Gathering enough food to live off the land for a year

1 pot hunter

Banned
Oct 24, 2022
379
87
31
Sheffield
Ikea are selling Yucca as houseplants just now; well the Glasgow store was a fortnight ago.

Think about relevant climate when you consider some foods, and for sea or shore foraging, there are a heck of a lot of days, especially in Winter, when that is just a total no-go.

Things that could be done in the past, just can't now. River fish traps for instance, but then they used to say that folks could walk dry shod over a river across the backs of salmon because they were so plentiful.
Try that on the Thames now......

It's interesting to suss out what we can find and eat though :)
I wonder iff salmon will ever return in my lifetime in good numbers I doubt it
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
8,464
8,343
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
@1 pot hunter I've just re-read one of your earlier posts; you are aware aren't you that an FAC does not give you qualifications to stalk? I'm sure you are.

If I understand you correctly, you intend to get all this lot in one go then store it to use as you need it? How are you planning on storing the fish and meat (that's one hell of a freezer)?

As far as Chestnut flour is concerned, Chestnuts in the UK rarely produce a nut worth eating let alone gathering for flour so, I suspect, any bought in flour will be from a country that it is native to.
 

1 pot hunter

Banned
Oct 24, 2022
379
87
31
Sheffield
@1 pot hunter I've just re-read one of your earlier posts; you are aware aren't you that an FAC does not give you qualifications to stalk? I'm sure you are.

If I understand you correctly, you intend to get all this lot in one go then store it to use as you need it? How are you planning on storing the fish and meat (that's one hell of a freezer)?

As far as Chestnut flour is concerned, Chestnuts in the UK rarely produce a nut worth eating let alone gathering for flour so, I suspect, any bought in flour will be from a country that it is native to.
@1 pot hunter I've just re-read one of your earlier posts; you are aware aren't you that an FAC does not give you qualifications to stalk? I'm sure you are.

If I understand you correctly, you intend to get all this lot in one go then store it to use as you need it? How are you planning on storing the fish and meat (that's one hell of a freezer)?

As far as Chestnut flour is concerned, Chestnuts in the UK rarely produce a nut worth eating let alone gathering for flour so, I suspect, any bought in flour will be from a country that it is native to.
My friend is a gamekeeper and has lot connections in regards to stalking I’d obv go thru legal processes n get the necessary qualifications .Your right about chestnut flour id buy it in bulk somehow my idea is hypothetical at this point but it’s ok to dream off the possibilities.
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,669
McBride, BC
Pay close attention to the community efforts needed by First Nations to preserve their annual salmon harvest on the west coast. Everybody has a garage for the car but everybody always parks outside. The garages are all smoke houses. 300+ salmon hanging up is quite a sight and fresh sea smell.

It appears also that every ocean beach was prepared and cultivated for the mariculture of clams, mussels and oysters. Those were no trivial treat = one midden is estimated to hold some 27,000^3m oyster shell alone. Those middens are bottomless, especially further north up the coast.

In this day and time, we are cautioned to take only what we need for a meal from the beaches. What we harvest is from somebody's traditional family holdings and I respect that. Still, I'd like a big bucket of butter clams, strung on cedar cords and alder-wood smoked to dryness!

Individual foraging and survivorship is a rare note of futility. What I still see are the traditions which require the participation of the entire village, except for the elders. Seems that one of the main administrative tasks for the chief is to make certain that food is distributed and everybody gets fed.
 

SCOMAN

Life Member
Dec 31, 2005
2,607
458
54
Perthshire
Why did they go or why did they die? I cannot answer I'm afraid. The one chap came on here looking for learning resources if I remember correctly. Very sad either way. In essence relying on nature to provide is roulette, Russian roulette at that. I think we've damaged nature too much and left too little wild that could in anyway provide for people. Then we come into how many people could it provide for. That is one of the reasons people went down the route of organised agriculture. Not my speciality I'm afraid I've only done a bit of reading.
 

slowworm

Full Member
May 8, 2008
2,171
1,106
Devon
I think we've damaged nature too much and left too little wild that could in anyway provide for people.
As an aside that's one thing I'm trying to add to my small patch of woodland - more edible plants. As some of the woodland is newly planted in trying to increase the amount of edible fruits, roots, herbs etc. Interestingly there are quite a few deer so you could live off venison for a whole year without much trouble.
 

1 pot hunter

Banned
Oct 24, 2022
379
87
31
Sheffield
I think it's far too protein heavy. Recommended balance is no more than 30% protein. With a diet of meat, fish, and nut flour one is very likely to get scurvy and other mineral/vitamin deficiency issues!
Iv eat a carnivore diet in past with zero issues even gone full keto for a physique contest for months on end 6 months in total even potatoes contain vitamin c meat does iff eaten raw also plants are lacking in over 50 micronutrients that meat has ,plants have value sure but in my eyes only for medicine or starch.
 

1 pot hunter

Banned
Oct 24, 2022
379
87
31
Sheffield
I think it's far too protein heavy. Recommended balance is no more than 30% protein. With a diet of meat, fish, and nut flour one is very likely to get scurvy and other mineral/vitamin deficiency issues!
Il also add there’s loads off fussy eaters out there that only eat meat n chips and nothing else n they live for yrs with no issues apart from obesity.
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,669
McBride, BC
I recommend "Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden." It's a condensation of many interviews with a Hidatsa woman who described how they lived (rather well) with the trilogy of beans, squash and corn, supplemented with eggs and meat. One major issue, no matter what they did to store dry food, were the rodents, the mice, the voles and the rats. You will have competition for your resources.

2. If you have not yet read Andy Weir's work of fiction: "The Martian," you really should. NASA fact checked his maths for survivorship, growing potatoes is of great biological accuracy.
It's a wonderful drama and also a great lesson in nutrition, calories and human physiology. Yes, it can be done.

I have not followed the outflow from the book. I'd like to see attempts to mimic his "gardening" and survival here on earth. I would allow any and all useful forms of preservation as rodents here were not an issue for him on Mars.
= = = =
It's only come to light in very recent years but the Haida, Tlingit and Tsimshian on the Northwest coast have been growing potatoes for centuries in hidden forest gardens.
This potato is an exact genetic clone of one grown also in Peru. Who brought it north? Chinese and Russian traders were here long before Europeans. Maybe Spanish Conquistadors? Point is, it's a huge caloric cushion to supplement ocean harvestings.
It has a name now, I have forgotten., should have written it down. I want to eat some. Modest size, pale yellow and elongate.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 pot hunter

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE