Permaculture for when the SHTF

[baymule]

My freezer is full and I've got a big pig that is going to freezer camp August 29th......we gotta do a lot of eating!

 

[Britesea]

Occurs to me that a thick patch of nettles around your borders would not only give you food, but might even discourage some invaders... Same with blackberries, hawthorn, gooseberries, roses, and beaver tail cactus. These are ways to turn your house into a fortress without it being apparent. Also installing beefed up doors and door frames so they can't be easily kicked in, and there is a treatment for glass that can make your glass windows shatter-proof ( http://www.shattergard.com/home.html )
Lots of ways to protect your home without making it obvious.

 

[baymule]

Plant berries, grapes, fruit and nut trees and they will bear at different times of the spring/summer/fall. If you have a basement, root vegetables store well in the winter. Also some apples store well. And don't forget the winter squash and pumpkins. If you live in the south, basements are uncommon, so I guess we are SOL. LOL.

 

[lcertuche]

I love all these ideas. I watch YouTube videos on foraging plants. Many, many edible plants out there. Not necessarily tasty but if your family was starving it would probably taste better.

 

[Mini Horses]

Not necessarily tasty but if your family was starving it would probably taste better.

You got it! I rarely eat some tuna because I do NOT like fish, in general. That "fishy" taste. But I would learn to like it if hungry and needed to fish for food. Luckily, I am near a lot of both fresh & salt water fishing areas. Plus many farmers here raise a huge amount of crops which are edible...wheat, corn, soybeans, peanuts, milo, etc. all around me. Because of this there are plenty of well-fed deer, rabbit, etc., available for kill.

I never really was concerned with "all out" survival food concerns but, with the weather, bad community crime & safety, & political issues around the country of late, it is more of a consideration. Living in close proximity to one of the largest Naval facilities in the world, plus only a 3 hr drive to DC, it would be an area that any attacking country would consider a target. That said, I also feel that the very best of the best in advanced detection technology is protecting these same areas of government assets.

 

[Hinotori]

Cattails are quite good. Pull on the stem until it snaps off peel off outer leaves until you get to non-fibrous center. Slice and eat. It tastes like cucumber. I snack on it sometimes here. Really young cattail heads can be cooked and eaten. Roosts as well but they are fibrous. I was told best way is to pound the starch out in water then use the starch. Cattail pollen can be added to flours. It's easy to collect a lot of it.

I was thinking that my silkies might be the safest chicken choice. They are small and the black skin, meat, bones turn people off of them. We eat cockerels. One does a meal just fine for two of us. Used in soup they can feed more easily

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Yea - I'd have trouble eating black chicken I think....however if I was really hungry I could probably close my eyes and scarf it up, lol!

 

[mythreesons290322]

I think it's very important to know the wild edible in your area.. past years I found wild apple tree's, wild asparagus, wild grapes, ramps, blackcaps, wild raspberrys, blackberries and mushrooms to just list a few.

I have a fruit orchard(25 trees)
raspberry,blackberry,currants,gooseberries,grapes,blueberries,juneberries,rhubarb,walking onions,sunchokes,elderberry, strawberry bed, mint & herb garden, have many raised garden beds w/a greenhouse.

I grow many medicinal plants to make my own tinctures & salves.

I started my journey of planting a perennial/edible/medicinal landscape 8-years ago. I now will start planting at my fathers property that is a few miles away from my place to add more of what /I can't grow here on limited land.

I learned so much from watching YouTube and I own many self sufficient books.

If the shtf we would be a likely target because my property is near the road where everyone can see my food forest. I have been trying to talk my dh into growing a living fense to block the view but he won't let me.

 

[Hinotori]

Biggest thing is probably; don't strip the land. Leave enough to regrow for the next year.

 

[baymule]

Having had come through many hurricanes and being out of power for up to a month, I was always glad to see the lights come back on. But EMP's are a real possibility and I feel so woefully unprepared for lights out forever. I depend on my freezer for keeping meats, especially. While we have done so much here since moving 2 years ago, there is so much more to do.