[Artemisia] A New Discussion - SCA Skills in a Modern Plague

[Allen Hall]

Well, this discussion is moving right along.  Some summarizing...

Water, as noted by many is a key element.  You can go a while without food, but not long at all without water.  Our medieval ancestors drank milk, wine, ale, beer, distilled spirits, but you don't hear water mentioned often.  You do read about wells being destroyed by opponents however, so some water was used in some manner.  When I was a kid, a house just down the road had a hand pump that was cool to play with.  The local water table _used_ to be about 20 feet down.  The local gravel pits would frequently fill up with water.  Irrigation pumping seems to have lowered the water tables locally.  Perhaps without electric irrigation pumps, that water would rise back to normal levels.

Osondrea mentioned strength in numbers, but how large are these numbers?  I know that London was one of the largest medieval cities, and it's population was about 40,000.  Larger cities of Europe were only a little larger than London.  Realistically, the ability to bring sufficient food and supplies into such a city is pretty tough.  That would also include taking out the city's waste/garbage.  Though in a plague situation, waste would be greatly reduced as recycling, re-using, and composting vegatative matter would be much more widely employed.

Windmills used to be common in mundane Artemisian territory.  They obviously worked or they wouldn't have been there.  How do you construct one (and maintain it)?  Sounds like some extensive blacksmithing would be needed.  Where do the blacksmith's get their coal/charcoal?  Does anyone know how to make charcoal?  Anyone who has driven from Salmon to Idaho Falls may recall seeing the remains of charcoal kilns east of the road.  Would anyone care to comment on their operation?

Our medieval predecessors preserved meats by smoking and salting, who can tell us about doing that?  How about drying meats (making jerky)?  Once you slaughter an animal, the fresh meat only last so long (unless you've got a big crowd of people), and the meat will go bad.  You've only so much time to do something to preserve that meat for future use.  Who can tell us about canning meat or other methods of preservation?  Anyone heard of keeping cooked meat imersed in lard as a preservation method?  How do you make lard?

Handcarts are seen in medieval illuminations.  The dramatically increase the amount of "stuff" a person can move.  Let's hear more about making them.  Perhaps a new "side business" could emerge from this conversation!

So Red, where would you go thieving a horse pulled mower and rake.  Steal 2 of each and bring the extra down to the Uprising site!

Gardening will quickly cease to use modern chemical aids...so what plants naturally repel insects, how do you deal with birds raiding your cherry crop, etc?

I'd really like to thank everyone who has had comments on this thread.  You've all added some good food for thought, and it's obvious that we have some smart, experienced folks in this Kingdom!

Alan