Neko-Chan: go with the spindle and roving! Alpaca is a bit slippery to learn on, I might go with regular sheep wool, but it is very easy to learn. And then you can try alpaca and then you can buy a fleece, and then you can buy an alpaca and a wool sheep..... (oh, and a loom. I don't have one. Yet. Except for a small 15 inch or so rigid heddle kiddie loom)
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- Thread starter Neko-chan
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Emerald
Lovin' The Homestead
@Icu4dzs! I sure hear what you are saying about folks and gardening.(and I am assuming most of the things that folks say that they know how but haven't done yet)
The latest post from someone to me was a link about "survival seeds" and they were on sale and all easy to grow and heirloom.. yadda yadda.
This poster thinks that I should buy one for back up in case I need to grow for food..
Humm... I guess he hadn't seen any of my other threads on gardening and my huge heirloom veggie seed collections that I grow and save each year. He also seems to think that he can just pop open those "specially packed for long life" seeds and just grow away!
I am afraid that I got up on the soap box for awhile and gave links to the good heirloom seeds that I buy and their big and small collections and their prices so that they could see what a big variety and good prices those same collections were(a mere fraction of the cost for the big collection than the "survival seeds"). And good seeds are ones that you grow and eat and saves seed from each year fresh or at least every so many years put them into the rotation to get fresh seed.
After TSHTF there are going to be a lot of people who's bubbles will be popped when it comes to the "I'll just throw some seeds in the ground and VOILA! food will grow" crowd gets to growing. I wonder how many will live thru the learning curve.
The latest post from someone to me was a link about "survival seeds" and they were on sale and all easy to grow and heirloom.. yadda yadda.
This poster thinks that I should buy one for back up in case I need to grow for food..
Humm... I guess he hadn't seen any of my other threads on gardening and my huge heirloom veggie seed collections that I grow and save each year. He also seems to think that he can just pop open those "specially packed for long life" seeds and just grow away!
I am afraid that I got up on the soap box for awhile and gave links to the good heirloom seeds that I buy and their big and small collections and their prices so that they could see what a big variety and good prices those same collections were(a mere fraction of the cost for the big collection than the "survival seeds"). And good seeds are ones that you grow and eat and saves seed from each year fresh or at least every so many years put them into the rotation to get fresh seed.
After TSHTF there are going to be a lot of people who's bubbles will be popped when it comes to the "I'll just throw some seeds in the ground and VOILA! food will grow" crowd gets to growing. I wonder how many will live thru the learning curve.
Icu4dzs
Super Self-Sufficient
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Great points Emerald. (o by the way, your signature was the motto of my best friends mom when I was a little boy. He used to mumble the second phrase so I never learned it till you wrote it here...thanks)
That is exactly right. Some folks say they "know how to do XXX" but have never done it. I know how to build a barn and have DONE IT. That difference is night and day. It's like Thanking Ronald McDonald for hamburger at McDonalds...be better to thank the cook!(no I don't go there...)
My first garden (on my own) was when I was about 25. I was living in a small town on the eastern shore of Maryland called Salisbury. The soil was very sandy so it was easier to work. I've learned a lot about gardening since then. The one thing that many folks fail to learn is that gardening is labor intensive. You don't get a beautiful garden by leaving it alone. No siree, bob (as my dad would say.)
As I moved around the country and the world, I have always tried to have a garden so the skills would remain sharp. Each place had a different soil type and consistency. Each garden was a little bigger than the last. In P'cola, FL I had a very large garden and worked it with a Ford 1310 tractor and all the attachments. I put in an automatic watering system with a sprinkler system for it. (The folks who bought my house loved that because watering was always an issue there.)
Now, I have a 35 acre place. I farm about 10 acres of it and the garden can be as big as I want to make it. I have a JD 5425 now along with a NH TC29D. Both tractors have their purposes but they both get dirty.
Food does NOT just happen because you put some seeds in the ground. Weeds happen. If you know what weeds they are, you may want to eat them as well. WZ was touting the virtues of some of the weeds in her garden such as purslane which is very good food. Some of the weeds are a bit noxious because they choke out other things but in all, every plant has some purpose and if you learn that purpose, you can exploit their uses as well as the plants you tend. Knowing the plants you raise is just as important.
It is also important to know that heirloom seeds do have greater susceptibility to diseases than do hybrids. The trade off here is that you can't get them to breed true like you can with the heirloom seeds.
