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Three Rules for Persuading the Sheeple, by Tall Sally
This article could also be titled: "How to Convince Friends and Family to Prepare for Economic Collapse." One of the greatest problems for the prepper is getting family and friends on board without alienating them or terrifying them into inaction. With this article, I hope to use my experience to show you how to gently and persuasively warn friends and family about the coming economic crisis. I have used this approach with several people and found it to be successful.
I am writing this article now because I believe that now is the time to approach your sheeple about prepping if you have not done so already. More and more people are noticing that something is wrong with our economy, and many of them are probably ready to hear about preparedness, but only if you approach them from the right direction. My goal is to help you find a good approach.
Why should you listen to me? Well, in my previous job, I was a corporate educator at a large mortgage bank. I learned two things from that job: how to watch my income spiral down into oblivion along with the entire mortgage industry, and how to explain complex concepts in simple ways. You don’t need my help to watch your income spiral into oblivion, so instead I will teach you how to explain complex concepts.
Before we get started, let’s emphasize a few basic rules that educators follow. I will elaborate on these rules in this article, and then I will show you how to put them into practice.
Three Basic Rules of Persuasion
Rule 1: Take it slow.
Rule 2: Keep it simple and sane (KISS).
Rule 3: Relate it back to their lives.
Now let's expand these concepts a little bit.
Rule 1: TAKE IT SLOW
Are you sure that you want to have this conversation? There are schools of thought that say you should never mention your preps to anyone. Think this through carefully; otherwise you may have 45 family members knocking on your door next winter. I considered this before mentioning it to anyone; however, I don't think life is worth living if everyone I love dies, especially if I could have warned them. Besides, my nearest relative lives a five hour drive away from me. They'll have a long walk to pester me.
Define your audience. Think ahead and focus your efforts on the most level-headed, trustworthy, "solid" people that you know. This has several purposes. First of all, such people are more likely to listen to you and believe you. Secondly, other people will trust that person; once you persuade them,so they can subsequently persuade two or three other people.
Establish essential concepts and build on them. That's how adults learn. You see it in this very article; I have given you three simple rules and now I am expanding on them.
Rule 2: KEEP IT SIMPLE AND SANE (KISS)
Don't expect too much, too fast. Remember, that some folks' idea of "preparing" is to buy an extra six-pack on Saturday because the liquor stores are closed on Sundays. Take it easy; my experience is that prepping is a daunting task to most people and if you give them too much information you will spook them. Once they're spooked, it's hard to get them to listen at all.
Climb down from the crazy tree. No, I am not saying that you are crazy for being a prepper. I am saying that most people think that preppers are crazy. Your goal here is to persuade and convince. I would never have convinced my auntie successfully if I had mentioned my gas masks or my plans for a fallout shelter. Keeping your mouth shut about these things is also good OPSEC. Your goal is to sound just a little bit more prepared than them: "Terry and I bought a few cans extra cans of Spaghetti-Os last week..."
Keep language plain and simple. Imagine that you're explaining all this to a 12-year-old. Use simple words and concepts. Adults learn better that way. Complicated language makes them feel threatened, and they tune it out.
Keep concepts plain and simple, too. The novice trainer’s most common mistake is to dump a bunch of information on the learner and believe that “since they heard it, they know it.” That’s not how adults learn. We learn through repetition of basic concepts.
Rule 3: WITH A RELATION
Relate it to their life, not yours. Imagine that you go on two blind dates. The first person talks about themselves non-stop all through dinner. You can barely get a word in edgewise. The second person engages you in interesting conversation and hangs on your every word. Which person do you call back?
You call back the person that talks with you, not at you. The same is true in persuasion. You are telling them these things because you love them. Listen closely to how they respond, like the loving person that you are.
Use concrete examples that matter to them. Which of these two approaches is more captivating?
“A loaf of bread might cost you $20 next fall.”
or,
“The Federal Reserve was established in 1913, as the central banking authority of the United States. The Federal Reserve is a monopolistic cartel of bankers, and they established a new kind of currency called fiat currency, which is unconstitutional. Now, fiat currency is basically just paper backed up by law. It doesn’t mean anything…”
Obviously, the short sentence that relates to their life is better than the ten-minute history lecture on something they barely understand and don’t care about.
Now Let’s Practice.
With these rules in mind, practice a typical conversation. I have provided a script below, but in reality you don’t want a one-sided script; you want a conversation. Talk with them, not at them.
Also, notice that each part of the conversation is related to one of our three rules.
Rule 1: START SLOW...
Start with Pleasantries. (This establishes a sense of ease and rapport.) "Hi Aunt Bea, it's been awhile since we talked. Yes, Terry and I are doing well. We went hiking last weekend and really enjoyed it. How are things in Mayberry?"
Explain why you are calling them. (This gets their attention and prepares them for what's next.) "I'm calling you because I have something serious to talk about, and I know you're level-headed and you're likely to listen to me."
Establish your credibility. (Adults want to know why they are listening to you. Who are you, anyway?) "As you know, I was laid off from that big mortgage bank awhile back, and when the bank started having trouble I started paying really close attention to the financial blogs. I've been reading them for awhile..."
Establish the credibility of your sources. "... and I've been starting to see some news leak into the mainstream financial press, such as Yahoo Finance..." (This is true.)
Rule 2: KISS...
Explain the problem. Keep it simple and keep your language sane.
"A lot of credible sources are saying that there may be rapid inflation starting this fall. Nobody knows for sure, but it could be a little or it could be very high.It might take $100 just buy a loaf of bread. There are also rumors of a possible bank holiday this fall. The phrase 'bank holiday' is really a misnomer. It's when they close the banks for a few days or a few weeks, and you can't withdraw cash to buy food and pay bills. They might do it if they needed to fix a problem with the banking system. This is harder to confirm than the inflation, but I think it's wise to prepare for the possibility."
Let’s analyze the above paragraph using our KISS rule.
I kept it to two main points. There are a million things to prepare for; you need to decide what the most convincing, urgent, easily-prepped-for problem is and stick to it. I chose economic collapse because it’s in the news right now, and it gets people’s attention.
I kept my language approachable, and when there was a new term I explained it simply. I didn’t mention any off-the-wall theories or rants about the Federal Reserve. The bank holiday is a rumor but well within the realm of possibility; but I emphasize that the inflation is NOT a rumor. It is a credible possibility being discussed in mainstream financial publications.
I didn't just say "There's going to be an economic collapse." I gave them a concrete example (the $100 bread loaf) that would relate to their lives. And speaking of relating it to their lives…
Rule 3: RELATE...
Suggest some ways to prepare. "There are things you can do to prepare for this, Aunt Bea, and it doesn't have to be really complicated. You can take some money out of the bank, and that's good to have on hand anyway in case of emergencies like earthquakes. I recommend keeping about a month's worth of cash on hand, if you can. You can also buy some of those old quarters and dimes... you know, from before 1965, when they used to make them out of silver. [Take a little time here to explain why junk silver is good in times of inflation. Rawles has some great articles. Also explain that it can be purchased at local coin shops, and explain the current cost.] And of course, since food will get more expensive later, it might not hurt to buy a little extra food now."
Take a moment to consider: Why would you start by talking about cash, then talk about silver, then talk about food?
First of all, these are all simple, non-threatening recommendations that anyone can follow. You want to start with the easiest step and go from there. Let's go back to our three rules:
Slow:
Start slow by talking about the cash first, because everyone knows how to get money from the bank.
KISS:
Talk about silver next, because you can emphasize that they can keep it simple and spend just a few dollars, if they want. (In other words, right now they can buy one silver dime for about $1.50.) If you explain it well, this idea is unthreatening and easy to do. It's also "more sane" than telling them to buy gold because many people are familiar with the old silver coins.
Relate:
Mention the food last because to some people in your audience, stocking up on food immediately rings the “crazy survivalist” bell. It's good to put it in context of a wise financial decision related to the other steps they’re taking.
Ask them to talk to their family. This relates the whole conversation back to their lives. It makes them feel less alone, and it impresses on them that we're all in this together, etc. It's also the charitable thing to do. The more people that prepare, the better. I have also used this moment to ask them to help me persuade others (my mom, my grandparents, etc) since two voices are more credible than one.
Thank them. This lightens up the conversation and makes it sane. "Thanks for listening to me about this. I'm sorry to bring up all this gloom and doom. I just really care about you guys."
Continue the conversation according to your audience. Tailor your spiel to the person you’re talking to. Think back to the three rules that I mentioned earlier (slow; KISS; relate). Below are profiles of three of my favorite aunties. How would you apply those rules to your conversation with them?
Auntie A is threatened by the idea of prepping. She will barely talk about it.
Auntie B says she has a gun, and she also says she wants to start a garden.
Auntie C lives in a big, dangerous city and she will not move (cannot afford to and has lived there all her life). However, she is otherwise on board and even excited that someone finally mentioned it, and she’d like to read some online articles. She’s worried about her antiques business in this economy.
Take a moment to think about your approach, and then read on to learn how I approached each of my aunties.
With Auntie A, I took it slow. I will be lucky if she will buy a week's worth of spaghetti; I didn't push her any further than the script above. I moved on to talk about the weather or whatever. I can always talk to her about it again later.
With Auntie B, I followed the KISS rule. I suggested getting a little extra ammo for her gun and enough seeds for her garden. These are simple things that she can do tomorrow, and they’re not that scary. I did not say outright that ammo and seeds will be unavailable after the collapse, because that sounds insane.
With Auntie C, I related it back to her life. Since she's web-savvy, I pointed her to a web site that discusses prepping to live in the city during an economic collapse (FerFAL's web site). (To “keep it sane” I mentioned that his site is "geared toward American survivalists" and “I don’t like reading it because it’s scary” but "if you can get past all that, it's worth looking at.") Because she mentioned that her antiques business will probably not prosper, I also pointed her to posts about how people make money in the city in hard times
In conclusion...
This can be the only conversation you have with your loved ones, or it can be the first in a series. However you approach it, remember these proverbs:
"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." and, "A prophet has no honor in his own country."
In other words, no matter how simply and gently you explain the coming collapse, there will be some that prepare and some that won't. You don't have any control over that. Your only duty is to try to gently persuade them in a way that they can understand.
Final quiz: What are the three basic rules of persuasion?
The Memsahib Adds: Before approaching a relative or friend with the topic of preparedness, consider: Is there some aspect of prepping that would fulfill one of their long-held desires, or perhaps even a childhood fantasy? Have they always wanted to own a horse? Be a master chef? Live like a Native American? Live off the land like a Mountain Man? Be a doctor? Be an herbal medicinalist? Be an explorer? Be a teacher? Own a large acreage? Be a park ranger? Sail the seven seas? Be a philanthropist? Be a missionary? There are aspects of preparedness that can fit into all of these desires. So, in effect, you can make prepping fun and fulfilling for them. When I was growing up, I always loved baby lambs and wanted to own sheep. I was also disappointed that I didn't grow up on a farm, as my mother had. (I was raised in the suburbs.) Our path to preparedness was a great excuse to buy some acreage, and raise a flock of sheep. This led to buying spinning wheels and a loom, learning how to card, spin and dye wool, learning how to knit, how to felt wool, raising angora rabbits, and raising angora goats. This in turn eventually led to us getting dairy goats, and later a dairy cow. So all of this fulfilled a childhood fantasy of having my own farm. Thus, prepping felt rewarding, and in no way did I feel threatened or did it seem like I was living under a dark storm cloud. When I served my first loaf of bread that I had made with eggs from my chickens, and wheat that I had sown and later hand-ground, the rooster in our barnyard couldn't crow any louder than I could! My grandmother would have been proud of me. Talk about heavy gravitas, when bringing such loaves to a church potluck! (But even just brining muffins with berries that you grew yourself, or picked out in the wild can give the same sense of accomplishment.) It was much the same for me when I finished making my first sweater with wool from sheep that I had helped deliver. I had shorn the wool, carded it, dyed it, spun it and knitted it--bringing the sweater all to its final form. What a lot of work, but what great fun!
My favorite way to introduce this topic to other women is through teaching "heritage crafts". The homemaking skills of our pioneer ancestors are something that most women--even city women--can relate to. Whether it is canning, gardening, small livestock, sewing, cooking, baking, knitting, leather-working, candle making, soap-making , et cetera. I have done all of these, and and have enjoyed passing on these skills to neighbors, friends, and even my nieces and nephews. Perhaps your local church, 4H club, scout troop, PTA, homeschooling club, or public school would be open to having you teach a class or put on a demonstration.
I found that the more I learned about one preparedness topic, the more that I wanted to learn about related topics. For example, when I was raising rabbits, it was fun learning how many different ways I could prepare rabbit meat dishes. And when I was dairying, it was fun to branch out into making yogurt, soft cheese, and milk soap. With God's providential guiding hand, your friends will each find a special preparedness niche, that will benefit their families, and in turn get them excited about many more aspects of preparedness.
A note to husbands, fathers, brothers, and uncles: Please do not alienate your female friends and relatives from preparedness by "assigning" them a prepping specialty. Instead, let them pick their own, to suit their particular disposition and interests. By letting women choose our own areas of expertise, it gives us the feeling of being in control of our lives in an uncertain world. Encourage and nurture their interests, but don't dictate them!
Part of getting prepared is recognizing the fact that some aspects of preparedness are more "fun" than others. And, correspondingly, what constitutes "fun" for one individual is not necessarily considered fun by another. How many men wouldn't blink an eye at buying a $700 SIG or a $1,500 FAL, but get anxious about "the expense" when they see their wives looking through a Louet or LeClerc catalog? What is needed is a well-rounded approach to gathering logistics, tools, and skills. There is much more to preparedness than just "guns and groceries." Get prepared, but don't obsess over all the gloom-n-doom "what ifs?" You should instead take a well-rounded approach that will provide a family with educational activities and lots of fun, all while actively learning, preparing, and cross-training. One way to ease your spouse into a preparedness mindset is by encouraging her to get involved with a the local fiber guild, 4H club, or farmer's market co-op.
Tall Sally is absolutely right about going slowly. Get your friends and relatives into preparedness one small step at a time. Encourage them to get prepared, by playing off of their pre-existing interests, fantasies, and hobbies.
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Two Letters Re: Last Minute G.O.O.D. Versus Well-Considered Early Relocation
Jim:
The figure [cited by "Feral Farmer"] of 100 square miles per hunter-gatherer can't be correct. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles). So, at 100 square mile per hunter gatherer, would only support 95,400 natives. Considering that large chunks of the Arctic and desert are minimal in their resources, not to mention Greenland, this figure (100 sq mi) can't be correct.
Here are a couple of online references:
Agricultural practices and policies for carbon sequestration in soil By John M. Kimble, Rattan Lal, Ronald F. Follett
and,
Food, Energy, and Society By David Pimentel, Marcia Pimentel
These suggest about 40-200 hectares (a hectare is a 100 meter square). This would allow 12 million to 60 million people for the continent, which is much more realistic.
Clearly, though, this is not an efficient way of feeding population, and [given the current population] would quickly lead to both starvation and stripping of resources. - Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog's Editor at Large
Mr. Rawles,
If I might add a few comments to [Feral Farmer's] letter. Living in a rural and now recreational area of Wisconsin I have noticed several things. Unemployment is becoming a very serious issue here. Many businesses are simply folding or moving away. It is mostly the small one to five person business's that simply disappear. No big headlines, just quiet and slow.
1. Locals are fishing more than ever are putting up their Friday night fish fry in the freezer for future use. Friday night fish frys are almost religion here and have been for years. So if they cannot afford to go to the local bar for it, they will have the fixin's at home. This means that City folks may not be eating so well if they come here, expecting to live off the land or lake as it were. Small game is the same thing.
2. Mr. Feral's comment about taking 10 years to really know your land is so true. It cracks me up when I hear a city person ask: "What's so tough about farming? You just dig up some dirt, dump some seeds in and get some food at the end of summer." Yes, I have actually had that said to me. I have a field that is a bit lowland, and some what shaded by large pine trees. It was a pasture for the previous owner (perhaps for good reason). I have been trying for years to get a really good crop of anything off that field. The weeds seem to love it, but corn does not. This year we had a cold April, wet May and ups and downs in June. 90 for a couple of days and 60 the next. My corn refused to germinate. I view this particular field as a challenge and am determined to find a crop that will grow. I can do it because I have other very productive fields. My point is the same as Mr. Feral's. You cannot simply expect food to grow because you think it should, because you
read a book. Thank, - Carl R.
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Ug-99 and The Ugly Times Ahead--There'll Be Fungus Among Us
My consulting clients often ask me me for predictions. "What's your timeframe, Mister Rawles?" I hear that in almost every consulting call. My clients ask: "When will the US economy crater?" I tell them that is impossible to predict, because there are so many variables and interdependencies, and because the markets are so heavily manipulated. They also ask me: Is the H1N1 Flu sure to mutate in to a more virulent strain, and if so, when?" I answer: "That is impossible to predict." I'm also often quizzed about the Ug-99 wheat fungus (aka "Durable Wheat Rust", or simply "the stem rust"). Clearly, it is advancing , but without a specific timeframe. Scientists are now calling the advance of Ug-99 around the globe "inevitable". My greatest fear is that instead of just being spread gradually by the wind, the stem rust will make "leaps", via the cargo holds of ships, and hence end up in the world's "bread baskets": Australia, the Ukraine, the US, and Canada. In the long run, containment is seen as almost impossible. Thusfar, attempts to create a rust-resistant wheat variety have been thwarted by the rust's rapid mutation rate.
Let's look at some numbers: 20% of the calories consumed by the human population of our planet currently comes from wheat. That means that there will likely be a caloric shortfall for a number of years--until either wheat fields are re-planted in some different crop, or until a viable rust-resistant wheat variety is developed.
I encourage readers to study the Ug-99 threat, and think through its implications on a macro (global) scale. Then think through the implications of a wheat famine at a personal level. Where will you and your family get your daily bread? Have you stored up for seven lean years?
I cannot more strongly urge SurvivalBlog readers: Get your food storage squared away, immediately. Supplies are plentiful now, and prices are still reasonable. But the threats that we are facing are numerous, large, and all too likely. And, of these, UG-99 is almost a certainty in the next decade, and it will directly affect the global food supply. Stop dawdling and get ready. You owe it to your family to do the best that you can to prepare.
In a recent exchange of correspondence abut Ug-99 with reader Jim M., he wrote: "I think stored food should be viewed more as a supplement, especially wheat in view of UG-99. Alternative sources of complex carbohydrates should be sought by preppers. Other grain seed should be planted and replenished by those with land and climate to do so: oats, barley, rye, spelt, millet, maize, quinoa. A few thousand square feet of each suitable grain type would provide continuous seed viability as well as training for larger-scale crops and harvests in the future. Starchy tubers could also figure greatly in extending long-term food stores. Anyone with even a sunny balcony should be able to grow their own potatoes for instance and there are plenty of other tubers they can try."
Preparedness is keyed to trends and to the emergence of general threats, not specific dates. It has not been since Y2K that we've had specific date target. And that was clearly an exception to the general rule. Perhaps we'll someday read about a large asteroid with a predicted earth-crossing orbit (like Apophis), and have a multi-year countdown to disaster. But otherwise,we just have to be ready at all times for a variety of potential situations.
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Letter Re: Last Minute G.O.O.D. Versus Well-Considered Early Relocation
Dear Editor:
John M.'s letter was excellent, polite, and to the point.
The following are my rules for townies:
1. If your water comes out of a faucet or a bottle, and you can not safely walk to a permanent backup source in less than 10 minutes every day, then you will die.
2. If you do not raise your own food, or personally know the family that you bought it from, you will either die, or be forever controlled by someone with a clipboard and a list, and you will wish you were dead.
3. If you live in the city because your job is more important than your life, then don't bother bugging out. The only Job you are likely to get out here in the country is digging graves for people that think like you.
4. A centuries old rule of farming: It takes a minimum of 10 years of farming a piece of ground to know it. So, you're going to compress a decade of intimate knowledge into a weekend, because you read a book? We'll send the guy mentioned in Rule #3 out to your shack next spring.
5. Unless you have a fully stocked and equip 19th century-style working farm to escape to, with food for two years stored in place for humans and livestock, you are simply a well-intentioned refugee, or an unwelcome house guest.
6. [Forget "foraging".] In the 1850s, (for the purpose of sizing reservations), it was determined that a skillful Native American needed 100 square miles (10 miles x 10 miles) minimum, to live off the land, per person. There was a lot more game back then, and less afraid of humans. You're going to be competing with around 300 million hungry human bellies, every morning.
7. Ten cases of canned food fits in a 2'x2'x2' area. Around 30 cases will give you one meal a day for a year, and fits under a [tall] bed. The gear, tools, food, and clothing needed for a family of four for a year in the wild would fill one or more semi-trailers. So you think that you're going to effortlessly bug out with a truck and trailer at O-Dark-Thirty and survive? Stay home, or become breakfast for less dainty bellies.
Finally: There are two terms you hope never appear in your obituary: "unfortunate accident", or "shallow grave".
If you and your gear are not already pre-positioned on your own homestead, and your city job is just seasonal or part time for the Gov.Bux, you are probably bound to end up in one of these two categories by bugging out.
Prepare, but stay where you are, unless the emergency is a temporary natural event - Feral Farmer
JWR Replies: I concur that taking halfway measures is an invitation to becoming a statistic in a societal collapse. As I've stressed countless times, the best approach is to live at your retreat year-round. A marginal second choice is to maintain a fully-stocked retreat that is constantly under the watchful eye of a trusted friend or relative that can also keep your fruit nut trees watered and look after your livestock. But even then, you'll likely lack the requisite large-scale gardening experience in your retreat's particular climate zone. You will also lack having developed trust relationships with your neighbors--something crucial to survival. It is incredibly naive for anyone to anticipate that they can "bug out" with everything that they'll need. Even if you are fortunate enough arrive with your vehicle and trailer intact, as "Feral Farmer" points out, you will be way behind the power curve: under-equipped, and under-provisioned. And as, John M. mentioned, those that are under-prepared will probably end up in a life of thievery, rather than watch their families starve. The goal here is to be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.
I also concur with Feral Farmer's observations on foraging. The hunting and even the fishing pressure will be tremendous. I've heard from consulting clients in California' Coast Range that deer harvest have dropped to pitifully low numbers in the past five years, because of the depredations of Mountain Lions. (Which have been elevated to protected species status in the People's Paradise of California.) The chances of filling just one deer tag, they say, are now slim except for anyone that has the time to willing to "hunt hard" throughout California's short deer season. So, I ask: If this has happened when there were just a few thousand excess mountain lions, then what will happen when there are an extra 5-to-10 million deer hunters wandering around California, shooting at anything that moves? (The California deer population has already dropped from more than one million to an estimated 485,000. That is not a lot of deer to go around, WTSHTF. And what will happen to the freshwater fishing stocks, when there are hundreds of thousands of set lines being worked, year round?
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Letter Re: Last Minute G.O.O.D. Versus Well-Considered Early Relocation
James -
We think along similar lines, as my wife and I relocated to Central Idaho in 1995, raising and homeschooling our four children here. We're electrically functioning off the grid, engage in animal husbandry, grow what vegetables we can, and stock up on essentials we cannot produce and always meticulously rotate the stock. And we hunt, big time.
I read the entry on your site today about the fellow who intends to travel ore than a thousand miles in a blink of an eye, and use this blur to make a life-changing decision based on distorted glances at sixty miles an hour. Though I agree with essentially every bit of advice regarding location considerations, and in particular what to avoid, perhaps you should suggest to this fellow to split his trip into two or three, perhaps even four excursions so he can really evaluate what he is looking at.
I've lived in the west my entire life, a witness to the destruction of Colorado as we finally fled the far reaches of the West Slope for here. Knowing that one simple mistake in terms of selecting a location can be fatal in and unto itself, we began looking in 1993 and through 1994 before making our selection. Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. Distance from population centers was number two on our criteria list, but as you well know, the number one priority must be water.
People in the cities haven't really a clue as to its relative scarcity. Turn on the tap. Our criteria was "live, year-around creek" on the prospective dirt, or it was scrubbed from the list. At 8.37 pounds per gallon, you can't realistically haul enough any distance for survival if survival means growing food if TEOTWAWKI actually occurs. Maybe not enough to use just to satiate thirst if you are too far from the source.
Let's face it. If people have to actually "Bug Out", the "End" is happening, right there and then. Think: water, water, water, and location, location, location.
I wrote a piece about "relocation" a few years back for a Peak Oil web site that generated several thousand comments, the vast majority of them were positive. The negatives were from the Gold's Gym-type jerks who thought I was trying to come off as some kind of tough guy, which I wasn't. "Realism" offends people. You cut one cord short on firewood before winter and the snows get hip-deep, you are dead. Sometimes you have "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" with large critters equipped with teeth and claws. I killed a damned lion at six feet inside my barn who was upset that I was upset that he had killed my milk goats. A bear at thirty feet on top of one of our sheep who was none too happy with me either. The wolves are here constantly, and that's just a time bomb waiting to go off. We've had jerks from cities show up on the place acting, and to be kind here, just a little "weird". Occasionally and unfortunately what followed were "in your face" armed confrontations, required to convince them getting the hell out of here was a damn good idea.
Which leads to another situation that is always notably absent from writings about "Getting out of Dodge". Why isn't it mentioned that people are already "out there", and even if a person chooses to relocate before the fan is blowing manure that it takes a couple of years before the indigenous outlanders accept your presence. These pre-existing folks, as you well know, traded off the easy living the cities offer for a harder lifestyle that almost guarantees austere living. The F.N.G. is a newcomer, and no one knows whether her/she is a curse or a blessing. The number of drug-laden scum that has floated in and out of here over the years is pretty amazing, let alone the flood of retirees who ain' t worth knowing. A third of them want sidewalks along Forest Service Roads.
And then when things go south, some guy, regardless of what color collar he wore to work, abandons his 52" widescreen HDTV, his Budweiser and the N.F.L. Package, throws his "Git-R-Done" stuff in the 4-Runner. Off he goes, carrying just enough with him to guarantee that where he ends up, thieving and murdering is going to be happening. Why? Because he's in a panic regardless of how "cool" he thinks he is. In truth, if you don't already live "out there", you aren't prepared. City folk are waiting to run, and they are running to nowhere. For that matter, half the people who are already "out there" aren't really prepared. But City Folks simply cannot take with them what is needed long-term to survive, and even short-term if winter is upon them. So, he is going to become a thief and a murderer. Where he's headed he doesn't own dirt, has no roof over his head, and he hasn't got the food to last a month. The most moral man in the world will become the worst of sinners when facing starvation. Add a man with his woman and a passel of kids, and you've got a desperate man. "Honey, I starved the kids!" I don't think so.
So, what do you think folks around here are thinking anyway? Putting out the "Welcome Wagon" for an exodus of people who refused to sacrifice ahead of time? Those who have been living easy and going to Applebees every Friday night? The wife blowing money at the mall every Saturday with the rest of the "girls"? People who thought, "I'll stay here doing the 9-5 because the woman insists, and then we'll go if we have to." Here's another good one: "We didn't want to move and have to change schools. The kids really liked it there."
The foregoing mean that the "Old Lady" and the "kids" have been dictating his life anyway, right? You ever seen these women go through "Mall Withdrawal"? Good God, it's a terrible sight to behold even under good conditions! At least when things are "normal" they can head over the pass for a methadone-like "Mall-Fix" up in Missoula or head to Idaho Falls. Shoot, you go and "Cold Turkey" a mall-dependent woman and h**l doesn't even begin to describe the price that must be paid! It's viral too, I swear.
Seriously though, is there some assumption that such "exodus scenarios" aren't discussed by the locals down at the cafe's in Salmon, Challis, and Elk, Bend, and North Fork over morning coffee, as well as at the Sheriffs Departments around here? My understanding is that the roads in and out of here are to be closed, which is fine by me. There isn't much bounty here to begin with, and adding a bunch of instant vagabonds will simply be making meager pickings that much slimmer.
Fools rushing for the hills. There's a steep learning curve and most aren't going to make it. Best regards, and keep up the good work - John M.
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Seven Letters Re: Advice on Deep Water Wells in a Grid-Down Era
Hi James,
There is a mission-oriented web site with a tutorial on making valve leathers at this site. There is other useful water well-related information on the site, too.
Where John C. is living, if the static level is 400 ft., then he will be looking at needing a fairly deep well. If he gets by with less than drilling a 500 foot well I'd be surprised. Water wells here locally have a 350-400 foot static level and run 700-800 feet deep. The depth, quantity, and quality of water you find all depends on the area you live in, the underlying geology, and hydrologic conditions within the aquifer.
I agree that the submersible pump is the best choice for a deep well. In a grid down situation, a wind mill is probably your best bet. It is possible to install both systems in one well. Basically, you set the submersible some distance below the wind mill's pump cylinder. One thing you'd need to do is adjust the submersible pump so that the water level in the well is not drawn down past the top of the pump cylinder. One very important aspect to keep in mind when using a deep well with a sucker-rod type pump: use a open top pump cylinder (working barrel) where you can pull the rods, replace valve leathers and/or work on the pump valves, without pulling all of the tubing from the well.
As you mentioned, pulling up 400+ feet of 2-inch pipe from a well by hand is a challenge. It can, however, be done. Keep in mind that a 400+ ft. deep water well is actually much deeper than many early-day oil wells. Searching through old oil field related documents, photos, and museum displays can provide a wealth of very basic, mostly home built, technology that a water well owner can utilize.
Need a derrick to pull rods or pipe from your deep well? Check out what the Canadians used.
Tripod derricks were used in Canada and the U.S. in early oil fields. They were made from peeled trees, power poles, or pipe. Simple winches were used to hoist the rods and pipe from the hole.
Need a pumping jack to lift the rods in your deep well? You can't get much simpler than these or these.
Once the jack is balanced, it doesn't take a whole lot of power to lift the rods and pump the well. - Jeff B.
Hi Jim;
My wife and I are the founders of Woodhenge, an intentional community in the northern, rural part of New York State. We practice and teach self-reliance skills. One of the products that I've designed is a deep well hand pump that can be built from mostly off-the-shelf parts found in a hardware store. I sell the complete instructions for $20 and a pre-machined parts kit for $250. The kit contains all of the parts necessary for the 2" PVC cylinder and the modified pitcher pump. One of the things that makes this pump unique is that it doesn't use a rod to connect the piston in the lower part of the well to the handle but
a stainless steel cable and return spring. I do not include the cable or draw pipe...I don't know the depth of the well. I do not know if my pump design could handle the static depth of 400', but it easily handles depths of 150'. I recommend that the draw pipe diameter be reduced to keep the weight in the column of water to a manageable amount. I recommend that shallower deep wells (over 30' to the static level of the water) use 1-1/4" draw pipes, over 100' dropping to 1" diameter, etc. I will offer a big discount to the guy with the 400' well if he wants to experiment with my kit. The frictional losses of water in a smaller diameter pipe are the only factor I don't know how to calculate. My pump easily delivers about a cup of water per stroke. Further information on my pump as well as other things
we're trying to do are available on our Woodhenge web site.
I am "the King of Scrounge" mentioned in your blog a few months ago. My book "The High Art and Subtle Science of Scrounging" is now available through me. Inquiries and information are available by contacting me at jsjuczak@gisco.net. Thank you for what you do. - James S. Juczak
James,
I've a reasonable amount of experience in electrical engineering and pumps in general so perhaps could give John C. some additional advice on deep wells.
First just a general note:
The work an electrical pump or any other electrical device needs to do requires a certain amount of electrical power which is Voltage X Current measured in Watts. As James correctly points out, a 24 volt pump requires considerably larger wires than does a 240 volt pump (to deliver the same amount of work) since wire size is determined by current (amperage). In this case figure a 24 volt system would need roughly 10x the circumference of the wire that a 240 volt system would need. Note: It's the circumference of the wire that's at issue not the area since current flows mostly along the outside of the wire. A simple way to think of electricity is to compare it to a river. The speed of the river flow is the voltage. The size of the river bed is the amperage. Both together determine the power.
Now, regarding deep wells:
Most deep wells in the west have low infiltration rates so my advice is to use a fairly small size 110 or 220 volt AC submersible pump of good quality (Grundfos make the best). The water pumped out of the well goes directly into a cistern which can be most any tank of a few hundred gallons. Mine was a 1,000 gallon fiberglass tank in the basement, which I installed before the floor was put in. Anyplace is fine as long as freezing temps are taken into account.
A simple automatic fill system is installed in the tank to turn on the submersible when you use some part of the tank up. This system allows the well to refill and also allows the pump to work better and last longer by avoiding frequent starts.You also have a ready source of stored water, if needed. You have to know your well infill rate and the depth of water over the pump inlet to determine how much to pump at any given time. Never allow a submersible pump to run dry and always install protection in the pump start control.
Since the cistern tank is unpressurized [, unless you can position it up on a hillside] you'll have to provide a centrifugal pump to charge the household lines. You can then either pump out of the cistern tank into a small pressure tank or use a demand system that turns on a small centrifugal pump every time you open a faucet. Either way works fine and all of it is cheap to buy and easy to get at to maintain.
If there are any bacterial contamination issues a small ozone generator can be installed in the cistern. They killed 100% of bacteria and spores such as Giardia when I used one to clean a Colorado stream water source. They add nothing to the water itself since the ozone turns back to oxygen within seconds of it's being generated. An ozone system does need constant power, but it's a very small amount. Essentially it's just a small UV light in a box with a tube into the water. A venturi off of a tiny pump like those used in ornamental fountains pulls the ozone into the tank.
In this system the submersible pumps into the cistern tank at "zero head" and you can get away with a smaller pump motor than you would normally use for a pressurized system. That's not only a cheaper pump, but it's easier to pull if needed. Also, since a well pump is frequently the largest power requirement in a household if you go off grid a smaller pump means a smaller generator- or something like this http://www.solarpumps.com.au/category7_1.htm.
Don't forget that a pump requires a larger starting amperage than its nominal rating. Again check with the supplier. It's important to have the pump operating in it's ideal range which is based on total lift (head ) and water (GPM) required, so check that yourself too. The charts are easy to read.
In John C's case, the water is at 400', so he'll need a well that's around 500'. Put the pump at the bottom and that's a safe 50 gallons of water available to be pumped.
Based on a 5 minute Internet search, a Grundfos 10SQ 1/2 HP pump costing $600 retail would give around 6 GPM pumping into the cistern. A 1,200 watt generator could drive it. Add a 400 gallon tank, 1/4 HP centrifugal pump for pressure, controls and it's a done deal. The well itself is going to cost around 10 grand, and hopefully you'll find water down the bottom of it.
Kind Regards, - LRM, Perth, Western Australia
JWR,
I have some experience in this area in that our well has been solar powered for 5 years at our off the grid ranch.
We elected to put our well on top of a hill about 120 feet in elevation above the house. I did this because I did not want to pump my water twice and deal with a pressure tank in a separate building that I would have to heat and use additional solar power to keep up the pressure. Our four water tanks, 2,600 gallons each, are on a step, just below the well. A Pitless Adaptor allows water to be pumped into the water tanks at a depth of four feet underground for freeze protection. All pipe on the ranch is 3 feet underground, with freeze proof hydrants at key locations. There is enough thermal mass in the tanks that they do not freeze. There is 50 pounds of pressure at the house from gravity. Remember, it is always cheaper and easier to store water rather than electricity. Big water tanks are a good thing.
Our well is 300 feet deep and the pump is set at 240 feet. Static water level is 185 feet.
Having said that, a 400 feet deep well on solar power is no problem. There are two types of solar pumps I would recommend, www.lorentz.de/ and www.grundfos.com . I have a Lorentz pump. The Grundfos is also a very good pump. The Grundfos has the advantage in that besides solar power, you can hook up a wind turbine and have both wind and solar power going to the same pump. There are plenty of solar dealers selling these pumps. I have been served exceptionally wall by Dennis Austin at Solar Power and Pump Company. He always has time to help you out via phone with any questions. He does not publish his prices because they beat everyone else.
The controller on the Lorentz pump converts the DC power from the solar panels to AC power to go down the well to the pump. I am not sure how the Gurndfos system operates. Both these pumps are used extensively by aid organizations around the world to provide clean drinking water for less fortunate people in third world countries. They are pretty fool proof.
One additional consideration is that putting your solar panels on a dual axis solar tracker, will increase water output as much as 40% in the summer when you need water the most. We have a Wattsun dual axis tracker from www.wattsun.com . Their company has been around a long time and since they are active trackers with gears, they are not affected by wind like the Freon-balanced trackers.
Thanks Jim for all your hard work in helping us all out. - PD
Sir:
My water has been off the grid for 12 years and while my well depth is shallower I offer my experience. The system described provides 5 GPM at 50 PSI for household laundry, bathing, and kitchen needs but I would not recommended for lawn or garden use.
I have 360 watts of solar panel and 340 amp hour of batteries [storage capacity]. The head of my well is 160 feet and I use a Sunpump SDS series well pump that draws 2 gallons per minute (at 0 pressure) to fill an 1,100 gallon cistern. The current draw is 2 amps at 24 volts. The current price for the pump is approximately $900.
The matching pump controller/current booster is a must. Note that the Sunpump SCS series is rated for 700 feet. The good news is the water pipe is ½” plastic roll pipe, bad news is the pump will need major service after about eight years.
The house is pressurized by a Dankoff Flowlight booster pump that draws from the cistern. Standard well system pressure tanks and switches complete a very reliable system. You can find the recommended 10 micron intake filters here.
The Cistern is a tank made of potable water grade plastic (made from the same mold used for septic tanks). This gives me 1,100 gallons of water that is not hot in the summer, freezing in the winter, safe from bullets, and was a fraction of the cost of an elevated water tank.
Extra battery power feeds a Magnum Energy inverter that saves some on the electric bill. - Jon in Texas
Hey Jim,
I would like to throw in my thoughts on pumping water in a power grid down situation.the wide variety of situations with water sources makes for a wide variety of solutions. I am a retired water well contractor, over twenty years residential, farm and public supply, doing both the well drilling and pumping equipment installations.
First off, if no one reads further, the best [short-term] solution is a generator powering your present system, it's how it's done, by the homeowner, farmer, by contractors, and small utilities. Larger utilities use a direct drive to the gear head on a line shaft turbine, but you won't see that on smaller systems.
To get to the situation discussed in the article, a 400' water table is considerably deep, so many times, folks think that the depth of the well is related to the depth of the water table, that's just not so, I have drilled wells 300' with static water levels 20 or more feet above the well head, hence, a naturally flowing well, and by contrast, 300' wells with 150' water tables, but generally, most levels in the 60' range in deep wells in my neck of the woods. However, water wells are as varied as the land and aquifer you are looking to get the water out of.
So to go after the logistics of getting water out of the ground and then out of your faucet, you'll have to start with the source, deep well, most common for private water systems, and the subject here, but don't write off shallow wells, cisterns, lakes and rivers or rain catchment, it's just that water out of a deep well will be free of organic compounds and safe to drink, but you should have it tested, another subject all together.
Well depth is part of it, but most important for using that well is the water table and capacity in gallons per minute. The diameter of the well will affect production to a certain extent, but mostly the diameter will determine what pumping equipment you can use, deep wells for private use will tend to be 4' or 6' steel or plastic casing, with open hole in the rock below that picking up water by capillary action and fissures, or even a screen for loose formations that produce water. A typical well install for me would be around a hundred foot of 4' well casing, down to the bedrock, then open hole down into the floridan aquifer, ending up around 200', to produce 20 gallons a minute or better with a water table about 50' and a submersible pump set at least 10 feet below the water table, and another variable, if you pump more water than your well delivers, called "drawdown", you'll be setting your pump below that drawdown level of the water table.
Submersible pumps are a great way to get water out of your well, they "push" the water to the surface, and produce good "head" with their many impellers, "head" translating to how far up the pump is pushing the water from the water table, to theoretically how far above the point of use is, that's your water "pressure"a pump that makes 300' of head will pump from a 100 foot water table and be able to pump 200' more feet above ground level, that would be more than enough to provide you with 50 or 60 pounds of pressure in your tank and at your faucet. Very efficient, generally run on AC current, and either filled with FDA-approved oil or sealed with epoxy and such to keep the electricity isolated from the water. I have heard of DC submersible motors, but never saw one, let alone installed one, something to research, I guess, may be as much to do with having an AC power grid as the the drawbacks inherit in DC motors in general. Last word on that is submersible pumps can pump from very deep water levels and are reliable, but replacement would be tough without specialized equipment,
Above-ground pumps are less efficient, but easier and cheaper to fix, especially for the do-it-yourselfers, which would be very important in a grid down economy. most common are jet pumps, one or two impellers and a jet either installed below the water table or on the face of the pump if the water level is within 30' of the surface, very important distinction there, you can only lift water, "suction" 33 feet "'one atmosphere"} vertically. Beyond that, the vacuum required will cause air bubbles to separate out of the water and you'll lose the ability to pump the water. So, the "jet" a nozzle and venturi are placed in the well, with the pump cycling most of the water thru it, lifting an additional amount of water and producing the head pressure at the same time. I could envision a DC motor on a an above ground pump, imagine they're available, if even to have one as a standby, but then again, do the math, if you're wanting run a one horsepower DC motor that'll turn the needed 3,400 rpm and to do it on twelve volts, you'll soon see the cost and sizing differences are huge.but at least everything is right there where you can work it. again, a generator or a very large solar or wind system would work as well.
In a grid-down situation, a properly sized generator would run it, but to look to solar or wind power, just do the math, I did, by the time you size something that will start and run that pump, you've got a ten thousand dollar or more system, if you want to do your house or other uses, you could use the same system to power your pump when the need arises.
If you are lifting the water less than thirty feet, the possibilities wide and varied, a straight centrifugal pump or positive displacement pumps, such as diaphragm or piston, etc. which don't need the rpm's of the impeller pumps and can even be hooked up in multiples or series, depending on power source or what you want to do with the water. To have the ability to pump out of a shallow well, or even a surface water source, this would give you water, if only for irrigation or other uses, or to be purified and then used for drinking water, "potable water".
