With all the big corporate farms in the US I would not want to be near one if TSHTF. Most get food deliveries on a daily basis. The stench from them will be overwhelming when the animals die. I cant imagine the logisitics to try to hand process even a small hog farm all at once.
FARM Minister announces plans to import fodder - Ireland (feed shortages due to weather)
With all the big corporate farms in the US I would not want to be near one if TSHTF. Most get food deliveries on a daily basis. The stench from them will be overwhelming when the animals die. I cant imagine the logisitics to try to hand process even a small hog farm all at once.
TxGal
Day by day
We had another cold front blow in a few days ago. We picked up several inches of rain, and the temps dropped sharply. Thankfully we missed the hail and high winds this go round. We've had night temps in the low 40s for several nights now, and we have yet another cold front coming in tomorrow afternoon/evening with more rain and night temps getting too close to the upper 30s. The 10-day forecast shows at least one more cold front next week and there may be two. Ugh!
To the northern states this doesn't seem like much, I know, but we're in the middle of cattle country here, and lots of crops are grown in our area, too (cotton, corn, milo, hay). But, wetter, colder than normal temps and cloudier days are all slowing down our pasture grass growth. Most pastures down here are coastal bermuda, and it needs sun and warmer temps for growth. Our own pastures are a mix of coastal, bahia, native grasses, and in the cool seasons red and arrowhead clover and ryegrass, but even with this wider range of pasture plants we've seen slower growth this spring. DH is on his way now to buy more hay (likely last cut from 2017) (Edited to add - by now we are normally done buying hay as the grass is in, delayed growth this year). Most of our hay is locally grown coastal....which is off to a slow start this season, so likely there will be delayed 1st cut hay harvests. God forbid that we later slip into a summer drought and have to face it with delayed or reduced spring hay harvests.
WalknTrot, thank you for being a hay producer.
von Koehler, thank you for persevering in posting your information and videos. Those that don't understand will later. Those that live close to the land understand (or are seeing the signs for what they are and are catching on) that the solar minimum is real, and it has begun. We see the changes in the weather, animal behavior, plant growth, crop effects, etc. All any of us can do is prepare for it, and begin sooner rather than too late.
To the northern states this doesn't seem like much, I know, but we're in the middle of cattle country here, and lots of crops are grown in our area, too (cotton, corn, milo, hay). But, wetter, colder than normal temps and cloudier days are all slowing down our pasture grass growth. Most pastures down here are coastal bermuda, and it needs sun and warmer temps for growth. Our own pastures are a mix of coastal, bahia, native grasses, and in the cool seasons red and arrowhead clover and ryegrass, but even with this wider range of pasture plants we've seen slower growth this spring. DH is on his way now to buy more hay (likely last cut from 2017) (Edited to add - by now we are normally done buying hay as the grass is in, delayed growth this year). Most of our hay is locally grown coastal....which is off to a slow start this season, so likely there will be delayed 1st cut hay harvests. God forbid that we later slip into a summer drought and have to face it with delayed or reduced spring hay harvests.
WalknTrot, thank you for being a hay producer.
von Koehler, thank you for persevering in posting your information and videos. Those that don't understand will later. Those that live close to the land understand (or are seeing the signs for what they are and are catching on) that the solar minimum is real, and it has begun. We see the changes in the weather, animal behavior, plant growth, crop effects, etc. All any of us can do is prepare for it, and begin sooner rather than too late.
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von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
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Predicted weather for 7 April.
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Melodi
Disaster Cat
The main story on talk radio all the way to the "Big Town" to go shopping in (wasn't Dublin) was The Farming Crises; now we are in a rural area so that makes sense.
It seems the combination of weird storms (including the real hurricane), the bitter cold and wet Winter and now the rain, cold, freezing and flooding have created a crises situation.
Farmers ARE helping each other out, one dairy farmer said one of his neighbors has helped keep nearly everyone's cows alive but is now out of hay himself; a lot of was used up during the snow storm and many animals are still indoors because it is too wet to let them out on the grass, even though it is slowly growing they will destroy it if they are allowed to graze in many places.
