I cant tag you for some reason @acesatyr but I have typed all this up. I will get to fishing and foraging at some point, But this was already really long, lol.
I had originally written this in another word doc and realized I had typed over six paragraphs about seeds and germination alone. I really like farming.
Overall, this is mostly the generic info; I can detail or explain anything in depth, but I’m summarizing the important stuff, and the details are easily researchable. :)
A Revised and Bullet-Pointed Essay about Organic Apocalyptic Farming
Seeds, the basics:
-Stock up on seeds, they come in packets and are usually cheap depending on where you get them from. I like to store seeds in a mason jar, with a tightly sealed lid. It’s important they’re dry, and if possible, refrigerated. if not, any cold, dark, dry place will do.
-Germination is an easy process, DAMP (not sopping wet. DAMP) peice of thin cloth or paper towel, seeds laid out evenly, and put into either a ziplock baggie or something like a pyrex container. Again, air tight, low-mid light, warm (not hot, not direct sunlight) enviroment.
-if you see a lil mold it’s okay, as long as the root sprouts they’re still viable.
Plants I would Reccomend:
-Peppers are great because they grow quickly, can be canned or stuffed and add a lot to you meals and food. They also don't really take up as much room as some of the other plants i'm about to list. They aren’t the most filling and you cant live off of them but if you want to improve your quality of life or make a lot of money at the end of the world I guarantee you anyone who can actually cook or has the spices and foods to do it is set for life. I would legitimately kill a man for my mom’s pepperoni stuffed pickled peppers. I stabbed my brother over a jar once I am not kidding.
-Pretty much any kind of spice or herb really, I would HIGHLY recommend growing lavender, mint, thyme, and anything lemony or citrus scented, as I mentioned on a previous post, they’re good for pest control. lavender is a very temperamental plant, but most herbs, once ou get them going can be pretty hardy for lil leafs. Also, depending on the amount you’re growing of each most of them don’t take up too much space. Also basil cause it smells nice and I told you to.
-Corn, wheat, and any kind of grain is obviously a good idea if you want bread, but all of them are pretty difficult and require a lot of space. Potatoes are great because they can be used to make bread and alcohol as well.
-Zucchini, eggplants, tomatoes, and summer squash, and pretty much any gourd/melon/squash plant are easy to grow, but keep in mind many of these are expanding and/or vine plants and require a lot of space. They make a lot of food, but tomatoes and cucumbers in particular will actively choke other plants. Like vines wrapping around and leaves growing over top and roots entangling level of choking. Keep apart. but they’re good for you. eggplant, tomato and cucumeber are the highlight here.
-For leafy greens kale and chard are super easy to grow and grow pretty fast. Like any leafy green, too much sunlight will scorch them so be careful. I like to grow chard in an old (was some kinda biohazard barrel my dad stole from some pharmaceutical company, and cleaned out) cause it’s more than deep enough for the roots, but also wide enough to grow plenty. Also kale is high in vit c so if you don't live somewhere tropical you won't die of scurvy :)
-If you plan on raising animals or having a crop FIELD and not a PLOT, then grow long grass into hay, because it is good feed, but can also be used to cover ground to protect from birds. If you sow seeds by yeeting them into the dirt, birds will eat them if you don't cover them and you will die hungry.
-If possible, Alfalfa is also good for animals ( in small quantities) because they like it, or sunflowers. you can eat sunflowers, they produce a lot of seeds adn the seeds can be used as feed. ( same with corn.)
-Mushrooms. can be dried, easy to grow, grow really fast, and can be used as filler for meat dishes. (you can also grow the drug kind because it’s the end of the world and no one is going to stop you)
-tobacco for tabacco
AMNIMALS:
-unless you have a lot of very protected land you’re going to want animals that are small and potentially multipurpose.