The most viable pump system in a grid down situation, in my opinion, would be a sucker rod pump, or a pump jack, I worked on many of them, but generally just pulling them out and replacing them with submersible or jet pumps, or to abandon the well by pumping it full of grout. They are the pump systems you generally see under the old Aermotor windmills, the tall long levered hand pumps, and the much larger pump jacks used in the oil fields. The smaller sucker rod pumps are very simple, the up and down motion of the rod is transferred down the well and into [a pump cylinder under the static level of] the water, where it lifts the water one stroke at a time, very simple, with multiple power options, directly from the wind, human power, or motor driven electrically, or other, which could include about anything you could dream up as you only need to turn a pulley, the amount of power required would be widely varied as the rpm can be varied so much and it'll still pump, less water, but water. One particular model I was looking for, but didn't find is the old Crane Deeming pump jacks, a staple on the old farms, designed more for a power source other than the windmill or pump handle, although you could hook it up if the power was off. it would run on about any motor you hooked to it, as far as horsepower and rpm, "revolutions per minute" within reason, including electric, piston, or even the power take off (PTO) from your tractor. Also of consideration is that with a very low yield well, the ability to pump to a cistern or other holding device, and then to pressurize the water from there with another pump, old technology from when people made do, before our era of throwing technology and money at it till you're happy.
Here's a link to an article on building a pump jack. It drives the sucker rod that's in the well, but depending upon where you're at, the terms are kind used interchangeably. Go to the home page, browse around, or do your own search, lot's of choices out there.
My thoughts on this, if I wasn't going to use a generator if the power is down, is to have a separate well with a pump jack, or if you have a six inch well or larger, with a submersible pump in it, install a pump jack right beside it, no, I have never done that, and the easy way would be to call your local well driller or pump man, but dual pipe well heads are available, and the two systems shouldn't interfere with each other, the two possible problems would be with the submersible pump itself, or the power wire to the pump, but then, I imagine I would set the submersible pump and then the sucker rod and pipe above it,
Anyway, if you're wanting alternatives, they are out there, sounding complicated, but actually quite simple, especially if you prepare in advance, the simplest power alternative is still the generator, I know I said it again, but I also have six solar panels at 175 watts each, and a wind generator at 400 watts, with all the controllers, battery bank six by 120 Amp Hour 6 volt and a 2,400 watt inverter, which would not be adequate to run my 1hp 220 volt submersible, but a 1/4 horsepower motor on a pump jack would work, too bad I didn't keep any of that old stuff, but anyway, short of the generator, or fuel for it, would have to go with the pump jack, or for shallow water, a positive displacement pump. Would be willing to continue this discussion, if you'd like. - Mickey
JWR,
I am a recent "convert" to the survival mentality. Thank you for this blog. All I can say is that it is excellent. On to my point: I too am grappling with this conundrum of how to pump water out of my deep well for my house water, although mine is more shallow (200ft). I currently have a 220 VAC 1/2 HP Gould deep well pump with a 33 gallon pressure tank to round out my water system. I've been researching the deep well pump made by Grundfos. The model is called the SQFLEX. According to the manufacturer, it can run on either AC or DC and will pump from depths of 650ft. Whole systems can be bought here http://solarwellpumps.com/solar.htm . I'm not sure if these are the real deal or not, but they have definitely piqued my interest. I spoke with one of the reps and she indicated that these pumps are used for residential use with a pressure tank (mine is 30gal). The pressure tank is also a problem. I would rather have an elevated storage tank like you recommend. The only problem with that is, for "flat-landers" such as myself, those who live in the midwest without hills. Then what do you do? Do you build a tower for all your neighbors to see (forget about OPSEC) or do you use a water storage tank and place it amongst your house rafters/trusses (which definitely won't hold up because they are of 2x4 construction and once you cut a large "idiot hole" [for post-construction passage of a large tank] you lose the structural integrity). So there I am. Not sure what to do. I would like to hear some thoughts. "Patriots" was an excellent and fast read. Sincerely, - JJ
JWR Replies: My only brief comment on installing a water tank in an attic is: watch out! When you calculate the weight of just 55 gallons, at 8.33 pounds per gallon, that is 458.15 pounds, not counting the weight of the tank itself! Definitely consult an engineer before installing any tank of substantial capacity.
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Letter Re: Advice on Deep Water Wells in a Grid-Down Era
James,
I know that I have seen posts about deep water wells, but when I search I really don't see that many applicable posts. I am looking at a property where water [static level] is about 400 feet down. In a "grid-up" scenario, this isn't really a problem, but I am looking for "grid-down" options for using a well at this depth. Not knowing much about the specifics of wells, I am not having much luck searching with Google, either. Would you be able to cover some deep well basics and some options for grid down/solar/backup pumping, specifically for deep wells?
Thanks so much for the blog. I have been an avid reader (pretty much daily) for two years and have several copies of your book to loan out to friends. - John C.
JWR Replies: As per your request, here are a few deep well basics:
Solar and wind power are the best solutions for deep wells in a grid-down collapse. If you live in an area with reliable winds, a windmill used in conjunction with a large gravity-fed tank or cistern, is relatively inexpensive and trouble-free. Photovoltaics are getting less expensive with each passing year, but system complexity is an issue, especially with systems that use a battery bank. (To maintain water pressure during hours of darkness, you will either need to store water in a gravity-fed cistern, or you will need a battery bank, so that you can operate your well pump. )
Deep wells can be pumped with submersible AC pumps, but not submersible DC pumps. This is because the "line loss" (voltage drop) in DC cabling is tremendous. Even with fat, heavy gauge DC cables, if you start out with 24 Volts DC (VDC) at your battery bank, you will likely be down to just two or three volts at 400 feet! Given that sad fact, there are two good solutions:
1.) Use a DC-to-AC inverter top-side, and run AC cabling down the well shaft to an AC well pump. (Note: Many of these pumps require 220 VAC, so you will either have to use a much more expensive 220-capable inverter, or replace the pump with a 120 VAC model. (You may be an electrical neophyte, and asking "What type of pump do I have?" Take a quick look at your AC circuit breaker box. If the breaker labeled "Well Pump" is a pair of breakers that are ganged-together with a wire loop so that they'll be actuated simultaneously, then the chances are 99% that you have a 220 VAC pump.)
or,
2.) Install a jack
("cricket") type pump or a windmill to
actuate the sucker rod pump cylinder. Traditionally, sucker
rods were made from hardwoods
such as white ash.
More recently they've been made with metal or fiberglass. Even with ash wood,
their service life is measured in decades. The pump cylinders are made of brass
and
will last
many decades.
However, the pump
leathers will eventually wear out, so you should consider buying a
couple of spare sets and storing them someplace safe from mice and moisture/mold.
Unfortunately changing all of the leathers on a down-hole sucker-rod actuated
pump means yanking the entire sucker rod and then the
weight of all 400 feet of your service line. That is a lot of
weight, requiring a heavy duty hoist and of course all the usual "mind your
head, fingers and toes" safety precautions and protective
gear. Lifting a 1-1/2"
or 2" diameter 400 foot long
pipe is no problem for a pump company, but it would be a challenge for a typical
rural
family working with an improvised hoist. I recommend that you watch your
pump company man carefully as he installs the pump in your well for the first
time. You will notice that the crucial piece required is the flange that catches
the
pipe
unions
on each 20+ foot long section of service line pipe as they are raised or lowered
in the well casing.
I've previously owned a jack type pump, and in my experience I
found them problematic. I would much rather use an AC
submersible pump.
Shallow wells (say, 50 feet or less) can be pumped with a DC submersible pump. I generally advise my consulting clients to "hang" both an AC pump and and a DC pump, one above the other in the same well casing, for the sake of versatility an redundancy.
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Letter Re: Sprouting is Key to Good Nutrition in TEOTWAWKI
James,
I am a fan of sprouting, but I have to disagree with Roxanne on a few points:
The idea that the human body needs external enzymes from raw food and that we will 'run out of them if we eat cooked food' is a food myth that traces it's origin to the natural hygienists of the last century, along with the idea that you can live forever if your colon is clean.
Humans have been cooking food since we discovered fire. Our pancreases are bigger and we do suffer plenty of diseases wild animals don't and yes, eating some raw food is a good idea but no, you will no more run of enzymes than you will run out of saliva or any other fluid.
Eating raw food means you are more at risk for food borne pathogens such as E. Coli and parasites. Furthermore cooking vegetables allows the body to digest them. We do not possess the enzyme cellulase that vegetarian animals do so we cannot break down plant cell walls without cooking, juicing or chewing and regurgitating and chewing again like a cow.
Also, all sprouted foods contain some toxins during the sprouting phase which is how the young plants try to avoid being eaten by animals, as well as anti-nutrients (protease inhibitors etc.) Alfalfa is one of the worst offenders as:
"Alfalfa sprouts contain approximately 1.5% canavanine, a substance which, when fed to monkeys, causes a severe lupus erythematosus-like syndrome. (In humans, lupus is an autoimmune disease.) Canavanine is an analog for the amino acid arginine, and takes its place when incorporated into proteins. However, alfalfa that is cooked by autoclaving (i.e., subjected to pressure-cooking) doesn't induce this effect. [Malinow 1982, Malinow 1984]."
Add to that, the fact that many people will experience gas when eating raw food and that sprouted grains don't taste as good as cooked grain and you have a problem.
I spent a year eating only raw food. I felt great for the first little while as I cleaned out my system but over time I got quite weak. When I added in raw meat towards the end of the experiment (chicken, fish, beef and eggs) I felt better. You can eat raw meat and sprouted grains but consider it something you do in case of emergency. While raw meat now is quite clean thanks to the USDA inspection process (I still eat 4 raw eggs a day), after an event, without refrigeration, eating road kill or trading for wild meat or eating meat you hunt without cooking it first is too risky.
As I mentioned in a article I wrote for SurvivalBlog two years ago, sprouting allows you make Vitamin C from grains (a vitamin that is difficult to store long term) but this is something that should be done as digestive capacity allows. A handful of sprouts is all you should need to take care of this.
One option is to sprout your grains and then bake with them (such as Essene bread), then you get the best of both worlds, but this type of bread is so sweet as to be like candy and will not give you the slow burn of energy that cooked grains can deliver. - SF in Hawaii
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Sprouting is Key to Good Nutrition in TEOTWAWKI
If you were to take an inventory of all your preparedness supplies, would
you feel quite confident that you are in fact “ready”? Your supplies
might include a good, well thought out long-term, food storage program, complete
with a variety of dehydrated and freeze-dried legumes, grains, vegetable, fruits,
dairy and meats. If you’ve gotten this far, you are to be commended for
taking two giant steps toward emergency preparedness. But have you also considered
the very process by which these foods are preserved to give you the benefit
of long-term food storage? Did you know that both the dehydrating and freeze
dried process destroys the essential enzymes your body needs to utilize the
nutrients in the food itself? That’s what may keep the food from spoiling
thereby giving you the benefit of long-term storage, but your body still needs
these essential enzymes.
To give you an example of how enzymes work and why they are so important for
your health, consider this: Have you ever dropped an apple and noticed a bruise
form? Have you ever watched what happens to that bruise over time? Underneath
the skin, enzymes are busy at work breaking down that apple until there is
nothing left. The exact same thing happens with the enzymes in your digestive
tract: These mighty, enzymatic “powerhouses” perform their magic – breaking
down the food to its constituent parts - vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates
and protein - so the body can ultimately use it for life and vitality. Without
them, we are borrowing from our body what it was never designed to do. To use
the old adage, if I may, we are "robbing Peter to pay Paul".
Yes, the body is thankfully equipped with the means to also digest these essential
nutrients with a flood of digestive enzymes, from amylase in your saliva, to
gastric lipase, pepsin and rennin in your stomach mixed with hydrochloric acid.
The partially digested food (chyme) then empties into your small intestine
where liver bile and pancreatic enzymes continue to breakdown the food so the
nutrients can be absorbed. There is a kink in this unreliable system, however.
Over time and with abuse, when the body is forced to pump out all the enzymes
needed for digestion, eventually the body breaks down. Hence, we see the rise
of all these horrific, degenerative disease like diabetes, coronary heart disease
and cancer – to name a few. Instead of the food enzymes breaking down
our vital nutrients, our bodies are breaking down and we wonder why.
Although this article cannot possibly cover the scope of the need for enzymes
incorporated into our everyday lives, it must cover the inevitable concerns
we face in preparedness. We know the time is near and we need to prepare. One
only has to watch the “real” news to realize we’re headed
for some tumultuous times. And for many of you who read and support the Survival
Blog, you already are prepared and continue to prepare. But now you’re
faced with this dilemma: Your long term food storage is depleted of enzymes.
It contains all the necessary nutrients, but nothing to deliver them to your
body. Now what?
That was a question we faced as individuals, and as a self reliant, emergency
preparedness business: We sell good, wholesome dehydrated and freeze-dried
food products from some of the best companies out there with all the necessary
nutrients for survival but void of the enzymes needed to break it down. So,
from our personal interest in nutrition, to my naturopathic studies, to the
realization that Americans are in imminent danger with their casual approach
to health, we decided to take that leap of faith. We had to do something that
would not only provide the enzymes needed for everyday living, but for our
long-term food storage as well. So we made a drastic shift in the way we eat
now by choosing healthy, unprocessed food and incorporate a lot of whole grains,
fresh fruits and vegetables in our diets, including sprouts.
Did I say sprouts? Could it really be that simple that we could live off our
food storage and enjoy good health with the simple usage of sprouts? Sprouts
are living foods packed with living enzymes ready to take food to its next
level. In fact, alfalfa sprouts are one of the healthiest foods available to
man with such vital nutrients as calcium, copper, folate, iron, magnesium,
manganese, phosphorus, potassium silicon, zinc, vitamins B, C, D, E and K.
Not only does it possess all these nutrients, it’s alive and full of
enzymes. By the simple application of sprouts in your long term food storage,
you too can not only enjoy the fresh crisp taste of vegetables but employ every
nutrient for the health of your body from otherwise, “dead” food.
Sprouting is so easy, anyone can do it. It requires no special knowledge or
complicated equipment, just the seeds, a sprouter
kit, some moisture, warmth,
darkness and maybe ten minutes of your time daily. They not only store well,
but a little goes a long way! In fact, just one pound of alfalfa seeds can
produce 10-14 pounds of sprouts. Just simply soak the seeds in water overnight,
drain them and lightly water for a few days. Then watch them grow! Soon you
will have a bountiful crop of healthy sprouts to incorporate into your long-term
food storage plan. - Roxanne L. Griswold, Ready Made Resources
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Letter Re: Growing Food on a City Lot
Sir:
On my quarter-acre lot in California’s San Joaquin Valley, I have about 50 small fruit trees (citrus, apples, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, and cherries) grape vines, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, squash, cantalopes, watermelons, tomatoes, eggplants, rhubarb, Armenian cucumbers, potatoes, carrots, basil, parsley, tarragon, and a kiwi vine. (And there is plenty of space left over for the house, garage, ornamental landscaping, and plain old lawn, although more of that lawn is going away next year, to be replaced with more fruit trees.) Now, I didn’t do it myself; I paid my gardener quite a bit of money to build trellises, install drip irrigation, break up hardpan [adobe clay soil] with a jackhammer, replace bermuda grass lawn with planting space, prune the grape vines, and generally give me advice. But I couldn’t do it myself, and I regard the money as well spent, not only for my own benefit, but to help employ a good, honest, hard working man with a family to support.
But my point is: you can grow [dwarf or semi-dwarf variety] fruit trees as little as four or five feet apart; you just prune them ruthlessly when they get too big. The Dave Wilson Nursery web site is very helpful.
My other point is, besides non-perishable food and necessary household items, I am buying extra fertilizer. The price is quite a bit higher this year than last year, and I expect it will only get higher in the future.
- K.C. in California
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Letter Re: Growing Food on a City Lot
JWR:
While we all dream that perfect place in the country it is important to
emphasize how much that can be accomplished on a small city lot. My home sits
on about 6,000 square feet of land, a small suburban house in a cookie-cutter
neighborhood . The house and garage and drive way take up about half of the
lot . Of what's
left, I'm slowly converting the ornamental landscape to organic food production.
My current garden consists of 48 tomato plants (4 varieties) 2 beds of sweet
corn, 2 rows of cucumbers staggered 2 month s apart for continuous harvest,
2 similar rows of pole beans, one row of lima beans, 30 sweet pepper plants,
6 pumpkins, 12 winter squash, 12 summer squash , 6 cantaloupes , 4 peach trees,
2 nectarine trees , 2 pear trees , 2 apple trees, and one fig. In addition, numerous
herbs –(basil , dill, rosemary, sage, and thyme) and 4 artichoke
plants . Could easily plant enough onions and garlic to last us all year and
I plan to do so as I add beds.
Last year I grew enough popcorn to last two years. Next year I plan on a large
bed of dent corn for corn meal. Am still experimenting with winter crops but
peas, beets, carrots, and kale all do well and I'm anxious to see how many
potatoes I can get from 100 square feet.
I figure that I' ll pull about $2,000 worth of food from the garden this year
and that ’it is going to increase because I still have about 1,000 square
feet of ornamental beds and lawn to tear out and plant and the fruit trees
are still
young . Over the past 8 years I've spent less than $1,000 for tools
and equipment: two spades (one all metal for my heavy clay soil) , a
Mantis tiller, metal fencing stakes for pole beans, tomato e s, and cucumbers
( they last forever, much better than wood) , various clippers, twine, a bit
of organic fertilizer , and the bare-root fruit trees . This year I've spent
less than $25 ( seeds, twine, and a bit of seaweed spray) since I have all
the tools already. Could rent out my tiller at $ 30 / day if I took the trouble
to post at the local store. Meanwhile, we're eating healthy and free
and will start putting up food as I expand my beds and grow enough to save
as well as eat.
I love the work so it is not drudgery for me it is great
exercise and a relief to be outside after working in my office all week . Weekends
in late winter and early spring are a bit busy –-- perhaps 5 or 6
hours per weekend for a month or so . But once the winter garden is out and
the spring
garden is planted, it requires about two hours per week for the rest of the
season.
Yes, we all want to life in the country. But until then there's free food
for eating and survival storage right in your backyard if you're willing
to do the work. - Patrick C. in Southern California
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Letter Re: Walking Tractors and Similar Powered Farming Implements
James
I have gardened a lot. The topic of tractors is one that you need to think about before you purchase one. If you have one acre to plow a Ford 8 or 9n is to big to utilize in fact I would not think about a riding tractor unless the plot size reaches three acres or more. There are tractors that will plow that you walk behind and then utilize a tiller.
SurvivalBlog reader
LRM is right in the fact that a tiller can be hard to use if you do not prepare the ground before you crank the tiller up. Before you plant you will need to break the ground with a fork to loosen up the ground, then till, irrigate the ground. Then you will either spread out fertilizer either commercial or compost you have manufactured. Then you till a second time mix in the fertilizer or compost,now you are ready to plant. Once you have worked a garden plot the ground gets easer to till and not as much work is needed to put in a garden.
The other factor you need to think about is if you are not doing it now it will be much harder to do once TSHTF. The learning curve is very steep. Get to gardening now, learn all you can. Store seeds in the refrigerator. Start a compost pile. Raise chickens. Their manure makes great compost, combine chicken manure with lawn clippings and compost for 14 days then turn the pile then compost another 14 days and turn the pile and about 1 week you are ready to use. [JWR Adds: Chicken manure just by itself is too "hot' for use as fertilizer, in most cases.] Keep a compost pile going and you'll have an endless supply of fertilizer.
What about container gardening they work great for Tomatoes and Potatoes and there are raised beds. Raised beds will produce more per square foot than rows. A two- acre raised bed garden will produce more than a three-acre row garden.
There is a lot more to gardening than plowing with a tractor. - Curtis M.
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Two Letters Re: Walking Tractors and Similar Powered Farming Implements
Hi;
The ongoing discussion about tractors is interesting. I was recently able to
purchase a fully restored 1952 Ford 8N for $3,500. The tires, front end bushings,
everything is new, and the motor is rebuilt. This is a deal of a lifetime to
be sure. But, there are plenty of other good deals out there, this is the time
to look. Check with farmers to see if they have an extra tractor to sell. Many
farms own multiple tractors and if they need money you might get lucky. And
if you get real lucky you might find an old one restored. The farmer is more
likely to want to keep the bigger newer air conditioned tractor over the smaller
old one.
It is pointless to debate which tractor is best. But allow me to point out
a
few things that I have learned about these Ford 8Ns. Any part you could want
is available online. Many parts are in stock at Tractor Supply and similar farm
stores. I have never used a tractor before, and I'm not a good mechanic. But
this is such a simple set-up that it is very easy to learn the mechanics. The
manuals are available online or stocked at Tractor Supply. There is nothing to
them, a huge advantage over a modern computerized tractor that will be fried
by EMP. And there are countless 8N and 9N tractors still being used, and a potential
future source of parts. Common items have a big advantage.
In the past we have worked a garden by hand. We added a hand plow and then a
big rototiller. But we were able to increase the speed of tilling with this
tractor beyond measure. It is not very noisy, and certainly quieter than a lawnmower
or rototiller. In less than a day you can easily plow and disk a small field.
And we used very little gas the entire day, never having to refill the small
tank. We used 3-4 gallons of gas to put in a massive garden. We plowed up ground
that was last plowed over 50 years ago, and it was fast and easy. With the rototiller
it would have taken days, more fuel, more exposure outside. We hope to grow more
food than we can eat, preserve and root cellar and still have plenty left to
donate to others.
A person can get into a decent used tractor with used plows and other implements
for a few thousand dollars. Compare that to some of the other things people buy
and it's a cheap investment. If you don't overspend, they will likely keep their
value. Stock up on fluids and basic spare parts in advance. For a few hundred
dollars you can fill your shelves with any fluids and common parts that could
be needed. 5 ounces of gold will get you set up. Maybe less. You can plow for
neighbors in exchange for a few loads of firewood, or something else you can
use. You will have a machine that can help you and your neighbors out and keep
everyone from being hungry.
Get all non-hybrid seeds and learn to save them and you never need to buy seeds
more than once. Extra seeds are excellent barter items. Learn what plants can
cross breed and avoid this. You can grow a lot of corn to grind for animal feed.
If you save your own seed to grow this, your animal feed will be almost free.
And for those of us that aren't getting any younger, sitting on a tractor all
day compared to running a rototiller, well, there is no comparison. - Don in
Ohio
Dear Mr. Rawles,
As a landscape contractor and private gardener who during the last several
decades has worked on three continents and used more types of equipment than
I'd like to think of, I feel qualified to stick in my 2 cents regarding the
proper equipment to use on small holdings.
Landscape contractors cannot afford to waste time of money on unreliable or
unsuitable equipment so we chose with care. We do any type of work you can
think of that's exterior to a home, commercial building, park or highway. While
our work is mostly decorative, it is the same type that would be necessary
in a post apocalypse world. Planting bed prep, irrigation, retaining walls,
etc.
A few lessons I've learned:
The equipment used for a particular job must maximize power, reliability and
agility into one unit. In my opinion, most walk behind tillers, trenchers or
tractors lack both power and surprisingly, agility. You will wear yourself
out doing the work the machine is supposed to be doing and you may injure yourself
in the process. Holding onto one of these things is like holding onto a bucking
bull. A twisted ankle, back or badly pulled muscle means a few days off work
in this world. During the bad times it means a lot more. Personally I hate
em.
While 5-10 acres is mentioned as the size of a survival garden, the reality
is more in the range of 1 acre. 1 acre is a lot of ground to prepare, plant,
water, weed and (hopefully) harvest. A heavy duty real tine tiller could probably
do a decent job if the ground had previously been cultivated but a 20 horsepower
(h.p.) or so tractor would do it in a fraction of the time and do a better
job leaving
time for other things. Front tine tillers are toys suitable for backyard kitchen
gardens. The same goes for ATVs and their "farm" implements. Why
ruin a perfectly good ATV by dragging a plow at 1 mph? You wouldn't hook up
your SUV to a plow would you? Well at least I wouldn't.
So I'm recommending you find yourself a good 4 wheel drive hydrostatic drive
medium size tractor.
These tractors do have a tendency to roll over,but they have roll bars and
if your smart enough to wear the provided seat belt, you'll be okay. Anyway,
all the gardens I've seen are dead flat so if you run one along the side of
a hill you're not gardening but doing what I do. If you are on a slope, go
up and down not sideways, keep your front loader bucket low and don't do anything
rash. It isn't much of an issue.
Four
wheel drive is obvious. They work great anywhere there is loose dirt sand,
mud or snow. They also save wear and tear on the tires (less tire slip) and
less drive train stress. I used one to plow my Colorado mountain driveway which
was both long and steep and frequently had several feet of snow in it. If you
do get stuck the front bucket will work you out.
Hydrostatic drive means the engine runs a variable pump which drives the hydraulic
system that does all the work. It allows you to set the engine speed for power
and vary your speed, both forward and reverse, by pressing your foot on a floor
mounted rocker arm. No shifting or clutch involved. In my work that means we
can do 300% more than if we used the older style tractors. These pumps never
seemed to wear out although we did have one failure on a new tractor. Unless
you just plan on plowing the back 40, it's the only way to go.
The engines were 18 h.p. on up and all were diesel. We never had a problem,
ever. A 18 h.p. .tractor will work hard all day on 5 gal or less of fuel. Anything
under 18 h.p. is a toy.
The rear implement on each was usually a 5' tiller. With it we could do most
anything. Need to cut some hard rocky ground? Just back till. The rocks would "hook
out" (be careful) and we'd be left with 8" of soft rock free soil.
When we needed to amend the soil, which was always, we'd spread a few inches
of peat/manure with the front bucket, then run the tiller over it a couple
of times. Back dragging the bucket would firm it back up for planting. What
took one guy 3 hours would have taken four guys all day to do with a rear tine
tiller and wheelbarrows and they would have done a poorer job of it. If a backhoe
wasn't available, we would use the tiller/bucket to dig holes in hard ground.
The front bucket makes a great dirt mover, snow plow or firewood carrier or
anything else you could fit in it. You can use it to hoist the tractor into
a trailer or pick the front end up to change a tire (with a block under the
axle pivot point of course.
In my experience light tractors make poor backhoe platforms and semi-okay
trenchers with the proper attachment on the 3 point.
Now here's the real key. The manufacturer. I've used all of them. Most are
not up to task and are a waste of money. I've broken more than one in half.
Several
others just died or were put out of their misery. Sadly, the "American "made" ones
never were any good. A few Asian manufactures weren't any better (Yanmar was
one that broke in two). In fact the only brand I ever buy now is Kubota. They
are rock solid and the only one to buy (and no I don't have anything to do
with them except give them money on occasion.) I'm also partial to MF40s but
they're somewhat large for the work we're talking about.
Cost: Well... they're not free, but they do enough work that every neighbor
around will want something from it and that's not a bad thing, now or during
the bad days. Charge about $75 an hour and a cold one. Kind Regards, - LRM
(from Perth, Australia)
JWR Replies: Your comments add credence to my assertion
that a large family garden plot (at least one acre), makes the most sense for
a self-sufficient garden. Not only
will you have room for more crops, but you will also have the room needed to
maneuver a tractor. One important note: When fencing your garden, plan ahead:
You'll need at least one large
gate for tractor ingress/egress. Even if you don't own a tractor, chances are
that you can borrow or rent one, especially for the first time that you turn
the soil. Without a tractor, that first turning is often a monumental effort.
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Two Letters Re: Walking Tractors and Similar Powered Farming Implements
James,
I just wanted to respond to the recent article on small tractors. In
1981 my wife and I bought 12 acres and started market gardening, selling
produce locally. I grew about 3 acres of produce each year and put up hay
for animals.
Our first big investment at the time was a BCS 725 machine with the tiller
and sickle-bar mower attachments. We used that machine, and used it hard.
Today it's 2009 and I just finished cutting hay and putting in my green bean
patch, using that 725. It's still on the original engine, which has never
been rebuilt, only annual oil changes for the last 27 years. It no longer starts
on the first
pull, these days it starts on the second pull each time, but guess I can't
complain too loud about that.
In my life I must admit I've made very few incredibly good investments, but
that Model 725 is definitely one of them. It's saved me untold labor and
has just simply worked for 27 years without a bit of trouble. It's like an
old
Ford
8N, it just keeps running and doing what it's supposed to do. Old farm equipment
was made to last forever, the BCS machines are farm equipment, not cheap
consumer toys. The price reflects it, but from my opinion they're a bargain
in the long
run. Highly recommended. - Bobalu
Hello Mr. Rawles,
Regarding the recent letters on micro-farm tractors, I have another viewpoint
for your consideration.
In addition to the Troy-Bilt Horse rear tine tiller and other tools scaled
for 1-2 acres, I have also purchased a larger farm tractor to better suit the
conditions in and around my retreat. The recent letter mentioned Ford 9Ns
and Farmalls. While these are still very common and many 9Ns are still
in service, they are of 1940s-1950s vintage. My personal choice was a
Massey Ferguson 100 series diesel tractor (135 or 165, for example). These
were built between the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, and have decades
of excellent service history with much information available online (for you
to save on paper now).
There were several factors leading me to this decision:
I obtained the tractor from a seller on Craigslist for a bargain price. This
allowed me to retain a budget for maintenance rather than blowing it all up
front on a new machine. While the peripheral systems needed attention, the
engine and transmission were rock solid. The Perkins Diesel engines are renowned
for reliability and durability. My updates and repairs serve two purposes:
Restoring the mechanical soundness of the machine and its systems, and forcing
me to become familiar with the repair and upkeep now. This is a mechanical
restoration only – it needs to work, not look good. Surprisingly, every
part that my 40 year old tractor has needed was both in stock and relatively
inexpensive. While it’s comforting to “gear up”, eventually
you will have to repair what you buy. Two years after TSHTF is not the ideal
time to start the learning curve on your life-sustaining equipment. An old
tractor you have mechanically zero-timed before the world comes to grief will
give years of reliable service, and you will have the experience of your earlier
work to guide future repairs.
While a larger tractor is overkill for a few acres, it is compatible with most
all the equipment on surrounding farms. 1960s and 1970s tractors
will have modern 3-point hitches with the ability to add additional hydraulics.
The Massey-Ferguson 165, at 53 horsepower, can run a myriad of equipment that
might overtax a smaller tractor. In addition to your own needs, you will have
the option of volunteering to help your neighbor prepare his field or bring
in his crop, using your extra muscle and standard 3-point hookups. That would
be a Grade-A trade for food, fuel, or assistance when you need it, as opposed
to showing up with a shovel and asking “what can I do to help?”
A larger tractor will also turn and disk your two acres in a hurry! I have
collected smaller 3 point hitch equipment, like a two-bottom moldboard turning
plow and
a disk harrow, very inexpensively. The equipment is old, but made of such heavy
steel that it still has decades of life left in it. Another barter option is
to quickly prepare ground for other small-scale neighbors that may have purchased
less durable equipment. Attempting to till up hard, fallow ground, even with
a rear-tine tiller, is tough on the equipment and the person. Your tractor
with plow and harrow would make short work of that fallow ground, allowing
the rear-tine tiller to finish much more quickly and without the mechanical
abuse.
The other posts mentioned diesel-engined ATVs.
I respectfully submit that this may be a case of can rather than should. While
you can pull a disk
or maybe even a small all-purpose plow, the machine simply does not have the
tractor-like durability to stake your family’s future on using the ATV
as a tractor long-term. By the time you have bought a rare diesel ATV with
ATV-specific implements, you might as well have bought an older, real tractor
with standard 3-point implements for the money. Remember, from a duty cycle
perspective (if I may anthropomorphize), I’d want my tractor to think: “wow,
that was only two acres” as opposed to the ATV thinking: “Wow,
that was two acres!”
On the issue of noise, I agree that a stock machine can be heard a ways off.
However, the noise can be significantly reduced by using non-standard exhausts.
If your goal is to prevent advertisement of your activity, it is time well
spent to install a series of mufflers which will deaden the roar of a working
engine. That slight drop in horsepower might be worth the relative quiet. This
is true of your rear tine tiller as well as any other equipment. As an example,
I have an old Onan generator with a high volume double muffler that some guys
at a muffler shop helped me rig up. I can stand right next to the thing while
it’s running, and carry on a conversation with only slightly raised voices.
Thank you for your efforts, Mr. Rawles! - J.I.C.
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Letter Re: Many Weeds are Actually Edible Wild Plants
Mr Rawles,
I read the article "Many Weeds are Actually Edible Plants" with much interest. I am a
botanist not a horticulturist. I was trained in the taxonomy of native plants
not commercial flowers and such.
Taxonomy is the identification of plants. I did three years work at my school's
botany department doing field research continuing the longest prenuclear botany
studies of native plants in the US. I was required to be able to identify by
sight more than 1,000 native plants. My taxonomic mentor was Mr. Howard Reynolds,
Ph.d., University of Nebraska and former Marine Corpsman, in the Pacific Theater of
Operations in WWII.
The article you displayed was commendable and accurate using the correct scientific
names.
However it should be noted that common names are a minefield.
The absolute reference book to correct common names is the National
List of Scientific Plant Names. [A two-volume set,published by the Soil
Conservation Service.]
One of the plants you displayed I know under a different common name.
This is the problem of common names.
Many are regional and have become accepted as correct...
Example: Throughout the plains states there are many thousands of trees called "Chinese
Elm".
This is an incorrect common name.
These trees are in reality the "Siberian Elm".
Siberian Elms bloom in the spring and the true Chinese Elm tree blooms in the
fall.
Because the public has heard these trees called Chinese Elm by their grandparents
they assume the name is correct.
Copies of the National
List of Scientific Plant Names are available through Amazon.com.
I would like to see all articles that describe plants for some use to identify
the source used for the scientific name and the common name.
This is the way diverse people can talk about a common plant and know they
are both focusing on the same entity.
Yes, names do change. Regularly-held botanical congresses hear the evidence
for projected changes. A panel of taxonomists can recommend a change.
But that happens only once in a blue moon. It is not a common occurrence. With
the ability to identify the sequencing of the DNA molecule plants that appear
to have small taxonomic differences are frequently given a subspecies
identifier.Or noted that they are the "variety described by and a name
of the researcher is given". But DNA analysis can solve this problem and
if the differences are significant the two subspecies or varieties are given
separate scientific names and the
subspecies/variety gets a new common name.
Two ways to be sure a plant is correctly identified:
1. Contact a trained taxonomist or your county agent. who in turn can send
your plant specimen to the state university for identification.
2. Learn how to use a real taxonomic key .... which took me two years of classes
and many hours in the field to really master
Using common books with pictures can be very frustrating.
Native plants represent a long lost resource that could again become important
in a resource stretched world.
Just do not let the complexities of plant identification keep you from learning
this skill.
But it takes practice to build a working knowledge of the local plants...so
get going now.
Local: here in our town several businesses are showing significant increases
in prices, especially groceries. The local lumber yard is having significant
problems getting "hardware
items", many being back ordered...but lumber and building materials seem
to be plentiful at this point.
I read your postings every day if I am not too tired. Every day I do something
to get us ready for a coming time of significant conflictual change. We have
facing us a kind of "coercive consensus" descending on us
like an upside down tornado. I will be 68 years old on Saturday and never suspected
that I would see these kinds of events in the U.S.A.
Best Regards, - JWC in Oklahoma
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Letter Re: Walking Tractors and Similar Powered Farming Implements
When I saw the Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV) mentioned in SurvivalBlog, I couldn’t
help but notice how similar it was to the rigs used by a lot of farmers in
Thailand
(and I would assume a lot of other places in Asia). When traveling around Thailand
I couldn’t help but notice what appeared to be effectively motorized
donkeys. Men had them rigged to trailers.
A little research showed that they are known as “Walking Tractors”,
are made all over the planet, the and serve the same function as the BUV. One
thing that I like about the idea of using them is their interchangeability
of parts.
Assuming
your trailer gets hit by a truck, your tractor is still good. If your tractor
is breaks down, you attach your trailer to a mule.You can hook
up, plows, trailers, tillers, and every other sort of thing you may find useful
on a tractor
Some Images of Walking Tractors:
There is one in here that has a nice image of some guys hauling logs using
them
Clear image of a trailer for Walking Tractors
Regards, - Jeff C.
JWR Replies: These next two items were first posted in the
early days of SurvivalBlog (circa October, 2005) regarding rear-tine tiller/tractors
and
ATVs:
The Micro-Farm Tractor, by "Fanderal"
My goal, like so many of us, is to be able to pre-bugout, to a retreat I
can live on full time. I dream of having a few acres out in the country where
I can mostly support myself on what can be produced on my own land. When I
first started to think about it, and plan for it, the first question of course
is “How much land?” After getting past the obvious answer, “As
much as possible”, came the more reasonable answer of: “enough
to do accomplish my primary goal of optimal self-sufficiency.” After
more study I came to realize that five or so acres is about all I could really
work. Five acres, when worked intensively, will produce far more than a family
of four can consume. This five acres would contain everything, House, Barn,
a one to two acre garden, chickens, Rabbits, Goats, et cetera.
So having settled on five to seven acres, I turned to the issue of what tools,
equipment, and other assets would be needed to make my micro-farm work. Beyond
the usual hand tools. And shop tools, my research led me to study power equipment
appropriate for the Micro-Farm. What I found was the Two-Wheel, or "Walk-behind" Tractor.
A good example of the class is the BCS 852 with a 10 horsepower diesel engine.
It has a single cylinder engine mounted in front of a trans axle. The Trans
axle drives a pair of wheels that are from 3.5 to 6.5 inches wide, and 8 to
12 inches in diameter. It is also equipped with front and rear Power Takeoffs
(PTOs) used to transfer power to
a variety of implements. For me this is the optimum retreat utility tractor.
To justify that statement I need to go into a bit more detail as to why. As
with all things, this selection is based on my plans and intentions, but I
believe that they are generic enough to qualify as a general solution for most
people, but as always Your Mileage may Vary (YMMV).
The factors I am taking into consideration are:
Size of Farm.
Number of people available to work it.
Safety
Maintainability
Fuel availability/economy
Life expectancy under the projected load
The truth is most of us have not, or will not be able to acquire more than
five to 10 acres of land. If you can get more, fine, get it; you can’t
have too much land, but you can leave yourself short on other things by buying
more land than you really need, or can work.
In most cases the garden will be run by just one or two people, either because
of off farm employment or the kids may be grown and gone before you make the
move. People that are already doing this will tell you that one to two acres,
if worked as intensively as is reasonably possible is all one person can handle.
If you have more land, then you have the option of bartering produce, for labor
to work more acres. But I would still keep it in two-acre units.
The core concept of survivalism/preparedness is independence; you can’t
be independent if you can’t do most, if not all the maintenance yourself.
While yes, most anyone with any mechanical aptitude at all can work on most
regular tractors, however they have four times as many cylinders, fuel injectors,
and fuel lines, twice as many tires, use much more fuel, and mostly are too
much tool for two to five acres.
When the world ends there will be no more fuel deliveries from
anywhere, and if there are then they will be prohibitively expensive. So you
need a fuel
that you can produce yourself, to me this means biodiesel.
It’s a fuel you can make yourself; it will substitute directly into the
tank with no modifications to the engine, and gives almost
exactly the same performance, as regular diesel.
So with these concepts in mind I started thinking about what the ideal tool
would be. I eliminated most regular four wheeled tractors like the Ford 9N
and the International Harvester (IH) Farmalls because to buy one of their modern
counterparts new is very expensive, and to find parts for older ones that you
can buy on the cheap can also be expensive. While there has been a lot of development
in compact and subcompact tractors in the last few years, they are mostly compact
technical wonders that have all kinds of computerized fuel injection systems,
high volume, high pressure hydraulics, and just lots and lots of things that
need to be maintained or fixed. Simplicity is crucial.
My search for information about small farm tractors, as with most things today,
started online. I started from the position that a Walk-behind Tractor would
be the optimum choice because on the surface it met two of the most important
criteria, Fuel requirements, and maintainability. The most important question
remained, how much land could be worked with it and still expect it to last
a lifetime.
Dean M., one of my online sources, who has actually been running a Market Garden
since 1989, says that much of that time was spent downsizing his garden to
it’s current 1.5 acres. According to Dean,one to two acres is about all
one person can work, when trying to maximize the production of a garden. The
general consensus is, that the limit on how large a garden you could work with
one of these machines,is really set by how much labor was available, rather
than the capacity of the machine. To answer that question I needed input from
an expert. In my web search I found many companies that make and sell this
kind of equipment, but they are almost
all overseas. Of the domestic companies most only sell Walk-behinds
as a sideline. I found Earth Tools, a company in Owenton, Kentucky, which specializes
in small-scale commercial
agriculture equipment. Joel Dufour founded Earth Tools in 1977, and all they
sell is Walk-behind tractors. .
I asked Mr. Dufour about the capability, capacity, and requirements of walk
behind tractors for a TEOTWAWKI scenario. He recommended
not the largest one he sells, the 948 but rather the model 852, which comes
with an optional 10 hp diesel engine. He says the 852s are far more versatile
than the 948. Based on what his customers are actually doing with the units,
and have been doing for nearly 30 years he gave me the following information
about capabilities, and requirements of these units.
You can work up to two acres of Market garden per person, and/or about 15 acres
of Haying for livestock. With proper preventative maintenance, used in a commercial
agricultural operation, a tractor like he sells will last 20+ years. They can
haul up to one ton on a two-wheel trailer. Depending on the specific task,
running 8 hrs on a gallon of fuel is possible. He has several customers that
make their own biodiesel and run their 852s on it, and have reported no problems.
