How will you survive?

[Christopha]

I posted a couple of links the other day that presume that in just a few short years our civilisation as we know it will be history, presuming there is anyone to write it! Some of us are city types, some of us country, who do you think will survive the "apocalypse" of no oil, no power, no food, no water the longest or at all? What will you do? Where will you go? How will you try to survive?

[echnidna]

Ask grunt he's already headin bush to his strawbale house.

[womble]

we'll switch to ethanol, no collapse or apocalypse necessary

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10723254/

[ozwinner]

Im going to buy a goat to tow my trailer full of gear to work.

Al :)

[Studley 2436]

Oz you should ask Kevin Rudd if you can borrow the goat he gave John Howard.

After all if the Apocalypse happens we will be too busy saving ourselves to worry about Africa

Studley

[echnidna]

The solution to survival will depend on which way civilisation comes to an end or will it undergo a dramatic metamorphisis.

If theres no more oil ever starting tomorrow there would be upheaval but other fuels would come available relatively fast.

If it occurs due to oil and climate problems remnant communities will arise.

If its the big nuke, most infrastructure will dissappear so rapidly that the evolvment of a new civilisation will face totally different problems,

As I see it the biggest single impediment to new civilsations rising from the ashes will be inability to communicate with other new or surviving societies.

In the shorterm there would be problems with wandering gatherers.
Surviving in the midterm is possible, with enough notice by growing your own food etc, but that leaves many city dwellers right up the creek. So get a stock of seeds and put them away.

So Grunts little farm and strawbale house might be his ultimate survival. All he needs is guns to hold the maurauders at bay.

[Doughboy]

Get a horse and cart. Much easier........

Built in fertilizer machine. Dont cost too much to keep, no rego, no tires, shoes easy to change, all good http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon14.gif

Pete

[Cliff Rogers]

Geeze you blokes... for the 2nd (maybe 3rd) time in his life Chris posts a serious (at least I think it was meant to be, not just a troll for a barney) post & you blokes turn it into a joke. :rolleyes:

Anyway, back to the subject.... survival.... Urban legend has it that the cockroaches will survive just about anything so, we all move to NSW. (State of Origin Joke):cool:

Sorry Chris, I didn't take you seriously either. :D

[ozwinner]

Get a horse and cart. Much easier........

Built in fertilizer machine. Dont cost too much to keep, no rego, no tires, shoes easy to change, all good http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon14.gif

Pete

Not so fast there horse boy.
The new goverment has started a new tax on manure, the more your animal produces, the more you pay.
And the rego is determined by animal mass.

Al :)

[Andy Mac]

So get a stock of seeds and put them away.
I heard the other day on news somewhere that there are countries already stockpiling seeds in 'Arks', in out of the way places like Greenland. Fully sealed and self-contained in case something happens to existing gene stocks of essential plants.:eek:
In general I don't think there is any great problem switching to other fuels, except maybe highly volatile fuels for aviation. Electricity will still be generated from whatever, so short transport will still be feasible. Its just a case of how much people will be prepared to pay!
If its Armageddon, I don't think I'd like to be around to fight for the scraps. Any notion of humanity would soon be quashed.

See ya.

[namtrak]

For all the doomsayers out there read this book, it will really set your pantry packing going.

By Bill Bryson, A short History of everything
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076790818X/sr=8-1/qid=1153993321/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-7485122-6876655?ie=UTF8)

It's a great read, but I gotta tell you there's about another dozen ways that the earth is going to end in a split second that I never knew about - have you ever heard of a Caldera? Doomsaying and sensationalism apart, it is a good read gives a broadbrush on all sorts of stuff.

[craigb]

One thing that people forget is that if there is one thing that humans are good at it's adapting.
This is how we got to be at the top of the food chain.

Now I'm not saying that everything is sweet and that there aren't any problems in the world (actually I think that it's unlikely that humanity will make it to the end of the century) but I'm not chicken little either.

Anybody remember nuclear winter?

