quest for food-scenario

**Rick** · 07-20-2010, 10:20 PM

Actually, it wasn't ya'll. It was me. I guess I was really off base with that post. I think everyone should just head for the bush if the SHTF. That would be the best thing all around. Everyone needs to evacuate their location and head for the woods. Now what did I do with that list?

LowKey - Don't blame the "authorities" on not getting the time lines correct for restoration. They are getting their information second hand. I've worked a lot of storm damage and it can change in an instant. You might think you're going to have a section up and flying by the end of the day and that's what you relay to the city or county. Then you turn a corner and it's a complete jungle of downed trees worse than anything you've been working. That changes the whole picture. Or the hospital goes down or the fire department and you get pulled off to go put them back on. That changes the time lines, too.

Welderguy - My assumption is TS has truly HTF and folks are starving and/or have died. At the point where my survival is the only consideration. Well, that and Mad Max and Kevin Kostner (that gilled freak of nature). He's always winning bets on how long he can hold his breath underwater.

**rwc1969** · 07-20-2010, 10:36 PM

Does anyone here using primitive methods dry food, meats specifically, on a regular basis enough to know if it really is safe?

**welderguy** · 07-20-2010, 10:37 PM

Originally Posted by Rick

Welderguy - My assumption is TS has truly HTF and folks are starving and/or have died. At the point where my survival is the only consideration. Well, that and Mad Max and Kevin Kostner (that gilled freak of nature). He's always winning bets on how long he can hold his breath underwater.

Got ya , and I do agree at that point all's fair.

**Rick** · 07-20-2010, 10:49 PM

I had this guy in my mind that went quite a while without food but did consume water. I finally figured out who he was. Bobby Sands. He went on a hunger protest in an Irish prison and lasted 66 days. KYRAT is correct about caloric intake.

**wareagle69** · 07-21-2010, 06:18 AM

Originally Posted by randyt

I curious have anybody seeded or developed wild foods?
the reason I ask is within a couple miles of me there are a few backwaters and I have thought about seeding some wild rice. not sure how this would work out but if I could get it going it would be a good source of food. I should drag a canoe back to some of those places and may find out there is wild rice there after all.

you bet. i touched on this earleir this year. as i grow along my journey i have realized a few things, one-its easier to let it go wild. i pretty much have quite mowing my lawn, and i have transplanted many many wild edibles to have to crazy and spread at will, also collect seeds so if i have to bug out i can grow my own wild garden, which takes allot less tending to than a domestic garden.
now when i say i quit mowing my lawn, you must understand i live out in a very rural area and my lawn is growing over with weeds more than grass, so as i look out the window i see tons of clover, you can do allot with just clover alone

**Rick** · 07-21-2010, 08:57 AM

I know dilligaf2u2 had posted on that quite a while back. He had some bottom land where he planted potatoes and some other typical garden veggies.

**LowKey** · 07-21-2010, 08:38 PM

Rick, you're right, it wasn't the authorities. The police department was just as in the dark (ha!) as the rest of us. The utility company, Unitil, was completely and utterly incompetent, overwhelmed, didn't have a rehearsed emergency situation plan in place and their field guys totally underestimated the damage. The Governor had to step in to keep the out-of-state crews here to do the work after they had finished their contracted agreements with all the other towns. Unitil didn't have a work-trade contract agreement. That's why we were out so long. It was actually National Grid and Verizon that did all the work putting the crappy outdated system back together. We lost a lot of transformers and in some places whole blocks of poles and wires were just bulldozed out of the way. Some of those poor guys didn't get home for Christmas and they were working in 0 degree weather by that time. When they got to our street I bought them 2 Box O' Joe's and a pile of donuts. Some people in town only complained and hated them all, especially if they saw one guy asleep in the truck (it looked to me like they were rotating crews of 3 or 4 guys so the trucks were out on long stints.) Some people just don't get it.

The Attorney General actually suggested the utility be fined for not having an emergency plan and not following through with the mandatory are-you-ok calls and progress updates they are supposed to have by state law. It was only a suggestion though.

The top man in the field for Unitil got a $300k bonus for his Storm Duty work. But it was National Grid that did it all from a command trailer they brought in. The utility has yet to come back and trim out the trees along the wireways. It's been 2 years. If they don't do it, the next bad storm is going to bring it all down again.

**kyratshooter** · 07-22-2010, 10:56 AM

Originally Posted by rwc1969

Does anyone here using primitive methods dry food, meats specifically, on a regular basis enough to know if it really is safe?

I do it for demonstrations at historic sites all the time. It is the simplist process imaginable. The pioneers did it, the Indians did it, the Carribean Islanders did it and so did the Europeans.

I can do directions as a seperate post if you would like.

You can dry any meat from the Bovine critters, poltry and fish. All it takes is bright hot sunlight or a good smokey fire. One can also dry almost any fruit or vegatable.

It takes all day, but is worth the effort.

People used to preserve eggs, pickle meat and had all kinds of tricks for making food last longer than we do since refregeration became popular. Many of the "living history farms" specilize in reproducing these activities.

How did you guys think they preserved food up till the canning process was invented?