The government is paying for the fodder to be transported and selling at a subsidized cost, all the usual complicated regulations are suspended; if your a farmer with animals and have little or no feed call XYZ number and delivery will be arranged and the feed sold "at cost" (wholesale with no transportation costs).
A number of private companies and farming co-ops have also joined in to help, with the first shipment provided by "Dairy Gold" (yep the butter people) getting into port this morning and should have been started being distributed this afternoon.
Ireland doesn't use a feedlot system; cows for meat and dairy usually are on grass Spring, Summer, and Fall; only inside during the Winter months. This year has been extended over two months and supplies have simply run out, the same is true for sheep farmers who normally have sheep out most of the year. The lambs are way past old enough to be outside, but the flooded grass has the same issues as it does for cattle in many places.
Some older calves are grazing (we saw some, if housemate hadn't been in a hurry I'd have taken a photo) but they weigh less and some places are drier than others (as you would expect).
It was a very interesting segment to listen to given the situation; the main thing is, while Ireland doesn't really have a "normal" they is way beyond anything usual or expected.
Of course, in the "old" days; before the 18th century, most animals were slaughtered in the Fall (October is Slaughter Month in a number of Scandinavian Languages) because before the relatively modern crop growing systems (and crops like turnips that Wintered Well) there simply wasn't enough food for the majority of them to live through the Winter.
The strongest and most viable stock were kept back and the rest slaughtered and salted down; even the Ancient Greeks did that; most pre-Christian societies had "sacrifice" months that just "happened" to be the right time for this, after the conversion "harvest festivals" with lots of meat eating tended to take their place (with the rest salted, brined or dried for later use).
In crises like we have now, the same thing would be done only it would be scarier because you would be slaughtering animals you expected to have for breeding, but you could only keep the ones you could keep alive, probably partly on food stored for humans.
That is a scary way to start a new growing season...Rain and high winds are just starting outside, looks to be a wild and windy night.
It seems the combination of weird storms (including the real hurricane), the bitter cold and wet Winter and now the rain, cold, freezing and flooding have created a crises situation.
Farmers ARE helping each other out, one dairy farmer said one of his neighbors has helped keep nearly everyone's cows alive but is now out of hay himself; a lot of was used up during the snow storm and many animals are still indoors because it is too wet to let them out on the grass, even though it is slowly growing they will destroy it if they are allowed to graze in many places.
The government is paying for the fodder to be transported and selling at a subsidized cost, all the usual complicated regulations are suspended; if your a farmer with animals and have little or no feed call XYZ number and delivery will be arranged and the feed sold "at cost" (wholesale with no transportation costs).
A number of private companies and farming co-ops have also joined in to help, with the first shipment provided by "Dairy Gold" (yep the butter people) getting into port this morning and should have been started being distributed this afternoon.
Ireland doesn't use a feedlot system; cows for meat and dairy usually are on grass Spring, Summer, and Fall; only inside during the Winter months. This year has been extended over two months and supplies have simply run out, the same is true for sheep farmers who normally have sheep out most of the year. The lambs are way past old enough to be outside, but the flooded grass has the same issues as it does for cattle in many places.
Some older calves are grazing (we saw some, if housemate hadn't been in a hurry I'd have taken a photo) but they weigh less and some places are drier than others (as you would expect).
It was a very interesting segment to listen to given the situation; the main thing is, while Ireland doesn't really have a "normal" they is way beyond anything usual or expected.
Of course, in the "old" days; before the 18th century, most animals were slaughtered in the Fall (October is Slaughter Month in a number of Scandinavian Languages) because before the relatively modern crop growing systems (and crops like turnips that Wintered Well) there simply wasn't enough food for the majority of them to live through the Winter.
The strongest and most viable stock were kept back and the rest slaughtered and salted down; even the Ancient Greeks did that; most pre-Christian societies had "sacrifice" months that just "happened" to be the right time for this, after the conversion "harvest festivals" with lots of meat eating tended to take their place (with the rest salted, brined or dried for later use).
In crises like we have now, the same thing would be done only it would be scarier because you would be slaughtering animals you expected to have for breeding, but you could only keep the ones you could keep alive, probably partly on food stored for humans.
That is a scary way to start a new growing season...Rain and high winds are just starting outside, looks to be a wild and windy night.
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Eating meat in the Grand Solar Minimum, especially on a daily basis at every meal, might well become an isolated habit reserved for just the wealthy elite.
von Koehler
von Koehler
... or cannibals.
TxGal
Day by day
Excellent video, short but right to the point. I have a hunch that a lot of people see charts and stats and their eyes just glaze over....I wonder if they are actually seeing the info and applying it to their current lives - maybe they can't or don't want to, because the implications truly are ominous. I also have a hunch that a lot of people aren't going to really accept it until they repeatedly see shortages at the grocery store and higher prices.
So far, that I can remember, I've read about crop problems in different parts of the world of onions, potatoes, asparagus, mangos, strawberries, this morning limes (again), and avocados were at a premium this past year; adding corn in the US (many states), and Florida citrus. And often, if the produce is there it's not the quality we are used to. And since our produce comes from different parts of the world, shortages everywhere affect us all ultimately. I'm looking to add more wheat to our food storage, and prices are definitely up from the last time I bought it.
And yes, beef will ultimately be available at a premium over what it is now. Chicken and pork likely also, if for no other reason that the feed they need will suffer crop shortages also.
I truly worry about the heating needs of everyone and the effects on the power grid. We used more heat this past winter than I can remember in the last 10 yrs. We're saving all windfall and trimmings for firewood and kindling.
And I still haven't planted my tomato plants...sigh.
So far, that I can remember, I've read about crop problems in different parts of the world of onions, potatoes, asparagus, mangos, strawberries, this morning limes (again), and avocados were at a premium this past year; adding corn in the US (many states), and Florida citrus. And often, if the produce is there it's not the quality we are used to. And since our produce comes from different parts of the world, shortages everywhere affect us all ultimately. I'm looking to add more wheat to our food storage, and prices are definitely up from the last time I bought it.
And yes, beef will ultimately be available at a premium over what it is now. Chicken and pork likely also, if for no other reason that the feed they need will suffer crop shortages also.
I truly worry about the heating needs of everyone and the effects on the power grid. We used more heat this past winter than I can remember in the last 10 yrs. We're saving all windfall and trimmings for firewood and kindling.
And I still haven't planted my tomato plants...sigh.
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Martinhouse
Deceased
I've tossed all my deadfall and trimmings into piles for ages, since even if they are too small for the woodstove, they would certainly be needed for the rocket stove for cooking and canning when it's too warm out to use the woodstove. Canning with the rocket stove would be a real chore, but might be very necessary.
And the brush piles I've built up from throwing things over the fence might even discourage someone wanting to climb the fence, since a lot of those piles are full of old blackberry canes.
And the brush piles I've built up from throwing things over the fence might even discourage someone wanting to climb the fence, since a lot of those piles are full of old blackberry canes.
TxGal
Day by day
Good planning! We are pretty much set up like you are and not long ago we bought a Camp Chef camping stove, the Tahoe model. It was pricey, but with at least one chest freezer full of home-grown beef, we had to have a way to can the beef in an extended power failure.
I think wheat availability may be yet another sign of problems. Costco used to carry #10 cans of wheat (case of 6) in their Emergency Foods section, but I haven't seen them in a while. Emergency Essentials used to have the #10 cans also, but all I saw today were the superpails. The LDS online pantry store still has the #10 cans, as does Honeyville. They used to be a lot easier to find, and at lower prices.
Not trying to turn this into a prep thread, but I do think that when we begin seeing grain shortages, it's yet another sign of crop issues that are related to weather changes. I think we are there, honestly. A quick search brings up articles of grain crop problems in the Midwest and in other countries.
von Koehler's map in post #44 showing 2/3 of the CONUS in purple and blue is pretty darn frightening for the first week in April. I worry for summer temps and rainfall, and especially worry about going into an early winter.
