Stocking Food

Discussion in 'Survival and Wilderness Skills' started by AddictedToSteel, Jun 5, 2017.

  1. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

    Messages:
    12,319
    Likes Received:
    26,033
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    west
    consider using massive compost piles as a food source......plant stuff like zucchinis, pumpkins, squash, etc......REQUIRES ZERO GARDENING EFFORT, and often regrows by itself EVERY YEAR. Its healthy food too.
     
    Zeek, mlrs and AddictedToSteel like this.
  2. AddictedToSteel

    AddictedToSteel Member

    Messages:
    894
    Likes Received:
    840
    Location:
    Michigan
    I am thinking that a lot of what we think of as wild edibles are spread by nature in a way not unlike a broadcast spreader. The seeds of dandelions are blown on the wind. Other stuff may just drop on or near the original plant. Others run. These types might be able to be planted just by tossing them in a fan pattern just off the trail a few yards or more. The ones with fruit, where creatures eat the berries and the pits or seeds get dropped out the back at some later time in a place removed from where the fruit was eaten, well, I am not sure how to duplicate that experience for the seeds, or if in fact they even require such preprocessing prior to deployment. Lol

    Another consideration is not just where to plant, but what to plant. Plantain seems to have pretty universal appeal and usefulness. I gathered some wild leaks this spring, for the first time. I went out again a few weeks later only to discover that they were gone. I was not expecting them to seemingly disappear so quickly. Lesson learned. Some things are available for long periods each year and others come and go. Learn the difference and gather when you can.

    One of the edibles that kind of surprised me is the kudzu. It is all over near a friend's in North Carolina and a lot of other places I hear. It is the food that won't go away. Lol
     
  3. mlrs

    mlrs Member

    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    70
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Kansas

    It looks like we are just at the tip of the iceberg with wild edibles. The more I look into it the more questions I am coming up with. It seems that there may need to be a good but of planning that goes into what to plant and when and how long those edibles will be around. This might be something to look into and plant a little now just try things out and see how it goes.


    mlrs
     
    Phaedrus and AddictedToSteel like this.
  4. OutdoorsFamilyMan

    OutdoorsFamilyMan Member

    Messages:
    1,732
    Likes Received:
    2,652
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Ohio
    I have a carefully crafted plan of survival for my family lol. We live in a fairly large city (Toledo,OH...roughly 250k). Luckily we live on the north end of town in a nicer area near the Michigan line. Toledo has shown in the past that they are not prepared for a crisis. We had a water scare a few years ago where the city water was undrinkable (you couldn't even bathe in it). The people freaked and started buying all the bottled water. We were out of town about 50 miles away and I ran into the local meijer to pick up a few things and they were full of Toledo people pushing and shoving for water....So essentially they all drove 50 miles into Michigan passing thousands of houses who had perfectly safe well water to push and shove their way to buy a few cases. After 2 days in Toledo without water looting started happening.....so yea, bugging in is definitely not an option...Our plan is as follows....We have enough dried, canned and dehydrated food stored to last us 5 to 7 days of eating heartily...in case of temporary outages,blizzards or other short term issues. After 2- 3 days we will assess the situation and head to my father's house a dozen miles over the line in Michigan. He has a long term setup....4 acres (3 of that are tillable), a hand-pump
    To replace the well head, dry stored grains and antique (but working in very good condition) hand plowing equipment...We would go there and re-assess the situation to see if we need to go further North...if so we are all headed to Dales (AddictedToSteels) house...;)....kidding....I have an uncle who lives just North of Dale that owns and homesteads about 80 acres mostly surrounded by state land....We'd go take over his place amd run him off ;)
     
  5. mlrs

    mlrs Member

    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    70
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Kansas

    Sounds like a good plan to me. It's amazing to see how people act in a time of crisis. I live in Wichita, Ks. It is the biggest city in the state with around 350,000 people. While we have never had anything extremely major happen, we have had a few tornadoes rip through the south end of the city over the years. Fortunately that has brought people together and a lot of people help out. Unfortunately I think if it was anything else people would lose their minds.

    We have a bug out plan. I live on the south edge of town. My best friend has a 40 acre ranch about an hour west. There is a well and a windmill for water. About an acre is garden. I keep my horses out there with their horses. There are chickens and goats. I also keep 20 head of cattle on an adjacent property. The river is about 3/8 of a mile away. There is also plenty of deer, quail, turkey, and squirrel to hunt. We are in the process of designing and building a cold smoke house. It is a pretty good setup and we keep improving on it.


    mlrs
     
  6. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

    Messages:
    12,319
    Likes Received:
    26,033
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    west
    I would personally stockpile DRIED GRAINS, BEANS, RICE, etc. waterproof, rodent proof storage, with oxygen absorbers .

    canned food is great, but.....tin can liners break down, food becomes mushy often unedible. But with dried grains and beans and rice and pasta etc, you can eat well. Supplement with hunted/fished game, or garden produce or wild edibles....

    Its worth noting archaeologists have found grains from biblical times and beyond, perfectly edible.
     
    Dagwood and Zeek like this.
  7. mlrs

    mlrs Member

    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    70
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Kansas

    Good point. A person could get a small mill to grind flour and stuff. I do have some beans and rice stored in airtight containers. I will have to revisit that and see if I keep enough stored.


    mlrs
     
    Zeek likes this.
  8. AddictedToSteel

    AddictedToSteel Member

    Messages:
    894
    Likes Received:
    840
    Location:
    Michigan
    My 0riginal thoughts about the canned food is that if you have a couple of years of canned food that is what you normally eat and you keep it properly rotated, then if things broke down and you had to eat your stored food the canned food would still be within the "Best By" date and so would not have had time to break down and become inedible. It would also be much cheaper than the dehydrated and freeze dried foods. I have seen MRE's selling for from $7 to $10 per meal. $10 worth of canned veggies and various canned meats would be more than a single meal. A one pound canned ham is about $3 or so at Walmart.

    The grains, beans, and rice would be good choices for longer term storage and make a good addition to the canned goods and hunted/gathered foods. Just remember to also grow or store things like salt, sugar, herbs, and spices. I don't know of a natural source for salt within a couple of hundred miles of me.
     
    Zeek likes this.

Share This Page