In a disaster situation, everyone knows they need 1 gallon of water per person/a day. Due to the bulkiness and weight issues of storing water, it is not always feasible to store water for a long term disaster. Many survival experts suggest every family have a water filter in order to treat water for a long term disaster. Due to the importance of having water on hand, it is a prep item that should be viewed as a necessary investment. Therefore, find the very best water filter than you can afford. Some suggested water filters are the Berkey Water Filter, and the Katadyn Water Filters.
Ways to Collect Water
Use water barrels to collect rain water. This is a very effective method of collecting large amounts of water. Rain collection barrels come in a variety of sizes. Treating the water can preserve it for up to five years. The water barrels can be placed strategically around the home to collect water cascading from the rooftops. This method provides water in a nearby location for the family to use at their disposal.
Collecting water from ponds, creeks and streams is another method to harvesting water. Due to the weight that large amount of water have, transporting water by hand could pose a problem. Therefore, a person can use 5 gallon water cans or a collapsible water container, or whatever they have around the home and use a transport method such as an old wagon, or a garden cart, or a wheel barrow.
Treating Water
Boiling is the easiest and safest method of treating water. Boil the water to a rolling boil for 1 full minute, keeping in mind that some water will evaporate. Let the water cool before drinking. Boiled water will taste better if you put oxygen back into it by pouring the water back and forth between two clean containers. This also will improve the taste of stored water.
Distillation involves boiling water and then collecting only the vapor that condenses. The condensed vapor will not include salt or most other impurities. To distill, fill a pot halfway with water. Tie a cup to the handle on the pot’s lid so that the cup will hang right-side-up when the lid is upside-down (make sure the cup is not dangling into the water) and boil the water for 20 minutes. The water that drips from the lid into the cup is distilled.
Chemical Treatment of water. If boiling water is not a possibility, then chemical disinfection is advised for water purity.
Using Bleach
Filter the water using a piece of cloth or coffee filter to remove solid particles.
Bring it to a rolling boil for about one full minute.
Let it cool at least 30 minutes. Water must be cool or the chlorine treatment described below will be useless.
Add 16 drops of liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of water, or 8 drops per 2-liter bottle of water. Stir to mix. Sodium hypochlorite of the concentration of 5.25% to 6% should be the only active ingredient in the bleach. There should not be any added soap or fragrances. A major bleach manufacturer has also added Sodium Hydroxide as an active ingredient, which they state does not pose a health risk for water treatment. Make sure the bleach is fragrance free before it is used.
Let stand 30 minutes.
If it smells of chlorine. You can use it. If it does not smell of chlorine, add 16 more drops of chlorine bleach per gallon of water (or 8 drops per 2-liter bottle of water), let stand 30 minutes, and smell it again. If it smells of chlorine, you can use it. If it does not smell of chlorine, discard it and find another source of water
Purification Tablets
Purification tablets such as chlorine tablets, iodine tablets, micro-pur are different tablets to use when treating water. These tablets can assist in removing viruses, bacteria, cryptosporidium, and Giardia in the water. Follow the instructions recommended by the manufacturer. If a person is using iodine tablets, the iodine must be stored in a dark container. Sunlight can affect the iodine’s potency. Additionally, iodine has been shown to be more effective than chlorine treatment tablets. Please note that chlorine tablets can be used in lieu of iodine talbets for persons with iodine allergeies. Persons with thyroid problems or on lithum, women over fifty, and pregnant women should consult their physician prior to using iodine for purification.
Here’s a tip for getting rid of the “chlorine taste” in the water: add a vitamin c tablets to the water after the purification treatment has finished. This is a good tip to keep in mind when children are drinking the water. They tend to put their noses up at water that has funny smells or tastes.
Safely Storing Water
Water should be stored in a cool, dark place in the home, the vehicle, as well as the workplace. Use water within the expiration date stamped on the container. Water can be stored in food grade containers, as well as soft drink bottles. However, they must be washed thoroughly, sanitized, and rinsed. If possible, only store water that has already been treated, and ready for consumption. Tap water would more than likely need to be treated if it were to be stored.
Having water in the home is essential to keeping the body hydrated to maintain proper body regulations. There may be times when an emergency last longer than three days, so plan accordingly, and have the necessary items needed to purify water for a long term disaster.
Things are coming to a fiery head in Baraboo, Wisconsin this week as supporters, big league food freedom heroes, and non-corporate media activists gather outside the court house in solidarity to support fresh food farmer Vernon Hershberger. The big trial started on Monday and reportedly goes until Friday.
As you may have heard, Hershberger is facing over two years prison time and $10,000 in fines for four criminal misdemeanor charges aimed at him for providing fresh food to his community through members in agreement – mainly for breaking a holding order. For more details into the background story including a raid, government destruction of his food and previous hearings, check our running story.
Simply put, the government would like to eradicate “herd share” type agreements that act outside the State. But, that would be similar to outlawing horse boarding, co-ops and Craigslist interactions. Agents twist this practice so that it magically becomes a “retail establishment.” There seems to be a major bias from the court against Vernon, but he remains in good spirits and can be seen on Facebook pages smiling with his supporters.
ALL eyes are on Hershberger this week, including non-raw dairy industry experts, as this case is expected to set a legal precedent, according to them. The “legalities” here are under heated debate. You can watch too, with the streaming video here.
David Gumpert (Raw Milk Revolution), Mark Baker of Baker’s Green Acres, Liz Reitzig, Michael Badnarik, Mark McAffe, Eusatce Conway, Derrick J, Weston A. Price Foundation leaders and many more are out there lending their support.
The First Amendment was the first casualty in the case. Although it sounds like it comes from a Monty Python movie (The Life of Brian), the words “raw milk” are not allowed to be spoken during the trial. Mark McAffe was ordered to cover his shirt because it said: “get raw milk.” A teenager wearing a “Raw Milk Me” button was asked to remove it before entering.
What happened today (Day 4) was perhaps most surprising. According to a Facebook status update from Liz Reitzig:
Hershberger judge OKs prosecution objections to defense atty saying WI farmer’s “liberty” be at stake – no more mention of “liberty” allowed.[emphasis added]
In the court room right now. Defense arguing for showing photos and facts of the farm to the jury. Prosecution doesn’t want to allow any facts of the farm. Saying it’s “irrelevant.”
Prosecution is asking that evidence about memberships not be allowed.
Of course they don’t want the jury to hear about memberships – it would blow the whole lid on the absurdity of charging this man. David Gumpert reports from the first day:
The two sides in the case were engaged in an intense argument over a prosecution motion to prevent the defense from presenting information to the jury about the membership arrangement that drives Hershberger’s food club; such a prohibition would prevent the defense from including among its witnesses members of Hershberger’s private food club.
Just to be clear, there is no other way to provide farm fresh milk in Wisconsin! They are charging him in part for not having licenses, then playing slight-of-hand with the jury by squelching certain words and calling it retail. There is no such thing as a raw milk license in Wisconsin.
So no matter what – he is a lawbreaker. And that’s the message they want to drive home to the jury. If there was ever a time we needed jury nullification and informed jurors -it’s now.
This is far from over, regardless of the verdict expected tomorrow. And I feel like I could go on forever about the clear first amendment violations. So please check back with us for continuing updates.
Listen to Popeye from FederalJack.com tonight as we both discuss the case and other food freedom events coming up. We will be on UnBoundRadio.com from 10-12 midnight EST.
No doubt many of you who are interested in homesteading have put some thought into whether or not you will butcher your livestock. After all, they are an investment that you have made of time and money, in raising them, feeding, and protecting them. When the time comes to take a life, will you be able to do it? All I can say is claiming that you will butcher and actually performing the task are two separate entities.
When we bought our first flock of chicks, we somehow ended up with a rooster in our group. We decided to take advantage of it and allow him to fertilize the eggs and provide us with beneficial fertilizer. I would be lying if I didn’t say that we didn’t bond with this animal. It’s never your intention to create an emotional bond with livestock, but when you care for them day after day, it’s hard not too. Over time, like all roosters, Bernie had become increasingly more aggressive. For months we have skirted around the fate of this rooster, and after we were able to successfully hatch a brood of chicks from our incubator, we decided that today was the day – it was time to kill him. Being a first time homesteader, I firmly believe in stretching myself and developing my skill sets. One of these important skills to learn is caring for and butchering livestock.
I believe that animals were put on this earth to serve a purpose and further believe that as long as the animals are cared for and killed humanely, then their lives had meaning. Our chickens are 100% organic and live a very good life where they have lots of room to roam around and eat to their hearts content. Like many of you, we are trying to be self-sufficient and raise or grow as much of our own food as we can – on our own terms. Part of the self-sufficient cycle is eating the food sources you have raised. That said, we did a lot of research on homesteading websites and watched videos on butchering before we were ready to do it. This video on killing the animal and this video on cleaning it were very helpful.
Killing and Processing the Chicken
Once the rooster was caught, we wrapped him in an old towel and allowed him to settle. I stroked his beautiful feathers and we all thanked him for his life and the baby chicks we were now caring for. Somehow I ended up with the knife in my hand. I have to tell you that although I have put thought into the fact that we were going to be butchering the chickens, I never thought it would be at my own hand. Nevertheless, I used the knife and cut his throat. I am still trying to process this moment.
He bled out quickly and at one point squirmed his way out of the towel we had wrapped him in. His wings were flapping and blood had splattered all over me – I swear I looked like I had stepped out of a scene from Braveheart. We allowed his blood to drain in a bucket and I went to wash up. As a side note, I would suggest wearing rain boots when butchering animals, as the blood tends to drip on your shoes and makes a mess.
The following are the steps we took to kill and clean the chicken to get it oven ready.
Before butchering the bird, have all tools and everything in place before you start. You will need a very sharp knife, rope, a bucket, an old towel and rain boots.
Start a large pot or stock pot of water on the stove. You don’t want boiling water, but extremely hot, near the simmering point.
Get your chicken and wrap it in an old towel. Find the back of the jaw bone of the chicken. This is where you want to start cutting. With a very sharp knife, use a good amount of pressure and cut the throat of the bird from the back of the jawbone to the jugular vein. To help the chicken bleed out more quickly, try not to cut the windpipe. You can also break their neck shortly following the cut to the neck.
Allow the chicken to bleed out completely by hanging it from its feet with a rope. Use a plastic container for the blood to fall into. This step should take about 5 minutes.
Dip the bird into the hot boiling water to loosen up the feathers and begin plucking. We set the bird in the hot water for 20 seconds and the feathers easily came off.
Wash the carcass in the sink and go over the body ensuring you have removed all quills and feathers.
Grab the leg and exert some pressure to the find the joint connecting the foot and the leg and cut the feet off. If you plan to use the entire bird, you can use the feet to make chicken stock.
To begin eviscerating the chicken, open the cavity, find the end of the breast bone and with a sharp knife and make small cuts around the area and around the anus area. This is where you will be able to grab the internal organs and such. Try not to damage or break the intestines or it can ruin the meat.
Stick your hand into the chest cavity and remove the organs and intestines. There is a slight smell when the cavity is opened. I wasn’t aware of this and wished I had held my breath. Note: You may need a knife nearby to cut any connective tissues inside the cavity.
Wash the cavity and the outside of the bird thoroughly and then prepare for cooking.
The Process
I’m going to come out and say that butchering is not my thing and definitely not something I look forward to for family fun activities. I would kill another animal to feed my family, but I’m definitely not a fan. This process really taught me a lot about the cycle of life and how important it is to respect all life forms. After we finished eating the rooster, I wanted to save everything – nothing wasted with this dinner. I plan on making a soup tomorrow out of the remaining carcass.
The hardest part of this was killing the rooster. In all honesty I believe that taking a life would be hard for anyone whether it’s your first time or your twentieth; after all, this is what makes us humans. I have never taken a life and killing the rooster was very difficult for me to do. It is my hope that Bernie, the rooster didn’t suffer and that he was happy until the end.
The next time we decide to butcher a chicken, we will probably do more than one at a time. Although the process of butchering and cleaning went fairly quickly, I would rather have the meat cleaned and ready to go instead of killing one chicken at a time.
The End Result
As a side note, many suggest you butcher your chickens while they are young (less than 1 year old) and still considered pullets. This is when their meat is still tender. My rooster was about 8 months old, so he was fairly young. After cooking him on low heat for 1 1/2 hours, his meat was tough. I’m assuming that since he was male, his meat wouldn’t have been tender anyway. Does anyone have any insight in answering this question?
I hope my experience is able to help some of you who are either considering a homesteading lifestyle or are considering butchering your chickens for the first time. It is never fun to take a life, but I respect this animal for giving my family sustenance.
When thinking about survival prepping, most think of collecting as many dried foods as possible to last for as many years as possible, along with whatever other supplies will be needed to take care of oneself and family without having to visit the supermarket, which, in most scenarios, will not be functioning in a post-crash world.
To this discussion, I would like to add something a bit out of the box. And that is – a goat will keep you alive. Yes, it’s true, and I have spent the last several weeks proving just that.
The survival system that I decided on was geared towards providing me and mine with fresh, whole food that is renewable and sustainable. So, I purchased two milking goats to go along with my garden. One is an Alpine cross whom I named Sunny, and the other a Mini Mancha (La Mancha and Nigerian Dwarf cross) who goes by the name of Fiona. They were pregnant when I bought them, and almost ready to kid.
