often smaller or more bitter, but they will always contain more nutrients than their domesticated counterparts. A worthwhile exercise would be to research what the native cultures foraged for and grew through out the calendar year in your area. Our gathering season has already started with the sap flow (about a month early). We can almost dig the sweet burdock, evening primrose, wild carrot, ground nut, and many other roots and tubers important to our early spring diets. After that the greens like wild mustards (dames rocket is a favorite here in Maine), dandelion, basswood leaves, and so on are available. Many of these are referred to as "tonics". Scientifically, they often stimulate white blood cell production, increase parastolisis, aid in digestion, and help to pass waste and fluids. In other words, spring greens help our body with its own spring cleaning while toning and working our bodies own systems. Summer here is lush, but until berry season really takes off, the primary focus for foraging is plant medicine. In late summer things go bonkers with wild rice, beech nut, blue berries, apples, acorns, and autumn olive, to name a few. Each of these "larders" are gathered and processed in quantity enough to get us (a family of five and three to four instructors) through winter. I wish you well on what will be a life long journey of nature connection and health.

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