-chickens are great because they dont need an exorbitant amount of space, can be used for eggs and meat, their feathers can be used for a number of things, if you dont like eating chicken guts (whats wrong with you) then they can be used as fertilizer, bait or as part of stock, and the bones can also be used for broth or to make small simple tools like needles or pen nibs. However, they actually need a more varied diet then you’d think. if you dont have calcium powder, their own unfertilized crushed up eggs, or scrambled with the shell is good for them once in a while, or chopped up leaves from your plants. Otherwise, a mix of corn and seeds is pretty good. DO NOT feed chickens wheat, oats or bread. Once in a while maybe, as like a super special treat, but too much can be harmful. Also, they eat bugs so they can just be outside if you’re okay with that.
-Goats produce milk, fur/wool (not all breeds do both, most don't do both, actually) and they’re more portable than cows. they also take up less space. A big downside is that goats are not only social animals, but they also need a good bit of stimulation and activity and they can be pretty noisy. My uncle built a jungle gym pyramid for his goats, but be warned, Joe Bob chewed his way out of the barn and needed rescuing from the top of the tower in the middle of a hurricane once. Goats will pretty much eat anything, and their poop is good for compost, Joe Bob and his siblings pretty much live off scraps and they’re happy lil dudes ( ladies actually, Joe Bob is the only boy)
-Rabbits! (the rabbit in raider rabbit is actually because i used to raise rabbits and am fond of them as a farm animal and because nobody can pronouce my name so they just call me Bun but we dont talk about that) probably one of the quietest animals you can keep on a farm, they can be kept in cages, breed quickly, can be used for fur, leather (rabbit and goat leather is great for making paper and cloth, not really good for protective leather) meat, and bones. The biggest issue I can see in the event of a wasteland survival situation is rabbits need a lot of clean water, salt and if you get angouras they pretty much need constant brushing. Be warned, if you dont know how to properly care for and breed them the females will castrate the males or eat her babies :) it is just a traumatizing as it sounds :) I speak from experience :) A good and cheap meat rabbit is the california white rabbit, they're about small to med size, and really simple to look after. Angouras are not great for meat, but their fur makes amazing wool. They eat veggies ( not carrots, too much sugar) oats, hay, their babies, and other leafy greens.
-Quail are something im not super familiar with that was my sibling’s thing, but from what i understand they need less space then chickens, and they’re good meat birds. eggs can be good for feeding other animals, but they’re not really good for much else. Also they’re really fucking loud and will fight each other so maybe not?
-Ducks are a lot like chickens, again, all of them can be eaten or used, and also eggs. eat more leafy greens and stuff and really like having somewhere to swim, better for more open environments. Ducks like to eat a lot and will get really fat really quick ( not a good thing) so be careful. however, if they imprint on you, they will follow you everywhere which makes rounding them up easy.
-Fish are great because their water can be cycled and the yuck water can go to the plants, which is great cause all that fish poop and algae is really good fertilizer. Fish are good for you and I love them. An while they’re not easy to port around, if you feed them micro worms or lil shrimps you can grow their food mostly indefinity and freeze it even. Also ive never heard any fish ( other than that one pufferfish) make noise. keep in mind, you will still have to maintain the water levels and the ph and all that, and they can take up a lot of space.
WHAT METHOD? HOW DO THE FARM? OTHER?
-this is pretty much up to you, I’m a really big fan of hydroponics, but i typically stick to “recycle farming” which is basically using whatever I have on hand and getting creative.
-if you’re going to use a plot of land, its a good idea to make sure you have a fence that goes around, over and under. Pests like groundhogs, rabbits, deer, ghouls, and myself will do more then just walk up and take you plants and animals.
-I recommend quiet animals that can be stored in cages and indoors to avoid larger predators, but any animals will attract them. Bears will break into pens, so if possible either store them INSIDE INSIDE, (like concrete building) or outside in a pen so you dont die.
