By Tom Marlowe
Friday, September 22, 2023
A Little Reality in Home Defense
I must confess, I get a bit concerned when I read what some preppers say about home and personal defense. I think we’ve all seen a few too many post-apocalyptic movies, where there’s no law and order, warlords’ rule their little territories, and only the fastest on the draw survive.
Can things get that bad? Yes, it has happened in other parts of the world and we’re not immune. But the chances of something like that actually happening here are slim, mostly because there are so many privately owned firearms. The criminal element where those warlords would come out of might have guns and the willingness to use them; but objective reality would force them to recognize that they aren’t the only ones with guns.
In a very real sense, a post-disaster world would be much like the Old West. Not the Old West of Hollywood, dominated by fast-draw gunslingers seeking to build their reputation. Not by criminals robbing the bank or the stagecoach. Those things are inventions of the movie industry. There is no recorded case of the fast-draw being used in the Old West and the crime rate was very low.
Thursday, September 21, 2023
Pressure Canning 101: The Most Comprehensive Guide
By Linda Loosli
Some people might be intimidated by the idea of pressure canning. It seems complicated and risky. But it’s not! In fact, it’s a really simple process that is actually quite safe if you follow the proper processes. If you’ve been curious about pressure canning, or if you’ve tried it before and had a bad experience, this pressure canning 101 comprehensive guide is for you.
I always follow the guidelines from the National Center for Home Food Preservation. They’ve done extensive testing to determine the proper time that acidic foods need to be processed to make the foods safe for storage. Mark and I both took the classes to receive our Master Canner Preserver Certificates.
If you have a state extension service office in your city or county, the cost for training is minimal, and as I remember, the classes took 12 weeks. It was so fun, we met other canners who were beginners through experts who just needed to learn the updated techniques. Many of our food products have changed since grandma was canning, so most of us need to up our skills.
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
DIY Household Cleaners
The problems obtaining common household cleaners during the late scamdemic have apparently been resolved for the moment, but they could return at any time. This is where being able to make our own cleaners comes in very handy. I use all these cleaners myself and they work very well. The price is right, too.
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
SHTF Remedy In A Jar
Nicks and scratches may not seem like a big deal, but if you find yourself in an emergency scenario without clean water or access to medical services, these small cuts can quickly become dangerous.
One of the things I always make sure to have on me (and in various places around the house) is a first-aid balm that I make with chicory, calendula, and other herbs.
This first-aid balm can be used on just about everything: cuts, scrapes, insect bites, and even rosacea.
It acts as an anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-inflammatory multi-purpose treatment that can accelerate the healing of your wounds, prevent the spread of infection, and soothe your skin.
Monday, September 18, 2023
Top 11 Budgeting Tips for Emergency Preparedness
By Linda Loosli
When it comes to emergency preparedness, families often think about stocking up on food and supplies or having a plan for evacuation. But what about the financial aspect of being prepared for an emergency? Creating a budget is an important part of your plan for being prepared for anything life throws your way. Here are some budgeting tips to consider as you put your plan together for successful emergency preparedness.
Top 11 Budgeting Tips for Emergency Preparedness
Sunday, September 17, 2023
What Happens If You Bury Fish Heads Under Your Tomato Crops
When you think of things you can bury in your garden to help improve the quality of your soil, fish heads may not be the first thing that comes to mind.
However, this is a practice that has been used for centuries in various parts of the world and can actually have some benefits for your plants.
Fish heads are an excellent source of nutrients for plants, and burying them under tomato plants can give the plants a much-needed boost.
Saturday, September 16, 2023
50 Survival TV Shows to Inspire Your Family to Prepare
If you are just getting started in prepping, you have already learned that your list of tasks and chores never ends. There’s always something to do, something to learn, and something that can be improved.
Sometimes that mountain seems impossible to climb, and that makes it easy to give up before you even get started or just lose your will to persevere.
Sometimes a little bit of motivation and inspiration is all it takes to get your own prepping journey jump-started, or to reinvigorate you after a period of burnout.
Watching what other people are going through, including their successes and failures, is just the thing.
Friday, September 15, 2023
Quick Pickling Recipes & Tips: Probiotic Snacks at Your Fingertips
Pickling is a good way to extend the shelf life of fresh produce, especially if you want to extend the late summer/fall vegetables into the winter. Almost any vegetable can be pickled, as long as it’s fresh. And I’ve included my pickled egg recipe and a pickled ginger recipe, too.
Quick Pickling Basics
If you don’t know where to start, here are some seasonal vegetables that you can pickle:
Thursday, September 14, 2023
Preparing for Plantar Warts
Disclaimer. I am not a licensed health practitioner. This is just another post on knowledge and understanding you might wish to acquire in advance of a disaster in case no higher care is available. As long as our society is functioning, you should leave anything more substantial than applying a Band-Aid to the professionals. No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician. Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care.
Plantar warts are like croup. Neither problem is addressed in any of my dozen off-grid medicine resources. And yet they are rather common problems. At least, I think they are. My daughter had croup. I had one plantar wart as a teen, and it apparently made quite the impression as I remember it well. I would really hate to experience one during TEOTWAWKI and be completely ignorant of how to treat it.
Plantar warts occur on the soles of the feet (known as the plantar) and are caused by the same virus that causes other warts. While most warts, including plantar warts, will eventually resolve on their own without treatment, this isn't always the case. Plantar warts can make walking incredibly painful at best, and the persistent ones can cause lasting damage if not treated.
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Oven Broken? Using a Crock-Pot to Bake Bread
One of the more interesting ideas I encountered this summer was the concept of using a crock-pot instead of an oven for baking. Most of the time we use a crock-pot to start a meal in the morning before work so that dinner is ready when we get home, or just because the day is busy and time for meal prep later is minimal. Of course, a lot of time in the summer we don’t want to heat up the kitchen, so that’s the primary driver behind choosing to use a crock-pot.
However, with rising energy costs, some might be interested in saving money by slow cooking their baked goods instead of firing up the oven, while others just want to be good citizens and reduce the load on the overtaxed power grid (which probably wouldn’t be quite so overtaxed under better management and the use of fossil fuels, but I digress). And then, in an era where replacing a broken oven could take weeks or months, having a safe alternative for indoor baking is always a good idea.
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
6 keys to help develop a prepper mindset
As we watch current events unfold, I see the calls from the prepper community to become more diligent to being prepared. Stock up on food and water, get out of debt. Get your preps in order, etc. And these suggestions are not wrong. I completely subscribe to them and promote them as well. But this is only part of what you should be doing to prepare.
In addition to physically preparing, you need to be mentally preparing yourself for what could come. The first step to preparedness is having the right mindset. Hopefully you have already begun to develop it. If not, here are some tips to help you get you and your family mentally prepared for potential disasters.
Monday, September 11, 2023
Here’s Why You Should Keep Activated Charcoal In Your Survival Pack
by
Activated charcoal has been scientifically proven to treat poisonings, so keep some on hand at home or in your survival backpack. Let’s look more into how you can use activated charcoal during an emergency.
Imagine this; it’s been a few days since you got lost in the wilderness. You’ve been living off the land as much as possible to stretch out your supplies as you await rescue or seek assistance. While your intentions were good, your skill in identifying edible plants was not.
Something you ate is interfering with your inside organs. At best, you may be experiencing severe gas. At worst, you may have unintentionally consumed some sort of poison.
If you’re forced to take care of yourself during a natural disaster, if you find yourself in a post-apocalyptic world, or become hopelessly lost in the woods, safe food and drinking water are likely to be scarce.
Consuming contaminated food and liquids can cause nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach discomfort. So what can you do when there isn’t a doctor or a hospital nearby?
Here’s where activated charcoal comes into play.
Sunday, September 10, 2023
When Tap Water Can Kill: How to Survive a Boil Water Notice
It’s a scenario that’s becoming all too common. U.S. cities under boil water notices.
In Jackson, the capital city of the U.S. state of Mississippi, residents suffer from what The Washington Post calls “a water crisis of unparalleled scale.” And even as the most pressing issues are fixed, a domino chain of lingering issues threatens to return them to their present circumstances yet again.
