http://ontariopreppersnetwork.blogspot.com/2009/08/homemade-self-watering-plant-containers.html
Homemade self watering plant containers
Just what the doctor ordered for those that enjoy making and using their own equipment. This time for the patio or porch - a way to grow plants that requires the least amount of time spent on their daily maintenance. Container plants often require vast amounts of water during hot weather. You can see the advantage of a self watering plant container...
http://www.seattleoil.com/Flyers/Earthbox.pdf
For those who can already build their own but prefer to purchase a finished product because you are too busy prepping in other areas, you can purchase self watering planters from Lee Valley.
http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=1&p=10034&cat=2,51603
After all there is only so much you can say - prepping is about doing, not so much about talking about it...
Are you ready?
Are you ready to spend up to 90 days quarantined in your home this fall/winter if A/H1N1 comes back in full force? The government may impose a quarantine or you may decide to sequester yourself for a multitude of reasons. It would have to be a serious situation indeed for an obfuscating reactionist conservative government to subject the majority of people to slow starvation in their homes for an extended period of time - it’s not likely, but it could happen.
Monetary collapse - it can happen and it may happen soon. If the US dollar continues its current devaluation free fall, we Canadians could see our dollar worth many times more than the US dollar but still not be able to buy anything because our economy if so interconnected with that of the US. Trouble south of the border means trouble for us in short order - guaranteed.
Israel and Iran are rattling sabres at each other. Israel I am sure wont hesitate to nuke Iran if they feel so inclined. Can you say, gas price increase? At the very least a limited nuclear exchange in the middle east will send the cost of oil into orbit. At worst, the conflict expands and there we go again - yet another armed conflict to add to the two already in progress. On how many fronts can one wage war before you self-implode and defeat yourself?
While I think North Korea is about as useful as a bunion and almost as influential, I am a little concerned with how quickly China will become involved if Kimmy J shuts down his last firing neuron. We know the US is already entrenched in South Korea, so nastiness is conveniently only a stones throw away.
Rumour has it there might be a federal election this fall - great timing - you can line up for your flu shot and cast a ballot at the same time - I wish we had a shining star political figure to throw our support behind - instead we have a reactionist Harper and and invisible spend thrift Iggy somewhere in the wings. Jack, Gilles, and the green babe Liz are inconsequential and at this point unworthy of the effort to type anything about them.
If you feel so inclined as to accept a helpful suggestion - you should be prepared to be self sufficient for 90 days (as a minimum) no later than the end of August. I don’t know when the world is going to end, I don’t know when civilization will collapse. I do know that life as we know it in the first world is tenuous at best these days. I do know that as the Mayan, the Greek and the Roman empires all fell, so too will ours. Maybe not today or tomorrow, maybe not even next month, but every day that passes, we are one day closer to the end. There are a finite number of days left - do not run out of days to prepare because of inaction or procrastination.
Get prepared. Prepare for three days of self sufficiency, then three weeks, then three months, then 6 months, then a year. When you are prepared for a year, you can take a break and decide what to do next. Until then, you need to be scurrying around like a squirrel gathering for the inclement season - it’s coming - and you know it, even if you wont admit it.
[What have you done today to prepare?]
Did you know...
The number of food recalls and warnings issued by the Cdn Food Inspection Agency per month have more than tripled since 2004?
http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/07/30/food-recalls.html
Sorry Kymber - Nova Scotia not ready for Swine Flu pandemic
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/07/30/swine-flu.html
Apologies for the rambling nature of the post today...by now you know what you should be doing so you don’t need me harping on it every day. Late last week about 500 or so families in Ottawa west has their basements flooded by a sewer backup. How many of you have a significant portion of your food storage in the basement either sitting on the floor or with 3 feet of the floor? How would you be affected if those items and probably others become contaminated with sewage unexpectedly?
My cool tool...
When I lead a group of paying customers into the bush on a survival course or just family & friends on a camping trip, the first order of business after leaving the vehicles is to procure a solid walking stick (Staff). This is not a walking cane that is just 3 feet long but a staff that approaches 55-60 inches in length from tip to tip.
From a practical point of view a walking stick helps reduce the effort required to put one foot in front of the other on a long hike. A solid staff helps support the weight of your pack and improves your balance on uneven terrain. A walking stick is a real advantage when travelling down hill or crossing a river/creek.