[Termite]

Who cares, me as I know me will be history in a few years, and I would have to be the supreme egotist to think that anything I could do would change the fact of my demise or the future of the world.
I tend not to dwell on the things I can't do anything about, enjoy life instead of worrying about what might happen.

[echnidna]

Who cares, me as I know me will be history in a few years, and I would have to be the supreme egotist to think that anything I could do would change the fact of my demise or the future of the world.

maybe but maybe not :)

[Cliff Rogers]

....Who cares, me as I know me will be history in a few years, and I would have to be the supreme egotist to think that anything I could do would change the fact of my demise or the future of the world.
I tend not to dwell on the things I can't do anything about, enjoy life instead of worrying about what might happen.
You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them. And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in singin' a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day walking in, singin' a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. And friends, they may think it's a movement.
And that's what it is, the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacree Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it comes around on the guitar.
With feeling.....

[craigb]

You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them. And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in singin' a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day walking in, singin' a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. And friends, they may think it's a movement.
And that's what it is, the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacree Movement, and all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it comes around on the guitar.
With feeling.....

Bloody old Hippie. :p

You know, I saw Arlo Guthrie on TV a year or so ago. He looked like a retired accountant. ;)

[Gumby]

That was a bloody good song. I've got it on vinyl somewhere :rolleyes:

As for all the other $hit - mate I'm not living my life worried about stuff that won't happen. That is just plain stupid.

[Cliff Rogers]

That was a bloody good song. I've got it on vinyl somewhere :rolleyes:...

I have it on CD, it is about the best thing I know of to sort out a head problem in 25 minutes. :D

[Christopha]

Well, it was serious question....

Just how long is it going to take Al and the object of his sexual desires to tow his tools and his new found scaffold to the job that won't exist? How long will it take the electric company to find and fix the fault with their horse drawn van? Who will bring Zed his bananas all the way from Queensland in their bullock dray? How do I fit shafts for the horse to my Nissan? What will power your Triton routers and your Jet tablesaws? Come to think of it, what will a horse be worth and how will you keep it in suburbia when most of your neighbours will want to eat the thing??

I was serious.............

[Cliff Rogers]

Well, it was serious question.......I was serious.............

Want to borrow my Arlo Guthrie CD for half an hour? :D

[Christopha]

Got it already, good schidt

[Harry72]

I'll change my name to Aurther Dent!

[chrisb691]

I'll head for Chistopha's place. He started the thread.......he must have a plan.





This song is called Alice's Restaurant, and it's about Alice, and the
restaurant, but Alice's Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant,
that's just the name of the song, and that's why I called the song Alice's
Restaurant.

You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant.......dum de dum de dah

[Gumby]

I was serious.............

So was I :cool:

[Bodgy]

The question about energy and peak oil, is not actually an issue about fuel. Like most things in life it is a question about economics, or more succinctly $$.

There is plenty of fuel to generate energy, it's just a matter of upsetting various apple carts.

For example, nuclear (like it or hate) has the potential to generate more than enough electricity for Oz (and NZ) forever, and we have the largest uranium deposits.

We also have huge natural gas reserves for cars or they can use batteries as above.

Trucks and all diesel engines can easily be converted to run on many alternate fuels, used cooking oil, ethanol mixes etc. Solar, wind etc are all alternative power sources, they just cost too much and the existing big businesses have been slow to get a slice in them.

There's no crisis, just a matter of increased costs for energy.

The crisis is for the established providers of energy, the established automobile manufacturers and the oil companies et al.

These pillars of the establishment have probably generated the current hoo hah to soften us up for big price rises whilst they scramble to monopolise the new energy sources

Look on the bright side, once oil is remaindered, no-one will give two monkeys for the Middle East. They can all just be left to it. Probably last about a week.

[China]

if you beleive all that it is already too late for you

[craigb]

if you beleive all that it is already too late for you

To do what?

If there's one thing I've learned it's that it's pointless worrying about something that you have no control over.

I suppose you could build a straw bale house or something, but at the end of the day you'd just end up snotted like everyone else.

Que sera sera.

[Ashore]

I have it on CD, it is about the best thing I know of to sort out a head problem in 25 minutes. :D


Picked up the DVD the other day, couldn't resist, great movie better music.

