Comments on: Living the Staple Diet http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/ Sharon Astyk's Ruminations on an Ambiguous Future Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:15:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Melody http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-8274 Melody Fri, 25 Jul 2008 22:05:59 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-8274 I've been reading over your food storage column and recipes. It's been quite enjoyable. I will need to drag out and get a printed up collection of recipes that I can draw from to make up my standard everyday menu lists. If computers are down, no recipes or internet. I'm also an advocate for Nourishing Traditions and their teachings and viewpoints, especially on fats. A good cookbook lady to draw from is Sue Gregg. She's also got good bread and food storage plan books. I've recently seen a U-tube (sp) video for a particularly interesting garden design called a keyhole garden, very productive for small size. A good form of long term storage for butter is to make ghee or clarified butter. You can find the how-to instructions with a search. It can sit on the shelf without refrigeration. Also, you might try saving back a few phone books like the old-timers used during outhouse days, except those were old catalogs, no phones then for awhile. I can't imagine washing out re-usable rags. I saw it being done on the PBS series of those pioneer survival shows. Baking soda makes for good deodorant, works better than any organic or store bought product except it irritates my skin. Sorry to hear books aren't holding their value. We also have thousands of them, homeschooled also. Kids grown now and hoped to save for them. I'm too old to be dragging excessive stuff around now. In-laws passed away and we're dealing with their junk, too. I’ve been reading over your food storage column and recipes. It’s been quite enjoyable. I will need to drag out and get a printed up collection of recipes that I can draw from to make up my standard everyday menu lists. If computers are down, no recipes or internet.
I’m also an advocate for Nourishing Traditions and their teachings and viewpoints, especially on fats. A good cookbook lady to draw from is Sue Gregg. She’s also got good bread and food storage plan books.
I’ve recently seen a U-tube (sp) video for a particularly interesting garden design called a keyhole garden, very productive for small size.
A good form of long term storage for butter is to make ghee or clarified butter. You can find the how-to instructions with a search. It can sit on the shelf without refrigeration.
Also, you might try saving back a few phone books like the old-timers used during outhouse days, except those were old catalogs, no phones then for awhile. I can’t imagine washing out re-usable rags. I saw it being done on the PBS series of those pioneer survival shows.
Baking soda makes for good deodorant, works better than any organic or store bought product except it irritates my skin.
Sorry to hear books aren’t holding their value. We also have thousands of them, homeschooled also. Kids grown now and hoped to save for them. I’m too old to be dragging excessive stuff around now. In-laws passed away and we’re dealing with their junk, too.

]]> By: caelids http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-8153 caelids Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:47:50 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-8153 Sharon, Wow! I just found this site and it has everything I've been looking for (well, a lot of it, anyway). And written by an intelligent person who isn't a paranoid nutcase! More to the point, I am thinking about ordering the bulk foods for my "disaster kitchen," and also planting my square foot garden, but these things take a lot of planning. Most people wouldn't dream of living off of 700 square feet, although I believe it would be possible with certain caveats. My question to you about food and nutrition is, have you discovered <i>Nourishing Traditions</i> and the Weston A. Price Foundation? Their big revelation is that, yes, you can live on regional staple foods as people have for millenia, HOWEVER...we need certain fat-soluble vitamins in our diets to be healthy, especially when pregnant, lactating, or bringing up children. Some of these vitamins can be found in vegetable matter, but their most potent and absorbable (concentrated) forms are in animal products, which these traditional peoples went out of their way to get from whatever source was available: seafood, raw milk and other dairy products, organ meats, fish roe, insects, eggs, and fats such as coconut oil, lard, and butter. It seems plain to me that you needn't load up with large amounts of meat in the diet if you take advantage of some of these concentrated foods with their high-vitamin content (whatever is available in your area). Unfortunately, many discussions of vegetable diets shun fats as well as meat. A mistake, I believe. What are your thoughts? Sharon,

Wow! I just found this site and it has everything I’ve been looking for (well, a lot of it, anyway). And written by an intelligent person who isn’t a paranoid nutcase!

More to the point, I am thinking about ordering the bulk foods for my “disaster kitchen,” and also planting my square foot garden, but these things take a lot of planning. Most people wouldn’t dream of living off of 700 square feet, although I believe it would be possible with certain caveats.

My question to you about food and nutrition is, have you discovered Nourishing Traditions and the Weston A. Price Foundation? Their big revelation is that, yes, you can live on regional staple foods as people have for millenia, HOWEVER…we need certain fat-soluble vitamins in our diets to be healthy, especially when pregnant, lactating, or bringing up children. Some of these vitamins can be found in vegetable matter, but their most potent and absorbable (concentrated) forms are in animal products, which these traditional peoples went out of their way to get from whatever source was available: seafood, raw milk and other dairy products, organ meats, fish roe, insects, eggs, and fats such as coconut oil, lard, and butter.

It seems plain to me that you needn’t load up with large amounts of meat in the diet if you take advantage of some of these concentrated foods with their high-vitamin content (whatever is available in your area). Unfortunately, many discussions of vegetable diets shun fats as well as meat. A mistake, I believe. What are your thoughts?