In each case, there are a lot of things to learn in order to have a garden that will feed you. You make this quite clear in your note. I'd like to have those links on good heritage seeds if you still have them. Right now we're having a lightening storm. Our first day of good weather was today and now another set back to putting in my garden. This is getting old. We are having flooding up here in NE SDAK and don't need more rain. poooey
As for those who will have trouble surviving the "learning curve" those are the ones who, if willing to work and learn from others who know, will be the ones with whom we will be most likely to share more readily in tough times. You have to be willing to work if you are wanting to eat. That is the way of the real world.
by the way I didn't see you post any pix of that religious ceremony suit you mentioned in the trespassing string."special occasion religious sky clothing" I think you called it) LOL 
Best
//BT//
Trim sends
That is exactly right. Some folks say they "know how to do XXX" but have never done it. I know how to build a barn and have DONE IT. That difference is night and day. It's like Thanking Ronald McDonald for hamburger at McDonalds...be better to thank the cook!(no I don't go there...)
My first garden (on my own) was when I was about 25. I was living in a small town on the eastern shore of Maryland called Salisbury. The soil was very sandy so it was easier to work. I've learned a lot about gardening since then. The one thing that many folks fail to learn is that gardening is labor intensive. You don't get a beautiful garden by leaving it alone. No siree, bob (as my dad would say.)
As I moved around the country and the world, I have always tried to have a garden so the skills would remain sharp. Each place had a different soil type and consistency. Each garden was a little bigger than the last. In P'cola, FL I had a very large garden and worked it with a Ford 1310 tractor and all the attachments. I put in an automatic watering system with a sprinkler system for it. (The folks who bought my house loved that because watering was always an issue there.)
Now, I have a 35 acre place. I farm about 10 acres of it and the garden can be as big as I want to make it. I have a JD 5425 now along with a NH TC29D. Both tractors have their purposes but they both get dirty.
Food does NOT just happen because you put some seeds in the ground. Weeds happen. If you know what weeds they are, you may want to eat them as well. WZ was touting the virtues of some of the weeds in her garden such as purslane which is very good food. Some of the weeds are a bit noxious because they choke out other things but in all, every plant has some purpose and if you learn that purpose, you can exploit their uses as well as the plants you tend. Knowing the plants you raise is just as important.
It is also important to know that heirloom seeds do have greater susceptibility to diseases than do hybrids. The trade off here is that you can't get them to breed true like you can with the heirloom seeds.
In each case, there are a lot of things to learn in order to have a garden that will feed you. You make this quite clear in your note. I'd like to have those links on good heritage seeds if you still have them. Right now we're having a lightening storm. Our first day of good weather was today and now another set back to putting in my garden. This is getting old. We are having flooding up here in NE SDAK and don't need more rain. poooey
As for those who will have trouble surviving the "learning curve" those are the ones who, if willing to work and learn from others who know, will be the ones with whom we will be most likely to share more readily in tough times. You have to be willing to work if you are wanting to eat. That is the way of the real world.
by the way I didn't see you post any pix of that religious ceremony suit you mentioned in the trespassing string."special occasion religious sky clothing" I think you called it)
LOL Best
//BT//
Trim sends
Are we related?Wannabefree said:I have basic capentry skills. I can work on vehicles, garden, swim like a fish(could come in handy), I can sew, do stitches...on a person, know basic first aid and CPR as well, know my way around firearms thanks to corrections work and hunting, which brings me to hunting and fishing, and harvesting the meat from those, I can trap, track, cook, and uh...I dunno what else, but let me get in a position to need it and I'm generally goodSHHHHHHHHHH!! Don't tell!! I know how to build shelter in the field and a lot of edible forage(enough to not starve at least) and can make my own weapons. Where will I ever use half this stuff?!?!
I'm not crazy about camping :/ unless I have no choice
I'm just gonna wing it when TCHTF C=CRAP!
Emerald
Lovin' The Homestead
I just didn't want folks all sporking their eyeballs out is all..Icu4dzs said:Great points Emerald. (o by the way, your signature was the motto of my best friends mom when I was a little boy. He used to mumble the second phrase so I never learned it till you wrote it here...thanks)
That is exactly right. Some folks say they "know how to do XXX" but have never done it. I know how to build a barn and have DONE IT. That difference is night and day. It's like Thanking Ronald McDonald for hamburger at McDonalds...be better to thank the cook!(no I don't go there...)
My first garden (on my own) was when I was about 25. I was living in a small town on the eastern shore of Maryland called Salisbury. The soil was very sandy so it was easier to work. I've learned a lot about gardening since then. The one thing that many folks fail to learn is that gardening is labor intensive. You don't get a beautiful garden by leaving it alone. No siree, bob (as my dad would say.)
