From:  angel johnson 
Date:  Sun Jan 19, 2003  6:20 pm
Subject:  Survival on a Budget

A POLESHIFT WITH CATACLYSMIC DESTRUCTION SEEMS A MUCH MORE FIT TOPIC OF THOUGHT
WITH REGARD TO AN IDLE MIND PLAYING WITH IMPROBABLE POSSIBILITIES SUCH AS "IF I
HAD THE RESOURCES I WOULD....................." BUT HERE GOES NOTHINGJ

I THINK BEING RESOURCEFUL MIGHT BE THE BEST PLACE TO START.

PLANTS 

If you simply look around outside there is much in the way of useful plants
free for the digging. In only a few days I came up with quite a list. With the
spring weather we're having this January everything listed here was easily
identifiable and in very good shape for digging. {It looks like April out
there! I've even seen male finches sporting breeding color!} 


ACORNS {Oak trees take a while but are incredibly useful trees. Acorn flour,
tannic acid for leather and harbingers of kindly spirits. REALLY!} I missed out
on the Chestnuts and the squirrels had their day.

ROSE HIPS {many rose varieties out there are loaded with nice big ones. Vit. C
is going to be a must!}

RED CLOVER

CHICK WEED

TRUE DANDILION

WINTERGREEN

LAVENDER {Pest repellent.} 

SAGE

ROSEMARY

THYME

HAIRY VETCH {Excellent legume for soil building, ground cover and presumably
tasty hay/seeds.}

ST. JOHNS WORT {A well known antidepressant.}

SALIL {SIC? I think the berries were used by Native Americans to make pemmican,
a naturally preserved meat product.} 

ORE. GRAPE {Very sour but edible berries that I think may have some med.
applications}

CALENDULA

ROSA RUGOSA {leather gloves a must.}

EUROPEAN BLACKBERRY {Not such a pest from a post shift mentality}

VINCA MINOR {I think this is a useful med. plant but I need to double check.}

FERNS {I'll need to do a look up to properly identify fiddle head and licorice
root varieties}

WILD STRAWBERRY {Used extensively around here as ground cover}

BLUEBERRIES {OK so getting these guys involves a little trespass but there
about to be bulldozed by the city for a parking lot soon.}

CATTAILS {I've read that Native Americans used the tubers in some fashion.} 

WEEPING WILLOW {I think if you cut a piece off and plant it these lovely trees
root easily. Willow are well known as a headache remedy as well as a source for
weaving material.}



WORMS ! WORMS! WORMS! LOAD EVERY POTTED ITEM DOWN WITH WORMS!

Worms make topsoil! Worms break up clay! After extreme wind clay and rock may
be all that's left in the way of topsoil in the Northwest. That's all there was
to start with in a number of my previous gardens around here. Worms eat the
nastious organic materials and make them useful. Worms feed poultry and people.
Somewhere in the ZT material are instructions for purging these guys for human
consumption. AVOID STORE BOUGHT REDWORMS!! Local worms may have a slightly
reduced rate of reproduction but a much better chance of survival under adverse
conditions. Remember; WORMS DROWN EASILY!



SEEDS

There are many sources of bulk seeds most people never think about. 

CELERY and DILL {At Rite Aid drug store there is a spice section that for
.99cents you can get a good size jar.}

DRIED CHILIES

DRY BEANS AND LENTILS

RICE and BARLEY {I am planning to try sprouting these two to see if they are
viable}

RED WHEAT BERRIES {Health food section at QFC.} 

HAZEL NUT {or Filbert}

WALNUT

ALMOND

BLACK {OIL} SUNFLOWER SEEDS {Bird food section}

POP CORN



I am thinking a trip to Top Foods and Fred Meyer bulk food section may turn up
many more possibilities .

Also down at the Pike st. market as well as many health food stores you can
find seeds for sprouting like

ALFALFA AND RADISH. Probably numerous others I never thought of too. 



Now here's a few items that you can easily get that have seeds inside. Of
course a little grafting knowledge and some dwarfing root stock will reduce
your years till fruiting by quite a bit .Down to only three to five for the new
bush types. If I remember correctly it's about five to seven for the Mallings
stocks.{I am referring to apple stocks here.} Also a little research on seed
requirements such as stratification {usually freezing} and germination
temperatures would be handy. Also remember that many orchard fruits like apples
must have a different variety that blooms in the same time period for cross
pollination. Although this may not be a problem considering the genetic
diversity available from growing trees from seed. To my knowledge apples won't
produce at all in tropical areas. Perhaps other orchard fruit have similar
chilling requirements. I am listing some tropicals and subtropicals here since
I looked at the New World Map {ZetaTalk} If the Zetas are right about the
shift and new position of the equator that makes us up in the Pacific NW {on
the 47th lat.} the New Tropics. We'll know soon enough if saving citrus seeds
was best not forgotten. I defiantly need to do some homework on culture and
propagation of these.

