The Solitary Man’s Refuge (6 page)

Chinese tea varieties are used for green and oolong
teas, while Indian varieties produce black teas—which is
good for home growers, considering that most of tea's
health benefits have been attributed to green tea.

It takes about two years before the bush is mature
enough that you can harvest sufficient tea to brew a
reasonable amount, and about five years before the bush
reaches the point where you can harvest tea leaves
regularly.

To make the tea, you have to pick the two to three
newest leaves, and the leaf bud, on each shoot. What you
do with those leaves after that will determine whether you
end up with green tea or oolong tea (which falls
somewhere between green tea and black tea in terms of
taste). For green tea, the Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences at the University of Florida says to steam or panheat the leaves at 480 to 570 degrees F for 10 to 15
minutes while constantly stirring them to keep them from
burning. Then dry the leaves in a standard oven or toaster
oven at 212 to 302 degrees for another 10 to 15 minutes,
and they're ready to brew.

For oolong tea, you need to allow the leaves to wilt,
first in full sun for 30 to 60 minutes then in the shade for
another eight to 10 hours. While they're wilting in the
shade, you need to stir them once every hour. Bring the
leaves inside, and pan-heat them on low heat, between
121 and 149 degrees F for 15 minutes. Oolong tea doesn't
need to be dried, as green tea does. Traditionally, the
leaves are rolled up, either into thin strips or into tiny balls,
preserving the leaves' oils and flavors. As you brew the
tea, the leaves unfurl and release their flavor. In China,
oolong leaves are customarily brewed two to three times
because each steeping process changes the flavor a little
bit.

Prepping is a positive step that empowers
individuals. The more prepared you are the less stress and
anxiety you have. Prepping the way Don did was sort of
like part permaculture and part guerilla gardening that
would last years after all his stored food ran out. He tried
his best to choose things that produced this year or next,
but always had an eye to very long term dirt living as he
called it. He wanted to be able to go out on any corner of
his 3 acres and be able to graze his forest crops if need be
while walking his trap line. It was kind of like leaving your
refrigerator door open for all the critters in the woods and
when need be, setting a trap or snare to let nature pay him
back for feeding all the wildlife in the area was the dues he
would take. It was to be his symbiotic relationship as
caretaker of his farmstead and woods that was based on a
simple give and take notion of backyard survival. He gave
of his labor and was rewarded with Nature’s diverse
bounty that he shared with the creatures of his woods.
Normally, Don would say he had a deal with the animals in
his woods and they were free to come and go as they
please plus have their own farmsteader laboring away and
making their lives easier. But they were prey if the SHTf
and fair game for the pot otherwise.

He allowed the deer and squirrels, etc. unmolested
free reign of the place as long as they stayed out of the
vegetable garden and he enjoyed watching and learning
from their antics and habits. A Survival or WROL (With Out
Rule of Law) situation was totally a different matter though.
Everyone had better go to stealth mode then. He knew if
he was to be on his own basically for any length of time as
an individual prepper, he couldn’t be straying far from his
house to hunt and fish unless the neighbors were truly part
of his newly formed tribe. He had reviewed all sorts of
options on just how that might work out and none of it
sounded very good or profitable for him individually as an
outcome.

The first few weeks of the grid shutting down
wouldn’t be too bad he thought. Folks usually had some
food available and were seen outside in the cooler air
more. Neighbors spoke to each other during such times
and most probably didn’t understand that the lights were
not coming back on for years if a solar storm actualy took
the grid out. When the cupboards got bare and no relief
was in sight though, then the suspicions and folks hiding
inside the house would start. Watching the neighbors like
the wildlife would indicate how he would make his next
steps known. Pretty much everyone on the road he lived
on had access to guns and would be trying to hunt to feed
themselves if the SHTF. Not the time to be out in the
woods, Donald thought.

Deer trails connected every one of the houses
around here in some form or fashion if you were used to
looking for them and followed them to find out where they
lead. He had done a little recon of them on his own and
like the deer had followed the easiest paths through the
undergrowth and had ghosted by in back of the neighbors
houses while exploring the woods in back of his property.
He could easily envision his neighbors accidently or
intentionally walking up to the back of his house while they
were out looking for game or foraging and that gave him a
pause of anxiety and a bit of mistrust.

His woods had a lot of green briar vines in them.
These grab your clothes and flesh snarl you up vines have
lots of strong needle sharp spiky thorns; the plant has
broad and heart-shaped leaves. The vine has small, green
flowers in the spring, and a blue-black berry from late
summer into the spring. Greenbriers (and Catbriers) are
good as asparagus, in salad, and cooked by using the
young shoots, leaves, and tendrils. If the rootstocks of
these vines are crushed and washed, the red powder can
be boiled in water to make a "mild jelly," according to the
Peterson's guide. This powder can also be mixed half and
half with wheat flour to create a "thickening agent," or can
be diluted in a liquid (water) to make a cold drink. We've all
had run-ins with Green Briars (Smilax rotundifolia) while
walking through the woods. You know, those long waxy
green vines with nice sharp thorns on them that seem to
form natural detours or thickets. They are easy to identify
because they are the only vine around here that has both
tendrils and thorns. They root in the ground and grow up
into shrubs and trees and create a real tangle of thorns
that can really slow you down. Well, even Green Briars
have a few useful purposes. Their main useful purpose, as
far as we are concerned, is that they provide an abundant,
nutritious, and easily harvested source of food. Check out
a briar patch in the springtime and you will see that the
vines are putting on new growth. This new growth is a
lighter green than the older part of the vine, and it is soft
These young shoots can be pinched off of the vine, just
above the first thorn, and eaten on the spot; or they can be
collected and then steamed or boiled. They have a flavor
kind of like green beans. If you have a little salt and pepper
to add to them, they are very tasty. Taste the leaf, if you're
fairly certain the plant is a green briar. It tastes slightly
bitter, but is edible. You can eat many parts of the plant,
which you can cook as stews or soups or eat raw.