-Living in the wasteland, or growing up with parents that think it basically is will teach you to utilize anything and everything. bottles and cans are great pots, old trashcans can be used if your dad wont steal chemical barrels from your local pharm plant for you, tires can be shredded into mulch, old rebar is my favorite thing for climbing plants ( sturdy, easy to stick into the ground and remove, pretty source able) Animal parts can be used for fishing bait or fertilizer, corn husks and other dry leaf litter can make good ground cover is hay isn't an option, ect.
-Plastic sheets and table cloths with holes cut in them for the plants are great for vine plants to grow through.
-scarecrows ain’t shit. Most birds are too stupid to notice and the ones that will are smart enough to figure out it’s not real pretty quick so all you’re doing is wasting good clothes and materials and scaring the shit out of yourself when you forget and look out the window and see a giant man in your field. Get a cat.
-it’s the apocalypse. grow weed.
How source plant food?
-poop and leafy plant scraps. animal poop, your own poop, your neighbors poop, poop. plant scraps, leafy greens, peels, rotten material.
-Get a big plastic tub or my favorite stolen barrels and shovel in some dead soil, layer in some plant scrap, dry leaf litter or corn husks, poop, leaf litter, and add creepy crawlies if you can. give a stir or shake every so often.
-avoid flies. as gross as it is, it’s a good idea to keep it warm, moist and humid, so very closed to avoid them.
-you can also add egg shells to give some calcium to your bug buddies.
-corpses.
What do I keep? how do I use it? (animals)
-egg shells are useful for a number of things, dried and nicely crushed they can be used for calcium for other animals. Or protection spells.
-bones for the same thing just don't feed the animals to themselves. I joked about this with the rabbits a bit ( a little cannibalism with them is inevitable and wont hurt them, but still) but cannibalism can lead to a lot of really bad neurological conditions that can harm you as well if you consume their products. Same with chickens, you feeding them scrambled eggs and shells once in a while is good for them, but if they start consistently eating their eggs you need to seperate them for a bit.
-fur and skin are great, esp for tanning, hides can make all kinds of things from paper, to water pouches and other bags, and fabric in general. being able to make cloth and leather is something a lot of people really overlook.
-Bones but for tools. Having a good needle and thread is really underestimated.
-Intestines can be used to make sausage, and other things.
-i will eat the chicken liver if you don't want it but it’s your anemia.
-make jerky/salted meat. both wont last forever, but you dont need to freeze it if you dont have power and will last longer then raw or cooked meat. salt cured meat lasts about 2-3 weeks, so if you’re solo or a small group and you did what i said and got small animals you wont be wasting food, and you dont have to butcher something every day.
-jerky can last a lil longer if stored properly, say it with me now! *air tight containers* you might get a solid month or so out of jerky, and it can mostly be rehydrated, or eaten as is.
-rendered animal fat or tallow makes good cooking oil, and while a little time consuming is not super difficult.
-make butter and cheese, not for survival, but quality of life.
Help I grew to many plants!
-can them, dumbass.
-fr though, canned foods can last a decent amount of time and can be really useful if you live somewhere with a winter, or can farm constantly. I mentioned already, but canned stuffed peppers are a favorite of mine, along with pickled eggs, which I make pretty regularly because a world without pickled eggs is the darkest thing i can imagine.
-feed them to your animals or back to your plants.
-throw them at your friends. (you haven't lived until you’ve hocked a rotten pumpkin at your little brother)
-dry them, fruit leather and veggie chips can be rehydrated and stored even longer than certain canned or preserved foods.
What else?
-learn how to purify water. there’s a million non tech versions, but in a sinch, the boil method is good if you just need to water plants. just dont pour boiling water on your crop.
-do use boiling water for weeds though. you can also feed weeds to your animals, but boiling water is just water, it’s not going to kill the soil or poison you.
-learn to fish and forage, theres a whole lot of things that aren't easy to grow or raise that can be tasty and good for you.
-learn to make fire. be prepared to put out fire. Dry crops will burn for days, so keep them watered, but you need to be able to burn exccess compost and cook.
