Thats Enough!

[big rockpile]

I was brought up laying up plenty of what was needed.It has carried over into adult life.Some things to me is easy with Hunting and Fishing,some its harder but I enjoy having plenty of Fruits,Vegatables and Wood.

Ok how do you decide when to quit? Firewood is a no brainer,you can have couple years worth and all is good.Use to be with Deer 3 was good but now days we have unlimited Tags four Deer is good,six is Great but still tempted to get couple more.Fish usually have plenty for a meal or two in no time,don't hardly seem worth going for just an hour fishing,so have some for the Freezer and Canned.

Today it was a Toss up we could go fishing for some to Can up or Pick Blackberries.Decided on Blackberries because it gets Hot so fast and the season is about over.Well couple hours we had Bucket Full which gave us 10 gallons of Blackberries which my wife said was plenty and we didn't pick one patch.

So when do you quit? when everything is Full,when you get Tierd or when its all gone,the season is over.

big rockpile

[uncle Will in In.]

One sure way to tell when taking natures harvest is enough is to look back. When your hind end is draging your tracks shut it's time to head for the bunkhouse.

[Trisha in WA]

Wow! That's a great question! I am sure it is up to the individual, but I think you need to plan for the crop failures for the next year (at least 2 would probably be better). In my perfect world, I would have a 2 year supply of all the food and wood I need. I am WAAAAYYYY off the mark on that I admit. But that is MY perfect world...I do have to wonder, if I did have a 2 year supply, would I be satisfied with it??? hhmmmmmm

[oneokie]

Originally Posted by big rockpile

So when do you quit? when everything is Full,when you get Tierd or when its all gone,the season is over.

big rockpile

All of the above.

[misplaced]

Our kids are out picking blackberries right now, they have only been able to do it a few days this year so far due to other responsibilities. They usually stay out there all day when they do go. Our daughter loves going out into the woods all day, she knows where the best berry patches are, and we have lots of blackberry jam so far this year that she made herself.
They bring plenty of water and munch on berries all day.
The younger ones sometimes come home sooner, they don't have the same drive as their older sister does. But they do love the berries, their berry covered faces prove it

[LonelyNorthwind]

There's so much to gather up here this time of year, no matter what I'm doing at the moment I think I should be doing one of a dozen other things. Right now the smokehouse if full of salmon ready to can, there's a tote of crab to pick I cooked last night and a 5-gallon bucket of berries to juice. It's not raining at the moment so soon's I get the fish canned & the crab in the freezer I'll head out to pick more berries 'til my back screams at me to quit. Then again, the garden needs weeding, the house is a mess and we're out of bread.
Deer season starts in a couple weeks, no venison left in the freezer and the moose meat's 'bout all gone so I've GOT to catch up with myself here pretty quick. Seems no matter how much I gather and put by it's all gone by next year. I quit when the winds knock the last berry off the brush, the waters get too rough for fishing and the meat hunt closes the end of December. Then I gather with friends all winter and eat it all up.

Here's my first bucket of pretty berries.

[PrincessFerf]

I agree with a prior poster that the answers are as unique as there are people in the world. A minimum of a 1-year supply would be good, 2 years would be better. Do you have enough space to store it all?

If you have all you need, but have deer tags that you can fill... what about donating the deer/meat to an organization who will take it for the needy?

[mekasmom]

I believe you have to follow that inner witness in your heart. When you feel, "that's enough", then it is. We should never be motivated by fear, only by confidence.

[DamnearaFarm]

Lord, Gramma- that's a beautiful bucket o' berries. Are those all wild or cultivated, or a mix?

[ronbre]

it is up to the individual and your needs but I would say the best way to tell is if there is going to be waste..pass it on..don't pick what you won't use for yourself unless you will pass it on

[Patt]

We always give away what we can't use so I don't know as there would be a particular point to stop. I do try not to take too much of anything though in case someone else needs it.

[luvrulz]

Originally Posted by GrammasCabin

There's so much to gather up here this time of year, no matter what I'm doing at the moment I think I should be doing one of a dozen other things. Right now the smokehouse if full of salmon ready to can, there's a tote of crab to pick I cooked last night and a 5-gallon bucket of berries to juice. It's not raining at the moment so soon's I get the fish canned & the crab in the freezer I'll head out to pick more berries 'til my back screams at me to quit. Then again, the garden needs weeding, the house is a mess and we're out of bread.
Deer season starts in a couple weeks, no venison left in the freezer and the moose meat's 'bout all gone so I've GOT to catch up with myself here pretty quick. Seems no matter how much I gather and put by it's all gone by next year. I quit when the winds knock the last berry off the brush, the waters get too rough for fishing and the meat hunt closes the end of December. Then I gather with friends all winter and eat it all up.

Here's my first bucket of pretty berries.

So colorful and pretty!

[mrswright]

They look so good!

[Callieslamb]

I wonder about this answer all the time. I find myself in front of the peanutbutter in the store buying 2 - when I already have 12 at home. We don't NEED more. There's a point where greed can over take you. I get nervous if I have less than 3 dozen eggs in the fridge now, when most of my life, I barely had 1. I am working on balance. How much is enough and when do you cross the line into OCD behaviors? Hopefully, if I go too far, someone will tell me.....

[Patt]

Originally Posted by Callieslamb

I wonder about this answer all the time. I find myself in front of the peanutbutter in the store buying 2 - when I already have 12 at home. We don't NEED more. There's a point where greed can over take you. I get nervous if I have less than 3 dozen eggs in the fridge now, when most of my life, I barely had 1. I am working on balance. How much is enough and when do you cross the line into OCD behaviors? Hopefully, if I go too far, someone will tell me.....

