How people are really living off the land

General Gardening
#47

I think some of you underestimate the human race ability to survive.

Did you know that Barrow Alaska has been habituated for about 1,500 years now? With temperatures cloaking at -50f before the wind chill? Average rain around 4.5"? 2 months of perpetual night in the winter?

What the future holds is that the standard of living on industrialized nations is not sustainable, so I would expect that it would continue to drop. In that drop the people on top will do their best to manage said drop in the standard of living as best as they can, so they can continue to manage the greatest engine for resource extraction and enrichment of the 1% the world has ever seen. When that tower of cards eventually falls down then you get civil unrest followed by war, as before and as will be after.

And also guess what; a good chunk of the world’s population will not even notice. The world’s largest refugee camp is Kutupalong in Bangladesh, home of 500,000 souls. Some of them has been lost in there in limbo for about 20 years.

But count your blessings; even in declining standards of living, civil unrest, and war, you are much better off where you are now than there.

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#48
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#49

@TNHunter

Maybe im confused. I cant find one word about meat or anything in the about section of this forum…or any category.

Yet i am an avid reader and i get to see all kinds of discussions about being a carnivore and about slaughtering animals and get to read about the kills and see pictures of dead animals.

Personally i dont belong to any Carnivore or Keto or Paleo or Caveman forums… and could not even imagine trying to convince the members in there the value of fruits and vegetables and grains that are so highly regarded in this forum.

This topic is about General Gardening… yet again it turns into a discussion about meat.

Flag this post or dont give it a love or give it a love…it doesnt matter to me… i didnt come here to defend my belief of eating fruits, grains, vegetables or my belief in life and living things. I dont think i should have to.

For now i will mostly adhere to what Harvard thinks… and i will continue on my own journey of health , as you are yours doing the opposite.

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#50

Think everyone has made a very valid point. I’m glad to see all of these posts about how people are living off the land. The differences are what makes our group stronger. We learn fruit growing and about new things related to survival and enjoyment from each other. @don1357 makes a good point some people always survive. Hopefully this forum greatly increases our chances to thrive. In my area i grow alot of pears because pears do well here. Bamboo is something i would love to grow for food because i like the taste of it. I’m looking for cold hardy edible bamboo that grows easily here. Have been looking for it for years. My favorite garden i plant and harvest with no need for spray or alot of upkeep.

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#51

Do you know with bamboo shoots, even the smaller ones than the ones in your post, you have to cook them for an hour at least in boiling water, otherwise there are some kind of toxicity. I only learned that recently.

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#52

@SoCalGardenNut

Yes i knew that from people on the forum warning me years ago. Been looking for them awhile.

https://growingfruit.org/search?context=topic&context_id=51170&q=Cold%20hardy%20edible%20bamboo&skip_context=true

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#53

I was just thinking about this earlier today. Currently I have 16 pear trees, but they are all still fairly young and most haven’t produced a crop at all.
I love peaches, apples, and cherries too. But without insecticide and fungicides, I don’t think I could get any decent crops from them. I am growing them, even though they are not sustainable fruits for me. I haven’t tried switching to Surround, but have thought about it. But still, if we don’t have access to Surround and fungicides, pears might be about the only fruit we could grow well, consistently.
Maybe I should… plant more pears!!!

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#54

@KSprairie

Yes thats why i grow them. Grow whatever wants to grow here is my philosphy.

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#55

Do you have a current count on the number of pear trees you grow?

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#56

@KSprairie

No it’s in the hundreds.

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#57

Wow. That’s great. I always enjoy your posts, thank you.
The pears I am growing are in large part because of posts of yours I have read and information I have learned from you and others on the forum.

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#58

@KSprairie

Harrow sweet would be a great addition then you get pears while you wait. Maybe you have it growing already. Harrow delight will produce pears 1 year after harrow sweet. Harrow delight is the hardier against disease of the two but is targeted more by insects.