But as to stoppers post why the first thing I would do is get my shovel out and dig up that bit of pvc tube I buried a while back.:cool:

[silentC]

I made a start by getting out of Sydney. That's not a place you want to be when the shyte hits the fan.

Bring it on I say. I've been planning for it for years...

[Iain]

:cool:

[bitingmidge]

Well it's Friday, so I'll be serious too!

Remember only 20% of the world live like we do. That's us, the Seppo's, and a few Europeans.

The rest of the world lives somewhere between subsistence, and what the yuppie alternative lifestylers would mistake for utopian comfort.

They lead a life of assisted by a degree of self-sufficiency, just as our parents (for those over 60) or grandparents did.

I am not alone on this board in remembering a time when close to a minority of families had cars, no town water, few home phones, one light in each room (used sparingly), and that's more likely to be the picture here.

A return to "the good old days", when a train trip to the beach 60 k's away was akin to annual leave, and you killed the oldest chook for a special meal when someone had a birthday.

Most in this country, are one generation or less (in the case of many immigrants) from that lifestyle, and generally we haven't forgotten how to be resourceful, so will survive comfortably.

We are very detached from the holocaustic scenarios one can paint if one realistically analyses lifestyles in much of the US and Western Europe, so I don't have any grave fears for my generation.

I think it will be my grandchildren who will really need to learn stuff that I was exposed to as a matter of course, so while not going all dreadlocks, mushrooms and strawbales, I will certainly be working towards a more self-sufficiently oriented lifestyle that I can use by way of instruction.

Mind you, I have fairly strong thoughts on rabid consumerism as it is, so won't be putting my thoughts out on a podcast just yet! ;)

Don't worry about running out of fuel, it won't happen in our lifetime, and even when it gets hideously expensive, they'll still have public transport. You just may have to sell some Eggs or Chokos to pay the fare.

Cheers,

P
:D :D :D

[silentC]

Does anyone know anything about worm farms? I want to set one up. I've heard an old bathtub is good. Can worm tea be used to power an engine?

[Wongo]

I’ll become a vegetable-ian (how do you spell vegetarian again? :D) and eat tofu all day.:D

[Cliff Rogers]

Yes.
OK.
Yes, if you cover it.
No.

[silentC]

Can I substitute vegetable-ians (or Wongos) for the worms?

[Wongo]

Silent I thought you have already worked out a cunning way to get cheap fuel. Why stuff around with the worms?:D

Ok back to the topic. If the end of our civilisation is near then what will happen to my super?:confused:

[Wongo]

And why do work so hard to pay off the house?

[craigb]

Ok back to the topic. If the end of our civilisation is near then what will happen to my super?:confused:

The bad news is you won't get to spend it.
The good news is neither will anyone else. ;)

[silentC]

Sorry Wongo, but super-phosphate is harmful to the environment. Worm tea, on the other hand, is nature's fertiliser. Now come and lie down in this nice mud bath I've made for you and nibble on some of these leafy vegetables :D

[Wongo]

The bad news is you won't get to spend it.
The good news is neither will anyone else. ;)


So the banks get to keep everything. Bloody hell.

[craigb]

What Banks? It's the end of civilization remember.

[Iain]

Psst, Wongo, I've got some tofu seeds, want to buy some;)

[Zed]

Not so fast there horse boy.
The new goverment has started a new tax on manure, the more your animal produces, the more you pay.
And the rego is determined by animal mass.

Al :)


in a post apocolyptic society any tax collector had better be well armed...

[Ashore]

Silent Don't go with the worms Get an Apiary no not a house like Zed's but a place to breed Bees, they produce a usable fuel that will run most car engines.;)

[Daddles]

Ahhh worm farms. My brother in law, Fig Jam, spend squillions on a worm farm. It lasted a day ... before their cocker spaniel got into it and ate all the worms :D

Richard

[Stuart]

You know, getting back to Christopha's original question:

I'd love it. If I had a choice of location, South Island of New Zealand.
But wherever it was - a small village community, self-sufficient farming, water powered tools (such as the workshops of old - belt drives etc).

