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Laurasia Intermediate Crude


Joined: Jul 10, 2004 Posts: 507
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 8:26 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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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.
Regards,
L. |
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like_the_dinosaurs Tar Sands


Joined: Jun 23, 2007 Posts: 48 Location: Australia
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Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 11:34 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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Converted a spear fishing gun into a crossbow. Quite accurate with around a 30m range, able to punch through quarter inch wood.
Started making plans for a vegetable patch and chicken run, also stored more food and medical supplies.
peace.
 _________________ This story will be told for generations! |
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Jenab6 Heavy Crude


Joined: Dec 25, 2005 Posts: 395 Location: Hillsboro, West Virginia
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 1:08 pm Post subject: Re: Mister Herb Lore |
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| 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. |
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Ludi Expert


Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 9376 Location: Village of Idiots
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 1:29 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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Do you have cattails in your area? _________________ "...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy |
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Jenab6 Heavy Crude


Joined: Dec 25, 2005 Posts: 395 Location: Hillsboro, West Virginia
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 2:00 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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| 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. |
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wisconsin_cur Expert


Joined: May 10, 2007 Posts: 1678 Location: Self-Exile to the "Planning for the Future" forum
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 2:36 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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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. _________________ I can tell your fancy I can tell your plain
You give something up for ev'rything you gain
Since ev'ry pleasure's got an edge of pain
Pay for your ticket and don't complain.
-Bobby D. |
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frankthetank Fusion


Joined: Sep 16, 2004 Posts: 3691 Location: Southwest WI
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 3:19 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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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 |
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Ludi Expert


Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 9376 Location: Village of Idiots
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 3:24 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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Prepared another garden bed and planted more winter squash. _________________ "...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow..." - jboogy |
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patience Intermediate Crude


Joined: Jan 04, 2008 Posts: 818
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Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 4:18 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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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.. |
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canuckinczech Coal


Joined: May 02, 2008 Posts: 8
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Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 12:51 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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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.  |
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canuckinczech Coal


Joined: May 02, 2008 Posts: 8
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Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 1:44 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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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. |
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davep Expert


Joined: Jun 21, 2006 Posts: 1075 Location: Burgundy, France
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Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 3:32 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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| 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 |
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FreakOil Heavy Crude


Joined: Mar 04, 2007 Posts: 495 Location: Hong Kong
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Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 11:18 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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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 |
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Ludi Expert


Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 9376 Location: Village of Idiots
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Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 11:55 am Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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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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wisconsin_cur Expert


Joined: May 10, 2007 Posts: 1678 Location: Self-Exile to the "Planning for the Future" forum
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Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 12:19 pm Post subject: Re: Today I made / bought / learnt .... (for a post oil worl |
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prepped some more garden space for transplants.
attacked blackberry brambles attempting to establish themselves on the site of the new orchard
gathered the various tools and materials I will need for the barn raising in one week from their hiding spaces in my garage.
building materials for new garden beds to arrive any minute _________________ I can tell your fancy I can tell your plain
You give something up for ev'rything you gain
Since ev'ry pleasure's got an edge of pain
Pay for your ticket and don't complain.
-Bobby D. |
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