My Experience with Survival

For several years of my life, I was in survival mode. I didn’t do this because I couldn’t afford to buy food at the grocery store. I did it because I could. I enjoyed growing my own food and taking advantage of gathering and harvesting nature’s bounty. It gave me a deep feeling of accomplishment and security whenever I saw all my home-canned goods lined up neatly on their shelves and knowing that my freezers were full of meats, game, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruits, and nuts.

We kept pigs, beef cattle, goats, turkeys, and chickens, so we always had meat and eggs available. We also hunted for deer, quail, woodcock, doves, ducks, geese, rabbits, raccoons, and wild pigs. We also fished, crabbed, and netted shrimp. Sometimes we picked our own oysters and dug our own clams, too.

We had some fruit trees, but I also took advantage of wild fruits, including blackberries, blueberries, and mayhaws. I also gathered nuts and put them in the freezer.

We had our own milk cows, so we had fresh milk and cream. Sometimes I made my own butter and whipped cream.

I don’t do most of these things now because I can’t. For one thing, my health won’t permit it, and for another, I no longer have the land I once did. I can still share my knowledge and experience with you. Actually, I’m still into survival – it’s just taken on a different form. Now I find deals and buy in bulk and store the foods and other items in the barn or in my survival closets.

What I grew in my huge garden

Acorn squash

Bell peppers (all colors)

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Butter beans

Butternut squash

Cabbage

Cantaloupe

Carrots

Cauliflower

Cherry tomatoes

Corn

Cream forty peas

Cucumbers (slicing and pickling varieties)

Eggplant

English peas

Field peas (several varieties)

Ford hooks

Green beans

Herbs

Hot peppers (several varieties)

Lettuce (several varieties)

Mustard greens

Okra

Onions

Pattypan squash

Peanuts

Plum tomatoes

Pole beans

Potatoes

Pumpkins

Strawberries

Sweet potatoes

Sunflowers

Tomatoes (numerous varieties)

Turnips

Watermelons

White acre peas

Yellow squash (two varieties)

Zipper peas

Zucchini

Frozen meats and poultry

Beef

Pork

Chicken

Goat

Turkey

Wild game

Frozen venison

Venison jerky

Frozen quail

Frozen doves

Frozen rabbit

Frozen duck

 Frozen fish and seafood

Shrimp

Crabmeat

Bass

Bream

Catfish

Flounder

Trout

Whiting

Redfish

Canned vegetables

Green beans

Tomatoes

Carrots

pumpkin

Frozen vegetables

Whole kernel corn

Creamed corn

 Corn-on-the-cob

Yellow squash

Tomatoes

Okra

Butter beans

Ford hooks

Garden peas

Field peas

Butter peas

Diced onions

 Diced bell peppers

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Winter squash

Frozen fruits

Blueberries

Blackberries

Strawberries

Peaches

Jams, jellies, and preserves

Apple jelly

Blueberry jam

Blackberry jelly

Peach jam

Pear preserves

Plum jelly

Mayhaw jelly

Pepper jelly

Scuppernong jelly

Strawberry jam

Watermelon rind preserves

Fig preserves

Pickles and relishes

Chow chow

Whole dill pickles

Dill pickle slices

Onion relish

Green tomato pickles

Bread and butter pickles

Cucumber lime pickles

Pickled okra

Pickled eggs

Pepper relish

Pickled peaches

Pear relish

Squash pickles

Watermelon rind pickles

Zucchini pickles

Other

We also grew our own sugar cane for syrup. The syrup making was done in the fall.

I froze bags of shelled pecans.

I froze bags of boiled peanuts.

I parched and fried peanuts for snacks.

I toasted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.

I usually grew a row of popcorn in my garden.

We kept honey bees.

We stored potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions.

I made my own sourdough bread.

Is Deer Hunting Cruel?

I’m always bemused by those who consider deer hunting cruel, yet they don’t have a problem munching on fried chicken or gobbling down a T-bone steak. C’mon – you can’t have it both ways! Do they think that the animals they’re eating died of natural causes? Domestic livestock, in most cases, endure terrible lives. Chickens in large factory farms live in tiny cages, and cattle and pigs raised on factory farms spend all their time in crowded feedlots. Most never even get to experience grass beneath their hooves. Instead, they feel hard cement day in and day out. They have no quality of life at all.

And then comes the time for killing. Some of these animals spend hours or even days crammed into big trucks, without food or water. Then they stand in line, awaiting their turn for slaughter. I won’t go into all the grisly details here, but suffice it to say that many of these animals are not killed humanely. In view of this, I think you can understand why I think hunting is kinder than killing domesticated farm animals for food. So why do some meat-eating humans consider deer hunting to be a cruel practice?

Honestly, I think it’s because deer are beautiful, graceful creatures. I mean really, compare a whitetail deer to a cow or pig. Cattle and swine are not particularly attractive, nor are they graceful. But does that make them any less able to experience pain and agony? Does a deer have more of a right to live just because it’s cute?

Deer need to be harvested for the survival and health of the herd. At least, this is true in most places in the U.S. that support significant populations of whitetail deer. Also, many of the humans harvesting the deer are the very ones who enable the deer ‘s survival in the first place by planting food plots and allowing the deer to graze in their pastures. Even hunter’s who don’t help feed the deer directly support wildlife whenever they purchase a hunting license.