I wouldn't miss TV, computers, cars, planes, telephones etc etc.

Perhaps life expectancy would shorten considerably, but it would feel like they are honest years, and a real sense of achievement. Anyone want to start an Armish community now?

[bitingmidge]

So how do the worms drink worm tea anyway? Last time I saw one it didn't have any hands to hold the cup?

:confused: :confused: :confused:

P

[Zed]

wongo, the banks will be closed.

all the bank managers will be against the wall with the lawyers, the politicians, the oil execs and the military generals without thier own militia - all in a nanosecond... you ever seen a video of a bunch of ragheads tearing up a seppo flag ? thats how quick it will be...

You on the other hand will either die quickly with the rest of us, or, you'll be hiding your wife and kids and going out hunting with an axe and a knife for cat, possum, king parrot, indian mynah bird or dog - no bag limit. you'll also be stuffing your shirt with old $5 bills and super statements to keep warm and to start fires "later on". you can go live in any mansion you like - so long as you are prepared to wipe out the previous inhabitant... and I didnt mean cockroaches - you'll have to share with them regardless; there'll be no more mortein...

all your precious timber will be burnt cooking dog, cat and possum and your jet will be turned on its side int he doorway and used as a defensive device or just rust in the corner as a makeshift table - you may even wind the handle up and down a few times thinking of the good old days...

the new rich will be those with the "McGiver knack" of building a tram froma bale of straw. Or be the ones with cans of pal buried in the back shed. Seeds, arable land, swimming pools hidden underground with clean water will be commodity items for barter. Those with reminant medicines, guns, bullets, matches, ligther fliud, flint and lighters or keys to secure facilities or out of the way places will be wealthy.

Those with some goats, chooks and sheep will probably be ok too - the cows will roam wild and the oz enviroment will suffer the shock of the cloven hoof until they are hunted out very quickly by the survivors of the apocolypse. A new meat will be in the shops - "long Pork" YUM!!!

Those in the country will hide and become the true inbreds and send out hunting parties to steal wimin and kids and long pork - they will become ace sharpshooters and a 303 with a long scope will be a priceless item = I predict most rifles will have at least 100 kills and 300 owners before the ammo runs out...

"Your stuff" will be stuff you can hold with both hands and run away with yelling "mine, mine, mine!!!" so long as you dont get shot in the back by your hunting partner because he's a bit hungrier than you or he likes your wife.... Your thigh muscle is probably very tasty with all that basketball jumping you've done....

Oh... marksmanship with bows and arrows, feudal societies and short life expectancies will be the norm. a bloke in his 30's is old, a bloke in his 40's is meat and a bloke in his 50's is unheard of. quick build a trbuchet and a stone wall!! make some friends and bind with blood for life to protect eachother - you'll all have to live in the same unscalable fortress and your poo will be fertilizer for your farm in the "special hidden place..."

Dont worry about your super - quick, buy rubber gloves and stock up on panadol now, dress your timber while you can....

[echnidna]

Yes.
OK.
Yes, if you cover it.
No.

Yeah, but leave the plug out or the worms will drown in it.

[Zed]

iron mongery (as opposed to mongrels) to manufacture swords shall make a comeback. as shall the art of knife fighting. the roman tortise and probably the best thing in war shall be re-seen : only the combatitants shall die in battle. pillage shall still be de-riguer!

pikes, battle charging horseys and k-nigets shall galloop just like romper room.. however war shall be localsied since tranport shall be confined to hay burners and a few bicycles and balloons.

a bike with gears shall be the gruntomatic for your lathe to make rustuc furniture and unsquare wooden wheels for your battle chariot and hay burning plough...

is this what you want to read Chrissy ?

[Farm boy]

Well the way israel and palestine are at it it will not be long :rolleyes:

[graemet]

Sounds like you've all been reading old John Wyndham books!
Cheers
Graeme

[Farm boy]

whos john wyndham?

[Cliff Rogers]

& just HOW old is he? :D

[craigb]

It's all the bloody Triffids fault if you ask me.

