Hi brute and welcome.
We had this discussion a while back. Let us know what you think.

Here is a link that might be useful: survival garden

I don't mean to discourage new posts because I'm sure there will be several people who didn't comment on the last thread like this, but we had a recent posting about the same thing. Without the clever Mad Max theme though! I'll see if I can find that thread and post a link. It should only be 2 or 3 pages back I think.

As for me, when Publix closes and my freezer runs out of 'microwave in the bag' veggies, I'll be in trouble! I'll have to survive on single malt and Weber-roasted squirrels I guess. When the squirrels are gone it will be time for the Shelties and cats to get nervous. We keep them pretty well fed and round, just in case...

Kate

Kate

You beat me to it! Thanks for finding the link!

I guess Ill eat cattail pancakes.fish in my pond. the poor morning doves,maybe some purslane,hey is wedelia edible we could last for years on that LOL
Squirrel sounds good but Ill have to hide my ducks!

I've wondered about this too. I'm a newbie, so I'd stick with what has worked so far. Roma tomatoes, broccoli, arugula, nasturtium, cantelope, beans and peas for sure. Okra in the summer. I've got a sapodilla tree, a couple surinam cherries and a couple chinese oranges, so I'd be good for vitamin c and fiber, but gosh, I'd get pretty hungry on a salad and beans diet with the occasional fruit. I'd probably want to try some bananas, because of the food value, though I've never grown bananas. Same goes for sweet potatoes. And I'd try squash and onions again, though I haven't been very successful with either so far. Corn would probably make sense, but I don't have a lot of space for that. I already forage purslane out of the yard _ it's great in stirfry _ and certainly continue that.

But I think I'd get pretty hungry, even if I was successful at all of those. Maybe I'd grab some of the feral chickens that roam the neighborhood and try to raise chickens. Man the dogs would love that! I think I'd have to learn to like fish _ we're close enough to lots of water to be able to fish in salt and fresh. In theory, my diet would be much healthier, if I could get enough to eat.

funny post.

Believe it or not, I did a search, using the word "survival" before I started this thread. I came up empty, so I went for it.
I haven't started reading the provided link yet, but my question is aimed toward Floridians, since growing seasons and conditions are so much different down here.

We have "something" ripening all year now, with all the fruit trees. Right now we have Chaya, Grapes, Muntingia, Figs, Katuk, Malanga, many Citrus, Blackberries, Bananas, Barbados Cherries, Cattley Guavas, Papayas and nearly ripe Black Sapotes.

The chickens give us more than enough eggs, and forage for themselves, with very little grain.

We could survive on what we produce. I would sure miss bacon though!

Dog food (fresh raw meats) would be a problem, but could be solved by actually using our firearms to get meat in local hunting areas.

If I only could grow Avocados, I'd have the nearly perfect sustainable garden! But I kill them off regularly.

Anyone know of a cheese producing plant? That I would really miss too!

Lisa

Well, I have fruit trees, but to be honest, most of them don't bear anything. The ones that do would get me by, I guess. I also have cattails growing in the swale behind my house, and there are giant thistles growing down the road in a swale. I read somewhere that you can actually boil and eat milkweed, and I have lots of that. I have a huge seagrape next door. Wild portulaca everywhere around here, and chickweed grows in the winter. I have edible ginger planted, as well as cardamom, and I have Spinach Bush as well. I'd try to plant mustard and coriander from the whole seed I have in the cupboard. I also have several kinds of dried beans, I would definitely be trying to grow, especially the soybeans, as you could make milk and cheese from that.

The main thing would be fresh water, which would be a challenge in the winter, definitely.

I have oak trees, so acorns for flour.

Fertilizer would be compost, of course.

I guess I'd better go buy that book on edible Florida weeds. hehehe.

Brute - the link is to a thread on the Florida Forum so I think you'll find lots of good information.

Hunting areas will be all of your communities. Foraging animals will disappear due to open season hunting by all.
Gardens will be raided. Security will be a concern for sure.
Water will be the biggest concern. all our fresh water
resources are contaminated. No medicine so we will need to depend on herbal remedies. We would need to depend on each other for security,skills,and comfort. People´s faith will increase. It will not be a tea party in a nice garden.
I can see people collecting dew from plants, early in the morning,to drink. Digging air potato roots for food.
Boiling wild grape leaves for food.

Felix

Personally, i would grow 4 things which would keep me fed & on top of the situation.

Tobacco, Pot, Yeast Culture & corn

You can make ethnol from the corn & yeast, which would be in demand, the tobacco & pot speak for themselves, you then trade the 3 resulting products for food & anything else you need.

I'd be moving down to south Florida to live with GCMastiffs...I've seen her garden pics. She and her family will not starve.

