Hoarding is exactly what the government is doing right now by filling the SPR, and frankly it's the best thing that could happen. It drives prices up. High prices encourage demand destruction. They also finance new well development. The hoarded oil gives us a buffer to fall back on once shortages become more prevalent. High prices are what we need in order to adapt to what's coming, and the sooner they happen, the better.
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 8:26 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
Ordered more heirloom seeds last night - just to build up my little seedbank. I'm getting ready to assemble a three-week emergency store for my son & his family - will send the equivalent in money for my other son & family who live away from us. Feeling panicky about 123 dollar oil.
Joined: Dec 25, 2005 Posts: 525 Location: Hillsboro, West Virginia
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 1:08 pm Post subject: Re: Mister Herb Lore
Jenab6 wrote:
One other thing of wild edible note. I saw my goat, Sevdi, eating thorns and decided to try a sample. You know the type: long woody stems having thorns that grab your pants leg, or your hat if they reach up high enough and hang over as you're walking by. They grow in stands, several stems from a common root. The stems start either green or purple, but usually end up being purple. The older stems eventually die and turn dry and brown, but new stems keep coming up from the same root. There was a place where I'd cut these thorns back, and their younger shoots were starting to sprout back up again. So I picked one, stripped off the leaves, thorns and outer skin, and ate a 6" length of the green core stuff. I'm not dead yet. In fact, I never even felt the slightest bit sick. The taste of the thorn pith wasn't exactly great, but it wasn't too bad, either. Does anyone know for certain whether this part of these thorns are safe to eat, or am I setting myself up for some kind of cumulative trouble down the road?
They're edible. Thayer doesn't list greenbriars in Forager's Harvest, but Patterson does in Edible Wild Plants.
Today I found another edible herb: goosegrass. It was growing at the edge of the woods by my goat pasture fence.
It looks like greens (and hence vitamins & minerals) are going to be easy to get. The trouble's going to be getting enough calories to live an active life. For that, I'll need starch, as in edible tubers or wild grains. I've got potatoes in the flower garden. I'm trying to raise a seed colony of arrowhead for transplant to nearby streams, but that's an iffy sort of thing. I really need to find a species that gives forageable starch already established within backpacking range.
I had my first meal of young poke leaves today. Cooked up a mess by boiling in two waters and rinsing with a third water. They taste pretty good. Delicate.
Joined: Dec 25, 2005 Posts: 525 Location: Hillsboro, West Virginia
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 2:00 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
Ludi wrote:
Do you have cattails in your area?
I've read about cattails in both of the books I mentioned, but I have not yet found them in the local mountain streams. They might live in some of the standing water in Monongahela National Forest, which might be in backpacking range, but it's a multi-day hike. It would be worth it, though, if I knew that I could get a full backpack of cattail to bring back - it's the jackpot of wild edibles: yellow flour from pollen, white flour from dried roots, starchy root for potato substitute, flower heads can be cooked and munched like little corncobs, salad makings from shoots and sprouts. Nature's total food.
Joined: May 10, 2007 Posts: 2449 Location: The Entropisphere
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 2:36 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
planted 10 ligonberry plants
mulched around this year's apple trees as well as many other recent transplants
Cleared the way for the deliveries and bobcat work for the next few days.
Bride and I had a talk about eating a little lower on the food chain. She did not seem too happy but did cut up some bony meat for me that I am now making into a stew.
Joined: Sep 16, 2004 Posts: 4164 Location: Southwest WI
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 3:19 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
Put my screen door back on today. I had replaced the front door along with the rest of them last year, but never put the screen door (storm door?) back on. Simple to do, except i had to go buy a bunch of new screws cause i lost the originals! Nice having the air come in again
Planted up a bunch of stuff...
One of 11...
Not a good year for peaches here, but i'll take what i can get _________________ "Oil is going up because we use too much oil, and the capacity to replace reserves is dwindling"
-President Bush 11/07/07
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 11356 Location: Village of Idiots
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 3:24 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
Prepared another garden bed and planted more winter squash. _________________ "...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 4:18 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
Found a deal on 1/4" steel plate, at 25 cents a lb. and got a 4' x 12' sheet for the shop. Rusty, but beats 80+ cents /lb. and farm equipment isn't that picky about rust. Filled tanks for the torch and had sticker shock---in 2 months acetylene went from $21 to almost $44 a tankful! O2 is up from $7 to $9. Well, acetylene IS a hydrocarbon.
Got 24 doz. canning lids and 2 doz. qt. jars, which fills us up pretty good there. Now I gotta make more shelves for food. _________________ Local fix-it guy..
Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 12:51 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
kpeavey-
Also found a home brew shop. Picked up a little of everything. I've got what I need to brew beer again. Still limited by single use caps.
There is a Czech beer called Bernard that still makes the wire ceramic/plastic sealable bottles...I think you can find it at beer specialty stores...and as bonus you get to taste some of the best beer around...keep the labels and you can trick your friends.
Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 1:44 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
Davep-
you mentioned that you planted an olive tree...hasn't been much talk of having olives on the forums...How do they stack up in a PO world? Good canning, not to mention fuel for your diesel generator in a pinch.
With climatic creep, we might be looking at a larger zone for them in some regions. Might be worth planting in large pots for now.
Joined: Jun 21, 2006 Posts: 1135 Location: Burgundy, France
Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 3:32 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
canuckinczech wrote:
Davep-
you mentioned that you planted an olive tree...hasn't been much talk of having olives on the forums...How do they stack up in a PO world? Good canning, not to mention fuel for your diesel generator in a pinch.
With climatic creep, we might be looking at a larger zone for them in some regions. Might be worth planting in large pots for now.
I'd need a fair few of them if they were to be of much use for biofuel...
I'm banking on their range increasing, or I won't get much of a harvest. But apparently Italian harvests have gone down, in part due to global warming. So I guess where I am is already starting to become more viable.
They're easy to can and are good for you, as well as making lovely oil. What's not to like?
In fact I've just convinced myself to get some more. I 'm not sure I have enough south facing walls though... _________________ All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become. - Buddha
Joined: Mar 04, 2007 Posts: 504 Location: Hong Kong
Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 11:18 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
I bought a straight razor today. It should pay for itself in about six months. I had Lasik eye surgery a few months ago, so I don't have to worry about glasses or contact lenses anymore.
I'll be leaving to work as a volunteer at a permaculture farm, probably next week. There will also be some building projects and aquaculture to work on. I'm just waiting for my new U.S. passport, then I'm off. I'll finally be learning something useful. _________________ "We shall live in interesting times, and we shall die in them too." - Heineken
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 11356 Location: Village of Idiots
Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 11:55 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl
Working on the new sheep paddock, but it's miserably hot today. So I'll be coming in to rest frequently. What a feeb. _________________ "...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy
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