I have to admit that I knew Alpines were good milkers, but had no idea what a Mini Mancha would do, and was delightfully surprised when it came time for milking at the amount that my little gal produces. For such a small individual, she is a powerhouse.
So, with these two ladies by my side, I began my journey into food freedom. Could my ladies actually keep me alive and healthy? I would soon find out.
The Experiment
The babies were born the first week of February, and I did not milk until I weaned them at 2 months of age. After that, I started milking twice per day and get 1 – 1 ½ gallons per day. Since my ladies started producing I haven’t eaten much of anything that doesn’t come from the ranch and/or local sources.
Why a goat?
My first thought was nutrition. Could I really get the nutrition I need from a diet of goat milk, veggies and fruit? So, I looked up a bit of nutritional information:
Nutrition
Goat milk is also a healthier alternative to cow milk. Why? Cow milk has to be homogenized to be more easily digested, which is a process where the fat globules are broken down. However, this is not necessary with goat milk because it is naturally homogenized. Therefore goat milk is much more easily digested than cow milk is.
Goat milk has more of the essential vitamins that we need. Goat milk has 13% more calcium, 25% percent more B6, 47% percent more vitamin A, and 27% more selenium. It also has more chloride, copper, manganese, potassium, and niacin than cow milk. It also produces more silicon and fluorine than any other dairy animal. Silicon and fluorine can help prevent diabetes.
Scientist are not sure why, but people who are lactose intolerant can often drink goat milk without having to worry about side effects. Goat milk does not cause phlegm like cow milk does, so you can drink goat milk even when you have a cold or bad allergy problems.
For a complete nutritional breakdown comparing goat milk to cow and human milk, go to Fias Co Farm.
Ease of upkeep
The next concern was how easy are they to keep? It turns out that they are the best bet for the money when it comes to dairy critters. Goats are less time consuming, eat less, and are less labor intensive than cows, making them much more economical. They are also browsers and not grazers, meaning that they will eat stuff that cows simply will not touch, and can be used to clear weeds. If you turn them out on your property to browse, they will eat brush and weeds, leaving you with cleared, fertilized land, sans the heavy machinery and spendy store-bought fertilizers. Just be careful of the weeds that they eat as the taste will end up in your milk.
Often the dairy goat has been called the “poor man’s cow,” because good dairy goats do not cost near as much as good dairy cows do. You can raise more goats on a smaller amount of pasture than you can cows. While it takes an acre for a cow/calf, you can successfully raise six goats on one acre. Cows usually have only one calf per year, while goats have two kids (that’s what you call a young goat) after their second year. Pound for pound a good dairy goat will produce more milk than a cow will. Unlike a cow, a good dairy goat can produce up to 10% of its body weight in milk.
There are several breeds to choose from, and what is right for one, might not be right for another.
The most frequently asked question that people ask me about goats is, ”What is the difference in each breed’s milk taste, and how much milk do they average.” And that is always one of the hardest questions to answer, simply because there really aren’t any solid answers I can give! Each individual goat is going to have its own amount of milk it’s going to give, and it’s going to have its own taste. Think of it like a grab bag. You never know what you’re going to get.
But that sounds rather discouraging. How on earth is a body supposed to choose a goat breed if they’re hesitant about each one? Over the years, I’ve had the privilege to own almost all the dairy breeds out there, and then try the milk from countless of other goats. Through much experience (read: trial and error as we bought goats that gave horrid tasting milk!), I’ve gotten to know each breed’s quirks and histories, and I’ve come to realize that it actually is possible to give people an idea of what to expect from each breed.
Saanen, Alpine, Nubian, Toggenburg, Oberhaslis, La Mancha, Nigerian Dwarf, and combinations thereof are the main dairy breeds. I would rather not get hooked on buying a purebred since they are more expensive, and certain crosses yield excellent milk, in my opinion. My gals are both crosses and their milk is wonderful.
So, when you are looking for your milking goat, go with taste, volume, temperament, size of teats if you are hand milking, and orifice size. You can determine all of these things if you go to the place where you are considering purchasing your goat and observe the hands on experience. Watch the goats to see how they relate to each other, watch your prospect getting milked, ask questions, and taste her milk. I always recommend buying from a trusted source, and if in doubt, get a vet check before purchase.
Preparing for your goat
I asked the local goat-keeper what type of fencing my girls would need. He said that if I can make an enclosure that would hold water, I should be able to keep them in at all times…. Okay! A challenge. Well, I ended up with a 52” fence because I used large pallets. So far, it has worked. My friend uses 5’ high woven wire fencing. That is optimal, but since the pallets were free, that is what I chose.
The feeder is outside of the pen, allowing them to put their heads through the holes and eat without trampling it on the ground and soiling it. Hay nets are another option, but if your goat has horns, she can get them caught in the hay net.
Large dog houses are excellent shelters, but just about anything can be used such as a raised camper shell, a-frame structures, etc. Basically, your goats need to have some place dry and out of the elements to get to. A good straw bedding inside will keep them warm, dry and happy, and provide a good kidding area.
They will also need a good supply of fresh, clean water. Goats do not like dirty water, and if you live in freezing conditions you will need to get a water heater. I use 5 gallon buckets that are cleaned regularly.
Keeping your goat healthy
Feed
You will want to get a good supply of high quality hay for your girls. I let the babies browse the ranch, but the milking mamas get a controlled feed so that the taste of the milk can be regulated. As I stated before, whatever they eat affects the taste of the milk. If you cannot get feed for your girls, they can be turned out to forage in an emergency and will do just fine as long as there is plenty of grass and other vegetation. Click HERE for a list of edible and poisonous plants for goats.
Each goat needs 2 to 4 pounds of hay each day, although some of this need can be met by available pasture or other forage. Make it available free choice throughout the day when pasture is unavailable or feed twice a day when goats are also browsing.
You can feed alfalfa (and some grass hays) in pellet form if you don’t have storage or if you want to mix it with grain. The goats don’t waste so much alfalfa when it’s in pellets, and you can limit who gets it by combining it with their grain.
I am currently feeding a free-choice oat/pea hay combination along with a non-GMO dairy goat pellet , whole oats, rolled barley, alfalfa pellets, timothy grass pellets, and molasses. They also get free-choice loose minerals and baking soda.
Worming
When it is time to worm, I mix food grade diatomaceous earth with their grain ration along with a bit of warm water and molasses to coat everything so that it all gets eaten. Here is some info about diatomaceous earth:
Food grade diatomaceous earth makes a very effective natural insecticide. The insecticidal quality of diatomaceous earth is due to the razor sharp edges of the diatom remains. When diatomaceous earth comes in contact with the insects, the sharp edges lacerate the bugs waxy exoskeleton and then the powdery diatomaceous earth absorbs the body fluids causing death from dehydration.
Food grade diatomaceous earth has been used for at least two decades as a natural wormer for livestock. Some believe diatomaceous earth scratches and dehydrates parasites. Some scientists believe that diatomaceous earth is a de-ionizer or de-energizer of worms or parasites. Regardless, people report definite control. To be most effective, food grade diatomaceous earth must be fed long enough to catch all newly hatching eggs or cycling of the worms through the lungs and back to the stomach. A minimum of 60 days is suggested by many, 90 days is advised for lungworms.
Food grade diatomaceous earth works in a purely physical/mechanical manner, not “chemical” and thus has no chemical toxicity. Best yet, parasites don’t build up a tolerance/immunity to its chemical reaction, so rotation of wormers is unnecessary.
Goats are hardy creatures, so a bit of prevention goes a long way. I keep Povidone Iodine around for minor cuts, along with hydrogen peroxide and colloidal silver. My medical kit is stocked with sterile cotton, vet-wrap, sharp scissors, an enema bottle, small bottles of hydrogen peroxide, colloidal silver and Betadine, cotton swabs, thermometer, and small towels.
Trimming feet
Your milking stand can also be used to secure your goats for hoof trimming.
Comprehensive instructions along with pictures can be found by clicking HERE. Also, remember to keep a bottle of blood-stop powder handy just in case you trim a little too deep and draw blood. If this happens, simply sprinkle a bit on, and that will stop the bleeding.
To horn or not to horn
Most goat people will insist on disbudding the babies. I don’t. I know that this is a contentious subject, but clearly, goats are born with them and they serve a purpose. We disbud (remove) them for our own personal convenience, not theirs. The choice is yours, as I have already made mine. Here is an article that supports my belief:
Yes, horns get in the way. Yes, they can cause some damage. But did you know that in most countries, disbudding is considered akin to surgically removing a leg, or ears, or an udder? And well it should be, in my book. That said, goat owners have to take their individual circumstances into consideration. Maybe, if I had a lot of little kids around, I might think differently. But I would probably just do what I did when my kids were little and there were sharp pointy goat horns around: put tennis balls, or some sort of rubber, squishy thing, on the end of the horns.Worked great. Goats didn’t care. No eyes got poked out. If I had a bajillion goats in a small space, maybe I would disbud. If I was going to show my goats, I’d have to – it’s THE LAW. Hmmm. Im not showing. In my particular case, I’m willing to make management changes in order to let my goats be goats.
If you decide to disbud, click HERE for some instructions.
Milking
A happy goat is a good milking goat. At first arrival to a new home, your goat will take some time to get used to her surroundings. Since they are herd animals, they like company. So, a compatible goat buddy is better for your goat than being the lone stranger.
Goats can hold back their milk of they are unhappy, and if they are satisfied, can deliver it easily. It is really up to them. This means that developing a good relationship with them is paramount. When I started milking my mamas, I sang to them. Now that we are in a routine, and they love routines, I open the gate and they run to the milking stand. This took a bit of doing.
At first, Fiona didn’t want to get on. She hadn’t been milked on a stand before and would have none of it. I had to lift her up and place her on it. Well, that wasn’t going to last for long, so I started only giving them grain when they were on the stand. Problem solved. They now associate the stand with grain, and the longer I milk, the more grain they get to eat, so they give me as much milk as possible.
Click HERE for detailed instructions on how to hand milk a goat. I like to use a mild solution of warm water and apple cider vinegar for an udder wash and teat dip.
Click HERE for detailed instructions on how to construct a milking stand.
If you have more than a couple of goats, and you will after kidding, you might want to invest in a milking machine. I invested in an aspirator purchased from an eBay seller for $109, some hose for $25, a couple of replacement batteries for $25, two fittings, a dosing syringe, and a gallon jar with lid that I had around the house. My friend had already made one, so she put the fittings and hose together for me, and showed me how to use it.
The main thing to remember about goat milk is that it will pick up the flavor of anything it comes in contact with. Therefore, cleanliness will yield the best tasting milk. Also, I don’t let my milk come in contact with plastic containers. I use a stainless steel bucket and glass jars. Immediately after milking, I strain the milk into a glass jar and place it in the fridge to cool. No “goaty” taste for me! People who taste my milk say it tastes like creamy, sweet cow’s milk. They can’t tell it’s from a goat.
Food and other stuff
When I say that a goat will keep you alive, I mean it. Here is a typical day’s meal:
Breakfast:
Goat milk smoothie – goat milk, whatever fruit is handy and honey placed in a blender and blended until smooth and creamy, or goat milk and homemade granola made with oats, fruit and nuts.
Lunch:
Goat cheese and spinach salad.
Dinner:
Vegetable soup and homemade bread made with whey from the cheesemaking process.
Snack:
Goat ice-milk mixed with fruit, nuts, and any other flavors you like.
Here are pics of a couple of the cheeses that I make with stuff from the garden, goat milk and apple cider vinegar.
Walking Onion Goat Cheese
Wild Celery Goat Cheese
I also feed the whey and excess milk to the cats and chickens. It keeps them fat and healthy.
You can also make a very mild and gentle soap from goat milk.
Packing
Goats are also used for packing, and will leave a much more invisible footprint than other animals such as donkeys and horses.
Conclusion
The results of my experiment are that I am feeling strong, energetic, am definitely healthy, and do not feel one bit deprived. And what do I owe it to? My two milking mamas, fresh fruit, veggies, local honey and a penchant for independence. I am confident that if the store shelves run dry, I can still eat healthy, good tasting food and get the nutrition that I need. A goat will keep you alive.
As the mercury in the thermometer starts to climb, you may be looking for different ways to keep your home a bit cooler without an exponential increase in your electric bill. That battle starts in the kitchen.
The one thing that adds the most ambient heat is cooking. Your choice of cooking methods can greatly increase the warmth that your air conditioner must then overcome. And if you have no air conditioner, it can make your home humid, muggy and miserable.
Now is the time to look to some different kitchen strategies. We can look back in history for a guideline, based on what our pioneer ancestors ate. Foods were lighter and required less cooking, since nearly all cooking was done on a wood-burning stove that would have made the house unbearable. As well, many people set up summer kitchens, consisting of either a separate building to keep the main house cooler, or an outdoor fireplace. We can take our cues from them and adapt their diets to our modern lifestyles.
Change your eating habits with the thermometer. As the weather warms up, the harvest from your garden will increase. Most summer vegetables require little, if any, cooking, and can generally be quickly steamed to perfection on the stove top. Look for easy, no-cook recipes and fast non-processed foods.
