Organic Top 10 Foods to Grow for Survival

[China Connection]

Top 10 Foods to Grow for Survival
Karen Hendry
By Karen Hendry June 22, 2016 09:44

Top 10 Foods to Grow for Survival

Photo on link: http://www.askaprepper.com/top-10-foods-grow-survival/

When the collapse happens and you are in survival mode, you need to consider your long-term food needs. Whatever food you have stored away will eventually run out and then you will have nothing in your pantry. For this reason, you need to use the time you are eating through your food stores to grow your own food, food that will be ready when your stores are gone.

Perhaps the most important thing to understand when it comes to growing food for survival is that some foods are better than others when it comes to ease of growth, nutritional content, caloric content, and ease of storage. For this reason, you need to have good knowledge of the best foods to grow for survival, particularly if you have limited space or are trying to decide which types of seeds to stockpile.
How Native Cultures Did It

Native cultures around the world discovered thousands of years ago that farming was an essential part of survival. Hunting and foraging could only take us so far and being able to plant crops gave us a more stable food source. In North America, many tribes subsisted much of the year on what they called the three sisters, which were corn, squash, and beans. South America also relied on corn and beans, as well as potatoes. For thousands of years in China people have been growing enough food on a couple of acres of land that they can feed their families and still have enough with which to barter for other goods. These ancient cultures are good examples of how to farm for survival.
The Hardy Foods

First, when it comes to growing your own food, nothing is off limits. You can grow anything you want to include in your diet and the summer months will allow you to have a great abundance of food. Things like tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, and broccoli are all wonderful foods to grow, rich in vitamins and minerals. However, these are not the hardy foods that will get you through the winter, particularly when your available methods of preservation are limited. Ideally, you want foods that, once harvested, can be stored as is or dried and stored for use over the winter months. For this reason, the following are the recommended staples to plant and grow for year-round sustenance, starting with the three sisters.
Beans

beans beans are one of the best staples for so many reasons. First, they are very high in protein, vitamins, and minerals and they are also very high in calories, providing lots of the energy required for survival. However, beans are also very versatile. They can be eaten fresh off the plant or dried on the vine, harvested, and stored. Beans have an incredibly long shelf life when dried. They can be prepared in a wide variety of ways, such as in soups, cooked and eaten with breads, or just eaten on their own. Their versatility as a food is nearly endless. Finally, beans give nitrogen back to the soil, something other crops need. This makes them a great rotation crop.
Corn

corn-survival foodThe first thing you need to know about growing corn for survival is you won’t be growing the sweet corn you are familiar with. Instead, Native Americans grew grain corn, which was traditionally grown and dried on the stalk so it could be harvested and stored. Corn is very easy to grow. It can be ground and made into a variety or breads and used as a thickener for soup. Corn can be combined with beans for a complete protein.

Winter Squash

Squashes-survival-foodWinter squash is very hardy and easy to store during the winter months. There are a lot of varieties, such as acorn, butternut, spaghetti, and Hubbard. Pumpkins also fall into this category. Store them for up to 6 months in a cool, dark place and you will be enjoying this nutritious staple along with your corn and beans.

Related:22 Ingenious Hacks to Make Food Last Longer
Potatoes

potatoes-survival foodThe humble potato might be associated with Ireland in the minds of many people (think the Great Irish Famine), but it is actually native to South America and wasn’t known anywhere else in the world until after Columbus sailed. Potatoes are so easy to grow in a range of climates and soil types and their use has spread all over the world. They will also sustain you for an extended period of time when you when you have no other food available.

Carrots

Carrots survival food Carrots are also a very important root vegetable that will store well over the winter months and provide important nutrition and variety in your diet. As long as you have sandy, well-draining soil, you can grow carrots. If you aren’t in an area that experiences hard winters, you can cover your carrots with a thick layer of mulch to protect them and just leave them in the ground. If you do have to harvest them, then you can store them in a refrigerator or root cellar.

Cabbage

cabbage-survival foodCabbage is a staple around the world and for good reason. It is easy to grow, easy to store, and high in nutrition, even when cooked. Cook it with other staples, such as potatoes, for delicious meals, make it into soup, or ferment it to make Sauerkraut. When fermented, cabbage will last even longer and provide a wealth of nutritional benefits for the body and the digestive tract.

Kale

Kale is part of the same plant family as cabbage, and while it isn’t normally thought of as a survival staple, it is a great crop to grow. Kale is so packed full of nutrition, it will help keep your family from nutritional deficiencies that can weaken them and make them more prone to illness. It can be grown easily and it is cold-hardy, which means that you can grow it well into late fall or early winter. If you have a cold frame, you can grow it through the winter. Kale can be added to any foods you are cooking, including soups and stews and potato dishes. It can also be dried into kale chips, something that has become a popular health food, but will store well and keep you eating healthy greens throughout the year.

Sweet Potatoes

sweet-potato-nutritional-fact-versus-regular-potatoSweet potatoes are a fabulous addition to your staple foods. They are similar to potatoes, but healthier because they contain more nutrients and their greens are edible. One plant can give you both tubers and greens. Sweet potatoes are also easy to grow. Even though they are a tropical and subtropical plant, they can be grown in the north. They are a vine than have runner roots that swell into the delicious tubers.

Sweet potatoes can be stored at room temperature for a long period of time. They will keep a month or two at the least, but if they are cured, they will keep for many months. Curing them means simply keeping them at between 85 and 90 degrees for the first five days after harvest, during which time they will essentially grow a second skin.

Related: 7 Primitive Cooking Methods You Still Need to Know Today

Garlic

Garlic-survival foodGarlic is a fabulous addition to any survival garden. It is delicious and will add flavor to anything you cook, but it is so much more than that. Aside from being a highly nutritious food, it can be used as a medicinal plant. Garlic is a powerful antibiotic and antiviral. It also helps boost the immune system, is a powerful antioxidant, and reduces high blood pressure and cholesterol. Garlic is easy to grow, and when harvested, it can be stored and used over the winter months while you wait for a new crop to grow.

Herbs

herbs-survival foodHerbs are incredibly versatile and very easy to store. Anything you can think of, such as rosemary, thyme, basil, bay leaves, parsley, and oregano, can be grown during the summer months, harvested, and dried for use over the winter months. Simply cut the plants, wash them, hang them upside down until they dry, and then store them in glass jars in a cool, dry place. Plus, many of the herbs you use every day are perennials, which means that once you plant them, they will come back every year, giving you an ongoing annual supply of herbs. Herbs will also give you the nutrition you need from greens and will provide your food with added flavor, something that will save you from the blandness of a survival diet.
Start Now

The list above includes the best survival foods to grow, but you shouldn’t wait until the collapse to get started. The key is to practice now, before growing this food is a matter of survival. Make mistakes now (while you can still go to the grocery store and buy food).