Martinhouse
Deceased
TxGal, I've gotten two inexpensive camp stoves. I use one for heating food and water when we have power outages. It will take two of the little stoves for canning because the big stock pot and the canner will not both fit on one of the stoves.
I grab another two-pack of the little propane tanks most times I go to Walmart. I use the camp stove in my attached greenhouse, but for long-duration things like canning, I'd either close the door to the house, or better, take the stove outdoors. Not sure how much noxious fumes these stoves produce, but I wouldn't care to have them in either house or greenhouse.
You shouldn't worry about turning this into a prepper thread. Talking about a Grand Solar Minimum inspires super-prepping, long-range prepping, better than anything else I can think of.
By the way, while most people wouldn't care to do without wheat, I can say that since I stopped eating almost anything that contains it, and admittedly most dairy foods as well, my acid reflux problem has about 90% disappeared.
I grab another two-pack of the little propane tanks most times I go to Walmart. I use the camp stove in my attached greenhouse, but for long-duration things like canning, I'd either close the door to the house, or better, take the stove outdoors. Not sure how much noxious fumes these stoves produce, but I wouldn't care to have them in either house or greenhouse.
You shouldn't worry about turning this into a prepper thread. Talking about a Grand Solar Minimum inspires super-prepping, long-range prepping, better than anything else I can think of.
By the way, while most people wouldn't care to do without wheat, I can say that since I stopped eating almost anything that contains it, and admittedly most dairy foods as well, my acid reflux problem has about 90% disappeared.
Martinhouse
Deceased
TxGal, as far as preparing for a GSM garden-wise, I guess I should be posting in the garden forum. So if I think of anything to share, that's where I'll post it.
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
What I have been trying to convey is that the Grand Solar Minimum isn't a conspiracy theory, or crazy internet meme.
It's real.
It will probably outlast most of us, and get worse with each succeeding solar cycle.
It has nothing to do with human politics; it's a natural cycle which has happened many times before.
If you research previous cycles, the cold shift has always been a disaster for mankind. Empires fall, and people starve.
von Koehler
It's real.
It will probably outlast most of us, and get worse with each succeeding solar cycle.
It has nothing to do with human politics; it's a natural cycle which has happened many times before.
If you research previous cycles, the cold shift has always been a disaster for mankind. Empires fall, and people starve.
von Koehler
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
http://climate.rutgers.edu/snowcover/chart_vis.php?ui_year=2017&ui_month=3&ui_set=2
Shows departure from normal snowfall for the USA but site won't let me copy and paste image.
Shows departure from normal snowfall for the USA but site won't let me copy and paste image.
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Spotted across from Al Gore's house..........
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Three rain and flood warnings out for today; here we are just wet but OK - the horse looks like he had a mudbath in the courtyard and I've not gone outside today since I didn't have to.
Rivers expected to jump their banks in some places, Waterford is having flooding issues and I gather the UK is still dealing with the after-effects of the snow and flooding.
We have now burned most of what I had hoped to use to start out next Fall and get us through the occasional "Summer" cold snaps/power outages, we still have some but we've been cold and/or wet a lot longer than expected.
I agree that just even seriously considering a mini Ice Age gets prepping going (or it does for people who think about such things seriously).
Rivers expected to jump their banks in some places, Waterford is having flooding issues and I gather the UK is still dealing with the after-effects of the snow and flooding.
We have now burned most of what I had hoped to use to start out next Fall and get us through the occasional "Summer" cold snaps/power outages, we still have some but we've been cold and/or wet a lot longer than expected.
I agree that just even seriously considering a mini Ice Age gets prepping going (or it does for people who think about such things seriously).