I'd gladly earn my keep by weeding and patting the dogs! :)

Yeast culture? I'm hysterical. I can just see me trying to keep up with all those "friendship bread" starters that friends seem to think I need. It's like this : day 1.Knead the bag! Day 2 Add stuff. day 3 Knead the bag. day 4 divide into 7 bags etc.
Heck with ethanol, I'm dabbling in moonshine.(and kneading the bag)

Right! With enough moonshine, tobacco and pot you can trade for anything else you need.

And Iwill have the rabbits...........

So how come we are upset about a cuss word and not about illegal substances on this forum,,,,
just thought Id ask .

Goldenpond, Illegal substance use or cuss words,please not in front of me. But it does not make me upset. I am for liberties
but not in my face. Just like thought control. It is just showing courtesy one for another.
Are you trying to open a can of worms? LOL

Felix

Sorry.
I was just kidding. I couldn't make moonshine if I tried.

Are we serious about this? Isn't joking about illegal substances different from using them in front of someone? Felix, my friend, I would not want to upset you or offend you, but I don't think anything was said here that should be offensive to anyone.

I must have missed the thread that brought the unknown cuss word to our attention.

Peace & Tolerance,
Kate

Sure you could Kristi. In a crisis, we'd all get resourceful. You think sapodilla could make wine? Probably better as rum, since it's pure sugar, but then i'd have to learn how to distill it.

I just read in Pollan's book, In Defense of Food, that there are some experts who now believe that five ounces of alcohol a day is kind of critical to our dietary needs. Our ancestors certainly drank it. My grandmother's doctor told her the little beer she drank each afternoon was great _ so she made us buy it because she lived in a very rural place and didn't want the neighbors to think she was a drunk.

She once told me about making a trip to Chicago during Prohibition (maybe for the World's Fair.) And she went to a speakeasy! This was pretty incredible information for my college-aged self. She seemed very rooted, practical and even provincial, to me back then. Certainly not someone who as a young woman boarded a train with her sisters-in-law (no men went!) and went all the way to Chicago for fun, and then went to an illegal place where people were doing illegal things (things that I'm doing right now, having a glass of wine.)

She also didn't approve of cursing, though she would occasionally exclaim "damnation" at some damnable thing like a rattle snake or something on fire on the stove.

She'd be the one to have around if there were a Mad Max crisis. She could make soap. I spent a month in New Orleans after Katrina and I can tell you, I would have traded just about anything, tomatoes, wine, use of my satellite phone, for a shower. She'd be rich in a Mad Max crisis.

And I'm pretty sure she'd look the other way when it came to the cannabis. Just don't dare throw out the banana peels. The roses need them. All the wasting we do these days was more sinful to her than anything we say or smoke. I tend to agree.

And speaking of Katrina, let's all hope that it's not that bad this time. We're still very fortunate that surviving a crisis in this country, in this day and age really only takes a few gallons of bottled water, some canned food, and the wherewithal to head for safer ground if the need should arise. Our crises don't even last a growing season these days.

Susannah

A can of worms/ hmmmmmmm
ME?
Actually we COULD eat those I suppose. I do have quite a supply in the garage. Any recipes out there?LOL
as far as booze, cussing and illegal fun. I again will state I don't judge. But all those things are better done in the privacy of ones home.Especially the ones that take innocent peoples lives. As far as alcohol benefitting health. They make grapeseed extract and Resverotrol in capsules now.
NUFF said.( or should I say AMEN?)

Geez, did i derail an entire thread with one lil 3 letter word??, lol

If something catastrophic happened, i would assume that the system of government would disolve, and along with it the laws, so pot would not be anymore illegal than lettuce.

Ethnol and moonshine are the same thing, i wasn't thinking of the drinking aspect of it, but rather the need for fuel, but the drinking demand would also bring you people looking to trade.

DID someone say worm recipes? Well if covering bases here is a recipe and link to more.

Chocolate Worm Cream Dessert by Adelaide

10 - ounce package of frozen worms
1 cup of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of confectioners sugar
3/4 cup of chocolate bits
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1. Thaw package of frozen worms. This will take about 1 hour.
2. Mix heavy cream, confectiionerÂs sugar and vanilla together until mixture thickens.
3. Add chocolate bits to whipped cream.
4. Add thawed worms to whipped cream and chocolate bits mixture. Mix well.
5. Serve immediately in dessert bowls.

Here is a link that might be useful: worm rrecipes

Thanks for the worm recipes.bet the grandboys will ask me to help for the next bake sale!

Lots of squirrel recipes at

www.crazysquirrelworld.com.

Maybe I can trade some of my squirrels for a couple rabbits?

Kate

Drinking water would be easy and simple if you make a solar distiller. Lots of info on web. Basically a piece of glass over a collection reservoir. Unless you have OODLES of them, a couple or three should provide what you need for drinking, not bathing etc.
People lost at sea on small boats have used tarps to collect dew.

Funny , I saved the original" Major crisis" thread because it was so informative and fun!
And I am going to start concentrating on growing more "stuff you can consume "in my yard.

I will barter with Lisa for fruit....