Even if you choose to begin with only one or two of the foods listed above, get started and learn how to grow food that will keep you and your family alive and healthy no matter how tough times get…

…because tough times never last, but tough people do!


http://www.askaprepper.com/top-10-foods-grow-survival/

 

[Cardinal]

Mind reader. I was gonna start a survival gardening thread.

 

[China Connection]

Yeah, Cardinal I thought it would be of interest. I am setting up big for beans and it would seem the old forms of corn so I have a complete protein to eat.




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31 Comments From the above post.

Shamaryah
Shamaryah
June 22, 19:09

Great wright up. Everyone should make copy of same and then build up their survival storage food with these foods. they cover all of the main meals you will need to stay healthy. Most are easy to grow, but carrots will take the longest time to grow if you want them long.
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Cummins45306
Cummins45306
June 23, 13:59

I agree these are great food to be growing, BUT growing them isn’t the only part needed to know. Collecting seed is ever bit as important as knowing how to plant, harvest, store, and eat. Carrots and cabbage, most people aren’t familiar at all in how to allow them to produce seed. And corn needs to be an open pollinated variety. While listing what we need is a great help, there is more to being prepared
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Ginny
Ginny
June 24, 14:16

Amen to all of the above! God be with you all!

Ginny
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Richo
Richo
July 11, 17:21

This article is a good start, but there are more additions I would make. I have gardened in Montana for over 60 years and am a big fan of food storage.
Carrots: They are a good start but I would also add other root crops, they are the heart of long term garden food storage. I grow beets, turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, and edible rooted parsley, all storable for a long time in a refrigerator. Beets keep the best. I have purchased a second used refrigerator, removed all the shelves, and fill it with buckets and garbage bags of produce. If you have a heated garage you can set the thermostat low and have it function as a giant walk-in refrigerator.
Along with the garlic I would highly recommend growing lots of onions. I raise 3-400 pounds a year. If properly cured they last longer than garlic, I consume mine year around. The key is to never cut the tops or roots off, let the stems dry up naturally, then stuff them into open mesh bags and hang up. Do not plant the onion “sets” you see in stores, they do not keep. What you want are onion transplants that come in rubber banded bunches of about 50 and look like miniature green onions. Start them early and top dress occasionally, they are heavy feeders, and like extra sulfur.
Along with cabbage I like brussels sprouts. When winter approaches I dig them up after breaking the outer leaves off, and transplant them into 2 gallon pots. They can be kept in a place that does not freeze hard and will keep on the stalk most of the winter.
Along with the dry beans try dried peas and chickpeas as staples.
In general I never plant in rows, but always in beds that one can reach into from both sides. A path down every row wastes way too much space. The key to growing good root crops is in the thinning. Each plant should have its own spacing both ways in the bed, carrots 2 inches, beets 4, and so on.
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Gail
Gail
January 2, 09:21

Yes Rico, please write a book. I’m also a novice, but very serious about learning.
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Grego
Grego
April 3, 10:55

“in a refrigerator” LOL not sure if you grasp what survival means. Ha ha thanks for making me laugh.
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jules
jules
April 16, 17:11

I’m thinking they meant using a non working fridge as an above ground cellar. In Montana would be useful to keep things from freezing. Plus extra warehousing when harvest time is here, until you can get it all put away properly. I have two extras in my house. Put a frozen bottle of water inside, works way better than an ice chest. Air tight. Thanks for the laugh.
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Bear
Bear
September 26, 18:27

Grego: a refrigerator can be a root cellar. That is why root cellars existed and were named “root cellars’

Also, unless you are practicing living a refrigeration-free existence right now, finding ways of keeping a refrigerator and freezer running after SHTF is a very, very good idea. Solar and wind power are great. Invest in good inverters. Learn to dry things. But if you have a way to refrigerate…do.
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red
red
September 27, 04:01

Beds are more natural and produce much more than rows. Note, Native Americans always used beds. A perennial onion bed is the best way to store onions for survival situations. Just let the good ones go to seed, and scatter the seed where you want it. let the parent onion remain and it should come back dividing into several more onions. Old-timers used to plant garlic the same, allowing the best to go to ‘seed’. Bulbs that didn’t divide are called rounds, and can be stored in the ground, or replanted. We always got two crops of peas from the same bed, allowing spring peas to self-sow to come up in summer, and those gave a nice crop of peas even in Arizona heat. Root crops and all cole crops will self-sow if replanted in the spring, or allowed to winter-over. You’d need a heavy cover for them. We need to refrigerate some (to vernalize). We also mix things up to confuse the bugs. Carrots can go anywhere, growing between things like beets and beans and cabbage. Radishes will go everywhere to help kill nematodes. As cowpeas die back, other things will take their place. As sorghum is harvested, it makes more room for sweet potatoes and squash and so on. Over all, every bit of mulch I can get and we can plant and harvest year-round.
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Goldmerry
Goldmerry
July 23, 21:23

Richo – I would like for you to write a how-to book. Your info was great, but as a novice in the planning stages, I don’t always understand exactly what you mean. And when you write it, take pictures. It would be a good article for this site or other prepper or homesteading site.
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CSB
CSB
October 26, 22:04

All are excellent suggestions, but what about onions?
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lucy
lucy
October 27, 02:36

Great comment, Richo! I would also add that tomatoes and peppers can be dried, and wake up soups and stews.

One year I grew 26 kinds of tomatoes, to finally know which ones grew best, and were most flavorful. The one we found just “okay” was Valencia, an orange tomato. BUT — When I picked all the good-sized green tomatoes off the vine to bring inside to ripen before the first frost, the Valencias lasted forever! We ate the last FIVE fresh at EASTER!!! Why they lasted so long is a mystery. They may not have been the best in the summer, but they were really tasty throughout the winter, way better than anything from the store!

Note: Corn is easy to grow, but you had better have a tall fence with a chicken wire “lid” to keep the raccoons from taking one bite out of each ear before they are ready.

Also, acorn squash are not nearly as good keepers as butternuts, spaghetti squash, even Delicatas. Don’t keep winter squash cooler than 55 – 60 degrees, and wash them off in a 10 to 1 water to bleach solution. I store mine on the cellar stairs. There is one butternut left from last year’s harvest. The one we just ate was perfect! I don’t know if it made any difference, why they stored so well, but they were all organic.