[graemet]

Day of the Triffids, The Kraken Wakes, The Midwich Cuckoos, Trouble with Lichen, Jizzle. 1950s sci-fi. No spaceships and not many aliens but placing contemporary people in disaster situations, exploring the human responses to survival conditions.
(Well I liked them, anyway)
Cheers
Graeme

[graemet]

It's all the bloody Triffids fault if you ask me.
Onya Craig,
I don't suppose these philistines read PAPER books.

[Clinton1]

I think I will harness amphetamine fuelled boxing kangaroos to my chariot, and hurl Tassie Devils and rabid wombats at those people that are hording all the good food and sexy wimmin - till those good food and sexy wimmin hording people give in and run away (or die).
Then I'll make the sexy wimmin cook me some of that food, and keep those wimmin busy supervising the Tassie Devil/Wombat hybrid breeding program.

On Mondays and Tuesdays I will work on creating a fiefdom (via my cunning plan involving my trebuchet hurled Tassie DevBats)... the rest of the week I'll practise being a Zen Buddist, Amish living, benign dictator.

Can't wait.

[Christopha]

iron mongery (as opposed to mongrels) to manufacture swords shall make a comeback. as shall the art of knife fighting. the roman tortise and probably the best thing in war shall be re-seen : only the combatitants shall die in battle. pillage shall still be de-riguer!

pikes, battle charging horseys and k-nigets shall galloop just like romper room.. however war shall be localsied since tranport shall be confined to hay burners and a few bicycles and balloons.

a bike with gears shall be the gruntomatic for your lathe to make rustuc furniture and unsquare wooden wheels for your battle chariot and hay burning plough...

is this what you want to read Chrissy ?

Zeddypoos, methinks you has lost it old son.....:rolleyes:

[Andy Mac]

I think I will harness amphetamine fuelled boxing kangaroos to my chariot, and hurl Tassie Devils and rabid wombats at those people that are hording all the good food and sexy wimmin - till those good food and sexy wimmin hording people give in and run away (or die).
Then I'll make the sexy wimmin cook me some of that food, and keep those wimmin busy supervising the Tassie Devil/Wombat hybrid breeding program.

On Mondays and Tuesdays I will work on creating a fiefdom (via my cunning plan involving my trebuchet hurled Tassie DevBats)... the rest of the week I'll practise being a Zen Buddist, Amish living, benign dictator.

Can't wait.

And he's serious!:eek:

Cheers:D

[Iain]

Can't be, no clocks, calenders etc, no Mondays, weekends, public holidays, pay days, sickies, unions although I suspect a government wouldn't be too far away.

[Christopha]

wongo, the banks will be closed.

all the bank managers will be against the wall with the lawyers, the politicians, the oil execs and the military generals without thier own militia - all in a nanosecond... you ever seen a video of a bunch of ragheads tearing up a seppo flag ? thats how quick it will be...

You on the other hand will either die quickly with the rest of us, or, you'll be hiding your wife and kids and going out hunting with an axe and a knife for cat, possum, king parrot, indian mynah bird or dog - no bag limit. you'll also be stuffing your shirt with old $5 bills and super statements to keep warm and to start fires "later on". you can go live in any mansion you like - so long as you are prepared to wipe out the previous inhabitant... and I didnt mean cockroaches - you'll have to share with them regardless; there'll be no more mortein...

all your precious timber will be burnt cooking dog, cat and possum and your jet will be turned on its side int he doorway and used as a defensive device or just rust in the corner as a makeshift table - you may even wind the handle up and down a few times thinking of the good old days...

the new rich will be those with the "McGiver knack" of building a tram froma bale of straw. Or be the ones with cans of pal buried in the back shed. Seeds, arable land, swimming pools hidden underground with clean water will be commodity items for barter. Those with reminant medicines, guns, bullets, matches, ligther fliud, flint and lighters or keys to secure facilities or out of the way places will be wealthy.

Those with some goats, chooks and sheep will probably be ok too - the cows will roam wild and the oz enviroment will suffer the shock of the cloven hoof until they are hunted out very quickly by the survivors of the apocolypse. A new meat will be in the shops - "long Pork" YUM!!!