Break out the kitchen gadgets. Instead of firing up the oven, or cooking something for hours on the stove top, pull out those dusty, seldom-used kitchen gadgets. Pressure cookers, toaster ovens, counter top grills, and crock pots can all make meals without heating up the house. If I am going to be gone for the day, I often put something in the crock pot for a nice meal to welcome us home. (I’ve included one of our favorite recipes below.) The low heat of the crock pot will not affect the temperature in your home, and it’s a great way to tenderize a less expensive cut of meat, to which you can add some fresh veggie sides at dinner time. Skip the roasting and baking during the summer.
Always make enough to have leftovers. Leftovers are a goldmine for speedy future meals. They generally require just a quick heat in the toaster oven or on the stove top, and some foods are delicious when compiled into a cold salad or rolled up in a flatbread.
Take it outside. Use a barbecue, a sun oven or an outdoor fireplace to cook your meals in the summer, keeping all of the cooking heat outdoors. If you are grilling meat outdoors, make extra to add some quick protein to your salads.
Focus on local abundance. Even if you don’t have a garden, you can still have delicious local produce. Hit your farmer’s market and plan your menus around the seasonal goodness found there. (Find farmers and markets in your area HERE!) Enjoy summer fruits and vegetables like berries, cucumbers, peaches, tomatoes, and much more! None of these requires much, if any, cooking time. Just wash and eat!
Try different protein options. Look for delicious plant-based sources of protein. Beans picked fresh from the garden won’t require nearly as much cooking time as the dry ones sitting in your pantry. If you consume animal products, look for quick-cooking proteins like fish, chicken cut into small pieces, and eggs. Save large oven-baked roasts for winter fare, or at the least, use an alternative cooking method.
Enjoy the health benefits of eating seasonally. Seasonal foods provide you with exactly what you need at different times of the year. For example, in the spring, those tender leafy sprigs like lettuce, kale, peas and pea shoots, and asparagus provide vitamins K and folate, which support blood health, bone health, and cell repair. The cool delicate foods are light, low in calories, and rejuvenating to the body as you gear up for the upcoming warm weather. Feasting on these waistline friendly foods is a great way to get rid of that insulating layer of fat that you may have acquired during the winter.
You’ll save money in more ways than one. Not only will your electric bill be reduced by adjusting your summer eating habits, but so will your grocery bill. Seasonal foods are less expensive by nature of their abundance at a given time. Farmers MUST sell them quickly or they’ll spoil. So you can often purchase them in large quantities at rock bottom prices. And if they come directly from your garden, it’s even better for your wallet!
*****
Crock Pot Con Carne
As promised above, here’s a great summer recipe that you can make in your crock pot. Serve your con carne on a bed of rice or in soft tortillas. Top it with sour cream or plain yogurt, and garden fresh chopped lettuce, peppers, and tomatoes.
Ingredients
2 pounds beef or pork roast, or 2 pounds of skinless, boneless chicken
4 cups of diced tomatoes
1 diced bell pepper
1 finely minced onion
¼ cup of fresh cilantro or 2 tbsp dried cilantro or 2 tbsp parsley
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 tbsp of chili powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp of brown sugar
Directions
In the crock pot, combine all ingredients except the roast.
Add the roast to the crock pot, being sure to submerge the meat completely.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Remove the meat from the crock pot and use two forks to shred it.
Place the meat back into the liquid in the pot and stir it together. Allow it to sit, uncovered, for 10 minutes before serving.
Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca
The chickens have been in place a week now. The second and third laid eggs on day two. So for most of the week we have been collecting three eggs a day. Three very different eggs, large, a larger medium and medium.
The chickens are very friendly and follow you around when you are out the back. Everything you have has to be tested in case it is food and they peck everything at least once, including the baby. They reside very comfortably with the rabbit but evicted hime from his own home.
They can be quite intimidating for kids as they rush up to you all pleased to see you, if you shoo them away they run away but staying still just makes them stand by you looking expectantly up for food.
If you try and catch them they run away and they can run fast but they can easily be trapped as they come right up to you if you put your hand out. When caught they may squawk but they just stay there and don’t every try and attack you. No wonder people say chickens are ideal as dual purpose pets.
Moving the run around is a must but as it is heavy it is a two man job. A weeks worth of them browsing turning a grass patch into a completely barren patch. They need moved around daily really. As the back garden is sealed off I can let them out and they can wander where they want. Only thing is they are very nosey so if you leave the back door open they will be in looking for something else to eat.
The main bit of course is in the pudding or in this case the eggs themselves. Very tasty and a very much stronger yellow yolk. I won’t be buying any from the shops from now on. If I need more I’ll buy another bird.
All in all so far a very easy way to become self suffiicent. Doesn’t have to be expensive if you make your own coop but imo a very worthwhile investment no matter how much you spend.
Living off the land sounds as inviting as Christmas dinner. But many have hardly had adequate experience being “farmers.”
In fact, many have had no experience at all when it comes to planting anything. That being said, the day is slowly approaching where each of us may have to trade in our company identification badges for a shovel and a pair of overalls.
Educating yourself on farming topics such as mirco farming, planting for the seasons, natural insect repellents, seed collection and seed storage could help prepare for an upcoming economic crisis. Learn about how many vegetables or fruits the plant will yield. It is truly an experience when it comes to the first garden. And the plants have many things to teach.
Start Practicing
The only way to be fully prepared as far as growing plants is concerned is to practice, practice, practice. If the economy takes a turn for the worse, then the gardening knowledge and skills acquired from practicing will come into play at this time. Initially, when beginning to plant a garden, start small and work your way up. Have a small garden plot or do container gardening if you are short on space. Make sure the seeds that are purchased are heirloom or non-GMO varieties. The seeds from these varieties will continually produce. As opposed to hybrid varieties that will only produce for one season.
With each gardening experience will come more wisdom on how to handle a larger garden. When researching what types of fruit and vegetables will be grown, think about what your family will need for an entire year. Keep in mind that if you are lucky enough to have any livestock, grains and grasses will be needed to be grown for them to consume. Any size family will have to have multiple plants. One plant per family member would be essential if you had a small hobby garden. You must think on a larger scale. You are planting a survival garden. And this is exactly what it means – to survive. Plant enough plants to have for food as well as to have left over for canning and preserving for the winters.
Survival Seeds
These seeds that were chosen were based upon their yield quantities, *ease in growing, nutritional content and for the season they are planted in.
Barley -Can be planted in the spring and winter and has the best results when planted early in the season. This grain has loads of health benefits and a variety of purposes. Such as feeding livestock, grinding the grains for flour, as well as making beer. Barley is high in dietary fiber and magnese.
*Beans - Beans should be planted in the early summer. One of the easiest vegetables to grow. Beans have different varieties such as pole beans and bush beans, kidney beans, etc. Pole beans begin and end earlier than bush beans. In comparison, pole beans give a high yield production. A stake is needed for the pole beans. Staggering your plantings will give continuous yields. Beans are very high in fiber, calcium, Vitamins A, C and K.
*Broccoli - Plant seeds in mid to late summer to be ready for the fall harvest. One of the easiest vegetables to grow. This plant has a tendency to give yields past it’s first harvest. And can take light frost with no problem. Broccoli is a good source of protein, Vitamins A and K.
*Carrot - Carrots prefer cooler weather and should be grown in the fall, winter and early spring. One of the easiest vegetables to grow. High in beta carotene and vitamin A.
Cauliflower - This vegetable is a cool season vegetable. It harvests over a short period of time and cuts out a high head yield. High in dietary fiber, Vitamin C and K.
Corn – This is a warm weather crop and should be planted after last frost. Has a good amount of proteins, calcium and iron. The plant will produce two ears per stalk.
*Cucumber - This is a warm weather crop. This is one of the easiest vegetables to grow. There are large varieties and smaller varieties for pickling. Continuous picking increases the plants production. Cucumbers are good sources of Vitamins A, C, K and potassium.
Eggplant – Eggplants are warm weather plants and should be planted after last frost. This night shade vegetable is high in fiber, antioxidants, and a good source of vitamins B1 and B6. This is a very versatile vegetable to cook with.
*Lettuce – Plant two weeks before last frost as well as in the fall 6-8 weeks before the first frost date. One of the easiest vegetables to grow and one of the earliest crops to harvest. There are many different varieties that offer different nutritional content. This plant grows quickly and harvest can be extended by taking a few leaves at a time. Lettuce is packed with essential vitamins and proteins, iron and calcium. Vitamins such as A, B6, C, and K.
Melon - Plant 4 weeks after the last frost as these fruits are intolerant to cold weather. Cantaloupes and Melon varieties need lots of space to grow. Getting the dwarf size of these fruits can save space. One melon plant will produce two melons. Good source of fiber, B6 and folate.
Okra -Plant 2 weeks after last frost. This vegetable has a variety of uses such as in soups, pickled or canned. High in vitamin A, K and folate, and calcium.
*Onion/Garlic - One of the easiest vegetables to grow. Plant onion in mid to late October. Onions can be pulled earlier and used for green onions. A good source of dietary fiber, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, folate and potassium.
Peanuts – This is a hot season plant and should be planted in April until Early June. Peanuts are a good source for healthy fats, Vitamin E, protein and antioxidants.
*Peas – This is a winter loving plant who is resistant to frost. One of the easiest vegetables to grow. There are many varieties of the pea plant, such as shelling, snap, snow and sugar pod. Most varieties are fast growing. This is a good source of protein, fiber and has a good source of 8 different vitamins including vitamin A, B6, and K.
*Peppers- Grow after the last frost. There are many varieties of peppers as well as choices on if you want them to be hot or mild. Sweet peppers are one of the easiest vegetables to grow. The more peppers are harvested, the more the plant will produce. Peppers are high in Vitamin A and C.
Potatoes- Plant 4-6 weeks before last frost. 1 plant yields 5-6 young potatoes. Potatoes are high in fiber, Vitamin B6, Potassium and Vitamin C.
Pumpkin- Start pumpkin seeds in the late spring. Pumpkins require lots of room for the vines to grow. Pumpkins are packed with vitamins such as thiamine, niacin, Vitamin B6, folate, iron, Vitamin A, C and E.
*Radish – Can be started 4-6 weeks before last frost. Many have had success growing radishes in the fall as well. One of the easiest vegetables to grow. They are very tolerant of weather conditions. Radishes are high in Vitamin B6, dietary fiber, Vitamin C and iron.
Spinach- Spinach grows best in cool weather. However, there are some varieties that like warm weather. Many call this a super food based upon it’s large array of vitamins such as Vitamin A, C, iron, thiamine, thiamine and folic acid.
*Squash – There are both summer squash and winter squash varieties. One of the easiest vegetables to grow and most are prolific producers. Picking squash regularly encourages a higher yield. A Good source of Vitamin A, B6, C, K, and dietary fiber.
* Tomato- Plant tomatoes in the late spring and again in the late summer. One of the easiest vegetables to grow. Tomatoes are a good source of Vitamin A, C, K, E, Potassium, thiamine and Niacin.
Turnips/Rutabagas – Seeds should be sown in late May or early summer. Turnips are fairly disease free and easily cared for. The greens as well as the root can be eaten. Turnips are high in B6, Vitamin C, Iron and Calcium.
Wheat- Winter wheat can be planted from late September to mid October. This is the preferred variety due to the nutritional content as well as the protection it gives the soil in the wintertime compared to spring wheat. Spring wheat is planted in early spring. This is one of the most commonly used food crops in the world. Wheat is high in copper, zine, iron and potassium. Planting a 10×10 plot will yield between 10-25 loaves of bread.
Other seeds to take into consideration are crop cover seeds such as hairy vetch or clover. These crop covers loosen up soil as well as gives the soil nitrogen to feed the plants for the next season. These crop covers are also food for livestock such as cattle, sheep and rabbits. When the crop cover is mowed, the cuttings can be used as a natural mulch.
Having a wide array of food choices when times get tough will keep spirits up, nutrition high and give each person a high amount of energy. Do research and find the best plants for you and your family. Become familiar with planting cycles at a local level. Finding pertinent information regarding soil conditions, natural fertilizers, and germination of seeds can get you ready for a good planting season. The more prepping you do on this, the better your family will eat when they need food the most.
Sometimes I think that the next Revolutionary War will take place in a vegetable garden.
Instead of bullets, there will be seeds. Instead of chemical warfare, there will be rainwater, carefully collected from the gutters of the house. Instead of soldiers in body armor and helmets, there will be back yard rebels, with bare feet, cut-off jean shorts, and wide-brimmed hats. Instead of death, there will be life, sustained by a harvest of home-grown produce. Children will be witness to these battles, but instead of being traumatized, they will be happy, grimy, and healthy, as they learn about the miracles that take place in a little plot of land or pot of dirt.
Every day, the United Nations and the Powers That Be take steps towards food totalitarianism. They do so flying a standard of “sustainability” but what they are actually trying to sustain is NOT our natural resources, but their control.
