Survival of the fittest

I came across this thread which made interesting reading - Bl**dy wife won't take this seriously

Quote :

Been stocking up for the last few months - wife thinks I'm mad but I just say that if we go on holiday you insist we buy insurance so then you would insure against financial armagedon - so she bought it and we now have 30kg of rice/20kg of past and tins of stuff to survive for 3 months min in our larder.

Even invested in an air rifle............rabits

Everone needs to get real - you need insurance and a buffer coz these cowboys are making it up as they go along.

Anyone stockpiling here?

I'm not but that's not to say I haven't thought about it. Was thinking of doing some planting for the winter so I'd be getting myself some seeds but an under-the-bed stash of pasta, rice and tinned fish and spam® away from the worried eyes of my flatmates might have to be done.

I've been thinking a fair bit about wild food recently and lamenting that I don't know enough about mushrooms plus, a friend believes it's time to take up fishing ...

I really don't think it'll come to all this but it might be fun if it did.

I'm of a similar frame of mind to yourself, Auditor #9. I have made a mental list of what I would buy for a stockpile but I don't (won't) think it will be necessary.

Like you, I wish I knew more about wild food. I've tried fishing several times and have never caught a thing so I'm giving up on that one.
I gathered 4 kilos of blackberries the other week and made 15 jars of jam. Felt very smug about it and all.

I know what magic mushrooms look like, fortunately.

I don't know if I agree with you about the 'fun' aspect if it did all come asunder.

floatingingalway wrote:

I'm of a similar frame of mind to yourself, Auditor #9. I have made a mental list of what I would buy for a stockpile but I don't (won't) think it will be necessary.

Like you, I wish I knew more about wild food. I've tried fishing several times and have never caught a thing so I'm giving up on that one.
I gathered 4 kilos of blackberries the other week and made 15 jars of jam. Felt very smug about it and all.

I know what magic mushrooms look like, fortunately.

I don't know if I agree with you about the 'fun' aspect if it did all come asunder.

You might get to try cannibalism type of fun. There are plenty of cows around though .. would they be very suddenly shipped abroad in the event of a disaster? The poor veggies though ... let them eat hake.

I can't see it happening because there would surely be a return to growing locally and thankfully this land of ours is extremely fertile, temperate and has tons of energy growing in bogs if we needed it. Could there be fish wars? There nearly has already. We might very quickly learn to shepherd our world a lot more sustainably but I keep thinking of Edward Hopper in the Exxon Valdez in Waterworld.

We had a thread here before on wild flowers, a wild food one might not be a bad idea.

Having spent a summer watching my lettuce, rocket and spinach go to seed through lack of sunshine and watching my soft fruit rot on the stem from all the rain, I find it difficult to agree with you about our climate. It was a great summer for root vegetables though.
That's a great idea about the wild food thread. I remember reading a book years ago called the The Clandestine Garden. It was all about reclaiming unused corners of fields, railway sidings etc to plant food. i'd love to get my hands on it again.

In the US and Australia government advises everyone to have either 3-6 months food stockpile per household because of bird flu. They may also have other things in mind. The Irish government says 2 weeks, I think.
There are handly lists on the internet of what is needed. Tinned and dried food is best - no use in having a full freezer if the electricity cut out.

I've been telling everyone to get planting since we started up here. Food prices have gone up a lot even without the economic lockdown.

If you think of how you would deal with it if banks were locked and there was general chaos, or if you lost your job, having the food in place would be a real help.
People are hoarding gold but on a previous occasion government in the US and took it off people to add to the reserves. In small quantities it isn't easily tradeable and you have to keep it somewhere.

In the longer term, growing your own is fun, and good for the environment.Leeks and brussel sprouts did well this year, cabbage not. We've had a good year for fruit.

A well-stocked larder is a good idea.

Auditor #9 wrote:

I can't see it happening because there would surely be a return to growing locally and thankfully this land of ours is extremely fertile, temperate and has tons of energy growing in bogs if we needed it.

I think a lot of our fertiliser is imported. Productivity plummeted during the Emergency when the imports stopped, if I remember my history correctly.

What would be a trigger for you guys to stockpile and baton down the hatches?
For me I think it would any one of a number of things.

Bush enacting executive order 51 and cancelling election.

The ISEQ getting shut down for more than a day due to unstoppable plummet.

A visible rise of anger on streets about the serious mismanagment of our country.