Those in the country will hide and become the true inbreds and send out hunting parties to steal wimin and kids and long pork - they will become ace sharpshooters and a 303 with a long scope will be a priceless item = I predict most rifles will have at least 100 kills and 300 owners before the ammo runs out...

"Your stuff" will be stuff you can hold with both hands and run away with yelling "mine, mine, mine!!!" so long as you dont get shot in the back by your hunting partner because he's a bit hungrier than you or he likes your wife.... Your thigh muscle is probably very tasty with all that basketball jumping you've done....

Oh... marksmanship with bows and arrows, feudal societies and short life expectancies will be the norm. a bloke in his 30's is old, a bloke in his 40's is meat and a bloke in his 50's is unheard of. quick build a trbuchet and a stone wall!! make some friends and bind with blood for life to protect eachother - you'll all have to live in the same unscalable fortress and your poo will be fertilizer for your farm in the "special hidden place..."

Dont worry about your super - quick, buy rubber gloves and stock up on panadol now, dress your timber while you can....

Perhaps a little drastic.... but a very interesting Mad Maxish future... one thing totally wrong though, how the hell will this plastic crap money be any good for firelighting?

[bitingmidge]

Clinton may well have a point about needing rabid wombats.

The trouble with this whole debate is that the only people who think seriously about it are the raving loonies. (See Clinton's post if you don't believe me!;) )

Take this bloke for example http://survivalplus.com lots of good stuff, interspersed with beaut home-spun wisdom like :

Consequently, only the rich got colon cancer. Colon cancer is caused by the buildup of carcinogens on intestinal linings.

So read all this stuff to further your knowledge, but believe it at your peril!

He does have a theory espoused somewhere there that I quite like though- by learning to produce your own food (and again here in Oz, most of us are less than one generation detached from those skills, so it's a bit of a moot point), one will be free when "the catastrophe" happens.

He says there are three types of survivalist (in the US):
1) those who hoard preserved food, which will present them with a stockpile that will last till they run out, or have it stolen.

2) The radical militia movements, who hoard food and will then go and kill anyone else who has food when theirs runs out.

3) The producer who just keeps making (farming) their own, and who eat stuff that the other two wouldn't consider eating (green vegetables and grain for instance) and will therefore be ignored as "not worthy of being killed for".

Great stuff!

P (I wanna be a farmer too! :D )

[bitingmidge]

Oh, and to further my respect for Kurt, he strongly advises his readers against migrating to Australia to avoid the crunch!

A few survivalists have considered migration as a way of getting out from under the impending doom of the American system. R. Hodkinson of Australia recommends his country as a place for Americans to settle. He means well but he obviously has known few Americans.

For most American migrants to Australia, the place is a miserable experience, both for them and the Australians they deal with.

http://www.survivalplus.com/philosophy/page0004.htm

:D :D :D

Cheers,

P

[ernknot]

Oh, and to further my respect for Kurt, he strongly advises his readers against migrating to Australia to avoid the crunch!


http://www.survivalplus.com/philosophy/page0004.htm

:D :D :D

Cheers,

P
Spread the word, spread the word!

[journeyman Mick]

Who's this bloody R.Hodgkinson bloke think he is? We need to find him and tell him to stop invitng everybody over! :rolleyes:

Mick

[silentC]

So back to the worms, what my mate has done is he has set up an old bath and he has hung a bottle from the bottom under the plug hole. This fills up with worm tea, which he feeds to his plants. That's what I'm going to do.

My uncle had bees. What's the go with that?

[bitingmidge]

Worm tea isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Why not just pee on your lemon bush like everyone else does?

Or collect cowpats, and drop them in a drum of water to make liquid manure?

Or do the same with chook poo?

It's just that worms have got such tiny little bumholes, so they have to work really hard to produce enough to feed the Azaleas. (Did you hear about the dyslectic dingo.... never mind :rolleyes: )

Or just stick the worms in the ground and use plenty of organic mulch, and you'll get the same without needing a bath, a bottle, or the need to carry it over to the plants!