This morning I came across one of the most inspiring, beautifully written articles that I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a long time. Julian Rose, a farmer, actor, activist and writer, wrote an article called Civil Disobedience or Death by Design and it is a “must read” for anyone who believes in the importance of natural food sources:
“From now on, unless we cut free of obeisance to the centralised, totalitarian regimes whose takeover of our planet is almost complete, we will have only ourselves to blame. For we are complicit in allowing ourselves to become slaves of the Corporate State and its cyborg enforcement army. That is, if we continue to remain hypnotized by their antics instead of taking our destinies into our own hands and blocking or refusing to comply with their death warrants. This ‘refusal’ is possible. But it will only have the desired effect when, and if, it is contemporaneous with the birthing of the Divine warrior who sleeps in us all. The warrior who sleeps-on, like the besotted Rip Van Winkle in the Catskill mountains.”
Does it sound dramatic to state that if things continue on their current path of “sustainability” that we are all going to die? If you think I’m overstating this, read on. The case is clear that we are going to soon be “sustained” right into starvation via Agenda 21.
The European Union is in the process of criminalizing all seeds that are not “registered”. This means that the centuries-old practice of saving seeds from one year to the next may soon be illegal.
Collecting rainwater is illegal in many states, and regulated in other states. The United Nations, waving their overworked banner of “sustainability” is scheming to take over control of every drop of water on the globe. In some countries people who own wells are now being taxed and billed on the water coming from those sources. Nestle has admitted that they believe all water should be privatized so that everyone has to pay for the life-giving liquid.
Codex Alimentarius (Latin for “food code”) is a global set of standards created by the CA Commission, a body established by a branch or the United Nations back in 1963. As with all globally stated agendas, however, CA’s darker purpose is shielded by the feel-good words. As the US begins to fall in line with the “standards” laid out by CA, healthful, nutritious food will be something that can only be purchased via some kind of black market of organically produced food.
Regulations abound in the 1200 page Food Safety Modernization Act that will put many small farmers out of business, while leaving us reliant on irradiated, chemically treated, genetically-modified “food”.
In the face of this attack on the agrarian way of life, the single, most meaningful act of resistance that any individual can perform is to use the old methods and grow his or her own food.
Growing your own food wields many weapons.
You are preserving your intelligence by refusing to ingest toxic ingredients. Many of these ingredients (and the pesticides sprayed on them) have been proven to lop off IQ points.
You are nourishing your body by feeding yourself real food. Real food, unpasteurized, un-irradiated, with all of the nutrients intact, will provide you with a strong immune system and lower your risk of many chronic diseases. As well, you won’t be eating the toxic additives that affect your body detrimentally.
You are not participating in funding Big Food, Big Agri, and Big Pharma when you grow your own food. Every bite of food that is NOT purchased via the grocery store is representative of money that does NOT go into the pockets of these companies who are interested only in their bottom lines. Those industries would be delighted if everyone was completely reliant on them.
You are not susceptible to the control mechanisms and threats. If you are able to provide for yourself, you need give no quarter to those who would hold the specter of hunger over your head. You don’t have to rely on anyone else to feed your family.
Consider every bite of food that you grow for your family to be an act of rebellion.
If you live in the suburbs, plant every square inch of your yard. Grow things vertically. Use square foot gardening methods. Make lovely beds of vegetables in the front yard. Extend your growing seasons by using greenhouses and coldframes. This way you can grow more than one crop per year in a limited amount of space. Use raised bed gardening techniques like lasagna gardening to create rich soil. If you have problems with your local government or HOA, go to the alternative media and plead your case in front of millions of readers. We’ve got your back!
If you live in the city or in an apartment, look into ways to adapt to your situation. Grow a container garden on a sunny balcony, and don’t forget hanging baskets. Grow herbs and lettuce in a bright window. Set up a hydroponics system in a spare room (but look out for the SWAT team – they like to come after indoor tomato growers!). Go even further and look into aquaponics. Create a little greenhouse with a grow light for year round veggies. Sprout seeds and legumes for a healthy addition to salads.
If you live in the country, go crazy. Don’t just plant a garden – plant fields! Grow vegetables and grains. Grow herbs, both culinary and medicinal. Learn to forage if you have forests nearby. Learn to use old-fashioned methods of composting, cover crops and natural amendments to create a thriving system.
Raise micro-livestock. This option may not work for everyone, but if you can, provide for some of your protein needs this way. Raise chickens, small goats, and rabbits, for meat, eggs and dairy. If you are not a vegetarian, this is one of the most humane and ethical ways to provide these things for your family. Be sure to care well for your animals and allow them freedom and natural food sources – this is far better than the horrible, nightmare-inducing lives that they live on factory farms.
Save your seeds. Learn the art of saving seeds from one season to the next. Different seeds have different harvesting and storage requirements.
Go organic. Learn to use natural soil enhancers and non-toxic methods of getting rid of pests. Plan it so that your garden is inviting to natural pollinators like bees and butterflies. If you wouldn’t apply poison to your food while cooking it, don’t apply it to your food while growing it.
Be prepared for backlash. The day may come when you face some issues from your municipal government. Be prepared for this by understanding your local laws and doing your best to work within that framework. If you cannot work within the framework, know what your rights are and refuse to be bullied. Call up on those in the alternative media who will sound the alarm. Every single garden that comes under siege is worth defending.
Learn about permaculture. Instead of buying pretty flowering plants for your yard, landscape with fruit trees (espaliering is a technique that works will in small spaces), berry bushes, and nut trees. These can provide long-term food sources for your family.
For the things you can’t grow yourself, buy local. Especially if space is limited, you may not be able to grow every bite you eat by yourself. For everything else, buy local! Buy shares in a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Visit your farmer’s market. Shop at roadside stands. Join a farming co-op. Support the agriculture in your region to help keep local farms in business. (One note about farmer’s markets: Some farmers markets allow people to sell produce that originates at the same wholesalers from which the grocery stores buy their produce. I always try to develop a relationship with the farmers from whom I buy, and I like to know that what I’m buying actually came from their fields and not a warehouse.) Find a local market or farm HERE.
Learn to preserve your food. Again, go back to the old ways and learn to save your harvest for the winter. Water bath canning, pressure canning, dehydrating, and root cellaring are all low-tech methods of feeding your family year round. Not only can you preserve your own harvest, but you can buy bushels of produce at the farmer’s market for a reduced price and preserve that too.
There is a food revolution brewing. People who are educating themselves about Big Food, Big Agri, and the food safety sell-outs at the FDA are disgusted by what is going on. We are refusing to tolerate these attacks on our health and our lifestyles. We are refusing to be held subject to Agenda 21′s version of “sustainability”.
Firing a volley in this war doesn’t have to be bloody. Resistance can begin as easily a planting one seed in a pot.
Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca
As we progress on our preparedness paths, we want to ensure that the preps we store serve multiple purposes in order to deserve space on our preparedness pantries. After all, we don’t want to have a supply museum, but rather a working, efficient pantry.
That said, how many of you have stocked Crisco in your preparedness pantry? In all honesty, I rarely use vegetable shortening in my cooking, but through my preparedness endeavors I have found other uses for it. For instance, did you know that you can use Crisco to make a candle?
Another use for the mighty tub of Crisco is to make soap with it. Vegetable shortening is a cost effective way to add fats to your soap while keeping the cost down. My purpose for trying this method was to experiment with hot pressed soaps without using all of my expensive oils that I purchased.
Soaps made from vegetable shortening produce a mild, stable lather that can be used in conjunction with other oils. Those experimenting with making soap can either use half vegetable shortening in their recipes to keep the cost down or use only vegetable oil as their sole base oil.
Use the saponification chart to see how much lye (sodium hydroxide) will turn certain oils into soap.
I used a basic recipe for vegetable shortening soap, found here. Rather than heating the Crisco in a metal pan, I used a large crock pot.
Easy Crisco Soap
3 lbs. Crisco (1 can)
6 oz. lye
12 oz. water
essential oils, optional
Melt and heat the Crisco in a crockpot on a high setting to thoroughly melt.
Place cold water in a glass bowl and slowly add lye while stirring with a wooden spoon. Stir until water is clear if you can.
When the Crisco and lye are warm to the touch, pour lye into Crisco while stirring. Keep stirring until you get trace, about 25-30 minutes. Stir in any essential oils. Note: This recipe fits nicely in an 8×8 inch container, but other containers, such as pringles cans or specialty soap molds work just fine, too.
Put molds in a warm, insulated place, let set 24 hours and then cut. Place on to rack and let cure for 2-3 weeks.
Over a double boiler, melt wax and coconut oil together together, and keep warm. When shortening is 120° and lye is 100°, pour lye mixture into shortening and stir until tracing occurs.
Pour wax and oil mixture into soap mixture stirring constantly ( the mixture will get VERY thick with the addition of the beeswax mix) When the beeswax mixture is completely blended, stir in the honey and pour into molds. Sprinkle oats on top of mixture.
Unmold after 24-48 hours. Allow to age for 3 weeks.
Note: Honey soap is a beautiful soap with a wonderful sweet smell. It comes out a great deep brown color, and feels fabulous on your skin.
Tip: When you are measuring honey or molasses or any other viscous liquid along those lines, if you spray the measuring cup or spoon with a PAM type spray, the honey will pour out more completely, and cleanup will be much easier.
These are the promises Monsanto India’s website makes, alongside pictures of smiling, prosperous farmers from the state of Maharashtra. This is a desperate attempt by Monsanto and its PR machinery to delink the epidemic of farmers’ suicides in India from the company’s growing control over cotton seed supply — 95 per cent of India’s cotton seed is now controlled by Monsanto.
Control over seed is the first link in the food chain because seed is the source of life. When a corporation controls seed, it controls life, especially the life of farmers.
Monsanto’s concentrated control over the seed sector in India as well as across the world is very worrying. This is what connects farmers’ suicides in India to Monsanto vs Percy Schmeiser in Canada, to Monsanto vs Bowman in the US, and to farmers in Brazil suing Monsanto for $2.2 billion for unfair collection of royalty.
Through patents on seed, Monsanto has become the “Life Lord” of our planet, collecting rents for life’s renewal from farmers, the original breeders.
Patents on seed are illegitimate because putting a toxic gene into a plant cell is not “creating” or “inventing” a plant. These are seeds of deception — the deception that Monsanto is the creator of seeds and life; the deception that while Monsanto sues farmers and traps them in debt, it pretends to be working for farmers’ welfare, and the deception that GMOs feed the world. GMOs are failing to control pests and weeds, and have instead led to the emergence of superpests and superweeds.
The entry of Monsanto in the Indian seed sector was made possible with a 1988 Seed Policy imposed by the World Bank, requiring the Government of India to deregulate the seed sector. Five things changed with Monsanto’s entry: First, Indian companies were locked into joint-ventures and licensing arrangements, and concentration over the seed sector increased. Second, seed which had been the farmers’ common resource became the “intellectual property” of Monsanto, for which it started collecting royalties, thus raising the costs of seed. Third, open pollinated cotton seeds were displaced by hybrids, including GMO hybrids. A renewable resource became a non-renewable, patented commodity. Fourth, cotton which had earlier been grown as a mixture with food crops now had to be grown as a monoculture, with higher vulnerability to pests, disease, drought and crop failure. Fifth, Monsanto started to subvert India’s regulatory processes and, in fact, started to use public resources to push its non-renewable hybrids and GMOs through so-called public-private partnerships (PPP).
In 1995, Monsanto introduced its Bt technology in India through a joint-venture with the Indian company Mahyco. In 1997-98, Monsanto started open field trials of its GMO Bt cotton illegally and announced that it would be selling the seeds commercially the following year. India has rules for regulating GMOs since 1989, under the Environment Protection Act. It is mandatory to get approval from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee under the ministry of environment for GMO trials. The Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology sued Monsanto in the Supreme Court of India and Monsanto could not start the commercial sales of its Bt cotton seeds until 2002.
And, after the damning report of India’s parliamentary committee on Bt crops in August 2012, the panel of technical experts appointed by the Supreme Court recommended a 10-year moratorium on field trials of all GM food and termination of all ongoing trials of transgenic crops.
But it had changed Indian agriculture already.
Monsanto’s seed monopolies, the destruction of alternatives, the collection of superprofits in the form of royalties, and the increasing vulnerability of monocultures has created a context for debt, suicides and agrarian distress which is driving the farmers’ suicide epidemic in India. This systemic control has been intensified with Bt cotton. That is why most suicides are in the cotton belt.
An internal advisory by the agricultural ministry of India in January 2012 had this to say to the cotton-growing states in India — “Cotton farmers are in a deep crisis since shifting to Bt cotton. The spate of farmer suicides in 2011-12 has been particularly severe among Bt cotton farmers.”
The highest acreage of Bt cotton is in Maharashtra and this is also where the highest farmer suicides are. Suicides increased after Bt cotton was introduced — Monsanto’s royalty extraction, and the high costs of seed and chemicals have created a debt trap. According to Government of India data, nearly 75 per cent rural debt is due to purchase inputs. As Monsanto’s profits grow, farmers’ debt grows. It is in this systemic sense that Monsanto’s seeds are seeds of suicide.
The ultimate seeds of suicide is Monsanto’s patented technology to create sterile seeds. (Called “Terminator technology” by the media, sterile seed technology is a type of Gene Use Restriction Technology, GRUT, in which seed produced by a crop will not grow — crops will not produce viable offspring seeds or will produce viable seeds with specific genes switched off.) The Convention on Biological Diversity has banned its use, otherwise Monsanto would be collecting even higher profits from seed.