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2018/04/06/large-hail-north-texas/
Large Hail Hits North Texas: ‘Thought I Was In A Horror Movie For A Minute’
Hailstorms coming. Site has videos of storms.
von Koehler
Large Hail Hits North Texas: ‘Thought I Was In A Horror Movie For A Minute’
Hailstorms coming. Site has videos of storms.
von Koehler
TxGal
Day by day
I think we missed the worst of the hail, but the lightning was frightening. Really hate these night storms! Amarillo was down to 24 last I saw. Even our weather guy is saying this is not normal for this time of year.
All Nordic, high latitude, high elevation cultures ate meat as a primary diet source. Because beef and animal products are much easier to grow in marginal conditions than a proper low meat diet. Grass will grow in colder dryer conditions.
Once gain our "modern" ideas getting in the way of reality.
Once gain our "modern" ideas getting in the way of reality.
Our weather person just said, "Longest ski season ever for North eastern Pennsylvania."
We got 3" of snow last night and the current temp is 25F. While not off the charts cold and it does snow on occasion till May. It's been cold and snowy every day for weeks.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Actually the Irish before the English invasions and before the potato ate a lot of dairy products; butter and cheese especially, cattle were MONEY (hence all the lore about The Cattle Raid of This and That) so you only ate the old, the surplus males not needed for Oxen and those picked out during Slaughter Month (usually October aka Shamain in Ireland/Last Harvest) to salt down and use as salted meat during the Winter.
Like most Northern cultures in Europe; there was a lot of meat eaten at certain times of the year; usually in the Fall but most of the rest of the year meat got used as flavoring (usually dried, salted or smoked); this also depended on social status - the Elites ate a lot more meat, but by the early Middle Ages they also had the hunting rights.
The Irish (and most other Northern Europeans) did eat a lot of pork; especially before the take over (after which the family pig became "The Gentlemen who Payes the Rent" and was usually sold and/or one piglet was kept on and made into "bacon" (aka salt pork) which was eaten for the entire year.
Most people kept chickens and a lot of eggs were also eaten, a chicken was probably the meat most often seen by the average person, along with rabbit after the Normans brought them over as a favorite food around 1100.
The built of the diet before the potato came in around 1600 for most people was a combination of oats, barley, occasional wheat (if you could afford it) milk, butter, eggs in the season, all sorts of berries, nettles, seaweed, fish (on the coasts), onions and some beef/pork/lamb on feast days or if an animal either died or needed to be culled (feasts were often at slaughter time).
Huge hordes of butter are still found in bogs, sometimes as much as 2,000 years old; the bog "butter bags" had great powers of preservation and technically the stuff is often still edible though no one does these days, there are reports of people digging up old bog butter in the 18th and 19th centuries and happily eating it.
The Swedes/Norse tended to eat a varied diet but it was also seasonal when it came to meat; coastal people ate a lot of fish (and it was also pickled) pork was probably the most important meat along with hearty breeds of chicken (such as those that became the modern Icelandic breeds), beef was an upper-class food, but again any farmer was likely to eat an old cow or unwanted calf, but again most of it would have been made into sausages and smoked down. Horse meat was also important to the Norse, and they still eat it in Iceland, Germany, and the Nordic countries (too strong for my liking even as sausage).
In all these places the butter, cheese, milk and kiefer type products were much more frequently eaten than beef was; I almost forgot goats which are/were everywhere; but you don't get large scale sheep farming (they exist but not in the great numbers they had later) in most places until later; and again they were wanted alive for their wool, with castrated males producing the best fleeces.
OK enough thread drift, but interesting for us who live in the Northern areas in terms of preparations; IF things collapsed to a traditional lifestyle, having pumpkin, turnip, and other root crops to store when hay is limited could make the difference between getting your milk cow through the Winter and not be doing so.
Worst of the rain storms are over for now; this week is supposed to see some of the first "real" Spring weather (50 degrees) but fields are still way to wet to be useable and the predicted showers may keep the pastures from drying out for another couple of weeks.