Cheers,

P
:D

[silentC]

Yeah but what do I do with my vegie scraps then? Come on Mr Answers!

[journeyman Mick]

Feed 'em to your chooks or compost them.:p Actually if things get really tough you'll be looking very hard at what's "scrap" and what goes into the soup or stew.;)

Mick

[bitingmidge]

Or just stick the worms in the ground and use plenty of organic mulch,

Veggie Scraps= organic mulch.

Dig them in or lightly cover them in your veggie patch.

Works for me! ;)

Cheers,

P

[silentC]

OK, so worm farms are for city slickers and if you have the space to plant a decent garden, you can cut out the middle man and just bury the stuff in the ground and let nature take it's course. Is this what you are telling me?

Haven't got any chooks yet but they are on the list. My nan used to feed egg shells to her chooks. Now that's recycling...

[bitingmidge]

Well there won't be any veggie scraps left to feed to the worms if you're getting chooks!

:rolleyes:

P
:D :D :D

[silentC]

What if I feed the vegie scraps to the worms, collect their poo to grow more vegies, and then feed the worms to the chooks?

Bugger this, it's all too hard. Think I'll sell the house and move into an apartment at The Coast (http://search.premises.com.au/fnsearch/resdetail2.php?id=190803).

[echnidna]

keep a little worm farm for bait
feed scraps to the chooks
eat their eggs
let them hatch chickens
the hens you keep to replace the old ones
the roosters you eat
make the chook shed so foxes can't get into it.
forget the townhouse it hasn't got a decent shed.

[silentC]

So now I have to become a chicken sexer? :eek:

I saw a fox the other day slinking through the vacant block next door. Reminds me I'd better let the bloke across the road know because it was coming from his direction and he has chooks.

[Wongo]

I drink Chinese tea everyday but I would like to try some worm tea. So what’s the go sir? Do I just add live worms to hot tea and where can I buy them?

[echnidna]

So now I have to become a chicken sexer? :eek:

I saw a fox the other day slinking through the vacant block next door. Reminds me I'd better let the bloke across the road know because it was coming from his direction and he has chooks.

You'll soon learn the difference between a rooster and a hen.
hint - roosters don't lay eggs :D

[Ashore]

My uncle had bees. What's the go with that?

Collect their waste BP has been fueling cars for years:D

[himzol]

Hmmm... I just realized I haven't seen the movie "Soylant (sp) Green" for a while.

[Cliff Rogers]

Seriously...
We used to bury our scraps, soil was good, lots of rich humus, graden worms etc, had a few problems with rodents if we didn't bury it deep enough.
Then we got a worm farm... ($36 for special worms, $98 for special house)
We feed it MOUNTAINS of scraps, shreaded paper, lawn clippings, water, lime, etc.
We get back a couple of buckets of brown water & all sorts of other wild life moves into the farm as well... insects, including bettles & cochroaches, geckos & green ants, trying to catch the insects... Rats moved into my shed next door to it, cats turned up for a bit of the action....:mad:
We now have a house in the hills with 9 bush turkeys roaming around.
We take scraps & chuck them in an old garden with all the garden clippings & the turkeys know that it is 'their' garden.
We don't even bother burying them 'cos they just dig them up about 3.52967 seconds after we leave.

If you don't have chooks, bury them in the garden (the scraps, not the chooks that you don't have). ;)

Now, not seriously, I want to hear about the dyslectic dingo.

