Posted on 02/09/2009 12:36:11 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny
Yahoo ran an interesting article this morning indicating a rise in the number of survivalist communities cropping up around the country. I have been wondering myself how much of the recent energy crisis is causing people to do things like stockpile food and water, grow their own vegetables, etc. Could it be that there are many people out there stockpiling and their increased buying has caused food prices to increase? It’s an interesting theory, but I believe increased food prices have more to do with rising fuel prices as cost-to-market costs have increased and grocers are simply passing those increases along to the consumer. A recent stroll through the camping section of Wal-Mart did give me pause - what kinds of things are prudent to have on hand in the event of a worldwide shortage of food and/or fuel? Survivalist in Training
I’ve been interested in survival stories since I was a kid, which is funny considering I grew up in a city. Maybe that’s why the idea of living off the land appealed to me. My grandfather and I frequently took camping trips along the Blue Ridge Parkway and around the Smoky Mountains. Looking back, some of the best times we had were when we stayed at campgrounds without electricity hookups, because it forced us to use what we had to get by. My grandfather was well-prepared with a camp stove and lanterns (which ran off propane), and when the sun went to bed we usually did along with it. We played cards for entertainment, and in the absence of televisions, games, etc. we shared many great conversations. Survivalist in the Neighborhood
Some days I panic that I do not know enough, other days I realize that I can’t learn everything, can’t stockpile everything. I have three children, ages 5 to 13, so my main concern is keeping them safe. That means I must be prepared.
Fantastic threads, I’m sure I won’t have anything new to add!<<<
Thank you for the nice words.
My thought on being prepared, is yes, as you can, but be sure that you know a lot of odd facts and can “Make do” with what you do have.
We have talked about almost everything on the two threads and will continue to do so, for new people find the threads almost daily AND often it was not meaningful to me the first time that I read something.
Add in the fact that we all do things differently, so there are different methods to be used and still reach the same result.
So I say welcome and join in, with out any worry of “has been posted before”, for if it has, we will pass on reading every word and go to the next one.
I have read several in the last week, that I know I read before, but in the meantime, picked up missing pieces in my mind, that gave an entirely new meaning to what I read.
There are many who fear what is coming, and normal life should require that people be able to survive, on their own.
LOL, in my opinion.
One side note. Younger daughter made me grin while she visited. In passing she mentions her bug-out plans in place “just in case.” Does my heart good to hear my kid speak of the plans like that so calmly. Let’s me know she’s trying to stay prepared as best she can.<<<
Did your teaching proud, it makes it worth being a parent, when you see the results.
Last night my son was telling me what he had cooked and that he was making an effort to use up what was pushed back in the pantry..........”To save money...”
I told him “ that is called replacing the old items, with new”.....
Going to take me a while to get caught up.<<<
As long as you are OK, that is all that matters.
I have also been studying herbal medicine. If I run out of something, I will know what to use from the great outdoors to relieve pain, treat a fever, and fight infection. Even going to plant some penny royal to keep the fleas away. ; )<<<<
Excellent planning and I agree it is smart to know how to get along without a doctor.
Plant some common peppermint also, for tea, or for baths and other uses. Also keeps ants out of the house, if planted around the foundation.
I suspect it would be a good bath for measles, poison ivy and whatever itches, as the bath that has a strong peppermint tea in it sure feels good.
Boil 2 cups of leaves for 10 minutes or so, cover and let steep until it cools and strain into the bath tub.
I posted links for all you will ever want to know about beekeeping in the past few days and there are other assorted articles posted.
The following is the list from Millennium Ark Free Preparedness - Well their first 2 are their books for sale but the rest are free. Lots of good stuff!<<<
Yes, they do have good information.
Thanks for the links.
The Deyo’s have always been interesting, I would hear them on the old Art Bell programs.
An impressive list of information links.
Many thanks.
they say it is one of the few that can weather adversity and still produce a good yield. Figured that was what I should have.<<<
It does and is the only one to ever set an ear for me.
The wind blows the pollen away and the heat dries it out.
I have always heard of mangles for feeding to livestock, <<<
LOL, I tried them, a few, did not find any 20 pounders in the garden.
Let’s hear one for the Jacka$$ party!)<<<
If there is anyone in the world who does not face the facts about them, then they should be gathered up and sent to the moon.
I sit here in amazement at the news.
>>>I still have scars.<<<
A scared Siamese is a real wild critter...
When I was taking pilot training, they had a Siamese who was everybody’s pet - One day, while one of the students had the plane door open while he did his pre-flight inspection, the cat got in the plane... All was fine until he lifted off the ground and the cat went berserk. He swears the cat was running round and round on the windows and every time it went past him it lashed out at his face.
We saw it from the ground and couldn’t figure what was going on - plane took off and started bobbling all over the place - we fully expected it to crash - he finally got it back on the ground and he had to have a whole bunch of stitches on his face and neck from it.
Thanks for the link. A.I. Root seems to only have candles now.
LOL, I think he told me it was for a welder. It lives on a trailer.
What feed do you raise?