And who can forget Flint, Michigan?
In fact, as of August 17, 2022, there are 58 records of boil notices issued around the country just for the month of August. That’s just over half the month.
Friends, it can happen to you. It can happen to me. We must be ready for undrinkable tap water BEFORE we’re faced with it.
This article aims to do just that, help you better prepare for if your community receives a boil alert.
Saturday, September 9, 2023
These 16 Homestead Practices are Downright Dangerous
by
Most of us want to live on a homestead in order to get away from the hustle, bustle, and dangers of life that are associated with living in the thick of society. But, it isn’t all fluffy clouds on an impossibly blue sky when you live on a homestead.
Homesteads are usually hard-working environments with a lot going on, including large and powerful animals, hazardous chemicals, power tools, and heavy machinery.
It is no place for the foolish or the complacent, and the dangers are made worse by bad practices.
In this article, we will be discussing 16 such practices on the homestead that are downright dangerous.
If you or anyone else you know engages in these practices, you should double your caution. Watch your back, step lightly and let’s get going.
Home Can Be the Most Dangerous Place of All
Friday, September 8, 2023
What Exactly Is Flint And Steel?
If you’re into traditional outdoor living or even a modern-day prepper looking for ways to improve a bug-out bag you have more than likely heard of flint and steel.
For everyone else, if modern heating conveniences ever get disrupted then this will be one of the ways you’ll start a fire for heat.
Flint and steel are two separate components that are traditionally used together to start fires. Flint is a rock that is struck with a steel striker to generate sparks that can be caught using tinder.
Historically, flint has been mined by various indigenous tribes all across North America and Europe. They used it for various tools as shards of flint can be quite sharp to the touch.
Flintknapping is still a practice today and is commonly how tools were created. It is a labor-intensive love that can leave the “knapper” with bleeding hands and sore fingers.
But how did flint and steel become known for their fire-starting capabilities? How does striking one thing against another cause the energy needed to ignite tinder?
Keep reading and learn a little bit more about the relationship between flint and steel.
How Does Flint And Steel Cause Sparks?
Thursday, September 7, 2023
How to Build a Modular Concrete Block Fire Pit
written by Derrick James
My concrete block fire pit is a serious pit. I designed it for performance. I can do everything with this pit from enjoying a simple evening fire to using it as a big outdoor cook station. I wanted a fire pit that could do whatever I needed it to do. Those needs vary.
Concrete blocks are great. They’re cheap and versatile. I’ve made a concrete block raised bed garden before, and plenty of people have also used them for fire pits.
There are plenty of fire pit options available. You can buy the Solo Stove fire pit that many people like or you can just assemble some rocks in a circle. That has worked for centuries. I wanted something more.
I have cooked over a Solo Stove and over a fire in a ring of rocks. Both can be done, but I wanted a better blend between a fire pit and an outdoor cook station. I wanted options.
Not finding any fire pit close to what I wanted on the commercial market, I decided to design my own fire pit. One big, modular concrete block fire pit.
Concrete blocks are like Legos for men. They come in different shapes and sizes and can be stacked in various ways for many different projects beyond basic building construction. Given that they are rugged and fire proof, they are an obvious choice to build a custom fire pit.
Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Where and how to store your supplies and gear
By Bob Rodgers
I’ve managed to gather a lot of supplies and gear over the years, and just like many preppers out there, I had to figure out ways to store my stuff without letting anything go to waste. I had the opportunity to help many of my friends with their survival supply storage problems, and I decided to write this article to share some good practices.
Preparing for a potential emergency is expensive and time-consuming, and without a doubt, you should have supplies to last you a long time. No matter where you live, there’s always the risk of something happening that will jeopardize the integrity of your supplies. No matter how well you plan, you can never be fully prepared for the unexpected.