Monsanto’s talk of “technology” tries to hide its real objectives of ownership and control over seed where genetic engineering is just a means to control seed and the food system through patents and intellectual property rights.
A Monsanto representative admitted that they were “the patient’s diagnostician, and physician all in one” in writing the patents on life-forms, from micro-organisms to plants, in the TRIPS’ agreement of WTO. Stopping farmers from saving seeds and exercising their seed sovereignty was the main objective. Monsanto is now extending its patents to conventionally bred seed, as in the case of broccoli and capsicum, or the low gluten wheat it had pirated from India which we challenged as a biopiracy case in the European Patent office.
That is why we have started Fibres of Freedom in the heart of Monsanto’s Bt cotton/suicide belt in Vidharba. We have created community seed banks with indigenous seeds and helped farmers go organic. No GMO seeds, no debt, no suicides.
Vandana Shiva is a philosopher, environmental activist, and eco feminist.Shiva, currently based in Delhi, has authored more than 20 books and over 500 papers in leading scientific and technical journals.She was trained as a physicist and received her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Western Ontario, Canada. She was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1993. She is the founder of Navdanya http://www.navdanya.org/
The old maxim that if you knew how sausage was made you would never eat it has been highlighted by many undercover videos taken by employees of factory farming operations and activists alike.
In response, the industry has increasingly lobbied for “Ag-Gag” laws that criminalize whistleblowing and undercover investigations, essentially rendering animal cruelty completely invisible.
Arguably, animal rights activists are the most tenacious; so much so, that they have routinely been labeled anarchists and terrorists by various governmental organizations the world over. Yet, beyond the general demonization campaign of anyone who professes sympathy for the proven suffering of factory farm animals, we arrive at much the same question asked by those who wish to know if their food has been genetically modified — Do consumers have the right to independently investigate the origin and production of the food they choose (and pay) to ingest?
The Big Ag lobby has countered investigations into animal cruelty and health hazards at industrial farm facilities with issues rooted in contractual agreements that bind employees to certain conduct, and the issue of private property rights.
Karen De Coster summarized the legal and moral issues very well when she stated:
Indeed, there is a libertarian case to be made for private property rights, and thus the owners of property banning the filming of their business matters – right or wrong – within the confines of their property lines. This is something the public has a tough time dealing with because the emotional issues (animal abuse, disease, and degrading quality food) override reason in terms of understanding property rights and non-aggression against those rights. For instance, these same people would never allow for “whistleblowers” to enter their home property to film so-called “inappropriate” goings-on within their home. But while it is libertarian, and perfectly reasonable, for a private food producer to disallow video and photography on private property, there is a larger, moral issue here. (source)
We initially reported on new legislation in early 2011, and said the following in regards to both morality and the clear health impacts of being kept in the dark:
Strangely, consumers may actually want to know if their meat is being electrocuted, beaten, or ground up alive as some recent videos have exposed. Consumers may also want to know what the animals eat, if they ever see sunlight, if they are injected with chemicals, or even genetically cloned. Since the FDA does little to shine light on these and other concerns, activists have been the only source of this information. Now, they will face jail time for doing so if this measure passes. (source, with some horrific videos)
At the time, we were focused only on new legislation being proposed for Iowa and the implication that other states might follow suit. In fact, Grist, published an article in May of the same year that suggested “Ag-Gag bills face tough row to hoe,” citing three states (Florida, Minnesota and Iowa) most likely to pass legislation, while New York was proposing similar criminal penalties for whistleblowing. The Grist article noted that all but Iowa were on shaky ground. Yet, so-called “Ag-Gag” laws have already been on the books for twenty years in Kansas, Montana, and North Dakota. The difference is that those earlier laws focused strictly on property damage, while the newer laws focus on undercover investigations and employee whistleblowing. (source)
Now we have reached a point where there is momentum toward enshrining complete secrecy surrounding what we already know to be a serious problem within some facilities. In fact, Grist offered an update to their above conclusion when confronted with the wave of new legislation by asking, “Will 2013 be the year of ag-gag bills?” The article shows how 2011 saw 4 states consider measures, followed by 10 in 2012.
For Duke Professor Purdy, it is a simple issue of transparency . . . and his solution would rid these facilities of pesky physical intrusions by activists. He has suggested the simplest of solutions to spur (and hopefully resolve) debate from both sides: the webcam.
Purdy acknowledges that fairness and safety are real issues. “So is transparency,” he writes, “and that is why we should require confined-feeding operations and slaughterhouses to install webcams at key stages of their operations. List the URLs to the video on the packaging. There would be no need for human intrusion into dangerous sites. No tricky angles or scary edits by activists. Just the visual facts. If the operators felt their work misrepresented, they could add cameras to give an even fuller picture.” (source)
Purdy recounts his full story about what led him to this suggestion in his New York Times op-ed piece where he recalls his visceral experience of entering a slaughterhouse in 1999 as part of an undercover investigation for The American Prospect:
The floor was slick with the residue of blood and suet, and the air smelled like iron. A part of my brain spent the whole time trying to remember which of Dante’s circles this scene most resembled. (source)
A scene straight from Hell that Big Ag would like never to see the light.
Would you feel more comfortable or less being permitted to view (in real time) where your food originates and how it is being handled? How do we resolve the right to know what we consume vs. the private property and contractual agreements of farming facilities?
“Cur moriatur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto?”
Why should a man die who has sage in his garden? Old English proverb
Food can be medicine. Special broths can have a healing effect when drunk on a regular basis. Here is just one healing broth that will be especially good for peri-menopausal and menopausal women. Healing broths can be a good substitute for caffeine containing beverages which can become troublesome as a woman ages.
This powdered broth can be brought on a road trip or stored as in an emergency food. You can drink the broth by itself or simmer it in some bone broth.
3 parts dried wild-crafted fungus, powdered (choose from list below)
3 parts dried organic sage, ground (optional)
1-2 part sea salt, ground
1 part seaweed, powdered (chosen from list below)
Grind each individual ingredient by itself and in small amounts. Use a Vitamix machine, coffee grinder or food processor. The finer the grind the better the powder will dissolve in hot water or bone broth.
Store broth powder in a glass jar. Remember to date and label the jar with your chosen ingredients and the amounts used. Don’t be afraid to try different combinations. Actually, this is a good idea because you will get a better range of micro-nutrients.
Use one or two teaspoons in each cup of hot water or bone broth. Add more salt if you like a salty broth. Don’t be afraid to use sea salt to taste. If you are wondering if salt is safe to consume please read these two essays: The Salt of the Earth by Sally Fallon Morell and Salt and Our Health by Dr Morton Satin.
Choose your Fungus:
Maitake has a complex immune stimulating effect and is reported to help the liver clear viral and environmental contamination. Maitake helps the body better absorb nutrients like zinc and copper.
Shiitake has a rich, smoky flavor and is loaded with nutrients, essential amino acids and a highly potent antioxidant, l-ergothioneine. Shiitake contains lentinan which is reported to have a anti-tumor effect.
Choose your Seaweed:
It is reported that seaweed being naturally very high in iodine can improve a woman’s progesterone to estradiol ratios, decreasing estrogen dominance, by increases your free Triiodothyronine (T3).
Here is how different seaweeds can be used to help balance endocrine function. Choose your seaweed with these guidelines in mind or just use your favorite seaweed.
Arame (Eisenia bycyclis) was traditionally used to reduce fibrocystic breasts, uterine fibroids, excessive bleeding and ovarian cysts. This seaweed can reduce acne and excessive facial hair common to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).
Bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus) is an excellent adrenal adaptogen. It appears that the seaweed helps lengthen, short menstrual cycles, and relieves symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) by supporting progesterone production when a woman is estrogen dominant. The seaweed is reported to help with osteoarthritis and inflammatory joint conditions.
Dulse (Palmaria palmata), is very rich in iodine and iron. This seaweed can help with constipation and cyclic mastalgia. It is reported to have an antiviral action against the herpes virus.
Irish Moss (Chondrus crispus) is traditional used for low sex drive. It is reported to support Triiodothyronine (T3) levels which is involved with the conversion of high-density lipoproteins into progesterone pathway and not into the cortisol pathway.
Kelp (Ascophyllum nodosum) like all brown seaweeds is rich in alginate and can chelate radioactive materials and heavy metals from the body. The plant is very high in iodine and can help normalize adrenal, pituitary and thyroid health. It is reported to be a blood purifier and can relieve arthritic stiffness.
Wakame (Alaria esculenta) can help with constipation and lower blood pressure. It is reported to have an antiviral effect against cytomegalovirus and herpes virus.
Todd Walker is married to the lovely Dirt Road Girl, proud father and grandfather, a government school teacher, a lover of the primal lifestyle and liberty. You can check out his website at Survival Sherpa with a vision of helping each other on the climb to self-reliance and preparedness…the Survival Sherpa way…One step at a time. Follow him on Twitter. Send him mail: survivalsherpa@gmail.com
Many people dream of being totally self-sufficient and going off the grid. A life free of the monthly bill payments seems out of reach for most people, but is it really? Does it mean that you have to live in a yurt in the mountains and read books by candlelight? Must you invest $20,000 in solar components for the top of your home and another $10,000 revamping your plumbing to work solely on rainwater?
Not at all. You can begin now to slowly altering your way of life to live more self-reliantly and in the process, begin to start simplifying your lifestyle through gradually going off the grid by reducing your dependence on electricity, heat at the turn of a thermostat dial, and municipal services.
Practice Makes Perfect
As with all things “prepper” you need to practice living in an off grid environment. A great way to do this is with a family “off-grid” weekend. You can either turn off the main breaker to the house or shut off individual breakers, leaving things like the refrigerator and freezer running to protect your food supply. Have a notebook handy and over the course of the weekend, jot down your observations. This will help you to identify what items you use that require power, what you need, and what you can live without. As well, you will notice any big gaps in your preparations – far better to discover those gaps now than in the midst of a crisis!
Once you’ve assessed where you stand, begin taking steps to untangle yourself from the grid. Some things to look at:
Water: At least 1 month supply of drinking water stored, gravity fed water filtration system, additional water for sanitation, rainwater collection system, cistern, well, septic, nearby bodies of water and the means to transport water from them, buckets and containers- water is one of your most vital survival needs – learn more here.
Heating: Wood stove, fireplace, propane heaters, oil heaters, lots of fuel, non-tech methods of staying warm – get more ideas for winter warmth.
Cooking: Wood stove, fireplace, meals that only require reheating or just-add-water meals, cast-iron cookware to use on wood stove or fireplace, sun oven or solar cooker, outdoor fireplace, outdoor grill, rocket stove, Kelly Kettle.
Refrigeration: propane powered or other off-grid refrigerator, large cooler to be packed with snow in the winter and used indoors, a plastic storage bench that is animal-proof to be used outdoors in the winter, root cellar for summer, change of eating habits in summer, or learn how to make a clay pot refrigerator.
Lighting: Solar garden lights, candles, kerosene lights, flashlights, solar lanterns, LED lights – click here for other emergency lighting ideas.
You should also be prepared for household tasks like laundry and canning without the benefit of electrical power. The less reliant you can become on the grid, the better off and less stressed you will be if it goes down for the long-term. There are probably many things in your home that use power that are nice, but unnecessary.
Do you have:
A television
A video game console
A microwave
A cupboard full of complicated small kitchen appliances
A tumble dryer
A cell phone
A DVD player
Electronic toys and devices
A computer
Cable television
Any of these things are luxuries. The more that you can separate yourselves from the need for these items, the simpler your life will be in the event of a grid failure. An added bonus, is when you remove your dependence on some of these items, it frees up more time and makes you more productive in the long run.
When you make the switch to a more simplified lifestyle, you may find that all those things you thought you couldn’t live without merely added to the stress and chaos in your life. Untying yourself from the grid isn’t just about preparedness – embrace simplicity for the peace it brings.
Have you stepped away from the hustle and bustle of the grid? If so, how do you manage some of the challenges mentioned in this article?
Although once popular as a painkiller most opium is now refined into heroin and sold illicitly for high prices in almost every city on the planet. All of this heroin started life as the gum gleaned from Papaver somniferous, the opium poppy.
For decades most of the worlds illegal opium has been produced in Afghanistan and the ‘Golden Triangle’, a region of south west Asia. In recent years the amount coming out of Latin America, predominantly Mexico and Colombia, has increased, though cocaine is still the most widely produced drug in the region as it is far easier to refine in large amounts and is currently very popular which means high prices are paid for it.
Opium is obtained from the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy and this is the only poppy that produces opium even though almost all poppies will bleed a milky, sticky latex like sap if the unripened seed pods are nicked with a sharp knife.
Legal production of opium to use as a base for narcotic analgesics accounts for more than 50% of the opium grown worldwide. Australia and India have ideal poppy growing climates and most of the medicinal opium is grown in one of the two countries.Opium is widely used as a local native medicine in some parts of the world and the process of obtaining it is simple. The unripe seed heads are slit from just beneath the flattened head of the pod down to the area where the pod joins the stem. This is done several times allowing the latex to seep out.
