My first since 1984. Broke it up the 2nd time today, limed it & turned that in. Will start planting a few thing in about 3 weeks I guess.
Prep for hard times
Moderators: carlson1, Charles L. Cotton
Prep for hard times
Amongs the storing up of arms, ammo, water & MRIs, anyone else making garden & canning it.
My first since 1984. Broke it up the 2nd time today, limed it & turned that in. Will start planting a few thing in about 3 weeks I guess.
My first since 1984. Broke it up the 2nd time today, limed it & turned that in. Will start planting a few thing in about 3 weeks I guess.
Carry 24-7 or guess right.
CHL Instructor. http://www.pdtraining.us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
NRA/TSRA Life Member - TFC Member #11
Re: Prep for hard times
Smart move LT. 
Make sure you plant lots of Hoover Apples. 
That got my Mom's family through the Great Depression. One of my Uncles said that Grandma knew a 1000 different ways to fix turnips, but they were still turnips. He vowed never to eat another one once they got past the depression. To my knowledge he never did. 
I personally like them, but guess anything gets old if that is all you have to eat. 
Keep us up to date on how your garden is doing Mr. Green Jeans! (Now, let's see how many of these young kids know who HE is.)
Make sure you plant lots of Hoover Apples. That got my Mom's family through the Great Depression. One of my Uncles said that Grandma knew a 1000 different ways to fix turnips, but they were still turnips. He vowed never to eat another one once they got past the depression. To my knowledge he never did. I personally like them, but guess anything gets old if that is all you have to eat. Keep us up to date on how your garden is doing Mr. Green Jeans! (Now, let's see how many of these young kids know who HE is.)
Keith
Texas LTC Instructor, Missouri CCW Instructor, NRA Certified Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun Instructor and RSO, NRA Life Member
Psalm 82:3-4
Texas LTC Instructor, Missouri CCW Instructor, NRA Certified Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun Instructor and RSO, NRA Life Member
Psalm 82:3-4
Re: Prep for hard times
LT, how about a little of the other dark meat to go with the veggies from that garden?
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/59566.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table
He rolls into the parking lot of Leon's Thriftway in an old, maroon Impala with a trunk full of frozen meat. Raccoon — the other dark meat.
In five minutes, Montrose, Mo., trapper Larry Brownsberger is sold out in the lot at 39th Street and Kensington Avenue. Word has gotten around about how clean his frozen raccoon carcasses are. How nicely they’re tucked up in their brown butcher paper. How they almost look like a trussed turkey … or something.
His loyal customers beam as they leave, thinking about the meal they'll soon be eating.
That is, as soon as the meat is thawed. Then brined. Soaked overnight. Parboiled for two hours. Slow-roasted or smoked or barbecued to perfection.
Raccoon, which made the first edition of The Joy of Cooking in 1931, is labor-intensive but well worth the time, aficionados say.
"Good things come to those who wait," says A. Reed, 86, who has been eating raccoon since she was a girl.
"This right here," she says, holding up a couple of brown packages tied with burlap string, “this is a great value. And really good eatin’. Best-kept secret around.”
Raccoons go for $3 to $7 — each, not per pound — and will feed about five adults. Four, if they’re really hungry.
Those who dine on raccoon meat sound the same refrain: It's good eatin'.
As long as you can get past the "ick" factor that it's a varmint, more often seen flattened on asphalt than featured on a restaurant menu. (One exception: French restaurant Le Fou Frog served raccoon about a dozen years ago, a waiter said.)
Eating varmints is even in vogue these days, at least in Britain. The New York Times reported last week that Brits are eating squirrels with wild abandon.
Here in Kansas City, you won't see many, if any, squirrel ads in the papers. But that's where Brownsberger was advertising his raccoons last week.
The meat isn’t USDA-inspected, and few state regulations apply, same as with deer and other game. No laws prevent trappers from selling raccoon carcasses.
As for diseases, raccoon rabies doesn't exist in Missouri, state conservation scientists say. It's an East Coast phenomenon. Parvo and distemper kill raccoons quickly but aren’t transferred to humans. Also, trappers are unlikely to sell meat from an animal that appears to be diseased.
"Raccoon meat is some of the healthiest meat you can eat," says Jeff Beringer, a furbearer resource biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation.
"During grad school, my roommate and I ate 32 coons one winter. It was all free, and it was really good. If you think about being green and eating organically, raccoon meat is the ultimate organic food," with no steroids, no antibiotics, no growth hormones.
And when people eat wild meat, Beringer says, "it reminds the modernized society — people who usually eat food from a plastic wrapper — where food comes from.”
Statewide, consumption of raccoon meat can be tracked somewhat by how many raccoon pelts are harvested each year. In 2007, 118,166 pelts were sold.
But there are plenty more out there, Beringer says. The raccoon population "doubled in the '80s. There's more now than when Missouri was first settled."
He estimates there are about 20 raccoons per square mile of habitat.
In the wild, raccoons typically live five or six years. Populations that grow too dense can be decimated by disease, especially when temperatures drop, Beringer says.
"The animals huddle together, passing on the infections. In the winter, we sometimes have massive die-offs. If we can control the fluctuations in the populations by hunting and trapping, we can have healthier animals."
Fur trappers, who harvest most of the raccoons sold in Missouri, "try to kill as humanely as possible," says Beringer, a trapper himself. "It's part of the culture."
Pelts last year sold on average for about $17. They're used for coats and hats, and many are sold to Russia. But the conflict between Russia and Georgia severely cut into the fur-trading market, Beringer says. "Pelts will probably be less this year."
For the average person, who probably doesn't spend much time thinking how a steer or a pig or a chicken might meet its maker, raccoons may seem too cute to eat.
Until you try one.
At the Blue Springs home of Billy Washington, raccoon, fish, bison and deer are staples on his family’s table.
On this day, it's raccoon.
All night he has been soaking a carcass in a solution of salt and vinegar in a five-gallon bucket. Now he rinses the raccoon in his kitchen sink.
"Eating raccoon has never gone out of style. It's just hard to get unless you know somebody," he says as he carefully trims away the fat and the scent glands.
"My kids love eating game. They think eating deer and buffalo make you run faster and jump higher. My grandkids will just tear this one up, it'll be so good."
The meat is almost ready to be boiled, except for one thing: Although its head, innards and three paws have been removed, it still has one. That’s the law.
"They leave the paw on to prove it's not a cat or a dog," Washington says.
He cuts off the paw and drops the carcass into a stew pot, slices up a carrot, celery and onion, and sprinkles some seasoning into the water. Two and a half hours later, he transfers it to a Dutch oven. It looks a lot like chicken.
He bathes the raccoon with his own combination of barbecue sauces. Stuffs the cavity with canned sweet potatoes and pours the rest of the juice from the can over the breast.
"I follow the same tradition I watched when I was little. My uncle would cook 'em all day, saving the littlest coon for me," he says.
"If stores could sell coon, we’d run out of them. It's a long-hidden secret that they're so good."
After several hours, a delicious smell — roast beef? chicken? — drifts from the oven.
A mingling of garlic and onion and sweet-smelling spices.
And when Washington opens the lid, a tiny leg falls easily from the bone.
“See that? Tender as a mother’s love,” he says with a grin. “Good eatin’.”
And the taste?
Definitely not chicken.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/59566.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The other dark meat: Raccoon is making it to the table
He rolls into the parking lot of Leon's Thriftway in an old, maroon Impala with a trunk full of frozen meat. Raccoon — the other dark meat.
In five minutes, Montrose, Mo., trapper Larry Brownsberger is sold out in the lot at 39th Street and Kensington Avenue. Word has gotten around about how clean his frozen raccoon carcasses are. How nicely they’re tucked up in their brown butcher paper. How they almost look like a trussed turkey … or something.