Basic storage recommendations
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
How to Build a Chicken Run
By Timi Schmidt
Are you a beginner chicken owner? Or just looking for a safe way to allow your chicken to get that much-needed roaming time? Whichever category you belong to, this article will help you in creating a chicken run from scratch – no need to spend a fortune in getting the experts involved! This step-by-step guide by Wire Fence will help you achieve an easy and practical chicken run using only a couple of tools. So let’s get started!
You might also enjoy: Raising Chickens: It Really CAN Be All It’s Cracked Up to Be
What you’ll need to build a chicken run:
Tools:
- Shovel
- Hammer
- Wire Cutters
- Saw
- Nails/Screws
Materials:
- Wooden fence posts
- Chicken wire
- Staples/Cable ties
- Shade netting (optional)
- Wooden Planks.
Monday, September 4, 2023
11 Plants You Can Use As Soap
Maybe you’re looking for an environmentally-friendly and economical alternative to store-bought soap. Or perhaps you want to know how to maintain hygiene while camping or in a survival situation. Either way, you can benefit from learning about the many plants you can use as soap.
Using plants for cleansing is nothing new. Historians have found evidence that the ancient Egyptians bathed with soaps made from plants along with animal and vegetable oils. Native Americans also used a variety of plants as soap when they washed.
And the good news is that it is surprisingly easy to create soap with plants. The secret is a naturally-occurring compound called saponin in many plants, especially those with waxy cuticles.
When you chop up plants that contain saponin and rub the pieces in your hands with water, you can create a lather. This article will share some of the most common plants in the U.S. that contain saponin and how to use them as a soap substitute.
Sunday, September 3, 2023
How to Clean Cast Iron: Light, Moderate, and Deep
by Derrick James
Cast iron is a tough-as-nails cookware material that retains heat well, produces a superior sear, and will last lifetimes – IF you know how to properly clean cast iron. Inexperienced users are usually cast iron cookware’s biggest enemy.
Cooks love cast iron for the qualities it brings to food that other cookware cannot. Preppers, fans of outdoor cooking, and bushcrafters love it for its easy use over open fires. It has a long history of use in the hearth and in the wild.
It’s not difficult to properly care for and clean cast iron, but the process is quite different than other cooking materials. Still, it has its own guidelines to follow to retain its natural nonstick patina in the best possible condition for as long as possible. There are a few simple principles to follow to maintain your cast iron clean and in excellent condition without destroying the seasoning you’ve worked to preserve over time.
Saturday, September 2, 2023
Which Plants Produce the Most Calories?
Grocery prices are skyrocketing, and shrinkflation is running rampant on every grocery store shelf. Brands have cut down on the size of the product package while keeping it at the same price to create less sticker shock.
There is just no getting around the fact that groceries cost a lot, and the food budget that covered your family’s needs a few months ago probably isn’t going as far today.
There are many things we can do on the homestead to help stretch the grocery budget. You can make simple meals that require cheap ingredients, shop your back stock and pantry to put together meals, and grow your own produce in the garden.
While many of us probably have a garden in place, have you ever thought about the amount of calories each plant produces? To help specifically save on the food budget while also filling bellies, it is essential to know what plants will produce the most calorie-rich foods.
Learn more about how to save on groceries by growing these high-calorie plants to keep you full this year.
Friday, September 1, 2023
The Medicinal Uses of Red Raspberry
Disclaimer. I am not a licensed health practitioner. This is just another post on an item you might wish to have available if needed so that a physician can treat you and your family as best as possible. No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician. Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care. A qualified, licensed physician or other medical provider should be consulted before beginning any herbal or conventional treatment.
When my family and I talk about the five years that we lived in Missouri, we usually mention the only three good things about our time there, the three F's: friends (a few great friends), fireflies (who doesn't love them?), and fireworks (the most phenomenal displays I ever saw were put on by a lawyer friend from church--nothing at Disneyland, or at city/county Fourth of July events, or even Michael Milken's personal event at Lake Tahoe--no, we weren't his guests, just on a neighboring section of the beach--could come close to this lawyer's show). But as I begin this post on raspberries, I remember how prolific the raspberries in my garden there were. I spent a couple of hours three times each week during harvest season to pick them. Wow, I miss those raspberries.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)