This is an excellent post written by a true farmer. In his words: The author of the article took time to share much of his knowledge. When we think of food growing, we think of a garden but there is much more to it then vegetables. Like you grow your crops, you grow your herd and that is no area I seriously lack. I have clipped part of his post but follow the link to finish. There is also a resource at the end of the post that is a great download that people should add to their library. It is 800 pages of 1880 knowledge. Food Growing – Beyond The Garden Food Growing - Beyond The Garden - Knuckledraggin My Life Away
Here is a direct link to foodgrowers posts- A to Z - foodgrower articles - Knuckledraggin My Life Away
Great post. It's sources like this that can ease the transitional shock when a person suddenly has to take a break from their ordinary life and deal with Reality.
Great source and while I agree with him and his references, a lot of what he said is dependent on the skils and techniques he and his family have developed over a period of time. Drinking raw milk is ok if you and your cows have no problems, in the 1940's in rural MN I knew of people who got sick with a form of TB, milk fever, stomach problems, probably some form of listera or samonallea, and knew of people who had in earlier times had other problems. But at the same time I knew one person who died and one that survived lock jaw. It isn't the raw milk that is the problem, or the raw meat, or unwashed veggies, it is what they are carrying and your knowledge of it and how to handle it. In life it is usually the simple things that kill you.
I agree. I was talking to a couple of monkeys about eating wild rabbit. There are signs that you need to look for to let you know if that rabbit is sick. Many say they are going to live off the land and eat wild game. They never seem to mention a back up plan if there is a disease affecting the wildlife.
A useful resource with regard to self sufficiency gardening and small farming. His resource http://knuckledraggin.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Household_Cyclopedia.pdf (at approx. 15Mb) is worth downloading and squirreling away. (with the caveat that the contents of the .pdf file date back to the 19th century and reflect the scientific knowledge of the era)
Mentioned this here before, but at about age 7, I got tularemia skinning a wild rabbit without rubber gloves, didn't use them in 1944 or so and probably would have died without the new wonder drug of the day and would die after TSHTF. If things do go bad, the learning curve is going to be really bad. If you are learning to hunt anything, be a house cat, hunt for 2 hours, go home to a meal and a nap and try again tomorrow and not a fox, find something to eat in 4 days or you are dead.
Living in an austere environment, and relying on primitive technology.....sometimes there are no second chances when things go wrong. Glad you survived that incident duane.