Herself and I are seriously thinking of selling the large playhouse that the kids have now outgrown and using the money to plant that area of the garden with veg and potatoes. The wife planted many different types of food in boxes this year, and it shouldn't be too hard a step to grow larger quantities. The only drawback is that i know nothing about growing potatoes.

clareman51 wrote:

Herself and I are seriously thinking of selling the large playhouse that the kids have now outgrown and using the money to plant that area of the garden with veg and potatoes. The wife planted many different types of food in boxes this year, and it shouldn't be too hard a step to grow larger quantities. The only drawback is that i know nothing about growing potatoes.

I found a brilliant way of growing spuds this year. Just buy a bag of compost and cut the top off. Put your seed potatoes in the bag about half-way down and lo and behold you end up with a sack of spuds a couple of months later. Great for small spaces!

Is there a time of year to do that, or do you know if it can be done anytime?

clareman51 wrote:

Is there a time of year to do that, or do you know if it can be done anytime?

I planted my first bag in April and a second bag in July. I don't think spuds like too much frost so not sure about winter planting

floatingingalway wrote:

clareman51 wrote:

Is there a time of year to do that, or do you know if it can be done anytime?

I planted my first bag in April and a second bag in July. I don't think spuds like too much frost so not sure about winter planting

I'm going to try this. Did you make holes in the bottom of the bag? Did you water it, or just leave it outside?

cactus flower wrote:

floatingingalway wrote:

clareman51 wrote:

Is there a time of year to do that, or do you know if it can be done anytime?

I planted my first bag in April and a second bag in July. I don't think spuds like too much frost so not sure about winter planting

I'm going to try this. Did you make holes in the bottom of the bag? Did you water it, or just leave it outside?

I did water it and feed it when it was dry. it's important to remember that spuds feed through their leaves as well as roots. No holes in bag necessary.

Did you leave it inside or outside? I have some space on my shelves next to R2D2 and C3PO.

I left it outside. When you say inside I presume you mean a greenhouse. I'd say you could do it in greenhouse in winter.

Auditor #9 wrote:

Did you leave it inside or outside? I have some space on my shelves next to R2D2 and C3PO.

why am i not surprised?

OK, now I am freaking out.

It's bad enough that yous're on about stockpiling food but now yous're growing your own spuds! I thought spuds were made by SuperValu and Dunnes

Where can you get these 'seed-potatoes' you speak of?

coc wrote:

OK, now I am freaking out.

It's bad enough that yous're on about stockpiling food but now yous're growing your own spuds! I thought spuds were made by SuperValu and Dunnes

Where can you get these 'seed-potatoes' you speak of?

I'm telling you, they're better than youngdan's bullion. I keep asking him if he is going to eat his Eagles boiled or fried, but he won't say.

coc wrote:

OK, now I am freaking out.

It's bad enough that yous're on about stockpiling food but now yous're growing your own spuds! I thought spuds were made by SuperValu and Dunnes

Where can you get these 'seed-potatoes' you speak of?

You can get seed potatoes from a garden centre but probably not at this time of year.
You can even use the spuds sprouting at the bottom of your veg basket!

Can we start growing anything right now? It might be too late soon - remember the Famine and all.

It's high time we found out what stuff we can eat from the woods, fields, the sea too. Luckily I live near the sea and, though polluted, you'd be inclined to eat it if you were stuck.

I'd go fishing if I could get a solar-powered television to watch - otherwise it'd be very boring I'd say.

Fishing is great fun if you are with a good group of people. I was out on the Corrib just before the summer for a day or so - good fun. That said there's barely any fish left.

Auditor #9 wrote:

Can we start growing anything right now? It might be too late soon - remember the Famine and all.

It's high time we found out what stuff we can eat from the woods, fields, the sea too. Luckily I live near the sea and, though polluted, you'd be inclined to eat it if you were stuck.

I'd go fishing if I could get a solar-powered television to watch - otherwise it'd be very boring I'd say.

I've got cos lettuce under cloches, beetroot, carrots, red cabbage, and rocket on the go at the moment.
Fishing never rocked my boat either, boring as watching paint dry

It's worth adding that I live in a semi-d in Galway city. It's amazing how much you can get from a small patch!

Auditor #9 wrote:

Can we start growing anything right now? It might be too late soon - remember the Famine and all.

It's high time we found out what stuff we can eat from the woods, fields, the sea too. Luckily I live near the sea and, though polluted, you'd be inclined to eat it if you were stuck.

I'd go fishing if I could get a solar-powered television to watch - otherwise it'd be very boring I'd say.

didn't coastal communities fare reasonably well during the famine living off fish, shellfish and seaweed? get thee to the beach if civilisation collapses!