When it comes to maintenance requirement the diesel engines are designed for
5,000 hours TBO (Time Between Overhauls), and are meant to be rebuilt twice
before replacing crankshafts or connecting rods. That means that the engines
have a 15,000 hr life span minimum (with proper maintenance). For routine maintenance
they only use 1.5 quarts of oil per change, which needs to be done every 75
ours or annually--whichever comes first. The oil filter is cleanable and the
air filter is replaceable. The conical clutch lasts 1,000 – 2,000 hrs,
and can be replaced in less than 2 hrs. All maintenance, including overhauls
can be done with regular hand tools, the only exception being one $25 tool
for working on the transmission if it’s ever needed.
One point that Mr. Dufour thinks is undersold is safety. He pointed out that
one of the most common fatal accidents on a farm is a tractor rollover. When
operating one of these units on a slope, even if you were on the downhill side
of the machine, and you couldn’t get out of the way, they only weight
about 300 lbs, so it is very unlikely you would suffer a life threatening injury.
Where as with even the smallest of standard tractors if it rolls over on you,
death is the very likely outcome.
So let’s look at how these machines match my original
requirements:
Size of Farm:
A 10 HP machine will work as much land as most of us will be able to get, and
work, without being too big for the job.
Number of people available to work the land:
The constraint is number of people vs. planting/harvesting schedule; again
it is well matched to the 5 to 15 acres, with which most of us will wind up.
Maintainability:
There is nothing that the owner can’t do on these machines, from routine
maintenance to a complete overhaul, which would require more than basic mechanics
hand tools, and one inexpensive specialty tool.
Safety: I don’t care how much the machine can do or how well it does
it, the one thing that you absolutely cannot afford in the post-TEOTWAWKI world,
is an injury. So the machine that is least likely to cause me harm is way up
on my list
Fuel availability/economy:
These units can be had with Gas, or Diesel engines. Gas engines can be run
on alcohol with modification. Diesel engines can be run on biodiesel without
modification.
Life expectancy under the projected load:
You can work as much acreage as you have time and people to work without over
working the tractor. They are truly an agricultural grade machines, not glorified
Home duty units.
While I’m not trying to sell this particular tractor, however if we use
its characteristics as a baseline then I think it is fare to say that a diesel
Walk-behind Tractor would make an ideal vehicle for a Micro-farm. It is the
core power unit for almost all farm tasks, can be adapted to do just about
anything else that requires up to 10 HP; from electrical generation to pumping
water, with the right connection to the PTO. It also meets or exceeds the core
requirements that I laid out at the beginning. This is not to say that there
might not be other machines that would also work, but if you are starting from
scratch like most of us, then this is a good objective solution.
Related info:
http://www.earthtoolsbcs.com/
http://www.chelseagreen.com/1989/items/neworganicgrower
http://www.bcsshop.com/
http://www.adriatica-grifo.it/g/main.htm
JWR Adds:
From the standpoint of a small acreage survival retreat, a walk-behind
tiller/tractor makes a lot of sense. When the Schumer hits the fan,
fuel will be at a premium, so it is logical to get something that will give
you maximum useful work with minimum fuel consumption. And as Fanderal mentioned,
they will also minimize tractor rollover accidents. This is especially important
at a retreat with a lot of newbies. (Just because you are accustomed
to thinking "safety first" at all times doesn't mean that your recently-transplanted
Big City friends and cousins will be!)
If you need to cultivate significantly larger acreage, then a full-size tractor
makes sense, but only of course with significantly more training and more voluminous
fuel storage. BTW, the new "crawler" (rubber tracked) tractors
have a lower center of gravity that traditional wheeled tractors and hence
are much less prone to rollovers.
I used a gas engine Troy-Bilt Horse tiller for several years and found it
very reliable. The BCS products are made in Milan, Italy. At a list price of
$3,799, these are not cheap. But if you go with the principle of "buying
something sturdy and reliable once, versus buying something flimsy,
multiple times", then this sort of purchase makes sense. To get the most
for your money, shop around for a slightly used, diesel-powered unit.
One other consideration: Tractors are noisy and can be heard from a long
distance. Wear hearing protection whenever operator a tractor or tiller. In
a post-TEOTWAWKI survival situation, this may mean one individual wearing earmuffs
operating the tractor, and another individual that is concealed 50 to 100 yards
away, on dedicated security duty. (Otherwise, operating noisy equipment
like a tractor or chainsaw might be a noisy invitation to get bushwhacked.)
Here are some additional useful URLs:
http://www.groworganic.com/item_GT034_.html
http://www.wikco.com/bcsfeaturesg.html
Here was a letter in reply:
Jim:
In response to the excellent article, "The Micro-Farm Tractor",
I have to say my best bet for all-around small farm tool would be the diesel
all terrain vehicle (ATV).
ATVs have quickly infiltrated into many farms today, as haulers, sprayers,
snowplows, transport, and so on. You can purchase
many available farm accessories that make it into the equivalent of a mini-tractor,
as well has many hunting related accessories, since they appeal to the hunter's
market as well, like gun racks, camo, storage, and essential noise-cutting
mufflers (very effective units can be had at Cabela's). I would suggest a
diesel unit, since they are longer lasting, more reliable, and you can use
stored (for several years with proper preservation) or improvised diesel
(biodiesel.) I was out elk hunting last year in foul weather and I
immediately saw the advantage hunters had getting around in the muck with
an ATV. If we had actually taken an elk, we would have had to spend all weekend
hauling pieces of it out! (In a way we were glad we didn't get one where
we were hunting, seven miles down a mucky old road, with steep hills to the
right and a steep ravine to the left). With an ATV, we could have gotten
a whole animal out in one or two goes, with a lot less slogging in the muck.
Just make sure you've got a winch, and maybe even a come-along. Also, many
of the hunters were able to cruise with an ATV on trails that would (and
have) gotten me stuck in the mud. To sum it up, I plan on purchasing one
or two as soon as our move to a few acres of rural property in southern utah
is completed early next year to use as my mini-tractor, hunting companion,
snow plow, all-around hauler and 4 wheel drive short distance transport.
- Dustin
JWR Replies: In addition to biodiesel, you can also
legally use home heating oil if operating off road. (The only significant
differences between diesel and home heating oil are the "no tax cheating" added
dye and the standard for ash content.) There are several options for diesel-powered
ATVs. These include:
The
Kawasaki Mule.
and,
The John Deere
Gator.
(The U.S. Army Special Forces uses John Deere Gators, but I'm not sure if
that's because they are the best ones made, or just because of a "Buy
American" contracting clause.
Note: Polaris also made a diesel quad back around 2002, but they were reportedly
problematic, so they were quickly discontinued.
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Letter Re: Many Weeds are Actually Edible Wild Plants
Dear Mr. Rawles,
I read your blog every day and enjoy all of the helpful information that you
and your readers post on a daily basis. I just wanted to pass along this
information on edible weeds that can be found in ones backyard or about anywhere
where plants can be grown. To most people weeds are just that, weeds that
need to be destroyed to keep the yard or their property looking nice. But
some weeds can also be eaten if a person knows how to identify them and cook
them properly. In the event of a worst case scenario these 'weeds' can help
sustain a person or a family for a brief period of time or be a nice addition
to stored food, providing needed fresh veggies and nutrients.
The following is a list of some of the most commonly found 'weeds' in a yard
or field that can be edible:
Burdock (Arctium lappa) Cultivated as a vegetable in Japan where it
is known as gobo. The stalks are scraped and cooked like celery. The roots
can be eaten raw in salads or added to stir fries.
Cattail (Typha latifolia)
The pollen can be used to enrich flour. The unripe flower spikes can be cooked
as a vegetable and the young shoots and inner stems are eaten raw or cooked.
Century plant (Agave americana)
The flower stems and leaf bases can be roasted and eaten. Certain species can
be made into alcoholic drinks such as tequila.
Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Can be added raw to salads or cooked as a vegetable.
Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
The roots of this plant are used as a coffee additive. The sky blue flowers
are also edible and make a terrific addition to salads.
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
The flowers can be made into wine or jelly. The roots are sometimes used as
a coffee substitute. The young leaves make a nice addition to salads.
Epazote (Chenopodium ambrosioides)
A tropical American weed commonly used in Mexican cooking to flavor corn, beans,
mushrooms, seafood, fish, soups, and sauces.
Garlic mustard (Alliaria officinalis)
The young leaves add a mild garlic flavor to salads, sandwiches, and soups.
JWR Adds: Exercise caution when gathering weeds on any land--whether
public or private--that is outside of your personal control. Don't overlook
the risk
that you could collect weeds that have been recently spayed with herbicides!
Also, just as when mushroom picking, be absolutely sure that you are
gathering the intended item. A mistake could prove fatal.
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Letter Re: Year-Round Gardening
Dear James,
We're currently busy in the beginning ground laying of the construction phase
of adding a large greenhouse onto our enclosed garden plot, which is completely
enclosed with 12 foot high fencing with a solar security system.
This addition was decided in consideration of the foreseeable need for us to
be able to add a winter season grow room for year long vegetable growing and
over-wintering of our heirloom stock.
It will also allow us to save our best heirloom plants and clone them, from
season to season to jumpstart the spring grow times and yields.
I am sharing the attached helpful items we needed to consider before adding
this greenhouse to our garden. One major issue you may want to expand on in
your thoughts of planning for it's location, is on OPSEC.
Of course it is not covered here in this literature. A greenhouse should not
be plainly visible to others, unless you intend to sell plants or produce from
your site. However, I encourage people to have a selling stand which is not
at your home or, instead to sell at the local farmers market or area flea market.
Also, consider photovoltaic panel-powered grow
lights and gardens that can be operated for sprouting and growing vegetables
year round in your basement or an enclosed work shed!
And, here
is a link to some free construction plans for several different designs for
outdoor greenhouses. These come from the Alabama Cooperative Extension
System.
Happy Year Round Gardening, - KAF
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Maximizing Use of a Backyard Greenhouse, by Kathy Harrison
Here in Western Massachusetts, with its short, cool growing season, a backyard
greenhouse is a real boon for those of us concerned with providing our families
excellent food, even when supply chains are shut down during a time of crisis.
We have spent three years figuring how to maximize the relatively small interior
space of our rectangular, rigid-walled greenhouse in an efficient manner.
Early on, we realized there were steps we could take to increase the interior
temperature during our cold, windy winters. My husband rescued an old thermal
pool cover that was headed for the landfill and cut out sections to fit against
both the north and west sides. By doubling this cover, we now had both a wind
break and heat sink that held sun-generated warmth. He also made a double 6
ply plastic cover that is raised during sunny days but can be lowered to about
a foot above the ground at night. This essentially makes an interior cold frame
that protects crops from frigid night air. We added a stone walkway down the
middle of the greenhouse that captures heat as well as keeps the area cleaner.
Our final step was to ring the exterior of the greenhouse with bales of hay,
stacked two deep. It is an easy matter to move the hay away from the door so
we can enter as long as we keep the area free of snow. On the coldest nights,
we bring out the day’s ashes from a wood stove, captured in a metal bucket.
With these measures in place, we have never had the ground freeze on the interior,
in spite of nights that dip to -20 degrees.
The next step is to ensure that the soil inside is as healthy as possible.
This means liberal applications of compost and bi-weekly applications of a
weak fish emulsion fertilizer.
Finally, we developed a plan of crops and crop rotation that makes the best
use of our available space. We were looking for crops that provided maximum
nutrition and dietary bulk. We were surprised by some of the things that did
quite well.
In mid February, we plant several varieties of lettuce seeds. They start slowly
but by mid-March, we harvest a salad a day. This was an early spring
for us and I can’t guarantee such good results every year. We started
our seedlings inside in early March. My early April, we were able to harden
them off in the greenhouse. We have never had such healthy and vigorous starts.
As the lettuce starts to bolt in the heat, we will be removing those plants
and replacing them with some miniature melons, something we could never grow
in our climate, as well as root crops such as carrots, turnips and beets. We
ate turnip and beet greens late into January and we were pulling the roots
throughout the winter as the ground never froze. We planted hardy greens such
as bok choi, tat soi, chard and spinach in August. By October, we were eating
the first of those greens and they continued to produce well into winter.
As the root crops develop below ground, a shelf above hold individual pots
of salad greens and cherry tomatoes grow in suspended planters. We started
these later than our garden tomatoes and we were enjoying fresh salad tomatoes
weeks after frost had done away with the main crop. We did not have luck growing
bush tomatoes in the soil. We got all vine and no fruit.
Other important considerations are water, pests and heat control. Greenhouse
plants need a lot of water. In early spring, I water seedlings every day. As
it gets warmer, it is not unusual to water twice a day so having a source of
water nearby is terrific. A rain gutter that drains into a bucket would be
helpful. Our greenhouse has two roof vents that have to be opened early in
the day, before the sun gets too high. Unopened, the temperature can reach
110 degrees by 10:30 in the morning, a temperature that will fry any tender
plant. Even in mid-winter, the greenhouse is so warm we are able to eat lunch
out there. Some greenhouses have solar operated vents that open and close as
the temperature fluctuates. It is an upgrade we wish we had invested in. We
do have a black shade cloth to keep the interior cooler in extremely hot weather.
This is seldom necessary in our climate but a more southern location would
find that useful.
Pest control is vital as aphids can be a real problem. We find that a squirt
of soapy water followed by a clear rinse does a good job of keeping them
under control although at one point the infestation was severe and we had
to pull
out the Asian greens, which were the biggest problem. If you plan to bring
any plants from the greenhouse inside, check closely for these pests.
We have been so satisfied with the productivity of our greenhouse that we
are planning to invest in another one, further enhancing our ability to feed
ourselves
throughout and food, energy or weather crisis. - Kathy Harrison, author of Just
in Case
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Letter Re: Learning the Details of Self-Sufficiency
Jim,
I'd like to add an additional perspective on the letter on "Learning the Details
of Self-Sufficiency" -- the conscious
competence learning model. I'd like to pull back the shade a bit on why 'just
buying stuff' and reading books isn't going to cut it when the balloon goes
up.
Many folks are 'buying things', reading books, searching the internet with
the thought that when the time comes, they will begin living the self-sufficient
lifestyle in the country. The aforementioned letter points out the folly of
this approach. I just want to take a step back and look at why so many people
are taking an unproductive approach -- it has to do with how people assimilate
new skills.
With a new skill set (like self-sufficient living in this example) a person
at first is unconsciously incompetent (stage #1). Here a person doesn't even
know what they don't know. They certainly don't understand the ramifications
of not having mastery of the things they don't know. Most people stop right
here. They feel safe. In fact, it's not until they go a bit further into consciously
incompetent (stage #2) when they begin for the first time to understand some
of the things at which they are incompetent; and begin to realize the impact
of their incompetence on their desired outcome.
Stage 2 lasts a long time because the more a person learns, the more necessary
skills they uncover, which skills they have no experience whatsoever. It's
not until you actually eat the beans you've canned, which were stored in the
root cellar you made; which beans grew in your garden, which garden you protected
from insects, which plot you cleared from the forest, fenced from the deer,
amended the soil, selected the correct variety of bean seed, planted at the
correct depth,with the correct spacing, at the right time of year, with the
proper sun exposure, etc. Then and only then will you have begun to
have some gardening experience -- for beans. Then you can begin to appreciate
that beans
are not carrots. Carrots have different needs, and hey, wow, I wonder if all
these different vegetables, grains and fruits have different requirements?
Gee, what would happen if I grew my garden in 'compost' I bought from a local
garden center and the entire crop failed, and I couldn't buy my veggies from
Wal-Mart? Last example was a true story for me as a local nursery sold me 10
yards of 'compost' which [later] tested almost zero for N, P, & K. My crops
bolted and died within three weeks.
Stage 3 is conscious competence. This is when you can perform a skill reliably
at will. I can put up more beans this year, I know how to do it; I know how
many rows of what dimension and how much seed I need. I want to put up some
dilly beans, I know how to do that too. I can cook using the blanched and frozen
beans I grew last year.
Stage 4 is unconscious competence. This is where you aren't even aware of the
skills you are using to produce the desired result. People who reach this level
of expertise often can't teach another person how to do what they are doing
because so much ability (not knowledge -- big difference) is assumed. Have
you ever seen a craftsman produce a beautiful result, and make it look easy?
Then you
tried and found, "Hey, this is harder than it looks!" That's what
stage 4 is, and where you need to be before you risk your family's life on
homesteading in the midst of a crisis.
We've only talked about beans so far; how about production quantity gardening
for the 20 or so veggies, fruits, and grains you're going to need? How about
producing pork? Chicken? Rabbit? Lamb? Can you breed, select, grow, cull, harvest,
process, store, and prepare all of these? How about dairy operations? Retreat
security? Redundant water systems in place? Redundant power systems in place
and functioning? Productive relationships with neighbors? Suppliers? I'd like
to give you a more complete list, but I've been doing this for years now, so
I don't even know all I know!
If you aren't doing these things right now, then you won't be any good at them
in a time of need. The only way to gain new skills is by doing.
Take advantage of whatever time we have left before things get much worse,
and go do it! -
Mr. Kilo
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Letter Re: Learning the Details of Self-Sufficiency
Jim,
None of us here can know the hour when 1 Thessalonians 4:16 -17, will come
to be. There are Prophesies that seem to indicate that that time approaches.
But we don't know. We are not Prophets ourselves. We can just know to be ready.
But until that time comes, there are also many other possibilities for which
to prepare. We are in the early stages of a world-wide economic meltdown.
As
that grows worse, it can lead to all sorts of interesting events. Unemployment
will likely lead to increased crime and even food riots. That can lead to the
break down of systems. And that can cause the loss of health care, electricity,
sanitation, water and so on. And that will inevitably lead to epidemics.
The Sun is the "quietest" it has been in many, many years. The last
time Earth experienced so little sun spot activity, hundreds of thousands died
from cold and lack of food because it snowed during the summer. The Yellowstone
Caldera, a super volcano, is 40,000 years overdue to blow. When it does, it
will spread ash across the entire US and block sunlight for years. There is
an undersea volcano off Africa that is in danger of collapse. That could cause
a tidal wave that would take out the entire east coast of the US. ...And then
there is the ambitions of our governments "new friends" in Venezuela
and Iran, and Al Qaeda and N. Korea. An EMP attack
will surely make us all take notice that being "friendly" and acting
weak is no solution to bad behavior by evil people. ..Not to mention what the
closing of the Hormuz Straits
will
cause, if certain folks decide they can get away with it.
And all that is just some of the possibilities as televised on PBS shows in
the last week. Not even alarmist conspiracy theory or doom and gloom, just
Public TV science and reporting.
I am of the opinion that the "first world" industrial societies are
so complex, that they could collapse fairly easily. It's just like my tractor.
For lack of grease, the bearing spun. For lack of a bearing, the field didn't
get plowed. With no turned earth, there was no garden and no food.
In these kinds of economies, small events can have remarkable consequences.
Several years ago, a tree fell against a power line in Ohio. That small outage
spread. Power went off in parts of Canada and as far away as New York. A couple
more trees, and there could be no power anywhere. And then who would there
be to help Florida or Texas, after a hurricane.
So what are we to do? Certainly reading survivalblog everyday is a great start.
Acquiring knowledge thru books is absolutely necessary. Getting training and
practical experience at such schools as Front Sight and Midwest Native Skills
Institute is crucial. You can also volunteer at any of many the open air museums,
and learn about appropriate non-electric skills and tools. But, there is more.
We really need seven day, everyday, experience.
For example, there has been a good bit of discussion lately about "city
retreats". Some folks believe they can make it in a well equipped "abandoned" factory
or warehouse. They will hide in plain sight. That may work for a time, but
what happens when the power goes out, and your stored fuel is used up? You
might have bullets and food stored to last three years, then what? In my opinion,
if you are concerned enough to be reading survivalblog, you ought to be realistic
enough to get where you need to be to survive. And, IMHO, that ain't the city.
You simply won't learn the practical skills needed to be self-sufficient, if
you live on cement
It is remarkably complex to be self-sufficient. Without daily experience, you
are unlikely to make it. It can easily take three years to successfully cultivate
and grow an organic garden. It can take years to really learn to save seeds
or prune a fruit tree. If the electricity goes out, you'll need to be able
to do that and much more. If you can't, your children will suffer. It may take
you a season or two to learn to get your fences built before the deer eat your
crops. (They can clear a garden in one night). It can take years to learn what
you actually need to run a farm. Little things like having lots of nails and
screws on hand. If the big box stores close, how are you going to build shelter
for city family refugees if you don't already have the supplies? And do you
know construction? Do you have the tools? Or, without lots and lots of files
and hack saw blades, how will you work metal when the gas runs out? It takes
more than just having an anvil and hammer. Do you know the simple things like
stacking hay bales on their sides, instead of "strings up"? If the
hay gets wet, the water will run through the bale if it's on its side. The
hay will much more likely mold if you store it with the strings pointing up.
Right now, we all have the time to make such mistakes. It's not yet life or
death. But soon, it may be.
In a crisis, being efficient also becomes much more important. You'll waste
all kinds of time until you learn to carry a tool box on your equipment when
you go to the field. It can be pure aggravation to need a wrench, screw driver
or piece of wire, and have to walk all the way back to the barn. A simple fix
can easily turn into a wasted hour, if you don't have the experience and tools
to know better. And an hour lost is a job undone. That can be very costly.
It's taken me quite some time to learn to consistently keep certain things
lined up by the back door. If I turn on any lights at night, a raccoon or coyote
going after the chickens will run. I've learned, if I hear a noise, to get
up in the dark, put on my boots, which are always where they need to be, have
the other necessaries in easy reach, and to get out the door, silently, to
take care of business. That's not something learned easily or quickly. Just
developing night vision and how to see in the dark, and how to listen to the
sounds of night in the country, can take a lot of time. Not knowing that can
mean losing half your chickens in one night. It happened to me.
It can also take some time to learn which neighbors are reliable and which
farm equipment dealerships are best. You don't want to buy major equipment
from a dealer that has poor service and inventory. And asking for help from
the wrong neighbor can be worse than no help at all.
It can take many seasons to learn the weather of your farm. I know that there
is always a dry week in April when I can till the gardens. If I miss it, and
it rains, it may be May before the ground will again dry out enough to plow.
And when snow comes from certain directions, it may mean I need to clear a
roof before it falls under too much weight. ..It's happened.
It's taken me some time to learn to put a broody chicken in wire cage inside
the hen house. I put as many eggs under her as will fit, put in a bit of water
and food, and shut the door. I've had many a hatch of eggs go bad because the
chicken got up and didn't find her way back. With this little trick of confining
the chicken, I get chicks every time. That's not something you learn just bugging
out from the city.
It's also taken some time to learn that its hard to read by candle light. An
oil lamp is better, it can give between 2.7 to 4.4 candle power, depending
on how wide the wick is. And having an oil lamp with mantle, which gives 40
candle power, (or the equivalent of a 60 watt bulb), is really important if
you have any medical needs at night. I know I much more appreciate sewing myself
up when I can see where to stitch, instead of kind'a poking around by candle
light.
And so it goes. We all know something is coming. Most of us believe it in our
cores. We wouldn't be here otherwise. So, what are you going to do? I believe
the time has come to take action. It may not be comfortable to leave the city
and a well paying job. But you have so much to learn, and so little time. You
really need to get moving. Because the mistakes you will certainly make today,
just may do you in, tomorrow. - Jim Fry,
Curator, Museum of
Western Reserve Farms & Equipment, Ohio
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Letter Re: It Takes a Tiller
Hello Jim,
Anyone serious about food production needs to have a quality rear-tined tiller
such as a Troy-Bilt. However the cost can be prohibitive,close to $2,000
for the seven horsepower model. But be patient and keep an eye on auctions,
classified ads, etc. Two weeks ago a good friend picked up an older model
Troy-Bilt at
an auction for $450. We were both like kids at Christmas (I already have mine).
This brings up another point. This same friend had always been a guns and ammo
kind of prepper. After several months of convincing he has finally seen the need
to be well rounded in his preps. Weapons are important but far from the most
important. His Troy-Bilt tiller is partial proof that he is changed his mindset.
Take care, - Jeff in Ohio
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Letter Re: Why Survivalists Should Buy Local Organic Food
Jim ~
We subscribe to an organic grocery delivery service and have the food dehydrator
running non-stop around the clock now that local produce is coming in. Our
preference is dried over frozen because of smells and off flavors that frozen
can pick up. Even through I pay a premium for organic foods, my feeling is
that if inflation or hyperinflation is around the corner, the price I'm paying
now will at the least even out in the face of inflation, and I'll still have
a superior product.
I know that the food we are preserving is top quality, not sprayed nor full
of other questionable chemicals.
In the summer, the pressure canner will be going full speed with our garden
and with what produce we supplement to put food by.
Some Observations:
1. Grow and buy the very best produce and food possible for your food storage.
Your future health may depend on it.
2. Fresh organic foods have a fraction of the shelf life of grocery store produce.
I just didn't realize that everything from the grocery store must be sprayed
with preservatives until I began ordering all organic. It goes south very quickly.
On survivalblog.com you have published links to expected shelf life and storage.
However, until a person is actually faced with the reality of spoilage, the
numbers are meaningless. Potatoes sprout much more quickly, oranges shrivel,
you get the idea.
3. My food dehydrator is now 25 years old. We bought it back in the 1980s when
our hero, Howard J. Ruff, told us to prepare for the coming bad years. We hadn't
used it in years, but just dusted it off, plugged in, and it works like a charm.
The brand is Harvest Maid. These are simple machines built to last. I would
love to find another one used on Craig's
List, eBay, or from an estate sale.
4. I've gardened my entire life, started when I was 9, but never as if our
lives depended on it. We who prepare need to continue to urge people who are
prepping -- and those who are not! -- to learn to garden. As all gardeners
know, it is a learning curve that gets better with time, but the key is practice,
experiment, and learn. My mission is get people to try to grow at least one
of something immediately. I tell people, get a tomato plant or get a pepper,
you can even just put it in a pot. If hyperinflation or worse comes to pass,
there are going to be a lot of angry, hungry people around lacking in basic
skills.
Keep up the good work. - Elizabeth B
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Letter Re: Why Survivalists Should Buy Local Organic Food
Mr. Rawles--please accept my apologies for replying so delinquently. I just
found your "blog" and have to say it is quite good. Thanks for
all your work.
Though I will admit to being an organic gardener for 20 odd years now I would
like to reply to a few things L.D.M. said against organic gardening and in "praise" of
commercial/chemical agriculture. My reply is from a "survivalist" perspective.
First..yes, American[-origin] natural gas is the basis for fertilizer not Middle
Eastern oil. However...in a catastrophe of any type when you can't get food
how exactly are you planning on getting Inorganic fertilizers and bug sprays
to continue to grow what you need to eat? If your soil is not built up with
organic matter (humus) you are and will be completely dependent on having that "stuff".
Disregarding my aversion to poisons. Chemical agriculture used by a survivalist
is like assuming you can buy cartridges in a store after everything goes down
hill. Just not possible, and leaves you in a very poor position to actually
survive.
Secondly, I would have thought that survivalist would be as updated on how
Monsanto, chemical companies and the Bill Gates foundation spend millions (and
millions) of dollars each year trying to convince people and countries
that chemical fertilizers, bug poisons, and GMO products
work. GMOs (as one example) which in turn require extensive inorganic fertilizers
and chemical
bug sprays, have many "lone wilderness voices" declaring they do
not work---however they are drowned out by the advertising dollars spent by
these large companies who try and encourage those who do not fully comprehend
the problems to believe in or to buy their products again or instead of their
open pollinated/organic seeds and supplies. It sounds like L.D.M. has bought
their lies lock stock and barrel.
There are many farmers and farming organizations now coming out telling the
stories of how organic is actually giving them a better yield
for less work too. But of course they aren't heard as much because as individuals
they can't compete with Bill Gates ability to yell louder. Yes, they have to
be able to spend about three years to improve their soil but each one that
does says it is worth it and finds that he/she is able to produce as well or
more ---especially under adverse weather conditions compared to plants and
soil dependent on chemicals. That is because soil microbes and structure are
destroyed by chemical over use leaving the plants like addicts and unable to
grow healthy and well without their "fix".
Lastly...commercial farming is a scam. I have to admit I was surprised to see
that he felt it wasn't [a scam]. To believe otherwise is silly. The only reason
that most commercial farming works is because of large government subsidies---in
the U.S and foreign countries. Also...they are allowed to get away with things
we as individuals would have government knocking on our door and suing us over:
polluted rivers/lakes and streams, feces left in huge open pits (better to
use it to make power through methane digestion), animals that are sickly are
sent through without thought as to whether they carry disease transferable
to humans (through various vectors/paths) which makes our food supply suspect,
in my opinion. It doesn't take much to read up on some of these things to realize
that we, as individuals, don't actually get to buy cheap corn when we go to
the store. We subsidize cheap corn ---it cost us much more than we realize.
Unless your not paying taxes of course. Otherwise you are supporting the commercial
farms and not a local person who you can develop a relationship with and who
may someday help you out.
So, to sum up my points. I do raise my own meat, milk and veggies and I
know how to do it without spending a dime on anyone's products. Yes, I do occasionally
buy some organic soil amendments to resupply my soil---personal choice though
and I don't absolutely need them. This is mostly because my property was badly
cared for by the previous owner. As each year passes I buy less and less amendments
as my soil improves through the common sense care I give it---just as nature
meant for it to be. Some of my property has never had any amendments accept
lime and managed intensive grazing of livestock and looks 100 times better
than when I first purchased it (check out stockman grassfarmer---every survivalist
should understand how to raise quality livestock with grass
only because not every crummy situation may be unacceptable to raising
livestock).
If the SHTF, I can keep on growing better and better, with guaranteed vitamin
and mineral content, each year because I know how to do it, without being reliant
on any companies claims or inputs. Even without manure from my livestock. No
reliance on others products---isn't that self sufficiency? And isn't
that what this is all about? - Monica D.
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Letter Re: Highly Productive Home Gardens
JWR:
My name is Tom Johns. I just read a letter in your blog that mentioned my company;
Territorial Seed Company (TSC). With regards to your reader's comment about “with
the change in management” concerning
Territorial Seed Company, he implied that there has been a recent change. The
facts are that my wife Julie and I purchased Territorial from Steve in 1985.
Steve founded Territorial in 1979, and operated TSC for five years, and Julie
and I have had the company for 25 years now.
Also, the reader mentioned that we are decreasing the amount of Open Pollinated
or Heirloom seed varieties that we sell. The truth in the matter is that since
1985 we have increased our Open Pollinated offerings by hundreds of varieties.
In addition I think it’s important to note that at the time we purchased
TSC, Territorial did not have a seed production program, nor did it really
need one. But over the years good home garden varieties started to become discontinued
from the world’s largest seed houses. This was primarily from consolidation
of major seed companies. About 15 years ago in response to this loss of varieties,
we started our own seed production program. Today, we have become a much more
self-sufficient company, as 25% of all the vegetable seed we sell comes from
our own certified organic seed farming operation.
In addition, we now also own Abundant Life Seed. Founded in Port Townsend,
Washington this company sells only certified organic seed. For more information
about
our efforts you can learn more at:
http://www.territorialseed.com and
http://www.abundantlifeseeds.com
- Tom Johns President, TSC
JWR Replies: Since that reader made some false assertions,
I have removed the original post that Mr Johns mentioned.
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Letter Re: The Importance of Spare Parts and Maintenance for Preparedness
James Wesley:
One subject that I think is under rated in preparedness discussions
is spare parts. We all are focused on our armaments and basic survival materials
to
the detriment of being able to continue to use our tools and equipment when
they inevitably break. Even in the best-case scenario of a sever depression
spare parts will be often unavailable through normal channels. A good example
of this is to be found in cars. When I was young in the ‘50s and early ‘60s
there was an abundance of cars made in the late ‘20s and ‘30s in
remarkably good shape that were shoved into barns because of breakdowns, often
minor, for which parts were not available during the depression. These cars
were hauled out by enterprising young men returning from WWII and Korea and
turned into hot rods or just driven into the ground when parts again became
available in the ‘50s. As our economic system becomes ever more complex
and specialized, and as that built in disaster of “just in time” production
and distribution is used more and more, the inevitability of interruptions
in materials and basic goods becomes even more probable. Having spent a lifetime
living on farms, and particularly here in the western Upper Peninsula ("U.P.")
of Michigan where the nearest farm supply stores are down in Wisconsin a day's
drive away,
I have developed an acute appreciation of the necessity of having a good inventory
of parts on hand. So combine a disruption in supply with a remote refuge location
and the problem could become insurmountable and be very inconvenient if not
life threatening. So think in terms of two different plans: parts and
maintenance.
Spare Parts
In the parts department do you have spare wicks and globes for your oil
lamps? And lots and lots of mantles for gas lights which I do not recommend
for the reason that they are so fragile that bugs break them. Do you have extra
leathers for your water pumps? And handles for your axes, splitting mauls,
hammers and saws? These have a way of getting broke when used with regularity;
particularly when you are tired or exhausted which we will be if we are in
this situation. I heat with wood and do not own a wood splitter. I do it by
hand and have never broken a maul handle except at the end of the day when
I am tired and miss the block of wood with the head and hit it with the handle.
So count on breaking things when you are tired or in a hurry. Do you have extra
chains for your chain saw and blades for your bow saw. A good bow saw [or bucksaw]
is definitely a tool to have if gasoline is scarce or unavailable, or if you
want to cut wood without attracting attention. And do you have the files and
sharpening stones to keep them sharp by hand and the teeth properly set? You
might also want to practice these skills because they are skills. And boot
laces, gloves, wool socks and other warm and durable clothing that you do not
often use and replace but that will become something that you will use every
day under adverse conditions. Anyway you get the point. Stock up on daily used
items. For instance, last week the local hardware store had leather palmed
work gloves on sale at two pairs for a buck so I bought 50 pairs. I’ll
use them eventually even if nothing goes wrong, and if it does I’m covered
and I’ll have some great bartering material. Buy what you know you will
need and may be able to trade to those less provident.
Maintenance|
Maintenance is always a neglected area of planning. Most people
are poor at maintenance as a matter of course and some cannot even seem to
consider
it. Look at your home, equipment and tools and determine what you need to do
to keep it working, particularly under adverse conditions. Do you have the
tools, manuals and knowledge to fix things. Is your shop supplied with lubricants
and grease to keep the place running. My granddad liked to say “grease
and oil are cheap and parts and labor are expensive”, During the 1980s
I was a Trustee for the United States Bankruptcy Court and I handled most of
the farm cases here in the U.P. because I knew the business and could milk
cows. One of the things that struck me most was the almost universal lack
of grease guns on these bankrupt farms. It changed my feelings about my fellow
farmers plight to a great degree in many cases. A lack of daily maintenance
is a precondition to disaster. I own a lot of old equipment that gets used
hard, but it is well maintained and seldom breaks down because of grease, oil
and general maintenance. And maintenance of the area around you is also important.
Recently a most excellent article was posted in SurvivalBlog dealing with
keeping
the place neat and clean. It is well worth re-reading and considering.
A neat
environment helps keep you safe from injury and has an important psychological
component. Which leads to another point about neatness. Keep your stored goods
organized so you can find them. Plastic bins and totes with labels make things
easy to find and protects them from vermin, dirt and corrosion and makes taking
inventory a snap.
So get the spare parts you will need, and some to trade, and get them organized.
And maintain your home, tools, equipment, mind, body, marriage and family and
we will get through this time to come. And if we are wrong about the future we
will still be the better for it. - Ken S.
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Letter Re: Highly Productive Home Gardens
Jim,
Take a look at the
YouTube videos on the Dervaes family. These folks are a bit granola crunching
and leftist/idealistic for me, but there is a great deal to be learned from
their efforts. 6,000 pounds of produce from 5,000 square feet of yard is
pretty impressive. Admittedly, they have a 365-day growing season and no
deer to worry about, but we are adapting the strategies for our own situation.
I do agree with them that producing your own food is a profoundly subversive
act. If the link does not work work just go to YouTube and then search "Dervaes
family".
Also, I have lately been listening to the daily offerings from The
Survival Podcast, which I burn to CD or load on my MP3 player to listen
at my leisure.
« Economics and Investing: |Main| Letter Re: Highly Productive Home Gardens »
Letter Re: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: Reinforcing Your Retreat for Long Term Survival on the Cheap
Jim
Concerning the article by Q.T. about fence building. A good book on the subject
is, "Fences, Gates, and Bridges, and How to Make Them" by George
Martin. It includes a longer and more complete explanation, and pictures, of
the plash method of fence building.
...And a caution!
Be careful what plants you choose for building your fences. It can have unintended
consequences. Fifty years ago, the local County Agriculture Agents recommended
to all the farmers around here, that we plant multiflora rose bushes. The agents
said the roses were cheap, would grow fast and they would form an impenetrable
barrier for livestock. They were exactly right on all counts. But, what none
of us realized at the time was that they also produce thousands of hips that
the birds like to eat, but don't digest. Within a few short years there were
roses everywhere. ..Roses that will puncture the toughest tractor tire, are
really hard to kill and will grow fifty feet tall.
Russian olive is another cheap to buy, fast growing fence plant that will also
spread in ways you won't like. So be careful and choose wisely. - Jim Fry,
Curator, Museum
of Western Reserve Farms & Equipment, Ohio
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Three Letters Re: Why Survivalists Should Buy Local Organic Food
Mr. Rawles,
Yesterday, you posted Chad
L.'s submission concerning buying "organic" and/or
locally produced food. In it, Chad made a few statements that are simply
wrong. This is an example: "...factory
farming requires the use of fertilizer made from oil, largely derived from
the Middle
East. " This is a wholly ignorant statement, ignorant
because if the author had bothered to check, he would have found that the USA
produces nearly all of it's nitrogen fertilizer from natural gas. Even if we
did use oil as the source for ammonium nitrate, OPEC only accounts
for about half of the oil we import, if you only count Iraq
it accounts for 10 percent
of that (or about 5 percent of all imports). We import more oil from Canada
and Mexico than from any country we are current at war with. This sort of soft-thinking
is impossible to support, but sounds nice to many who take such statements
as fact without taking the time to check them. We don't produce nitrogen fertilizer
from oil, and if we did, the USA produces far more than it imports,
so the "largely derived from the Middle East" is patently false.
Heck, OPEC isn't comprised only of countries from the Middle East. Venezuela
as well
as several independent African nations are lumped in too. Take them out of
the equation and the total oil imported to the USA from the Middle East only
about a third of the total OPEC imports we receive.
He also doesn't point out that the majority of the world is
fed by corporate farming, he even makes "corporate" sound like a
dirty word. Any farmer I know who is making a profit, is incorporated. It costs
approximately 1/3 to produce (by weight) a "corporate" tomato as
it does an "organic" tomato - and the only purported guarantee you
get is that no pesticides were used to produce it. If the world went "organic" the
world would starve. Sure it's a good idea to grow your own food, but to do
so because you hate "corporations" or that non-organic food is somehow
less safe (anybody remember the folks who died/got sick when they drank the "organic" Odwalla
juices a few years back?) or more safe is living in a fantasy world.
Let's not forget the offhand insult delivered to that ignorant guy wearing
the NRA hat. Was it meant to say that the guy, being a gun-owner, should know
something about a place he'd never been? Or, more to the point, was it simply
an ad-hominem attack on some marginalized citizen (aren't all ignorant rednecks,
NRA hat-wearin' types?) who had the misfortune to cross this man's path?
Since he touts "organic" local farming as using, in his words, "very
little oil-based fertilizer" where, exactly does he think they get their
ammonium nitrate? Any farmer can make the claim to use "very little oil-based
fertilizer" since nearly all fertilizer is made from natural gas (that
we produce in the USA).
His arguments simply do not support the truth and facts about farming. He also
knocks, "South American factory farms" and makes an incoherent statement
about millions of low-income immigrants (the same incoherent statements made
about the Irish, Italian and WWII waves of immigrants) who flee here because
of economic conditions on South American farms. The last time I checked, immigration
from Chile (the major source of our winter fruits and vegetables - remember,
the seasons are reversed below the equator - not so with Mexico) was so small,
they did not fulfill their maximum quota with the US department
of state. In fact, with a 96 percent literacy rate, they are better educated
than we are
in the USA. And in fact, with a population of only about 16 million (most descended
from european immigrants) they would depopulate very quickly if they did support
his "millions" number. Corporate farming in Chile works well,
they help feed the rest of the world. Argentina is a close second. Many of
the farm
workers in Chile, for instance, are multi-generational employees of the same evil "corporations" as
their fathers and mothers. How do I know this? I visit there, and have several
connections in their agribusiness community.
He picked a poor example of "insuring national security", most of
the illegal workers in the USA do not work in agriculture-related
industries, although this may not be readily apparent to a Californian (the
breadbasket
of the USA). This also casts unfair aspersions on the character of the human
swarm he would have us fear as a "national security risk", do you
really think an illegal immigrant would countenance someone coming to the country
he needs to work in to support his family as his side in a border
crossing, if that person were to attack the USA? He would have you fear the "great
brown horde" the same way people in the northeast were taught to slur
those "swarthy grape stompers" from Italy.
His facts are either skewed, or wrong. His thinly veiled disdain for gun owners
and their intellect is insulting. And he is ignorant about where ammonium
nitrate comes from. - L.D.M.
JWR Replies: To bolster your position, I should mention that
SurvivalBlog reader "3CanKeep" kindly did some research and found that
only 3.1% of the U.S. natural gas supply comes
from
foreign
sources.
Jim,
I
really enjoyed Chad L.'s article from an organic farmer reaching out
to the preparedness community. It was very well written with many bits of humor
and many very relevant thoughts, such as, "if I’m lucky I just might
get to be a farm hand if things go bad." and"That requires knowing
how to grow it, something that is well beyond even moderately accomplished
hobby gardeners",and "a book can be a great
source of information, but it will likely never replace hands on learning from
someone
that knows what they’re doing. If you want to be able to grow enough
food to live on you should know a farmer."and, finally, "Much lore
and utility can be learned from those that actually know how to do things and
no thing is more important than being able to produce food."
