If push comes to shove...?

lostinrates

rhiwfield wrote: »

all trees are espaliered

I'm trying to chose peach varieties....e have room I think for two maybe three and this seems best option for them but never done it or cared for them...or done more than seen espaliered trees!

I'm having real difficulty choosing varieties though. I ant them all choosing two is a nightmare!

cootambear

RAS wrote: »

Anyone interested in some of the calculations round this might want to read Simon Fairlie's recent book Meat; an benign extravagance.

As a student studying peasant communities, I learned that landless labourers invested a lot in livestock. The livestock foraged for free, did not lose value in times of high inflation and walked. Essentially portable savings.

In my city until well just before WW2, the local dairy brought their cows into Bedford Fields, close to the city centre, to graze all summer. Small animals can be raised on wastes. Chickens and pigs often require food that could be used to feed humans directly, but if the waste regulations reverted, some pig meat could be raised on waste food. And instead of all that bloody grass cutting, we could feed herbivores.

On a more personal note, I have lot to learn, even if I probably have more skills than many. Someone local has been experimenting with almost complete food self sufficiency; I think tea, coffee and spices are pretty much all he allows himself. He reckons that the hard corns (maize) provide the best easily processed grain for small growers. He has taken on extra land to grow these, however. Must get some of his seed if possible

I already grow irish potatoes (the most effective use of land for calorie production according to Jeavons) onions, shallots and garlic, soft fruits and some tree fruit, greens, salads, beans, peas and some winter veggies. I have a stock of good drying beans and some peas. I forage well. I struggle with all the solanums but do not have a greenhouse. I would be happy to trap squirrel and pigeons for meat. I do not freeze stuff much because of the risks in power cuts but bottle fruit and juices. I need to learn how to preserve veggies (other than chutneys and pickles) and meats.

I doubt however that in a city, I would get a lot of chance to eat these unless we could get those in the areas nearer the city centre growing food as well. There is actually a fair bit of space; lots of council houses built with big suburban gardens and a few flats with lots of ground around them, but people do not necessarily have the skills or knowledge needed. And it is better than it was but a few folk have firearms.

jeez. and you go wandering in the woods one day, and one of the rednecks says `youve got a purty mouth`

cootambear

you known from reading some of this i think some of you would like the fall of civilisation, smug in the knowledge that you have got 20 jars of tomato chutney stashed.

good luck with that.

lostinrates

cootambear wrote: »

you known from reading some of this i think some of you would like the fall of civilisation, smug in the knowledge that you have got 20 jars of tomato chutney stashed.

good luck with that.

Last year we were almost snowed in in the south of England,for over a month. We could get out but even in the landrover it was dicey. I was fairly busy getting to local villages for other people ad helping with things in the village,and driving water down a hill to our horses.

Having chutney to live off rather than having to go out would have been much nicer.

While the snow/ice hit this year I was content in the knowledge I was pretty much ''set'' and could go out for ''fluff'' or not.Mainly I chose not. If I had been one of the unfortunates without water or power for along time then, being rural and fairly isolated I'd probably be low priority and last on the list to get things back and I'd wish I'd thought about it.



There are stockpiling threads ...with a vague disaster background...in other places on MSE...and they aren't obligatory, or one can read them from a practical point of view ad ignore the disaster tone if one wants I guess. In many ways for may of us material situation HAS changed..not a world or country wide disaster but many small scales ones over and over the country. GYO, ad GYO power is getting bigger and it can't hurt anyone/the world so ....

On my own personal level, we're ok but for the first time have a hefty debt. Part of that was have somewhere to grow food to eat well not eat just to get by cheaply. We've been lucky with interest rates this year, but with a stream of bills coming that rather than stemming soon will widen to a river and it being inevitable that at some point the burden of our debt-interest will increase not decrease then using our facilities to help minimise its impact seems prety important a push to avoid a shove.

MSE only asks we are''nice to all moneysavers'' which is probably the way to go if you feel amused or chagrined at a thread.

Lotus-eater

lostinrates wrote: »

MSE only asks we are''nice to all moneysavers'' which is probably the way to go if you feel amused or chagrined at a thread.

You're discovering why CB is the most "put on ignore" person on the greenfingered board.

After myself of course

lostinrates

Lotus: ''be nice to all moneysavers'' to you too

rhosynbach

not looking foward to the fall of civilisation, but before christmas we were snowed in as we live down a very small lane in north wales and the snow drifted from the fields to 4ft. no shopping for over 2 weeks and my kids were happy with my store cupboard supplies which are home grown and organic (healthy and cheap) and if after our hard work digging, planting, weeding.etc then preparing cooking and preserving, i sit in front of my warm fire from wood we have collected ourselves smugly I think we have all earnt that right to be just a little smug......

Lotus-eater

rhosynbach wrote: »

i sit in front of my warm fire from wood we have collected ourselves smugly I think we have all earnt that right to be just a little smug......

Absolutely, get smug enough and you don't even need a fire, the warmth from the expelled smugness is enough.

Lotus-eater

lostinrates wrote: »

Lotus: ''be nice to all moneysavers'' to you too

I tried I can't, it almost gave me an ulcer, so I discovered the ignore feature and since then I have much happier days.

rhiwfield

cootambear wrote: »

you known from reading some of this i think some of you would like the fall of civilisation, smug in the knowledge that you have got 20 jars of tomato chutney stashed.

good luck with that.

Thanks for the good luck message CB, even though I've no desire for the fall of civilisation.

You said earlier "If the poor cannot afford to pay the price that the market system requires to make a profit, they go hungry". Precisely.

Please remember that this is a money saving forum and that many on here on lower incomes will have a higher than average % of their income spent on food bills. That applies to me.

So when it looks probable that food prices will rise further in real terms, and when there are increasing threats to global food supplies coupled with increasing demand from a rising global population, please bear with me if I explore the possibilities of taking mitigating action myself or at a community level.