I never bought oyster shells, I used to feed ground up chicken shells back to the chickens.
http://www.carlaemery.com/country-recipes.htm
Mozzarella Cheese
Add 2 teaspoons Citric acid to 2 gallons milk. Stir. Heat to 86 F. Remove from heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon. liquid rennet to 1/4 c. water. Stir until dissolved. Add rennet/milk mixture to milk. Stir about half a minute. Then let sit undisturbed for about 20 minutes. A firm curd should be formed by then, floating on the whey. Cut up the curd with a knife. Heat slowly to 100 F (takes about 10 minutes), stirring gently. Remove from heat. Let rest five minutes. Pour off whey. Place curds in a bowl. Heat in microwave oven for two or three minutes (until it becomes soft and workable). Pour off whey. Knead cheese like bread, working in 1 teaspoon. salt. Cool. And eat!
Old-Fashioned Cottage Cheese
Heat 2 gallons of fresh farm milk to 85 F. Add 1/2 c. buttermilk, kefir, or yogurt for starter, and 2 teaspoons rennet. Stir and let sit in warm place for two hours. By then it will have clabbered (separated into curd floating on top of whey). Cut curds into as nearly as possible equal-sized cubes. Heat cubes in the whey to 140 F (higher temp gives you tougher curd, lower gives you more tender curd), stirring often. Drain off whey. Put curd into clean, thin cloth and let hang and drip for several hours. Break up curds into a bowl. Flavor to taste. When I was a little girl I liked it in a bowl with cream and sugar, but my daddy preferred it with salt and pepper.
Instant Split Pea Soup:
for Folks with a Grinder
Mill split peas into flour. Mix 1 cup of the split pea flour with eight cups of water. It thickens immediately. Add shredded vegies as
Now, I understand why they do not want cats in the planes cabins.
I can belief it, as that feral cat that got in here last year, would leave my legs bleeding, simply because she walked by.
That was my first cat that I could never make friends with.
I can’t imagine attempting to fly and having to fight off a crazed cat.
Brave man.
In Wellton, we had so many snakes that we told the town people to just dump their cats at our house.
Someone did, a dumbo kitten, and it decided that the 30 or 40 ducks were his mothers and kept going to them, they were not into kitty love and would ignore him....I admit, we laughed at him attempting to follow the ducks, when they simply went and stood in the middle of a low spot that always held water for several days, at the deepest it might have been 6 inches, and maybe 50 foot wide.
Kitty seemed to think that if the ducks walked on water, then he would also, and was so shocked, every time his feet got wet.
The Siamese that I gave a bath, well I bought him a nice wife and LOL, after he did what I hoped he would do, he departed for the canyon again.
Later we moved to the country and my Honey Chile kept giving us lovely kittens.
Then on the last batch, she met a snake and lost the battle.
We saved the babies, as we had done 4 months before when the man who raised registered German Shepherds, for high training, that he had imported from Germany, gave Bill the runt, cause “you say your wife can save animals, well see if she can save this one.”
Bill had been on the man’s waiting list to buy one for several years.
I saved Tena and those were in the days that we had a nice home and knew Ladies....LOL
I was President of the Gardening club and we would have lunches and board meetings at the house.
All the other ladies were older and had lived in the town of Ramona for many years, I was the newbie.
I so wanted to act like a lady, and I tried.
But I still laugh at the real ladies, sipping tea and trying to ignore the fact that Tena, the 4 month old and large sized German Shepherd, had gone and gathered up the 4 or 5 kittens, brought them to the front patio, laid herself down and made sure the kittens were all nursing.
You couldn’t ignore what was going on, 5 kittens, nursing on dry teats, make a lot of noise.
Finally someone asked “Are those kittens really nursing that dog?”
I was embarrassed.
One of the kittens later moved back to town with us, a lovely Siamese, that if it got in the house, would head straight for Bill old feather pillow, that he couldn’t sleep without, and use it for a sandbox.
One day he had it, so he took the cat with him to the wrecking yard that he managed and turned it loose, they had dogs there and already had food and water out.
A few days went by and he came home and told me that he didn’t know what to say or do, when a customer and his son asked for the cat.
They were old customers and Bill knew that the son was mentally challenged, and one of the few things that he did for fun, was to work on the car with his dad and now Bill has let him take that dumbo cat home with him.
As it went over the next years, until we moved from San Diego, the boy would show up every few days and give Bill a report on the cat, it was the most wonderful creature on earth and it was his.
And 40 years later, I still have my Carnelian necklace and earrings that he helped his dad make for my Christmas present the year he got his cat.
Bill was not the kind to dump cats, but he couldn’t live with that one and wasn’t a cat lover when he married me.
God wanted that cat to go to that young man, and made it happen.
economy hits close to home
Well the economy has struck. Husband go laid off today...10 years there and his notice was..today is your last day.
This is very frightening. We have 8 dependents.He works in the manufacturing industry. He already commuted 90 miles round trip for this job. There isn’t much hope of another good paying job in his field with in that drive. I must write to our government officials and thank them for creating this huge economic mess.
I think I am gonna be really thankful I have eggs in the incubator and goats that I plan on breeding.....and 200 dollars worth of garden seed waiting to be planted.
And this is how easy the world tilted on Wednesday in Tenn.
granny
http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=295957
Lots of frugal tips.
Don’t overlook dryer lint as a starter base for starting seeds - saves on potting soil and is less messy. You can “stick” seeds to strips of it just by wetting it and dropping on the seeds, then letting it dry again. Plant the strips directly into the garden (sort of make-your-own seed tapes). Most dryer lint is pretty much cotton (or dog hair in our house ) and rots away once planted. Moistened, it can also be formed into “ peat pots” if you have one of those little dealies that are meant for use with newspaper (actually, any sort of mold would probably work). Flat pieces, moistened, can be used for germination tests or for germinating seeds.
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