For some unknown reason, I've been really fired up during the last few weeks
to learn as much about gardening and growing food, more than I have ever been
during my last 50+ years. If this is Providential direction, I had better get
my rear in gear!
Chad's article is truly reaching out to those of us who, "have never really
been to a farmer’s market because he thought it was full of overpriced
vegetables and dope-smoking hippies", and I commend him for his efforts
and have a better idea as to how those prices may be not as high as I thought.
I just want to second what Chad is saying. Having been around production
(factory), small scale and organic farming for about 40 years, it is clear
most of the production farms and farmers will not survive times when oil and
it's associated fertilizers and pesticides disappear or are in very short supply,
the same is true if credit is tight. The knowledge curve to change from production
to organic farming is a multi-year process.
For the preppers having seeds in a can sounds good and may make some folks
feel good but it is unlikely their first crop will provide sufficient food
to make it till the next harvest. That also assumes they have knowledge to
preserve the crops and an a appropriate place for storage. There are only two
groups that might grow us enough food to survive, the small homesteading folks
that are currently supplying food for their family and the small growers that
are selling into the farmers markets and/or have Community Supported Agriculutre
(CSA) organizations. Of these two only the small growers have the knowledge
to rapidly scale up output.
Having been a conservative most of my life and having watched George W. take
away many of our freedoms with the Patriot Act and Paramilitarization of the
police force though the war on drugs, I now mostly try to ignore the far right,
'christian' right, far left, and other fringe groups and just focus on the
individual people. There are many folks planning and preparing for tough times,
it will be difficult enough to survive without using the knowledge of all of
us.
Thanks for the blog. I just ordered your new edition of "Patriots". - Riverrat
« Economics and Investing: |Main| Notes from JWR: »
Why Survivalists Should Buy Local Organic Food, by Chad L.
I know the name of the woman who raises the chickens that lay the eggs that
I
eat. Do you? I know about her daughter’s college plans and her vacations
and how she got into the business of raising chickens. This might not seem so
important from a survivalist perspective, but I think it is and I’ll explain
why in the following paragraphs.
Now think about where you get your eggs. Chances are they come from a big
chain grocery store. That means they are raised in a huge factory farm, staffed
by
underpaid workers of questionable legality, and overwhelmingly dependent on Chinese
produced chicken feed. Which of these eggs do you think is better for the long-term
goals of a preparedness minded individual? I thought so.
What I’m getting at here is that an American preparedness culture should
be supporting small, local, organic farms whenever possible. In this essay I
am going to avoid environmental arguments in support of local, organic foods.
Although, I will confess that I believe that environmental issues are one of
the largest threats to American personal and national security and that a dedication
to environmental solutions will ease many of the problems that threaten us, especially
including dependence on foreign oil and government corporate welfare in the form
of unnecessary farm subsidies.
I started thinking about this topic because I work at a Farmer’s Market
in Northern California and I rarely see customers that exhibit some of the tell
tale signs of the “survivalist” crowd (Ruger hats, NRA T-shirts,
etc.). However, many of the farmers can be seen wearing “the signs”.
Small farmers are, as a whole, very hard working, practically minded, conservative
leaning people who care deeply for their families. They would mostly fit right
in at any Preparedness gathering; even the really Left of center politically
leaning ones.
One morning a man walked up wearing an NRA hat and we got to talking. It turns
out he had never really been to a farmer’s market because he thought it
was full of overpriced vegetables and dope-smoking hippies. He was having a good
experience and was really impressed by how knowledgeable the workers were about
what they were selling. I could certainly offer no counter to his concerns over
the hippies (it is Northern California after all. Although, to tell the truth
there aren’t that many of them left). The counter to his cost concerns
is more complex.
Organic food costs more than non-organic food. It is certainly more expensive
to make food grow like this and the cost is passed on to the consumer. There
have been plenty of recent big agriculture financed studies showing that there
is little nutritional difference between organic and factory produced food which
leads a consumer on a budget to validly wonder “why should I buy this if
it isn’t better for me?” Even if these studies are true, they do
not tell the whole picture.
Organic has become a major buzz word and a major marketing tool. Plenty of the
stuff that’s labeled organic gains a lot of its cost from being shipped
from South America and the big grocery stores (especially the big health food
stores) are more than willing to tack on high prices for perceived value. It’s
the same thing that goes on with the designer bags my wife covets. They might
not do anything special (they hold stuff the same as my backpack does), but they
look nice and are sought after by a particular and demanding consumer that is
willing to pay extra for premium.
But this isn’t the whole story or even the segment of the food producers
I’m suggesting we as survivalists support. There are huge hidden costs
to the production of cheap factory food. First of all, cheap food requires cheap
labor. When people in South America are sick of being sprayed by pesticides and
working for next to nothing, where do you think they are going to go?
Your hard earned dollars should not be supporting factory farms that are abusing
humans (a Christian issue if ever there was one if that concerns you) or creating
an economic climate that gives incentive to millions of desperate people to illegally
enter the country. The cost of supporting these South American factory farms
is inestimable when you factor in all of the issues surrounding illegal immigration,
issues that should be on the minds of all Preparedness minded citizens. |
Second, factory farming requires the use of fertilizer made from oil, largely
derived from the Middle East. Ask anyone with a child serving in Iraq what the
cost of oil is and you are not going to get a dollar amount. I’m not suggesting
that we should not use oil or that our actions in Iraq are unjust or unnecessary,
far from it. I am suggesting that supporting a food production model that uses
very little oil-based fertilizer is in the best interests of Americans. Small,
local farms that utilize crop rotation and sustainable practices do not destroy
the land at the same rate (often the land is replenished) and do not need to
pump Saudi chemicals into the ground.
A trip to a farmer’s market is far different than a trip to a place like
a Whole Foods store. Vegetables and livestock that are in season and not delivered
very far (the Locavore rule of thumb is to try not to eat food from more than
100
miles away if you can help it) have a negligibly higher cost at the register
and virtually no societal costs associated with factory farms.
This is really just the tip of the iceberg of the issues surrounding the ways
factory farming weakens national security. The more you dig, the more you see
that true freedom and liberty depends on the yeoman farmer so celebrated by Thomas
Jefferson. The Jeffersonian agrarian ideal is alive and well and you can help
it survive simply by shopping.
Think about this: if the stuff really hits the fan and the country goes to
h*ll, whom do you want to be friends with? I want to be friends with hard
working men
and women that know how to grow food and make their land work for them. Shopping
at farmer’s markets is a great way to make community connections that are
both personally rewarding and potentially life saving. I know the names of many
of the people I buy my food from and if I’m lucky I just might get to be
a farm hand if things go bad.
Thankfully there seems to be a shift away from the “hoard away somewhere
with guns and MREs
and ride it out” model of survivalism. Those MREs
are terrible and will eventually run out. If you had to survive on them for
any period
of time you would likely add a great deal of depression to what is likely going
to be a stressful situation. I want to be in a position to eat real food. That
requires knowing how to grow it, something that is well beyond even moderately
accomplished hobby gardeners. Even the gnarliest “I’m gonna drive
'the last of the V8 interceptors' and pump .50 caliber rounds into any desperados
I see” survivalist is likely including gardening books in their personal
survival library.
If you want to learn how to do something, a book can be a great source of information,
but it will likely never replace hands on learning from someone that knows
what they’re doing. If you want to be able to grow enough food to live on you
should know a farmer. It’s real easy to meet them. Just go to a market
and ask them about their product.
Being able to grow food is more important than even being able to properly operate
a firearm (and many who can do the former know the latter simply by cultural
osmosis). If you are willing to buy premium American made firearms, learn from
the knowledgeable through conversation and classes, and enjoy them, you should
be willing to do the same with your food.
Like all the best survival preps, gardening is fun and rewarding on its own
and provides a wonderful opportunity to connect with your family. It ranks
right
up there with teaching your kids how to fish and shoot, but it has unfortunately
fallen out of vogue in the last fifty years. When you’re picking up a
head of lettuce from your new friend that grew it for you, ask him how you
might do
the same. It could save your life.
Shopping at farmer’s markets protects national security interests, builds
important connections with like-minded people able to withstand hard times, and
provides a way for families to connect with the traditions of one of America’s
most hardworking and iconic professions, the farmer. Much lore and utility
can be learned from those that actually know how to do things and no thing
is more
important than being able to produce food.
« Letter Re: How to Spot a Front Sight Graduate |Main| Note from JWR: »
Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: Reinforcing Your Retreat for Long Term Survival on the Cheap, by Q.T.
We've all heard that particular proverb. For those of us reading this venue,
we all have a specific mindset that probably keeps that at the forefront of
our minds. We have our space. We have our preps. We have spent time and effort
placing a lot of emphasis on keeping ourselves one step ahead. So how do we
keep out everyone else?. Better yet… how do we keep prying eyes out?
Still best, how do we create our sanctuary without drawing any attention to
ourselves whatsoever?
We can build a fence, but a fence can be cut. Fences cost money. …Money
that perhaps we would like to spend on other things. We could conceivably dig
a moat, but if our land isn't flat (let's face it, it's probably not). A moat
also isn't much of a deterrent unless it's filled with something particularly
unsavory, like crocodiles or piranhas. Furthermore, a moat is going to take
a lot of effort, probably employing heavy equipment, and again, costing a great
deal of money.
What we really need is something that serves as a hardy physical and psychological
barrier, screens what is behind it, costs very little, and mostly takes care
of itself. Maybe it could even get more robust as time goes on… Impossible,
you say? Perhaps not.
In Europe, one long standing tradition of creating a fence against neighboring
property is to plant a hedge. Now before you scoff, push out of your mind the
juniper bushes freshly trimmed at waist height. What you want is something
a bit more robust. Something wooly and wild and impenetrable…
A customary European hedge is initially a row of one particular type of woody
shrub or tree planted about 1-2 feet apart. Once the tree reaches approximately
10 feet in height, an axe or hatchet is used to notch the tree at the base
so that it can be bent over, and it is laid over at about a 35 degree angle
from horizontal. When the entire row is done this way, the branches are woven
and tangled together to form a rough and difficult to penetrate screen. As
time passes, new vegetation grows up through the toppled trees and adds height
to the hedge, further screening from the neighbors. This was primarily designed
to contain livestock.
What we need is a system to keep out a much more ingenious invader than neighboring
livestock. We want something that will stop anything short of a bulldozer or
perhaps a tank. And best of all, if it's all the same, we want something that
looks nondescript and uninteresting to the passerby. If the hungry refugee
has nothing to stop and look at, he likely will keep on going. The roving gang
isn't even going to slow down if they see nothing of interest. So what we need
is something much more robust than the European hedge.
European hedges are often grown from the local native shrubs and trees. Locally,
here in the midwest US we have several tree species that would work especially
well for this type of application. Your local flora may differ a great deal
where you are. My particular favorites for my location are the honey-locust,
Osage orange (notably named the "hedge tree", locally), and western
red cedar. All three of these are known throughout the region as a pest. They
are all fairly prolific and fast growing. The best bet is to look around and
see what grows where you don’t want it to. Those will grow into the most
robust living fence you can imagine.
I have not made these three tree choices lightly. These trees are chosen because
of their quick growth ability, resistance to insects and blights, and ability
to interplant very closely with other trees. Hardwoods such as Oak, hickory,
and especially walnut, tend to crowd out other trees with chemicals secreted
by their roots. However, you can interplant fruits such as mulberry, apples
and pears among the locusts, Osage, and cedars.
Now, plant your trees spacing them out in a row approximately 12 to 18 inches
apart. Water them. Fertilize them if necessary. Let them grow to about 5 feet
in height (tree tubes may help them achieve this height but are by no means
necessary). Make sure that all trees are trimmed of most side branches and
splits split trunks are pruned to one side or another. This makes the final
arrangement easier.
Once the trees have reached the appropriate height ( I said 5 feet, but this
is not necessarily the case) you will need to notch the trunks approximately
3 inches above ground level. To notch the trunk, you should take a sturdy knife
and carve approximately 2/3 of the trunk out. Alternate which side of the tree
you notch, as you will be weaving the trunks together.
Once you have notched your trees, beginning with one pair, lay your trees over
to about 30-to-45 degrees crossing in the middle. Go to the next set, doing
the same, making sure that you achieve a true weave (in front of one, behind
the
next, etc). Once done, make sure that where the trees cross the second row
is done in the same manner. What you end up with should look a little something
like a chain link fence.
Next you need to wait for the tree to grow some more, and repeat the process
as it gets taller. Since trees don't grow at angles, it's likely that either
your initial stem will grow straight up, or perhaps a side branch will take
the initiative to take off. But either way, you will be trimming from a ladder
and weaving in the same way.
Obviously, one should grow other things outside the wall. Poison ivy, stinging
nettles, thick brambles and rose bushes all serve as a primary deterrent long
before anyone actually comes to the hedge. Making it look natural helps all
that much better. Eventually your hedge will bush out and look less like a
giant lattice and more like an impenetrable wall of vegetation.
Like anything, this process can be as big or as small as you want it to be,
and it's all about how much you put into it. I envision two hedges side by
side about ten feet tall. The inner hedge mostly fruit trees and honey locust,
while the outer hedge is made up primarily of cedar and Osage orange. Between
the two is a wall made up of old tires with one sidewall cut out, filled with
sand. The tire wall is about 5 feet tall and serves as a bullet stop for stray
small arms fire. Above the tire wall the two hedges have been intertwined to
hold it all together. The occasional observation post (OP) has been fashioned
into the design and only accessible from the private side (inside) of the wall.
With a setup like this and an alleyway to a locked gate, access could be controlled
in such a way that the vagrant who wandered in would automatically be covered
and unable to escape. In the same respect, anyone who attempted to raid a place
reinforced in such a way, would encounter a lot more resistance than they would
want to, if in fact they even knew it existed.
Obviously this process takes time. Lots of time. And that is its primary downfall.
Time may be something we all lack in these uncertain and trying times. It also
takes a lot of work. Hard work. Expect to have scars. Consider that as better
than the alternative.
For those of us who may have that place in the woods, and are just biding our
time, this might be a thing worth doing, even if just for facing a public road.
If one life is saved because of this information, then it has all been worth
it. Good luck and God bless to all of you.
« Economics and Investing: |Main| Two Letters Re: Backpackers of the Apocalypse: Selecting and Ultra-Lighting Your Bug-Out Bag »
Letter Re: Where to Find Quality-Made Hand Tools?
Hello,
Let me tell you about an experience I had the other day and my frustration.
I recently purchased some tools from Sears and got the "higher quality" Craftsman
brand. One of the items purchases was a bow saw. I did not look closely at
the quality of the item purchased because I thought to myself, "It is
a Craftsman, they have a life time warranty." Well, a few months later
the saw broke because of bad construction. Some little nubs that were punched
through the very thin sheet metal that held the saw blade in place. It does
not take an expert to see that they broke soon after I started to do some hard
work. Very disappointing. Sears exchanged it, and I see that they have a new
model with a rivet instead of a nub. But I am not sure that it will las very
long. I asked the clerk if all of their stuff was Made in China. She said "No," and
stated it surprised her that the saw was made in China.
On the way out I looked at a vacuum cleaner, it was a wet-dry "shop vac".
Craftsman and Made in Mexico. I guess that "Mexico" is not China so she was
technically right. I purchased a Kenmore about two years ago because it was
rated the highest
in Consumers' Reports. It is all plastic and does not work that well.
The suction is pretty low. My grandmother has a vacuum cleaner that she purchased
over fifty years ago. My brother and I call it "The Pig" because it looks like
a pig (complete with a snout) from behind. I can not seem to find a vacuum
cleaner that will last. They are all cheap and made as disposable items. I
would rather purchase one good vacuum cleaner to
last me 50 years instead of one cheap one every 3-to-5 years.
Where does someone
buy Made in the USA products that are made out of good metal? I know a place
must exist somewhere. Thanks, - Brent
JWR Replies: This topic has been raised before in SurvivalBlog.
In my opinion, the best quality for your dollar can often be found in used American
and European-made tools. For details, see this post from late 2008: Letter
Re: Recommended Sources for Gardening Hand Tools.
« Letter Re: Should We Still be Saving Nickels? |Main| Note from JWR: »
Livestock for Survival, by Bobbi A.
With a cynical eye on the rapid downward spiral of events, it seems prudent
to plan for a very long time of sustainable living. In this case survival depends
not only on your stockpiled preps, but also in your ability to sustain food
production past the end of your stored supply.
Let’s assume, to begin with, that you have reasonably stocked retreat.
I’m not talking a stock to the level described in “Patriots”,
but rather one that includes a year (or more) of food, basic ammo, firearms,
reliable water, heat and power source … the basics.
Now it’s time to look past the first year or so and decide how you will
continue to produce food and supplies for your family. Hunting is often an
option, but it can’t be considered a long-term complete food source,
as it is not nutritionally complete.
Much has been said about keeping heirloom (open pollinated) seeds, and this
cannot be stressed enough. But you have to plant and harvest a crop each year
to continue to re-supply your seeds. Most retreats seem to be in colder climates
as they tend to have a lighter year-round population load. If you’re
up in the mountains, altitude will play a significant factor in what you can
hope to grow. Staples such as corn require heat days in order to properly pollinate
and “set”. You generally want to lay in a supply of varieties that
have the shortest maturity date. That means from the time you plant that seed
to the time you harvest the crop is the shortest possible number of days.
Using “short season” varieties gives you two advantages. First,
if you have a crop failure for some reason, you can often have time to replant.
Secondly, if you’ve harvested your first crop, you have time to put another
crop in the same space.
As summer approaches, consider a great time to practice crop production, if
you haven’t already. It is not as simple a poking a seed into some dirt.
Get a couple of good gardening books, or better yet, books on basic farming.
Carla Emery’s Encyclopedia
of Country Living and
the Reader's Digest Back
to Basics are
both excellent reference books that cover everything from farming to livestock
to making basic necessities.
Having a huge variety of seeds is not as important as having plenty to the
right seeds for your needs. If you just can’t live without brussel sprouts,
by all means, lay in some seeds. But stick mostly to the basics: wheat, corn,
squash/pumpkin, beans, peas, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, peppers, and your
basic herbs. If you haven’t planted fruit trees, now is the time to get
started on that. It takes several years for trees to be come productive. Also
give consideration to other perennials such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries,
blueberries and grapes. Again, it take a few years for these (except for strawberries)
to get into full production.
Besides your garden, fields and orchards, you’ll need to take a serious
look at what sort of livestock will fit in to your situation. Eventually, you
will probably need some sort of animal power for transportation and heavy work.
The most efficient feed-to-food converter is a chicken. One hen will lay approximately
one egg every other day. Peak production (during the summer) generally is an
egg a day. Winter drops to an egg every third day or so without significant
extra light in the chicken coop. You can expect to raise two or three sets
of chicks each summer. Hens will get “broody” and sit on eggs to
hatch them once the weather is warm. In order for the eggs to be fertile, you
of course must have a rooster. The best ratio is one rooster to every ten hens.
A family of four would do well with 25 laying hens and three roosters. The
extra
eggs
produced during the warm months can be frozen or used for feed for other animals.
You can even feed the [well-pulverized and unrecognizable] eggshells back to
your chickens to give them adequate calcium. During the spring, summer and
early
fall, you
don’t
even have to provide chickens with any feed. They are excellent consumers of
all sorts
of insects and bugs. “Free range” chickens pretty much feed themselves
during the warm months. If predators are an issue though, you’ll want
to keep them in a moveable cage (called a “chicken tractor”) so
they don’t become a snack for some varmint. Raccoons are especially fond
of chickens, as are weasels.
If you know that the stuff is hitting the fan, try to order 50 chicks or so
[and buy a 50 pound sack of chick starter feed at your local feed store]. Chicks
arrive in the mail. Ideal Poultry and Murray McMurray are two excellent sources.
If
you
order “straight
run” chicks,
you’ll
get a mix (about 50/50) of hens to roosters. The best all-round chicken in
my opinion
is the Astralorp. They start to lay early (at about five months of age) and
consistently, they are good mothers and are big enough to still be a reasonable
source of meat. The roosters tend to stay calm and usually are not aggressive.
Chicks will cost you around $1.50 each. The price varies with the breed, the
supplier and the time of year. Ideal tends to have good sales, which you can
keep up with by signing up for email alerts.
Another excellent feed-to-food converter is the basic goat. I’ll say
right off that they are tough to keep fenced in. Goats are terrifically intelligent
and are phenomenal escape artists. If you keep goats, make absolutely certain
that your gardens, crop grounds and trees are well fenced off and well protected.
Goats can decimate fruit trees in minutes. Goats produce milk, meat and leather.
A doe can kid as early as eight months old, but it’s best to wait until
they are yearlings. Goats’ gestation is about five months and they tend
to only breed in months that have “R” in the name (Sept, Oct, Nov,
Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr). There are some aseasonal breeders, but don’t
count on it. If your does are bred in early September, you might be about to
get them bred back again in April, two months after kidding. Goats usually
have twins and triplets. Bucks can be smelly and can be aggressive during rut.
The breed of goat really is an individual preference. Goat enthusiasts will
extol the virtues of their particular breed, but mostly it comes down to basics:
good dairy does will give about a gallon of milk a day. Goat milk, properly
processed, is indistinguishable from fresh cow’s milk. If you have never
consumed fresh milk, you ought to give it a try. It is completely different
from what you purchase in the store. It makes store-bought taste like water.
Goat milk is white, it does not separate as easily as cow’s milk (it
takes longer to skim enough cream for butter), and it is often well-tolerated
by people with lactose issues. During grazing months, a goat will produce milk
just with pasture (grasses, clovers, and browse). A small amount of grain is
nice at milking time so the does will be excited to come in to the milking
area. It beats chasing them all over Creation. IN the winter, they will require
hay and a little grain if you intend to keep milking. Some people “dry
off” their does in the winter in preparation for kidding. You have to
allow about two months of no milking before the doe kids so that her body has
time to produce the colostrum the kids need in order to survive.
Goats are capable of pulling small, fairly light carts and helping with basic
garden work (muzzled, of course). They can work individually or as a team of
no more than two. They are also good packers capable of carrying about 30 pounds
(for a full grown adult goat). For a family of four, two or three does and
one buck is plenty. And yes, you can keep doe kids and still breed them back
to
their sire (or their brothers).
Line breeding is not recommended over the long-haul, but it’s perfectly
fine until things stabilize and you can trade genetics with a neighbor.
Sheep are extremely important, in my opinion, but are rarely discussed. They
don’t have a terrific feed-to-food ratio, as they require a bit more
protein. But for what they give you in return, they are an excellent survival
animal. Besides meat and terrific hides, sheep produce wool. Wool is one of
the very best natural fibers. It is somewhat flame retardant, retains its warmth
even soaking wet, and is incredibly versatile. It can be spun into yarn, felted,
woven, and even worked with “raw”. Lanolin is the “grease” on
the wool. Once cleaned, it is an excellent, lasting softener for badly chapped/burned
skin.
Sheep are not very smart, and so they really require looking after. If you
have a predation problem, you’ll want to keep sheep close-in, or have
some sort of guardian (human or animal) with them at all times. Sheep are similar
to goats in breeding and birthing habits. In fact, you can keep sheep and goats
together without any problems. They do not interbreed (although you may see
the males trying it anyway).
Merino sheep are the best for fine wool production: the kind of wool you can
wear next to your skin and not feel “itchy”. They are hard to find
in the United States. Virtually any sheep, except “hair sheep”,
will work for survival purposes. Larger breeds such as Columbia, Suffolk, and
Corriedale will have more coarse wool, but they will produce bigger (meatier)
lambs on less feed.
Like goats, you’d want two or three ewes and one ram. Rams can be dangerous.
Repeat: rams can be dangerous. There is a product available called a “ram
shield”. It is a leather piece that fit over the ram’s face so
that he can’t see straight ahead to charge. However, his vision is fine
for eating and wooing the ewes. (By the way, it works on goat bucks, too).
After one Suffolk ram kept charging me, it is standard on our rams except for
the Merinos. I’ve never had an aggressive Merino ram. Not to say it couldn’t
happen; it just hasn’t happened yet. Merinos are smaller and when the
rams fight during rut, the Merinos can take quite a beating. With the other
rams wearing shields, it helps keep the Merinos from getting clobbered. It’s
best to have a separate ram area away from the ewes once the girls are bred.
It’s just safer for the shepherd/ess during feeding and lambing time.
Hogs are not for everyone, but they are one of my favorites. They produce a
lot of meat, they are smart and easy to manage if you treat them decently,
and they can grow fat on table scraps, roots, and forage. One sow can produce
20 or more piglets in a year. That a lot of meat and useful fat (soap-making).
My experience is that colored pigs do better on pasture and forage than white
pigs. I have no idea why this is true, but it seems to be. I don’t think
the breed makes much difference, as long as the pigs aren’t white. Contrary
to the stories, pigs do not like to be dirty. However, they cannot sweat to lower
their body heat, and they must be provided with a place to cool
off. A shallow concrete “pool”, access to a creek or pond, or even
occasional hosing off will work. If pigs cannot get cooled off any other way,
then they will wallow in a mud source.
Pigs “root” (dig) almost from the minute they are born. This is
a terrific help in the fall when you want to get your garden turned over. They
are omnivores and will graze, browse, and yet still consume table scraps and
meat. Pigs are a good way to dispose of any accidental animal carcasses that
you can’t eat yourself. Pigs are extremely smart (some say smarter than
dogs). Boars can be dangerous, just like any other male, especially when he’s
chasing a female. If you see the boar slobbering (white foam), stay out of
the pen. He’s wooing a lady. We tame our pigs by hand-feeding eggs to
them. After a few days, the pigs will come when you call. I have never even
been charged by a pig, and I feel comfortable around ours. However, I never
forget that they have razor-sharp teeth and that they weigh about 600 pounds
when full grown! I never let the kids go into the hog pens unless I am standing
right there. We’ve never had a problem, but I don’t believe in
being foolish either.
Sows’ gestation is 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days. Sows will have between
8 and 15 piglets per litter. Many times, sows will have fewer “faucets” than
piglets and you’ll have to make sure every gets their fair share of food
in the beginning. Within a week, the piglets will be running everywhere and
helping themselves to whatever Mom is eating. Piglets can be weaned at one
month, but we generally leave them on until the sow weans them herself. The
nutrition they receive from the sow doesn’t cost me anything and it helps
the piglets get an excellent start.
Pigs can be butchered at about 160 pounds, which will give you about 80 pounds
of meat and 20 pounds of lard. Pigs raised on pasture have much less lard and
more lean meat. A little corn each day will help them gain weight faster, but
much of that weight gain is fat and is probably a waste of valuable resources.
One sow and one boar will keep your family fed and provide lots of meat for
trade.
As for larger stock, cattle and horses are generally what most people think
of. They have great benefits but also great draw-backs.
Cattle produce milk, meat and hides. They also have a poor feed-to-food ratio
compared to smaller stock. However, cattle can provide muscle as oxen for pulling,
farming, and carting things around. Oxen can be male or female, so even your
milk cow can be your ox in a pinch. Cows eat a lot. Figure on a milk cow eating
30 to 50 pounds of hay a day in the winter time. That’s a lot of hay
if you’re putting it up by hand. Bulls are dangerous, but necessary to
keep your cow bred (unless you can trade for the service a neighbor's bull).
It takes about a year or so to get a calf to butcher size, which means you’re
going to be feeding that calf over the winter (more hay). However, your cow
will
produce
five to eight gallons of milk a day (on average). That’s a lot of milk
for your household, for trade, or for feeding chickens and hogs. Cow milk separates
easily.
A cow’s gestation is about nine months and they will breed any month
of the year. You can continue to milk the cow up until about two months before
she calves. Cows usually have just one calf. Dairy cows produce far more milk
than beef cows, but they have less meat. A good solution is to have a dairy
cow and a beef bull. The resulting calf will have more meat at butcher time.
However, if you’re trying to raise a replacement milk cow, this won’t
work in the long run.
There are many breeds of dairy cows. Dexters are excellent dual purpose (milk/meat)
for a small group. They are little cows, about the size of a pony. They consume
half the feed of a full size cow, produce two to three gallons of milk daily
and have a beefier carcass. They dress out at about 65%. The down side is that
they are still relatively expensive ($1000 for a cow/$800 for a bull). If you
look carefully, especially in this down economy, you can probably find them
quite a bit cheaper. Dexters are docile and make excellent oxen.
Jerseys are another “homestead” favorite due to their smaller size
and high percentage of butterfat in the milk. Jerseys are 800-1,000 pounds
full grown and produce 5-to-8 gallons of milk daily. The milk is rich in butterfat
and slightly sweet. I think it’s the best milk. We have a Jersey cross
milk cow for our family’s use.
Horses are a huge help, but not necessary to survival. They consume a lot of
feed without producing any food in return. Most of the work horses do can also
be done by oxen. However, I’d rather ride a horse than an ox any day.
If you have plenty of pasture, plenty of feed and plenty of shelter during
storms, then by all means keep a couple of horses. Again, a mare or two and
a stallion keeps things sustainable.
It’s unlikely that most people would be able to keep each of these animals,
or even that they would want to. The idea is to carefully consider what you
need to supply for your family over a period of years. What livestock can you
add to your retreat planning to help insure a sustainable food supply? Other
possibilities include rabbits (meat/hides), geese (down/eggs), ducks (higher
protein eggs) or domestic turkeys. Both of the books mentioned above for farming
practices have a wealth of information for small-scale livestock production.
The other thing to consider is mobility. If you’re already living at
your retreat, adding large stock is relatively simple. If you’re going
to have to bug out, you’ll have to consider what you can take. I know
that I can put three goats, three sheep, six piglets, and 30 chickens in and
on the back of my Suburban. I know because I tried it. It took me 30 minutes
to
get
all of them safely loaded and/or crated. [JWR Adds: My #1
Son mentioned that you should have videotaped this exercise--it would be very
popular on YouTube!]
I’d
have to leave my cattle and horses if I had to bug out, but I could take enough
livestock
to
keep us
going
for the foreseeable future.
So give consideration to what you will do when your stash runs out. How will
you feed your family, your neighbors, your group if hunting is difficult or
impossible? What can you do that is sustainable and practical? Think about
what works for you in your situation. It’s easy to butcher poultry. It’s
a bit more complicated for sheep or goats, and it takes some serious planning
for a 600 pound pig!
Think ahead and be prepared.
« Economics and Investing: |Main| Letter Re: A SurvivalBlog Reader at Front Sight »
Letter Re: Successfully Trolling Craig's List
Mr. Rawles,
At the risk of turning on my local competition to the positive aspects of the
free section of Craig's
List,
I thought I would mention a few of the things I've picked up in the past
couple of weeks. These include:
A new round oak dining table and four oak chairs
Three boxes of canning jars with lids
A commercial fishing net (40' x 60'), to be used for keeping birds and other
critters out of the garden
36 Concrete cinder blocks (approximate value $130)
Remington electric chain saw (yes, it works!)
30+ wooden pallets (can be used for the usual "pallet" stuff, or
for use as firewood/kindling)
Commercial nursery went out of business; so I got more than 1,000 plastic seed
starting pots in 3 or 4 sizes (filled my pick-up to the brim).
5 Commercial toilets (out of a church - they were remodeling; two for my current
residence, and two for our retreat, plus one spare, for parts)
4 Large two-drawer cabinets
A 25 foot fifth-wheel insulated trailer for moving gear and supplies up to "der
bunker", and subsequent use for weather tight storage. (Try to get insulated
containers versus single wall, as there is almost no "sweating" inside)
The list goes on. . . .
As this current economic crisis gets worse, more and more folks are going
to be displaced, and not having the money to move their possessions they either
just
abandon
them,
or place free ads on Craig's list or elsewhere.
In addition, Craig's List is a good source for many other items at very reasonable
prices.
Keep your eyes open. On the more valuable items you have to be quick, sometimes
responding within minutes. On many items we realize as survival oriented, most
folks don't have a clue, so you might have more time.
One thought I had on the pallets for firewood/kindling is that while they are
readily available now, in the future they may be less easily found. Now they
can be cut into smaller pieces with a skill saw and/or electric chain saw,
stored in fifty-gallon plastic trash cans for next winter, or whenever you
might need them. Once TEOTWAWKI happens,
going outside to hunt firewood may not be such a good idea.
So, if you have Craig's List in your area, keep checking the free section every
now and then. There is no telling what you might find. - Chet
JWR Replies: I'm also a big believer in Craig's List. One
important note: In the long run, Craig's List only works if folks "return the
favor." Be
charitable whenever you have things in profusion--even when it is
just zucchini
squash.
« Three Letters Re: Some Thoughts on the Survival Vehicle |Main| Note from JWR: »
The 19th Century Home Retrofit, by Y. Cornelius
By now most SurvivalBlog readers have gone about your preparations for your
ideal home or retreat cabin, all storage food and tools acquired, fuel stored,
generators
ready, PV panels carefully concealed and hooked up to the battery bank. You
and your family or group are ready to handle the coming collapse, but are
you really? Are you ready to do without? Without that generator when
the fuel runs out, or a critical piece is worn out and a new one cannot be
had? At some point
your supplies will be used up, storage fuel consumed and there may not be any
to refill your tanks or more realistically you may be priced out, or it will
be too dangerous to “run-the-gauntlet” and get more. Can you manage
in your place without electricity? Can you cook with wood? Do you have space
enough to process the abundant food you grow and must preserve either by canning
or other means? Can you move throughout your buildings without being seen from
the outside?
My point, is your place set up to function as a 19th century homestead?
My wife and I bought an old New England farmhouse many years ago, it is nothing
fancy and looks like so many others in our area, it is a traditional connected
farmhouse meaning that the buildings are all linked-up, yet they have different
roof lines and are of different sizes. It is best summed up as a “Big
House,
Little House, Back House, Barn” and this is the title of a wonderful book
written by Thomas C. Hubka which details the reasons for the ways structures
developed. (If you want a leisurely read on the history of these buildings, I
highly recommend this book.) Anyway, we bought this type of farm house and have
been in the process of renovating it over many years, although the renovation
could more reasonably described as going back to the future. One of the many
wonderful things about an old house, and when I say old I mean over 150 years
old, is the ability to reuse much of the lumber in the walls, floors, and ceilings
or the masonry whether it is brick or stone, Ours is a timber frame with some
masonry on the exterior and is incredibly well built and has a brilliant house
plan. I realize that many people are not up to the task of going through this
sort of process, but you could build your current retreat or home to some of
these specs. Our home for example was built just after the War of 1812 it was
fully functional for a family of eight with room for boarders/labors and or relatives.
The kitchen is large while many of the adjacent rooms are small (less space to
heat) all the rooms are situated around two large central fireplaces and have
thimbles to allow for a small wood stove in each, the rooms can be closed off
when not in use, thus not taking valuable heat from other areas. In the basement
there is a large hole in the floor; it was a cistern, but was allowed to fill
in with junk, perhaps it was considered a “sump hole” by later inhabitants
since there was evidence of long overworked pumps in under the silt and gravel.
I have cleaned this up and now have a source of water right in the house, (this
water will still need to be treated since it is technically surface water being
only ten feet below grade), but it still offers water for cleaning or for our
animals.
There is a large “root” cellar to store food stuffs and
canned goods. (It could double as safe room or vault if needed and may well have
been at one point since the opening is nondescript and hidden from plain sight).
Also there is a summer kitchen, at first I wondered why this was necessary, it
appeared to be redundant, but further study enlightened me to the fact that this
area was a vital part the home complex. First it served to allow a large un-insulated
cook area that was necessary during the harvest time to allow heat to escape
from the constant fire in the cook stove during the canning, it was also a place
that field labors had their meals prepared and ate without having to clean themselves
up much and not dirty up the regular kitchen. The buildings between the summer
kitchen and barn (sometimes it is one long building divided only internally or
there are up to three distinct roof lines and end walls that divide them) any
how these areas were used in a variety of ways to allow a small cottage industry
to occur, in-fact these were simply work areas that were sheltered from the often
harsh and wild weather we experience. One could be for wood storage, for tools
(a sort of machine shop), or areas for processing wool from sheep. The point
is not to recreate that lifestyle but to utilize that mindset and build similar
multi-purpose structures.
Our Home:
We have “renovated” our home to fully function without electricity.
Now, we have multiple generators, a significant storage of fuels and food. I
and am currently finishing up with the PV panels and battery bank/inverter set-up,
going through all the motions to secure some sense of normalcy; but in-fact we
do
not “need” those items to exist here, they are an extra. We can heat
with wood and with a solar hot water system connected to baseboard radiators
as well as a copper coil running through the wood fired furnace [for when there
is not solar gain or during a heavy snowfall]. (The hot water moves via thermo-siphon
no electricity needed only check-valves to keep the hot water moving in one direction).
Our kitchen is “modern” but if the power is out we can cook on our
wood fired cook-stove, it is about 120 years old and with a little “TLC” is
now fully functional not to mention beautiful to look at. We can also bake in
a bee hive oven built into the massive central chimney which I rebuilt and lined
with modern flues. I left one of the original fireplaces, installed airtight
doors and an exterior air vent, while on the other side made the other fireplace
into a large wood storage container.
Overall, your retreat needs to be functional without electricity, things will
eventually break, or you simply run out. Focus upon knowing how to live your
life with little to no electricity or “conveniences”. The primary
goals must be on heating your home and preparing food without petrochemical
fuels, most modern homes are particularly horrible in this area. Change your
mindset; you cannot store enough for the really long haul.
« Letter Re: Private Gated Communities May Not be Gated After All |Main| Notes from JWR: »
Life's Lessons and the Foundations of Preparedness, by A.B.
We may soon depend on all of what we have learned over the years. Putting
all of the threads of knowledge together into a tapestry of self-sufficiency,
and survival capabilities, is part of the lifelong quest for our family’s
security. We learn from many sources and experiences such as: family, church,
friends, teachers, teammates, co-workers, reading books and SurvivalBlog, and
hopefully from our mistakes.
Preparedness Skills from our Grandmas and Grandpas
The foundation for preparedness begins with my childhood in Michigan. We
lived in Lansing where my great-grandmother was next door and my grandmother
lived
next door to her. My father was born in great-grandma’s house after
the family moved to the city during the early 1900s. My sisters and I spent
weekends and summers alternately at my mom’s family dairy farm, which
was just outside of the city, and at my dad’s family cabin “up
north”. These were the richest times of my life. We knew all of our
grandparents and some of our great-grandparents very well. My great-great-grandfather
still
lived in the old log cabin when I was born in 1956. We have been fortunate
to have had five generations alive consistently from then until now. The
wealth of love and knowledge you gain from your extended family is irreplaceable.
The “old timers” told stories of hardship during the great depression
and the dust bowl era (we live an area that was the largest prairie east
of the Mississippi.) Memories of crop failures with tales of early and late
frosts
were passed down. There were also hunting and fishing stories passed down
as we learned to hunt and fish with older family members. There were bigger
than
life lumberjack stories and stories from Prohibition and the World Wars.
I learned to safely handle and accurately shoot a .22 rifle with peep sights
when I was six or seven years old. I walked the roads with my grandpa squirrel
hunting. We ice fished on local lakes and went to Tip-Up
Town USA every year.
All
of
this adds to ones persona and the early experience helps awaken the necessary “survivalist” traits.
On a working dairy farm you rapidly learn about life (and death). Animal
husbandry and caring for the land lead to sustainability. Animals do become
food and
harvesting the crops sometimes seems little reward for the hard work. The
milking must be done every day and chores do not wait. As a kid I learned
to drive
tractors and pick-ups to and from the fields. We mowed, bailed and then stacked
the hay in the mow. Alfalfa, oats and corn were the field crops. Pigs, chickens,
and sheep were raised along with the dairy cows and we cleaned the barns
and spread manure.
Knowledge is passed down from generation to generation such as when to plant,
where to plant, when to harvest, and how to raise the animals. There were
many topics of conversations at the Sunday breakfast table. Many things are
debated
and discussed after chores and before Church. Most times the conversations
continued outside the Church after the sermon. It was the only time you saw
the other farmers. When you are a little guy you tended to be quiet, pay
attention and learn.
Grandpa was a farmer and Grandma was a one room school teacher. Grandma also
taught vacation bible school during the summer break. Us kids learned how
to tend good gardens and helped preserve the food we raised. We took care
of the
barn animals while the uncles milked. We hauled water to the bull pen and
helped milk as we got older. Survival skill sets from the farm come from
being part
of a close knit community with a solid work ethic. There are strong religious
underpinnings with good people engaged in caring for one another as well
as the animals and the land.
Preparedness from "Roughing It”
The log cabin “up north” had a well-house for getting water and
an outhouse for getting rid of water. There was a wood fired cook stove for
heat and kerosene lamps to play cards under. There was a red checkered oilcloth
on the table with cane chairs around it. The place was originally homesteaded
by my great-great-grandfather in the late 1800s (a few electric lights
were added at some point.) We used to go up on Friday night after Dad or
Grandpa got out of work. The next morning started with an awakening trip to
the outhouse
and then fetching a bucket of water from the well house and kindling for
the wood stove. On a cold morning you stepped lively until the fire was going.
Once the stove was hot, Grandma would cook buttermilk pancakes on a griddle
that my great-grandmother had used in the lumber camp. Eggs and bacon sizzled
in a cast iron skillet. Clothes were washed on a washboard in a wash tub and
then
hung
out to dry. You took a bath in the river. During the summer we would fish
morning and evening and water ski on the nice days. The family summer vacation
was
spent camping in a tent along the river or at a state park. The old cabin
was also used for small game hunting in the early fall and deer camp in the
late
fall / winter. We would take walks in the woods and look for morels and other
edible things like may apples, hickory nuts or raspberries and huckleberries.
Animal tracks were learned and followed with hopes of a glimpse. Life was
considered sacred unless needed for food and being a part of nature became
obvious. A
leave no trace and waste nothing ethic was being born.