RIPE PEPPERS {usually meaning red.}

TOMATOES

APPLES

PEACHES

APRICOTS

PEARS

PEARAPPLES {Yummmmm!J Wonder what sorta root stock for this tasty fruit?}

PLUMS {Look for prune plums if you can find them this time of year along with
the fancy ones}

OLIVES {Raw of course! Don't think there'll be any in the markets up here.
Maybe you Californians could bring some extra with you when you come. Unless of
course you've decided to wait till later and swim up!}J

MANGO

TROPICAL NUTS

RAW PEANUTS

LEMON {I think limes are seedless?}

ORANGES {Valencia's are a good choice for seeds}

BLOOD ORANGES {I think these maybe more cold tolerant but not sure}

GRAPEFRUIT {Again check for seeds since many new red varieties seem to only
have vestiges}

POMELLO {This is most likely SIC. These citrus fruits were the fore runner to
the modern grapefruit and are one of the most cold tolerant of all trees in
this category. I saw it as an offering in the Raintree Nursery catalog some ten
years ago. They may still carry it and they're online.}

PAPAYA 

AVOCADO {Remember you need a male and a female tree for these to fruit}

GRAPE

POMEGRANATE {A very sacred fruit.}

WINTER SQUASH 

SUGER PUMPKIN

ENDIVE {Slow growing but very cold tolerant.}

Now a thought about seed saving! Evan most experienced gardeners have only
touched on this one except in unwanted terms. Seed production in other than say
dry beans, popcorn, grains et. usually signals the end or well past it for the
typically useful part of an edible crop therefore gardeners tend to employ many
techniques to delay it. 



THIS WILL NO LONGER BE THE CASE! ABUNDANT SEED PRODUCTION IS NOW CRITICAL!. 



There is an enhanced difficulty level you may want to consider. Gardeners know
and the newbies will quickly find out that getting any crop to produce can be
"VERY" challenging. Feeding the bugs and the compost pile {don't forget our
furry friends either} is a very common occurrence under favorable conditions.
For the uninitiated it is certainly the most common. Now take into
consideration that many staple crops are biennial. Meaning you're going to have
to get those plants to maturity and then through a winter in one reasonably
healthy piece before flowering can start the seed bearing phase which can last
for many months before complete ripening has taken place. A GOOD INDICATION OF
SEED RIPENESS IS HOW MANY BIRDS STOP BYE FOR BREAKFAST! It seems logical to try
and speed this process up thereby reducing some of the pit falls. Following is
a list of items that can be purchased with the first year out of the way and
most of which can be stored for awhile under root cellar conditions for weeks
or even months. These jump start suggestions presumes of course conditions in
yore area are at least marginal for vegetative growth and dry enough in a few
months down the road to harvest something more than mold spores. You should
really take some time to investigate pollination requirements and have a few
small paint brushes handy.

ONION

SHALLOT 

GARLIC

{Onion propagates via seed and sometimes division. Shallot and garlic are
generally by division. Get as wide range of variety as possible to ensure the
best chance of survivability. Onion seed is very perishable}

GREEN ONOIN

LEEK

RUTABAGA

BEET

PARSNIP

RADISH

CARROT {Queen Anne's Lace which is very common here and will cross with carrot}

TURNIP

{Look for as much root and crown area intact as possible}

HORSERADISH {A slow grower but very hardy. Just throw a chunk in, mark the spot
and be patient.}

CELERIAC {This type of celery is for its large root. Here in the NW it keeps
right in the ground over winter most years. Celery can be a slow grower and
needs plenty of water.}

GINGER AND YAMS {These make lovely houseplants very quickly and should thrive
in subtropical regions. I'll need to check more for solid suggestions on
culture. I think yam leaves are edible. CHECK FIRST!}



GENETICALLY ENGINEERED VEGETABLES SHOULD BE AVOIDED!



MOST MARKET VARIETIES OF VEGETABLES ARE HYBRIDS. MEANING THAT THE SEEDS
PRODUCED WILL NOT IN TURN BEAR A UNIFORM OR DEPENDABLE CROP. IT TAKES SEVERAL
GENERATIOS OF SELECTIVE BREEDING TO STABALIZE HYBRIDS. THIS IS A STOP GAP
MEASURE ONLY! {Cert. Organic can solve GE concerns but by no means is a
guarantee of OP varieties.}

IF AT ALL POSSIBLE

ORDER OPEN POLLINATED SEED VARIETYS FROM REPUTABLE SEED DEALERS!



Here's a consideration for post shift farming; 

If you can // divide seed into threes and then again into thirteens.
Planting one portion per lunar cycle over the course of three years. There are
bound to be some difficult times till the weather settles and many subsequent
crop failures. 



BE SURE TO CONSIDER THESE THREE HARDY WINTER GROWING VEGETABLES.

{If you get some snow be sure to take a broom and gently brush plants off
before heavy accumulation or freeze.}

GREEN ONION {Start this one early summer from seed for winter use The LEEK fits
this category as well.}

BOK CHOY {Mustard family}

TENDERGREEN MUSTARD {Mustards grow quickly during the regular season. They seed
very easily in summer. Think about using these varieties for the production of
sprouting seeds for wintertime.} 

FAVA or ENGLISH BROADBEAN {Persons of certain Mediterranean descent may have a
genetic predisposition to a severe toxic reaction with this one. Me Irish! Me
eat anything!:-q 



THE SUGAR BEET SHOULD BE A VERY USFUL CROP AS WELL.

Beets are easy to grow with the sugar beet reaching a foot in length Sugar
beets are used as a very nutritious stock and people food. A well grown sugar
beet can contain as much as five ounces of sugar making it a very good
candidate for fuel grade alcohol production!


