Permaculture for when the SHTF

[frustratedearthmother]

Sounds like you are well on the way! We have trouble growing a lot of fruits because we don't get cold enough sometimes - even for the low chill variety fruits - but I constantly try, lol. Citrus does pretty good here. I've got several lemon trees, persimmon, kumquat, and pomegranate. I lost a lime tree this year because we DID get cold. But, I'll replant and keep hoping!

 

[Hinotori]

We have a huge glut of invasive Himalayan and cut leaf blackberries in many spots. Both us and the chickens eat them. The native trailing blackberry ripens earlier in the season so it's lots of blackberries.

Few wild serviceberries, salal, oregon grape, thimbleberry, pacific crabapple, and salmonberry. There are a lot of hawthorn but those are bland even though edible. Same for the wild roses here. Rather bland.

I planted thornless blackberries which are my last to ripen. I've also been planting fruit trees. More plums are going in this year as they do extremely well in the conditions on our property. Apples and pears do good. The deer and elk keep eating my cherry trees so I gave up on those.

Clover is edible and tastes ok. We have lots of clover. There are dandelions and plantain where the chickens don't go.

Tons of douglas fir for the spring needle tips. Fiddleheads. Stinging nettles. Cattails.

There is probably more but those are all within easy reach of the house. There are fish, ducks, and geese in the pond. Crawdads in the stream. Deer and elk pests regularly. Brown bears. Lots of slow dumb voles.

It would take work and getting used to the diet, but we could probably eat ok from just here.

 

[Mini Horses]

Hinotori -- when you cook the silkies does the meat remain black or dark as when butchered? Is there any difference in the texture, tendersness or juiciness of it? Just wondering, LOL. compared to normal chicken meat. I mean, there is a real difference in duck & chicken, even pheasant.

We have a LOT of huge wild turkeys around here. Geese stop here in large flocks when traveling seasonally...of course there are restrictions for hunting them. Turkey has a hunting season here. Very rarely a bear in close vicinity. Some fox, coyote (they are in the sights of many farmers/hunters...no season & some areas have a bounty fund!), skunk, possum, occasional coon. Squirrel & rabbit if the fox aren't too populous that year.

 

[Hinotori]

Taste and texture is the same as my Ameraucana cockerels. Which isn't anything like commercial chicken or home raised broilers.


If you boil it long enough, it will lighten up some. I stick old roosters in the crockpot for stock a day or until the bones disintegrate

 

[lcertuche]

My black sex links have pretty dark meat compared to the commercial chickens but the flavor doesn't compare. My flock cockerel spurred my grandson in the face so he is now in the refrigerator cooling. I was so mad at my daughter because I told her never to let the little ones near him but she ignored me set him down by the bird, now the baby (14 months) has scratches across his face.

He was a good rooster too, watching over his girls vigently. Now I'm down to 4 red production and a blue cochin mix pullets.

Bummed but glad the baby is alright. That's what is most important.

I put antibiotic ointment on the welts and after 2 days they are barely noticeable.

 

[Mini Horses]

Having lived thru hurricane disasters, as well as a life style without all these "modern" conveniences many, many years ago, plus an avid camper, "making do" & "old ways" are common. You learn by doing. Things get done, slower.

Electric -- we are SO dependant. Solar generator would keep freezer & frig working. Like you say, Bay, most of us are freezer dependent, for meats especially. Hope to do more canning this year, veggies & meat.

I have several oil lamps & a good supply of oil. Solar lights will help -- as will practicing more solar use, in general. It would be great to be able to "ONE DAY" be able to have a large solar array to support more of my house use. Don't see that soon. My house is set to accept a wood heater, if needed again (I replaced with propane several years ago).

Daylight is what kept "up with sun" going so many years back! In winter, we carry a flashlight evenings....back then, you carried a lantern (fire issue at barn milking).

 

[tortoise]

I'm a bad chicken momma too then We have 2 separate small flocks. DH handles the coop flock - RIR layers - and I have the barn flock - cornish/rock hybrids. I've been feeding my flock expired dog food, all of the household food waste / compost, old birdseed and suet from when I used to feed songbirds before we ended up in an avian flu control zone, and ground eggshell. My birds look fantastic and lay consistently. DH's birds are fed layer pellets and oyster shell. Their eggshells are thinner and they eat their own eggs. DH and I have conversations on the topic

 

[Mini Horses]

Mine love BOSS. I get 50# bags at feed store as the goats & horses also eat it. Oils are great for skin & hair plus, high protein. I've had sunflowers growing in a little manure pile where my stallion leaves it for me, in the past.

This year I've had a bald eagle, looks young by size, decide to move in around here. Never had air predators before!! Have lost 3 hens in a month -- daylight -- I know it's that eagle!! Not happy!!! All 3 have been the ones who were "independent wanderers".....not those flocked & near roos or shelters. We do have a couple resident owls but, chickens in coops at night.

 

[tortoise]

We are located next to a river and in an area with several lakes, so we have bald eagles all the time! We have lost several to eagles. They have a particular way of eating and leaving the carcass. We lost 20 out of 25 chickens our first year here. We learned a lot about identifying predators by what they leave behind. Raccoons have been the biggest trouble, but after DH trapped 6 or 8 we went a year without raccoon losses. Although we lost all our meat birds to a fox last year.

We had a young badger move in our blueberry patch last year. Between the badger and DH trapping 2 gophers with the milk jug trick, we haven't seen as much seed loss.

I'm planning to try sunflowers again in a variety of ways. One plan is to start them in the house and transplant to the garden. (Tedious!). The other plan is to commandeer DH'd failed corn food plot and plant sunflowers there. It's >1/4 mile from the garden with the gophers and far enough from where the chickens free range that I might have success there. I'm imagining starting some permie cultivation on the edges of our usued pasture and forest. There are wild blackberries to encourage. We tried planting nut trees but the deer ate them.

 

[baymule]

@tortoise what is the gopher milk jug trick?