Opportunities for further wilderness and pioneering skill development were
provided by Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. My mom and dad were actively involved
in Scouting when I was growing up. Teamwork and sharing responsibilities
for the group were learned. Outdoor cooking and keeping things sanitary were
heavily
emphasized. Food poisoning is no joke – we had one patrol that damn near
killed us with their meal. We learned to wash our hands and boil the crap out
of everything. Hiking and backpacking skills were beginning to be developed
in the Scouts. We day hiked a 20 miler once a year on the Johnny Appleseed
Trail - the Scouts version of the death march. You had to carry a full pack
if you wanted the patch. We also hiked the Pokagon Trail in northern Indiana
and learned to camp in the winter.
While living in Pennsylvania (later in life) I started winter backpacking with
a few of my buddies. We went in the winter both for the solitude it offered,
and
to learn the special skill sets required for survival in the cold. There
are beautiful views from Seven Springs and other spots along the Laurel Highlands
Trail during the winter. This experience then led to the development of technical
mountaineering skills. The books Basic Rockcraft, Advanced Rockcraft and
Knots
for Climbers were memorized along with study of the book Mountaineering:
The Freedom of the Hills. Skills were practiced and ingrained.
My first solo backpacking / climbing trip came in the summer of 1980 in the
Organ Mountains of southern New Mexico. I later solo climbed most of the
4,000 and 5,000
footers in New England (many in winter). I met a like minded climber on one
of those hikes and we made a summit bid on Mt. Rainier in June of 1998. I
also began
the solo circumnavigation on the Wonderland Trail that year. I set the first
tracks both that year and when I completed the circuit in June of 2001. Map
and compass skills were required. Primitive camping
while carrying everything you
need to survive for two weeks is a tough proposition. It was tough in my 30s
and 40s. It’s even harder now that I am in my 50s. G.O.O.D. to
the deep woods is doable but it would be a hard life.
Responsibility and Teamwork
We learned to be responsible and self-sufficient during our childhood. We learned
to play without other kids around and had chores to do for our allowance. I
learned to gather the wood and light a fire as soon as I was old enough. You
pumped the
water and filled the reservoir if you wanted warm water for washing up. You
learned to use guns and knives as tools while you learned hunting techniques
and cleaned
the game for the table. Being a responsible hunter meant taking ethical shots
and using what you kill. Catching and cleaning fish, then cooking or smoking
them were all part of being a good fisherman. To go along with these survival
skills you also need the ability to share knowledge and work as a team.
Most of the skills you learn will help you to fend for yourself one way or
another. The only problem is summed up with the statement “no man is an island”.
You will need others sooner or later. My sisters and I developed basic teamwork
skills while setting up camp. The girls helped mom and I helped dad. We had a “system”.
This was carried further in Scouting. Some Patrols set up tents while another
set up the kitchen. These valuable lessons were used later in life as I went
through boot camp and during service in the military. I served on small boats
as part of a search and rescue team in the USCG.
Teamwork helps to overcome the steep learning curve and high risk of being
a self-sufficient survivalist. You can do things as a team exponentially quicker
and safer than you can by yourself. Your bunkmate becomes your partner in boot
camp and later becomes your shipmate. You learn “one hand for yourself
and one hand for the boat”. As a team you can survive what would kill you
alone. In a bad storm someone has to steer while someone bails out the boat.
One person couldn’t do it. Avalanche in the back country is another perfect
example - by yourself you are probably dead. Doing things alone is great - but
it may cost you your life. Skill and knowledge can’t cover your a** like
a buddy. It’s nice to have someone else on the rope with you; they are
your only hope.
Teaching everyone at least something you know and learning from everyone something
you don’t know can only make the group stronger. If someone gets sick
or is tired someone else can step up. CPR is
a good example here. In the back country one person can’t help himself.
One person helping may bring back the life but it better happen quickly. Two
people allow you to send someone for
help while
rendering aid until you are too tired to continue. Three people allow almost
indefinite support. Two can alternate CPR while waiting for the one who left
for help to return with the defibrillator. If help is real far away, then it’s
done. There is a point of no return. Remote locations usually cross that point
which is a distinct disadvantage (unless the SHTF).
Without teamwork you will usually die if something bad happens. Everyone has
to be a good shot. Everyone needs to be able to render first aid. The group
is only as strong as the weakest link and precious resources are spent covering
someone’s a** that’s not up to speed. Teach and learn and cross train.
Remember what you did as a kid and don’t sell the kid’s of today
short. Teach them the skills they need and allow them to grow into the responsibility.
Being part of a team or extended family that functions like a team is fun. The
action of being responsible for one another is at the root of any team.
The
Prepared Family
The family is the primary source of knowledge. Some survival skills to learn
right along with reading, writing and arithmetic are: swimming, knot tying,
fire building under all conditions, where to get water and how to make it safe
to
drink, safe gun handling and accurate shooting, hunting in fields and the woods,
fishing in rivers and on lakes, first aid, camping, boating, gardening, making
things “homemade”. You can’t start learning or teaching these
things too soon.
10 years ago we moved back home to Michigan after living all over the USA.
I had come home for my Grandpa’s funeral and was returning to New England.
Something was wrong and I couldn’t put my finger on it. That’s when
the light came on and as I drove it became apparent that I was going the wrong
way – both figuratively and literally. We were chasing the so called “American
Dream”. Losing my grandfather and returning to the north woods had shown
me where home really is. It is with family and God and where your roots are.
I had drifted away from the true values I had learned early in life.
I resigned my position, cashed out the 401(k), and bought the homestead from
grandma. We planted 24 fruit trees and installed irrigation systems for the
gardens. We
pruned the grape vines back and tended to the asparagus beds. My wife renewed
the old flower beds and I have replaced the split rail fence. We re-roofed
everything. The folks put down another well up the field and had another septic
system installed
for their travel trailer. We had a 100 amp power drop installed and we also
buried a power cable from the field to the trailer for a 12 volt system (small
scale
solar and wind).
I once again could use guns after living in the tyranny of Massachusetts. (I
refused to get an Firearms ID card so my guns never left the house in 16 years.)
I taught a niece
and nephew to shoot with the same .22 that grandpa used to teach me with almost
50 years ago. My nephew, now an 8th grader, got his first deer this past year.
No one believed him when he came home and told them. He did it on his own.
Things have now come full circle in our life. My grandma lives with us in her
old house through the summer. My sisters are both Grandmas themselves now and
they are taking care of our mom and dad. The kids have great-grandparents and
a great-great grandmother. My understanding wife of thirty years and I live
here on the homestead as stewards of the family heritage. The whole family
gets together
up here once or twice a year. We know how to provide for and take care of each
other. If the SHTF my sisters and the rest of the family will head up here
to the homestead and once again adopt the ways of our Great-Great Grandpa and
Grandma.
Everything we have learned through our lives will serve us well. Skill sets
from the north woods and from the farm are derived from living simple, living
manual
and living with nature as part of nature.
We used to fall to sleep on a feather tick mattress while listening to rain
tapping over our heads in the loft of the old log cabin. Bedtime stories were
told as
we drifted to sleep and the whippoorwills sang into the night. We didn’t
think that the day would come that just about all of what we learned from our
family and from our life would come into play. Thank God for our tight family
and all of the distilled knowledge passed down to us. I now live in a home
built over the site of the original log cabin and now we have 7 generations
since my
great-great grandparents first cleared this piece of land. It looks like we
will be talking of another “Great Depression” soon and the complete
cycle renews. Do we learn from our mistakes?
Preparedness Skills and Materials
We’re preparing for the future and I hope to teach what I can to as many
people as I can before it’s over. We can survive well if we draw on one
another’s strengths and knowledge. It starts with the family and moves
out to the extended family then to the neighbors and on to town folk and into
the blogosphere. Many people have grown up in similar circumstances and have
similar experiences. We must practice our learned skills and trades all of
the time to stay fresh and perpetuate our way of life. We must keep acquiring
new
skills and more materials for survival. Preparedness is a constant quest.
Survival trades that I've learned:
ASE Certified Master Auto Technician
Journeyman Machinist and Apprentice Welder.
Experience with all aspects of house construction from framing to finish work,
including house wiring and plumbing for water, gas and DWV systems.
Professional ditch digger and home brewer of beer.
Survival tools, equipment, and material acquired over the years:
Comprehensive set of Snap-On hand tools, diagnostic equipment and garage.
Several redundant computers and complete wi-fi coverage with satellite internet.
All of the carpentry, plumbing and electrical tools needed to build a house.
All of the tools required to garden both manually and with gas engines.
Fence building tools and supplies.
5,500 watt gas generator.
Wood stove and saws, axes, mauls, wedges.
Stores of food, bits of gold and silver, books and manuals, and lots of lead.
Survival firearms battery:
Auto-Ordinance Model 1911A1 .45 ACP (I qualified Marksman in USCG)
Stag Arms AR-15 with 20” Bull barrel, 5.56 (I qualified Expert in USCG)
Marlin .22 WMR (squirrel / varmint gun)
Mossberg .22 LR (shot this since 1962)
Ruger M77 Mk II .270 Win. (my deer rifle)
Winchester Model 94 .32 Win. Special (got my first deer with Grandpa’s
gun)
Mossberg 12 ga. 3 -1/2” Ulti-Mag in Camo (turkey / duck / goose gun)
Winchester Model 1897 12 ga. 2-3/4” (I've shot this gun since 1969)
Reloading equipment and supplies (loads for Barnes Bullets)
Survival Quest 2009 (the final pieces I'll need for grid down and
"zombies"):
Ruger M77 Mk II .300 Win Mag with optics
A manual water pump (the old pump is
gone)
Wind turbine and photovoltaic panels for water pumping and power generation.
Battery bank and inverter
More kerosene lamps
Night Vision for the AR-15
Radios
« Letter Re: The Value of Sprouting |Main| Note from JWR: »
Three Letters Re: Hunkering Down or Storing Gear in a Commercial Building
Hello Jim:
After doing Industrial Security in some of the roughest English Industrial
Towns, we found that "moating" vulnerable doors and walls against
heavy equipment traffic was a great help in preventing the equipment from
prizing open doors, or more simply being run backwards through the doors
and walls. The floors at the man doors and protected vehicle doors had a
two foot deep by three-to-four foot wide ditch dug and a light weight (two
inch
in many cases)
concrete topping poured over an infill of mostly styrofoam bead.
When we needed to bridge in with heavy gear we used overlaying steel [trenching]
plates to spread the load, but if a forklift ventured on the spot-loading would
break
through and the lift would go down.
Our inspiration was a rural 19th century US Postal Service post office construction
technique of having a small concrete island under the floor safe, surrounded
by flooring & joists
purposely sized too lightly for the safe to be dragged away - the safe would
fall 10
feet into the cellar if rolled off of the concrete island. 73s, - Steve W
Mr. Rawles;
I enjoyed reading tonight about the prospect of "hunkering
down in a commercial building". We have two warehouses and actually live
in one of them! No one has any idea,
either! You cannot tell from looking at them. They are located on
a short dead end street, so there is no traffic to speak of. There is land
between the two buildings that I will begin to garden this spring. I would love to
be on 20 acres somewhere way out of town, but this is where we are now. It
is convenient and close to everything that we do. We also have a location out
of town on several acres to go to when the Schumer Hits the Fan. Sincerely,
- Mrs. Downtown
Mr. Rawles,
Just wanted to point out that if you follow this gentleman's advice in regards
to this line: "If outdoor growth is not a viable option, try indoor crop
growth with lamps, skylights, or mirrors. As growing things indoors can be
difficult at first,
it may be good to practice this well in advance of the need to do it for your
life."
That, I am fairly certain that if you have a moderately clandestine location
with a large indoor growing operation you are at way more risk for a [police]
SWAT raid
than of TEOTWAWKI
in the (very) near future. If the feds find a bunch of grow lights etc. (and
especially if they are associated with stockpiles of food, weapons,
and preparedness supplies) there is no way they wouldn't prosecute for a drug
crime, confiscate all money and goods (they don't even need to prosecute to
keep it -- you have to prove it wasn't drug money). Even if no illegal drugs
are found
the lights and equipment are considered "drug paraphernalia" for
the purposes of prosecution. That could be tough to explain. - Bill B.
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Letter Re: The Value of Sprouting
Mr. Rawles,
In addition to seeds for a garden, anyone can produce fresh healthy
and extremely nutritious sprouts on a kitchen counter with nothing more than
a
couple of
plastic ice-cream containers. They can provide a real respite from canned
veggies while you're waiting for the crops to mature and year-round fresh greens.
I
sprout the common mung beans (think Chinese cooking) but I also do lentils,
various peas and beans and (if I could get it) I would do alfalfa and clover.
You can also make a respectable salad in your kitchen with a tray of mesclun
seeds, grown to a few inches high. Peas, any variety, will produce a delicious
green in a few days in a sprout tray. You can get a lot of information and
supplies from Sprout People or you can just buy regular seeds
and beans from the supermarket or seed supply store. I did 'em years before
I even considered how they might supplement a 'survival kitchen' for the
fun and goodness of it! - Lisa in Panama.
JWR Replies: Sprouting is indeed a great way to provide essential
vitamins. Ounce for ounce, sprouting seeds are the most nutritious
and space and weight efficient form of storage food! Sprouting seeds and sprouting
kits (with trays) are
available from a variety of Internet
vendors,
including
some
SurvivalBlog
advertisers such as Ready
Made Resources, Nitro-Pak,
and Lehman's
.
Also, don't miss this
letter on sprouting wheat grass, in the SurvivalBlog archives.
« Two Letters Re: Aids to Mapping Your G.O.O.D. Routes |Main| Note from JWR: »
Herbal Cures at Your Doorstep, by Organic Cathy
"Health care" in America - while having "evolved" - leaves
much to be desired i.e. cost, effectiveness, government restrictions of natural
medicines, deaths caused form "modern" medicine, control and pharmaceutical
greed to name just a few. in the blaring light of reality of today's coming
collapse even simple health care will be challenging to say the lease.
While I am not formally trained in herbal medicine, I do have some medical background
and twenty plus years of growing and using herbs and more recently delving into
wild herbs. TEOTWAWKI will change the availability of "home health care" from
government regulated pharmaceutical based approached to real home health care
where individuals - especially those in remote areas - will need to rely on what
is at hand.
I hesitate to even approach this subject, as it is vast, involved, time consuming
and can be very overwhelming. On the other hand, knowledge of hers is powerful
and very useful in survival situations.
History show that American Indians were knowledgeable in plant medicines, including
a spiritual link. That, backed up by the medicine woman or man with extensive
training passed on from one generation to the next.
The colonists - especially housewives - were responsible for their family's health
and well being. Many medicines were grown in the kitchen gardens. The medicines
that couldn't be grown were purchased at apothecaries that carried items imported
by ship. This entailed a dangerous and lengthy trip to the nearest outpost. When
doctors made house calls he expected basic herbs to be on hand provided by the
household.
When the SHTF many
will be on their own. Medication supplies - any and all - will most likely be
disrupted along with everything else. While I have a small
supply of basic meds (over-the-counter pain/.fever medication, cold, and diarrhea
etc) I've chosen to focus on what I can use from nature in my local area: wild
herbs,
plants,
trees as well as growing my own. As mentioned above limited supply and what I
have on hand will eventually expire or will run out. Also important besides growing
my own medicine is the knowledge of what grows wild in my zone will allow me
to wild harvest a variety of medicinal plants in the event of evacuating my home.
I consider it my mental G.O.O.D. kit.
Knowledge literally weighs nothing on my back but can mean everything in survival
situations.
So, having said all that, What to do? Medicinal plant knowledge IS overwhelming!
But don't let fear take up valuable energy. Start with the basics. There are
a number of excellent resource books out there (a list will follow). Build a
library of your own. Create your own resource book: three ring binder or notebook.
If (as is the case with most of us) money is tight, go to the library and take
out books on home remedies, wild herbs in your areas as well as medicinal plants
(trees, shrubs, berries etc.) and take lots and lots of notes. Search the internet
for free articles, videos, and any other information to be found on medicinal
plants. There is a wealth of information out there. Talk to those knowledgeable
in herbs - most local fairs have booths of homemade herbal products - talk with
these people - have specific questions to ask as usually they are very busy with
ten more people waiting to do the same thing. Do you know family,friends, relatives,
neighbors who grow and/or use their own herbs? Visit nurseries that sell herbs
and speak with staff there, this is what they do for a living.
Join together with friends who share this interest and take turns attending different
workshops. Share the information. This works well in regards to books, CDs,and
so on to keep the cost down. Take a botany class, join the Audubon or Sierra
Clubs, subscribe to herbal magazines, check out your local extension office -
there is a vast amount of resources for little or no cost, look for fliers (
I am notorious for picking up these at fairs, farmers markets, nurseries, health
food stores, agricultural shows and on and on). Newspaper articles, magazines,
television shows, and documentaries are also information sources. The point is
there
is
information
everywhere
if
you
pay attention!
Start your own herb garden. I've grown/started many over the years due to multiple
moves. Last year after unearthing an incredibly beautiful rock pile I transformed
it into an herb center. It is relatively small but individual "pockets" allowed
me to plant all kinds of different herbs! (Side note: many herbs are invasive
so be mindful where and how these are planted - know growing information for
each plant you want to grow). Some herbs can take years to become established
and usable for medicine, so start now.
Nature walks. Begin now educating yourself on what grows in your area; learn
the habitat and growing cycle. Throughout the year I'm constantly looking at
plants that grow in my area - what it looks like in the spring all the way to
maturity and harvesting. Even in the winter as some plants are still visible
above the snow and I take note of its location so that I can return during the
growing season. Understand how these plants grow and spread, so as not to annihilate
its growth cycle when harvesting. Many wild plants are extinct or on the verge
due to over harvesting. Take note of the location of the plants you find and
its abundance. One of the biggest challenges is plant identification! Be
absolutely
certain you know the plant before harvesting!
All inclusive books with good pictures, drawings, uses, preparation etc. is hard
to come by. That is not to say there aren't good ones out there you just may
need more than one reference guide. Again talk with knowledgeable people. I personally
learn better from being shown than reading. When I discover or am shown a new
plant I do extensive research to make sure it is exactly what I think it is.
The Google image search is great in this area because numerous pictures are available
all in one place.
Once you are confident of what a plant looks like, where it grows, how it grows
(wild/cultivated/both), its uses, administration (teas, tinctures, poultices
etc), side effects, interactions with other herbs and/or pharmaceutical medications
and any allergies associated with the plant move on to the next one. (You do
not have memorize this information but have it available for reference either
in your resource book or library.) For example, one of my favorite herbs is Echinacea
(boost your immune system). I have used it for years but last year was the first
time I've tried growing it. Another favorite is chamomile (helps with digestion
and sleep) - easy to grow and use.
This past summer I studied my lawn! There are many "weeds" that grow
naturally and have multiple uses. For example common plantain: rub the leaf on
bug bites to relieve the itch, apply to burns and can be used a a diuretic just
to name a few of its uses. If you are looking for a specific remedy, see if the
plant(s) grow in your area and start looking! Last year my son got into poison
ivy which resulted in quite a rash. A local man was selling an once of sweet
fern for $12.00! It grows naturally in my area. Being a tightwad I researched
what it looked like and its habitat and set out hunting for it. I finally located
it, harvested some, prepared it and it worked wonderfully with no side effects.[JWR
Adds: It goes without saying, but for liability reasons, I must remind
readers that using
your
lawn
as
a
source
for
medicinal
herbs
or
salad greens is an option only if you use no chemical
fertilizers, pesticides,
or weed
killers.]
This can and is time intensive but well worth the effort. The best way to approach
it that I have found is to incorporate it into my daily life. No matter where
I was or what I was doing outside I constantly scoped0ed out the surrounding
plants. At night I would search the internet and/or my books to identify the
plants. The sweet fern for example, and wild blueberries, both of which grow
in the wild locally. Knowing what sweet fern looks like and the type of area
where it grows allowed me to locate it easily which happened to be in the same
vicinity as the blueberries! Can you say multitasking? I also discovered this
winter while reading a "weed" book that one of the "weeds" that
all but consumed my garden, one that we tirelessly ripped up, is a wild edible
plant! Another popular "wee" of our garden turned out to have medicinal
properties.
I by no means have extensive leisure time to devote to medicinal plants. Last
year we had a huge garden with over twenty-five different varieties growing which
I canned, froze, ate and gave away, picked wild and cultivated blueberries, strawberries,
apples, (making jellies, applesauce, and freezing) and what my garden didn't
produce, I purchased form local farmers markets. My significant other built a
sizable three room addition that was completed in about tow and half months.
We picked, cleaned, froze and pickled fiddleheads. I mention this only to help
others be aware of what can be accomplished when you set your mind to it. As
survival focused individuals, we are all busy! Things are going to be busier
as the economic crisis gathers speed and we tirelessly work to prepare. I did
sit down and endlessly study I plug away at it whenever time allows - even during
the winter months. It does not matter how much you know or don't know. Start
where you are at, keep it simple, be consistent (even if it means consistently
inconsistent!). If you learn only one plant a month that is twelve in a year's
time and that is significant! BTW, if you have specific health issues tailor
your
research to plants that address them. Often insurance companies do not allow
you to refill prescriptions before your supply is down to less than a one week
supply.
So
get going, good luck, and God bless!
PS: If you have insurance, now is the time to take care of your ignored health
issues, as it will be much more difficult and expensive after the SHTF.
Starter list of books: (These are just a few suggestions to start with. You
can design your library to fit your needs)
A Field Guide To Medicinal Plants and Herbs - (for your region) from
the Peterson Field Guide Series
Tom Brown's Field Guide - Wilderness Survival by Tom Brown
Back To Eden by Jethro Kloss
The Complete Guide to Herbal Medicines by Charles W. Fetrow and Juan R. Avila
The Herb Book by John B. Lust
A field guide to weeds in your area. [Ask your USDA Agricultural
Extension Office Agent. They often have free reprints and fact sheets on weeds
available]
Herbs you can start with: (The information that follows the herbs is
very brief and general. Be sure to do your own detailed research)
Aloe: Vera -- Easy to grow/maintain houseplant; a must for every household
- burns
Cayenne: powder -- Gel cap or spice bottle; bleeding (internally and externally),
shock
Comfrey -- plant/salve for wounds, cuts, scrapes
Goldenseal -- Supplement/salve, fighting infection
Echinacea purpea (Purple Cone Flower) -- Boosts immune system
Peppermint -- Stomach ailments
White Willow Bark -- Same active ingredient as aspirin
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Letter Re: Learning Beekeeping is Worthwhile for Self-Sufficiency
Hi Jim -
I am a beekeeper and would recommend your readers look into the option of keeping
bees. Honey bees produce food that stores without excessive processing (it
has two things to fight spoilage, a natural antibiotic and the sugar concentration
is so high it won't support bacterial growth). I use the conventional Langstroth
bee boxes but a person desiring to use the bees for home or farm could benefit
by using the inexpensive top
bar hive method. The top bar hive produces
comb honey and the wax makes great candles. Top bar hives are not migratory
in nature so they are best suited for permanent
installation. Bees have predators and skunks won't bother your bees if you
get the bee box off the ground and up on a stand. The stand will allow you
to
work the bees without bending over. When working the bees you must smoke
them a little to calm them down and choose a mild day. There is not enough
room or time here to get into the details of the hobby of bee keeping but
with the Internet and perhaps a local beekeeper for a mentor, you too can
enjoy
the
science
and
art of beekeeping. Regards, - Uniform Delta
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Letter Re: Some Preparedness Lessons Learned
James,
The need for usable skills in tough times, goes without need for embellishment.
The grand question is: which skills are the most valuable? In any situation
the basic needs are obvious – food, shelter, and clothing. Choosing what
I would concentrate on learning, became predicated on what I could do, and
what the community could provide in stressful times.
I moved some time ago from the gulf coast to Tennessee to retire and begin
preparing for the coming events. I moved into a community which is pretty much
self sufficient, mostly by religious choice. Livestock husbandry ranges from
cattle (mostly for milk), goats to chickens, hogs and horses.
I began to raise goats several years ago, starting with Boer cross. After several
discussions I have crossed them with a strain of milk goat to reduce the size
(and therefore the quantity of meat to be preserved) and gain the benefit of
milk products. I researched the process of cheese making and using products initially
supplied from New England Cheese Makers, learned the processes. It was very interesting
to discover that the rennin (for assisting in cheese making) actually comes from
the stomach of ruminators, another by product of the goats.
Preserving meats became my next concern. When talking to many folks, they believe
that they will just run out and kill fresh meat when needed. Not only will the
game be decimated in no time, but without a method of preservation it is wasteful.
Preferred methods around here are smoking, honey and salt boxes for curing and
preserving. The use of honey as a preservative turns out to be one of the very
best. Honey has a natural bacteria inhibitor, and curing smoked meats in honey
just makes life better. This in turn has determined the need for bees – My
neighbor already has a couple of hives which produces enough for now. The use
of honey reduces the dependence on obtaining sources of salt. In addition they
are many maple trees in the area which folks tap during the winter and early
spring. Many families have ponds a raise fish, which are canned by cold packing
or salting and drying.
Having fresh water is a paramount concern. Even with a spring the water quality
can change with the amount of rain causing algae blooms. These can range for
digestive distress to just foul taste. The stream water cannot be used without
treatment, as we have otters, beavers, coyote, foxes, and a whole range of other
critters, so amoeba type problems are probable. Boiling water is the surest,
but is often not the most practical. Any numbers of excellent water filters are
available, but the Big Berky is the most popular here. In any case the water
has to be pre-filtered to remove organic matter. This can be done by straining
through
a clean cloth, then passing through/over a disinfecting agent such as a silver
compound, or the addition of non-detergent bleach. The next best is a cistern
collecting rain fall, but even this can have issues as it tends to clean smoke
dust and pollen from the air on its way down.
As for the vegetable gardens the goats do help with the fertilizer which is composted
and added to the garden. The area I live in is pretty much a “rock farm” so
there is a constant need to remove the rocks from the garden areas and add in
soil from the hills behind us. This soil is usually pretty acidic with all of
the hardwood trees. Most folks use lime from the feed stores – haven’t
found a good substitute yet.
Clothing is one of the details that I have struggled with. The ability to produce
cloth is beyond most of us. Wool makes for great outer wear, but lousy underwear.
Goat hair can be made into quite durable garments, somewhat at the expense of
comfort. We have chose to use GI surplus wool socks, sweaters, BDUs
(because they are very durable) and purchase and store long and regular underwear.
We
do have a real cobbler in the community that does make very nice shoes/boots,
but I still have a back up pair. Many women here weave or quilt (using discarded
clothing as well as new cloth). I do keep some “unisex” clothing
on hand for whomever – mostly in the form of overalls. They are fairly
cheap and commonly worn in the area, and during the cold weather are an additional
layer. We have had most days at or below freezing and night down to zero. I have
looked into tanning leather – it is a noxious process and can be done.
I am choosing to have the hides tanned while I still can and store them against
the future need as clothing.
Our cabin is solid cedar timbers, and smells great! The downside is that there
is a constant need to stay on top of the chinking and calking, to reduce drafts – I’ve
used 22 tubes already this winter. We thought that pellet stove would be a great
idea – wrong. First it requires electricity. With the
power out you have to fire up the generator which is noisy and uses expensive
fuel. Second the stove
can burn corn or compressed hardwood pellets. Corn is food or the animals and
us, and tough enough to grow enough as is. Besides using the corn leaves the
odor of burned popcorn as exhaust. Compressed wood pellets are used on an average
of 80# per day at a cost of ~$9.00 / day. Pulling the stove this spring and going
to a straight quality wood burning stove that can be used to cook on. To back
up a wood burning stove an axe, buck saw, splitting wedges or a maul, and or
chain saw are required based on how much free time you can devote to it. Setting
aside wood requires a year round effort to keep from killing yourself. Although
we have electricity I do have a pitcher pump ready to install in the event it
is needed. And have simple kerosene lanterns for light. I prefer the straight
wick models, as the mantels have become very had to come by recently.
Health concerns in rural living also means, that you have to have a working knowledge
of first aid and basic medicine. The Red Cross has good courses on first aid
and the older Boy Scout manuals give an acceptable knowledge as well. Around
here there is a good deal of herbal medicine practiced. This is good for preventive
and minor issues. I have chosen to invest in some older college texts on anatomy,
physiology, and pharmacology, and a physician’s desk reference. These books
help in diagnosing, but will be of minimal help if/when the main line drugs are
not available. They are great for showing how to stitch and bandage wounds more
severe than the first aid books cover. We keep a well stocked medicine chest
with off the shelf medicines, and rotate them as needed. As we find local remedies
that are effective, we also include them (i.e. willow bark tea as a substitute
for aspirin).
I have learned rudimentary blacksmith skills, and collected some of the tools
as well as books on the subject. I can fashion horseshoes, wheel rims, forge
weld, make cut nails and a few other tasks as required. There are many better
skilled in this community and it will be more time efficient to trade/buy their
services.
I have a full time gunsmithing business which has been sorely needed in this
area – seems like everyone has one that they need fixed. So much for a
retirement business….
The acquisition of books, and how to reading material can spell the difference
between existence and some degree of comfort. In addition it is my considered
opinion the education of young people is severely unbalanced. The possession
of text books, classics, and recreational reading allows one to educate children
when contact is limited. The community has a long history of home schooling.
These kids routinely pass the high school exit exams (same tests as the state
requires for graduation) with higher scores, and at an earlier age. Most parents
seek out folks whom are well versed to teach the children. Oh yea, one by product
is that the kids are very respectful, and thoughtful.
In conclusion I thought that preparation for tougher times meant more beans,
bullets, and bullion. As it turns out, the retraining of my mind and attitudes
has presented the larger challenge. Understanding how you store food, is nearly
as important as what you store. What you can make is as important as what you
can do without (toilet paper?) Knowing that one person cannot do all that is
required, only means that you learn the skills to assist your community which
will supplement everyone’s survival/ quality of life. I thought that being
retired would allow me to kick back and enjoy some good libations. It has turned
out to be the greatest learning curve of my life – and I love it. Jim’s
preparedness course is a great place to start. But the real preparedness is in
the doing! - Dennis S.
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Depression Proof Jobs for a 20 Year Depression - Part 2: Developing a Home-Based Business
Yesterday, in Part1, I discussed the "safe" and counter-cyclical occupations
for the unfolding economic depression. Today, I'd like to talk about one specific
approach:
self-employment
with a home-based business.
I posted most the following back in late 2005, but there are some important
points that are worth repeating:
The majority of SurvivalBlog readers that I talk with tell
me that they live in cities or suburbs, but they would like to live full
time at a retreat in a rural area. Their complaint is almost always the same: "...but
I'm not self-employed. I can't afford to live in the country because I can't
find work there, and the nature of my work doesn't allow telecommuting." They
feel stuck.
Over the years I've seen lots of people "pull the plug" and
move to the boonies with the hope that they'll find local work once
they get there. That usually doesn't work. Folks soon find that the most
rural jobs typically pay little more than minimum wage and they are often
informally
reserved for folks that were born and raised in the area. (Newcomers from
the big city certainly don't have hiring priority!)
My suggestion is to start a second income stream, with a
home-based business. Once you have that business started, then
start another one. There are numerous advantages to this
approach, namely:
You can get out of debt
You can generally build the businesses up gradually, so
that you don't need to quit your current occupation immediately
By working at home you will have the time to home school your children and
they will learn about how to operate a business.
You can live at your retreat full time. This will contribute to your self-sufficiency,
since you will be there to tend to your garden, fruit/nut trees, and livestock.
If one of your home-based businesses fails, then you can fall back on the
other.
Ideally, for someone that is preparedness-minded, a home-based business should
be something that is virtually recession proof, or possibly even depression
proof. Ask yourself: What are you good at? What knowledge or skills
do you have that you can utilize. Next, consider which businesses will flourish
during bad times. Some good examples might include:
Mail order/Internet sales/eBay Auctioning of preparedness-related products.
Locksmithing
Gunsmithing
Medical Transcription
Accounting
Repair/refurbishment businesses
Freelance writing
Blogging (with paid advertising) If you have knowledge about a niche industry
and there is currently no authoritative blog on the subject, then start your
own!
Mail order/Internet sales of entertainment items. (When times get bad, people
still set aside a sizable percentage of their income for "escape" from
their troubles. For example, video rental shops have done remarkably well
during recessions.)
Burglar Alarm Installation
Other home-based businesses that seem to do well only in
good economic times include:
Recruiting/Temporary Placement
Fine arts, crafts, and jewelry. Creating and marketing your own designs--not "assembly" for
some scammer. (See below.)
Mail order/Internet sales/eBay Auctions of luxury items, collectibles, or
other "discretionary spending" items
Personalized stationary and greeting cards (Freelance artwork)
Calligraphy
Web Design
Beware the scammers! The fine folks at www.scambusters.org have
compiled a "Top 10" list of common work-at-home and home based business scams
to beware of:
10. Craft Assembly
This scam encourages you to assemble toys, dolls, or other craft projects
at home with the promise of high per-piece rates. All you have to do is
pay
a fee up-front for the starter kit... which includes instructions and parts.
Sounds good? Well, once you finish assembling your first batch of crafts,
you'll be told by the company that they "don't meet our specifications."
In fact, even if you were a robot and did it perfectly, it would be impossible
for you to meet their specifications. The scammer company is making money selling
the starter kits -- not selling the assembled product. So, you're left with
a set of assembled crafts... and no one to sell them to.
9. Medical Billing
In this scam, you pay $300-$900 for everything (supposedly) you need to start
your own medical billing service at home. You're promised state-of-the-art
medical billing software, as well as a list of potential clients in your
area.
What you're not told is that most medical clinics process their own bills,
or outsource the processing to firms, not individuals. Your software may
not meet their specifications, and often the lists of "potential clients" are
outdated or just plain wrong.
As usual, trying to get a refund from the medical billing company is like trying
to get blood from a stone.
8. Email Processing
This is a twist on the classic "envelope stuffing scam" (see #1 below).
For a low price ($50?) you can become a "highly-paid" email processor
working "from the comfort of your own home."
Now... what do you suppose an email processor does? If you have visions of
forwarding or editing emails, forget it. What you get for your money are instructions
on spamming the same ad you responded to in newsgroups and Web forums!
Think about it -- they offer to pay you $25 per e-mail processed -- would any
legitimate company pay that?
7. "A List of Companies Looking for Homeworkers!"
In this one, you pay a small fee for a list of companies looking for homeworkers
just like you.
The only problem is that the list is usually a generic list of companies, companies
that don't take homeworkers, or companies that may have accepted homeworkers
long, long ago. Don't expect to get your money back with this one.
6. "Just Call This 1-900 Number For More Information..."
No need to spend too much time (or money) on this one. 1-900 numbers cost money
to call, and that's how the scammers make their profit. Save your money --
don't call a 1-900 number for more information about a supposed work-at-home
job.
5. Typing At Home
If you use the Internet a lot, then odds are that you're probably a good
typist. How better to capitalize on it than making money by typing at home?
Here's
how it works: After sending the fee to the scammer for "more information," you
receive a disk and printed information that tells you to place home typist
ads and sell copies of the disk to the suckers who reply to you. Like #8,
this scam tries to turn you into a scammer!
4. "Turn Your Computer Into a Money-Making Machine!"
Well, this one's at least half-true. To be completely true, it should read: "Turn
your computer into a money-making machine... for spammers!"
This is much the same spam as #5, above. Once you pay your money, you'll
be sent instructions on how to place ads and pull in suckers to "turn
their computers into money-making machines."
3. Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)
If you've heard of network marketing (like Amway), then you know that there
are legitimate MLM businesses based on agents selling products or services.
One big problem with MLMs, though, is when the pyramid and the ladder-climbing
become more important than selling the actual product or service. If the
MLM business opportunity is all about finding new recruits rather than selling
products or services, beware: The Federal Trade Commission may consider it
to be a pyramid scheme... and not only can you lose all your money, but you
can be charged with fraud, too!
We saw an interesting MLM scam recently: one MLM company advertised the
product they were selling as FREE. The fine print, however, states that
it is "free
in the sense that you could be earning commissions and bonuses in excess of
the cost of your monthly purchase of" the product. Does that sound like
free to you?
2. Chain Letters/Emails ("Make Money Fast")
If you've been on the Internet for any length of time, you've probably received
or at least seen these chain emails. They promise that all you have to
do is send the email along plus some money by mail to the top names on
the list,
then add your name to the bottom... and one day you'll be a millionaire.
Actually, the only thing you might be one day is prosecuted for fraud.
This is a classic pyramid scheme, and most times the names in the chain
emails
are manipulated to make sure only the people at the top of the list (the
true scammers) make any money. This scam should be called "Lose Money
Fast" -- and it's illegal.
1. Envelope Stuffing
This is the classic work-at-home scam. It's been around since the U.S. Depression
of the 1920s and 1930s, and it's moved onto the Internet like a cockroach
you just can't eliminate. There are several variations, but here's a sample:
Much like #5 and #4 above, you are promised to be paid $1-2 for every envelope
you stuff. All you have to do is send money and you're guaranteed "up
to 1,000 envelopes a week that you can stuff... with postage and address
already affixed!" When you send your money, you get a short manual
with flyer templates you're supposed to put up around town, advertising
yet another
harebrained work-from-home scheme. And the pre-addressed, pre-paid envelopes?
Well, when people see those flyers, all they have to do is send you $2.00
in a pre-addressed, pre-paid envelope. Then you stuff that envelope with
another flyer and send it to them. Ingenious perhaps... but certainly illegal
and unethical.
From all that I've heard, most franchises and multi-level marketing schemes
are not profitable unless you pick a great product or service, and you
already have a strong background in sales. Beware of any franchise where you
wouldn't have a protected territory. My general advice is this: You will probably
be better off starting your own business,
making, retailing, or consulting about something where you can leverage
your existing knowledge and/or experience.
---
In closing, I'd like to reemphasize that home security and locksmithing are
likely to provide steady and profitable employment for the next few years,
since hard
economic times are likely to trigger a substantial crime wave. After
all, someone has
to keep watch on the tens of thousands of foreclosed, vacant houses. (If not
watched, then crack cocaine addicts, Chicago syndicate politicians, or other
undesirables might move in!)
« Letter Re: Buying Kindle Reader for Accessing Survival References? |Main| Notes from JWR: »
Depression Proof Jobs for a 20 Year Depression - Part 1: The Counter-Cyclical Jobs
The current economic downward spiral has prompted several SurvivalBlog readers
to write me and ask: "My job is now at risk, so what are the safe jobs?"
I've actually addressed this topic fairly well since I started SurvivalBlog
in 2005. We ran a
"best recession-proof jobs" poll, back in May
of 2006. Then, in February, 2007, we ran a
poll on "Best Occupations for Both Before and After TEOTWAWKI".
Later, we even ran a
poll on the current occupations
of SurvivalBlog readers. In the past three years, we've also
posted a panoply of more detailed employment-related letters and articles on
subjects such as:
How
to set up a home-based second business,
Bartering
skills,
Home-based
mail order businesses,
Small
sawmills,
Gunsmithing,
Handloading
ammunition,
Horse
breeding,
Rabbit
breeding,
Small
machine shops,
Selling
and bartering through Freecycle,
Selling
and bartering through Craig's List, and
19th
Century Trades.
And those were just the ones that I found in a cursory 10-minute search of
the SurvivalBlog archives. There are many more. Just type a topic
into the "Search Posts on SurvivalBlog:" box at the top of the right -hand
bar.
(We now have
nearly 6,200 archived articles,
letters, and quotes!)
Which Jobs Were Safe in the 1930s?
One good insight on the near future can be found in the past. (As Mark Twain
said, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.")
According to statistics
published
some 20 years ago by Dr.Ravi
Batra, the safest businesses
and industries
during
the
worst
years
of the Great
Depression
(1929-1933) were:
Repair shops
Educational services (A lot of young men that couldn't find work borrowed money
to go to trade schools and college.)
Healthcare services
Bicycle shops
Bus transportation
Gasoline service stations
Second hand stores
Legal services
Drug or proprietary stores
To bring Batra's list up to date, I would speculatively add a few more
sectors and business that are likely to do well in the next
depression:
Home security and locksmithing (since a higher crime rate is inevitable
in bad economic times.)
Entertainment and diversions, such as DVD sales and rentals. People will
undoubtedly want to escape their
troubles!
Truck farming and large scale vegetable gardening (since just 2% of the population
now feeds the other 98%--whereas back in the 1930s the US was still a predominantly
agrarian society)
Export consumer goods. (Starting in late 2009 or early 2010, the US Dollar
is likely to resume its slide versus most other currencies)
Tomorrow, I'll post Part 2 of this article, in which I will focus
on home-based businesses.
« Letter Re: Navigating by the Stars |Main| Note from JWR: »
Making the Transition to Country Life, by Bois d'Arc
Many readers of Survival Blog are either in the process of moving to a lightly
populated area or actively planning to bugout to such an area when the balloon
goes up. Twenty years ago I moved from the edge of a large city to a fairly remote
property, and have been quietly setting up the doomstead and perfecting skills
ever since. In the process, I became part of the fabric of country life here
and have learned some valuable lessons which may benefit the rookie country dweller.
Most full-time country residents are descendents of frontiersmen who ventured
into the wilderness with little more than a rifle, axe, team of horses, and a
large supply of guts. Country people hold many of the same attributes as their
forebears; competence, toughness, perseverance, and a willingness to help their
neighbors, be it for common defense or a barn raising. Many of these traits are
at odds with modern city life supported by a specialized full-time job. Your
transition to country life will be smoother if you consider the following:
Country People are Closet Doomers:
They can do lots of useful things such as shoe a horse, grow corn, weld, back
a trailer, milk a goat, make tamales, catch a wild cow, troubleshoot an electrical
problem, can a tomato, and shoot lights out. And that's just the women.
People here are armed every day as a matter of course. Most have been shooting
all of their lives, so the level of firearms proficiency is way above average.