One more thing: In zone 5, at least, you can keep root crops in the ground, with a bale of straw on top to keep the ground from freezing too hard — BUT — I now plant them inside at least a buried foot of fine mesh hardware cloth to keep the mice and voles (and who knows what all) from eating my tender carrots, beets, parsnips, etc. The tops looked really good, though, in spite of the fact that the beasties had eaten all but the top inch or two of my veggies.
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Farmer Phyl
Farmer Phyl
July 30, 03:35

Good article. We are so used to eating veggies for weight loss or weight control. In times of hardship or crisis we may need the opposite…to grow as many calories as possible! Leeks and parsnips have 3 times more calories than onions and carrots. Kale is one of the very few high calorie leafy green veggies. Garlic has almost as many calories per pound as many cuts of meat. When slow roasted garlic is a very mild, high calorie vegetable (not just a seasoning)…check online for a recipe for 40 cloves and a chicken. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and squash are all high calories, at least for veggies. Oregon Sweet Meats Squash is a variety that will store over a year but there are others too. Zucchini is usually very over abundant but low in calories. Dry it and use it as a pasta replacement, Costata Romanesca is very good even at 6-7 pounds and particularly good when dried! All dried food is much higher in calories. You need large amounts of land to grow enough dried beans or dried corn for flour or meal so that it isn’t an option for most backyard gardeners. Those are staples better off purchasing at Costco or Sams Club. Lastly, saving seed is a skill that takes 3-5 years for most gardeners to become good at.
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Mark
Mark
March 29, 19:45

We have been aiming for self sufficiency for six years, and I think we might get close this year. It’s hard work, and not all the crops produce. Fruit trees just starting to produce well, after being planted on poor soil. Softfruit going well.
Not only food but 95% off grid, pump our own water, and wood fired cooking and hot water.
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red
red
December 26, 18:50

Good article, but: Ah, gotcha! If you want to grow sweet corn, grow it. Pick in the milk stage, blanch, and dry for a very sweet cornmeal. When it comes to greens, try to grow local, like lamb’s quarters. Greens and seeds are used (it’s a weedy amaranth and easy to hide). The best sweet potatoes I ever grew were in hanging planters, 5 gallons!, because they love it hot. Right in the sun, hanging from the porch ceiling, trees, and so on. All the Hispanic neighbors were impressed and the next year, they were doing the same, as well as with vigna (cowpeas), which don’t do well where cabbage and white potatoes do. To store the sweet potatoes, leave them in the planters and hang them in a cool (not cold) dry place to dry out. Greens are eatable, but make a better animal feed. Garlic can be grown as a weedy, hidden plant, but all animals and poultry will eat it down, killing it. It needs some calcium, but dies in alkali areas. Manure in excess is alkali, but in winter, when dormant, manure should be spread over it. chives can be grown and will spread. Garlic, onions, and chives are alums, and will kill legumes. keep them apart.
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Jerry
Jerry
December 30, 00:45

One variety of Kale is tree kale, also called tree collards. It is an evergreen permanent variety that grows like a tree. You can snip off leaves to eat in any season and cut off and plant the branches, put them in the ground and they will grow. Hardy in zone 7 and maybe colder. Wilted leaves make great fodder for chickens, goats, pigs. Takes very little work to grow tree kale.
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red
red
December 30, 08:39

yeah, they sell them on Amazon. I send for the seeds, but they also have plants. Only thing, they need a year to reproduce (set seed) as I understand it, and also need both mild winters and mild summers. They’d probably do well on the coasts, but I’m for Arizona �� Baker’s heirloom seeds has Blue bonnet rice, a red rice. it’ll grow in mud, but needs up to 3 months with nighttime temps over 70 F. It’s supposed to take all sorts of flooding, as well, where Asian rice needs strict control on water levels and more fertility. Buy seed now for what you want. Get stuff that can be grown in hidden, wild gardens. No rows, but patches scattered around. I’m getting teosinte from Native Seeds (Tucson). It looks like grass. Also got RojoAjo, a garlic that thrives in hot, dry areas. I still need to get onions (Brown, an old Aussie variety for dry lands).
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Katie
Katie
February 5, 01:32

What about black oil sunflowers? Making food will be a lot easier if you have cooking oil, and black oil sunflowers produce a lot of it, take up very little room, and are very easy to grow.
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Carrotlover
Carrotlover
February 12, 19:04

If you do not have “sandy, well drained” soil, Chantenay carrots do very well in heavy clay. They tend to be short and fat, so they come up without a major struggle.
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Clergylady
Clergylady
March 12, 16:05

Good article and I love the comments. I’ve been a gardener since childhood. I also dry, can, ferment, et to preserve foods. I grow native wild plants for food and medicines and a type of white corn developed by natives here and a type of gray hubbard squash. Both store well and can be prepared many different ways. I saved seeds this last fall from the biggest healthy lambsquarter plant I’ve ever seen. Ive eaten some as sprouts but the rest of the seed will be scattered in my wild patch and fertialized with rabbit droppings. I’d let that one grow after an area was harvested and wasn’t being replanted because of my busy life. The spot was where extra rabbit droppings had bern dumped expecting to use it this next spring. That one lambsquarter plant looked more like a tree by the time we were getting the first frosts and it was heavy with seed. I have a pint of seed from one plant! We had many meals of cooked and salad greens from it also. I still have 6 more gray hubbard squash and its March and they look as fresh as when they were harvested. Its snowing but in another week or so rabbit cages will be getting cleaned and I’ll scatter the lambsquarter seeds for this spring. I usually just give wild ones a squart of water when I water flower beds and the garden. They grow in an “unused” area aroung the faucet. My native white corn makes an ok roasting corn. Its not bad boiled with a few stevia leaves to sweeten it, and its great as ground meal. Some roasted , then dried on the ears… is good rubbed off the cob and added to soup. Learned that from natives where I live.
I save seed from many different wild plants. They grow without care or extra water most years. Here on the high mountan desert that is important. They will live and make seed in evrn the driest years but if given just a little extra water and “cold” fertilized with rabbit droppings or a manure tea you’d be shocked at how well green things grow with very little care. And few will realise they are part of you’re “garden”.
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Lidge
Lidge
April 16, 15:15

SEED RETRIEVAL AND STORAGE. is a very important topic. We need more on this. Very good point. How to keep bugs out of stored seeds. If you can’t keep seeds, you won’t make it. Generally, this is a forgotten art. I don’t know that much either, and I have been farming all my life. My mother seems to know all about it, but she’s pushing seventy. We were poor. Plowed with a horse through the seventies. When the horse died, bought a tiller. Lived 25 miles out of town, down in Lousyana. Nowadays that ain’t far, but in a 1956 Ford 3/4 ton flat bed, it was a stretch.
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Jerry
Jerry
April 16, 15:57

Regarding seed storage and how to keep bugs out of your seeds, diatomaceous earth is very useful. It is a dry powder and you can add it to your seeds, grains or beans. It is harmless to people but it is microscopically very sharp and it cuts the feet of insects so they can’t stand to be around it. You can also spray it into your attic crawl space to wipe out insects there. Easy to store and not very expensive, at least right now.
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Kacy
Kacy
August 16, 17:49

I already have the 1st Book of the Lost Ways but still need to get the 2nd edition ..
I now see that You offer this Book ” The Lost Book of Remedies ” I will be getting as soon as money is available.

