I was lucky enough to have grown up in a family which attempted (for a few years) to live the ‘Good Life’ – to live self sufficiently whilst still being part of modern society. I was lucky enough to have gone through Cubs and Scouts, CCF and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, and to have learned survival skills in various climes and to have been able to practice them.
But survival is one thing, living is another. Survival, by its very nature, is basically enduring a dire situation until one can reach civilization. In long term prospects it’s definitely not the best option as it is not designed for that.
I’ve always been fascinated by the other option. Prior to the modern consumer age, people – us, humanity – lived for millennia, and lived well. If we lost electricity today, most of us would be dead within a month or two, but there are still people who exist with the skills necessary to comfortably live without modern technology.
Here in Eastern Slovakia, among the Ruthenian minority, I have found such a people. They grow their own crops, raise their own livestock, build their own homes, repair anything broken, brew and distill their own alcohol and can weather the worst of geopolitical storms (and they’ve had centuries of practice). Yes, they’ve got all the modern contraptions and materialistic toys that advertising has forced down their throats, but they still keep their traditional knowledge and skills – how to build a wood and stone house without electric saws or drills, how to drill a well and supply yourself with water, how to treat your family against a plethora of ailments through natural means, how to can and jar food and store it for winter, etc.
My house runs solely on wood (except for a calor gas stove), and instead of mains sewerage we have a septic tank. We often eat wild game (boar and venison) and our own vegetables. And still there is a long way to go until I can compare myself with the true survivalists and preppers who inhabit this region, those who have done this for generations as part of their natural life cycle and through necessity: the Rusin (Ruthenians).
It has always been my intention to catalogue these skills so that others may too learn what it is really like to live by one’s own merit rather than on government and supermarket handouts. It would make one hell of a book or TV series.
The first thing to learn is just how much the seasons affect us. Traditional and primitive life is completely seasonally dependent. Until one has actually been through a couple of years of traditional living, the Seasons seem just an abstract or artistic concept. But when your survival depends on following their ebbs and flows, their good and bad points, you need to learn how to anticipate and prepare for the sometimes short windows of opportunity they present.
Winter
Out here in North Eastern Slovakia, Winter is long and harsh. The Winter of 2011-12 saw the temperature drop to below minus 30 degrees Centigrade. The frigid cold and white lasted from November until the beginning of April. It takes a completely different set of skills to just perform normal tasks than in drier, hotter climes. Frostbite and hypothermia are very real concerns.
Winter is a time of hibernation indoors and is when odd jobs and repairs get done around the house. I like to spend the time writing and painting, or making things such as bows.
Basically, you live on the food and wood you stockpiled in late Autumn: about a quarter of a ton of potatoes, a few hundred kilogrammes of apples, and shelves full of various pickled vegetables and fruit; plus several tons of chopped, seasoned wood (preferably oak or beech).
Spring
After the relatively relaxing and lazy Winter, Spring comes as a harsh reminder that it’s time to work. Sometimes Winter drags on, like in 2012 where it lasted until April, and this means less time for breaking and ploughing the soil, and planting and seeding crops for the summer.
Spring is also often an expensive time as many things have to be repaired or replaced after the damage caused by severe frost – items such as pipes, cisterns, boilers, taps and toilets.
But when the snow disappears and the first buds start appearing (and the first wild strawberries and garlic), the world begins to look good and welcoming again.
Summer
Early summer is a lazy time, a time to enjoy the first real warmth and the greenery all about. It’s nice to do some physical and sporting activities and tend to the gardens. There are lots of wild plants to be foraged and it’s also a good time to do some fishing.
From mid-summer onwards, work increases as various crops are ready for harvesting and grass needs mowing regularly (especially if it’s needed for hay). Wood needs cutting and it’s a good time to do building and reconstruction work. It’s a time spent outdoors, trying to absorb as much Vitamin D as possible.
Autumn
Late summer and early to mid autumn are the toughest times of the year. This is when the vast majority of the year’s work gets done. Crops need to be harvested and then prepared for storage; wood needs to be brought from the forest, sawed, chopped and stockpiled; wild fruit needs to be foraged and turned into jams or jarred; the soil needs to be turned and the compost tilled in.
Autumn is also a great time to earn some extra, much needed income; gold panning is something I’ve taken a shine to as it suits the self-reliant lifestyle perfectly, even down to making one’s own equipment when it’s not available for purchase.
Late Autumn sees every villager out in the forest picking the bounty that nature presents – wild fruit and mushrooms. It’s also safer than in the spring because the boar sows are no longer as protective of their piglets and are less likely to attack.
And then it’s back to making sure everything’s ready for another long and harsh winter – putting snow tyres on the car, filling the water system with anti-freeze, placing traps for mice, changing the bedding for a thicker pile, storing warm-weather clothes and airing out the winter ones.
And so the Seasons turn…. Each year, each season, teaching a little more through mistakes made.
Plus, without having the rat-race to worry about, I get to paint, write, take photographs, ghost hunt, bush camp, gold prospect and ride my motorbike, Feisty….
testing
i like it