OT: Whiskey, Etc.

[weswood]

C'mom, now, give Paul a break about the coffee. Every one knows he's not right in the head, he was a paratrooper!

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by weswood

C'mom, now, give Paul a break about the coffee. Every one knows he's not right in the head, he was a paratrooper!

I object strongly to that!

I wasn't right in the head even before I enlisted...

[Webstral]

Chickory and dandelions! Good thinking, gentlemen. Both have uses other than making coffee, so it's two bites of the same cherry, so to speak. I'm wondering whether I should incorporate chickory cultivation into SAMAD or have someone else relatively local grow it as a pseudo cash crop for trade with SAMAD. The latter is more interesting, I think. Also, if someone outside SAMAD is growing chickory at least partially for trade as a coffee substitute, the reemergence of a trade economy may be further facilitated thereby.

Dandelion beer is new to me. I've heard of dandelion wine. My father had a neighbor who used to make it when my father was a kid. Apparently, it can be pretty strong and not too hard on the tongue. The dandelion is appearing ever-more desirable: leaves as a superior leafy green, flowers for wine, and roots for ersatz coffee. I'll have to incorporate dandelion cultivation into the surviving New England areas. (Obviously, the dandelion will be useful everywhere, but I'm not going to impose it on any area I haven't addressed in my writing.)

Webstral

[Legbreaker]

Cultivate!? They grow all through my lawn as weeds!
Can't get rid of the damn things!

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Cultivate!? They grow all through my lawn as weeds!
Can't get rid of the damn things!

That makes me think of something -- all those suburban lawns may be full of weeds in T2K, some which may be useful.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

That makes me think of something -- all those suburban lawns may be full of weeds in T2K, some which may be useful.

Although this is starting to sound like it should be in the survival skills thread, there is a very definite plus in what you suggest. Many plants we consider weeds now have other uses that we in our modern age have simply forgotten. Another area that isn't exploited much these days in the Western World is rocks/minerals.

Sounds daft at first but consider the benefits of having a stockpile of rocks, they may be talc, sulphur, graphite, flint and so on. Anyone passing by just sees a pile of rocks lying around the place and would think they are useless. But all of those mentioned have uses that include being used as powders to slow/stop bleeding (minor wounds) to antiseptics (sulphur powder would be familiar to WW2 veterans from their first aid kits) making firestarters and so on.
There are many more but I don't know enough about it, these are just some of the things I half-remember from an article I read many years ago about life in the 1800s.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Have you looked at farming rabbits and even hamsters and guinea pigs for both meat and fur. Relatively easy to house, don't require a lot of room, don't require a lot of feed in comparison, they breed fast and can effectively be managed by a small family (although guinea pigs can be sensitive to a few environmental factors like heat)?

Originally Posted by Webstral

Chickory and dandelions! Good thinking, gentlemen. Both have uses other than making coffee, so it's two bites of the same cherry, so to speak. I'm wondering whether I should incorporate chickory cultivation into SAMAD or have someone else relatively local grow it as a pseudo cash crop for trade with SAMAD. The latter is more interesting, I think. Also, if someone outside SAMAD is growing chickory at least partially for trade as a coffee substitute, the reemergence of a trade economy may be further facilitated thereby.

Dandelion beer is new to me. I've heard of dandelion wine. My father had a neighbor who used to make it when my father was a kid. Apparently, it can be pretty strong and not too hard on the tongue. The dandelion is appearing ever-more desirable: leaves as a superior leafy green, flowers for wine, and roots for ersatz coffee. I'll have to incorporate dandelion cultivation into the surviving New England areas. (Obviously, the dandelion will be useful everywhere, but I'm not going to impose it on any area I haven't addressed in my writing.)

Webstral

[Snake Eyes]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

Have you looked at farming rabbits and even hamsters and guinea pigs for both meat and fur. Relatively easy to house, don't require a lot of room, don't require a lot of feed in comparison, they breed fast and can effectively be managed by a small family (although guinea pigs can be sensitive to a few environmental factors like heat)?

Evidently, the Swedes are having quite a go at burning them for fuel, too.

[Targan]

And it is only a short step from burning bunnies for fuel to burning corpses. As I have mentioned before, fallen enemies could be used as biofuel. Of course, you'd have to be a pretty cold, detached freak to do that, but there is no shortage of such folk in the T2K universe.

[Webstral]

Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic

Have you looked at farming rabbits and even hamsters and guinea pigs for both meat and fur. Relatively easy to house, don't require a lot of room, don't require a lot of feed in comparison, they breed fast and can effectively be managed by a small family (although guinea pigs can be sensitive to a few environmental factors like heat)?

Rabbits are also quite sensitive to heat. Many outdoor hutch rabbits die during the California summer, which is one reason we keep ours indoors year round. We had a thread on rabbit husbandry a little while back.

Webstral