I’d like to be informed of new books coming out before they ever are available to ‘ Clickbank ‘ so I can Promote them online, I believe in them, they are Awesome, my mother had a few of these remedies, she also canned and made food to eat from herbs and plants but she never kept a book on what she knew, its unfortunate ..
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Clergylady
Clergylady
September 27, 15:22

Saving seed is an art. You can actually learn almost anything online. Search for information and learn, practice, perfect it for yourself.
There are groups preserving heirloom seeds that are for sale. Again look for them. Seed Savers is good as are others.
Wild foods are often worth cultivating in patches. Some wild things are seasonal and some grow well all year. Here we have 4 definite seasons. Family laughs if I mention saving seed from the biggest and best lambsquarter or amaranth plants. I happen to enjoy fresh greens and sprouted seeds. Those are harty and will grow with little or no care. Both plants produce lots of seed. I watch the amaranth for the heaviest seed production because the seed is so good. It can be cooked in place of other cereals. Things that become popular like quinoa were once wild, then cultivated by native cultures, then “discovered” by others.
The lambsquarter seeds I save are for sprouts in winter. Then in summer I scatter them for a fall crop of greens and to save seed from again. They are the weeds around the water faucet in my yard. They fill a 3×6 bed that nothing else seems to grow well in. There, by the time they go to seed they are taller than I am.
I “cultivate” purselane growing around paths or mixed in other beds. It is a wonderful addition to salads or a good cooked vegetable. No special care required but in my desert area if they get a bit of water they grow larger and even make a pretty container plant. They self seed anywhere they are allowed to live out a life cycle. Most of the things we are killing as weeds are a food or medicine somewhere in the world.
Online look up plants you aren’t sure about. Even puncture weed, the bane of bicycle tires and bare feet, is a medicinal in India.
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red
red
September 29, 03:30

Good for our side! There are no weds, only misplaced plants. I need chia seed, but can only find Tarahumara, which is very tiny. Garden report: The Apache ‘Sugar Cane’ is setting seed, and driving roots deep into the soil to make more carbon material. Next year, year 2 for the garden, it should hold that much more water. Purslane is great. It came up with the monsoons, and spread all over, but there’s also euphorbia mixed in. Had a little war going to eradicate the euphorbia, and most is now mulch. Yori Cahui cowpeas are doing all right, but nothing to brag on, but the beans get 15 inches long. Cowpeas produce extra-foliar nectar, they attract predatory insects. The yard is full of lady bugs and so on. Chilis are so-so, but that is my fault, planting them too close. But, wow, are they sweet, once the fire dies �� I had Red Merlot amaranth, but also Apache Red. The Merlot needs more water than the Apache, and grasshoppers are wrecking it. The sandias (mouse melons/Mexican gherkins) are in full bloom, but no gherkins yet. I do not know why, but the beds are scattered where they can climb, so it’s not just one patch. The chayote kicked the bucket, but I have two more that will go in the house till summer, late March or april. The wivian tobacco (native wild, for medicinal use, hence, wivian/midwife) is coming up. I found 3 patches of it down in the arroyo, Big Wash. Also found river cane, and took all I could of the dead stalk. Some are 12 feet tall, but too flimsy for a lot of things. Yucca seed stalks, tho, are tough and very useful. The tuna cactus (prickly pear) is only now beginning to ripen, but a got a gallon of juice in the freezer. Someone gave me a barrel cactus (all cut up), and that had to be cooked to use for jam and so on. Got palm fronds for mulch from them, and date stalks with dates ripe on them! And they thanked me for taking all this so they didn’t have to run to the dump. Biet Alpha cucumbers thrived in our gentle 112 degree heat where all others fried. All puncture weed is now mulch. Ditto tumbleweed and much of the wild amaranth with it’s thorns (that’s Arizona. As an old-time told me decades ago, if it ain’t got thorns, horns, or fangs, it’s poison!). The leaves were tasty, tho �� Tatume squash is doing OK, nothing to brag on, but then, it was planted in sand and caliche. Next year, then I’ll see if it keeps its bragging rights on being the guain to vines. Kajari melons are OK, not all that great eating (red and green honeydew). Parker and Flamenco tomatoes thriving, but 1 Heatmaster kicked the bucket, and the Beefsteak now, after months, has 1 tomato on it. Next year, Punta Banda, which is reputed to produce tomatoes even in heat and drought. The honey mesquite is ripening, 3rd crop, and I have several pounds now to grind for flour. Collards are doing well. We’ll see about the kohlrabi, carrots, and turnips, and I still have to plant the winter radishes. They can go in where the cucumbers are now. The soil is rich from the grass and weed mulch. BTW, our purslane gets small red flowers. ��
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Clergylady
Clergylady
September 29, 07:02

Red, for hot desert sounds like a pretty good garden. My high mountain desert only tops 100 now and then. But -10 is a pretty normal winter and -20 not too unusual. I’m at a bit over 6200 ft elevation. Seasons too short for most tomatoes to do much unless you have a greenhouse. I had both a regular greenhouse and a pit growing area at my last home. Both did well but even at a record breaking -46 one winter nothing died in the 6 ft deep pit.
A broken ankle and ribs in the winter and wrist injury in May and galblader surgery this summer and now Surgery on the wrist and forearm a couple of weeks ago have equaled not getting as much done as I needed to and a pretty neglected garden. Transplanted asparagus and rhubarb from the old garden to the new one. That has done well as have green herbs. I have 8 tomatoes to pick and just tiny yellow tomatoes still producing.
Hope to get water connections finished in the next few days. Gas line and risers to my propane tank should be done next week. Trim on the wood floor I’m aiming to finish next weekend. I’m not supposed to use the hand too much with a 5 lb limit for the.next two months. Working on some painting but going to wait another week to try nailing. Off grid solar is great! Also have solar motion sensor lights scattered around the property.
I’ve scattered prickly pear cactus along the sideload fenceline. Two different varieties. A smaller one the makes small fruit and lots of long tough stickers and a larger variety that makes larger fruit and tons of short stickers. I eat both pads and fruit and make wine, jelly, and syrup from the fruit juice. I also figure someone coming in that way has to be pretty determined.
I did get some jalapenos but the plants are about dead and I may get enough Swiss chard and kale for one last meal before they are gone. Beans bloomed like crazy but few pollinators and just a few pods set this year. Garlic and red onions did ok. Morning glories along a fence have done the best of anything this year. There must be nearly a hundred blooms every morning.
Broody hens have added 35 chicks to the flock this year. I’ll soon cull young Roosters and three older hens for the table. I promised my husband a Christmas duck this year. I have a large Japanese drake I have my eye on.
With the injuries I haven’t done much butchering this year. I have 15 rabbits I need to get down to less than half of that number.
The wild amaranth is full of heavy heads of seed. The lambsquarter are setting seed. I’ll soon harvest both.
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red
red
September 30, 05:01

I look at my garden and say Thank You, Father. If the doc ever saw half of what I do just to make a garden, she’d have me in the VA in a straight-jacket drooling on my chin. When things swell up or start to turn black with trapped blood, it’s time to stop for a while. Mind that ankle or it’ll remind you. Today, I got in a while 90+ minutes work before I had to quit for a while. So I make freezer pickles and cleaned the bathroom, then scraped burned something from under the burners on the stove. Bubba has not had a nice squirrel hunt for some time and is getting grumpy. Like, two days in a row I had to clean the living room floor. That water went on some wild flowers. And Bubba got sprayed down with the squirt bottle, which he hates. He’s swim the Mississippi if he thought he could catch a yummy mouse of rabbit on the other side but let one drop of water touch him…

Have you checked Native Seed Search, in Tucson? A lot of their seeds are from the high desert, a mile or more in elevation. They’re a little pricey (I’m cheap, but not easy, just ask the kids , but everything is open pollinated, so I save the seeds from the best plants.

