Dave Balderstone wrote:
>songbird wrote:
>
>> yes, some of those, plenty of fermented foods too,
>> just trying to see what people can think up that is
>> out of the box and not reliant upon manufactured
>> items from far away.
>>
>> also, having plenty of beans and grains on hand
>> for sprouting is a good alternative to not having
>> any fresh greens during the winter months. still
>> i would like to have a full variety of things to work
>> with and choose from. nutrition from a mix of
>> sources.
>
> Back "in the day" (40-50 years ago) we used paraffin for jams, jellies
> and such. Anything else went in the pressure cooker with rubber
> sealers.

yeah, it's not a very reliable method, but for
jams/jellies it was often good enough.


> Not sure what Great Granny used...
>
> Pickles and sauerkraut were left fermenting in crocks in the cold
> cellar... Kimchee (in some recipes) is fermented in crocks that are
> buried in the ground.

*nods*

hams, chunks of meat, often just left in the smoke
house or cellar after they were cured and smoked.

in my recent reading another method was to put the
cured/smoked meats in layers of sifted ashes. somewhat
similar to lye coatings.

and then there are cheeses and yogurts.

spring houses, lakes or ponds can be cool enough
for some refrigeration.


> Humans have been curing meat for centuries. Nitrates/nitrites have
> been/are used (and can be harvested as crystals from manure piles, or
> potash if you happen to live in an area like ours where it very
> common), but as well as drying meat (aka jerky) there's salting (salt
> beef, salt cod) pickling (herring for instance, and corned beef) and of
> course smoking and combinations thereof (curing and smoking ham and
> bacon comes to mind, as well as sausages).

yep.


> Root cellars (caves, if there are any accessible) are critical. Grampa
> had a huge underground one, walled and roofed with timbers then covered
> with soil.
>
> Drying fruits and veggies, of course.
>
> If you have access to grain, you can grind for flour, but best to
> acquire mill stones before the zombie apocalypse.

haha, this is funny, but i have a side thread for
pondering that a bit further. it doesn't fit here
at all. i'll mark it [OT] for those who wish to
filter...


> You may also want to investigate snares and deadfall traps for game.

doing, done, but i am just like that even if i
have absolutely no plans of ever having to do it.
i figure if i cannot kill it, clean it then i'm
not going to be doing any trapping either. i
barely got by fishing, and most of the time i
just did catch and release.


> Stocking up on things like fish hooks, line and snare wire would seem
> to me a good idea.

one ahead of me!


> Learning to weave vessels for storage could be a useful skill as well,
> as is tanning hides. If you're in an area where you have a freeze in
> the winter, an icehouse is a great thing to have for the warmer months.
> You'll want an ice auger and saw.

basic hand tools of all sorts will always come
in useful. i've also got references on hand for
about anything here, chemistry, physics, maths,
biology, blacksmithing/metalworking/machining,
wood working, canning. if i see anything that
looks like it might be useful in the library
book sales i'll add it to my own collection here.

i used to work there, i'd quit in disgust over
many things, i was not surprised by this sort of
direction either. but it sucks when a place you
used to love goes bad and i'd burned too many
bridges with the library board that my comments
would get blank stares. eek, just writing this
small bit has my stomach in knots and i've been
gone for years now. heh... ok, different topic,
see you in the zombie apocolypse OT thread.


> Also don't forget basic medical skills like setting breaks, dealing
> with infection, and serious lacerations or puncture wounds.

got those basics down too.


> Interesting thread.

it was getting a bit quiet, right now it's snowing
again (talking about refrigeration it was close to
0F again last night, 33F is average) and i'm trying
to be patient waiting for spring to come around so
i can get back outside into the gardens and projects.


songbird