Actually we do have water to drink, its everything else that we have a lot of but, none at all to use. We have baby animals but we have used all last years meat from the freezer, the garden is full of wood but we have run out of dry burnable stuff and the garden has some veg planted but none ready to eat. Even our budget is looking 'end of the monthish'.
Of course this time of year was traditionally called the hunger gap in the UK and other temperate climates because of the scarcity of fresh food. For our ancestors it meant that people really did go hungry of course that is not true for us, we have supermarkets and aeroplane and lorries and roads and all the things that mean we can eat what we want when we want.
Our choice of lifestyle has placed us back in the situation where seasons and weather and time of year affects us. Because we have made a decision that money cannot buy us the things that we value the most we have chosen to spend less time in the pursuit of it. That decision means that we have to make, and grow things that we would other wise have bought, and the natural cycle of feast and famine kicks in.
This is the time of year when I look to wild food and often weeds make up the shortfall in garden greens, nettles and chickweed are still abundant as is sows thistle and clover, marigolds are everywhere here and the petrels look pretty in salad. Of course I buy stuff, and one day I might have a polly tunnel to help get us over this time food wise. In the mean time we mix it up I try when I can to extend what I buy by using whats available for free.
Fuel is another dilemma for us, again the life that we have chosen means that we want to cut down on use of technology, fossil fuels, electricity etc but there is a balance to be had and I'm guessing it will take us some time to find what really works for us. We buy in uncut wood for cooking and heating and supplement it with found wood from roadsides and our garden at the moment, but sometimes it runs out before the cold weather does. There is a limit to the time we have available for cutting.
Of course this time of year was traditionally called the hunger gap in the UK and other temperate climates because of the scarcity of fresh food. For our ancestors it meant that people really did go hungry of course that is not true for us, we have supermarkets and aeroplane and lorries and roads and all the things that mean we can eat what we want when we want.
Our choice of lifestyle has placed us back in the situation where seasons and weather and time of year affects us. Because we have made a decision that money cannot buy us the things that we value the most we have chosen to spend less time in the pursuit of it. That decision means that we have to make, and grow things that we would other wise have bought, and the natural cycle of feast and famine kicks in.
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