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Swerving back to self-sufficiency

Renegades vs NWO
#1

Below is a quote from a Brit who moved to Bulgaria some years ago. A thumbnail of how we fed ourselves in former times (and will again) before quasi-globalisation began its - transient - meteor-flight across our history.

People where I live are tooling up to (re)learn how to do this stuff. Together with my immediate neighbours, we’re busy planting for this season’s food harvest, on our own dooryard plots of ground. Down in the grassroots, a lot of people seem to be intuiting the need to start de-rusting these skills (takes about five years of trial and error to get tolerably good at it; getTF going!). I expect to see chickens appear soon in more of the residential moorings where I live. :slight_smile: One neighbour already has them…

People of my generation still carry in living memory skills observed and mimicked in our early childhood, when these things were still widespread, and lots of people still knew expertly how to do them. Harvest our inheritable nitty-gritty knowledge, whilst we’re still around!

And btw, think particularly about simple, traditional ways of preserving a season’s surplus. It’s a huge area of crucial practical knowledge, particularly the very old, tried and proven methods of fermentation, drying, pickling, salting, and - for root foods - earth-storage (mimicking what they do naturally, of course).

Also, as a teenager on expedition in Labrador, I tasted the ancient, blessed invention of pemmican. Wonderful stuff; one of several old, reliable ways to preserve and store meat products.

Forget the Fourth Industrial Revolution fantasy bs! These are the new (old) skills of the really-upcoming future, which savvy parents need to re-learn, and pass along to their children.

The comment below was gleaned from the btls of a food article by Colin Todhunter published today at Off-G:

QUOTE:

Peter Cartwright

Mar 18, 2022 4:21 AM

Reply to Howard

I moved from the UK to a small village in central Bulgaria in 2005 (pre EU accession) and saw how the vast majority of the 500 or so residents reared their own animals, chickens, sheep, goats and cattle, grew their own vegetables in their gardens, the excess being shared and preserved for winter, and I thought it was wonderful to see. I even got some chickens and grew my own vegetables myself.

With EU Accession in 2007, there was quite a noticable change because of increased regulations for individuals keeping animals, and the influx of, mainly German, supermarket chains being built in most major towns and cities. Less people now rear goats and sheep, and people are starting to say things like “what is the point of all the hard work, when vegetables are so cheap in the supermarkets?”.

I think the problems with rising prices, fertiliser shortages and supply chains will change the views of the local people, and again, they will start back up growing, sharing and preserving. Their garden infrastructure is in place already, and I for one would welcome this return to organic, healthy food, grown locally for the locals.

UNQUOTE

PS: How to Make Pemmican Recipe – 50 Plus Year Survival Super Food

#2

Unfortunately the fox got our hens, eventually, which has put us off trying again. They were charming, intelligent, and good at the egg thing, but my main benefit was coming to appreciate some aspects of behaviour and intelligence much more keenly. The smallest, weakest, bullied hen became so good at dodging the others that she got first pick of all the slugs and snails before they could get to them. Ultimately she became the boss. That was like a little fairy tale there in our back yard.

Last year’s veggies were dismal but got a few potatoes and courgettes. Enough to maybe think it’s worth trying again.

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#3

Remember: ‘Twenty years to make an actor’; ‘five years to make a gardener.’ A lot of it is about getting on the wavelength of the plants and grasping what they need, what they like, what they don’t. Very much as you did with your chooks, K. That’s the essence, I’ve found, of growing a green thumb.

Foxes can be guarded against effectively. It’s a matter of how the humans defend the chicks. The ultimate defence is the right kind of dog, living outside with the livestock. Nil losses then.

Your cat might not approve at first; but if it’s a matter of accept the dog, or learn to go without tasty food treats, I guess he’d come round; especially if you were adamant. :slight_smile:

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#4

If the dog stayed outside it could work. My younger son had a bull terrier type creature, solid muscle…but he could not be bothered to train it and when he returned here post previous girlfriend but one the dog lasted about a day. Vile overexcitable cur who yelped constantly if left outside.

What is it with people who think a dog that lives in a kennel is cruel? It’s all pervasive in UK and, yeah, I know it gets cold, but… Another example of how propaganda works: dogs are soppy bumptious eejits who should lie around the house farting. Just another category of consumer.

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#5

Working dogs get their entire raison d’etre from having a job which they know their human pack-leaders want them to do. They love it, and are dedicated. Gives them a real life-charge.

Any suitably-coated breed/mongrel can live outside in an insulated kennel without suffering. Joe and Jo Urban-Dreamworld can carry on with their fatuous ideas of dogs. Dogs themselves have other ideas! Much more wolfy-foxy than Joe and Jo would even like to think about…

And, wolfy-foxy or no, they will be lifelong dedicated special-job helpers around livestock protection, even stock that - in wolfy-foxy mode - they’d kill and eat.

They need early-life supervision, of course (which in any working-shepherd flock they get as much from the older dogs as from the shepherd), but given that, once they get the hang of what you want them to do, they commit to it with gusto.

A key idea is that they see the livestock as their companions, as well as the humans. When your dog fraternises tolerantly with your chooks or pigs, you know s/he sees them as pack-kin.

I know this from long friendship with two generations of Turkish Shepherd Dogs. But it goes with any sort of dog, so long s/he has a breed aptitude; or in the case of mongrels, happens to have it by chance.

In Britain, where the only current threats are foxes, badgers, medium-sized raptors, and occasional loose domestic dogs, a very modest-sized dog can do the guard work perfectly. Terriers, even, are big enough. It’s always about the dog saying: “I’m here! Nothing but trouble for you here. Bugger off!” rather than actual violence towards the predators. And they take the hint… :slight_smile:

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