Where I lived in Pennsylvania (AKA the Swamps of) for years -20 was common, and many people liked it (no asthma attacks and so on). The last frost was 1 June, and the first might come in early September. Where you are frost can come any time after the 4th of July (worked on a ranch in Colorado at that elevation). Russia and Canada have developed frost resistant tomatoes and corn. The chilis I planted would do much better where you are than here, Chimoyo and Sandia. They started to bloom when only 4” high. A mulch is always a must to cool the earth. How long is your growing season, and what’s the average high in summer? Kale is a fall crop, like most or it’s family. Russian kale should survive, laugh at, -20 degrees. Collards are a summer cabbage. When the collards bloom this spring, the buds are eaten like broccoli.

Rhubarb? I think I’m jealous. Here, it’s an annual. I am looking for a variety of asparagus that can handle the heat and drought. A Granny Smith apple would be good.

 

[China Connection]

I stopped to ask a neighbor if I could have his grass clippings (dead Bermuda grass, actually �� He’s a gardener, and his wife has things from Mexico that do well here even in the heat. I now have a rue plant and chilitepines she grew. We called the pea-sized chilis bird peppers, because they’re wild/native, and all animals go wild for them, especially birds. The heat index is about like a habanero. The standing joke is that God invented them to torment sinful Yankees �� She also gave me three pads from a type of prickly pear developed in Mexico for the pads and fruit. Jumbo fruit and the pads are over half an inch thick, with no thorns. I didn’t encounter any glochids (the hair-like thorns) either. And, a pound of nopalitos she froze.

What breeds of chickens and rabbits do you have? I’d like some, but Bubba would wipe them out. He’s the best at getting rid of rodents in the yard and scaring off people sneaking around the place after dark. BTW, the best ducks I ever saw were Muscovy. Hens would sit a dozen or more eggs, and when they hatched, we stole them, putting the ducklings in a brooder house. The hens went right back laying eggs, then brooding them. Heat, snow, sub-zero temps, hot sun, nothing seemed to bother them. And, they taste great without a lot of fat. Muskies are now the most popular duck in the world. But, if you get them, they like to roost at night. And they have very sharp claws, but are smart enough to know what side their treats are buttered on. They’re the little black duck we used to see in story books and cartoons, they were that common.

Yeah, I left a lot of wild amaranth go to seed. It’s ripening now, and I need to harvest it before the ants do. No lambsquarters. In this dryness, they only accumulate nitrogen, anyway. The neighbor ladies have morning glories and the seeds sprout regularly in the roses on my side of the fence. They went to the mountains for the summer and if I could, I’d have a pig root out every one of their vines. The roots, to pigs at least, are sweet and they’ll root as far as they have to to get every one. A cousin in Penna had bindweed that was herbicide resistant. He couldn’t get rid of it and asked me, and I said, what would your pappy do? He’d put pigs in the field for a summer. Next year, deep, deep holes all over, but no bindweed. Yeah, they’re nice, but grapes have nice blooms, too, and tasty fruit.

Look up Seed Search and see what they can do to help. We’re at about 3,700 feet, mid-desert, so I can usually raise both high and low desert stuff. The new garden trench is 30” deep, 3’ wide, and God knows how long. If the doc saw what I do for a garden… ��
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Clergylady
Clergylady
September 30, 07:11

I’ll have to look up seed search that you mentioned. Might be the cone I gave seeds to 30 years ago. I have bought a lot of samples from seed search but its been 20 years or so. Lost some things I’d like to try again.
Lol if the docs only knew. .. I’d never hear the end of it.
Seasons from frost end to frost beginning. Varies from 4 to 6 months. Cool nights so tomatoes and corn are iffy crops except the locally developed dent corn the Pueblo tribes of NM raise. My uncle that lived in Brownsville Texas gave me wild chilitepines and a tiny wild tomato he’d collected and had growing in his yard. Over the years I’ve lost my seed. Used to always have some growing inside or outside depending on the time of year. Currently I have tiny Thai chili’s in a pot.
The kale and some other things are about to expire from neglect. Last surgery on The wrist and forearm was 10 days ago. Just taking care of the critters and necessary things toward moving has taken more energy than I have right now.
Rabbits are NZ / Cal cross. Quickly grown, nice size and easy care. Chickens are mixes that include Aracana, Americana, RI Red, Astralarp, most gifts and now even more thoroughly blended. Ducks are a mallard drake, mallard mix hens, and a big drake I was told he is Japanese. I enjoy all the critters.
Neighbor was to hook up the water last week. Things happen so rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Monday gas company guys will come to give the estimate for risers, pipe et. to connect to my propane tank. Should be done next week. Then we can finish moving in.
Today was our village area clean up. Hubs and I loaded a pickup load of trash and dropped it off at the dumpsters. Free trash days are nice.
Carried a few arm loads of kitchen stuff to put in cabinets. Planned a new top for an old cabinet a friend gave us yesterday. It will be our tv stand. Monday it will be back to work. The kitchen cabinets are ready to have the freshly painted doors rehung. The bathroom cabinets are ready to paint to go along with the freshly painted room. Also going to paint a dresser to match the room.
Usually at this time of year I’d be moving plants from garden to the pit greenhouse. Now I’m needing to get one dug but not up to doing too much so it can wait. Glad I had bumper crops the last two years and I was able to get a big part of it canned. It will carry us this year then I need to get greenhouses and raised beds going so we can replenish what we’re eating.
I need to work on the tractor but without the ability to use the hand it will have to wait or take it to a shop. I’m not inclined to do either. I’m itching to tear into it.
Right now my focus is getting the home finished inside, skirted , and moved into before it’s getting too cold. Where we are living right now we have no hot water, just a small area heatable, and drafty rooms. It was one miserable place last winter. The newer home is well insulated has built in storm windows, and I can move my rocket stove with pellet hopper to the livingroom. No holes in the floor and hot showers will be pleasures.
I’ll keep a mix of herbs, chili’s, tiny yellow tomatoes and flowers in the ample kitchen windows. Maybe move in some swiss chard as well. I often cook dinner planned around what’s ready to use in the window. I’ll have a nice area for plants on metal shelves in front of the Windows. Sometimes I supliment the natural light with a few hours of grow lights.
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red
red
September 30, 22:30

Sounds cool. I got the nopale planted today as I have to make a run East. Brother-in-law passed away. Ain’t that just like Navy? He had a lung infection from living in a damp area. I’m a little out of whack now, sorry, but at least now I know why the dog was acting sick. Bubba always knows. Now I need to unpack the winter coat, good pants, and socks, things I have not needed since I got to New Mexico/Texas line. It made it all the way to 70 degrees in Penna.