This is collected, boiled in water, passed through a simple filter and dried. The opium contains a number of active ingredients that work together to make this a potent pain killer. Indigenous people in these areas smoke it, eat it or prepare it as a drink, all of these methods of ingestion provide them with the opiate effect of the drug
It’s responsible for me to tell you that Opium poppies look VERY like the common oriental poppy and care should be taken to make sure you get the ornamental variety for your flower bed. Most people cannot tell them apart unless they know a good deal about the poppy genus.
The legalities of growing opium poppies varies widely depending on where you live, in some places even selling the seeds is illegal, in others only a certain amount of plants are allowed, in many the law is not clear on the subject. If you intend cultivating these flowers its advisable to seek local legal advice first.
There are anecdotal stories that military personnel returning from Afghanistan have had poppy seeds caught up in the dirt and debris in the tread of their boots and some months after their return little patches of poppies have popped up in the crevices between paving slabs and in odd corners of their gardens.
As poppies are opportunistic and easy growers this would not be at all surprising. One poppy head if left to dry will yield more than a hundred tiny seeds most of which will ‘take’ if they find themselves in even poorly worked soil.
Lizzie Bennett retired from her job as a senior operating department practitioner in the UK earlier this year. Her field was trauma and accident and emergency and she has served on major catastrophe teams around the UK. Lizzie publishes Medically Speaking on the topic of preparedness.
With warm weather upon us and summer just around the corner, it’s time to think about gardening. “Gardening?” you say. Yes, gardening. If the mention of it has you thinking of aged ladies in big hats and frilly gloves gently nipping blooms from their roses, then you have the wrong picture. If you aren’t already gardening, there are plenty of reasons to be doing so. It’s time to lay down your gardening misconceptions and pick up a shovel and a hoe.
Manly Horticulturalists in History
Gardening goes way back and has a good deal of manly history. Thousands and thousands of years ago, the planting of crops led to the creation of what would eventually be modern culture. The first crops were grains, as in wheat, barley, and the like. But don’t think that agriculture began just so that everyone could eat bread. On the contrary, modern theories of early agriculture show that the practice started so that the Neolithic nomads could get their homebrew on. That’s right – early agriculture was driven to produce beer. You can’t get any manlier a start than that.
Fast-forward several thousand years and you find that some of the most celebrated gardeners of our time have been men. Perhaps one of the most prolific and adventurous of them was the third president of our country – Thomas Jefferson. During his time, he was known far and wide for his gardening prowess. He would even compete with his friends to see who could harvest the first peas in the spring (manly competition has obviously changed with the invention of football and video games). He kept journal after journal of his trials and errors in the garden and has passed down a legacy that lives still today. The gardens at his home, Monticello, still function much as they did when he was gardener-in-chief. There’s even a Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants.
Aside from Jefferson, we find garden pioneers like Luther Burbank, who developed more than 800 varieties of plants throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s and is the father of the Russet Burbank potato. It was his unorthodox and untidy tinkering that led the horticultural industry for decades and ultimately culminated in Congress passing the 1930 Plant Patent Act. Since he had passed away four years earlier, he was posthumously awarded 16 patents. Burbank’s contemporary and competitor was W. Atlee Burpee, who had the largest seed company in the world when he died in 1915. The company distributed over 1 million catalogs annually and took over 10,000 orders per day. The company is still in operation as Burpee Seeds.
Of course, the one horticultural hero celebrated in both song and story is Johnny Appleseed. No, he’s not just a legend of frontier America; he really did exist. Despite living as a pauper, John Chapman (his real name) became a legend during his own lifetime. He traveled westward ahead of the expansion of the growing United States, introducing apples to much of the frontier of Ohio and Illinois. This itinerant farmer wasn’t planting apples so that people could get all their fruits and veggies, however. Back in those days, apples weren’t for eating – they were for cider; as in hard cider and applejack. He also sold trees to pioneers, who were required to plant fruit trees as a symbol of their ties to the land given to them by the government. In The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View of the World, Michael Pollan writes: “Really, what Johnny Appleseed was doing and the reason he was welcome in every cabin in Ohio and Indiana was he was bringing the gift of alcohol to the frontier. He was our American Dionysus.”
7 Reasons You Should Be Gardening
Now, at this point you might be asking, “Why do your examples of a bunch of dead, manly gardeners mean that I should be gardening?” I would have to say that you’re right – it doesn’t mean a thing. But, there are plenty of reasons you should be gardening. I’ll go over a few of them right now:
Reason #1: You know what you are eating.
There are an increasing number of people who focus on eating organically or naturally produced food. That’s well and good, but just because it says organic doesn’t mean that it’s any healthier. Organic food produced on a large scale can still have issues. Just look at the food biosecurity issues with tainted produce over the last several years. Plus, the rules for “certified organic” might not be as stringent as you think.
Reason #2: You can save money on food.
There’s a reason that after the economic collapse in 2008, home food gardening increased by over 30% by some estimates. Growing your own fruits and veggies can not only put more green in your fridge and your diet, it can also put more green in your wallet. It is much more economical to grow a hundred heads of lettuce from a seed packet that costs $2 than it is to buy one head of lettuce for $2. Some gardeners might argue that home-grown food really isn’t cheaper, but you have to resist the urge to buy all of the latest gizmos, fancy equipment, expensive tools, and overpriced fertilizer. You can maintain your garden without breaking the bank by being thrifty and wise. It gets even cheaper when you use recycled materials, make your own compost, and bargain shop.
Reason #3: It can attract/impress a mate.
Invite your “someone special” over for a romantic, home-cooked candlelight dinner, and you are sure to impress. Tell your date that you grew the tomato and herbs in the pasta sauce and it will be the icing on the cake. Finish dinner with some home-grown strawberries and you’ve hit the ball out of the park. Gardening demonstrates skill and dedication, and shows that you’ll be able to provide for your future family beyond simply bringing home the bacon.
Reason #4: It can make you more self-sufficient.
Sure, right now obtaining food is as easy as going down to the big box store and grabbing whatever you want off the shelf. But what if some kind catastrophe cut off that steady food supply? Would you have even the foggiest idea as to how to start growing your own grub? Even if the zombie apocalypse is a ways off, it is really satisfying to know that you don’t have to totally rely on distant producers for your food, and that you have the skill-set to turn seeds into sustenance.
Reason #5: Gardening is great exercise.
Perhaps the closest you’ve come to gardening is being a couch potato. Or maybe your idea of health is working on your six-pack abs. Either way, gardening can be a fun way to get in some exercise. Planting, cultivating, harvesting, and lifting are all activities that give you a moderate amount of exercise. You can burn off pounds and increase your health all while growing some tasty grub.
Reason #6: Gardening works as therapy/meditation.
Does life wear you down? Are you stressed? Gardening can be a great way to find inner peace and concentration, clearing out all of the competing thoughts that life brings us. Plus, there’s no better cure for frustration than digging holes or destroying weeds.
Reason #7: Gardening will reconnect you to nature.
No, we are not talking Kumbaya and sharing circles here. We are talking actually getting out of the house/office/parent’s basement and experiencing the great outdoors. Really getting down in the dirt. It used to be that humans functioned with the natural seasonal cycles, especially when it came to food. Since we have access to fresh produce the whole year at the grocery store, we’ve lost some connection to the seasons and the natural flow of the earth.
How Do I Start Gardening?
Well, the simple answer is: plant something! Even if it is in a pot in your apartment window, get growing. Visit a local garden center or retailer and see what is available in your area. You can also check online for mail-order garden companies. If you are completely confused or need help, contact your local extension agent. These folks (myself included) are paid to connect you with the information you need and often offer workshops for beginning gardeners. If you feel a little more confident in your gardening skill, the extension service also offers the Master Gardener program, which is an intensive training and volunteer service program. If you are unsure where to find your extension agent, contact your nearest land-grant university or go to www.extension.org. There, you can find lots of information, a connection to your state’s extension service, and even a box where you can type in a question to be answered by an extension expert. Who knows, maybe one day your horticultural skills will be the stuff of legend and stories of your garden will be told in history books.
Bordering an interstate highway in Arkansas, a giant billboard with a photo of a stoic-looking farmer watches over the speeding traffic. He’s staring into the distance against the backdrop of a glowing wheat field, with the caption “America’s Farmers Grow America.” It’s an image to melt all our pastoral hearts.
Until we read the small print in the corner: “Monsanto.”
The maker of Agent Orange, Monsanto’s former motto used to be, “Without chemicals, life itself would be impossible.” Today its tag line is “Committed to Sustainable Agriculture, Committed to Farmers.” Its website claims the company helps farmers “be successful [and] produce healthier foods… while also reducing agriculture’s impact on our environment.” It even boasts of the corporation’s dedication to human rights.
Behind the PR gloss is a very different picture. Via Campesina, the world’s largest confederation of farmers with member organizations in 70 countries, has called Monsanto one of the “principal enemies of peasant sustainable agriculture and food sovereignty for all peoples.” Via Campesina members also target Monsanto as a driving influence behind land grabs, forcing small farmers off their land and out of work. The agribusiness giants also contribute to climate change and other environmental disasters, outgrowths of industrial agriculture.
Together with Syngenta and Dupont, Monsanto controls more than half of the world’s seeds.The company holds more than 650 seed patents - most of them for cotton, corn and soy – and almost 30% of the share of all biotech research and development. Monsanto came to own such a vast supply by buying major seed companies to stifle competition, patenting genetic modifications to plant varieties, and suing small farmers. Monsanto is also one of the leading manufacturers of genetically modified organisms [GMOs].
Monsanto has filed more than 140 lawsuits against 400 farmers and 56 small businesses for alleged violations of contract or GMO patents. One such case is currently under consideration in the Supreme Court. “Farmers have been sued after their field was contaminated by pollen or seed from someone else’s genetically engineered crop [or] when genetically engineered seed from a previous year’s crop has sprouted,” said the Center for Food Safety.[i] In total, the company has won more than $23 million from these suits. The multinational appears to investigate 500 farmers a year, in estimates based on Monsanto’s own documents and media reports.[ii]
In Colombia, Monsanto has received upwards of $25 million from the U.S. government for providing Roundup Ultra in the anti-drug fumigation efforts of Plan Colombia. Roundup Ultra is a highly concentrated version of Monsanto’s glyphosate herbicide, with additional ingredients to increase its lethality. Local communities and human rights organizations have charged that the herbicide has destroyed food crops, water sources, and protected areas in the Andes, and has led to increased incidents of birth defects and cancers.
On March 26, siding once again with corporations, President Obama signed into law a spending bill with a “Monsanto Protection Rider.” This requires the government to allow GMO crops to be planted before an environmental and health assessment is completed. This means that crops may be planted with the permission of the USDA even if it is not known whether they are harmful.
One Goliath, Many Davids
Farmers and activists are not sitting idly by.
Via Campesina launched a global campaign against Monsanto on International World Food Day in 2009, with marches, protests, land occupations, and hunger strikes in more than 20 countries. The coalition continues organizing international days of action against the company and agribusiness in general. Via Campesina has kept the spotlight on Monsanto at its global protests, such as the 2012 UN Climate Change Conference in Bangkok.
One of the rejections of Monsanto occurred in the small village of Hinche, Haiti in June, 2010. There, thousands of farmers burned Monsanto seeds. The Haitian Ministry of Agriculture had given Monsanto permission to import and ‘donate’ 505 tons of hybrid corn and vegetable seeds. “It’s a declaration of war,” said Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, director of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP). The importation of massive amounts of hybrid seed threatens the traditional, regionally adapted seed stock of Haiti, as it does in many other countries. Hybrid seeds also cause a cycle of dependence, with farmers buying them from Monsanto each year rather than relying on local markets or their own saved seed. In an open letter, Jean-Baptiste called the entry of the seeds “a very strong attack on small agriculture, on farmers, on biodiversity, on Creole seeds…, and on what is left of our environment in Haiti.”[iii]
The same day as the protest in Haiti, activists in Seattle gathered in solidarity. They burned Monsanto seeds in front of the headquarters of the Gates Foundation, which is promoting GMO seeds in Africa. In Montana, the home state of Monsanto’s world headquarters, activists dressed in lab coats and Tyvek to demand that Monsanto “seeds of dependency” be kept out of Haiti. In Chicago, a Haiti support group did not have Monsanto seeds, so they burned Cheetos instead. The Organic Consumers Association’s network sent more than 10,000 emails protesting Monsanto’s ‘donation’ to USAID and President Obama. African-American farmers in Mississippi mobilized letters to the White House, too.
Around the world, farmers and activists have long taken it upon themselves to destroy Monsanto’s GMO crops. Groups have cut down or pulled up fields of corn, potatoes, rapeseed, and other crops, sometimes laying them at the entryways of government buildings where they are demanding anti-GMO legislation. In 2003 in the state of Paraná in Brazil, activists uprooted plants at one of Monsanto’s experimental labs. They went on to file and win a land reform claim, and then started their own agroecology university on the site.
In the U.S., the Organic Consumers Association has spearheaded the “Millions Against Monsanto” campaign, demanding that the company stop intimidating small family farmers and forcing untested and unlabeled genetically engineered foods on consumers. The campaign works to unearth information about Monsanto’s practices, push legislation to limit corporate power, and disseminate research and action items through its extensive network. Occupy Monsanto has also held a number of actions around the country. This week, starting April 8, groups from around the country are gathering in Washington, D.C. for Occupy Monsanto’s “eat-in” at the FDA, demanding GMO regulation and an end to corporate influence in food policy.