BTW, did you know that an anogram of 'a readers digest' is 'dead tigers @rse'?
Nope, well it is worth remembering I'm sure. :cool:

[Cliff Rogers]

'tis interesting to ponder the legacy of the past.
(Cross posted from another thread.)
I grew up in Central Western Queensland.
Cars & trucks only became available for general use by the 'bushies' during my Dad's youth & my Grandpas mid life. (About the age I am now.)
Before that, all travel/transport in that area was by horse or bullock wagon.
Some little remembered facts. (Like 'why bother?')
A horse with a load will average 14 miles a day. (About 22.5 kms)
A bullock with a load will average 10 miles a day (about 16 Kms) but will live 'on the road' IE: can stay alive eating the grass whereas the horse needs food supplements if it is to keep up the pace.
Great Grandpa Rogers bought a settler's block about 50 miles from Longreach (nearest town) back in 1888. (I think, it was 1880 something)
{bear with me, I will get to the point}
When he first settled there, he only had a horse so it was about a 3 & a half day ride to town & the horse was fairly buggered when he arrived.
That meant he either had to swap the horse for a fresh one or wait a while before he went home again.
Either way, he is still gone for more than a week.
{Getting closer to the point now}
They could carry some extra feed & put it in a nose bag but the need arose for ‘way stations’ or ‘stopover’ points for water, feed, maybe fresh horses, a bed & food for the traveler(s) too…
Remember the ‘stage’ coaches, Cobb & Co etc????
They would stop for a fresh team at regular intervals so they could travel further & faster ; this meant ‘towns’ grew around the ‘way stations’ or ‘stopover’ points.
Back in the late 1800’s in Aus, the ‘way stations’ or ‘stopover’ points were usually called Hotels.
{Still with me or have you gone to the pub?}
On the trip from my Great Grandpa Rogers’ place to Longreach there were at least 2 ‘hotels’ that I reckon I could take you to the general location of even though they were gone before I can ever remember.
I do remember where they are and their names but apart from a bit of broken glass on the ground, there is nothing left of those places… just word of mouth memories & I have never shown or told my kids & I moved away.
When I die, those word of mouth memories go too unless somebody else out there either puts up a sign or stays & has offspring who stay to pass on the memories.
A further 6 miles on from my Great Grandpa Rogers’ place, (6 miles being an average half day trip by horse or bullock) is a place that was an out station from my Great Grandpa Rogers’ place. If they were going to work in that part of the property, they would spend a day loading up, traveling there & unloading. They would then camp there until the work was done & then load up & go home again. It was near water, had a ‘night paddock’ with a trough for the horses & it had a rainwater tank for human drinking/cooking water.
I can take you there & show you the bore for the water, the old fence for the ‘night paddock’, but all else that is left is a concrete step & a bit of rusty iron & some broken glass. I even remember the name of the last bloke who lived at that outstation even though he was dead & gone before I was born but my kids don’t know.
My Dad now owns the part of the property around that outstation.
To get to town would have taken George about 4 days on a horse…
In the ‘60s we could do in about an hour & 5 mins in a 1962 falcon.
Just for the hell of it, I have done it in 45 minutes in a 1992 Commodore.
It takes about 20 minutes in a light aeroplane.

PS. I'm not an expert on horses & some people who do know more about them have issuses with the speeds quoted. The point I would make is that these are figures told to me from the days of old in the bush in arid climates & are not current for modern endurance rides.

[Doughboy]

Cliff I hate to tell you mate but horse can and do travel a lot farther and faster than what you have quoted.

I have a horse that can trot at an average speed of 27 km/h averaged over several days ride.

Pete

[Cliff Rogers]

Through arid country?

How many water & feed stops do you have along the way at what spacing?

What sort of load are you carrying?

[Doughboy]

Cliff I will admit feed is every night and water probably every 20 km's but the load is definitely the one factor that would slow you down. I have used a pack horse carrying 40 kg of fencing gear and I certainly was not slowed down by him.

But back in the day of your grandfather he probably did not have the same shoe technology, feed quality and absolute desire to push to the limits. I think I was born in the wrong age. My idea of a holiday is to head out into the bush with a packhorse and supplies for a month and not see a soul for the entire time.

Oh well life has to go on though..........

Pete

[Cliff Rogers]

The blokes using bullocks & horses used to hate the camels 'cos they would undercut them.
The could carry between 400 & 600 pounds & go about 130 miles (200Kms) in 8 days without water.
That is about 25Kms a day.
The Canning had water every 15 miles (24kms) & it wasn't used much 'cos the stock would loose condition on the way 'cos they couldn't eat & still move fast enough between water.