Let me ask
you a question? Do you or anyone in your family or household have the skills to
survive for a long time with no electricity or grocery store?
We will
take a test in a bit to see how you would score.
When I was
a little girl, it was customary for most families in town to have a garden in
some corner of their yard. Some raised chickens, too. Customarily, those who
lived in the country always planted gardens and in fact, the family garden
supported basic food needs for the "country folks" during hard times.
It was
customary after World War II to plant "Victory Gardens"
in family yards. These vegetable gardens alleviated food shortages, because so
much of the produce was being sent overseas to feed the troops. Also, with
fewer men to work the farms, there was less produce available.
The custom
continued. Gardens grew in most back yards during the 60's and 70's, but I
don't remember any chickens. At least, the chicken population was sparse and
only a few homes had the time and energy to care for them. Sadly, the family
vegetable garden eventually faded out.
Today, when
people think of gardening they visualize a flower garden. Flowers don't necessarily
give you much to eat. It is easy to run to the grocery store.
How dependent we are upon trucks and
stores! We have subconsciously relinquished responsibility for our own welfare
to a system that can break down at the most minor glitch in the chain.
What would
we need to know in order to survive? And
is it at all feasible to consider that we might at some time need to know how
to take care of ourselves? I think it is.
Every
civilization has at one time or another experienced a breakdown, whether it was
economically, politically, or socially .Nothing stays the same. Things change.
How many of
these necessary skills could you "call upon" if you needed to use
them? (thank you to my source. www.the-open-mind.com)
1.Gardening
.It's not hard. But it takes some preparation to learn how to garden and grow
food. Start small and plant veggies you like. Tomatoes? Cucumbers? Onions? A
good magazine to read from the library is "Mother Earth News". Motherearthnews.com
2. Animal
husbandry means raising and caring for
animals for food sources; Maybe raise
just chickens at first.
3. Food
Preservation. Canning and drying food is another important skill. Refrigeration
and freezing food is totally dependent on a power source. Canned goods and
dried foods need none. It is time consuming, but not difficult to do either. Freezing depends on an electrical supply, so
another alternative source is always a good idea.
4.
Blacksmithing . Blacksmiths can make or repair anything out of metal. If we
were without electrical power, the skills of a blacksmith would allow people to
have their tools repaired — and new ones fashioned. Since the manufacturing
plants presumably would be shut down, that ability would be essential for
rebuilding America
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5. Basic
Carpentry . Basic repairs, cutting wood,
woodworking skills.
6. Basic
Mechanical Repair . Depending on the type of disaster, the family car may just
end up being a large paperweight. But there are diverse scenarios where it
would be useful to be able to fix your car, keeping it running for general use.
As long as there is gasoline, that car would be useful. The ability to diagnose and repair an engine
is useful not only for keeping a car on the road, but also for fixing lawn
mowers, chain saws and other power tools.
7. Herbal
Medicine . The roots of medicine were herbal medicine. Before docs had such a
wide range of pharmaceuticals to work with, doctors made their own medicines.
Many women learned what nature provided and she learned from her mother.
8.
Horseback Riding . This may not seem like much of a survival skill, since today
horseback riding is only done for sport. But if the automobile were no longer
useful, people would be looking for horses once again. Today riding a horse is
a skill few know and hitching and driving a team would be a further reach. Can
you ride a horse?
So how did
you do? You say you got an 8? Wow. For the rest of us, we have our work laid
out for us. I got a 6!
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