I planted a mess of wivian tobacco seedlings out in the brush. these are from seeds taken from plants down in the wash. Funny thing, some plants came up on their own in the edge of the garden. A blessing, to have such a great healing plant around.

A lot of the stuff Seed Search has is from the Hopi and Tarahumara, mountain peoples. Much of what I have that thrives, tho, is Apache, from their mountains. Started a mess of kohlrabi, turnips and so on, and hope it rains enough to keep them going till I return. Then, black radishes and so on. As God wills, so am I.

I still haven’t turned on the gas. Water line runs under the road to my place, so by late after noon, the cold water is pretty warm. Soon, of course, I’ll need a heater. But, I hope before New Years, I’ll have a solar water heater on the roof. I lived a Penna winter with only a small electric heater and lived in a snow suit. Thank God, I could go to the Y to swim and shower, and use the sauna.

I’m thinking of getting a mornina tree. They put a lot of nitrogen in the soil, and can be coppiced for mulch and greens.

If you would, please ask the Lord to comfort Susan. She’s 60 now, and taking it hard. God’s peace to you. Niio.
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[/SIZE]
http://www.askaprepper.com/top-10-foods-grow-survival/

 

[China Connection]

Growing Calories

by Cindy Conner

potatoes and sweet potatoes-BLOGIn my last post I wrote about how many more calories you could get if you grew beans and corn out and harvested the dried seeds. If you really wanted to grow a lot of calories in a small space, however, you would take a look at potatoes. The low Biointensive yield shown in the Master Charts of How To Grow More Vegetables (HTGMV) by John Jeavons is 100 pounds per 100 ft². There is an average of 349 calories per pound in potatoes—a little more in russets and less in white potatoes, with red-skinned spuds in the middle. If you were really hard-core in growing your calories, I suppose you would grow the russets at 358 calories per pound rather than the whites at 318, but I don’t care for the russet varieties as much as the others. A yield of 100 pounds, which is the best yield I’ve had, would give you 34,900 calories per 100 ft² bed. Comparing it to the corn that I talked about in that last post, with flour corn at 18,216, potatoes would give you 1.9 times the calories. Looking at the beans, with dried beans at 6,152 calories per 100 ft², growing potatoes would give you 5.7 times the calories in the same space.

In order to get all your calories from potatoes, however, you would have to eat many more pounds of potatoes than either beans or corn. To reach 2,000 calories per day, you would need to eat 5.7 pounds of potatoes, 1.2 pounds of flour corn, or 1.3 pounds of dried beans. Your calorie requirements might even be more than that, depending upon your age, sex, and lifestyle. The weight of the corn and beans is the dried weight. When considering the eating, multiply by 3 for the cooked weight, unless it is made into bread and tortillas, then multiply by 2. Hopefully your diet will be more diverse that just potatoes, corn, or beans, but this is how they would compare.

A man once told me that in survival training in the military, he was told that you could get everything you need from a diet of potatoes and milk. According to nutrition charts, a diet of too many potatoes could be toxic in potassium. On the other hand, if you need potassium, eat more potatoes. Having fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, in your diet would help rid your body of toxins. I think it was in the book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price that I read that the people he met in the mountains of Peru ate mostly potatoes dipped in a “gravy” of kaolin clay. The clay would have helped rid the body of toxins. It depends on the soil, climate conditions, and how it is grown, whether a food has certain nutrients or toxins in it. Studying indigenous diets is important if you want to grow all your own food. Our culture has lost some of the practices that were important in bringing food to the table. Sometimes they are the key we need to be successful in our endeavors.

Sweet potatoes are another good calorie crop. They might yield a little less per bed, but have a little more calories per pound. At the low biointensive yield that would mean 30,750 calories per 100 ft². In HTGMV Jeavons designates crops as area-efficient if they produce significant calories per area and weight-efficient if the amount that needs to be eaten for all one’s calories is 9 pounds/day or less. Of course, potatoes head the list of crops that are both area-efficient and weight-efficient. Other crops on the list besides sweet potatoes are Jerusalem artichokes, garlic, leeks, parsnips, and salsify. The information about area and weight efficiency for these crops is in HTGMV and is available online at http://www.growbiointensive.org/grow_main.html.

You might not be growing all your food, but putting a hearty meal on the table occasionally that consists of only food you have grown is pretty satisfying. Check out my Homegrown Friday posts to see some of my experiences on that in 2011 and 2012. If you have done something similar, by all means, add a comment and tell us about it.

It is good to know what to grow and prepare that will fill you up. There are so many factors to consider when planning your diet around what you grow. You want to make sure it is a sustainable diet, so while you are growing crops for high yields in some things, you are also growing crops that will feed back the soil. That’s where the grains come in. They are weight-efficient, but not area-efficient when it comes to calories, but they produce a lot of necessary carbon for your compost making. The beans, also, are weight-efficient and not area-efficient. You could, however, grow pole beans up the corn stalks and that would up your yield of calories per 100 ft². Beans and grains pair well together to provide the necessary amino acids that make up protein. I’ll talk about growing protein in the next post. See you then


https://homeplaceearth.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/growing-calories/

 

[Cardinal]

My worry is fat. Absolutely need it and pressing my own olive oil or peanut oil isn't an option.

 

[Pinecone]

There's sunflowers, but that would take a lot of them. Can you boil them and skim the oil from the surface of the water? I'll look into that.

Avacodos are good if you can grow them. I can't.

Can you get enough fats from eggs?

 

[Pinecone]

https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-to-make-your-own-sunflower-oil/

How to Make Your Own Sunflower Oil
By Debbie Dragon
Making your own sunflower oil can have multiple purposes, whether for cooking or adding to homemade beauty products. If you choose to use the large, confectionary sunflower seeds, you will need additional equipment and a press in order to grade, dehull, and winnow the seeds. The small, black oilseeds also produce almost double the amount of sunflower oil. The amount of seeds you need depends on how much oil you wish to produce. To make approximately 3 gallons of oil, you will need 35 pounds of oilseeds. If you're growing your own sunflowers, that equals about 140 plants.

...
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Sunflower oilseeds
Roasting pan
Strainer
Heat-resistant & freezer-safe container
Place sunflower oilseeds ina blender and grind until it's a fine-meal consistency, then place in the roasting pan.

Roast oilseeds in the oven at 300 degrees F, stirring every five minutes for 20 minutes. Let it cool for a brief moment then pour through a strainer into the heat- resistant and freezer-safe container.

Store the containers of oil in the refrigerator. The oil should be used within a month, because it contains no preservatives.

Freeze the leftover cake of mash to reheat at a later time for the remaining oil. This cake of mash can also be used for bird food.

