THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

oceanspirit

Another one who has fished for mackerel - from the back of a sailing boat on a homemade line which dad showed us how to make. It was made with feathers, hooks and a wooden "float" which dived under the water to take the line down then when there was a bite, the float would rush up to the surface. There were often three or four fish on the line at a time. Shame I can't eat fish even though I keep trying.

If the SHTF my plan is to stay at home and eat from the garden. Protein and fat will come from nuts and seeds. There is already a walnut tree in the garden and there is a plan to plant an almond as well. I need to look into growing flax as the seeds are highly nutritious. Have seen it growing in fields around here so hopefully the soil is the right kind. Garden isn't huge so will need to plan carefully and experiment for best nutrition from the plot available.

mardatha

I'm sitting in 0C freezing mist, trying hard to picture summer and a green full garden. I have to say it's not working. Does anybody know if flax should grow up here? Does it grow on hills and moors down there or only on the flat? No fruit trees here give edible fruit, I do know that, but I forget why. If the S does H the F then I face a future on bloody turnips..

ivyleaf

On holiday in New Zealand we were taken to a demo showing how to make a Maori flax skirt. When she'd finished it, the lady doing the demo held it aloft and remarked wryly "And there you have it - the most uncomfortable garment ever known to man!"

[Deleted User]

My dad fished and I was the processor from the age I could safely wield the knife. I learned to gut and pluck all types of poultry, learned to paunch and skin rabbits while I was at junior school as part of everyday life. In adulthood I've sorted out a roadkill roe deer in all aspects, my only regret is that I didn't get the hide to do as well. I think that even if life wasn't so 'instant' back in the 1950s and we most certainly weren't anything but poor we perhaps had a more interesting and productive life than children do these days, I feel sorry for them lots of the time because they are materially so much richer than we were, hedged about with love and protection in all areas from adults, not allowed to know failure even in a mild form and indulged beyond endurance when it comes to 'being the same as everyone else'. Poor kids never have a chance to know who they really are because any deviation from the perceived norm has parents and family panicking and never getting experience of the practicalities that might be in their futures if the world slides as fast as it seems to be doing these days into disarray. Mine can do all of the above and have done since they were old enough to wield a knife in fact I have fond memories of sitting in the evening on the patio with DD2 and sorting out a whole sack of rabbits for the freezer when she was about 13 and always showing them both how to forage and what was safe to eat in the countryside from a very early age. I wonder how many 'modern' children and adults would fare well in a real survival situation?

DigForVictory

Can I come (with the lads) for lessons in what to do to rabbit?
We'd tie you a handline for mackerel baiting, so you & Zebra could see whats under the piers in exchange?
Little O is in for a seriously fun time when he learns rabbit pie from Oma's table. I agree totally - poor children (en masse)! Loved & boxed away from the good stuff.
(I was a bit startled when son had a fit into an open fire - but growing up beside one, we learned to treat it with respect Always. Like approaching a horse - do so from an angle they can see you & clearly bearing food (or carrying a bucket) - *I* knew it, I thought they did & oops.)

[Deleted User]

And knowing that the horses at the Boxing Day hunt meet with the red ribbons in their tails aren't decorated for Christmas eh? Rabbits are really easy, once you've paunched them and tied off the bladder and rectum you cut round each of the legs at the knee and you can then just turn them inside out with the skin coming off all in one making it very much easier to cure it. You take the head and skin off intact and voila! you have an edible source of meat ready to go. I don't soak them, it makes the meat tasteless and it's not a strong flavour to begin with! He Who Knows and I used to go mackerel fishing off the rocks in Cornwall and cook them right there and then , nothing quite like a freshly caught mackerel is there?

Cappella

I hope that this post doesn't offend anyone but until five years ago we still bred rabbits for food, as well as keeping chickens in a hen pen on the allotments. Despite the fact that we live in Manchester, and not in the countryside my children ( now in their early 40s - where did those years go??) grew up understanding where their food came from, and having respect for the animals themselves.
We stopped because of complaints from new allotmenteers (omnivores not vegetarians) with young children who argued that it "was unnecessary in this day and age when you can get meat at the supermarket properly wrapped and hygienic). This despite the fact that our does and bucks were kept in conditions described as excellent by the RSPCA on successive annual inspections; and despite the fact that we were scupulous about ensuring no one on the plots EVER saw us dispatching them in order not to upset anyone.
My daughter is vegetarian, and my daughter in law is vegan but they do not condemn us for having chosen to rear and kill our own meat. My son is an omnivore. All three have made informed choices based on their own experiences. But al least they knew where exactly meat comes from, and all are capable of processing poultry, game and larger animals should the S ever H the F.
I do apologise if this is off topic. It worries me that people are so far removed from reality where food is concerned.

[Deleted User]

Not the least bit off topic my friend and it's an exact example of the detach from the reality concerning the food we eat in this squeamish and precious day and age. I feel it's VERY important to keep skills 'LIVE' and being shared with those folks who want them even if it's only in theory and not practice. Being able to process a rabbit and perhaps make the skin into something warm to wear might be the only way to get meat in some scenarios that spring to mind. Being able to cure pelts and make them into a warm piece of clothing/gloves/footwear/bed coverings/hats/bags/rugs etc. might be one of the few available ways of doing so too if modern 'buy it all in' society ever does grind to a halt. I'm saddened that you were forced to stop breeding meat rabbits because of other peoples pressure though!

[Deleted User]

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I wonder how many 'modern' children and adults would fare well in a real survival situation?

Practically none of them.

Most children these days, would struggle to light a gas fire.

[Deleted User]

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Rabbits are really easy, once you've paunched them and tied off the bladder and rectum you cut round each of the legs at the knee and you can then just turn them inside out with the skin coming off all in one making it very much easier to cure it.

I prefer the pinch and nick method.