A walking stick has a multitude of uses. You can use one as a support post for an improvised tarp shelter, you can lash a knife to one end and you have a spear that makes for a very effective offensive/defensive weapon against large animals. Without a knife attached, your walking stick can still function as a useful defensive weapon against animals and other people. A long stick is great for poking over and under logs and into brush piles before stepping on that poisonous snake. If you were to fall through the ice while crossing a body of frozen water in the winter, your walking stick should provide you enough support and leverage to pull yourself out of the water unaided. You can use your walking stick to tell time and determine direction if you lose your compass or break your gps. A couple of walking sticks can be used as poles for an improvised stretcher if someone in your party becomes injured and needs to be carried. A stick of a known length (and some basic math skills) is a great way to measure things such as height and slope off in the distance or even up close. If you have a walking stick with you, you always have a fishing rod - if you thought to bring some line and a hook...
When I’m out walking at night, I usually have my walking stick with me. I’ll admit that to the uninformed I look a little out of place walking down the street with a 55 inch stick in hand - kind of like Moses leading the masses... but to date no one has yet asked me for my ipod. When I’m not walking, my hiking stick is in my car with my “get home” kit.
You never know when a good stick will come in handy. I’m not a big fan of hi-tech trekking poles because I don’t do the type of activities they were designed for, but these will work and are much better than no hiking stick at all. I prefer a wooden walking stick. It feels solid and comforting in my hand. Walking sticks are free to make while passing some idle time in the bush. A good walking stick should come up to your shoulder when one end is on the ground. A circumference of 1.25 to 2 inches is about right. Small enough to grasp comfortably, thick enough so as to not easily break, but not so thick that you feel as though you are carrying a log. Hardwoods are better than softwoods when you have a choice.
So far, a walking stick isn’t considered a weapon and you can still take a walking stick on the bus. With a little bit of training and some practice, a good stick is all you need to deter all but the most determined gun carrying thugs you might encounter while you are out and about. A walking stick is a great example of a multiuse survival tool for good times and bad.
Canadian Preppers links at bottom of blog page.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
The other day I posted a link to an article dealing with the medical ethics involved in determining who will be treated at hospital for flu should the numbers of people presenting themselves at hospital outnumber the medical resources available. We already know from news reports that there are no where near enough ventilators available for patients who suffer serious complications due to respiratory illness.
In the previous post, the author was very clear that he was talking about triaging patients with the best chance of recovery and the rest being left to nature to decide their fate.
Here is how a obfuscating government says the same thing without actually saying the same thing:
“The lessons learned from this study will help physicians, intensive care and emergency care specialists prepare for the anticipated wave of pandemic H1N1 in the Fall,”
Cdn Minister of Health Aglukkaq.
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/media/nr-rp/2009/2009_0723-eng.php
You need to give your response to serious illness this fall some careful consideration. Even if you don’t have the flu, going to a hospital next winter may be more dangerous to your health than it normally is - with a significant number of flu suffers hanging around. Those with other injuries may find hospital staff over run with flu patients and this may have a care impact on those who need hospital care for problems that are not flu related.
It might be a good idea to preselect a few rural treatment centres and make plans now so that you may head there instead of the major urban hospitals if it looks like like the urban treatment centres are not safe/too crowded to be a viable treatment option for you.
Monday, July 20, 2009
I’ve got nothing...
I’ve got very little to say today. I am however, going to point out the need to have some vegetable seeds stored away from a rainy day (pun intended). It is best if your personal seed bank is comprised of heirloom seeds that when planted and grown, can provide new seed so that they growing cycle can be repeated year after year - if subsistence farming suddenly becomes all the rage.
If you have no seed storage at all, now is the time to get one. Packets of seeds (usually hybrid) are being sold for pennies a package at local retailers now that the planting season is over. For just a few dollars you can get enough seed for two or three years worth of garden production. This cheap hybrid seed will buy you some extra grace time as you research whose heirloom seeds you are going to collect and store going forward.
“Homemade self watering plant containers”
When we first moved to our property, we planted a bunch of trees around the area. We watered them well, but then made drip waterers for them. We took empty containers (juice bottles, milk jugs) and filled them with water. Then we took stips of fabric which were long enough to go near to the bottom of the container and hang over the outside edge of each container. We held the fabric in place with a clothes pin. The water would wick up the fabric and drip onto the plant. We could go around periodically and fill up the containers. We didn’t have to worry about the plants drying up and dying until they could get established.