Perhaps the most important part of Mountain Wind Family is children. My wife and I had 7 of them living in the wilderness with no power nor TV not Phone..not too much of anything and all of what was available was far away through heavy winter snows and spring muds...please read out online e-book Coyote; A guide to Wilderness Living at:
http://bobshannon.org
We have a year 'round creek that runs through the middle of our property. It is 50 feet downhill from the house. This water is not drinkable but is great for washing clothes, doing dishes and watering the garden. Bringing water up 50 feet is not a problem.
We have kids. Local stores sell 5 gallon plastic buckets. Four trips a day takes care of all our needs. Two buckets per trip. This summer I purchased a 12 volt Pony pump.. the kind used to empty bilge's on boats. With a 55 gallon plastic barrel, bought locally for 19 dollars, it takes 8 minutes for the pump to fill.
We are putting in a small .8 amp solar panel by the creek to run the pump. Total head is 45 feet and by the time it would pump up 50 feet, its output would be down to 10 gallons per hour. Drinking water is hauled via 4x4 from 2 local stores which allow hill folk to draw from their wells. This has been a local practice for many years. The water is then stored in 55 gallon plastic barrels and siphoned into 5 gallon water containers. When needed it is poured into 1 gallon milk containers. Doing this for so long now.... it just comes natural. Not quite the same as turning on the
faucet but it does teach conservation through practical use.
Once getting started on the subject of gardens, I may never stop. The first winter was so filled with cabin fever that I started getting seeds and materials for gardening in February. You'll want "open pollinated" seeds that you can save each year. My favorite is a tomato from Siberia. It will withstand 28 degree temperatures, 55 days to harvest and is the meatiest tomato around. Totally organic
if you do it right! Depending on where you live, the growing season changes rapidly. On the Mendocino coast you have a real long growing period. Here in Washington State at 3500 feet we don't plant until June 1. Even after that we may expect a frost or two. I heard it even snowed here in July although I have not seen it yet. I have seen snow in May. In my latest garden I planted peas, spinach and dill early before the last frost. I DO NOT buy junk seeds. I get my seeds from an organic heritage hippie spot in Montana or the Good Seed Company in Chesaw WA., just a few miles from here. Store bought seeds are TERRIBLE! Here on our mountain we have few pests for the garden. Bald faced hornets abound but they have too much to do eating the budworms from the trees. Yellow jackets also eat a certain amount of leaves but not enough to do harm. The biggest problem is frost. I always get a few boxes from the local store to cover the plants on cold
nights. and a digital battery operated indoor/outdoor thermometer sits right by the head of my bed. Of course most everything sits there , the place is so small. Water is done as I have said. We use the 12 VDC pump to fill the 55 gallon then haul it up in the rig to the garden and reverse hoses. The pressure is strong enough on this pump to make a real live spray to the plants. 360 GPH with no lift and 58 dollars from Northern Hydraulics who deliver in decent time... take plastic and COD. YES UPS
does come up here except in the dead of winter. They tried that once and got stuck for half a day. Now they leave packages at the store 3 miles downhill in snow season. Certain plants like certain soils and altitudes. I'll not try to tell you what to grow. There are hundreds of books to do that. I have good luck here with squash, beans, spinach, peas, radishes (who doesn't), pumpkin, cabbage and dozens of herbs which we dry hanging from the inside ceiling for later use in medicines and cooking. Dill rye is my favorite, if I can get Jane to cook it and if she can get me to cut the smaller wood for the cookstove.
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Foreclosure; the Start of Mountain Wind Familyby eqshannon1,869 views
GET LOST CREEP.! We are Mountain folk. We own weapons!
eqshannon 2 years ago