This is USUALLY the time of year we get some of our best weather (I have visitors from the US that have come several times and are convinced Ireland is sunny, mild and pleasent all the time lol) we sometimes get days in the 70's with "soft" misty rain and sun (great for crops) we also often get lovely warm weather in the late Fall; when the winds blow "backwards" from Spain, a similar weather pattern that produced all the snow and cold this year when it blows in from Russia.
We have many years when this time of year is the only "Summer" we get, with it returning to a pattern of rain, cloud and gloom pretty much for days on end; the joys of living next to the Atlantic.
So basically, until forced to do different the Irish ate a Diet not unlike I suggested. Milk is a Beef product. No?
P.S. Ireland doesn't have a Nordic Climate. Your history lesson is also filled with warm periods. When cropping was possible in the north.
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TxGal
Day by day
I also remember reading about the historic colder times in the UK...can't recall where at the moment, but livestock became a major source of food when the crops failed. They could always find a place to graze, somewhere, that kept the livestock going. As I recall, the weather then was credited with being the cause of increased animal husbandry.
Stan's point is valid, and I've said it for years... the greenie morons who hate beef and dairy have NO clue about true "sustainability"... as long as animals are pastured. And in our area, pasture makes a lot more sense (hills and valleys, not a lot of flat ground) than plowing up erodible ground year after year.
Our own plans for sustainabilty no matter what the weather does (heck, it's what we live on now!) revolves mostly around dairy, eggs and meat.. beef, pork (pasture raised by our son), chicken.
We've grown wheat and "nude" oats, and found that it was simple enough to grow 500# (myself... if we had more mouths to feed, we'd have more hands to help, and would expand to an acre or so) We're still grinding and using the wheat I grew several years ago... when I get down to the last 100#, I'll plant more.
It would be entirely possible to harvest and store enough hay for 2-3 milk cows and their growing calves (including yearlings to be slaughtered their second fall) even without fuel... although either wood gassification or alcohol fuels aren't an impossibility.
After outwintering cattle a couple of times, including the inadvertent experiment of a Dexter cow going totally feral and living completely on her own during one of the worst winters we've had... 4' of snow on the ground, sub zero temperatures, serious storms including wind- and seeing that 14 year old cow come out in the Spring fat as butter, we know that outwintering, especially given some help like 3 sided sheds and possibly a bit of extra feed, is also practical. That extra feed could certainly include root crops, pumpkins, etc... our cattle relish them when we have extras.
We hit the high teens last night again, with windchills below zero... winds were over 60 mph for part of the late evening, and we have about 2" of snow on the ground.
My last hive of bees, which was perfectly healthy and thriving in mid-February, is dead. DS is going to be building an A-Z hive "house" this year, as it's become obvious that we need to manage bees along the lines of the way they keep them in Russian and northEastern Europe, if we don't want to lose them too often. I need to get the honey from that hive before it starts warming up and predators (mice and ants) move in... the upper super was nearly full yet.
I have two nucleus hives ordered for spring (was hoping to expand, not replace!) and I'm going to put a couple hive "traps" out with swarm lure in it... we normally have plenty of healthy wild bees, although I haven't seen one yet this spring.. granted, the few days the crocuses opened up to bloom were barely 50 degrees and windy as well... if we ever see a 60 degree day without wind and I dont' see any honeybees, I am going to start worrying!
These climate changes are certainly going to be a challenge, but we at least have had a lot more warning than most who are still believing the "global warming" crap...
On a lighter note, with a hat tip to Achilles at Tree of Liberty:
Summerthyme (who needs to get busy, because I've got 4 gallons of cream to churn, and need to make cheese curds and mozzarella cheese... that fresh cow is giving me over 3 gallons of milk a day on top of what her big calf is drinking!)
Our own plans for sustainabilty no matter what the weather does (heck, it's what we live on now!) revolves mostly around dairy, eggs and meat.. beef, pork (pasture raised by our son), chicken.
We've grown wheat and "nude" oats, and found that it was simple enough to grow 500# (myself... if we had more mouths to feed, we'd have more hands to help, and would expand to an acre or so) We're still grinding and using the wheat I grew several years ago... when I get down to the last 100#, I'll plant more.