 

[Pinecone]

http://www.sunflowerguide.com/sunflower-oil.html

Sunflower Oil
Learn more about this important commodity
Sunflower oil is one of the healthiest and popular oils in the world. It is often considered a premium oil due to its light color, mild flavour, low level of saturated fat and ability to withstand high cooking temperatures. Sunflower oil is an excellent household oil great for both baking and frying, even as a salad oil. Sunflower oil is also used in the manufacture of margarine, but due to the controvery surrounding the use of hydrogenation in the manufacturing process, choose a non-hydrogenated brand of margarine if you buy it. Sunflower oil is extracted basically by squishing the sunflower seeds and collecting the oil, in a process called pressing. Native Americans used to collect the oil by boiling seeds and collecting the oil from the top of the boiling pot.

Sunflower Oil – Processing
Sunflowr Oil in a small bowlLarge black sunflower seeds are the ones filled with the greatest quantities of sunflower oil - these oilseed varieties can be approximately 40 - 50% oil by weight. Producers generally press not only the seeds but the entire head of the sunflower so they make sure they will obtain the highest oil yield. Once the sunflower oil is extracted, it is sent for further refining and filtering. Modern oil extraction techniques create a byproduct called pressed sunflower seed cake or meal, which is high in protein and can be utilized for livestock feed.

Sunflower oil - Composition
The British Pharmacopoeia lists the following profile:
Palmitic acid : 4 - 9%,
Stearic acid : 1 - 7%,
Oleic acid : 14 - 40%,
Linoleic acid : 48 - 74%.
Sunflower oil contains lecithin, tocopherols, carotenoids and waxes and has a high Vitamin E content. It is a combination of mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats with low saturated fat levels.

Sunflower Oil - Energy Source
Much research is being done to determine uses for sunflower oil aside from edible concerns. Sunflower oil can be used in cosmetic formualtions and appears to have skin health benefits. Sunflower oil does help retain moisture in the skin like many other oils, but also may also form a barrier that resists infection over the skin.

Sunflower oil has been researched as a potential diesel substitute, with sunflower oil having the energy equivalent to 93% of # 2 U.S. diesel fuel. In the future, sunflower oil could also become a renewable bio-source for hydrogen. To date, however, the extraction process "costs" more energy than the hydrogen liberated would provide. Sunflower oil is also processed and used as lubricants in machinery, including automobiles. Additionally, experiments have shown that sunflower oil could be turned into plastic materials such as vinyl and latex - time will tell what new uses the sunflower will come in handy for!

 

[bluelady]

Thanks, I skimmed this but will print it out for motivation as we're in a new place and needing to start over in an easy to maintain manner. Due to time, space, money, and age I'm mainly interested in perennials with all parts edible: sweet potatoes, carrots, dandelions, berries, grapes, etc. (as well as herbs) Even if you can just get the leaves to grow (for example, if it's too cold for a good sweet potato crop, or if you cut tops off carrots & regrow them) you have a good source of greens that can be eaten fresh or dehydrated. I got a couple of quarts of green powder this year with very little effort just from stuff I found on the property. I'm also thinking about walking onions & garlic which reseed themselves. Also sunflowers; I like the boiling idea. And sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes). In the spring I will start experimenting more with what will grow here.

 

[China Connection]

One can feed House Flies on many things including grass cuttings. Fat content is usually higher than below.


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The metabolisable energy value of pupae of Musca domestica L. and digested poultry manure was determined to be 10.6 and 2.4 MJ/g (2528 and 580 kcal/g), respectively. Chemical analyses showed that pupae contained 61.4% protein and 9.3% fat: their amino acid composition was comparable with that of meat‐and‐bone meal or fish meal and was better than soybean oil meal.

A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate house fly pupae and catabolised poultry residue as alternative protein sources to soybean meal for growing chickens.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00071667408416093


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Feeding greens and maggots to Chickens will give one, eggs and fat of course.

 

[China Connection]

They say 80 feet by 100 feet is enough to keep a vegetarian for a year.


About 12 minutes long


Growing Enough Food to Feed a Family - How Much Do You Need to Plant?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=926Z6wzf278


GrowVeg
Published on Feb 14, 2014
It seems like a simple question, but there are many factors to consider when working out whether you can grow all the fruit, herbs and vegetables your family eats in a year.

In this video, we show how you can work out the amount of fresh food your family consumes, we explain what to consider when deciding which plants you will grow, and we suggest some techniques to help you grow more in the space you have to help meet your required yields.

If you love growing your own food, why not take a look at our online Garden Planner which is available from several major websites and seed suppliers:
http://www.GrowVeg.com
http://gardenplanner.motherearthnews.com
http://gardenplanner.almanac.com
and many more...







////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

13 Essentials For Growing Your Own Food!


About 30 minutes long


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v_T2uuuJyU



School of Permaculture
Published on Mar 16, 2017
So you have finally realized you are sick of being sick and tired and want to be happier and healthier? Good for you. Now that you are ready to get real about your well being and grow your own food, there are some criteria to meet to make your life a lot easier. I have put together a list of elements and areas that will help you reach your desired results. And remember... If you want to change a system, you cannot be dependent upon it.

Obviously you will need to design your space and garden beds first, but this is list is the essentials to growing your own food and replacing your need for most of the grocery and pharmacy.

Click here to download the checklist
http://schoolofpermaculture.com/want-...


View all tips, course dates, and latest updates:
http://schoolofpermaculture.com

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WE LOVE YOU - THANKS SO MUCH FOR WATCHING!
Category
Education

 

[Old Gray Mare]

My worry is fat. Absolutely need it and pressing my own olive oil or peanut oil isn't an option.

Sun flowers seeds, flax seeds and sesame seeds are rich in fat. All grow in PA. Flax and sesame seeds have a pretty flowers and IMO would be good for guerilla gardens because most would be unfamiliar with them. Crushed sesame seeds = tahini.

 

[summerthyme]

Pumpkin seeds are also high in fat. The hulless types are much easier to press (they lack the fibrous outer shell of regular seeds)

Even very early, pre-technology peoples "pressed" oil from seeds... they crushed them betwen rocks and then essentially let gravity (and probably the weight of more rocks) squeeze the oil, letting it drip or run into a container.

That said, if you have the ability to raise chickens or hogs, it's a lot easier to get enough fat. Old laying hens are almost always fat inside. I skimmed almost 3 quarts of pure fat off a 22 quart kettle of chicken broth from some old laying hens this year. And they were mostly scrawny Americaunas and crosses. Slow Whites, or other "heavy" breeds (Rocks and Marans are particularly good for "dual purpose) will produce even more fat.

I can mine by pressure canning it for 5 minutes at 5# pressure. It actually will keep using the old "open kettle" type of "canning"... (just pouring boiling hot into sterilized jars and applying sterile lids immediately), but i prefer the "insurance" for longer term storage. Currently, since we have a milk cow and make butter, the lard and schmaltz end up as a food supplement for the dogs and cats. We've got the slickest, healthiest barn cats I've ever seen, and I suspect the fat supplement is a big part if it.

