Day 801 (Daily Post)
Day 801. It is a chilly morning here today and I am grateful that I was capable of getting some more propane on that last supply run that I went on. I am also grateful for the contribution that made purchasing the propane possible without requiring me to short myself on how much food I got for the month. Being warm and having a full belly sure does my mental attitude a hell of a lot of good especially now that I have been needing a high calorie diet because I am doing a good bit of physical activity each day.
What I often think of as 'the food scenario' (my food supply/availability) has been something that I have been thinking about quite a bit lately and although I have adamantly avoided trying to be self-sufficient in that regard for a number of logistical/pragmatic reasons I also think that I eventually want to overcome the many obstacles that make doing so prohibitive. Growing food is great and all but as I often say 'I am just one person' and what I mean by that is that I want to avoid creating more work for myself than what I can reasonably undertake on my own and to be blunt I already have my hands full with the projects I am working on which probably is not going to change any time soon because I am still in what I think of as 'the building phase'.
Another aspect of producing my own food is being capable of both processing it and the long-term storage of it. The solar dehydrator I built works well enough but it is limited by how much sun there is and in the volume of how much food I can dehydrate at a time and from my previous experiments with it I lost about half of what I tried to dehydrate because the sun did not shine, it rained and stuff got moldy. Canning food is not really an option for a number of reasons and anyone that has ever done large scale canning can tell you that it is quite the chore and requires a pretty sterile environment, lots of energy (boiling large quantities of water) and the expense of the jars and lids themselves. So those two methods of storage aside leaves two options that I am aware of and one being a freezer which just isn't going to work in my scenario with my limited electricity and the second option which is a root cellar or multiple root cellar for storing various types of food that do not store well together in the same environment. I am actually rather fond of the root cellar idea and although it can be as simple as burying a barrel in the ground I would prefer to have one I can walk into and not have to either just eat what is stored at the top of a barrel or remove some of the barrel's contents to get to the stuff not at the top. Digging an actual root cellar is no simple task and there are a number of considerations to make when doing it like water seepage, ventilation and structural integrity to name a few. If I ever do start producing a lot of food I think that digging and constructing a root cellar would be a good fit for my scenario.
Another thing that I have contemplated with food is utilizing a greenhouse or walipini to just produce a fresh food supply that does not require storage but there are some considerations to make taking that route because greenhouses are expensive to build, require a steady supply of water, require a heat source during the winter and (like field grown crops) can be wiped out by pests, diseases and fungi. Some might be thinking 'nothing ventured nothing gained' but in my more pragmatic thinking of 'risk versus reward' it would be gambling a hell of a lot of my time and resources which I am just not all that into especially given that neither of my opposing thumbs are green. I am also still rather resolute in applying myself to growing black locust trees and growing anything else for other than hobby or experimental purposes should not take precedence over that project.
When I think of 'farming' (in regards to food or growing things) I think of the aspects that I am good at with it which amounts to two things making dirt and building water systems which all things considered is a pretty good starting point. I will undoubtedly continue to learn, continue to build upon that 'starting point' but I am not quite delusional enough to think that I can grow and adequately store all my own food supply. As things stand I think that I do alright by shopping once per month at a discount store and spending between forty to eighty dollars a month on my food which means that on the lean forty dollar months I feed myself with one dollar and twenty-nine cents per day and on the better months I feed myself on two dollars and fifty-eight cents a day. I don't think that either price point is all that shabby but someday it would be nice to either be able to afford five dollars a day on food or grow my own and watch those numbers shrink closer to zero. Either way I would be happy with the changes to my 'food scenario'.
Having achieved electricity independence and water independence I think it would be pretty damn awesome to also achieve food independence. If that last were as simple as the first two I would definitely be well on my way to doing it by now. It all goes back to the 'I am just one person' thing and I already have my hands full juggling what I am juggling. Living a rather hermit-like lifestyle is great for an incredible number of reasons but it also presents obstacles and drawbacks that I can't quite overcome because I am after all just one person with only two hands, limited resources and only so much time each day to do the things that I want/need to do and with that...daylight is fucking burning and I need to get this edited and posted so I can really start my damn day and see what all I can accomplish. I hope that everyone is doing well and has a good day/night.
I have wanted to dig a root cellar for years but have been too intimidated to try. It's the structural integrity that worries me. I'm no engineer.
Best to know our limits @goat-girlz! The engineering aspect is not a big deal for me because I am rather adept at over-engineering things. It is more that I do not currently have a need for it other than as a potential storm shelter but even then I cannot quite justify the time and resources it will take. It is assuredly on my list of things to do but it is way down on that list! :)
Indeed! I haven't done enough gardening the last few years to justify the effort either. But it would be cool.
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