]]> By: Maven http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-7870 Maven Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:24:37 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-7870 Wow, your site is so synchronicitous for what my family is trying to do. We just purchased a year's worth of wheat from a local farmer friend. We're fortunate here in N Tx. This is wheat/corn/milo farming country, but potatoes go in in Feb. & make by mid June too. The wheat and corn made fantastically this year, and the family potato plot gave us about 5 feedsacks (50+lbs) full of nice red potatoes. Last year was very wet and the grains did poorly, but we got twice the potatoes. Now in mid July the summer heat is really kicking in, and the veg garden is just about done save for black-eyed peas and okra - IF you can keep enough water on it. If the tomatoes don't succomde to August heat and drought, they may perk back up for fall. Herbs suck up the heat and keep on trucking. If our first frost is late, or we cover with plastic we can keep it going through fall though. Last year I had basil and a few tomatoes until thanksgiving! Wow, your site is so synchronicitous for what my family is trying to do. We just purchased a year’s worth of wheat from a local farmer friend. We’re fortunate here in N Tx. This is wheat/corn/milo farming country, but potatoes go in in Feb. & make by mid June too. The wheat and corn made fantastically this year, and the family potato plot gave us about 5 feedsacks (50+lbs) full of nice red potatoes. Last year was very wet and the grains did poorly, but we got twice the potatoes. Now in mid July the summer heat is really kicking in, and the veg garden is just about done save for black-eyed peas and okra - IF you can keep enough water on it. If the tomatoes don’t succomde to August heat and drought, they may perk back up for fall. Herbs suck up the heat and keep on trucking. If our first frost is late, or we cover with plastic we can keep it going through fall though. Last year I had basil and a few tomatoes until thanksgiving!

]]> By: Kiashu http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3603 Kiashu Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:03:47 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3603 Yes, but you didn't give a recipe for latkes! You have to enlighten the poor goyim. You can get a surprising amount of food from a small amount of land. In my old unit I had effectively 4m2 of vegetable garden and 2m2 of flowers (another 2m2 along the edges was never really productive or well-cared-for), and these 4 or 6m2 (depending on whether you think I needed the flowers to help the vegies along) gave me 25kg of crop in the first year as I was building up the soil and learning to garden, and 75kg in the fourth and final year, with good soil, mediocre skill, and little effort. This comes to an average of 50kg/4m2, or 12.5kg/m2. Essentially 3lbs per square foot. A pound of vegies a day would be very healthy for you, half a pound with some grain product even better. I imported organic matter, in that I put all kitchen scraps and lawn clippings on the compost, which I then turned into the raised beds twice a year. So if you made yourself a compost heap, and yard square raised bed garden you could reasonably expect to get 27lbs of food from it in a year, 27-54 person-days' supply. Two such raised bed gardens would give you effectively a day a week where your feed yourself. Yes, but you didn’t give a recipe for latkes! You have to enlighten the poor goyim.

You can get a surprising amount of food from a small amount of land. In my old unit I had effectively 4m2 of vegetable garden and 2m2 of flowers (another 2m2 along the edges was never really productive or well-cared-for), and these 4 or 6m2 (depending on whether you think I needed the flowers to help the vegies along) gave me 25kg of crop in the first year as I was building up the soil and learning to garden, and 75kg in the fourth and final year, with good soil, mediocre skill, and little effort. This comes to an average of 50kg/4m2, or 12.5kg/m2. Essentially 3lbs per square foot. A pound of vegies a day would be very healthy for you, half a pound with some grain product even better.

I imported organic matter, in that I put all kitchen scraps and lawn clippings on the compost, which I then turned into the raised beds twice a year.

So if you made yourself a compost heap, and yard square raised bed garden you could reasonably expect to get 27lbs of food from it in a year, 27-54 person-days’ supply. Two such raised bed gardens would give you effectively a day a week where your feed yourself.

]]> By: Sharon http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3588 Sharon Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:20:41 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3588 Emily, check out David Duhon's book 1 Circle for the low end. Now whether anyone can actually *do* that is another question ;-). Sharon Emily, check out David Duhon’s book 1 Circle for the low end. Now whether anyone can actually *do* that is another question ;-).

Sharon

]]> By: AlaBill http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3582 AlaBill Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:15:30 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3582 Sharon, I'm new to your website, but this is a GREAT article. Why? It gives me real direction about a long term, sustainable diet plan. Thanks a bunch... Bill Sharon,

I’m new to your website, but this is a GREAT article. Why? It gives me real direction about a long term, sustainable diet plan.

Thanks a bunch…

Bill

]]> By: Emily http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3562 Emily Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:58:53 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3562 Sharon- Are you sure about the 700 square foot figure? That's a tiny space - I think Jeavons's figure was actually 7000 square feet, including compost crops for soil fertility. That also closely matches my calculations of needing about .25-.35 acres to produce enough calories for 2 people. Sharon- Are you sure about the 700 square foot figure? That’s a tiny space - I think Jeavons’s figure was actually 7000 square feet, including compost crops for soil fertility. That also closely matches my calculations of needing about .25-.35 acres to produce enough calories for 2 people.

]]> By: Sharon http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3561 Sharon Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:26:11 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3561 Kiashu, I most certainly did not forget Latkes ;-). It is in there. I'll be talking about tools, including pressure cookers, next week. Sharon Kiashu, I most certainly did not forget Latkes ;-). It is in there.

I’ll be talking about tools, including pressure cookers, next week.

Sharon

]]> By: lavonne http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3559 lavonne Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:05:57 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3559 Here in San Diego, I haven't been able to find any locally grown grain, but I think sweet potatoes would fit the bill in summer, and it's cool enough in winter for potatoes, I think. I just have a balcony, but I'm going to try growing them both and see what happens. Thanks for this great information. Here in San Diego, I haven’t been able to find any locally grown grain, but I think sweet potatoes would fit the bill in summer, and it’s cool enough in winter for potatoes, I think. I just have a balcony, but I’m going to try growing them both and see what happens. Thanks for this great information.

]]> By: Kiashu http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3558 Kiashu Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:58:03 +0000 http://sharonastyk.com/2008/03/11/living-the-staple-diet/#comment-3558 Oh, and for potatoes, you should not forget latkes :) Oh, and for potatoes, you should not forget latkes :)

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