In 2012, the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association gathered enough signatures for a ballot initiative (Prop 37) in California to mandate labeling of products containing GMOs. Their hope was that forcing companies to label in California, the eighth-largest economy in the world, would prompt countrywide labeling. Companies poured money into defeating the measure, the largest donors being Monsanto (about $8.1m) and DuPont (about $5.4m). Also donating millions were companies that own major organic labels like Kashi (Kellogg Company), Horizon (Dean Foods), Odwalla (Coca-Cola), and Cascadian Farms (General Mills). The measure failed by a tiny margin, causing the anti-GMO movement to redouble its efforts. Labeling laws have been proposed in more than 20 other states and are currently under consideration by legislators in Vermont and Washington.
In 2011, the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association – together with 82 other plaintiffs, including agricultural associations, seed companies, and farmers – brought a lawsuit against Monsanto in Manhattan federal district court to establish protections for organic farmers whose crops are contaminated by GMOs. The court ruled against them, but the plaintiffs appealed and are currently awaiting a ruling.
Back in the rural Haitian town of Hinche on March 22 of this year, the same peasant farmer group that had burned Monsanto seeds held another demonstration. Holding banners reading “Down with Monsanto,” they demanded an end to corporate tyranny of agriculture. Allies from many countries in Latin America, North America, Europe, and Africa joined them in that dusty town, recommitting themselves to a world with food and seed sovereignty.
Is our obsession with sanitation healthy? Venture out into any public space and you’ll find hand sanitizer in the form of wipes, gels, sprays, and foams. It’s a desperate attempt to build a barrier against the creepy crawly “uncleans” lurking at every turn.
We’ve forgotten this dirty little secret: Dirt don’t hurt.
This goes out to all helicopter moms… dads too.
In our war on dirt, we may be causing more harm than good. Helicopter parents shriek when their two-year old takes a bite of the mud pie she proudly made. “Grab the wet wipes, quick!” The “five second” rule no longer applies today. Heaven forbid a chicken wing fall off the plate at the family picnic and make it to your lips. Who knows who or what touched that picnic table.
As a kid, my family camped a lot, even on horse back. If food hit the ground, we ate it. Uncle Otha called the soil “camp salt.” I have adopted the term “caveman seasoning” for those specks of dirt and ash on a campfire hotdog.
Many people actually eat dirt…intentionally. And not just in starving third world countries. Geophagy (eating earth) happens in developed parts of the world as well.
I’m not saying you need to give your toddler a spoon and a bowl of dirt. What I am suggesting is that you land your helicopter from time to time and let your little one get his daily dose of good bacteria. A dirty mouth helps build healthy gut flora and a strong immune system in growing kids. Just keep them away from non-organic matter and dog poop.
Did you know that one gram of uncontaminated soil hosts 10 billion microbial cells? Sprinkle that on your yogurt and eat it.
Our immune system, especially when we’re young, needs a good workout. In a sterilized world of Purell, young children never get a chance to exercise their immune response to bacteria, which by the way, are everywhere. Like the keyboard your using right now. Eww!
The introduction of good and bad bacteria to the body is like putting your physical body through a CrossFit workout for the first time. Your muscles might ache for a few days, but will recover and be stronger.
Even adults need good dirt. Here’s a couple of suggestions to re-connect with your inner child and get dirty.
Take your shoes off and walk in the dirt. Get grounded.
Dig in your garden – without gloves. Clean your nails later.
Eat some veggies from your organic garden that haven’t been washed yet.
Actually play with your kids (if you have any) in the mud puddles after a rain.
If you’re into competition, get a group of your friends together and run the Tough Mudder or other dirty race.
Go fishing, bait your own hook, and rinse the worm slim off your hands in the pond water… then eat your can of sardines. What a great source of Omega 3′s.
Take a hike or go camping… anything outdoors, really. Being in the dirty outdoors can improve your memory by 20%.
There’s obviously a time and place when it’s appropriate to be clean. You don’t want your doctor stitching you up with filthy hands and suture tools. Duh!
Keeping some hand sanitizer in your purse or bug out bag would be useful if you need to start an emergency fire. The stuff is really flammable. It’s also handy when there’s no water and soap available and clean hands are absolutely needed.
For everyday life though, obsessive cleaning is way overrated. Sanitize-everything gets hyped to SHTF proportions…
Repeat after me, “Dirt don’t hurt. Dirt don’t hurt.”
Now, say it out loud.
You feel better, right?
Don’t hate me. Ditch the hand sanitizer and anti-bacterial soaps and wash up with plain old soap. Wash your hands after handling raw meat, changing the oil in your SUV, and before exiting the restroom. Give yourself and your kids permission to get head to toe dirty.
By reading this far, you’re one step closer to destroying your dirt deficit. How about a dirty little grin?
Todd Walker is married to the lovely Dirt Road Girl, proud father and grandfather, a government school teacher, a lover of the primal lifestyle and liberty. You can check out his website at Survival Sherpa with a vision of helping each other on the climb to self-reliance and preparedness…the Survival Sherpa way…One step at a time. Follow him on Twitter. Send him mail: survivalsherpa@gmail.com
The need is clear for anarchists to become productively independent in the effort to cut the necessity to remain in the constructs of capitalism and hierarchy. The reason why black bloc has failed to accomplish autonomy from the state is because, this tactic requires being somewhere in which that voice can be heard. But in these major cities, there are rules that you must follow, form legal pressure and natural pressure. In these environments, what ever goods, that must be surcharged out of necessity, must come from exploitive capitalism because there is no other way of obtaining needed goods in places where protesting is worth doing. Protesting can not provide a solution because protesters have to be sustained by the products of capitalism. Cyclical consumption is then, not the enemy of activists, it is the means.
The action to take when coming to this understanding is to create the means to break away from cyclical consumption. The proposal is to establish in remote locations and make it possible for individuals to join one another and mutually aid each other to preform independently of capitalism.
To create necessities as close as possible and boycott capitalist products 100% is a true means for a general strike. The only way to stop capitalism is to no longer support capitalism of any kind and this is not possible without a replacement. To completely boycott capitalism, individuals need to pool skills and resources to work on independent horticulture, alternative energy, building with natural materials, but most importantly building the communities in which social construct is possible.
So, the outcome is an indefinite general strike. The idea is to COMPLETELY refuse to support capitalism and government all together. There are no demands of this general strike, only that capitalism and hierarchy come to a complete stop without compliance, or at very least lose power over those who remove themselves from capitalism and hierarchy through these means. This is then an extreme implementation of the general strike proposed by the anarchists of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Let’s go over some examples of things that can be done to thrive in this general strike proposed.
With horticulture…
Let’s say for example that there is a remote section of land designated to accommodate the needs of 24 people. That is assessed by the amount of food that can be grown in so much acreage. Each individual is involved in the effort to sew, maintain and reap that farm. Each individual, then, benefits from the fruits of production. The benefit is not a distant capital benefit in which the workers of that farm, receive capital in exchange for `what could equally sustain the needs of those workers. You can call this collectivist communism if you want, but all previous occasions in which “communism” has been implemented, there has always been the exchange of useless paper for real goods. It is than only capitalism by another name.
With alternative power…
This, if ignoring the environmental advantages of alternative power, has a large political advantage.
If we’re going to ignore the illegitimacy of hierarchy and capital, then there has to be a replacement for the oil coal and nuclear power used to power communications. Seeing the necessity of communications in this kind of community, solar and radio linked with Linux software, can provide text communication without the use of the Internet as we know it.
These are just rudimentary examples of creating the means for independence to make a true general strike possible.
You know, this whole “I’m going to be a homesteader” thing started with a completely random thought, don’t you? I was perfectly content writing about preparedness and natural alternatives when a thought struck me, “I should be homesteading.” No amount of planning, prepping or reading from other homesteaders prepared me for what I was walking into.
First, some background information: I am a born and bred city girl. I lived in a sprawling suburb of Houston, Texas up until about 6 months ago when my family and I gave up the cush city life and relocated to a ranch on the other side of the United States. Sure I knew I was going to make mistakes (and lots of them). After all, I had zero experience being a homesteader. In fact, the only real experience I had with homesteading was opening up a bag of already composted manure. So, I welcomed the mistakes because at least I would be doing what I felt I needed to do with my life.
Before taking on this grand adventure, I would daydream in my suburbanite home about surrounding myself with livestock, being knee deep in yard work, cleaning out barns, shoveling fresh manure (yes, I daydreamed about manure) and looking out to the horizon to see more than the house across the street.
In all honesty, I was not happy in the suburbs. I felt lost and in reality was quickly losing myself. I desperately needed my breath to be taken away by something . So, after careful planning, we found the perfect little town to set up our humble homestead and plunged in head first. This is where I fell flat on my face and landed into a heaping pile of trouble.
1. Romanticizing homesteading will only get you so far
In all honesty, I was forewarned not to romanticize homesteading – and that’s exactly what I ended up doing. It is true that romanticizing something will help propel you into action; but there is nothing romantic about the rank stench of mass chicken manure. And nothing prepares you for seeing one of your livestock dead from a predator attack. I don’t want to deflate anyone’s homesteading dreams, but there is no rest for the weary on a homestead. There is a lot of work, ahem, sweat equity involved in running a homestead.
Hauling or chopping your own wood
Turning compost heaps
Hauling/burning trash
Tending to the garden
Mowing down overgrown pastures
Fixing/building fences
Chasing livestock in cold and sometimes, rainy weather
Shoveling that blessed manure I was daydreaming about
But… there’s the good too:
Stars!
Watching the sun slowly set into the mountains
Watching chickens busily searching for bugs
Your children running through a green pasture
Did I mention the stars?
I think I’m still romanticizing it a little, but it really alters your entire perspective on life. Amidst the busyness of homesteading, the craziness of life seems to slow down or simplify somehow. No longer are you worried about the mundane – your purpose just becomes clear.
2. Start Small
One of my wonderful readers warned me to go into homesteading slowly. It’s so easy to have all of these plans and get carried away by them; and pretty soon, you’re in way over your head. There will be times when you find yourself doing the work alone because either other members of your family are too busy, or are not as “on board” with homestead duties as you are. Regardless, my advice to anyone wanting to start up a homestead is to start small and make a list:
Start a small garden and build upon it.
Build a livestock area (if you do not already have a barn) that is able to protect your livestock from predators.
Buy a small quantity of livestock and make sure they are thriving before you buy more.
Practice living off of the livestock, using their products as well as their bi-products.
3. Be responsible
Remember, the goal for anyone who wants to be self-reliant is to not be enslaved to debt. So, if your heart is set on getting your hands dirty on a homestead, start planning for it by setting money aside. On top of paying house payments, utility bills, random school fees (if you have children), you will be paying for purchasing tools, livestock feed, medicine and other livestock paraphernalia, building materials, seeds, soil amendments, deer deterrents, etc. All of this costs money, and if you do not have it, you will have to put your plans on hold until you do.
While we’re on the subject, make sure you are well prepared to care for livestock and again, start small. We started our homestead with chickens. In all of my reading and research, I read that chickens, rabbits and perhaps goats were the best livestock to start with. Of course, in the same reading, I read that you can allow your chickens into your garden to eat bugs. Well, just so you know, they didn’t eatjust the bugs, they ate the garden too! Those chickens ate through my entire crop of fall plantlings I had planted. So, there is no winter garden. We quickly realized that if the chickens were going to free range, they needed to be in a controlled environment. Plans were made for the chickens to be in a chicken run.
As a former city girl, I also didn’t realize how our chickens would be preyed upon by foxes, hawks and coyotes. The foxes and coyotes attack from the ground, the hawks from the air. Make no mistake, we’re at war and you’re going to need more than just a pellet gun to keep your chickens around. I can honestly tell you I was very naive with this one. But, it’s real folks. If you are going to have livestock, you have to be able to protect them.
4. Beware of the grazers: They come, they eat, they leave.
I cannot begin to tell you how annoyed I am at deer. Those doe-eyed creatures will eat you out of house and home. We hadn’t yet installed deer fencing around the garden, and by the time we did, they ate my entire summer garden. Then they started on the large blackberry bush we have on our property and didn’t stop until they had satiated their never-ending appetites. I was able to get some of the blackberries put away, but it wasn’t nearly as much as I had anticipated.
Wild turkeys were another force to reckon with. We have grapes that grow on the ranch and after the turkeys came through, we were left with none.
5. Stop procrastinating.
I am so guilty of this one! I always wait to the last minute and then kick myself for procrastinating. You cannot do this on a homestead. Things must be done in a timely fashion. For example, rather than buying firewood in the summer when the price was cheap and the demand was low, we waited until winter was upon us. By the time we were ready for making an order, the price of firewood had doubled due to the demand.
We also kept putting off building the chicken run due to time constraints and one by one our chickens were picked off by predators. I’m still kicking myself for this one. By the time the run was built, we were left with a little over 10 chickens (from our original 30).
6. Go for broke!
I mean this figuratively, of course. If homesteading is your dream – then do it! That said, go into it realistically because a lot goes into the upkeep and care of a thriving homestead. You need to be prepared to make lots and lots of mistakes. For an exurbanite like myself, this lifestyle shift was like night and day and we made quite a few mistakes in our first 6 months – so be ready!