I see lots of casual ARs and scoped bolt actions, so if my neighbors and acquaintances
are any barometer, potential rampaging MZBs are in for some exceedingly
tough sledding.
On a related note, there are a few bad apples in the country, but most tend to
migrate to the anonymity of the cities. The outlaws who remain are generally
well known to both law enforcement and the population at large, and are easy
enough to avoid once you plug into the local grapevine.
Be Scrupulously Honest:
Country people don't care that much what you think or how you wear your hair
as long as they can trust you. Lie or stiff a merchant one time and in 45 minutes
everyone in the county will know it, guaranteed.
On the flip side, if you've been given too much change or an error is made in
your favor with a bank deposit or charge purchase at a merchant, politely point
out the mistake and insist on paying the correct amount. While such a gesture
will usually be met with stunned disbelief in a large city, in the country it
will be acknowledged with a nod and sincere appreciation. And never doubt for
an instant that the country grapevine will work in your favor as the word spreads.
When I first moved here, I was able to open an account with any business in town
simply by asking if I could charge a purchase. No references, no questions, no
credit check, just an address so they could send a statement at the end of the
month. Such an accommodating policy would most certainly not have been the case
had I been late in paying those first bills.
Money is Overrated:
Country people never forget a kindness; they also rarely forget a transgression
against good manners or honesty. The most valuable commerce in the country is
not conducted in dollars but in trading, gifts, being owed a favor, and goodwill.
Become Part of the Community:
Self-sufficiency is a worthy goal, but in truth perhaps the most useful survival
skill is contributing to a community which has a stake in your well being. To
my mind, being able to call upon neighbors for specialized assistance or trade
is just as important as beans, bullets, and Band-Aids.
Schools and churches are the glue which binds a country community. If you have
children in local schools or choose to attend church, tapping into country networks
will be greatly accelerated.
Also, small communities run largely on volunteers, so consider volunteering at
the library, as a fireman, at sports fund raisers, community cleanup, or meals
on wheels. JWR Adds: If you homeschool your kids, be sure to
join the local
homeschooling "co-op" group. You will be sure to meet the preparedness-minded
folks in your community.
The Country is a Time Warp:
Time passes slower here, as it's based more on the seasons than on a clock.
Fight the city urge to hurry everywhere. Tasks are completed when time, required
supplies, and any needed help are available, and not on an arbitrary schedule.
Parts are generally not readily available as they are in a city, you might have
to order a particular part and wait days or weeks for it to arrive, and perhaps
have to improvise in the meantime.
The two main time-related lessons you’ll learn is that weather can throw
a kink into any plan, and maintaining household water supply trumps almost every
other concern. You’ll soon adopt a mañana attitude about
most other projects, as there is always plenty more to be done while waiting
for specific parts or
supplies.
Slow down enough to take time to talk about the weather, trade recipes, talk
gardening, help a neighbor with a project, and to watch a sunset.
Seek Out Those with Useful Skills Now:
Country life requires a generalist rather than a specialist, so trading your
particular skills – whether carpentry, electrical expertise, or knowing
what’s wrong with a row of beans - with neighbors in exchange for their
skills just makes sense. In fact, there is even a term here, “neighboring”,
which refers to a group effort of working each landowner’s livestock in
turn without hiring outside help.
I have also become acquainted with various people who have huge gardens or dairy
goats or sheep or hogs or teams of horses and mules or a small band saw mill
for
making lumber. Such people often don’t advertise and they may be hard to
find, but the search is potentially of huge benefit to the astute survivalist.
As an example, there is a man here who has an old steam-powered grain mill. Another
has a tiny combine for harvesting wheat and oats in the scattered small plots
where it is grown in this area. Up until now, I haven’t used their unique
services, but still make it a point to give these men a quart of honey from our
hives every summer.
You will choose to help many of these people in time of trouble, just as they
will choose to help you, but in the meantime always exercise OPSEC about your
underlying motivations and preps. Country people have a wide independent streak
so your desire to be more self-sufficient will never seem out of place.
Country People are Provincial:
But largely by choice, which doesn't mean they are stupid or uninformed. The
vast majority are Internet savvy and many are exceptionally well-traveled and
well-read. More than a few have made the decision to leave a lucrative city existence
in exchange for country life. The level of overall awareness is high, so you'll
hear more commonsense over a cup of coffee than you'll ever hear from Washington.
A few recent quotes I’ve heard regarding our current economic meltdown:
“I was going to sell all of my calves last fall but held back four in case
my
freezers start to look empty.”
“We’re breaking some new garden ground this spring, going to plant
a lot
more potatoes than we usually do.”
"I bought two more cases of .223 ammo, just in case the rabbits go on the
warpath.” Listen and learn.
Never Underestimate the Amount of Work Involved:
Few farms or ranches here are entirely self-supporting, with one or both spouses
usually working a “regular” job. The pay scale is considerably lower
than in a city, so often people work two or even three jobs in order to live
well. This is in addition to farming and working livestock on their own places.
People work hard, and that’s in relatively good times.
If this economy continues to unravel, more subsistence-level farming and ranching
may well become the norm, and that’s when the work really begins. Growing
and processing most or all of your own food requires a tremendous amount of labor
and expertise, with constant effort from everyone involved. Have no illusions
about some idyllic country life of sitting on the porch all day, chewing on a
grass stem while contemplating the vista. The trick for making subsistence agriculture
work is for everyone to always be doing something constructive, whether it’s
hoeing weeds in the garden, building a chicken coop, shelling beans, cleaning
a firearm, playing with a toddler, or rereading one of your how-to books.
With that said, no family or survival group can possibly be competent at all
of the skills required. This is when being on good terms with neighbors becomes
essential; give them half of a fresh beef now for the cheese they can provide
later on; the pickles you made are a fair trade for his baskets of peaches; your
stash of supplies may well allow you to trade for a rooster and five hens (along
with some expert advice on getting started); if you can provide the diesel, your
neighbor might plow your garden plot after your tractor has thrown a rod. - Bois
d'Arc
« Letter Re: Kids and Home Security |Main| Note from JWR: »
Perspectives on Prepping on a Very Low Income, by Kuraly
I was raised in a missionary family, on nine different mission fields around
the world. At the age of nineteen, I went out to serve the Lord on my own in
the former Soviet Union. I had no formal Theological training, but was accepted
by the missionary societies of my denomination because of my experience under
my father and my willingness to go to dangerous areas.
I married, and my wife and I have now six children. A few years ago, due to
some changes in my theology, I fell out of favor with my denomination and had
to return home to the USA. I was faced with a situation of suddenly having
to feed and care for a large family with: 1. no formal education/training/skills
of any kind and 2. very little understanding of the southern American culture
that I found myself living in. I was forced to take very low-paying jobs and
survive on a low-income.
With our savings we were able to buy a small rural house and 7.5 acres in the
southeast. We were able to pay cash, I wanted it to be ours with no strings
attached, regardless of what the future held. I figured that at the very least
we would have a roof and some plantable land. I bought in the area my parents
lived in to help care for them as they progressed in years.
Our income is very limited. I work at just above minimum wage. I work a full-time
job and another part-time job. I am thankful that the Lord provides.
As I studied current events I became concerned about the possibility of a world-wide
economic and/or societal collapse of some kind, or a societal break-down here
in the USA resulting from any number of possible reasons. I had witnessed the
chaos of the nineties in the former Soviet Union, had watched doctors and physicists
sweep streets and live off of potatoes and bread for months on end, and I was
concerned about my responsibility to feed my family should a similar collapse
happen here.
What can you do when you have very limited means? Actually there is much you
can do. It amounts to setting goals and getting your family on board with you.
The first thing I did was (after my wife and I had many long talks and she
began to see things in a similar way), I gathered the family around and explained
everything to them. I explained about our limited means, exactly how much money
was coming in, how much went to utilities, fuel, etc. I explained what I believed
the dangers were. I explained what we needed to do as a family. Let me interject
here that after being born and growing up on a third-world mission field, they
were far from spoiled children! They were accustomed to living in tight quarters,
washing in cold water, eating cheap, and basically just "roughing it."
My first priority was for two weeks worth of provisions. We began to buy a
few extra cans of food when we went shopping. I set a goal of 20 dollars per
week for prepping. Some weeks ten dollars of canned goods and/or dried foods
like rice, beans or noodles, and ten dollars in ammo or medical supplies. Some
weeks just food, some weeks just extra gasoline. We bought gas cans at thrift
stores and garage sales for a dollar apiece, Large scented candles (better
than nothing) at closeout sales and garage sales for 30 and 50 cents, and just
about anything we could scrounge that might come in handy if the lights went
out. It did not take us long to build up enough supplies to last two weeks
in an emergency. We had enough gasoline to drive to work for two weeks (if
needed), enough food for our family plus a little extra, and candles, radios,
batteries and other odds and ends to get by.
I had also along the way added
to my ammunition stocks for my Winchester .30-30, and my bolt-action .22 LR.
After we reached the point where we felt we had enough for a two-week catastrophe,
we began to focus on the six-month time frame. This opened up many entirely
new possibilities. since the food required for this amount of time was such
a major expense, we had to make sure that it would last for several years.
This raised the issue of long-term storage in buckets, mylar bags and oxygen-absorbers.
We had to save for months to buy an order of oxygen-absorbers and mylar bags
on e-bay! We found low-cost buckets and began to fill them with rice, feed
corn, corn meal, noodles, beans etc. Anything that was inexpensive. We taught
the children to like corn-meal mush and grits since they might get quite a
bit of it one day!
Gradually we worked our way up to 30 buckets. At this point I made a strategic
decision. I decided that we needed to invest our extra funds in gardening.
Not entirely stopping the food storage, but reducing it in favor of procuring
means and experience in growing and canning our own food. We began to buy canning
jars and lids to put away in the attic for the future. My father gave us a
tiller with a blown engine which we were able to get fixed, and we began to
garden. The first garden was not very well thought-out. Some things grew, some
did not. But we learned. We learned first-hand what pollination means and about
soil fertility. We learned about bugs and blight. We gained valuable experience.
We also invested in chickens, and watched some of them die, some of them be
eaten by neighbor's dogs, some get eaten by our dogs, and the hardy survivors
begin to lay eggs. We watched them eat their own eggs and learned to give them
calcium. We let half of them free range and half range in portable pens that
we built which have an open floor that we could move each day to fresh grass.
We learned how to make them roost and lay where they were supposed to.
We bought some rabbits and learned a lot, real fast! We experimented with many
types of portable cages for rabbits which would allow us to move them from
one grassy spot to another without giving them time to dig a burrow. Sometimes
we would wake up and find rabbit carcases torn to shreds, because a neighborhood
cat had gotten to them. My kids handled most of this, and they learned things
the hard way.
If you haven't figured it out yet, We were totally green. I spent my life traveling
and overseeing the translation of Christian literature into foreign languages.
My wife is a musician. We had zero experience at any of this, and no one around
that we knew to advise us. We had to learn everything from scratch. We bought
a goat and promptly saw it attacked and killed by a stray dog. That hurt,
financially as well as emotionally. After sending the dog to join the
goat "on the other side", I bought another goat. and then another.
These have survived. We have learned to care for them.
Gradually I am seeing my children grow confident in their relationship to the
animals under their care. Gradually we are learning the needs of these animals
and how to make them produce for us. If we had had some kind of hands-on training,
it would have saved the lives of a lot of animals, but we didn't. I am happy
to announce a much higher survival rate for animals that we bring home now.
I felt like I needed a greater firearms capability (what man doesn't?). I thought
long and hard. At first I bought a Mosin-Nagant since they were so cheap ($75)
and the ammo was dirt-cheap as well. I then began to consider what type of
semi-automatic I could afford. I looked at the prices of ammo which was very
critical since I would have to train my entire family to shoot. At the time
the best deal for us appeared to be the SKS rifle.
It was cheap (a good quality Yugo[slavian SKS] was less than $200), dependable,
semi-auto and the ammo was
very cheap at the time. I later added a cheap 12 gauge pump, and last but not
least,
a
17 round Bersa Thunder 9mm. After purchasing these guns I began to pick up
ammo for them when I could find it on sale. I have gradually gotten up to about
500 rounds for each of them.
I then turned my attention to our home and it's defense. While we live in the
country, we are close to our neighbors 100 yards +/-, about five miles from
a small town, about 15 miles from a large town, and about 90 miles from Atlanta
(upwind fortunately). My greatest concern is our proximity to the road. The
house is only about 65 feet from the dirt road in front of our house. A looter
or burglar/rapist could be at the door or windows before the dog barked. In
response to this my next expenditure is to be fence posts, fencing, and barbed
wire, along with a row of thorny bushes in front of the wire next to the road.
Our house is a soft target, offering no ballistic protection. My remedy/forlorn
hope is to have plenty of sand and gravel on hand, and to start checking the
thrift stores for pillow cases to buy and store. perhaps we would have time
to bag up sand bags and at least harden up certain corners or rooms of the
house. We also have several large piles of sandstone (we live on top of a mountain)
which could be placed strategically and then perhaps sand bags on top of that.
We could also cut logs and add that to the mix.
Our water supply is a [grid-powered] electric well. This is one of my biggest
worries. We have made it a priority to buy a generator at least strong enough
to run
the
well and freezers for an hour or two a day. I know that this is only a temporary
solution but is about all we can handle right now. I am very thankful for the
non-fiction writing contribution about the siphon pumps for wells such as mine,
that offered up new possibilities which I have not had time to address yet.
We also have a neighbor 1/4 mile away which has an artesian spring on his property,
though it has extremely high iron content. I have purchased two 330 gallon
plastic livestock watering tanks and several drums which I can fill at the
first sign of trouble. I can also load them on my little trailer and pull them
down to the neighbor's to fill up from his well. I just need to check on the
ramifications of the high iron content.
I am also trying to fill up as many containers as possible with gasoline. I
add Sta-Bil and plan to use/rotate it yearly (as long as the price stays low).
I would like to keep at least 250 to 500 gallons on hand at all times. I buy
old gas cans at yard sales and just found a source for cheap 55 gallon drums
with sealed lids ($3). I may start using them instead.
Our immediate plans are to build more pens and raise more chickens and goats,
maybe a pig or two. We also look forward to planting a much bigger garden this
spring and maybe use some of our hard-won experience of last year. We also
want to involve the kids in martial arts classes if we can afford it, as well
as herb-collecting hikes from the local community college field school (which
are free and fun). We want to spend more time with them in the woods and in
the garden so that they feel comfortable there and begin to think about survival
from their own perspective. We also are beginning to exploit the library for
free resources for them to study on various topics.
The future of this country looks grim. As Christians we have "read the
back of the Book" and we know Who wins. Our responsibility is to be good
stewards of the talents we have, perform our duties as husbands and wives,
mothers and fathers, and ultimately, to trust Him for that which is beyond
our vision and power.
« Economics and Investing: |Main| Real World Observations on Fighting Crime and Criminals, by Eli »
Letter Re: Gaining Situational Awareness and Old-Time Knowledge
Jim,
Situational Awareness has a number of definitions, from the rather complex
to the "simple". They include:
- The process of recognizing a threat at an early stage and taking measures
to avoid it. (Being observant of one's surroundings and dangerous situations
is
more an attitude or mindset than it is a hard skill.)
- The ability to maintain
a constant, clear mental picture of relevant information and the tactical
situation including friendly and threat situations as well
as terrain.
- Knowing what is going on so you can figure out what to do.
- What you need to know not to be surprised.
This comes to mind because of my recent reading of your novel, "Patriots".
(An excellent book. A must have for any "prepper".) The book
is primarily about a group of people who joined together to survive in the "days
after". The daily requirements of surviving in times of roving bands of
criminals and martial law enforcers were covered rather forcefully. Many of the
challenges they faced required an armed response, and situational awareness was
often discussed. For the kinds of situations in which the "Patriot" folks
found themselves, the extremely helpful explanations of such matters as OPSEC and
LP/OPs are very helpful to anyone facing what is soon coming for many of
us.
As the book describes, situational awareness is absolutely vital to survival
and success in our near future.
But, while situational awareness is most commonly thought of as a conflict skill,
there are also other kinds of situational awareness. On Yahoo Groups, there is
a discussion group about surviving in the days after. One of the most prolific
writers has several times recently warned the readers to "Get out of the
cities now !". He's even suggested moving to very unpopulated areas and
using wood pallets to erect shacks. IMHO, this is a suggestion that will cause
many people great harm. Folks, with little or no preparations, suddenly moving
to the land to escape the "Golden
Horde", will likely fail or die.
Just reading the stories of the many pioneers who moved west, will quickly sober
you up from any "can do/don't know" thinking.
I have lived nearly all my life on a farm. I have developed a deep knowledge
of the land. It has come at the great expense of many missteps, failures, successes,
hard work and time. I call it having situational awareness of the environment.
I know what certain kinds of clouds mean when forecasting tomorrow's weather.
I know that the vine-like plants with three shiny leaves aren't so good to eat
or touch. I know a dead snake can still bite. People just coming to the land
for
the first
time will have little of that knowledge.
For untold years and many generations, the knowledge of how to live on the land
and be self-sufficient was passed down thru families. In farm country, school
was often found at the back fence. If you or your Grandfather didn't know something,
the farmer next door often did. I remember many times in my youth when I'd be
out working the land and the guy next door would be out on his. Often as not,
we'd stop and stand by the line fence and talk. ...And I learned lots. But, now,
much of this passing on of knowledge is lost. Farmers more commonly sit 12 feet
in the air, driving an air conditioned combine, following the turns suggested
by the GPS receiver
on the dash. Your parents most likely worked in a factory
or
a
shop, than on a farm. What was common family knowledge just a couple generations
ago,
such as maple syrup making, canning, gardening, butchering, animal husbandry,
etc., etc., is gone. The "chain" is broken. Without
this great deal of passed on knowledge and experience, nearly any farm endeavor
can, and often
will, lead to unexpected disaster.
This is where Situational Awareness comes in. "The need to know, so as not
to be surprised." The list is endless, but for starters:
- Knowing the good bugs from the bad in the garden
- Knowing fresh horse manure
will kill a garden, fresh chicken m. will help
- Knowing only 3 or 4 ounces
of yew leaves--a common landscape plant in much of
the US--can kill a horse
- Knowing how to split wood so that the axe won't
glance off and chop your leg
- Knowing that burning certain kinds of wood in
your wood stove means you need to clean the chimney twice a winter so you
don't burn down your house [with a chimney fire]
- Knowing the nice, fresh,
clean, free flowing, mountain stream may be full of giardia.
- Knowing that,
when plowing with a horse, you should never tie the reins together and put
them around behind your back so your hands are free to handle
the plow.
(This was the way it was done in the novel "Dies the Fire" [by
S.M. Stirling).
If your horse happens to shy and takes off running, you will be dragged along
the ground
and be seriously hurt. The proper way to plow is with the reins over one
shoulder and under the other. Then, if your horse runs, you just duck your
head and
the reins slide off.
- Knowing that crows in the garden are bad because they
eat the new planted seeds, but crows around your chicken coop are good
because they keep away
the hawks
that will eat your chickens.
- Knowing that if your tractor suddenly starts
making a new sound, this is not good. Stop immediately and figure out what's
going on, before something
breaks.
- Learning to look around you when walking, instead of only staring
at the ground for
your next step, (as most people do).
And on it goes. I have lived decades on the land. There's not a day goes by
that I don't learn something. But even with all my handed down knowledge and
hard-fought
experiences, I'm not even sure I could make a go of suddenly heading out
to the "country" to build a cabin and barn, till the soil, cut fire
wood, store food for man and beast, and more. It's just awful hard without lots
of prep's. And I can tell you, without an extensive knowledge of what the "environment" around
you is telling you, it's darn near impossible. ...(Taking a walk in the woods
can hurt just as much as a walk on certain inner city streets.)
So what are you to do ? Well, having a "G.O.O.D." bag
and great escape vehicle is a start. Having supplies, tools and seed already
in place really helps.
But once you get to your retreat site, have a plan, have some knowledge of how
to do, what to do. Practice now. If you think you're going to learn while living
in a wood pallet shack, you won't. You'll most likely die. If there's no more
Elders to ask, get to know the other "elders"--books.
Go to local farms and ask to spend time just helping, so you can learn something.
Go to a school to
learn skills; like tracking, orienteering and fire building without matches;
(one of the best, imo, is Midwest Native Skills Institute). Never take charcoal
or
lighter fluid on a picnic, learn to gather what burns. Go camping in winter,
instead of just when it is "pretty" outside. Find a "big animal" vet.
and ask to attend and help when birthing a calf. Most especially, turn off your
tv. Use your time to learn to sew, or knit, or make soap. Pick up (fresh) dead
animals on the road and practice skinning them and then tan the hide. [JWR
Adds: Needless to say, consult your state Fish and Game laws before
doings
so!]
Find
local crafts people
and
acquire
a
skill,
such
as
weaving,
or
candle
making,
or
tin
smithing, because having a survival trade in a cashless society may keep you
alive. Learn to listen. Throw away those darn ear plug music things. Learn situational
awareness. What is the wind telling you about the day ? What does the sudden
and not normal crowing of a rooster warn you of ? What does the setting of the
moon in a certain place on the horizon tell you about the season ?
Learn what it takes to live on the land, before you have to suddenly move there.
Learn what nature, the land, and new tasks are telling you, before you find yourself
in a difficult situation, ...(un)aware.
- Jim Fry, Curator, Museum of Western
Reserve Farms & Equipment, Ohio
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Letter Re: Denominating in Time Versus Dollars
James,
Today I picked up 200 pounds of pearled barley from my local health food
store that had ordered it for me. As I loaded it into my living room so I
could
mylar seal it, I flashed on what it would have represented in terms of time
(man hours) in an earlier age. To get that 200 pounds of barley, I would
have had to:
1) Have land
2) Have seed
3) Till, irrigate and plant the land
4) Protect the crop from birds and thieves
5) Harvest, thresh and transport the grain
The number of man hours required to get 200 pounds of grain would have been
enormous, compared to the amount of time I had to spend to make the money to
buy the grain.
As we witness the collapse of the current economic model, I have begun to ask
myself not just how much something costs, but if I had to make it or do it
myself, how much time would it take. From this perspective, the relative value
of things change. Wheelbarrows and horses aren't necessary, but they sure are
faster and easier than transporting things on my back. Water filters aren't
necessary, I can chop and carry wood and boil water, but this takes more time
then using a water filter. - SF in Hawaii
JWR Replies: The foregoing observation becomes even more
sobering when you consider the prospect of doing work with "the sweat of the
brow" versus diesel fuel
or
electricity. Engine-powered and electrically-powered equipment
is a tremendous labor saver. As my grandfather Ernest
E. Rawles was fond of
saying: "There's
nothin'
like power
tools!" That saying has been passed down to my children.
Woe be unto us, if
and when we live through an age with a significant disruption in the supply
of diesel fuel and gasoline. Presently, here at the Rawles
Ranch we burn about three
cords
of firewood each winter. We could
get by with
just two cords. But even that represents a tremendous amount of effort if
it must accomplished without the aid of a chainsaw. A four day job becomes
a four
week job. Nearly the same ratio applies to hand tilling and to hand scything.
Someday,
a pair of well-trained draft horses with pulling tack and tackle
might be worth a king's ransom.
Prepare for times of fuel scarcity. Start looking
for high-quality used hand tools. Here is a short list: Axes, timber jacks,
timber cross-cut saws, splitting mauls and wedges, scythes, wheeled-cultivator,
spading
fork,
a
hand-crank or treadle bench grinder, a brace and bits, carpentry hand saws
(cross-cut and rip) a pair of come-alongs, a hand
crank meat grinder, a hand
crank wheat grinder, a post hole digger, wheelbarrows, garden carts,
and so forth. A "WTB"
ad on Craig's
List is a great
place to begin gathering such tools inexpensively.
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Two Letters Re: Alaska as a Retreat Locale
Jim,
For starters I would like to say that Jim you are dead-on with your Delta
Junction recommendation. I live near Delta. And it is some of the finest
farm land in the
world. everything grows amazing here. Some of the information in the previous
letters is wrong and I would like to clarify them . The growing season may
be a little shorter in days of light, but in total hours of light it is much
longer than other places. It gets light here in May and gets dark at night
again in late August. Some vegetables will grow great, some don't do so well,
Corn doesn't like it, but potatoes grow without trying. And as for isolation,
that's the idea. Things are harder to get, but you learn to live with less
and enjoy it more. As for power, at least in the Delta area you do not need
to worry about that in the winter, solar is awesome here in the summer, but
in winter the wind is ever present. I have four wind generators that I built
from old car alternators and Fan blades. I never had a loss in the battery
bank.
I live off of their grid anyway, so I am used to adapting.
As for the wood
situation, certain types of trees do incredibly well here, And they grow faster
not slower, I have trees that I know weren't there ten years ago and are over
twelve feet tall, Spruces grow well here, and birch is my main heat, I have
a fair sized house, and a new, catalyst stove and burn 5-to-7 cords of wood
per
winter.
Fuel is more expensive here, but it fluctuates like anywhere else,
buy when the price is low, and stockpile it. In this area it is common for
people to have a couple of 1,000 gallon tanks buried in their yard, Moose and
caribou ar always around as a meat source, as with buffalo in this area. (Yes
we have buffalo in Alaska). Along with Many other species of flora and fauna.
On the other hand Alaska is not a place for those who can not take care of
themselves. In this area it is not uncommon to see the temps dip below -60,F.
I have seen -72. It is dark all winter, And the stores never have what you
want.
There is plenty of water though, my well is thirty feet deep, and the pump
is set down to twenty feet, My suggestion for people who are thinking about
moving to Alaska is simple, Unless you have lived a subsistence lifestyle for
a while, are used to constant extreme weather changes, and can do it on your
own, stay where you are, or find some place else. As for me, I will never go
outside [Alaska] again, you can keep it. - Z. in Alaska
Mr. Rawles
I too am a long time reader and this is also the first time I have written.
I urge all of your readers to take head to Mr. Galt's letter concerning Alaska
as a retreat locale. It is harsh up here. I live in Delta Junction area and
love it. We have been here for over 10 years now and have our place set up
pretty well. We live off grid and in the bush, hunt, fish, trap, mush dogs
etc. etc. I wouldn't encourage anyone to try to move here and set up a retreat
this late in the game. We just went through a couple weeks of -50 to -60(Tok
recorded -78) temperatures then 70 m.p.h. hour winds that blew down many
trees and damaged a lot of structures. These things are a regular occurrence.
A lot
of Russian immigrants have moved from the lower 48 into the Delta area. Most
of the ones I have met seem to be good people but most live off welfare.
When the welfare stops we'll have problems. The bad bunch of them are thieves
already not just the Russian but Americans also. The Russian community has
a bad reputation for it though. Anyone planning to move here and find a job
might be in for a rude awakening.
The local jobs don't pay enough to live on the grid and the government jobs
stay filled mostly. Delta is profiting from a small military bubble economy
brought
about
by the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense
(GMD) program but with you know in office now all that could come to a
screeching halt at anytime. Because of the GMD program everyone around here
thinks their land has gold on it and prices it
accordingly.
Yes, Delta does have a big farming community. Most of the farmers get buy
living off of government programs and are deeply in debt. The ones that don't
live
off the program hurt. Most farms lay dormant wile collecting CRP checks.
I have heard that there will be no more new CRP contracts in the future. The
fertility of the farm land has gone way down too because of the climate here.
The cold doesn't allow much time for plant matter to decompose plus it's hard
to have crop rotation with only Barley. (Barley, hay grasses, potatoes, and
carrots are the main crops grown here.) For the last three years we have had
a frost in the middle
of August that pretty much killed any vegetables that were not in a green house.
Wells in Delta are any where from 40 to 450 feet in depth. If you buy land
where there is bed rock you may drill 450 deep and still get mastodon pee to
drink. Wells are at $50 a foot this year. Better plan on how to get water out
of the well when the power goes down. Currently heating oil is 2.23 at the
pump in town, more if its delivered. Diesel is currently $3.69. It hit $5 last
winter. Fire wood from Delta Lumber is $180 per cord until they run out for
the winter other sources are up to $250. The people from Delta lumber are great
people and will work themselves silly trying make sure no one goes cold. I
have seen one add for firewood for $300 per cord. Dry firewood is a must because
-50 the soot form green wood builds in the chimney thus creating chimney fire.
A friend of mine got burned out at -50 for that very reason. They didn't get
in enough dry wood for the winter. Luckily they were able to run to separate
garage and no one suffered any cold injuries. Finding a place to cut fire wood
now is getting hard to find.
Most people here are enjoying high power bills now since Golden Valley increased
their rates. The average size house power bill is running $300- $400 [per month]
in the winter maybe less if your really frugal. You have to keep your vehicles
plugged in. In a diesel that is like running a 1,500 watt electric heater.
Wind power is a possibility if your turbine can withstand the wind. Closer
to the mountains it has been 100 mph. The wind here isn't steady it is really
gusty, not good for turbine. Rent is running around a $1,000 and up for a three
bedroom home. Certified sewers are from $6,000 to $16,000 depending. Cost to
build is running around the $150 per square foot range and going up.
If you don't know how Seasonal Affect Disorder (SAD) will affect you, then
you's better find out before you try to make a permanent move here. Cabin fever
has been the demise of many people who move here and plan to live the wilderness
experience. The only cure for it is to be outside. It don't matter what the
the temp is you got to get out side when it's light. SAD has be the cause for
suicide, alcoholism, and drugs. People do the latter two to cope. I personally
have never had it. I have too much work to do. People who don't procrastinate
and get all there chores done and food stores in order for the winter and plan
to stay in the cabin for the winter suffer the worse. We don't procrastinate
but we don't stay in either. The cabin is only a place to warm up, eat and
sleep. Living is done outside the cabin. We trap, mush dogs, care for the horses,
cut more fire wood when it's not too cold, fire up the blacksmith forge, build
some log furniture. It is easy to get lazy and lethargic during the winter.
You have to fight the urge daily. We had a couple move in not to far from us.
I told the lady to make sure she kept the windows uncovered in the winter.
Well, they were the lazy type and didn't ever have enough wood cut so they
covered the windows and blocked out some of the cold but mostly the light.
They made
it though one winter but the next one they didn't. They pulled up [stakes]
and left middle of the winter.
As much as I love living here, if I were looking for a retreat locale this
late in the game then it would be some place more hospitable. We did move here
for the
lack of people and when things get even worse I expect people to start migrating
out of Alaska especially the interior. It requires a lot of hard work to live
here more especially so if your living off the land. How would you like to
cut 20 cords of wood with a hand operated saw and axe when you run out of gas
and or you saw goes down? Running chain saws in the sub-zero weather is hard
on them. Better get extra clutches for them. What about when the mosquitoes
bloom and you have run out of bug dope?
Hunting is decent here. The Russian community poaches a lot of the moose in
the Delta management area. They do it to eat. I am not knocking them for that.
When the SHTF it
will be even worse therefore even we will have to start going further into
the bush to hunt using sled teams to get there. If you plan to
have dogs and sled they require a lot of food. [Here they eat mostly] fish.
The salmon that makes it this far inland is [best -suited for] dog food. It
is pretty beat up by the
time
is gets
here.
The flesh is a faint pink to gray color as they are close to the end of the
life span. Anyone planning to come to Alaska to survive the upheaval better
have there you know what together or they won't make it. This land is unforgiving
and the least mistakes get big in a hurry. Sorry that my letter has gotten
so long but I want people to know what they are getting into if they come here
thinking
it's paradise. It ain't. but it's the life we love. People here are willing
to help if you are not stupid. Our favorite saying around here is "If
you gonna be dumb then you'd better be tough" - C.B.
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Letter Re: Bloom Where You're Planted
Thank You Mr. Rawles,
My husband and I are new readers of SurvivalBlog; we have been so encouraged/convicted/moved/enlightened/blessed
by your wisdom.
Gertrude's
"Bloom Where You're Planted" article, for me, was amazing.
It's the "if
she can do it, anyone can do it' - I am encouraged. I don't really have words
for
what
I'm
trying
to say, just that I don't feel so overwhelmed now after reading her words.
We
are just in the baby beginning stages of preparedness. My amazing husband
is leading us in the most right direction, and is a very steady purposeful
man. I trust him and his ability completely.
I think to sum up this attempt at an email to you Mr. Rawles, is that hearing
Gertrude's calm direction and wisdom has changed my entire approach, or my
thinking....does that make sense?
Ultimately, my trust rests in my most Gracious God, and then, He knows my
fears and doubts and places folks like Gertrude in my path. I am grateful.
Blessings on you, - Kristy in Oregon
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Letter Re: Alaska as a Retreat Locale
Mr. Rawles,
Although being an avid reader, this is the first time I have written your site.
The letters posted on your site today respecting Alaska as a retreat locale
raised a few possible issues in my mind. First of all, let me say that Alaska
is my favorite place in the world, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
However, as a retreat locale, one may want to think twice unless the situation
forces their location there. Also, it is important to remember that the conditions
and terrain in Alaska are very wide ranging, depending where you are. The
climate can range from arctic in the north to relatively mild in the south.
I have heard the climate in the south compared to that of the mid-Atlantic
states on the East coast.
Most parts of the state are totally without agriculture, but there is some
in the Matanuska-Susitna
Valley. The growing season is usually around 100 days
long, and can produce huge vegetables because of the length of the days. Some
vegetables do well there, such as potatoes, carrots and cabbage.
Therefore, if one intends to do any kind of farming in Alaska, the "Mat-Su"
Valley is where it is possible. However, there is a major drawback to this
fact,
from
the perspective of retreat logistics. The Mat-Su valley is one of the most
densely populated areas of the state. It has, as of late, been converting
to suburban communities for workers who commute to Anchorage. As we all
know,
the suburbs are a bad, bad place to be WTSHTF.
And even if one were to build a retreat in a section of the valley not yet
suburban, there is no way to
know that it would remain so for the next five years or more.
Prepping before the SHTF is
made more difficult by the state's isolation. Building materials, fuel,
food, guns, ammo, medical supplies and any other product must be shipped in
from the [continental] US or elsewhere.
This makes these
products not only
more expensive, but generally less available, especially outside of the urban
centers. Ordering off the web makes them easier to get, but the shipping
is still expensive. Fuel of any kind is the most expensive in the nation,
and
ammo is pretty over-priced, too.
Fuel, as one letter pointed out, is a major problem. Getting by without fossil
fuels is a main goal of most preppers, and it may prove more difficult in
Alaska. Solar is out, at least during the winter. Not only is there very
little light,
but it is less intense than elsewhere, due to the oblique angle at which
it hits the state (as it is so far north). I don't know a lot about wind,
so that
may be a possibility. If it was, any parts would be difficult to get. As
K.L.'s letter says, firewood is a possibility, but this raises three issues.
As he says, with no gas or diesel = no power tools to cut [and haul firewood].
Any broken hand tools would be irreplaceable, and even having extras is likely
not enough
when you plan to cut by hand and burn firewood for a very extended period
of time.
Hand cutting firewood is also time consuming.
Since it would need to be done in the summer, it would take up time for farming
and other chores. This might not be a problem if you are part of a large
retreat group, however. Also, felling trees, in any way, especially by hand,
is extremely
dangerous. I would strongly recommend a logger certification class for anyone
planning to possibly use firewood as a retreat fuel. Although the course
will focus on mechanical forestry, the safety principles are the same universally.
Third, unless one has a retreat on a very spacious lot, it is possible to
run out of firewood to cut. Trees grow much slower in Alaska People who
do not heat
their homes in this manner would be surprised at the amount of fuel a wood
stove can use in a winter. For instance, to heat the house on my family farm,
it
takes roughly 10 to 15 cords to get through the winter,
with a little to spare for safety's sake. And that is back in New York, not
Alaska. Imagine cutting
that much
firewood on a 25 acre lot for five years or more. One may be able to cut
off of their property, but that is a bad way to meet the neighbors, especially
after
TSHTF.
This letter ran much longer than I planned, and I would like to go on further,
but time prevents me from doing so. In short, think twice about a retreat
in Alaska. It is absolutely possible, but would present much greater difficulties
than other feasible places. In the lower 48, one can find the same type of
isolated area, but with:
Better farming conditions
Lower prices in general
A climate not requiring huge amounts of fuel for the winter
Ability to travel through the US without crossing international borders
(If they still exist after TSHTF)
And so forth...
If you think you can do it, then go for it. My wife thinks I'm trying to keep
it all for myself. - J. Galt
JWR Replies: Thanks for that input. I have my doubts about
the viability of the Mat-Su Valley in worst-case collapse. Its proximity to
the hungry, teeming
masses of Anchorage is troubling. Alaska cannot feed its population, even
in today's economy, and one can only wonder what it would be like grid-down,
with no
fuel available.
I encourage anyone serious about living in Alaska to look
at the
Delta Junction area, in Alaska's interior. I haven't been there since
the summer of 1980 (when I attended the U.S. Army Northern
Warfare School), but it struck me as a very productive agricultural
region.)
« Two Letters Re: Alaska as a Retreat Locale |Main| Notes from JWR: »
Bloom Where You're Planted, by Gertrude
I write this to encourage everyone to begin preparing right now, whatever your
financial situation and physical location in life. We are one of the many
families that don’t live in a sparsely populated western state and
don’t
have a retreat that is fully stocked, off-grid and off-the beaten path. But
we are very aware of the precarious situation that our country is in and we are trying as best we can to be prepared. Doing a little
bit consistently every day will add up very quickly and you will be better
prepared every day as you go along. Doing this will also do wonders for your
mental outlook.
To give a little background: our household consists of my mother and myself,
along with four cats, three dogs and a flock of chickens. My mother is 79 years
old and I’m a retired 57-year old woman. My sister and brother-in-law live about a half-mile
away and our niece and her husband live next door. Both of my parents grew
up on farms and we always had a big garden and plenty of fruit trees when I
was a child. We live in a semi-rural area about three miles from a small town.
There are no interstate highways nearby.
The people here in our community are pretty self-reliant. People still hunt,
fish, and grow and preserve their own vegetables and fruits (although not as
much as in the past). We have about five acres of land with a small fruit orchard
and garden area. We don’t have any mortgages or car payments to worry
about, but we also don’t have the financial resources to retreat to another location. Are we fully prepared? Of course not. I don’t
think anyone is ever fully prepared, but we are much better prepared than we
were last year and we were better prepared last year than we were the year
before
that. This is because of consistently doing something every day to prepare.
As I sit here typing this, our supper is cooking on the wood stove while my
mother is in the living room quilting and our alarm systems--our three dogs--are
outside keeping an eye on things. The coffee pot is ready to go on the stove
for supper later. The chickens are happily occupied in their area. Our pantry
is stocked with wheat, rice, beans, store-canned goods as well as home-canned
vegetables, fruits, and meats and various other food and non-food items. We
have another separate storage area for paper products, medical supplies, batteries,
cleaning supplies, etc.
We didn’t have the wood stove, chickens or bigger-than-average pantry
storage a few years ago. Back then I would have said we were above-average
in “preparation mentality” but my eyes were opened when I began
doing research on the subject of preparedness. It began when I wanted to be
prepared
to
survive a possible flu pandemic. I quickly learned of other things, such as the possibility of EMP strikes,
electric grid
going down in general, Peak
Oil problems, you name it. My first reaction was
one
of panic, but that subsided as my mother and I began “putting feet on our
prayers.” We started small, buying more food each week when grocery shopping.
Then we decided to go “whole hog.”
The first thing we did was buy a wood stove. We now have three heating systems:
[a heating] oil furnace, gas logs operated on propane and the wood stove. We
use the wood stove most of the time in the winter now. Although it’s
not a [broad-top] cook stove, we do very well cooking meals on it. We perk
the coffee for supper most nights even if we don’t cook the main meal
on it. We have lots of wood on our land, but aren’t physically able to
cut the wood ourselves so we buy it locally, and my brother-in-law has supplied
us with wood (my sister and he have a wood stove too). We have three able-bodied
men in the family (brother-in-law, nephew-in-law and nephew) who can and will cut wood if need be.
The next thing we did was install a manual well pump. We’re on well water
but we needed a way to get the water if the grid goes down. I began researching
manual
well pumps and my brother-in-law installed one for us. Last summer, we
worked on what has probably been the biggest project of them all: building
a chicken house and fenced-in chicken yard. Our chickens are what I suppose
you’d call semi-free range. They have a 24x24 foot yard to roam in. My
mother was the chief architect. She designed the chicken house herself. We
first had to clear the land, then we prepared the foundation for the house.
After that came the actual building of the chicken house.
Although we have a pick-up truck, my nephew was using it at the time, so I
would go to the local Big Box building center and buy as much wood as I could
fit into the car and bring it back. We’re proof that you can pretty much
do what you set your mind to do if you’re determined enough. We worked
steadily every day except Sundays at building the chicken house and got it
done. Then we had to clear the land for the chicken yard, and after doing that
we began digging the holes for the fence posts. The only thing we had any outside
help with was installing the poultry wire for the fence. We needed my niece
and her husband to help us get that pulled tight enough. We finished the entire
operation by putting netting over the entire chicken yard to keep out hawks.
We now have a great flock of chickens. As I write this, we have about eight
dozen eggs in the refrigerator. We share [the eggs] with my sister and husband,
my
niece and her husband and my nephew and his wife. The dogs also get a scrambled
egg dinner about once a week. We haven’t bartered any eggs yet, but we
know that’s a possibility down the road if economic conditions warrant
it.
Somewhere in the midst of all this preparation, we bought a Country
Living grain mill (the manual kind). Mother has done most of the grinding
so far. She’s baked whole-wheat rolls and loaves of bread with the wheat
we bought and ground ourselves – yummy!
Our garden suffered last summer, because we were so busy getting the chicken
flock project set up. Our goal for this summer is to have as big a garden as
we can manage. We do have a stock of garden seed laid back. We’ve already
stocked up on lots of canning jar lids. We already had a good supply of canning
jars and rings but I plan on stocking up on those, as well.
