Raising your own food

[AlanM]

I found this really good website: http://www.homesteadinginfo.com/animals/index.html

[slim]

Is rainwater necessarily potable? There are filtration systems that missionaries use everywhere, but it seems kind of expensive and you have to have replacement filters. During Y2k, I remember some explanation of sand/carbon filtration in a modified bucket. Sounds cheap, but effective?

Cathleen

Rain water is pure I would only be conserned with what pipes the water has run though. People can always dig a well for water also and you can either boil water from streams or use purification tablets that you can buy at any place that sell camping supplies. Another great book that I use is the "Boy Scouts Handbook" that has pictures and can keep you alive and well in the outdoors for a long time.

[Recumbent ReCycler]

I've got a book around here somewhere.  When I was in Bosnia, a squad of us got sent on a mission, but the person who was supposed to bring the case of MREs forgot them at the base.  I got hungry, so I ate some violets.  When I lived in Louisiana, I tried what I thought were elephant ears, but it turned out that they were another plant that looked almost identical.  Within seconds, my mouth was burning and felt like it was full of nettles (which are edible after you boil them).  Fiddleheads and morels are good pan fried.

[AlanM]

My father used to love dandelion greens. When the dandelions came out on the lawn he would dig a bunch up and cook them. I never cared for them, but would eat them if necessary.

[Kat Kanning]

I've been digging them up and putting them in salads.

[AlanM]

Has anyone tried wild Concord grapes? We had some growing along a stone wall next to our house. The owner wasn't interested in them and told us to pick as many as we want. Mmmmm good.

[Recumbent ReCycler]

When I was young, we picked wild grapes that grew around the farm, and made them into syrup, jelly, and juice.  They were small and dark in color.  With a little sugar, they tasted really good.  We also picked wild hops and used it when we made our own beer.  If you have the land, you can't go wrong with a few blueberry bushes, apple trees, rhubarb, and raspberries, because they are all pretty low maintenance, so most years all you have to do is pick the fruit.  When I was young, we had 3 apple trees, and they produced enough apples for us to have apple cider, apple sauce, and apple pie year round, and still share a lot with friends.  We would often eat fruit fresh off the plants from mid summer to late fall whenever we wanted a snack.  We also grew green beens, corn, cucumbers, pumpkins, tomatoes, and various other vegetables.  We didn't use any artificial insecticides or fertilizer.  Our fertilizer came from the horse farm just down the road.  We would remove some of the bugs by hand, while slugs were trapped in little cups of beer, if I remember correctly.  Eventually, after I got my BB gun, I started killing bugs by shooting them with the BB gun.  Chickens, I've learned, are great for reducing the number of bugs in your garden and yard, and they usually leave the vegetables alone, while leaving a very good natural fertilizer in their wake.

[AlanM]

Raspberries are virtually indestructable. I had some raspberry bushes on the side of my lot that the wife wanted removed. I cut them down, dug down a foot or more to remove the roots, and within a week they were sprouting again.

[Lex]

Chickens, I've learned, are great for reducing the number of bugs in your garden and yard, and they usually leave the vegetables alone, while leaving a very good natural fertilizer in their wake.

I've heard several stories where the chickens pecked out all the seeds in a freshly planted garden. I guess it depends a lot on the vegetables you have just planted.

[Pat McCotter]

Concord has some community garden space just of Clinton St. where folks grow vegetables. I don't have info on how to use the space but the state division of forests and lands are the folks to call - 271-3456.

[slim]

You can also make wine from dandelions

[Pat K]

When I was a youngin an old farmer in upstate NY used to make dandelion wine. I liked it.

[KBCraig]

I like old dogs and children, and watermelon wine.

[Pat K]

 

[Kat Kanning]

Heh

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=58710


First Coast Student Grows Giant Cabbage

By
First Coast News Staff

LAKE CITY, FL -- A third grader in Lake City knows how to grow cabbage. And he could be rewarded for his work.

Andrew Milito showed off the 15 pound head of cabbage that he grew in his backyard. The cabbage is almost bigger than the nine-year old.
He says his classmates were surprised by the size of his class project.
Miliato stands to win a $1,000 scholarship if his head of cabbage is the largest in the state.
He will find out in September if he'll cash in.