It would be entirely possible to harvest and store enough hay for 2-3 milk cows and their growing calves (including yearlings to be slaughtered their second fall) even without fuel... although either wood gassification or alcohol fuels aren't an impossibility.
After outwintering cattle a couple of times, including the inadvertent experiment of a Dexter cow going totally feral and living completely on her own during one of the worst winters we've had... 4' of snow on the ground, sub zero temperatures, serious storms including wind- and seeing that 14 year old cow come out in the Spring fat as butter, we know that outwintering, especially given some help like 3 sided sheds and possibly a bit of extra feed, is also practical. That extra feed could certainly include root crops, pumpkins, etc... our cattle relish them when we have extras.
We hit the high teens last night again, with windchills below zero... winds were over 60 mph for part of the late evening, and we have about 2" of snow on the ground.
My last hive of bees, which was perfectly healthy and thriving in mid-February, is dead. DS is going to be building an A-Z hive "house" this year, as it's become obvious that we need to manage bees along the lines of the way they keep them in Russian and northEastern Europe, if we don't want to lose them too often. I need to get the honey from that hive before it starts warming up and predators (mice and ants) move in... the upper super was nearly full yet.
I have two nucleus hives ordered for spring (was hoping to expand, not replace!) and I'm going to put a couple hive "traps" out with swarm lure in it... we normally have plenty of healthy wild bees, although I haven't seen one yet this spring.. granted, the few days the crocuses opened up to bloom were barely 50 degrees and windy as well... if we ever see a 60 degree day without wind and I dont' see any honeybees, I am going to start worrying!
These climate changes are certainly going to be a challenge, but we at least have had a lot more warning than most who are still believing the "global warming" crap...
On a lighter note, with a hat tip to Achilles at Tree of Liberty:
Summerthyme (who needs to get busy, because I've got 4 gallons of cream to churn, and need to make cheese curds and mozzarella cheese... that fresh cow is giving me over 3 gallons of milk a day on top of what her big calf is drinking!)
Attachments
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Have you ever spent a Summer in Sweden? We were technically just passed the Arctic circle and I discovered really quickly WHY some of the Norse graves had evidence for either short or 3/4 length sleeves and/or lightly pleated linen (that could protect from sunburn) and sorry, Ireland is a Northern climate (and the Norse loved it here) we are actually about the same latitude as Nova Scotia; the milder weather we have is from the Ocean Currents and trade winds; when they don't act as expected, we can have "snow ball" Ireland; I posted a photo of that from space in 2010.
Sweden and especially Denmark historically also have had warm periods and usually have hotter Summer than we do; that allowed for the growing of rye, barley, and some cold hardy wheat; and it is why rye bread are popular to this day.
You are correct that butter, milk, and cheese are dairy products so we agree there; only was pointed out that people didn't eat nearly the amounts of meats that modern people think they did, except at certain times of the year.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Melodi,
Can you use this chart in conjunction with your knowledge of history to gauge what we should expect? It would be very insightful.
I've got to go to town now I will try to look at this later and get back to you; best books on this are The Little Ice Age and A Distant Mirror but I'll get links up later.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Before I run, just wanted to say I am in no way suggesting that animals are not a vital part of the diet, especially in cold weather; just that people ate seasonally and there are a lot of crops and forage foods that people used to eat (especially in Ireland and Sweden) that don't get a lot of press.
Goats are some of the best things to have in a marginal climate - they eat anything, give milk and can live almost anywhere; but the problem is they eat everything including your garden; if there are larger families, goat herding becomes easier.
Off to buy milk for ourselves...and some cheese...
Goats are some of the best things to have in a marginal climate - they eat anything, give milk and can live almost anywhere; but the problem is they eat everything including your garden; if there are larger families, goat herding becomes easier.
Off to buy milk for ourselves...and some cheese...
I don't know about the GSM, but that ice & snow out my window is a bit unusual.
Quite unpleasant for my tropical calibrated self.