Summerthyme

 

[China Connection]

Chosen Bites: Schmaltz, the forgotten fat
There is something magical about the golden pools of chicken fat.
By LAURA FRANKEL


The 12th-century rabbi and physician Maimonides touted the benefits of chicken soup to one's health. Many other cultures also believe in the restorative properties of chicken soup and it turns out that it indeed may be good for you. Poultry fat has monounsaturated fatty acid palmitoleic acid which boosts our immune system.

Chicken fat has the most of this healthy fat and what has instinctively been understood by many cultures around the world can now be backed up by science. There is something magical about the golden pools of chicken fat.

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Animal fats contain fatty acids with help our bodies fight disease; help absorb vitamins and lower cholesterol. The human body can burn the short-chained fatty acids found in animal fats and will simply store the long-chained ones found in polyunsaturated fat. When I teach and lecture, I talk about how the human body can process natural fats but cannot tolerate hydrogenated and processed fats. Some states outlaw the use of trans fats and many companies have voluntarily stopped using them in production of their products.

I have often said that margarine will be the dietary ruin of the Jewish people. Once touted as a healthier fat and as a substitute for butter, margarine and other processed fats are known to be unhealthy. It is a myth that eating animal fat makes you fat.

The French Paradox

In the United States, 315 of every 100,000 middle-aged men die of heart attacks each year. In France the rate is 145 per 100,000. However, In the Gascony region, where goose and duck liver form a staple of the diet, this rate is only 80 per 100,000. This phenomenon has recently gained international attention as the French Paradox --They eat more poultry fat in Gascony than anyplace else, but they live the longest.

Using the Whole Bird

The average American cook purchases their poultry pre-cut on Styrofoam boards wrapped in plastic. We are out of touch with our food. We do not know how to cut it and we pay more than twice as much as we should.

Think about it. The butcher/producer bought the whole chicken and paid for it by the pound. You purchase pieces of the bird (boneless, skinless breasts, thighs, legs or wings) but pay based on the weight of the entire bird. You might as well buy the entire bird and learn to use it from top to bottom.

As a consumer you will come out ahead when you learn to utilize the entire bird. In my home and professional kitchens, I use the pieces of chicken for meals, the carcass for stocks and the fat for EVERYTHING!

Ashkenazi Jews have a long history with schmaltz. Instead of butter and in the absence of olive oil, European Jews turned to schmaltz as their cooking fat.

In America when in 1933, Procter and Gamble published “Crisco Recipes for the Jewish Housewife,” a promotional cookbook available in English and Yiddish, animal fats lost favor as immigrants strove to assimilate.

Jewish households never looked back as medical journals wrongly accused animal fats as being unhealthy and touted hydrogenated fats such as Crisco and margarine.

To Render the Fat:

Place the fat in a saucepan. Add about 1/3 cup water for 1 pound of fat/skin. Place the pan on very low heat and let the fat melt very gently.

The water will evaporate and pieces of skin will start to turn golden brown. This process can take several hours. You can do this in a very low oven at 275 F.

When the skin turns golden brown, pour the fat and skin through a strainer. Press on the skin to get every last drop of fat.

Cool the fat before storing. And see below for Gribenes/Cracklings


https://www.jpost.com/Food-Index/Chosen-Bites-Schmaltz-the-forgotten-fat-339750

 

[mecoastie]

If you are looking to make seed oil I recommend investing in a Piteba oil press. It is a hand crank oil expeller. I made something similar years ago for sunflowers and it works very well. If you cant afford one Mother Earth News did an article on making one using a jack but it wasn't as efficient.

One of the best books on this subject is the Resiliant Gardener by Carol Deppe. She talks beans, corn, squash, potatoes, and eggs.

 

[Freeholder]

If you are looking to make seed oil I recommend investing in a Piteba oil press. It is a hand crank oil expeller. I made something similar years ago for sunflowers and it works very well. If you cant afford one Mother Earth News did an article on making one using a jack but it wasn't as efficient.

One of the best books on this subject is the Resiliant Gardener by Carol Deppe. She talks beans, corn, squash, potatoes, and eggs.

I now have all three of Carol Deppe's books, and highly recommend all of them. One is on breeding varieties to suit your tastes and conditions; one is on growing the calories necessary for survival; and the last one is on a great many things, but especially tomatoes, green beans, peas, tomatoes, greens, and (again) squash.

Kathleen

 

[China Connection]

Awards

2012 About.com Reader's Choice Award: Best New Gardening Book

Scientist/gardener Carol Deppe combines her passion for organic gardening with newly emerging scientific information from many fields — resilience science, climatology, climate change, ecology, anthropology, paleontology, sustainable agriculture, nutrition, health, and medicine. In the last half of The Resilient Gardener, Deppe extends and illustrates these principles with detailed information about growing and using five key crops: potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and eggs.

In this book you’ll learn how to:

•Garden in an era of unpredictable weather and climate change

•Grow, store, and use more of your own staple crops

•Garden efficiently and comfortably (even if you have a bad back)

•Grow, store, and cook different varieties of potatoes and save your own potato seed

•Grow the right varieties of corn to make your own gourmet-quality fast-cooking polenta, cornbread, parched corn, corn cakes, pancakes and even savory corn gravy

•Make whole-grain, corn-based breads and cakes using the author’s original gluten-free recipes involving no other grains, artificial binders, or dairy products

•Grow and use popbeans and other grain legumes

•Grow, store, and use summer, winter, and drying squash

•Keep a home laying flock of ducks or chickens; integrate them with your gardening, and grow most of their feed.

The Resilient Gardener is both a conceptual and a hands-on organic gardening book, and is suitable for vegetable gardeners at all levels of experience. Resilience here is broadly conceived and encompasses a full range of problems, from personal hard times such as injuries, family crises, financial problems, health problems, and special dietary needs (gluten intolerance, food allergies, carbohydrate sensitivity, and a need for weight control) to serious regional and global disasters and climate change. It is a supremely optimistic as well as realistic book about how resilient gardeners and their vegetable gardens can flourish even in challenging times and help their communities to survive and thrive through everything that comes their way — from tomorrow through the next thousand years. Organic gardening, vegetable gardening, self-sufficiency, subsistence gardening, gluten-free living.
Share This

https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/the-resilient-gardener/

 

[China Connection]

Book Preview

https://books.google.com.au/books/a...p_read_button&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[mecoastie]

Another great book is Will Bonsalls Essential Guide to Radical Self Reliant Gardening. This guy is a vegan and he uses no animal waste in his gardens. I have listened to him speak a couple of times at the Common Ground Fair and his knowledge is incredible. Be warned that he is a lefty through and through. Both this and Carol Deppes book are essential in my opinion.

https://www.chelseagreen.com/produc...tial-guide-to-radical-self-reliant-gardening/