Since I am agriculture / residential I will feed some animals.
And I will probably become attached to them :(

Treefrog can come over and kill them for me and I will send him home with meat and veggies !

As for the worms, I got a great recipe for dirt cake using gummy worms for the kids.
But it will be a cold day in H**L before I eat the real things.

Sorry Felix for the bad word :)

Worm food, now that brings back a memory...
A friend and I fried worms in my mom's kitchen when we were in gradeschool. We had just read the book "How To Eat Fried Worms." Since we had found some drowned earth worms in the gutter after it rained we decided to try it.
We heated up some oil in the skillet and dropped them in. They puffed up like cheetos!! It was really cool and we were daring each other and my sister to eat them until my mom walked in had a spaz and threw us and the pan out of her kitchen because of the "Poor Worms!" We tried to tell her they were already drowned but she didn't care lol.
~Lenette

Now is the chance to try again.surely there are many drowned worms from the storm.I read the book to my grandson too.
Hey anyone though of acorns> are they edible or should we just wait til the squirrels eat them.

Guess I couldn't live on just tomatoes :-) so I'd grow some beans and peanuts for protein, and some greens. Then I'd really have to learn how to fish, been trying but not caught anything yet.
Learning how to dry tomatoes is on my "to do" list to preserve the harvest. I'm not into canning.
The last time I had a bunch of tomatoes I just bagged them whole and put in the freezer. When needed just defrost, the skins peel right off and into the pot they go. Easy.

Yes Kate , we can trade :)

When we first moved into the house we decide to try our hand at raising some food. We got 2 yorkshire pigs (can you say babe ? )

They were mighty tasty, but putting a 22 bullet in their heads was a little " weird"

Especially when one didn`t go down , but walked over to the feed bowl and started to eat ..

Let just say that dh shot was a little to good !

We took them to a real butcher and had them cut up professionally. He remarked how lean they were.............

Good eating !

Although I've been known for eating some exotic stuff, for the time being I do draw the line at insects and earthworms. However, that point of view could change if I were really starving.
In the bad old days, being somewhat impoverished and living out in the boonies, I, along with most of my neighbors, poached from time to time.
My old .22 rifle put a lot of meat on the table. Along with the usual venison, mallards, doves, rabbit, and squirrel, sometimes we'd partake of something more exotic, like raccoon, rattlesnake, blackbirds, and bullfrogs. Never had to eat possum or armadillo. Things didn't quite get THAT bad!
Someday, if the economy goes completely to hell, I'm confident that I could dust off the old rifle, and along with my cast net, fishing rod, vegetable garden, and fruit trees, make a pretty good fight of it in this nice rural location of mine. Lord willing!

hmm.

I guess I would starve, unless I let my lean, mean doggie go after all the rabbits that she wants to kill.

The Irish survived the famine on potatos and Guinness. I'll buy more beer and plant more taters?

Veggie sprouts are worth mentioning. I added a gift set from Pinetree to my hurricane survival kit.

Speaking of eating weeds or plants, I was watching Grill it with Bobby Flay. The guy he had on had brought dried red sorrel to make a drink with. I looked it up and found it was "Hibiscus sabdariffa". Looks like we could grow it here in Florida.
Does anyone have it around here?

Hmm that reminds me, red zinger tea is made with RED Hibiscus blossoms and it is quite refreshing.Usually in the store if you want a try.

Read this with a lot of interest. Brute, there are a lot of forums out there with just this theme. One of the best is Mrssurvival.com - FrugalSquirrels.com -Homesteading.com - Homesteadingtoday.com and many more with the same concerns that you have voiced. Many people have been gardening, stocking up and planning for tough times ahead. Maybe it will not happen but those of us that live in hurricane, tornado, and snow country it really pays to prepare. Also to prepare for hard times in the form of unexpected long or short term sickness, accidents, job layoffs, death of spouses, divorce and many other things. Just to add to your info. GJune.

And beyond preparation for the apocalypse (and I'm one of those people who love apocalypse novels like The Road) it's not a bad idea to just figure out what we can produce on our own, for economic reasons, for environmental reasons, for health reasons.

My tomatoes taste better. That's cool. My contribution to the overuse of chemicals and monocultures to grow food is lessened when I eat my own organic tomatoes that didn't cost an ounce of gasoline to get to my plate. That's pretty cool too. I'm a bit more self-sufficient, prepared for a crisis, national, global or personal. Also cool. And my body is healthier, if for no other reason, I'm out in the garden doing moderately physical work rather than in front of a television. I might even be healthier eating my tomatoes because they might be healthier grown that way. Lots of scientists think they are.

I often wonder why more people don't try a few things in the back yard, especially in our climate, with a long growing season, albeit one where we're out in the dark with a flashlight picking caterpillars. :)

(Ok, I admit, I'm reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan right now. It will absolutely reinforce your desire to grow more of your own food, while making you scared of not just cheeze whiz, but whole grain bread from Publix.)

Susannah