His loyal customers beam as they leave, thinking about the meal they'll soon be eating.
That is, as soon as the meat is thawed. Then brined. Soaked overnight. Parboiled for two hours. Slow-roasted or smoked or barbecued to perfection.
Raccoon, which made the first edition of The Joy of Cooking in 1931, is labor-intensive but well worth the time, aficionados say.
"Good things come to those who wait," says A. Reed, 86, who has been eating raccoon since she was a girl.
"This right here," she says, holding up a couple of brown packages tied with burlap string, “this is a great value. And really good eatin’. Best-kept secret around.”
Raccoons go for $3 to $7 — each, not per pound — and will feed about five adults. Four, if they’re really hungry.
Those who dine on raccoon meat sound the same refrain: It's good eatin'.
As long as you can get past the "ick" factor that it's a varmint, more often seen flattened on asphalt than featured on a restaurant menu. (One exception: French restaurant Le Fou Frog served raccoon about a dozen years ago, a waiter said.)
Eating varmints is even in vogue these days, at least in Britain. The New York Times reported last week that Brits are eating squirrels with wild abandon.
Here in Kansas City, you won't see many, if any, squirrel ads in the papers. But that's where Brownsberger was advertising his raccoons last week.
The meat isn’t USDA-inspected, and few state regulations apply, same as with deer and other game. No laws prevent trappers from selling raccoon carcasses.
As for diseases, raccoon rabies doesn't exist in Missouri, state conservation scientists say. It's an East Coast phenomenon. Parvo and distemper kill raccoons quickly but aren’t transferred to humans. Also, trappers are unlikely to sell meat from an animal that appears to be diseased.
"Raccoon meat is some of the healthiest meat you can eat," says Jeff Beringer, a furbearer resource biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation.
"During grad school, my roommate and I ate 32 coons one winter. It was all free, and it was really good. If you think about being green and eating organically, raccoon meat is the ultimate organic food," with no steroids, no antibiotics, no growth hormones.
And when people eat wild meat, Beringer says, "it reminds the modernized society — people who usually eat food from a plastic wrapper — where food comes from.”
Statewide, consumption of raccoon meat can be tracked somewhat by how many raccoon pelts are harvested each year. In 2007, 118,166 pelts were sold.
But there are plenty more out there, Beringer says. The raccoon population "doubled in the '80s. There's more now than when Missouri was first settled."
He estimates there are about 20 raccoons per square mile of habitat.
In the wild, raccoons typically live five or six years. Populations that grow too dense can be decimated by disease, especially when temperatures drop, Beringer says.
"The animals huddle together, passing on the infections. In the winter, we sometimes have massive die-offs. If we can control the fluctuations in the populations by hunting and trapping, we can have healthier animals."
Fur trappers, who harvest most of the raccoons sold in Missouri, "try to kill as humanely as possible," says Beringer, a trapper himself. "It's part of the culture."
Pelts last year sold on average for about $17. They're used for coats and hats, and many are sold to Russia. But the conflict between Russia and Georgia severely cut into the fur-trading market, Beringer says. "Pelts will probably be less this year."
For the average person, who probably doesn't spend much time thinking how a steer or a pig or a chicken might meet its maker, raccoons may seem too cute to eat.
Until you try one.
At the Blue Springs home of Billy Washington, raccoon, fish, bison and deer are staples on his family’s table.
On this day, it's raccoon.
All night he has been soaking a carcass in a solution of salt and vinegar in a five-gallon bucket. Now he rinses the raccoon in his kitchen sink.
"Eating raccoon has never gone out of style. It's just hard to get unless you know somebody," he says as he carefully trims away the fat and the scent glands.
"My kids love eating game. They think eating deer and buffalo make you run faster and jump higher. My grandkids will just tear this one up, it'll be so good."