-farming smells so bad. I love farming but animal poop, rotten veggies, innards, decay and compost, burning compost smells. if you cant stomach it and want the easy way out, thats called starvation or you better be beefy and prepped enough to raid others. or both, gorw your shit and steal from others, i dont care.
-forgot to mention earlier, but fermented foods like kimchi, kombucham etc are really good for you so yea. I might also teach you how to make kombucha cause my mom made me drink it so by god ill make you drink it too. ( i actually love it and it's good for making vinegar.)
-And forgot, legumes, like beans, peanuts, letils etc are really good plant protein. just not fun to grow, (ecept for beans. beans are actually very fun to to grow.)
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Homemade Beef-Jerky
Good morning my little pierogis
This is my favorite home-made jerky recipe
Use as much or as little beef as you want to make - I personally bought a beef brisket that was on sale for about $40 that yielded roughly 10 pounds of jerky.
Now - I am not perfect. My very first batch I made a couple mistakes, and I’ve made this recipe before. I should have trimmed more of the fat off, and I should have sliced it thinner.
Don’t get me wrong, I still ate the fuck out of them, but I just couldn’t preserve them or hang onto it longer term. Learned my lesson though 😊 keep in mind even people with experience can get it wrong too.
Recipe
1 cup of soy sauce
2 tablespoons minced ginger
2 garlic cloves
Salt - hella (I measure with love)
Juice from half a lime
Cracked black pepper - measure with love (1 tbsp is fine)
1 pound of sliced brisket
So here’s the beauty of beef jerky; It’s completely customizable. You can add things into your marinade, take them out, change the amounts, the world is your oyster.
After you trim down your preferred slice of meat (I’ve found that tougher cuts like brisket or chuck do well as jerky because they’re full of collagen and keep their shape well), pop it back into the freezer for about 30 minutes or so. The reason for this is that when you’re slicing it, you’ll be able to achieve a thinner more consistent cut because it will be on the solid side - something I forgot to do when I made this first batch. Oops.
Hang onto those fat trimmings by the way, mamas gonna show you all how to make some lovely tallow with that
You’ll put your sliced beef into a bag or bowl (ziploc or otherwise, as long as it’s water tight) and add your misc. seasonings (see above). Leave the salt out - the soy sauce has got that taken care of initially. Leave that to marinade for at-least 2 hours. Personally, I leave it over night so the acidity of the lime/soy sauce and the saltiness in the soy sauce can break down some of that elasticity that tougher cuts of meat generally have. Like I said though - the worlds your oyster. Yolo.
Once the meat is done marinading go ahead and pull it out, and dry any excess marinade off the slices of beef using a towel or wipe.
Once the beef slices are dry, sprinkle salt on either side of the slice. This isn’t necessarily required, but I’ve found it pulls more of the water/moisture out and can speed up the dehydrating process.
If you’re using a dehydrator go ahead and set your racks up, try to space them out as much as you can do ample air flow can circulate - if you’re using an oven, preferably you should have a rack sitting on a sheet pan so drippings if any can flow away from the meat.
As is with any meat product, it needs to be cooked to an adequate internal temperature to kill any bacteria or disease. You’ll want to start with your oven or dehydrator set to 165 degrees. Once the meat has reached 165° Fahrenheit, promptly turn the oven/dehydrator down to 140°.
After the heat has been turned out now you get to wait, and suffer while you smell delicious food you can’t eat yet. Sorry. The drying time can take anywhere from 8-12 hours, depending on the meats thickness, oven/dehydrator type, etc. honestly you’ll have to play it by ear a bit. Once it’s done though, you can keep it on your shelf for up to 3 months with silica packets or something similar to keep out moisture in an airtight container. I personally put it in jars and pressure cook them to sterilize and seal the jars, but that’s another convo for a different day.
If you keep it in the fridge - 1 to 2 weeks
If you keep it in your pantry - maybe 1 week
Freezing - 3 months + however long the storage method after thawing is.
Keep in mind it’s still meat - she can go bad
Happy hunting, and remember to do a sniff test if you forget it for awhile lol.
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