One of the big things we need to do next is prepare in the area of self-defense.
We have a rifle and recently bought a S&W 9mm handgun. We also have my
late father’s 38 Special revolver. We have magazines and ammo and plan
on stocking more ammo. My brother-in-law (a former Marine) is going to train
me on the handguns and rifle. If there is one thing I regret in life it is that I didn’t take advantage of the fact that my
late father, who was a police officer, wanted to train me in the use of firearms,
but I was a wimp. I’ve always believed in the right to bear arms, but
was actually a little afraid of using guns, mainly because I’m so nearsighted.
But I’ve gotten over that now. After one very short session with my brother-in-law
going over firearm basics with me, I’m excited about getting proficient
in their use because I can actually understand how the darn things work now!
I believe we’re doing pretty good at blooming where we’re planted.
We can garden, sew, quilt, cook (don’t laugh – a lot of people
don’t
know how to do that!), crochet, can and preserve food, and we’ve don
pretty well at carpentry. In addition to my retirement pension, I also have
a second
stream of income doing manuscript typing at home.
To summarize, I encourage anyone who feels paralyzed by current events to
get up and get going. Start small: buy a few extra groceries each time you
shop; stock up on non-perishables; prepare a first aid kit; and take a first
aid course. Pay attention to what’s going on around you. And, most importantly
of all, never stop learning. Before you know it, you’ll be a lot more prepared than you ever knew you could be. - Gertrude
« Four Letters Re: Preparedness Through Tapping in to the Craig's List Culture |Main| Bloom Where You're Planted, by Gertrude »
Two Letters Re: Alaska as a Retreat Locale
Jim:
As an Alaskan survivalist I concur with everything Brad in Texas had to say.
Alaska has many distinct advantages as a retreat location. However, it also
has some major disadvantages. First and foremost is the amount of work involved.
You must have a way to get fuel for heating. If you can't use vehicles and
chain saws, most of your summer will likely be taken up getting ready for winter.
The same applies to food. You would have to grow enough vegetables during the
short summer to last seven or eight months. Thankfully, game is available all
year, so you probably won't starve. Alaska is great for people who are able
and willing to work really hard.
As for the spirit of Alaska, what Brad says is true outside the major cities.
I would estimate that only 5% of Juneau and Anchorage residents and 20% of
Fairbanks residents have any concept of survival in hard times. Most people
in the cities essentially live in a bubble, with no real contact with nature
at its harshest. Even in Alaska! Juneau is jokingly referred to as "Seattle
North" and Anchorage as "Los Anchorage." If you consider Alaska
as a retreat location, it would be wise to avoid the major cities. In a SHTF
scenario, the helpless refugees would overwhelm the surrounding countryside
just as in the lower 48.
K.L. - Alaska
JWR:
We lived in Alaska for almost three years, we miss it. Here is our Wish List
for our next trip:
Snow machines [called snowmobiles in some parts of the US], purchased in
the Lower 48
More gear
More guns
More knowledge of the laws going in and out of the borders
Have a gun shop picked out up there ASAP for weapons you will not be
able to carry into Canada or back into the US (handguns and [so-called] assault
rifles)
All records for animals
Go
on the ferry to avoid Canada
Some of the larger problems facing newcomers in Alaska is the lack of light
in the winter, the lack of fresh fruits and veggies, activities in the winter,
the isolation, the cold....
The suicides are on the average 20% higher in Alaska than anywhere else in
the US. The alcohol abuse is so rampant that in some of the more desolate towns
there is rationing of alcohol or there is none period.
Most go up there totally unprepared for the struggles of everyday life. We
lived in Anchorage and it wasn't that bad. There are a few books that can give
you a rundown on the worst (Death Stalks the Land is a good reference).
The people who went there unprepared and paid for it with their lives. Even
those who lived there 20 years are not immune to getting caught unaware.
Everything thing you need to get has to be shipped overseas including
grain for livestock and hay, milk, tools, some building supplies and clothing.
The natives do produce some things. However, most do it for the tourists that
show up.
There are many tales of those that made it up there but for each one of those
there is one or more that lost limb or life trying.
There is a book on the last homesteader to go to Alaska and it is a real eye
opener.
The plusses: The constant daylight in some areas [in summer] makes for incredible
food and if you can fruits and veggies, you'll be better for it.
The Icelandic Horses can and will eat dry or fresh fish and there is plenty
of that.
You can't beat the hunting and fishing.
It is incredibly beautiful, summer or winter.
I will leave you with this - It's a very long way to go for help or to help
anyone while there, if you go you will truly be on your own. - TD
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Update to Survival Gardening: Growing Food During a Second Great Depression, by H.I.C.
While re-reading my recent post concerning survival gardening, I realized
that I have completely forgotten to point out some important info.
While living through a crisis you are going to need to eat more calories than
normal [to provide adequate nutrition with the extra exertion, stress, and
physical labor], perhaps twice as much. I am planning on 4,000 calories per
day.
Fresh fruit and vegetables are important as a source of vitamins, however most
green veggies do not contain enough calories to keep you going. During a crisis
you
are going to need several sources of protein, oils, and starch.
I believe the best way of storing red meat is to raise livestock. Naturally
you want them to reproduce and raise enough young for you to enjoy fresh meat
for the duration of the crisis. Rabbits, Chickens, and Goats are particularly
easy to raise. Having fish in your agricultural pond is perfect.
Two acres planted to Wheat, Corn, Dry Beans, Potatoes, and Winter Squash will
produce more food than a typical family can eat in a year. We used to plan
our sweet corn, pinto beans, and potatoes in field rows and use the tractor
to cultivate them.
An acre of winter wheat planted in good soil should yield 50 bushels (2,000
lbs) of easily storable grain. A second acre of open pollinated field corn
should
yield 80 bushels (4,000 lbs), but requires more fertilizer and more effort
devoted to weed suppression. A full acre of pinto beans would be way too much,
35 bushels
(1,400 lbs).
A native pecan averages 50 - 80 lbs of nuts which store for a year or more.
Each acre of pecan trees would contain 15 large trees or 30 smaller trees and
provides a rich source of calories, oils, and protein. Since you are hoping
to avoid too much attention you might plant your fruit trees and a variety
of hardwood nut trees scattered across your pasture or mixed in with your wood
lot. Less attention and [given their wide spacing,] fewer insect pests. [JWR
Adds: Some of us that live in high elevation or northern
climates where most pecan trees are unlikely to survive (even the Hardy
Pecan). But there are other nut trees
such as as Carpathian
Walnuts that
do well in all but the most severe climate zones.]
I hope this helps explain my emphasis on trees, small livestock, row crops,
and field crops. - H.I.C.
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The Community Retreat, by Kathy Harrison
Establishing a retreat seems to be the dream of many survivalists but realistically,
evacuating to a retreat is not a proposition that is readily available to very
many. There are generally problems with finances as well as family commitments
to contend with. Many folks, like me, have spent years in establishing perennial
food plants, compost piles, garden plots, building small businesses and, most
importantly, forging important community ties that would not be easily broken.
Therefore, we would be well advised to explore how to approach ways to turn
our own residences into retreat communities.
The location of the community is of the utmost importance. Pulling off such
a feat off in a large city or an affluent suburb would be pretty difficult.
A small town in a rural location with a high proportion of families who already
raise food and livestock is your best bet. Such a town is likely to have a
well-developed sense of community, strong family ties and a faith-based community.
You will also likely find a diverse set of necessary skills. Such communities
are generally located in areas that have climates suitable to growing food
crops. Hunting is often a part of the local culture so firearms ownership is
not seen as a problem. It has been my experience that a large number of survival-minded
folks find themselves living in this kind of locality. The question then becomes, “how
do we locate like-minded families and establish a network of support, with
possibility of barter arrangements and the sharing of skills and tools in such
towns?”
We began by attending a film series a few years ago. Free showings of films
such as The End of Suburbia, King Corn and Life At The
End Of The Empire were
shown. Each film was followed by a discussion group. Setting up this kind of
series can happen at a library or house of worship. Out of this format, a core
group formed, all with the sense that life as we knew it was unlikely to be
sustainable for the long term and that we needed to take steps to prepare for
the eventual change. We began meeting on a monthly basis. We are a diverse
group; some more interested in the implications of Peak
Oil, some with financial
collapse. Others are the local growers of organic produce and the breeders
of heritage breed livestock. We have no membership list, no rules of order,
no dues and no criteria for coming to our monthly meetings. We do follow a
loose agenda to ensure that we get some work20accomplished but much of our
time together is devoted to chit chat about current topics and sharing ideas.
One of our most successful endeavors has been our "101" classes. This
is a series of free workshops devoted to helping people learn valuable skills
from others.
We have had classes in raising chickens, canning produce, cheese making, mushroom
propagation, herbal medicine, knitting and many other subjects. The object
is to make all of us less dependant and share skills that might otherwise be
lost.
Recognizing that energy shortages are likely, we set up a panel of people already
alternative sources of energy. This was remarkably well-attended and led to
a day long event where folks opened their homes to people who wanted to see
each system in operation. We saw underground homes, photovoltaic systems, solar
heat collectors, wind powered homes and a couple of places that had been off-grid
for years. The tour ended with a pot-luck soup and bread dinner.
We consider helping each other as a given. We have helped each other get
in our winter wood supply, can an abundance of bulk purchased chicken and
traded
off tools, vehicles and equipment. When my husband scored some very inexpensive
sap buckets, he bought enough for many other group members. When I found
myself overwhelmed with peaches, three of us processed 50 quarts in an
afternoon.
A couple of us are really interested in wild foods. Together we gathered
fox grapes and put up 20 gallons of juice, harvested and dried over 100
pounds
of wild mushrooms and canned 35 quarts of wild applesauce. We are still eating
the fiddleheads we froze last May. Out latest project is to take a firearms
safety course together.
When a major ice storm left our town without power for over a week, we saw
an opportunity to check our preparedness level and hone our skills. Many
of us were also able to provide help and provisions to those who were less
prepared
including the elderly in our small town.
We still have work to do. We realize that we are not as well prepared for
medical emergencies as we would wish so some members are researching becoming
EMTs
and First Responders for our local volunteer fire department. We also see
the wisdom in becoming more involved in our town government.
I know this is not the kind of preparedness one generally reads about on
sites such as this but I think for many, this is the most realistic. Should
the worst
happen, we will be prepared to ride it out with friends and neighbors,
bonded together with common purpose and presenting a united front. - Kathy
Harrison
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Lessons from Peru on Third World Living, by Tantalum Tom
I hope this can be useful to people who want a perspective into the Third
World way of life. I recently had the chance to interview two people from Peru.
One is a man who grew up in the Andes with no electricity, dirt floors, etc.
who worked his
way to becoming a geography and history teacher. The other is a former Peruvian
Special Forces soldier of 15 years. My mother in law's input is also dispersed
throughout this article. Although I have little respect for modern reporters,
I found out how difficult it can be to interview someone.
When I first started probing into the Peruvian way of life, I was shown a series
of photos, They were of the Geography teacher's family making cheese, so I
will start with that.
In the true Latino way, after I had asked him many times to get a copy of the
photos so I could post them, and many affirmative responses, he never sent
them. He said yes to my face so he wouldn't offend me by saying “no.” I'm
not offended, I can see why he wouldn't want 178,000 people looking at them,
and I know its the Latino way. This is definitely a cultural difference. I've
seen
this occurrence hundreds of times. The first picture was his brother
squatting (no stool) next to a cow milking it. The cow's hind legs were tied
together so it wouldn't kick. No stall. This
was in the open. He was wearing Yanqii rubber “tire tread” cut
mining belt sandals.
Cheese is made every single day. There is no refrigeration for the milk available.
This is how he explained to me the cheese making process. I am not a cheese
maker, so I don't know the accepted modern way to do this. In fact, neither
does this mans family. They just know their way that they've used for the last
five centuries or more, and it works. It makes what they call “queso
fresco” or
fresh cheese. I know of no American supermarket version except in heavily Latino
areas.
The daily labor of cheese making, not including the milking, is about a half
an hour.
The first thing that is done, is the coagulant needs to be prepared. This is
not included in the half-hour, as it is something that is already set up and
renewed easily each day.
These mountain people take a pigs stomach, wash it, sew up one end, then stuff
with green banana peel, cut up limes, and some kind of leaf he doesn't know
the name of, until it is big and round. The empty spaces between the solid
ingredients are filled with the whey from the last cheese they made, or water
to start a new batch. The other end of the stomach is sewn up, and they smoke
it above their crude indoor fire pit for 7 months. When it is really reeallllyyyy
sour, it is ready. Every time they remove some, they replace it with whey.
Rennet
is what is being extracted from the pig stomach. Slowly these people are switching
to rennet pills, so this
way is being lost. The imported German pills come from a pharmacy where you
can buy anything you can afford, antibiotics, hypodermic drugs & needles,
etc. with little restriction.
They take some of this mixture ( I believe about 1/2 to 1 cup) and mix it with
their milk in a plastic bucket. It looked like a two gallon bucket. I noticed
that one of the buckets formerly contained latex paint. Buckets are extremely
useful with innumerable uses. They pay about three dollars for a used bucket.
(that's a lot for subsistence
farmers) About 15 minutes later,
the milk has solidified. It is broken up with their hands into small chunks,
then patted down to the bottom gently. The whey stays on top. It can be saved
to drink, but usually discarded after refilling the pig stomach. After the
whey is discarded, the remains are placed in a deep tray and broken up again
by hand until it is soft small balls, salt is added during this step. Next
it is stuffed into a mold for a few days, then smoked over their cooking fire
to dry and cure for a few more days. Cheese made like this, according to one
who lived it, is good for at least six months with no refrigeration.
In the village, the people are extraordinarily tight knit. They are as unified
as unified can be. Everyone knows everyone. I estimate it was a community of
about 200. Everyone helps who needs it. If you need a house built, just stake
out an area, and make some food! It will be up in a few days. Building codes?
Huh? The roofs are covered with a fiber-cement corrugated sheeting. He was
very proud to have it. It must be better than tiles. (Tiles are so old fashioned)
Nobody will hurt you anywhere in town. His anecdote was “If you'd just
had a drink, and wanted to take a nap, you could just lay down anywhere and
nobody would bother you.” People there are honest and trustworthy. The
very unfortunate part is that the youth are loosing their values and morals.
I personally attribute this to the television that infected his community 13
years ago.
In his tiny town there was no electricity until 13 years ago. It is hydroelectric.
He claims it is extremely clean. He said gas driven generators are nearly non-existent
(maybe at some mines or other large industrial complex) Photovoltaic is extremely
rare. How can we expect the poorest to use the most expensive (per watt hour)
electricity generating technology? Even the western world has trouble affording
it! The electricity powers street lights--I counted seven--indoor lights,
and televisions.
I was told that quite often people have their guinea pig farms indoors, in their
living/cooking/eating quarters with its accompanying filth. They have public
outhouses. They dig their pits about 4m deep. This place is blessed with a source
of clean water. They have water from a fresh spring across a small valley and
up a hill. No pump is needed to get the water to the public spring head, all
gravity. If it wasn't for their spring, they'd be boiling everything. According
to this man, and a couple other people, a populace can become accustomed to fetid
horrible water, and not get sick. They say a daily occurrence is to see simultaneous
deification, dead animals (probably including human), clothes washing, bathing
and drinking all in the same river! Yuck! I don't know their definition of “sick” though.
Strange though as this is, I find it more odd that they only drink bottled water
here in New Jersey, because the “pipes aren't safe” to them.
They grow all their own produce. Anything left is donkey driven to the nearest
town up to three days travel away. Natural is normal there. You either get your
food
from
your own garden, or at an open air farmers market in your town. Most farming
is manual.
Big farms as well as small. Horses and cows will plow, but there aren't any/many
horse drawn machines. Lots of different sized shovels and hoes are used. Mechanization
with tractors is only near cities. Nearly everything is produced locally and
consumed locally. According to this one source, he believes that more is produced
by hand and locally than mechanized and transported. I tend to agree, given everything
I've heard also. Flies are natural too, right? They crawl all over, and people
don't have screens on their windows or doors. Ignorance is quite prevalent. Not
stupidity though, that's different.
This man clearly stated that if there ever were some collapse, his city of
birth
would be absolutely fine, and wouldn't even notice the difference.
I showed him how to get a copy of the book “Where There is No Doctor” he
was excited and will send one to his village health worker. I also steered him
to
the Third World
Reference Library web site, but alas, we found it is mostly in
a
foreign language to him. He did note that some of the Spanish language literature
was
published by his alma mater. He had one eye that
opened farther than the other... He has been through a lot.
Horrible inflation lasted 2-3 years before
the currency changed twice. People starved to death. More and more money available,
prices climbing daily. People
hoarded commodities for days to weeks speculating to get a higher price. Logic
aside, that is what happened. People who paid for round trip passage somewhere
were denied the return trip, it had become too expensive. Oops, stuck.
If you think water-boarding is torture, listen up. Peru had internal terrorists,
they have been extinct for many years. The Terrorists would cut down power
poles, block roads, kill and create, well, terror. The terrorists
wanted a socialistic government. Both the geography teacher and the special
forces soldier understand that socialism has been tried many times and in many
countries,
and it doesn't work. The Peruvian Army and Fuerza
de Operaciones Especiales (FOES) special forces would fight them. They would also retrieve information
from the enemy in creative ways,
for example, they would have a person stretched out tied to a pole, laying
horizontal,
suspended some distance above the ground, slowly rotating over a fire until
they decided they would part with sensitive information, etc. They would also
kill
anyone and everyone associated with, including family, friends and acquaintances
of known terrorists. It worked. They had been dormant for a long time. They
may be on the rise again though. (not sure) Peru is also still dealing with
this
extremely high collateral damage, and I'm not sure if it continues today.
I can find next to nothing about the FOES online, even on Peruvian Google,
except the Youtube videos he showed me. Look up in YouTube “Comandos
Peruanos” and “FOES
Peruano” if interested in more. To be in the FOES, one had to show their
valor. They showed it by ripping open live dogs and eating their hearts and
livers raw/living. Hand-grenade hot-potato is a popular party game. Having
someone shoot
a machine gun between you and your comrade too. They are trained in martial
arts, knife fighting, etc. I know my cousin, a SEAL,
told me that they only use their
knifes to open MREs.
This Peruvian guy used them for much, much more. (My cousin also told me that
push ups cannot be made into an aerobic activity,
I figured
he'd done enough to know, so I had asked him. “We're still human,” he
said.)
Yeah, that ain't Politically Correct, as my friend Karl would say.
This person also worked for private security firm. He laid out to me how their
system worked. Sorry, but all the titles are in Spanish so when I translate
them, they will sound weird.
The first guy is called “gerente de recursos huamnos” or
Human Resources director.
He's in charge of the whole company.
Next they have one “Jefe de Seguridad” Security Leader.
He's in charge of everything security.
Below him are “Inspectores de Seguridad” Security inspectors.
These people have a zone they are responsible for, and they dispatch and are
in charge of their “vigilantes de seguridad” Security guards.
The security guards have a “full ration of weapons and ammunition”.
They are not allowed full power arms. Short barrel semi-auto hand guns and
shot guns. I'm not sure If they also water down the powder charge or not, but
they
can not have full powered military style weapons. Again, this is private security,
so people pay for these services. There is lots of shooting going on by these
guys. Rich people have electronic security systems linked to these “vigilantes.” Electric
fences and walls topped with electrified wires are good deterrents. The voltage
and amperage varies on your preference in cooked flesh: Zapped, Shocked, Lethal
or Char. Broken glass topped compound walls seem to be a worldwide safety
measure. Bars across doors are normal.
The official police are part of the delinquent gangs congregating on the corners.
The police beat people and abuse them other ways.
Taxes in Peru.
This is confirmed with at least three sources of small businesses.
If you earn $1,000 in your business, you pay $20 taxes. (2%!) Wages are not
taxed.
Low low property taxes.
Everything in Peru is repaired many times before it is replaced. A guy with
two lathes and a mill can make it quite well re-boring motorcycle cylinders.
A new
car there costs a lot more than repairing everything and painting
and upholstering. Like $1,000 to refurbish a car, versus $15,000 new! If the
part
isn't
available at a store,
you go and get it made. This applies to industrial machinery, commercial, everything.
He gets it that its the system here [in the US] that prohibits the refurbishing
of anything.
If you own land, but do not develop it, the extra poor will come and squat
on it. They will build their shanty towns out of woven palm-like leaves into
walls,
and fill up your space. If someday you get tired of it, and want to get rid
of them, just call the police and they'll burn it down and drive the people
away. They'll come back, and you'll burn it down again, until one side gives
up.
The military also corrupt. This guy was ordered to remove thousands of
bullets from their casings and to sell the brass for some commander. In fact,
when the
military was in charge of the whole country, it was openly corrupt, and unstable.
This is the cause of Peru's continued Third World status. Government corruption
and instability. They have plenty of natural resources, oil and minerals, gold,
et cetera. This man told me “we take it out of the ground, and form it
into rough ingots, then send it somewhere where they know what to do with it.” So
they could have a fully functioning economy, but they don't.
I wish I knew what to do to keep that from happening here. Nobody has any (legal)
answers as for what to do, besides get ready and get far far away.
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Letter Re: Survival Gardening: Growing Food During a Second Great Depression
Hi Jim,
Regarding the recent article on Survival Gardening, another useful reference
is [the book] Gardening When it Counts; Growing Food in Hard Times,
by Steve Solomon, 2005, New Society Publishers.
This wonderful book is very practical and comprehensive. It contains ratings
regarding how difficult particular vegetables are to grow. Root systems, seed
quality and selection, homemade organic fertilizer, tool selection and care,
composting, irrigation, and pests and diseases are among the many topics covered.
The author has decades of experience in growing his own nutritious food, and
it shows. Reading this book can help one to avoid many gardening mistakes.
It is highly recommended. - Richard B.
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Letter Re: Victorian Era Farm Skills in the UK
James,
Thanks for your continued efforts in continuing to bring the right thinking to
a troubled world.
I have one heads up and one question that you might be able to help with.
1. Heads up : For UK-based readers (and those who have access to UK IP address)
you might like to point out to them a series currently running on BBC 2 : Victorian
Farm
To quote from the BBC site:
"Historical observational documentary series
following a team who live the life of Victorian farmers for a year. Wearing
period clothes and using only the
materials that would have been available in 1885, historian Ruth Goodman
and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn are going back in time to
relive
the day-to-day life of the Victorian farmer.
Working for a full calendar year, Ruth, Alex and Peter are rediscovering
a lost world of skills, crafts and knowledge assisted by an ever-dwindling
band
of experts
who keep Victorian rural practices alive."
Think the U- version of the Pioneer House series that showed in the
US a couple of years back. The first episode focused on ploughing and sowing
with
draft
animals, threshing, replastering the farmhouse , making cider and the trials
of cooking
on a coal fired range. The series is available via iPlayer on that site.
This series is useful inspiration to go out and trial grid-down skills. I believe the
farm, in Shropshire,
can also be visited.
« Two Letters Re: The Thin Blue Line |Main| Note from JWR: »
Survival Gardening: Growing Food During A Second Great Depression, by H.I.C.
By God’s grace I was born and raised on a small family farm. During the
1960s and 1970s we were trying to pay off a 340 acre corn and soybean farm
in northwestern Iowa and we were flat stinking broke. So we raised nearly all
of the food
to
support our family. This required a large garden (80ft x 120 ft), an even larger
truck patch (48 ft x 1,200 ft), a small fruit orchard (12 trees), livestock
(caves, sheep, hogs, and 300 laying hens).
With some of the best and most productive farm land in the entire world, with
better than 30 inches of precipitation, 165 frost free days, real farm tractors,
planters, and cultivation equipment it took us 20 ac to feed six people. That
breaks down
to a 1/2 acre garden, 1 acre truck [farming] patch, 8 acre pasture, and 10
acres for hay ground and animal
feed.
My point for you non-farmers out there, is that you are not going to feed yourself
with a Mantis tiller and 1,000 square feet of sandy dirt that requires you
to pump endless ground water irrigation just to keep your crops alive. If you
committed
enough
to surviving that you purchase over 20 firearms and 20,000 rounds of ammo (a
good start) I am suggesting that you need to consider a similar commitment
to growing food.
I do not discount the importance of purchasing and storing up bulk staples,
dried grain, canned goods, and freeze dried entrees, I have them as well. But
I am telling you straight out that if the economy tanks anything like the 1930s,
and I think it will last longer, you are going to run out of grub mighty early.
Now everyone has different skills, resources, and family commitments, but
let's consider some of the basic requirements for growing food:
Yearly precipitation
Up to a point, more is better. You typically need 12 inches to grow grass,
20 inches to grow trees, and 30 inches to grow corn. If you want to raise
a really big garden without irrigation you need about 8 inches per month
through
out the primary growing season (May-June-July-Aug). Except for a few areas
defined as microclimates I recommend that you consider living east of the
dry line (100th meridian, i.e. Wichita, Kansas). Rainfall beyond 12 inches
per month
or 48 inches total will only make it harder to control the weeds and bugs.
A maximum of 48 inches leaves out Louisiana, Florida, and the Coastal areas
of the deep south A good source of local area climate data is City-Data.com.
Frost free
growing season.
See these
maps at the NOAA web site. Anything less than 120 days severely limits
what you can grow. Remember that the folks scratching a living from the
Dakotas, Eastern Montana, and
most
of the Rocky Mountain States are not multi crop farmers, they are either
ranchers
or specialist who grow crops like hard winter wheat. Any climate with between
165 to 240 days is about perfect. This translates into south of the Dakotas
and North of Dallas, Texas. This is enough of a growing season for row
crops and all vegetables and allow a little wiggle room for getting every
thing planted
on time. In the south
you will be able to plant every thing directly in the garden, on the northern
edge
you will be starting many of your plants in a greenhouse. That said, starting
plants in a green house gives them an important jump start on weeds and bugs.
You should plan on one.
Microclimates
While I suggest that you should consider living in the mid-southern region
of the short grass prairie, there are a number of smaller areas that provide
the
basic conditions for productive farming. I suggest some fine areas such and
La Grande Oregon, Rathdrum, Idaho, Montrose, Colorado, where the local rainfall
and warmer
winters make favorable microclimates. The easiest method of evaluating an
area in the arid
west is to look for big commercial fruit orchards. If it grows both apples
and peaches the temperature extremes will be acceptable and if you can grow
fruit
without pumping ground water they must get enough rain. The reason that I
concentrate so heavily on living in an area with rainfall is that I anticipate
that no
matter what the trigger event (WMD terror
strike, economic crisis, destructive natural
event) we will not have enough electrical power or fuels to pump large volumes
of ground water for a really long time.
Soil productivity
Black, gray, brown, and even red soil is fine as long it is loam. This means
that it has organic particles (composted twigs, leaves, wood, bark, and stems)
to help hold the moisture and feed the worms, bugs, and microbes that make soil
really productive. Sand and gravel are fine structure but if you don’t
have the worms, bugs, and microbes to aerate the soil and fix atmospheric nitrogen
for the plants roots you will have to do this mechanically and ultimately you
will have to add nitrogen fertilizer. [JWR Adds: It is wise
to have the soil tested before making an offer on a retreat property. Soil testing
is usually available
at colleges and universities that have agriculture programs. You can also contact
your
local
NRCS
office
or USDA Extension
Office, and they can. provide information on soil testing
labs in your region.
Equipment
My whole family might be able to plant and cultivate 1/2 acre without equipment.
But I don’t plan to find out. For my own use I bought a 25 hp diesel
tractor and basic tillage, planting, and cultivating attachments. I also bought
an
old Ford 8N plus 4 attachments for under $2,000. A small tractor should only
burn
20 gallons per year tending a small garden and truck patch. Gas and diesel
may still be available
during a deep depression, it may even be cheaper, but I have 500 gal of stabilized
diesel in a farm tank.
Seeds, Fertilizer, Weed & Pest Control, and Livestock
Most folks have heard about Heirloom seeds. Plant varieties that will reseed
themselves true year after year. But just as important, livestock will allow
you continued farming success without access to petroleum based fertilizer,
weed, and pest control. I use a wheel hoe in the garden and a tractor mounted
cultivator
in the truck patch to kill weeds, but I would rather use sheep, goats, and
poultry to eat the seedling trees and weeds when I can. Livestock manure is
the ultimate
fertilizer and Poultry, particularly ducks, geese, and guinea hens will help
control the bugs and deliver the fertilizer at the same time. Personally, I
can not imagine trying to control weeds and bugs without my livestock.
Fences, Shelters, Ponds, and Trees
These are some common land improvements that are best built and planted before
the crunch. [With most common soils] an agricultural pond will not efficiently
seal and hold water for 2-3 years, fruit trees take 3-5 years to bear fruit
heavily,
and
my Pecan
grove
will likely
take 10 years if the deer and bugs will just leave it alone for a while. Building
these improvements is really not difficult unless you try to do it yourself
without power tools. I suggest that you build them now so you can borrow or
rent tractors
with PTO augers,
bulldozers, backhoes, cement mixers as needed.
Academic Classes and the Extension Service
Many community colleges and land grant university extension services offer
free information and classes to teach you to raise gardens, fruit, and livestock,
and how to store your produce using a home canner. I took a great class titled “backyard
food raising”. The skills needed to raise and store food are a lot like
the skill to shoot a gun or reload ammunition. You can’t just read about
it, you learn by doing.
Practice
Growing a garden is not like riding a bike. It is different for each area and
the weeds and bugs are scheming right now to eat you out of house and home.
I suggest that you start now and learn each new plant, animal, and pest while
you
can still buy food at the grocery store. While you can grow a lot the first
year, my experience is that it will take 3 years practice before you are confident
and fully successful
.
Some Useful References:
Homesteading, Gene Logsdon, 1973 Rodale Press
Basic Country Skills, Storey, 1999, Storey Publishing
Emergency Preparedness and Survival-Section 3, Jackie Clay, 2003, Backwoods
Home Magazine
Organic Orcharding, Gene Logsdon, 1981, Rodale Press
Introduction to Horticulture, Shry, Reiley, 2007, Thompson Delmar Learning
Backyard Fruits and Berries, Miranda Smith, 1994 Quarto Publishing
Animal Science, Ensminger, 1991, Interstate Publishers Inc.
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Letter Re: Preparedness Wisdom from The Foxfire Book Series
Dear Jim,
I just got my new (old) set of The Foxfire Books. I sat down and began to cruise
through the pages of the first one. What a wealth of information!
Then it happened. I turned over page 370 and there was a picture of Hillard
Green. He is almost 80, (the book was published in 1972) and here is what it
says, unbelievable:
Excerpt from the facing page: "The last time we visited him, he was busy peeling
tomatoes he had just gathered and scalded. He waved us in, put a fresh plug
of tobacco in his cheek, and
went on with his work chuckling as we got our camera ready.
'People'll look at those pictures,' he laughed, "and say, 'What
is that crazy old man a'doin'? You tell'em I'm puttin up 'maters for th' winter,
that's what. People might laugh at such stuff as this, but I'll tell y', I'm
not about t'let'em rot. And when you've got old, you're not a'goin't lay down
and die just because you're old. Feller's got t'have somethin' t'do. Well,
this is one of th'things I do, and I'm proud I can. Let'em laugh. I'll be eatin'
good this winter and laughin' back.'
The peeling process over, he next sliced and cored them, put them on to cook,
and began to heat the canning jars.
'Everyone ought t'learn how to do such as this. One a'these days, times
might get back hard again, and then what will they do? Nobody not knowin' how
t'do
nothin'. Might have t'live off th'land again, one day. We never had nothin'
fer th'winter only what we put up. What we put up was what we had. Goin't be
a lot of hungry people someday." - Northern Art
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Letter Re: Precipitation and Growing Season as Retreat Locale Criteria
Sir,
Regarding your Retreat
Areas recommendations: I grew up on a small multi-crop
and livestock farm in north western Iowa, with 24 inches of precipitation
and 180
frost free
days.
I have been living in California Eastern Sierra since 1982 , but soon will
be leaving.
I respectfully submit that your assessment of the agricultural capability
of many of the low precipitation/low humidity areas of the western US is vastly
overestimated. Western states such as Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico
are not farmable
by amateurs using conventional means available during any TEOTWAWKI scenario.
Obtaining water rights and controlling large scale irrigation is not some thing
you can learn after a crash. Northeastern Oregon, Southeastern Washington,
and the Snake River plain of Idaho are exceptions.
Your frost free growing season data [at state level over-generalizes] for
many states. For example, eastern Oklahoma has 200 - 220 [frost-free] days.
For the vast majority of readers, Interstate 90 should be their northern limit
if they wish to grow any more than a small garden and areas south of Interstate
80 would be preferred.
If you plan to grow enough row crops to feed yourself, or if you want to trade
with the local farmers, you will need an absolute minimum of 18 inches [of]
precipitation
(preferably during mid spring and summer) and 140 frost free days.
JWR Replies: I
have always recommended that readers do detailed study of micro-climates before
relocation. Start with the Gale Publishing Company book "The Climates
of the States" (in the reference section of many libraries), and
then do detailed climate and soil studies using data from the
NWS,
NRCS, and various online resources.
My general guidance is to avoid areas that require irrigation, with the exception
of the very few locales that have an end-to-end gravity fed irrigation
infrastructure in place. As I've mentioned many times, if and when the power
grids go down, many parts of the western US will quickly revert to desert.
Hence, my preference is for "reliable rain" or "dryland farming" regions--that
is, areas where crops can be reliably grown with regular spring and summer
rains. But here is the rub: Many of those regions are heavily populated and
might might not be safe in the event of a major societal disruption. So your
choices will be narrowed to ""a subset of a subset", if you
are looking for an ideal retreat local. There are just a handful
of places that
I consider ideal lightly-populated locales
for
retreat
self
sufficiency.
Two
notable ones
are
the Palouse Hills
region (straddling the border of eastern Washington and north-central Idaho),
and the Montpelier, Idaho region. So, taken together with other important criteria
like crime, taxes, gun laws, and so forth, it is no wonder that Idaho
is at the
very top of my list for retreat locales.
With the exception of the immediate
riparian tracts, I do not recommend Idaho's
Snake River Plain, because the
majority of the region depends on electrically-pumped irrigation water, much
of it from deep wells. When the grid
goes down, that area will revert to sagebrush. That, by the way is a clue
to remember: When
you are traveling in search of potential retreat properties, observe the
native vegetation on the non-irrigated hillsides. What you see is what you'll
get, when the grid goes down. Again, in much of the West, the only exceptions
will the
few and far-between places with end-to-end gravity fed irrigation. And
BTW, if you plan to live "in town" the same logic applies to municipal water
supplies. Very few of these are gravity fed from
end-to-end. (Ironically, the City and County of San
Francisco is one such locale. (Its water comes from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir,
high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. But given its population density, San
Francisco can hardly be recommended!)
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Letter Re: 2,000+ Antique Books on Farming Available on-Line
Good morning,
While shopping for an antique agriculture book, I found this
web site at Cornell University. It is a link to 2,047 antique agriculture
books online from Cornell University. Since I farm organically I like to read
how the farmers did it 100+ years ago
before cheap oil and John Deere tractors. I thought your readers might be interested.
- Adam in Ohio
JWR Replies: I must add this proviso: Keep
in mind that 19th Century safety standards were considerably more relaxed
than
today's, so old formularies and "farm knowledge" books often do
not include any safety warnings. Use common sense around chemicals, flammables,
unwarded gears and cutting blades, heavy objects, and so forth. Stay
safe.
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On Livestock and Self Sufficiency by TAS
Most of the readers of Survival Blog agree on at least the distinct possibility,
if not the absolute certainty, of a collapse. This may come in a variety of
forms - flu pandemic, economic depression, or an EMP attack are likely scenarios.
Regardless of the form, the result will be very similar and our concerns are
as well: How do we protect ourselves and our families and provide a living?
While stocking up on beans, bullets, and band-aids is the initial response,
further preparation encourages us to find a defensible, as well as productive
retreat. But then what? So you have your retreat (or not), you’ve stocked
up on seeds and a food mill, and “the event” actually comes. Are
you prepared to provide for yourself when the food runs out or if society never
returns to “normal”?
My family and I got a crash course in self-sufficient farming when my husband
left the Air Force to fulfill my life-long dream (and eventually his, as well)
of returning to the farming lifestyle of my youth. We made the highly idealistic
decision to get out, not get a job, and learn how to make it. I might add,
the farm of my youth was not a self-sufficient farm, so we had a pretty steep
learning curve. And there is a lot to learn. When you have an established farm
and have gained experience, pneumonia sweeping through your cattle herd would
be a problem, but not insurmountable. Butchering chickens will no longer be
an intimidating production. Reserves or other income will make poor beef prices
a disappointment, rather than enough to drive you out of the business. It is
vitally important you learn the skills necessary to provide for your family
now, not when your survival depends on it.
The first thing you need to do is stop saving all your seeds, and plant them!
(Keep enough in reserve in the likely case you are not able to harvest all
your own seeds from your first gardens.) Even if you are in the city or suburbs,
convert much of your manicured lawn to a garden. Without a lawn, there is still
the option of container gardening and community gardens. There is a lot to
learn about gardening, and even the most experienced gardeners are learning
new things and still having unexplained crop failures. Square-Foot Gardening,
by Mel Bartholomew is an excellent resource. Master Gardeners at your local
County Extension Office, as well as free publications offered there, will give
specific recommendations for your area. The most important thing, in my experience,
is to get out there and weed and water, and harvest when the time comes. We
are all busy, but consider it therapeutic, or part of your homeschooling curriculum,
or family quality time.
So now you have your harvest, and no one can eat as much zucchini as your garden
was kind enough to provide you. Even if you haven’t been able to grow
your own, buy bulk produce and practice putting it up yourself. Save up, and
invest in the equipment you need to preserve your harvest. It could be a freezer,
which although not viable for long term if the grid goes down, is great for
now. We have zucchini bread in January. Lehman’s is a great resource
for food preservation equipment, but Wal-mart has all your basic canning materials,
as well. Canning was very intimidating for me, but in the long run, it is not
as difficult as I believed. Get a book, read it, but then do it. Head knowledge
is never the same as actually gaining the skill by doing it. A pressure canner
is next on our list, in order to preserve meat and vegetables safely, in case
we lose our freezer.
Next, of course, is livestock and larger-scale farming. Many may feel this
is not an option because of your location. The
Memsahib has already written
in great detail about keeping rabbits, both in town and in the country. Bees
are a great option for in town, and in many locations, chickens are legal,
also.
Both bees
and
chickens
will be helpful in your gardening endeavors. Chickens are great for eating
garden pests; just make sure your plants are mature enough to withstand their
scratching, and fence them out when your tomatoes and zucchini are mature if
you want to get any!
As for location, is it really necessary to live in town? For some, it may certainly
be. For others, you may need to consider it. Jim is an advocate for moving
to your retreat, so I won’t belabor the point. If you’re there,
you should be taking advantage of it. While there may be little time for full-scale
farming, you must do a little on the side to learn the skills before your life
depends on it. And if you don’t have a retreat, consider other options.
Is a local farmer or rancher willing to lease you a few acres to put some animals
on or grow some wheat? We have chosen to rent a small place with less than
10 acres to hone our skills on. The house leaves a lot to be desired, and we
could be living in a nicer place in town, but this was the trade-off we made.
Once you have found your few acres, work it as efficiently as you can. We enjoy
the books Country Life by Paul Heiney (unfortunately out of print; try your
library) and Guide to Self-Sufficient Living by John Seymour for getting the
most out of your acreage. Country Life is more of a motivator/idea provoker,
whereas Seymour’s book is more “how-to”. And, of course,
a must-have is Carla Emery’s Encyclopedia of Country Living, which is
extremely detailed on the many subjects it covers. You Can Farm by Joel Salatin,
while less self-sufficiency, is a fantastic book about farming, and getting
the most out of your land, while putting the most into it. There are many examples
where we are putting this into practice. What follows are what we have chosen,
but the opportunities are diverse to becoming more self-sufficient. Research
and choose what works according to your preferences and situation.
An easy choice was chickens. They provide eggs, meat, and several other services
to improve our situation. Although there are different thoughts on this, we
are still free-ranging our chickens until avian flu becomes more of a localized
threat. They get plenty of protein from insects, the eggs are more nutritious
due to the chicken’s high chlorophyll intake, they manage the horse and
pig manure in the pastures by scratching through it, and all of this saves
on feed costs for us. In addition, they keep down insects in the garden. In
spring, we will hatch our own eggs. We could easily buy chicks, but believe
hatching our own eggs is a skill to learn now, before we need to do so.
Our sow grazes out with our horses. Her grazing saving us feed costs, and if
pigs are allowed to root, they don’t need minerals. It is not cost-efficient
for us to keep a boar for only one sow, so we have learned how to artificially
inseminate. In TEOTWAWKI, that will likely not be an option, but we pray by
that time we will have enough land to keep a boar, as well as more sows. Not
only are we gaining experience raising hogs, but are able to provide ourselves
and extended family pork which is vegetarian-fed and antibiotic-free which
we would otherwise be unable to afford. Also in the spring, we will turn part
of our horse pasture (not that great, anyway) into a corn patch so we can at
least supplement our pig and chicken feed. I have spent the last week digging
up my last garden, and mixing all the great manure our animals have been kind
enough to provide into it.
For a small acreage, hand tools are sufficient, although hard work. Although
we have not expanded yet into growing our own grain, we stock up on tools as
we can find them and afford them, and practice with them. We also have a team
of Belgian Cross yearlings (from the mares we owned during our farming experiment),
although I would recommend anyone new to horse farming buy an experienced team
and get training. Doc Hammill
in Deer Lodge, Montana provides
numerous clinics as well as videos, and is very reputable. My husband will
attend training next year to help start our colts right. Lynn R. Miller, also
the editor of Small Farmer’s Journal, has several books which are great
resources. Right now, the colts are hay burners, but we enjoy them. Since our
goal is to have a large enough acreage to necessitate horses, we will keep
them. Unlike tractors, you have to feed horses even when they are not working,
but they can help make their own feed. And unlike tractors, they can make more
of themselves when they wear out. They are also future transportation, if needed.