The meat is almost ready to be boiled, except for one thing: Although its head, innards and three paws have been removed, it still has one. That’s the law.
"They leave the paw on to prove it's not a cat or a dog," Washington says.
He cuts off the paw and drops the carcass into a stew pot, slices up a carrot, celery and onion, and sprinkles some seasoning into the water. Two and a half hours later, he transfers it to a Dutch oven. It looks a lot like chicken.
He bathes the raccoon with his own combination of barbecue sauces. Stuffs the cavity with canned sweet potatoes and pours the rest of the juice from the can over the breast.
"I follow the same tradition I watched when I was little. My uncle would cook 'em all day, saving the littlest coon for me," he says.
"If stores could sell coon, we’d run out of them. It's a long-hidden secret that they're so good."
After several hours, a delicious smell — roast beef? chicken? — drifts from the oven.
A mingling of garlic and onion and sweet-smelling spices.
And when Washington opens the lid, a tiny leg falls easily from the bone.
“See that? Tender as a mother’s love,” he says with a grin. “Good eatin’.”
And the taste?
Definitely not chicken.
Black Rifles Matter
Re: Prep for hard times
@Keith, Captain Kangaroo?
Alas I'm in apartment so all i can do is brew my own beer.
Alas I'm in apartment so all i can do is brew my own beer.
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TexasComputerDude
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Re: Prep for hard times
just curious, but how long could a person survive off of a garden of that size.
would it sustain a family of 2? or just keep them alive.
would it sustain a family of 2? or just keep them alive.
Glock 30 - main ccw
Re: Prep for hard times
Are you kidding? A garden that size would keep an entire neighborhood fed! That is, if you plant it in okra and zucchini.TexasComputerDude wrote:just curious, but how long could a person survive off of a garden of that size.
would it sustain a family of 2? or just keep them alive.
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TheArmedFarmer
- Senior Member
- Posts: 574
- Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:18 pm
- Location: Grapevine
Re: Prep for hard times
Right here.longtooth wrote:Amongs the storing up of arms, ammo, water & MRIs, anyone else making garden & canning it.
We're setup to be as self-sufficient as possible and are as prepared as we can be for the evil day. We're hopeful it won't be needed, but it's better to be prepared and not need it, than to need it and not be prepared.Big garden, orchard and soft fruits, chickens, pigs, beef cows as well as dairy cows, goats, and soon fish in the pond. 300 gallons of diesel squirreled away. A deep water well with generator backup.
Also, precious metals and extra ammunition for barter. My next goal, though, is to get off the electric grid.
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TexasComputerDude
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Re: Prep for hard times
Crossfire wrote:Are you kidding? A garden that size would keep an entire neighborhood fed! That is, if you plant it in okra and zucchini.TexasComputerDude wrote:just curious, but how long could a person survive off of a garden of that size.
would it sustain a family of 2? or just keep them alive.
if only I could plant ribeyes and pork chops i'd be set. I've never been a fan of vegetables.
Glock 30 - main ccw
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flintknapper
- Banned
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- Location: Deep East Texas
Re: Prep for hard times
Oh heaven's yes!Crossfire wrote:Are you kidding? A garden that size would keep an entire neighborhood fed! That is, if you plant it in okra and zucchini.TexasComputerDude wrote:just curious, but how long could a person survive off of a garden of that size.
would it sustain a family of 2? or just keep them alive.
Just a couple of rows of Zucchini will keep you busy giving it away.
Spartans ask not how many, but where!
Re: Prep for hard times
They are really pulling our leg. Yes the garden in the pic is 75X35 & fi it makes at all I plan to feed the Wife, myself, Mom, Daughters family of 4 & 2 of the aged couples in the church.TexasComputerDude wrote:just curious, but how long could a person survive off of a garden of that size.
would it sustain a family of 2? or just keep them alive.
