HAVE YOU TRIED TAME FORAGING?
(Page 2 of 3)
July/August 1971
by NANCY BUBEL
Small town weekly papers have the most human want ads. You can get lots of clues here. Last fall we were able to pick bushels of marvelous winesap apples and seckel pears FREE! Two homeowners had put ads in the local paper offering the fruit free to whoever would pick it. This saved them the trouble of raking spoiled fruit and dealing with wasps. We didn't ask why they didn't want the fruit, we just picked it gratefully and cleaned up the soft dropped fruit under the tree for our goats. The trees had not been sprayed, either. What luck! Apples sure taste real when you can safely eat them skin and all . . . an almost forgotten pleasure!
RELATED CONTENT
Who knows how many other homeowners have old, uncared-for (unsprayed!) trees dropping unwanted and unused fruit. Try putting your own ad in the paper, offering to clean up under a tree for the privilege of harvesting such a crop.
Other ads in our local small town paper have offered wrecked buildings free for the hauling. Imagine what you could do with all those boards, beams, bricks, old sinks and windows! We've seen this kind of ad several times, though we've never had the time and truck to take advantage of it. Recycle a hoarse free! Worth trying!
IV. RIVERS
Do you live near a river? After spring flood waters subside, all kinds of useful miscellany are deposited along the shores.
We've found driftwood, boxes, balls, plywood and several beautiful 4 X 4's left at rakish angles by the receding river. If you have a homestead, you won't need to ask what we use these treasures for. When there are chicken feeders, cold frames, goat mangers, garden benches, pig troughs, toys, etc. to be made, who ever has enough wood? To us, wood is alive, worth saving. We don't buy it unless we absolutely must. With a little effort, used wood can be recycled at no cost to you and less cost to the environment.
V. MORE FREE WOOD
Where else to get free wood? I I'll tell you about one of our favorite—and most recent—finds. We noticed a big pile of lovely, strong new wood crate parts and 2 X 4's outside gravestone company in a small town. I called to ask if the wood was being discarded, found that it was and that we could have all we wanted. We filled the car and went back for more. Now this was an exciting find for us that should interest other earth people. Cemeteries exist across the land (regardless of how you and I might feel about that way of using land) and not far away from each one there are bound to be small industries preparing the gravestones, or "memorials", as they are euphemistically called. The stones are shipped in by truck in sturdy wooden crates, and I'm sure that other memorial companies discard the crates just as "ours" does. So now you can build that A-frame for your pigs.
