being more self sufficient from nature.

[EggWalrus]

so true that there is a bounty in the woods for all of us, heck there is food to be found every where.

where i live we have had tons of dandelions found out they where edible and that you can make a type of drink out of there roots last winter, this last spring i went to go get some on our small acreage and there was like 5 i could find, there where none at all. which made me sad but overall it was really weird years before there where hundreds last year none.

Most people have wild lettuce, dandelions, poke weed and a plethora of other wild edibles when they first move somewhere. But grass cutting and weeding winds up making them disappear if they don't know what they are looking at. I have tried my damnedest to transplant what would take root, to parts of the yard I don't mow so they would continue growing every year. But it doesn't always work.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

going to do some pigeon/partridge/rabbit and hare hunting this weekend.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

but started to think (mainly due to an article i read) about land management, now we i started thinking about mainly game and hunting. but also looking at edibles such as cattails and fruit trees.

for a question i was thinking how much land does one need to survive off of? or gather a major amount of food to knock down that dreaded grocery bill. i think the answer is different for everyone, for the fact that every eco-region is different. different animals, plants, water, fish etc. and the amount your willing to hunt and gather for your food.

for example where i live to where i plan to forage and hunt is about 150KM away its a different area completely. its also much more productive then the small acreage we live on.

 

[Shadrach]

There is lots here from wild asparagus to truffles. Every year someone here dies from picking and eating the wrong mushrooms.
There is one motto I think is worthwhile bearing in mind when attempting the kind of lifestyle you're interested in; 'take what you need and not what you can'.

 

[MotherOfPeepPeeps]

I forrage for wild berries, fruit, nuts, and mushrooms. Some of the more easily identified herbs and medicinal plants too.

I used to be too scared to gather mushrooms beyond morells and shaggy manes, but the book Mushrooms Demystified made me much more confident in expanding my fungi horizons. Now I am confident gathering bleets, shrimp rusulas, chantrells, and puffballs too.

 

[Molpet]

I have harvested black raspberries, persimmons, wild onions, black walnuts, puffballs, rose hips, squirrel, deer and a few rabbits(not enough rabbits to harvest any more though, darn coyotes)

 

[PirateGirl]

You asked about how much land... That's a huge question with a lot of variables. Do you plan on growing/raising any of your own food or strictly foraging? If you are consistently hunting the same land you may find that animal populations dwindle or move to safer territory.

 

[Molpet]

how much land does one need to survive off of?

a couple of others thoughts on the idea
http://www.prep-blog.com/2013/05/16/hunting-and-gathering-for-survival/
https://www.primalsurvivor.net/much-land-need-self-sufficient/

 

[itsasmallfarm]

very good reads and thoughts guys

am thinking of growing more produce but i have an issue killing most domestic livestock, which is weird as i have no issue trapping, hunting and fishing.

 

[Molpet]

very good reads and thoughts guys

am thinking of growing more produce but i have an issue killing most domestic livestock, which is weird as i have no issue trapping, hunting and fishing.

Ha I had the same problem
It's different when you stalk the animal than something you raised and it doesn't run.
I don't handle my poultry and by the time I catch them I am ok with dispatching them... the first few are emotionally hard to do... I think about the fact that they had a good life that was longer than the birds I buy in the store..I thank them and God
it's never easy, well the jerk teanagers aren't too hard....but it gets easier.