Practice, Practice, Practice

Now is the time to practice your survival skills. I believe the time is at hand when we just may need to use them for real. As I write this, my wife and I have just finished the freezing of five quarts of blackberries we picked today. We previously picked and frozen raspberries and blueberries. We are involved in doing as much living off the land as possible. This for the time when it is really needed. Now, if we do not get what we need, we can just go to the store and buy it. I believe that the time is at hand where that will not be possible. I will go through some of the things that we are doing to get ready and you may be able to pick up some pointers from what we do.

First let me tell you that we live on five acres, six miles from the nearest town. The town has a population of 888. This means that we are in a fairly remote area. This is the type of are that I believe all survivalists should be. However, I know that it is not possible so you need to do the best you can wherever you are. On our five acres we have many oak trees. This will give us acorns to make acorn flour from. It looks like a good crop this year so I intend on doing so. There are also many hazel nut bushes and that also looks like a good crop. These can be eaten as nuts for protein or ground up for flour to be mixed with the acorn flour. We have enough raspberry bushes on our land that we picked and froze about six quarts. I have several choke cherry trees but it does not look like there are going to be many, if any, fruit on them this year. Then there are the common weeds that grow on everyone's lawn. So far this year we have eaten dandelions, plantain, stinging nettle and Canada thistle. Some of these can be used for medical purposes as well as food.

With all of the nut trees, I have many squirrels, rabbits, deer and turkey using my property. I have a tree stand, a ground blind and a portable blind to hide while hunting. I hunt deer with a crossbow, a rifle and black powder. This gives me the possibility of getting three deer. Add to that a half dozen squirrels, a couple of rabbits and a turkey and you can see that I will lack for meat this winter. I also have an occasional raccoon and I intend to trap them, sell the hide and eat the meat.

Besides the wild food, we have a good sized garden. I have a rhubarb patch that produces each year and have just started a strawberry bed. We try to grow as many vegetables as possible. We can and freeze much of what we grow. We have canning equipment and backup cooking area should we be without electricity and have to can what is in the freezer.

As you can see, we can do pretty well just on our five acres. However, we live three miles from a state park, twelve miles from a national wildlife refuge and have several bodies of water from which to choose. We pick blackberries and blueberries on the nation wildlife refuge and also do some hunting and fishing there. All in all, my wife and I can live off the land fairly well. I am always looking for food when I am in the woods. When I am hunting I find berry picking spots. When I am berry picking I find hunting or fishing spots. You need to always be aware of your surroundings and constantly on the lookout for food sources.

I intend to stay put in the event of a survival situation, however, should the need to move out I am ready to do that and live off the land. Keep your eyes open all of the time. You never know when you will find another food source. I was investigating some public land our Department of Natural Resources controls and found an apple tree that had once been on a farm that has long since been abandoned. The apples actually look fairly good, at least good enough for apple pie and apple sauce. These are the things you want to do if you are going to be a true survivalist.

The Boy Scouts of America have a motto the says; BE PREPARED

I believe that at applies to survivalists as well. PRACTICE, PRACTICE,PRACTICE and you will be rewarded when and if the time comes. Besides the wife and I get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

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