Self-sufficiency on the rise...

[bobc]

Best post in the thread!!
Well said sir! I'm from that same era and genre. Growing up, I didn't know Poke Salad and boiled eggs were not everyday fare... Haven't seen it growing in a long time, but I always look around old barns/pens in East Texas when I come across them... Just the way I was raised... Always be lookin' for that next meal...
Even learned how to make bubble gum out of sweetgum sap by adding in "stretch berries"... Anybody else ever done that?!

I have some poke weed growing that I transplanted this summer. Cannot wait to prepare some.

[Man]

I got a bunch of poke weed in the backyard that at one time I had intention on eating but it contains phytolaccine, and if cooked wrong will make you pay.
I decided just to play it safe and now plant turnip greens as a replacement to the poke. Grows just as quick and just as easy...and no poisen. Throw and grow greens

[Laketex]

Ice Age Farmer to see what’s really going on.

[MadHatter]

Best post in the thread!!
Well said sir! I'm from that same era and genre. Growing up, I didn't know Poke Salad and boiled eggs were not everyday fare... Haven't seen it growing in a long time, but I always look around old barns/pens in East Texas when I come across them... Just the way I was raised... Always be lookin' for that next meal...
Even learned how to make bubble gum out of sweetgum sap by adding in "stretch berries"... Anybody else ever done that?!

Been chewing sap since I was a kid .
Not just sweet gum either lmao.
Some of that stuff will stay on your teeth for a week!

[wilded]

I remember my grandfather saying that during the depression there were no deer. Cottontails, squirrels and jack rabbits were almost wiped out around Round Mountain, Texas.

[tps7742]

I remember my grandfather saying that during the depression there were no deer. Cottontails, squirrels and jack rabbits were almost wiped out around Round Mountain, Texas.

Yes and allot of people think they can live off grid and eat off the land. You hear of pigs pigs mo pigs. I don’t think this is realistic and with the population has definitely grown since the era you are referring to.

[wilded]

People need to read "The Road."

[Filletem]

And large game will be the first to go. So y’all better have versatile hunting skills. Coons, and opossums are going to be more common on the plate than deer if it’s an extended time.

I’m betting coons would yield a good amount of lard them suckers are greasy when you skin em.

[El Paisano]

Do you have to pull the existing pipes/wiring out of the casing to use the hand pump? My well seems to be very small in diameter and not sure if both will fit in there. Thanks for any info.

I had to call the driller. They make them that you run the pickup tube alongside the other pipe, but you have to pull it all out to do it. Yes, they are pricey and getting hard to get.

[Mitchell8]

Another huge issue is most of these people that think they are prepared will find out really quickly that they aren’t. They have 10,000 rounds of ammo saved up to “protect” themselves. Really all these fake survivalist want to do with all this ammo is be able to fight a war and steal everything they need.

[Jethro]

I had to call the driller. They make them that you run the pickup tube alongside the other pipe, but you have to pull it all out to do it. Yes, they are pricey and getting hard to get.

To me it would be really hard to answer that question. There have been so many different things done over the years by different people and drillers just no way to tell until you open your system up and see what you have in there. Small casing with big pipe could be a problem.

Mine should be pretty easy. I have 6" PVC casing so a lot of room inside it. We drilled 115' through several water cavities. My pump is at 105', water table is 20', so I have 85' of water over the top of my pump. I have run it wide open (17 GPM) for days and never had level drop. My pump is plumbed to the top with 1 1/4" poly hose, just that and the wires in a fairly large casing so I doubt I would have issues. If you had larger hose in a 4" casing it could be problematic.

My son used to work for a water well drilling and irrigation company so we just dropped the electric pump/hose ourselves. It was kind of heavy but not too bad, we did it by hand. But my well head is also just under the lean-to of my barn so if needed we can hook a hoist to the rafters and use that to pull it. The well was drilled about a month before we put the barn up.

Regulations from our water district said a 5'x5'x6" thick concrete pad around the well head. Local water district guy let me slide for 6 weeks or so until I got the barn up. Before we poured the slab for the barn I ran 2" PVC with long sweep elbows from right beside the well head to inside the barn where I was going to put my 80 gal pressure tank. Then we poured both slabs. When it came time to plumb the well to the pressure tank I just pushed PEX through the PVC. If it ever leaks or goes bad I don't have to dig anything up or bust any concrete, just pull it out. Pump wire goes though a piece of PVC conduit buried in the same trench. Outlet from the pressure tank goes through another sleeve in the concrete back outside to my water lines that go around the property.

The trick to the hand pump would be the well cap I think. Mine is metal with a rubber gasket, has holes for the pipe and wire. No extra hole for a hand pump. I assume you could buy or make one though.

Those hand pumps are pricey too. I looked at them a while back but didn't get one. Generator will let me pump emergency water for now though if it got critical.

I think I have decided to go solar as my backup for potential long term issues. I could just pull my 120 volt system and drop a small solar system in, or run the solar beside the other. Water is not down deep, it wouldn't take much to pump some.

[Backwoods101]

Self-sufficiency on the rise...

To me it would be really hard to answer that question. There have been so many different things done over the years by different people and drillers just no way to tell until you open your system up and see what you have in there. Small casing with big pipe could be a problem.

Mine should be pretty easy. I have 6" PVC casing so a lot of room inside it. We drilled 115' through several water cavities. My pump is at 105', water table is 20', so I have 85' of water over the top of my pump. I have run it wide open (17 GPM) for days and never had level drop. My pump is plumbed to the top with 1 1/4" poly hose, just that and the wires in a fairly large casing so I doubt I would have issues. If you had larger hose in a 4" casing it could be problematic.

My son used to work for a water well drilling and irrigation company so we just dropped the electric pump/hose ourselves. It was kind of heavy but not too bad, we did it by hand. But my well head is also just under the lean-to of my barn so if needed we can hook a hoist to the rafters and use that to pull it. The well was drilled about a month before we put the barn up.

Regulations from our water district said a 5'x5'x6" thick concrete pad around the well head. Local water district guy let me slide for 6 weeks or so until I got the barn up. Before we poured the slab for the barn I ran 2" PVC with long sweep elbows from right beside the well head to inside the barn where I was going to put my 80 gal pressure tank. Then we poured both slabs. When it came time to plumb the well to the pressure tank I just pushed PEX through the PVC. If it ever leaks or goes bad I don't have to dig anything up or bust any concrete, just pull it out. Pump wire goes though a piece of PVC conduit buried in the same trench. Outlet from the pressure tank goes through another sleeve in the concrete back outside to my water lines that go around the property.

The trick to the hand pump would be the well cap I think. Mine is metal with a rubber gasket, has holes for the pipe and wire. No extra hole for a hand pump. I assume you could buy or make one though.

Those hand pumps are pricey too. I looked at them a while back but didn't get one. Generator will let me pump emergency water for now though if it got critical.

I think I have decided to go solar as my backup for potential long term issues. I could just pull my 120 volt system and drop a small solar system in, or run the solar beside the other. Water is not down deep, it wouldn't take much to pump some.

Great feedback, thanks for sharing Jethro

[Jethro]

Lots of people on this thread with lots of various knowledge. All of it is good. I like reading threads like this because I always learn.

[txtrophy85]

People need to read "The Road."

That’s pretty much what it would be like