I will not raise any corn in that small a place. Beans, peas, squash, potatoes, peppers, onions, cabage, tomatoes, collards, radishes, okra ( a full row crossfire) & even a couple of Zucini plants. Cantilopes, & a few watermellons. Neither of the mellon spots are visible.
We will have enough canned to last through the winter & probably trade some for jellies & some fruit that others have.
TexCompDude:
When it really starts to bear you can work all day there w/ nothing but a 2 galon can of cold water. When you get hungry pull 2 radishes, three tomatoes, a couple of bananna peppers & set down in the shade of the cornbread bush, pull a pone, ask the blessing & eat. When you are through just lean back in the shade for a short nap before getting up & back to work.
That is the truth even if I am the one tellin it.
LT
Carry 24-7 or guess right.
CHL Instructor. http://www.pdtraining.us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
NRA/TSRA Life Member - TFC Member #11
Re: Prep for hard times
I didn't see any cornbread bush in the photo. Must be out by the melon patch...longtooth wrote:When it really starts to bear you can work all day there w/ nothing but a 2 galon can of cold water. When you get hungry pull 2 radishes, three tomatoes, a couple of bananna peppers & set down in the shade of the cornbread bush, pull a pone, ask the blessing & eat. When you are through just lean back in the shade for a short nap before getting up & back to work.
That is the truth even if I am the one tellin it.
LT
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TheArmedFarmer
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:18 pm
- Location: Grapevine
Re: Prep for hard times
LT, consider sweet potatoes, too. They are very nutritious, they taste great, grow in poor soil conditions, and give good yields in a small area.longtooth wrote:I will not raise any corn in that small a place. Beans, peas, squash, potatoes, peppers, onions, cabage, tomatoes, collards, radishes, okra ( a full row crossfire) & even a couple of Zucini plants. Cantilopes, & a few watermellons. Neither of the mellon spots are visible.
Re: Prep for hard times
Good reminder. I will add them to the list. We do like them.
Crossfire,
I am sorry. To bet the angled shot of the greatest area I backed up right in the cornbread bush. Not even a late leaf on it now though. Should start to bloom about Feb 30, though.
I have a bridge too ifn ya need one.
Crossfire,
I am sorry. To bet the angled shot of the greatest area I backed up right in the cornbread bush. Not even a late leaf on it now though. Should start to bloom about Feb 30, though.
I have a bridge too ifn ya need one.
Carry 24-7 or guess right.
CHL Instructor. http://www.pdtraining.us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
NRA/TSRA Life Member - TFC Member #11
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ScubaSigGuy
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:11 pm
- Location: North Texas
Re: Prep for hard times
LT,
That picture reminds me of my early childhood. When I was growing up I thought that the only reason adults had children was for them to weed the garden and pick the vegetables.
We even had a pretty large grapevine. There's nothing like fresh vegetables just picked from the backyard.
I miss the homemade zucchini bread too.
That picture reminds me of my early childhood. When I was growing up I thought that the only reason adults had children was for them to weed the garden and pick the vegetables.
We even had a pretty large grapevine. There's nothing like fresh vegetables just picked from the backyard. I miss the homemade zucchini bread too.
S.S.G.
"A champion doesn’t become a champion in the ring. He is merely recognized in the ring.The ‘becoming’ happens during his daily routine." Joe Louis
NRA MEMBER
"A champion doesn’t become a champion in the ring. He is merely recognized in the ring.The ‘becoming’ happens during his daily routine." Joe Louis
NRA MEMBER
Re: Prep for hard times
Very cool, much luck with that. I know it looks like low winter shadows there and later in the day, but I assume you have enough light for summer veggies?
Just can't beat fresh veggies. Also maybe a few herb bushes like rosemary and basil. Rosemary is a tough bush and very hearty with bad Texas temps.
Just can't beat fresh veggies. Also maybe a few herb bushes like rosemary and basil. Rosemary is a tough bush and very hearty with bad Texas temps.
God, Goats, and Guns