Quite unpleasant for my tropical calibrated self.
Goats only work where its warm. Has to do with body mass to surface area. Cattle will browse too.
"OK enough thread drift, but interesting for us who live in the Northern areas in terms of preparations; IF things collapsed to a traditional lifestyle, having pumpkin, turnip, and other root crops to store when hay is limited could make the difference between getting your milk cow through the Winter and not be doing so."
Snip from #63 ^^^^^
I never miss the chance to urge people to store huge amounts of turnip seed. Many places on the net have articles about ranchers using them to pasture cattle with good results. Considering the amount of vitamin C and others in them, they could potentially be worth their weight in gold.
Snip from #63 ^^^^^
I never miss the chance to urge people to store huge amounts of turnip seed. Many places on the net have articles about ranchers using them to pasture cattle with good results. Considering the amount of vitamin C and others in them, they could potentially be worth their weight in gold.
Plus they are easy to grow. I can literally just spread them on the pasture and get a pretty good stand. They will out compete grass and most weeds.
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Turnip greens are off the charts, nutritionally speaking.
von Koehler
von Koehler
Turnip seeds, $4.00ish per lb, 210,000 seeds per lb.
I love me some turnips & pork chops.
1lb of seeds would mean a lot of pig hunting.
I love me some turnips & pork chops.
1lb of seeds would mean a lot of pig hunting.
One more point (butter is sitting in brine, I need to get back to it)... Melodi's description of the wet, cool summers is very concerning. The old saw, "a dry year will scare you to death, but a wet year will starve you to death" is all too true! Blights, diseases, plants literally drowning... getting a harvest is damned difficult. And if your harvest plans include hay, good luck! BTDT, and it SUCKS! We've had years where we've chopped tens of thousands of dollars worth of dry hay back onto fields too many years. In fact, we stopped growing corn for silage years ago in part because, despite having decent soil and weather for growing it, harvesting almost ALWAYS seems to hit a very wet stretch in October, and too many years we left a bunch standing in the field.
For kitchen garden crops, you can use hoop houses to help protect them from the heaviest rains, and raised beds are a great help to keep the roots from drowning, but that's pretty limited in scope (and plastic covers only last so long... less than I'd like, given the cost)
One thing we do have going for us compared to the folks from the late 1800's and earlier is our ability to freeze and can meat to preserve it. If freezing suddenly no longer is possible due to electricity issues, canning is still there. And of course, as Melodi mentioned, there is salting and smoking (but I suspect both contributed at least somewhat to the shorter lifespans in the "good old days"!)
Summerthyme
For kitchen garden crops, you can use hoop houses to help protect them from the heaviest rains, and raised beds are a great help to keep the roots from drowning, but that's pretty limited in scope (and plastic covers only last so long... less than I'd like, given the cost)
One thing we do have going for us compared to the folks from the late 1800's and earlier is our ability to freeze and can meat to preserve it. If freezing suddenly no longer is possible due to electricity issues, canning is still there. And of course, as Melodi mentioned, there is salting and smoking (but I suspect both contributed at least somewhat to the shorter lifespans in the "good old days"!)
Summerthyme
Warm? Relative to what? People raise goats in IA. They are fine in the cold, they just need wind proof shelters. I use boxes for them in a covered barn. No supplemental heat needed.
von Koehler
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Melodi,
Can you use this chart in conjunction with your knowledge of history to gauge what we should expect? It would be very insightful.
First off, the chart has the most recent time period to the left margin. Second, it covers 12,000 years so the scale compresses events at least from the perspective of a human lifetime. The entire 800 year history of the Roman Empire looks like just a bleep.
Third, it doesn't show the recent Solar Maximum which, unfortunately, mankind has just passed through.
What is interesting is that it shows last Ice Age, when humanity almost went extinct. Some anthropologists think that there were only about 10,000 humans alive then; a genetic bottleneck.
von Koehler
You have a better chart?
The date chart is listed backwards IMHO as well. But it doesn't matter.