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#59

I do have both of those growing, but not producing well.
Back in 2018, I think, I grafted both Harrow Delight and Harrow Sweet, as well as Honey Sweet onto seedling trees I had started. I planted all three in a triangle about 3’-4’ apart, in one raised mound area.
I had watched a Dave Wilson nursery video about doing this to keep size of trees down to more manageable height. Since pears don’t like to be pruned much, I thought this might be a good idea to try with a few of them.
The Harrow Delight has produced a few pears, but they were very small size and not many of them.
I should plant at least one more of each of those varieties in their own space and give them room to grow and do their thing. I didn’t really want 40’ pear trees, but I do want pears so I will have to compromise. :joy:

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#60

Wish we could grow those giant bamboo. It tastes similar to cabbage to me.

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#61

most people eat starch that survive off their own land and hand work. Plantains, cassava, taro, potatoes, rice…

I think there is incredible value in the fruit crops we have access to today and preserving them beyond times of turmoil. roughly 60 varieties of tropical fruit you can make a meal of and about 30 in temperate climates. Veggies and greens are a big plus for colder climates. If people 100-1000 years ago could have got the variety of fruit trees we have access to today by and by mail/post lol, many would have focused more energy on fruit trees. since they did not they hunted more also. Some animal foods are have major downsides some not so many.

I think mixing animals with fruit orchards is difficult and intensive but is pretty awesome. streuobstwiese Is historically a pasture orchard in germany where cows or some ruminant would graze the grass and people harvest the fruit. gave people free time to build castles :slight_smile:

If we combine tractors and agroforestry the options get fun and easy. It is all about perspective in the end also, everyone was living off the land 200 years ago and beyond roughly and one could also argue everyone still lives off the land today. However detached they may feel and be from that reality. It just takes humans surviving 1 future major catastrophe to put that into perspective if you don’t understand me… Volcanoes, asteroids etc have done more damage to earth, plants and animals than humans have so far. So in a way we are still sustainably living in modern times.

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#62

I’m thinking if the population is too high he should volunteer to eliminate one (himself). If his theories are correct…he should go first!

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#63

One way tickets to mars w 10years indenturement don’t seem so far off and crazy. Especially as we approach 10 billion. I bet many would feel that way too.

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#64

2 Billion is too many if they’re mostly heathen.
2 Billion is too many if half of them don’t think they should have to earn their bread.
But, if they could learn to live in peace, 10 Billion should be ok on the globe at one time.

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#65

What Did the Cherokee Indians Eat?

Originally, before European contact, the Cherokee people lived throughout the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains. The tribal diet commonly consisted of foods that were either gathered, grown, or hunted. The three sisters – corn, beans, and squash – were grown. Wild greens, mushrooms, ramps, nuts, and berries were collected. Deer, bears, birds, native fish, squirrels, groundhogs, and rabbits were all hunted. In the pre-contact era, many meals were one-pot stews made over an open fire.

Found this online… Cherokee were in TN and NC.

They grew what they could… foraged and hunted and fished… With their intimate knowledge of the land I am sure they did well. I think anyone that attempted to live off the land today (in any area) would have to have that intimate knowledge of the area…and do the same… make good use of everything naturally available hunting fishing trapping foraging and grow what ever you can that works best for the area and preserve it.

If you eliminate any part of that (for example trapping or fishing)… your odds for success decrease significantly.

I think there is no doubt that like the animals they feasted and fasted. Having an abundance at times and having much less than they needed at times. I have to think that mid to late winter… was tuff.

Try going outside today and forage up your lunch.

Report back what you ate ?

I have a few dandelion blosoms out there now but no greens yet. With my hunting skills… no doubt i could have a squirrel or bird in 10 minutes.

If i had my own livestock… chicken, chicken livers, eggs… mmmmmm… i could do that.

If you were truly living off the land today… i think that having your own livestock… chickens, quail, rabbits… what ever you could manage… would be ever bit as important as growing any fruits and veggies you could in your area.

Eliminate either of those… and shoot yourself in the foot.

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#66

Hey, I pay lot of money for quails here. Maybe $4.5-6 a quail. I paid for rabbit meat once in the Bay Area, they don’t seem to sell them here.
But be careful about foraging, especially if you are city folks, one family picked up Death Cap mushrooms in the Bay Area and ended up at the hospital, not sure they came out alive or not. They could destroy your kidney or liver. This is why I only buy mushrooms from the shop, they farm them, they are not growing in the wild.

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