**Winnie** · 07-22-2010, 11:25 AM

Yes please! All methods of preserving are useful and good knowledge to have! Can you put it in Cooking, food Storage and Preserving, and give it it's own thread??

**Aurelius95** · 07-22-2010, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by kyratshooter

I do it for demonstrations at historic sites all the time. It is the simplist process imaginable. The pioneers did it, the Indians did it, the Carribean Islanders did it and so did the Europeans.

I can do directions as a seperate post if you would like.

That would be a geratpost, KYRS.

**easyday** · 07-27-2010, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by kyratshooter

Or probably killed by some farmer protecting his chickenhouse.

Uh, that will be me!

Originally Posted by kyratshooter

SHTF you are stealing food and food means life. Protecting the food is protecting your life.

Concur.

**easyday** · 07-27-2010, 03:04 PM

As for me, I'll not bug-out. I'll do better here where I'm in familiar terrain.

I feel fortunate to live where I do, but I can't say that it was by chance.
About 40 of my acres are woods teeming with wildlife, for now. About 1/2 mile down the road begins literally thousands of wilderness acres owned by various timber companies. Lots of deer, bear, turkey, squirrel, possum (last resort), armadillo (next to last resort), and coon (only good doused in BBQ sauce, IMO).

I have three ponds (two stocked, with one deep in the woods), and a year-round creek on one corner. I can hunt, fish, and have familiarized myself with local flora food sources. I've just begun researching snares for small game. It isn't always conducive to "privacy" to fire a weapon, not to mention that I would eventually run out of ammo.

I would eat my chickens early on. They're noisy, and would draw the zombies in my direction. I'd cry when I ate my goats :sob:, but better than someone else eating them. Someone mentioned eating a horse... I think my horse would prove more valuable alive for transportation and manual labor.
I can cook without power, but I do need to build a solar oven. Dang! Just haven't done that yet!

The people in my neck of the woods are all well-armed hunter types. Hillbillies are like that!

Been roughin' it most of their lives, so they know how to get creative with stuff. My adult kids live in the city, but know that at the first rumor of something dire, they're packing up and heading here.

ARRGHHH! Sometimes I feel that I'll never be as prepared as I may need to be. I need to work on prioritizing better!

**Rick** · 07-27-2010, 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by EasyDay

Sometimes I feel that I'll never be as prepared as I may need to be.

“It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” - the Red Queen.

There is no end to being prepared. You'll find there is always "one more thing" you some how have forgotten.

**easyday** · 07-27-2010, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by Rick

There is no end to being prepared. You'll find there is always "one more thing" you some how have forgotten.

I know that you're right, Rick. I just hope that what I "forget" is a comfort item, not anything too essential to survival.

**klickitat** · 07-27-2010, 04:20 PM

Rabbits! 3 does and a buck can feed a family of 4 with no problems.

Here are a few ideas that will make it work for anyone.

#1 In eastern Europe, even today rabbits are raised in apartments. A small corner of the dwelling can be used. I have seen several setup where a plastic kiddy pool was placed under the cages to catch waste to be cleaned every day. The waste is then used to grow a small crop on the balcony.

#2 If you have a house in town you can raise them in hutches. No noise and as long as you keep the cages clean no smell. Very easy to hide.

#3 Cages can easily be transported to wherever one wants to go. In a remote area there are two ways to colony raise rabbits.

The first is to fence off a large section of ground. I like to use any old fence. It is not designed to keep the rabbits in but to allow places to hang snares for predators. In side the fenced area I like to make several piles of brush for the rabbits to hide in. Make sure they have water as well. A 1/2 acre for your core colony is plenty. As the colony grows it will leave the area. If you trap this is good for taking coyotes and bobcats or even fox in your area.

Second is to build a pen on wheels to move around. This is a 8x12 pen that has a wire roof and can be drug around when the rabbits need more feed.

Third is to just let the rabbits loose and bread naturally. I have done this in the past as well. You need to stay on top of the predator problem. I really like white rabbits because they are easy to see and hunt. This also works for if any reason you have to leave the colony, the predators will wipe them out in short order and not cause an ecology problem.

This last method is best done around your farm where you have a lot of control. The fence method was an offshoot of this method but allowed me to snare a lot of predators. open areas with lots of grass or weeds is the key to making these last two methods work.

One of the reason that rabbits are so attractive is not only can a small herd easily produce enough meat, but they can also be fed weeds that can be picked every day if you are using cages. Also if you provide the protection then they are very easily raised colony style. There are several sites that talk about raising rabbits with weeds and colony raising rabbits.

We raise rabbits right now and feed them commercial feed. My time is too valuable at this point to feed hand picked weeds. I would be raising them around the farm here in a colony as before but we are in the middle of a move so it was decided it best to keep them in cages until after the move.

One last thing, is to consider the trade value of fresh rabbit when everyone else is having a hard time finding meat.

**LowKey** · 07-27-2010, 08:01 PM

But do you let on that you have the meat? What would refuges have to offer you in trade? Are there other local neighbors you know that are doing the same thing as you or have you diversified and indeed have stuff to trade?