The roots may be dug in late fall and throughout the
winter when the food source is stored in the large
rootstock and heavy feeder roots. To obtain flour, dry the
cleaned roots thoroughly, cut them up, pound on the roots,
and sift or strain out the fine talc.

This flour may then be used for baking, making jelly,
or concocting a drink. The drink is made by adding water,
honey or sugar to sweeten, and a small amount of
greenbrier flour. It's not very good, and I have not been
able to find out if it's healthful or not! But, surely it has to
be good for something and I will be researching more!!

When making jelly, only half the usual amount of
sugar is needed. Full amounts produce a thick gel. The
water turns a dark brown when boiled with the root. A
simpler way to make jelly is to add honey, hot water and
greenbrier flour, mix. When it cools, it forms a jelly. Judge
this plant for yourself. It's worth taking the time to become
acquainted.

Don planned on using green briar to divert folks off the
trails leading close to his house and towards even more
bracken to discourage chance or unwanted encounters.
He could put on a pair of heavy gloves and basically
barbwire a few areas with these ‘wait a minute vines’ to
improve his security in those waiting weeks. He had also
planted some very wicked looking Spanish bayonet plants
in a couple areas in front of his home where he thought
was a likely place someone might want to hide or take
cover in. A rose bush here and there also upgraded his
security along with some edible prickly pear cactus
assured some lanes of travel would not be easy to
negotiate.

The fruit orchard was shaping up well. He had
fourteen trees in the ground now and he had started
looking at those “$100” free offers if you buy $100 worth of
merchandise the seed companies put out. He was pretty
much decided that now might just be the time to get some
insecticidal spray for his trees with one of those coupons
and maybe some fruit tree fertilizer spikes for his preps.
Won’t be able to find that stuff if the poo hits the fan and
he would eventually need to use it anyway he figured.

Dang, too much damn money going out! Always a
do something now or pay for it later decision he had to
make. He had wanted to go to Florida for one last fun
binge this spring. It was only 3 hours away and seemed to
be calling his name. If he didn’t go this month, the summer
rates would kick in and possibly he would never have the
chance again. Best that he give that some clear thoughts,
he could afford it, but his preps would suffer a lot if he
spent the money on a mini vacation, Don mused.

“Good morning!” Don called as he let himself in
Janice’s front door. Don had a key to her place and she his
and when he was in town it was their custom to have
morning coffee together and plan their days.

“Hi! You’re sounding all chipper up for the day this
morning. You must have gotten some rest last night.”
Janice said, pouring him a cup of coffee.

“No, actually I was up late shooting the breeze with
LowBuckPrepper on Skype and had me a few beers. We
were discussing how to make alcohol to run cars and
such.” Don said as he settled down in a kitchen chair.

“Actually we didn’t much, did you know you can
get a free Federal license to make ethanol for fuel? I am
going to look into that deeper. It was a pretty eye opening
conversation.” Don advised her.

“I want to see his video of that, if he is going to
make one. Didn’t you tell me the other day that any car
made after 1983 could be run on a 50/50 mixture of gas
and alcohol with no engine conversions?” Janice said,
knowing Don appreciated her remembering that tid bit of
information.

“I sure did. With gas prices going up and possible
shortages on the horizon that is a proposition I want to
maybe get into.” Don said adjusting himself for the cat that
had just snuck over and decided it wanted to sit on his lap.

“Yea, couple cases of cream of chicken soup to go
with those 25 lb. boxes of Rice I bought there last month.”
Don said stroking the cat.

“I am glad you turned me onto that so called
“comfort food “ of yours. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to
eat and combined a boiling bag of rice and a can of that
cream of chicken soup and it really hit the spot the other
night. I found some with mushrooms in it, by the way.”
Janice told him as she settled down in the chair across
from him.

“It’s good as a meal or a side dish. Hey, you want
me to fertilize those trees for you next time I am up? It’s
that time of year again.” Don said, looking out the window
at her garden at a pair of Filbert trees.

Filbert orchard nut production increases
dramatically after the size of the tree increases, especially
when heavily fertilized. The nut from the Filbert (Hazelnut)
Tree provided a unique nut food source. There are many
brands of nuts available in the supermarket, and the Filbert
is very expensive at the grocery store, but can be grown
inexpensively with very little maintenance in your garden.
The Filbert (Hazelnut) Tree is also called hazelnut in
European communities and is one of the popular nuts
found under the Christmas tree.

“Yes, I wish you would. I also wish you would have
gotten around to pruning those other fruit trees, but yea, I
know you were too busy writing books to get around to it.”
Janice said, not too kindly.

“Not enough hours in the day. Sorry about that.
They’ll be ok though.” Don replied and shooed the cat off
his lap so he could wander over to the backdoor to survey
the garden better.

“I just don’t have time to help you much this year
with your garden and put in mine, too. I am going to grow
more than we need anyway, maybe you should just cover
most of your beds with plastic and solarize them this year
and let the soil rest and get sterilized.” Don said, dreading
his ever-growing pile of things on his to do list.

“You got to dig up and transfer that big asparagus
bed next to the house to your farm. If I decide to paint the
house, I am scared the workers will ruin it, besides you
bought all those plants years ago, and last year you put in
those asparagus beds out back and they are looking good
and healthy.” Janice said bringing back the memories of
their joint prepping efforts.

“Those roots gotta be 5 or 6 yrs. old now; most of
them were three yrs old when I put them in. I haven’t
looked, but I think most survived fine, gotta be over a
hundred in there.” Don said thinking it was probably going
to take him at least half a day to dig them up.