As I moved around the country and the world, I have always tried to have a garden so the skills would remain sharp. Each place had a different soil type and consistency. Each garden was a little bigger than the last. In P'cola, FL I had a very large garden and worked it with a Ford 1310 tractor and all the attachments. I put in an automatic watering system with a sprinkler system for it. (The folks who bought my house loved that because watering was always an issue there.)
Now, I have a 35 acre place. I farm about 10 acres of it and the garden can be as big as I want to make it. I have a JD 5425 now along with a NH TC29D. Both tractors have their purposes but they both get dirty.
Food does NOT just happen because you put some seeds in the ground. Weeds happen. If you know what weeds they are, you may want to eat them as well. WZ was touting the virtues of some of the weeds in her garden such as purslane which is very good food. Some of the weeds are a bit noxious because they choke out other things but in all, every plant has some purpose and if you learn that purpose, you can exploit their uses as well as the plants you tend. Knowing the plants you raise is just as important.
It is also important to know that heirloom seeds do have greater susceptibility to diseases than do hybrids. The trade off here is that you can't get them to breed true like you can with the heirloom seeds.
In each case, there are a lot of things to learn in order to have a garden that will feed you. You make this quite clear in your note. I'd like to have those links on good heritage seeds if you still have them. Right now we're having a lightening storm. Our first day of good weather was today and now another set back to putting in my garden. This is getting old. We are having flooding up here in NE SDAK and don't need more rain. poooey
As for those who will have trouble surviving the "learning curve" those are the ones who, if willing to work and learn from others who know, will be the ones with whom we will be most likely to share more readily in tough times. You have to be willing to work if you are wanting to eat. That is the way of the real world.
by the way I didn't see you post any pix of that religious ceremony suit you mentioned in the trespassing string."special occasion religious sky clothing" I think you called it)
Best
//BT//
Trim sends
And on the matter of Heirlooms vs. hybrids. Many heirlooms are pretty good on the virus/blight resistance. It is just a matter of searching them out!
The weather here just doesn't wanna warm up.. plus I think the grass grew under the snow as there is so much more then I remember!
Oh and the siggy line is from a book on growing things and they got it from a water cart in Australia. But so far I haven't found out who said it first.
Emerald
Lovin' The Homestead
www.rareseeds.com
http://rareseeds.com/seed-collections/small-northern.html
Small northern seed collection and if you look to the side of the page it has the list for the small southern collection and the both the large and then the Jere gettle huge almost everything they sell collection!
If I wanted to put some aside I would probably buy the collection but I did some trading on their forums one year and got more seed than I know what to do with. Many rare tomatoes too.
That is a fun fact on heirlooms you save one or two kinds and then do about 20 trades with folks who only had a few types that they saved and then all of a sudden you have a "collection" to grow and tend.. it is like a good addiction!
http://rareseeds.com/seed-collections/small-northern.html
Small northern seed collection and if you look to the side of the page it has the list for the small southern collection and the both the large and then the Jere gettle huge almost everything they sell collection!
If I wanted to put some aside I would probably buy the collection but I did some trading on their forums one year and got more seed than I know what to do with. Many rare tomatoes too.
That is a fun fact on heirlooms you save one or two kinds and then do about 20 trades with folks who only had a few types that they saved and then all of a sudden you have a "collection" to grow and tend.. it is like a good addiction!
Wannabefree
Little Miss Sunshine
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Boyd said:Are we related?Wannabefree said:I have basic capentry skills. I can work on vehicles, garden, swim like a fish(could come in handy), I can sew, do stitches...on a person, know basic first aid and CPR as well, know my way around firearms thanks to corrections work and hunting, which brings me to hunting and fishing, and harvesting the meat from those, I can trap, track, cook, and uh...I dunno what else, but let me get in a position to need it and I'm generally good
Gosh I hope not! JK Boyd sistafromanothamutha?Wannabefree said:Boyd said:Are we related?Wannabefree said:I have basic capentry skills. I can work on vehicles, garden, swim like a fish(could come in handy), I can sew, do stitches...on a person, know basic first aid and CPR as well, know my way around firearms thanks to corrections work and hunting, which brings me to hunting and fishing, and harvesting the meat from those, I can trap, track, cook, and uh...I dunno what else, but let me get in a position to need it and I'm generally good
Wannabefree
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Yeah maybeBoyd said:sistafromanothamutha?Wannabefree said:Boyd said:Are we related?
here is a thought for those who plan on raising a garden if times get tough, but do not have one know. Many will uproot and destroy some of the most productive and nutritional food sources to plant a garden that may or may not work and for a less nutritious crop. Learn what is growing in your area and why. What I mean by this is why do certain plants grow in your area, such as climate and soil conditions.