If you ever went through a period where you had nothing it makes it doubly hard to know when to say enough! Been there, done that! I used to be stocked to the gills on stuff but after we lost it all in our house fire I have come around to a more moderate view I guess. I give away more now and I know in the end I can't rely on myself, I need a community where we all give and all share.

[Oldcountryboy]

I like Uncle Will's answere.

Through the middle of this week we was almost depressed cause of all the garden veggies we've been picking and putting up. For the last 3 weeks seems like all we've been doing is putting up garden foods and making jellies and jams from fruits from everything that is coming on. Not to mention all the grass mowing and trying to keep the garden weeded. I guess we was getting burned out, but there's still some stuff to harvest. Such as our tomatoes. They're just now ripening good and we still need to make a lot of salsa. We're also putting up a bunch of sweet corn. Still picking some squash and lots of cucumbers. We've been having a yard sale/garden sale and in the last two weeks we've probably sold about $300.00 worth altogether. Which is good cause just as soon as we can, we're going camping and hopefully do some trotlining to fill the freezer full of fish. We don't camp too far away. I usually make daily trips home to feed the animals and put any caught fish in the freezer. So that $300. will come in handy to pay for camping, gas, food, etc. This will be our summer vacation and the money will come in handy.

[LonelyNorthwind]

Originally Posted by RamblinRoseRanc

Lord, Gramma- that's a beautiful bucket o' berries. Are those all wild or cultivated, or a mix?

Those are wild salmon berries and blueberries. I can't tell a difference between the yellow and red salmonberries, they all are just yummy and we're having a monster crop this year. The wild blueberries too, although most aren't quite ripe yet so I'm going to back off on them for another week.
There are so many wild blueberries up here it's just nuts. I try to put up about 10 gallons froze, a few gallons dried & enough juice to drink all year but never quite make it with the juice. A frosty glass of wild blueberry juice is just too delicious, the grands scarf it up.
The muskegs will be full of wild cranberries come September. My favorite berry to pick and the flavor just shouts in your mouth. I jump into raingear and crawl around in the moss all day, daydreaming, following critter tracks and occasionally the critters.



My favorite people up here are the elder Alaska natives, most aren't able to gather the berries like they used to and I love surprising as many as I can with a bucket of berries now and then. You'd think I'd brought a bucket of gold.

[ChristieAcres]

GREAT reminder thread, also pretty berries GrammasCabin. In addition to having a garden that produces far more than we can eat, we have Wild Blueberries, Salmon Berries, Huckleberries, and Blackberries on our property. What I didn't have enough of were BERRIES in the freezer for all the Kefir Smoothies I make daily. Yes, put up everything, give away what we can't store, and have enough to last into the following season. Good thing as our fruit trees won't produce much this year (weather issues).

The work changes as each season passes... That means, we work, put up, preserve, pack what we hunt/fish/trap/dig (Venison mainly, Clams, Oysters, Crab, Shrimp), and give away what we can't store, until we have completed all our work. There is so much to do, seasonally speaking, that the only thing that stops me is resting/sleeping, I guess.

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by Oldcountryboy

I like Uncle Will's answere.

Through the middle of this week we was almost depressed cause of all the garden veggies we've been picking and putting up. For the last 3 weeks seems like all we've been doing is putting up garden foods and making jellies and jams from fruits from everything that is coming on. Not to mention all the grass mowing and trying to keep the garden weeded. I guess we was getting burned out, but there's still some stuff to harvest. Such as our tomatoes. They're just now ripening good and we still need to make a lot of salsa. We're also putting up a bunch of sweet corn. Still picking some squash and lots of cucumbers. We've been having a yard sale/garden sale and in the last two weeks we've probably sold about $300.00 worth altogether. Which is good cause just as soon as we can, we're going camping and hopefully do some trotlining to fill the freezer full of fish. We don't camp too far away. I usually make daily trips home to feed the animals and put any caught fish in the freezer. So that $300. will come in handy to pay for camping, gas, food, etc. This will be our summer vacation and the money will come in handy.

Fishing has been slow and its been too Hot but hoping to set out Trotlines before Deer Season which opens in September.

Originally Posted by GrammasCabin

Those are wild salmon berries and blueberries. I can't tell a difference between the yellow and red salmonberries, they all are just yummy and we're having a monster crop this year. The wild blueberries too, although most aren't quite ripe yet so I'm going to back off on them for another week.
There are so many wild blueberries up here it's just nuts. I try to put up about 10 gallons froze, a few gallons dried & enough juice to drink all year but never quite make it with the juice. A frosty glass of wild blueberry juice is just too delicious, the grands scarf it up.
The muskegs will be full of wild cranberries come September. My favorite berry to pick and the flavor just shouts in your mouth. I jump into raingear and crawl around in the moss all day, daydreaming, following critter tracks and occasionally the critters.



My favorite people up here are the elder Alaska natives, most aren't able to gather the berries like they used to and I love surprising as many as I can with a bucket of berries now and then. You'd think I'd brought a bucket of gold.

Around here its a fight to get Wild Blueberries because of Deer and Turkeys.The Deer have been eating the Blackberries heavy.

big rockpile

[motdaugrnds]

I would like to have all those growing on our place. Don't want to hijack this thread; so if anyone can tell me how to get those growing here (6 acres with 4 in pasture land & one acre garden space), I would appreciate a PM. Thanks