Next on our list will be to acquire a dairy animal. We have postponed this
because of the time commitment involved and the requirement of daily milking.
But we feel this is an important addition (especially considering the price
of milk and the amount we go through!). Beyond teaching us the skills needed
for keeping a dairy animal and providing artificial hormone-free milk, this
will allow us the opportunity to learn to make butter and eventually, cheese.
In addition, a milk cow’s calf will provide us with beef and extra milk
will augment pig and chicken feed. Dairy goats are a better option for many
people and deserve serious consideration.
I am not going to mislead you - this is a lot of work and money, too (although
providing your own food saves money in the long run). My husband works a full-time
job, while I homeschool our young, growing family, and we do a lot of things
ourselves in the interest of saving money (cloth diapers, clotheslines, wood
heat). That doesn’t give much time for self-sufficient farming, but we
feel truly worth the current sacrifice. The argument I am making here is that
there are a lot of skills that many used to know, that now nearly no one knows,
and they are not that easy to learn! It has been a humbling experience for
both my husband and I (a born perfectionist), who were successful in our careers,
school, etc., to find we couldn’t do much of a practical nature! I prefer
to learn now, rather than when my family’s survival depends on it. And
we have a resource that many people in our society overlook - children. Children
require a lot of love and care, but they do not require nonstop playtime. Our
children are learning skills and do chores as their age and ability allow.
I pray they will be much more skilled than we are. They are a force multiplier,
particularly if you find something in which they are interested. Mom and Dad
can’t be an expert in everything. For example, my #1 daughter wants to
learn to spin yarn. So our plan is for her to become the resident sheep expert
as well as the expert in yarn production.
Although it may be difficult to learn and find the time for, the ability to
provide for yourself provides incredible rewards. If we should need to return
to a less technologically “advanced” society, many people will
not have the knowledge, skills, and determination to do so. A few forward-thinkers
will. Which do you want to be?
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Two Letters Re: Gardening and Seed Saving, by Carolyn W.
Dear JWR
The article by Carolyn W. on gardening and seed saving was fantastic. Having
gardened all my life (60+) and converted to open pollinated seed at the urging
of the Holy Spirit in 1992 I know that she has covered this subject very, very
well. The one problem for most just now starting is that it will take time
to learn all that is necessary to put food on the table. When I first started
to grow tomatoes from seed it took me three years to be successful. I pray
that others learning curve will be much shorter. Get and read the books and
seed
catalogs she has recommended. I have used the same sources and can tell you
the info is priceless. I will add a book that will help on companion planting
called "Carrots Love Tomatoes" is top of the line. It will also help
when you plant properly to help keep bugs away from some plants, therefore
less need to have supplies to spray or dust plants with. The only other book
that I recommend on savings seed is called "Saving Seeds" by
Marc Rodgers. One thing to also remember is that if you have to bug out say
in September
it will be almost a full year before you will have crops to store for the next
winter, depending on your location. One other item that could be of interest
to some is that Lehman's has pressure canners that don't require a rubber gasket.
We have used ours for years and have never had a problem with it.
As to gun and magazine storage a friend of mine has suggested that after
normal cleaning you could vacuum pack with a packet of silica gel desiccant.
This
works well for food so will it also work well for guns, etc? Because you can
get the rolls and make the bags to any length this will also work for long
guns. - John M. in Ohio
JWR Replies: To prevent rust in a high-humidity climate,
applying a vacuum
isn't necessary, but the silica gel and a good seal are necessary.
The silica gel will almost immediately
absorb
any
air moisture inside a well-sealed container. It doesn't hurt to vacuum pack
most firearms items, with the with the notable exception of
ammunition, because it can actually unseat bullets with a strong vacuum!
And, BTW, vacuum packing is a bad idea for storing gardening seed, which needs
oxygen to survive.
Jim
A couple of additions to the article on Gardening and Seed Saving: At one
time I had the largest organic produce gardens in N. Ohio. I grew hundreds
of varieties of vegetables. I also grew specifically for commercial seed production
and sale.
Concerning soil preparation: If you are creating a new garden, I recommend
you first carefully observe the strength, color, type and vitality of the existing
ground cover. If the grass or "weeds" are doing poorly, or if they
are of poor varieties, you will almost certainly need to do quite a bit of
soil amendment to produce a fit garden in the same spot. If the existing cover
is healthy, the soil is in better condition and your garden will likely also
do better. Being a careful observer of everything you do, can make life much
easier.
For gardening in hilly country, if you have a choice, always try to
choose a south facing hill side or slope. By planting your garden facing south,
you can extend the growing season significantly. Planting on a north hill will
shorten it. ...Actually this holds true for your whole farm. It is much better
to spend a bit more money to buy a farm that is on the south side of a ridge
than if it is on the north. With the increase in the sun that a south slope
gathers, your crops will likely be much better than your neighbors. Even your
winter heating bills will be reduced. Also, when planting your garden, try
to plant the rows on a east/west axis. That way, the plants won't shade each
other so much, and they will each catch more sun.
When it comes to tillage, the "traditional", and often used, mold
board plow was originally developed to "bust " the very heavy grasses
of the western plains. A major problem with using one for "everyday" plowing,
is that the bottom of the plow is flat. Every time you use that type of plow,
it packs the soil beneath it tighter and tighter. Eventually, you will create
a hard packed wall, or hard pan, that plant roots and water will have a hard
time penetrating. Unfortunately, using a rototiller has much the same effect.
Unless you yearly adjust and change the depth that the rotating blades dig,
you will again create a hard pan.
It you are going to mechanically till your soil, a simple solution, that I
highly recommend, is to use a subsoiler. It is essentially a long stake or
bar that digs straight down into the ground, 12 to 24 inches. It is either
wheel mounted or attaches to the rear of your tractor by 3-point hitch. It
doesn't turn over the soil. It just loosens the ground down deep as you pull
it along,
so roots can go deeper seeking water and nutrients. You can find a great deal
of info., and pictures, about subsoilers by simply searching with a search
engine for "subsoiler".
Concerning choosing seeds: It has been my experience that you should never
buy hybrids if you want to save seed. It's just too chancy. I suppose a hybrid
could come back true the next year, but I've never had it happen. One experiment
I did was to save the seeds from a lovely big red tomato. The next year, those
seeds produced a red cherry tomato. The third year, the "cherry" seeds
produced a yellow cherry tomato. I had finally grown the seed back to it's
original seed stock. --A yellow cherry tomato is good, but it's not the same
as a big red "beefsteak". Another problem with hybrid seeds is that
some companies are producing seed that will grow a plant, but will not produce
any viable seeds at all. (If you can't save their seed, you have to buy from
them, and they keep their profit.) I suggest you always start with heritage
seeds, then you'll know what you will get.
Another concern with seed saving is that if you plant two or more types of
a given vegetable within a 1/4 mile of each other, they may cross. Your heritage
seeds just became a hybrid. And, at the least, you've lost a different flavor
in your diet. A simple solution is to keep at least three varieties of each
vegetable. Then plant just one every year. Most seed will stay viable for three
years, so by rotating your crops, you don't have to worry about crossing your
seeds. Another way to safe guard your diversity, is to choose plants with markedly
different maturity times, so that they are never flowering at the same time.
Also, remember, storing seeds isn't just for gardens. You may also want seed
for planting field corn, oats, wheat and soy beans, if things get really interesting
in the world.
Good Luck with your gardens. And don't wait for Spring. Winter is one of the
busiest times of the garden year. You have lots of books and knowledge to gather,
catalogs to ponder and seed to order. If you wait for April, you're already
too late. - Jim Fry, Curator, Museum of Western Reserve Farms & Equipment
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Gardening and Seed Saving, by Carolyn W.
I see some people making choices that concern me because these choices may
cause them problems if they really have to survive on the food supplies that
they have stored for TEOTWAWKI. I am no great expert, but my husband and
I have been concerned about the possibilities of having an economic disruption
since the early 1970s when a friend let us borrow some tapes by Robert
Preston. We have learned quite a bit, but still have a long way to go. If this article
can
at least
encourage
people
to actually
try
to grow
a garden
and save seeds from one or two plant varieties this summer then I will feel
that the time spent writing this article will be well spent.
I see some people writing to this blog saying that they have their MREs stored
and it sounds like they figure the food supply is taken care of. Please look
at the MRE packages and notice the sodium content. It is usually fairly high.
Eating several meals per day with a high sodium content may not be good for
your health. Also the day will come when the last MRE has been eaten and another
food source will need to be found.
I also see people buy a #10 can of seeds for their survival storage program.
They may even have had these cans since the Y2K scare
so that the seeds are nine or ten years old. Onion and parsnip seeds are only
good for about two
years. After that their germination rate declines rapidly. Many other seeds
will be viable for 4-6 years depending on how they are stored and the type
of seed. Yes, I know Egyptian wheat grows after hundreds of years in storage,
but I do not have their storage methods. Potatoes and garlic need to be grown
each
year.
A few other considerations to think about would be: are the seeds in the can
right for your soil and length of growing season where they will be grown?
Will the seeds grow foods that you are used to eating? Will your growing season
be long enough for the plant to mature not just to produce food but go on to
produce ripened seed? Have enough seeds been stored to grow gardens for several
years in case of crop failure?
Finally I wonder if lack of experience will be a problem when it comes to growing
a garden for food and seed. I have been growing a garden for close to 35 years
that is large enough to put potatoes, beets, carrots, and cabbage in the root
cellar and canned vegetables in the pantry. I have saved seed from lettuce,
beans, peas, tomatoes, parsnips, beets, and squash, but even with this experience
I am not sure I would be ready to survive without the ability to purchase items
from outside sources. Let me encourage you to try following some of the procedures
I outline in the rest of this article and learn some new skills that may be
useful to you and your family in the future.
Gardening is a skill that is best
learned by doing it.
Soil and Growing Conditions
Different areas of the country have very different growing conditions. When
we lived near Los Angeles I had a small backyard garden all year long. Tomatoes
and zucchini grew in the summer, while broccoli and onions were grown during
the winter. The length of our growing season changed dramatically when we moved
to a northern state. In this location our frost free time period is from the
beginning of June to the middle of September. The winter temperatures can get
to -35 degrees which puts us in a zone 4 for hardiness. This is important to
know because it tells me that I need to order seeds with a shorter growing
season, onions that like longer hours of daylight which occur in the northern
areas of the USA, and fruit trees that can withstand - 35 degrees during the
winters. Most seed catalogues have maps of the USA with colors that show the
hardiness in each zone.
I have had soil tests done through the local Agriculture Extension Agent. I
know that the soil is some what base rather than acid, it has a bit if a salt
content, and tends to be more clay rather than sand. With this information
I know that I do not want to add wood ashes to the soil which would make it
even more base. Instead I add manure, gypsum, sulphur, grass clippings, leaves
and as much garden wastes as I have. I do not have time for the cute little
composting devices. I do what is called sheet composting which means spread
it over the garden area and let it rot over the winter then till it in when
spring comes. This has the added benefit of holding the soil in place over
the winter. Since I plan to eat what I grow I do try to grow as organic as
I can, but I do use commercial fertilizer and a few other products to help
me get a crop worth all of my time and effort. During the first few years of
gardening in a new area the preparation of the soil will be most critical.
Through improving the soil a better crops will result. If you are planning
to garden in a very large area you need a way to till up the soil. Spring can
be a very busy time so digging up the soil by hand would not be a very good
choice. We have a four foot rototiller on the back of our 20 horsepower garden
tractor. I also have a small Mantis tiller to help with smaller areas and weeding
between the rows.
Choosing Seeds
Saving seeds from every variety grown in the garden each year may not be a
realistic goal for a beginning seed saver. Most seeds will be viable for several
years. A better goal might to choose a few varieties of seed to save successfully,
thus gaining experience and confidence as the years of gardening go along.
If open pollinated seeds, which are sometimes referred to as Heirloom seeds,
are chosen as part of a storage program they will breed true to the parents.
In most seed catalogues the hybrids will usually have an F1 after the name
of the plant indicating that they are hybrid. Being a hybrid does not make
the seeds bad, it is just means that two different varieties were crossed to
create the hybrid seed. This is often done to create a plant that will grow
more vigorously. When seeds from the hybrids are grown in later years the offspring
will have some variations, but they will grow plants. For some crops that are
prone to inbreeding depression a few different traits may even be a good thing.
This is a topic that might be worth some study.
Some of the time I choose seeds that I know will produce plants with specific
characteristics such as store for a long time. Some onions taste great because
they are sweet and mild, but they do not store well and I want to have food
to eat after the long winter and into the next spring. Therefore I choose onion
seed that says that it is for a storage onion. Seeds
of Change sells seed for
Nutri-Bud Broccoli that was bred to have a higher nutrient content which may
make this variety worth choosing. Lutz Green Leaf beets are an old time variety
that grow very large red table beets and as an added bonus the leaves are as
good to eat as Swiss chard. These beets also keep in my root cellar until early
March. Seeds that mature quickly in the cool spring temperatures are also desirable.
Seeds of this type would be spinach and Hakurei Turnips which take 38 days
to mature.
I have grown cabbage for enough years to know that the early varieties will
not last in the garden until the end of the growing season, so I only grow
enough to eat right away in the summer or use for making sauerkraut. Many of
the large late green varieties seem to attract pests such as aphids and green
cabbage worms. In my garden the later types of Red cabbage grow without much
trouble and store very well in my root cellar. A good book that may help you
decide which variety of vegetable to grow for winter storage is Mike and Nancy
Bubel’s Root Cellaring Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables.
Get several seed catalogues and read up on what the different varieties have
to offer. I often order from the following companies: R.H
Shumway, Vessey's,
and Johnny Seeds. These companies seem to carry varieties that grow
well in my shorter season.
Starting Seedlings
Some seeds need to be started indoors before the ground is warm enough for
them to grow, or because their growing season is too long for my climate. One
of the first things that I plant is onions seeds in a container. They can be
planted where I live in early March. By March the days are starting to get
longer, and we usually are finished with the bitter below zero cold weather.
I have an unheated greenhouse that gives some protection to the plants. I will
start enough seed to have about 40 onions that will be saved to produce seed
and more onions to eat over the coming winter. About 2 months before I plant
the garden I start the peppers and tomatoes. Since I can eat the vegetables
that they produce and save seeds from the same plant I do not need to grow
many extra plants for seed saving.
About four weeks before the planting of the garden I start seeds for cabbage
and broccoli. If I plan to save seeds from cabbage I need to know that it is
a biennial like the onions it will not produce seed until the second year.
The cabbage will need to grow this year, be dug up roots and all, stored in
the root cellar at about 40 degrees where the roots can be kept damp. Next
spring I will plant the cabbages in the garden again. An X will be cut in the
top of each head of cabbage to allow the three to five foot stalk to emerge
and produce seed. I also need to know that it can be cross pollinated by other
members of the cabbage family which include broccoli and cauliflower. Another
small bit of information that might be helpful is that you may need to grow
20 to 40 plants for the seed to maintain genetic diversity and avoid inbreeding
depression. Some good books on this subject are Suzanne Ashworth’s Seed
to Seed which is very readable for the person who is beginning to learn about
saving seed. Another resource is Carol Deppe’s Breed Your Own Vegetable
Varieties which has more technical information. The cabbage that is grown for
seed will not be available for food therefore I need a few more plants to eat
this year. So lets say that I grow a minimum of 30 plants and hope that they
all survive and mature. Each plant will require about a square yard of garden
space. Thirty square yards of land just for cabbage. The books say that you
need to grow 100 to 200 corn plants to maintain genetic diversity plus the
corn that I plan to eat. This is getting to be a really big garden to weed
and care for!
Now that I have decided how many seedlings I need to grow of each vegetable
I can start to think about the soil, water, and sunlight that the seedlings
will require to mature into healthy plants. I have found that regular garden
soil is too heavy for the seeds to be started in. Regular soil may also have
damp off disease which will kill the young sprouts. Some years I have tried
to save money by using less expensive potting soil, but the young plants did
not grow as well. Now I buy large bags of Miracle Gro potting soil at Costco
in the spring and life is good. What I will do when I can no longer get this
potting soil will be a future learning experience.
I start my tomatoes and peppers in trays on my kitchen table because the greenhouse
is still cold at night in April. As soon as the little sprouts are up I take
then outside during the day to get sunlight so that they will be strong enough
to be planted outside when the time comes. As the little plants grow I often
repot them to larger containers so that they do not become root bound and stunted.
Each time that the plants are repotted they take up more space. Thirty cabbage
plants, the trays of onions, along with the broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes,
and peppers take up a lot of space. As the weather becomes warmer at night
I move the seedlings out to the greenhouse permanently. Shane Smith’s
book Greenhouse Companion is a good resource for more information
on using greenhouses. I have purchased greenhouse supplies from CharleysGreenhouse.com and TekSupply.com.
Season Extending Techniques
Over the years that I have gardened in my short season location I have actively
experimented with various methods that would extent the length of my 3-1/2
month growing season. One of my favorite season extenders is a cold frame.
It is a box with hinged lids and has an open bottom. The cold frame is set
on top of well prepared garden soil and anchored down so that the wind does
not blow it away. Can you tell that the last advice is the voice of experience
speaking? I usually set my cold frame out in the garden by mid-March and let
it warm the soil for a couple of weeks. When my soil thermometer reads 45-50
degrees in the morning I plant cool weather crops. By cool weather crops I
mean leaf lettuce, spinach, onions, beets, carrots, radishes, Swiss chard,
turnips, peas, and a few others. A word of caution: even though the outside
temperature may still feel chilly heat can build up in the cold frame on a
sunny day to the point of cooking the young plants. A cold frame needs to have
one of the lids opened a bit to vent the heat and closed again as the day cools.
I am not always home to do this. Therefore I found a solution which is the
Univent Controller. It is a solar powered unit that will automatically open
a cold frame lid when the temperature reaches between 60 and 70 degrees and
close the lid as temperatures cool. I have seen the Univent Controllers for
sale by CharleysGreenhouse.com and TekSupply.com. Both companies also have
cold frames for sale with aluminum frames and twin wall polycarbonate glazing.
A cold frame can also be used to extend the growing season into the fall. Often
the carrots I grow during the summer are not very sweet and mature too early
to store in the root cellar. As a result, I have been marking off a patch of
the garden that is the same size as my cold frame. I make sure this is in an
area with deep, well dug, weed free soil, and plant carrots in the middle of
July. When the cold weather arrives in September I put the cold frame over
the carrots and they continue to grow until mid-November. By then the cooler
weather conditions have made the carrots noticeably sweeter and the root cellar
is cool enough to store the carrots for several months.
In Spring I have used the Agribon garden cloths over curved wire supports to
form mini greenhouses, These can be used to harden off young plants before
they are planted in the garden or protect early plantings. Agribon comes in
several weights. The heavier weights can be used for frost protection, and
light weights can be used for insect control as floating row covers.
I have found some pup tent shaped cold frames made by FlowerHouses.com that are self supporting with net covered vents. I have used mine for four
years and so far it is still in very good condition. These structures are tall
enough to be put over Brussels sprouts in the fall and keep them growing until
Thanksgiving.
Even things like placing bales of straw on the north side of plants allows
warmth to build up in the soil faster. After I have planted the young plants
that I have started from seed I usually cover them with empty plastic gallon
milk jugs that have had the bottom cut away and the lid removed. The milk jug
can be placed over the young plant and dirt scraped up against the sides of
the milk jug to keep it from blowing away. The soil also provides more insulation.
By the time that the plant grows to fill the milk jug the weather has warmed
up. I try to remove the milk jugs on a day that is a bit cloudy to give the
plants a day to adapt. The milk jugs can have a string threaded through their
handles and hung out of the sunlight for use next year.
A couple of books that I have found useful are Eliot Coleman’s The
New Organic Grower and The New Organic Grower’s Four-Season Harvest. Lewis
Hill’s book Cold-Climate Gardening is also very useful.
Planting
the Garden
Every seed packet and most gardening books tell you how to plant the garden
so I will merely make a few comments about things that have been helpful to
me. I do keep a spiral notebook journal to record information about the garden.
I draw a simple map of where I plant each vegetable so I can rotate crops in
a progression that takes three or four years to complete. I also record the
dates that I start seeds indoors and plant seeds in the garden. I also notice
and record whether these dates should be moved for better results. After a
few years there is no need to guess when to plant each crop. I have learned
that even with my short growing season I can plant one block consisting of
three rows of corn by the end of May and plant another block of the same variety
three weeks later. This extends the length of time I have fresh corn on the
cob and I do not have to can all of the corn in a short period of time.
When I am planting the seeds I have learned to leave more space between rows
than I think is needed. One yard of space between rows of corn, potatoes and
at least a yard between tomato plants will be filled up by the end of the summer.
After the plants come up do not be timid about thinning the plants to the proper
spacing. If this task is neglected plants will not mature to the proper size.
Dropping a few radish seeds in the row when planting carrots or Swiss chard
will help mark the location of the row for weeding purposes. Both carrots and
chard are slow to sprout. This is a form of companion planting which is discussed
in greater detail in the Rodale Publishing book Successful Organic Gardening.
Gardening Companion
Crop Planting
When the potatoes are 6-8”tall I hoe the weeds one last time and cover
the whole area where they are being grown with a thick covering of old alfalfa
hay. The hay mulch will deter the weeds for the rest of the summer, and it
keeps the potatoes that grow near the surface from turning green. The green
parts of potatoes have the same chemicals that are in the plant’s stems
and leaves. These chemicals are not good for people to eat. After the potatoes
are dug up at the end of the summer the hay mulch is tilled into the soil.
One of the things that I still need to learn is how to grow new seed potatoes.
I have planted potatoes that grew in my garden for several years, but after
2-4 years they do not sprout or produce as well as they should.
The first year that a garden is grown in a new location the crops may be hard
hit by the local insects until a way to control them is found. I have trouble
with a few bugs on a yearly basis. I try to deal with them in an organic way
because I know that I will be eating what is grown in my garden. I use Bull’s-Eye
Bioinsecticide form GardensAlive.com for cabbage worms and a Rotenone/Pyrethrins
spray for Colorado Potato Beetles. Both products are organic and can be used
with in a day of harvest. For aphids I use Concern Multi-Purpose Insect Killer
with Pyrethrins as the main ingredient. This is ordered from Woodstream company
at 1-800-800-1819. I am very satisfied with the results from these products.
Depending on where a garden is located plans may need to be made to keep animals
out. A tall fence will hold some animals out. We also use an electric fence
around the sweet corn to discourage raccoons.
Storing the Vegetable Harvest
By late summer all of the hard work and planning have paid off producing a
lush garden with a bountiful harvest which needs to be preserved in some way
for the coming winter. There are many ways of doing this such as freezing,
canning, pickling, dehydrating, and root cellaring. All of these methods have
advantages and disadvantages, but most of them require some kind of equipment
and as always practiced skill.
Freezing is quick and easy. Peppers can be frozen after they have had the stem
and seeds removed. I chop peppers up either by hand or using a food processor
and put them in zip lock bags before freezing. Other vegetables should be blanched
which means cooked in a basket over boiling water for 5-8 minutes depending
on the type of vegetable. Freezing depends on a steady supply of electricity.
Food stored in this manner should be eaten with in a year or at most two. Having
enough freezer space for a whole garden might be costly.
Canned vegetables will store longer that frozen ones. A kettle for hot water
bath canning of high acid foods such as fruit and pickles is needed. A pressure
canner is a requirement for canning low acid foods such as corn, beans, peas,
beets, pumpkin, some tomatoes, and meat. Using a pressure canner is the best
way to eliminate most of the chance of food poisoning. Having to deal with
Botulism poisoning is not something to risk. When a pressure canner is purchased
there should be a booklet giving instructions on how to use it. Ball and Kerr
canning lid companies sell booklets with detailed directions for canning foods
safely. I have seen these books for sale on Amazon. After a few years of use
a pressure canner will need a new rubber gasket that fits in the rim of the
lid. Sometimes these need to be ordered from the manufacturer a few weeks ahead
of time. Canning lids have become harder to find and more expensive with fewer
people involved in home canning. The best price I could find this past summer
was $1.41 for a dozen regular size lids at Wal-Mart. They did not have wide
mouth lids at the store where I shop. Stores usually only carry canning supplies
from mid-summer through early fall. Real canning jars are safer to use than
empty glass mayonnaise jars which are not made as heavy and now often are plastic.
Sometimes canning jars are sold at yard sales. Be sure to check the rim around
the opening of the jar. Chips out of the glass rim will prevent the lid from
forming a vacuum seal. My voice of experience wants to say that glass top cooking
stoves may not be built to hold the weight of a loaded pressure canner. The
glass cooking surface can crack and are expensive to replace. Some of the modern
electric burners on stoves do not heat up as hot or as quickly as needed for
an efficient canning process. An older second hand stove can be wired to operate
in the garage just outside of the kitchen door. This has the added benefit
of keeping the heat out of the hot summer kitchen. With 30-40 minutes for a
canner filled with seven quart jars of corn to heat up, 85 minutes processing
time, and 30-40 minutes cool down time that is a lot of heat in the kitchen.
Dehydrating can be used for some foods such as herbs, jerky, and fruit leather.
Other foods that are dehydrated will be changed by the process and will be
best used in soups and casseroles. Plans for building your own dehydrator are
available in many books. There are also commercial units available.
Many bulky foods such as potatoes, beets, carrots, and cabbage will store for
quite a period of time if they can be kept a little cool. This is why a root
cellar can be a good choice. Onions, garlic, and winter squash like temperatures
between 45 and 50 degrees. A cool basement pantry where canned food is stored
would be a good choice for them. Check them on a regular basis for spoilage.
The saying “One bad apple spoils the barrel,” is true for all root
cellared vegetables. There are many plans for all sorts of root cellars available
in books. About eight years ago we decided that it was time to build a legitimate
root cellar that had most of the qualities my husband and I had read about.
A 12 x 12 foot hole was dug 8 feet deep. The forms for pouring the cement were
prefabricated from Styrofoam and reinforcing materials. They were called Logix
Blocks which are commonly used for home construction in our area. These Styrofoam
forms are left in place after the cement has been poured. The advantage of
this type of material is that cold from the surrounding soil will not be transmitted
through the cement into the root cellar. A small well insulated steel building
was constructed above the foundation. We even glued a layer of [foam] insulation
to the inside of the door.
The floor of the root cellar is dirt covered with gravel which allows
humidity to be higher and keeps the vegetables edible for a longer time. A
large vent was placed in the roof to allow the rising heat to escape. The vent
can be plugged up during very cold below zero weather. In the west wall a hole
was drilled for a four inch plastic pipe which makes a 90 degree turn inside
the root cellar and continues down almost to the floor where a second 90 degree
turn is made. This lets cold air into the root cellar since cold air sinks.
We had the root cellar wired for electricity. My husband bought two thermostats
from Charley’s Greenhouse and wired them in series. The first thermostat,
which is an Easy Heat Model SL1 made in Ontario Canada, measures the temperature
outdoors. When the temperature is below 40 degrees it supplies power to the
second thermostat. The second thermostat which is a Charley’s Greenhouse
Weatherproof Thermostat, measures the temperature inside the root cellar. When
the temperature is above 40 degrees it allows power to continue on to a muffin
fan located in front of the 4 inch pipe opening near the floor. The fan pulls
more cold air into the root cellar when it is needed. During extended periods
of below zero weather we unplug the thermostats and plug in a small space heater
set to maintain the temperature at 40 degrees. I still have potatoes that have
not sprouted or withered by the following May.
Like art and cooking, the way a person goes about gardening is developed with
practice and becomes a personal style. All of the skills and materials needed
take time to acquire. It is my hope that the information in this article will
help people move more quickly along the learning curve. Skills need to be practiced.
The worst thing that will result from growing a garden next summer is that
better food will be available, exercise provided, and peace of mind resulting
from experience gained.
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Letter Re: Where to Find the Funds for Your Preparations
Dear Jim,
So many people are struggling to find ways to make ends meet, much less have
any extra money to make purchases for their preparedness plan.
There are a lot of things people can do within their own means.
1. Make a budget. Income minus expenses. Is there anything left over? You are
ahead of the game. If not, now is the time to:
2. Trim the budget. Distinguish needs versus wants. Eliminate anything that
is not needed.
3. If after trimming the budget, you still cannot find extra money, get a second
job, have a yard sale, etc. www.daveramsey.com is a great site for
learning how to eliminate debt.
Some things that have worked for us:
We turned up the thermostat in the summer and used a fan to circulate the air,
started hanging clothes out instead of using the dryer, unplugged all electrical
cords that were not in use, [each of us] used the same drinking glass instead
of getting another, and shortened our allowed shower time. (With three teenagers in the
house, we struck gold with that one.) We turned all computers off at night. Our power bill was reduced just over $100 per month by making these changes.
We eliminated the cable television. That saved $70.
We started clipping coupons again. I have saved nearly $200 a month on our
grocery bill. CouponMom.com is
an awesome site.
I also milk our goats. I will not pay $4.00 a gallon per day at the store.
Instead of spending a lot on pre-packed snacks for the kids, I am baking a
lot more.
We cook outside a lot. On Sunday, we grill and smoke chicken, sausage, hamburgers,
hot dogs and goat meat. We then use this meat in whatever recipe we want to
use for the week. Some of it is then frozen for the latter part
of the week.
I make up a few batches of goat cheese to go with my husband's homemade pita
bread.
We have a garden in the summer and we can what isn't eaten fresh . Even if
you live in the city, you can still have a tomato plant or a bell pepper plant
etc. You can purchase a grow light at Wal-Mart.
We have consolidated our trips into town, instead of going whenever we want
to. This has saved at least $40 a month.
There are so many ways to stop wasting money.
Okay, some women really will think TEOTWAWKI with
this one: Buy your clothes second hand. I am not ashamed to accept hand me
downs from friends. My children
have all worn clothes given to them from other family members. I also shop
at Goodwill [thrift stores] or go to Yard Sales.
Start a business. I am a stay at home Mom with five children. We have nearly
four acres that we live on and have access to 20 acres next door and that we
run our 40 head of Boer goats on. We have chickens and rabbits. I also breed
and
train German Shepherds and board dogs. With my husband's income and the extra attention to detail, we do pretty well. The changes that we have made has allowed
us to purchase the needed extras.
Thanks for the wealth of knowledge that you share with us every day! - RH
in Alabama
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Letter Re: A Suggested Checklist for Preparedness Newbies
Here's a beginner's list I made for my [elderly] father today:
Food
{Brown pearl] rice does not store well. Neither does cooking oil so that needs to be fresh.
No, Crisco doesn't count.
Coconut oil would be your best bet.
Wheat berries - 400 pounds - bulk order at your local health food store
Beans - 400 pounds - bulk order at your local health food store
Mylar bags
Spices
Salt
Country Living grain mill
propane tanks, small stove and hoses to connect
freeze dried fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat if you can find them.
Water
500 gallons
of water [storage capacity. Rainwater catchment is a common practice
in Hawaii]
Water filter
Cooking
Cast Iron Cookware
Firearms
FN PS 90
10 PS 90 magazines
5.7 handgun
10 FN 5.7 handgun magazines
5.7 ammo
Training: Front Sight four day defensive
handgun course. (Note: eBay sometimes has
course certificates for $100!)
Body armor: Nick at BulletProofME.com
Medical
Personal medications
Augmentin antibiotic
Up to date dental work
Painkillers
Bandages
Iodine
Anti-fungal spray
Finances
$10,000 cash in small bills
100 one-ounce silver coins (GoldDealer.com or Tulving.com)
Transport
Gasoline in 5 gallon cans or better yet, this.
Gas stabilizer
Mountain bikes
Air pump
Miscellany
Flashlights
Rechargeable Batteries
Battery
charger
Hand held walkie talkies
Topographical map of your area
Spare eyeglasses
Shortwave radio
Home generated power
12 volt battery system
Good backpack
Good knife
Good compass
Good shoes
Bar soap
Toothbrushes
Dental floss
Toilet paper
Fishing kit
Salt licks
Connibear traps
Regards, - SF in Hawaii
JWR Adds: The following is based on the assumption that SF's
father also lives in Hawaii: Because of the 10 round magazine limit for handguns,
I recommend that Hawaiians purchase only large
bore
handguns for self defense--such
as .45
ACP.
Both the
Springfield
Armory XD .45 Compact or the Glock Model 30 would both be good choices. The "high
capacity" advantage of smaller caliber
handguns
is not available to civilians in Hawaii, so you might as well get a more potent
man stopper, given the arbitrary 10 round limitation.
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On War, Gardening, and Cooking for Bad Times, by Elizabeth B.
Wars are forever. The memories seem to never end for families. They are passed
on from generation to generation.The Civil War, World War I, World War II,
Vietnam, Iraq.
What remains is not even so much who won or lost, but rather the memories of
war center on beloved family members that died and the foods of these times…
I’m only in my 50s, yet our family oral traditions date back earlier
than 1860, but that is where I will start.
My great-grandfather’s two brothers marched off to fight in one of the
major Civil War battles that no one can even name today. They were never heard
from again. My grandmother’s half-sister, whom I knew very well as a
child, worked as an attendant at the Home For Confederate Widows in Austin
until it closed and she retired. I was born in 1951. My parents who both died
after the year 2000 yet knew many Civil War veterans in their hometowns. They
remembered parades where the vets were honorees. That war is remembered as
the time they boiled the dirt from the smokehouse to retrieve salt. The girls
and
women of the family scratched vegetables out
of the kitchen garden. Soldiers used the clothesline to hold target practice
on
china teacups.
It was a hungry time.
My father’s father enlisted in the waning days of WWI but did not deploy
to France. That war is remembered as the time when the family moved off the
farm to the city, yet still continued to go back home in the late summers to
spend several
weeks canning, pickling, and putting up produce. Daddy wrung chickens’ necks
for the cook pot in the backyard. It was a transition time. My mother’s
[first] husband, the father of my sister, was shot down in a plane over Germany
one month after the D-Day invasion. That war is remembered by its Victory Gardens,
the ration books for sugar, the rationing of milk for a pregnant mother, and
meatless Tuesdays. It was
a time of want.
The coming bad times will also be a war, or likened to a war. It will
be a war for your personal survival, a war for our future, and a war that determines
the path humanity will take on our planet. Global warming, acid rain, rampant
species extinction, and the collapse of fish populations and pollinators are
in our immediate future.
What does the food of struggling people around the world have in common? Peppers!
Think about food from India, Thailand, Mexico, China. All these cultures have
developed foods spiced up with native peppers. In a survival situation, it
will take about one nanosecond to get tired of beans, rice, pulses, corn, and
potatoes
on a daily basis. However, with the
use of peppers and a couple of herbs and spices, you can spice up your daily
fare.
Fortunately, peppers are among the easiest of all plants to grow. Nothing is
much more forgiving than a pepper. Pepper plants are actually perennials, not
annuals as they are sold in the stores. Where I live in south central Texas,
a pepper plant can live for years. If the winter is mild, there is no problem.
If the winter is a bit more severe, just place some rags around the roots,
cover with some plastic and weight the entire thing down. In the spring, you
will be rewarded with a delightful blooming pepper bush that will supply until
the next winter arrives.
Right now, I have Big Jim, jalapeño, serrano, and ancho growing. But
the king of my garden is the lovely volunteer chile pequin that sprang up from
the forest behind my house. Chile Pequin is a native of south central Texas.
Interestingly, this is a pepper well known by Hispanics in Texas. Most families
have their stories of growing up with mother making very hot chile from the
abundant chile pequin, a free gift from nature. However, huge numbers of the
rest of the population have lived alongside chile pequin growing wild without
ever knowing how delicious this little spicy number is.
Chile Pequin is a tiny little pepper, often no larger than an apple or orange
seed, although mine can grow larger than that. Due to the fact that I live
in San Antonio and peppers are called “chiles,” that is how I will
refer to them from this point forward.
Confusion abounds as to what is the difference between chile, chili, chile
con queso, salsa, and pico de gallo. Pico de gallo means “rooster’s
beak.” It is tomatoes and chile plus onions, garlic, and cilantro. Chili
is the saucy meat stew which may or may not contain beans. This is also called
chili con carne. I prefer no beans, but for survival, of course I would opt
for beans. Pinto beans, never those tasteless little pieces of chalk: red kidney
beans. Salsa means any type of hot sauce made with tomatoes or corn or fruit
such as mango and chile such as chipotle (dried, smoked jalapeños) or fresh
jalapeno. Chile con queso is a melted cheese sauce cooked with chile peppers.
If sausage is added, it is called “flameado.”
Molcajete
Every kitchen needs a stone mocajete or molcajete, not a fru-fru ceramic item
bought at a gourmet kitchen store. This should be a workhorse in your kitchen.
In traditional Mexican families, the mocajete sits on the table so mother
can concoct the chile to specifications or requests from the family according
to what is being served. In English, it is called mortar and pestle and is
used for classic hand grinding. Decades of grinding will smooth the mocajete
out. Chile is served with every meal. Today Hispanics do not cook this way
so much, but it is how many were brought up. Times have changed all around
and the family sit-down meal is ebbing away into memory in many cultures.
Depending on how much chile goes into the mocajete influences how “pico” or
hot and spicy the chile turns out to be. One chile pequin is enough for one
tomato.
Comal
The comal is a flat cast iron griddle that goes on the stovetop. You can grill
(blister or blacken) chile or more commonly, cook fajita meat and its veggies
such as onions, bell pepper, and tomatoes. Americans have gotten out of the
habit of using cast iron to cook, but it can’t be beaten. I grew up with
cast iron, but my children are ignorant of its use and care. Cast iron is also
a source of iron in the diet. Jalapeños can be grilled to produce chipotle,
if you like that flavor. Tortillas can be re-heated.
Recipes
- Basic chile: Grind one pepper and one tomato, salt and pepper only if
desired.
- Pico de gallo: Grind one diced pepper, one diced tomato, add by
stirring in some chopped onion, garlic, cilantro, salt, pepper
- Pinto Beans
(charro beans or borracho beans): Add a jalapeño, one
diced tomato, one bay leaf, and one onion while cooking
- Rice: Sprinkle freshly
diced tiny pieces of chile when serving or cook with tiny pieces incorporated
into the raw rice before cooking
- Pepper sauce: wash peppers, stack in a
bottle, pour boiled vinegar over and cork, store in refrigerator. Fabulous
over black-eyes peas, pinto beans,
white
beans, navy beans, or any other food that needs kick
If you prefer no skin, briefly boil the larger chiles and tomatoes
to slip off the skin. Grind as usual. If you are lacking enough fresh
tomatoes,
add a little tomato sauce or canned tomatoes. Rinse the mocajete
well with
water
after each use, checking the crevasses for lingering pieces.
Your garden needs to be growing parsley, cilantro, and various peppers. I have
not mentioned bell peppers because they are not my favorites, but they deserve
a place in any garden for ease of growing, beauty, and flavor. Chile gardeners
are known for sharing peppers in order to share the seeds. If you meet a pepper
you like, save some seeds or ask for some. People are unfailingly willing to
share.
More Food for Bad Times
Greens are making a culinary comeback. One hundred years ago they were a staple.
Now you find chard in many restaurants. The taste is acquired, so now is the
time to begin to learn to cook and enjoy greens and teach your family to eat
them. My family ate spinach and mustard greens when I was growing up. Kale,
beet, and collard greens will supply vital nutrients to your diet and are easy
growers in the home garden. The addition of bacon or bacon grease, red pepper
flakes, vinegar, garlic, or sugar can add kick to a bland food. Experiment
until you find the taste you and your family prefer.Okra has earned a bad rap
due to bad cooking. As a child, I would not touch okra as it was often simply
boiled and it became very slimy. Due to the proliferation of fast food fried
chicken eateries, many people now know that okra is delicious served fried.
Okra is a vital ingredient of seafood gumbos. I don’t eat seafood, but
you make gumbo with sausage and rice and it’s wonderful. With my family
roots going back to Civil War days and all the privations involved, we had
many poor people food recipes handed down. Tomatoes and okra was a favorite
of both of my parents. You can lay a piece of soft bread down first in a bowl
as a sop and add the cooked okra and tomatoes. Naturally, sprinkling cheese
of any type such as parmesan, romano, or cheddar would greatly enhance this
humble dish.
Succotash is a vegetable concoction that is rather like a kitchen sink recipe.
If it grows in the garden, add it in. Succotash traditionally utilizes corn
and lima beans. Depending on the cook, you can add tomatoes and okra. Just
don’t forget the herbs and chile to make it edible.
Use it All: Chicken
A whole rotisserie chicken will last for a week at my house.
Day 1: warm sliced chicken served as main entrée with skin and
fat pulled off and fed to the dog who loves chicken day
Day 2: cold chicken pasta salad with finely diced/shredded broccoli, carrots,
mayonnaise, ranch dry dressing (available in a big plastic container from Sam’s
Club), and cayenne pepper, salt, pepper
Day 3: cold chicken salad with plenty of fruit such as raisins or currants,
apples or grapes, toasted almonds, celery including the tops, a little onion,
curry powder; use mayo as a binder
Day 4: baked chicken spaghetti topped with cheese
Day 5: boil bones and veggies for soup, add rice or noodles
This seems like a lot of meals for just one chicken, right? It’s because
you are basically using the chicken as a flavoring. Americans eat way too much
meat, so you’ll be doing just fine. Focus on flavors and carbs.
More Use it All: Ham
Buy an uncooked ham, cook it, and it lasts seemingly forever.
Day 1: warm sliced ham for entrée; delight clever dog by sharing
scraps.
Day 2: ham sandwich
Day 3: omelet with ham and chile
Day 4: add diced ham fat cooked into