Here are some ways that you can prepare for homestead life. Start by making lists.
what supplies you will need
what skills you should learn, if relocation is involved
check into www.city-data.com to look into potential moving areas
if you have children, look into the local schools (www.greatschools.org is a good resource to use)
make sure you can find a job in the area or that you can perform your job if you are self-employed (internet access, ease of shipping, by-laws and regulations)
To conclude, I can honestly tell you that making the choice to homestead is the best thing I ever did; it’s also the hardest thing I have done so far. Do not be fooled into thinking someone without proper preparation can successfully do this. You will make mistakes – guaranteed. Be sure that you are in a position to rebound from those errors, both financially and mentally. The reward to all this hard work and culture shock has been an increase in self-sufficiency, well-being and confidence. The glow of satisfaction of putting a meal on the table that comes completely from our own land is simply unmatched (something I am still longing for).
I will end this with one more piece of advice. For those of you interested in homesteading, read every homesteading/livestock related book you can get your hands on and read it. The more you understand, the better off you will be when you are applying the knowledge. Further, nothing beats real life experience, so if you know someone who is homesteading or has worked on a homestead, pick their brain and learn from them. Online resources such as www.a-homesteading-neophyte.blogspot.com/ is a wonderful resource to give you a realistic perspective of what homesteading is like.
Our plans for our small homestead is to add a barn by the Spring and add some goats and sheep to our little menagerie. I’ll keep you filled in on our progress. Until then, keep prepping and keep dreaming!
It is very simple: the resistance will not be organized. There is no way to get people together on anything at this stage and there aren’t many more stages left.Obama is “constrained” by the Constitution. He considers that wrong, but we know that constraining people like him is the whole purpose of the Constitution. Of course he feels constrained by it, he is supposed to and so is everyone else in a position of immense power. He is constrained by our rights and so has done everything he can to obliterate them.We have sat around and moaned about it, planned, prepared and little else. I don’t know about anyone else. All I know is that if something is going to get done, it will have to be done alone. One person doing a remarkable thing is how it must happen.
The rights they are bargaining with are mine and mine alone. If someone else’s rights are violated, it doesn’t bother me that much. Yet, when I fight for mine, I fight for everyone’s.
This is not the last of it, it will only get worse and worse. They will take more and more individual rights until the only rights left will be those of the state.
That is where it stands right now. It will take some magical moment to the get the great wave of public sentiment on the side of individual rights again. I don’t know what produces that magical moment. If I did, I would do it.
It is time to fight back. I am not a leader or I would lead others. All I have ever been able to do is lead myself and that is exactly what I am doing now.
I have to sit through meeting after boring meeting with fellow teachers, administrators, and highly paid “educational experts” and listen to the same old stuff, just in a different burning brown bag on my doorstep.
We huddle together to discuss…
“How do we get standardized test scores up – barring the Atlanta School System‘s methods?”
“How do we improve discipline?”
“Why aren’t parents doing more to help at home?”
In case you are not yet aware of the truth about government schooling, let me say it as clearly as possible…the system is not broken and doesn’t need reform. Once you come to this realization, the busy work and babysitting, the high-stakes testing, the regime-like control and surveillance, the hyper-allegiance and submission to authority, the path of dumbing-down becomes an open conspiracy. Cheating is not only tolerated, but it keeps the system healthy. This was a life-changing Aha Moment for me. I see clearly now.
The de-zombification process for some people happens first through their eyes. Text travels to the brain – rattles around – and your true nature verifies what you just read. Sometimes your intuition (your knower – “something ain’t right whisperer”) provokes you to further investigation. In my case, it was my knower’s constant nagging - reminiscent of Wife #1.
Do I really think that cheating takes place in every government-run school? YES!
While not every school or system has engaged in erasing bubble sheets behind doors with posted guards, forced institutional schooling cheats every student. The recent Atlanta cheating scandal pales in comparison to the rest of the ice burg hidden below the murky waters of coercive schooling.
Here’s how your child gets cheated by attending school.
Creativity is squashed
Lots of boring facts with no real-world application
Forced “friendship” with people you don’t like
Critical thing
Self-discovery is damned. There’s not a moment in the day where they can sit privately and contemplate.
Academically. We have to teach in the middle to low range to make it fair for everyone in the lesson. This bores kids who need a more challenging lesson. And it’s disheartening to those who learn slower. But there is genius in every student. There’s just no time for them to develop in the classroom.
All work and no play
If government schooling is so great, why does it have to be forced upon us? Hum….
The most overlooked threat in the prepper community is…
Centralized forced schooling. The products of these institutional zombie factories out number self-reliant, preparedness individuals by a very wide margin. Zombie hunters, should the SHTF flag actually be raised, will be overwhelmed.
Solutions? There are no easy ones. Hard choices have to be made by parents wishing to escape the zombified matrix.
My number one option I’ve given to desperate parents seeking asylum and sanctuary from the gulags is to disobey the societal norms and unschool their children. The earlier, the better.
If you’ve got children with a few years of indoctrination and obedience training already, open their cage so they can follow their own self-directed, free-range educational journey. This doesn’t mean your little ones won’t have any direction or guidance from you and other knowledgable adults. It’s just that they now have the freedom to discover, experiment, test, play, and decide what’s worth learning.
Preppers Already Practice Unschooling
Adult preppers are great examples of self-directed learners. We’re not seated in cramped chairs with artificial lighting, forced associations, a set curriculum with an “expert” teaching us what we could care less about. Instead, we pick what we’re passionate about and meaningful learning occurs. We discover, what every school-aged child most desires – but can’t realize because of the school-funk, that learning for the sake of learning is fun.
In school, it’s just the opposite. Just when Johnny connects with a real teacher and sees value in the math lesson, the bell tolls and sends him on to a much less appealing grammar lesson. Does he need to know what an onomatopoeia is? Maybe, but not until he needs to.
Do you remember any rote lessons that didn’t interest you during your tour of duty in school? How about now? Same answer, right?
Useful stuff happens when we’re allowed to pursue our own self-interest.
Yesterday, by chance, Dirt Road Girl and I met a gentleman that works for a local timber frame company. I struck up a conversation and invited ourselves over to see the operation. He seemed genuinely glad to see my interest in his craft. After our new friend gave us the tour, I made a proposal to come and help out (free of charge) on my summer break. I explained my skill level in carpentry and general construction and expressed my desire to learn. There may be an apprenticeship brewing for me.
This is the traditional method to learn anything new. Find an expert in the field that interest you and learn from them.
Many of you are balking at the thought of allowing your child to unschool. The chief objections I’ve heard are:
That’s illegal in my state. Unschooling falls under homeschooling and is legal in all 50 states.
My kids need to be socialized to be able to function in the real world. Traditional schools only allow kids to socialize with peers in their same age group and a few adults viewed as authority figures. Is that real-world socialization? Not quite.
Where will they get their books and materials? Again, welcome to the digital age. The online world is where kids hangout. With a little direction, maybe not any, they can find info on anything they want to learn. The internet has the potential to make government schools obsolete.
Preparedness minded people seek out learning opportunities to further their prepping skills via the Internet, books, seminars, and experts in certain fields of study – without being forced to do so. Why? They’re following their self-interest. As a result, their education adds value to them, their family, community, and society. Personal preparedness and fulfillment also follows self-directed learning.
Do you see life and learning as the same thing?
I’m already working on my Ph.D. in self-sufficiency through interest-led unschooling. What are you studying? Beekeeping, permaculture, bushcrafting, wildcrafting, animal husbandry, aquaponics, bartering, security, blacksmithing, herbal remedies, alternative energy, food preservation? Share your best unschooling sources for preppering. We’d love to hear what you’re interested in and how you learn.
Todd Walker is married to the lovely Dirt Road Girl, proud father and grandfather, a government school teacher, a lover of the primal lifestyle and liberty. You can check out his website at Survival Sherpa with a vision of helping each other on the climb to self-reliance and preparedness…the Survival Sherpa way…One step at a time. Follow him on Twitter. Send him mail: survivalsherpa@gmail.com
I am sure most of you know why us Brits are called Limeys. For those that don’t allow me to enlighten you.
Way back in the early 1800s James Lind, a doctor, discovered that citrus fruit prevented sailors on long voyages dying of scurvy. Some time later, the British Navy started carrying thousands of lemons and limes for the sailors to consume during the voyage, hence the nickname Limey. All I can say is I am glad whoever coined the phrase preferred green to yellow, I could have spent my life being called a lemon and that just doesn’t do it for me.
Moving on, scurvy is caused by a lack of vitamin C, a vitamin that is not readily stored in the body and needs to be topped up on a daily basis. Lack of it causes a whole shed load of problems, from bleeding gums and tooth loss, spots, sores, ulcers, fatigue, muscle loss, heart problems and death.
Scurvy is almost unheard of these days, there was one case in the UK in 2008, in a child who was a fussy eater and lived on bread and jam. (jelly)
Vitamin C is required to build collagen in the body. Collagen is a type of protein and it needs to be replaced regularly, without vitamin C this is impossible. Scurvy has never been eradicated, it is not that kind of disease, it is a condition that’s caused by a diet consistently short of this essential vitamin.
It does not occur over night, but a period of a three weeks without adequate vitamin C will start to see the symptoms appearing.
Small red dots appear often on the shins where the hairs grow from the skin, they continue to appear until patches of dots are formed. The hairs on the shins, break easily and have a twisted appearance.
Sometimes the patches of red dots join up forming large dark areas that ulcerate readily. Muscle pains in the legs start and fatigue sets in. The patient will experience severe shortness of breath particularly after exercise, blurring of vision and a damp sticky feeling around the eyes. The muscle pains get worse and the pain may become more generalised before it reaches the heart. If it does reach the heart, the muscles of the heart enlarge and bleed which leads to death.
There is no treatment for scurvy other than taking vitamin C, either from fruit and vegetables or in a supplement. Adults and children are equally susceptible but nursing infants more so due to the fact that they take nothing but milk from their mother.
If the mother is lacking in the vitamin, her body will use up available supplies leaving none for the infant. Baby formula usually has vitamins added to make it as similar to breast milk as possible, it is advisable to check the ingredients list on formula you are storing to make sure.
Even a poor stored food diet, that has no access to canned fruits etc will contain some vitamin C, but not enough to prevent scurvy on an on-going basis. Many dried fruits, particularly berries, contain more than enough vitamin C to keep a person healthy and storing them is highly recommended.
In addition supplemental vitamin C should be stored in quantity. Like all preparations it loses efficiency over time, but doubling up the dose of older tablets would not cause any harm as the excess is excreted without issues.
Knowing where to find berries in the wild or planting a few bushes can ensure your and your families health on an on-going basis, allowing you to hold onto your stored dried fruits until you have absolutely no choice but to use them.
Scurvy should present few problems to those who have prepared, even at a low level, for a crisis situation. Should that crisis continue for a period of years however, and access to fresh fruit and vegetables has not been secured, then it is more likely than not that there will be a resurgence of cases of this debilitating, and if untreated, fatal condition.
Lizzie Bennett retired from her job as a senior operating department practitioner in the UK earlier this year. Her field was trauma and accident and emergency and she has served on major catastrophe teams around the UK. Lizzie publishes Medically Speaking on the topic of preparedness.
Pellagra is not something doctors come across very often, which is great as it’s a debilitating disease that can be fatal if not treated. It’s caused by a deficiency of niacin, vitamin B3.
It can often be recognised by the presentation in the patient of dermatitis, diarrhoea and dementia, which are often followed by death. These are the 4D’s that doctors look for when considering the condition.
Endemic in Italy in the 17th century it is named from the Italian pelle agra, which means sour skin, and refers to the horrific dermatitis victims of the condition suffer from.
In 1915 pellagra reached epidemic proportions in the southern US states and this prompted the government to employ a doctor, Joseph Goldburger to resolve the issue. Goldberger found resistance at every level. Southern doctors were suspicious of a Jewish Northern doctor and even when he made the connection between pellagra and diet he was ignored.
He went as far as actually ingesting pellagra to prove it wasn’t caused by a germ or virus but still he made no headway with the establishment. It was only after conducting experiments on prisoners, (who would be pardoned if they lived) that people started to take notice. He altered their diet and actually induced pellagra in the group,several of whom died.
Sadly Goldburger died before the food causing the problem was found, even though he knew it was linked to the amount of maize consumed in the southern states.
The traditional way of preparing maize involves nixtamalization, the corn was treated before use. This makes niacin, B3 nutritionally available to the body. When the cultivation of maize spread the value of treating it with lime was not understood and the practice was abandoned thus leaving the consumers of the corn no access to the niacin available in it.
As corn became more plentiful it’s price dropped and people began to eat more and more of it. The population of the southern states were high consumers and they paid the price with over 100,000 people affected and over 1300 deaths in the first few months of 1913 alone. In all over 3 million Americans were affected and over 100,000 deaths were caused by the disease between 1904 and 1939.
Research continued after Goldbergers death and it found that twice the number of females as males are affected and this is probably due to oestrogen inhibiting the amino acid tryptophan which enables niacin absorption.
Eating foods with bio-available niacin relieves the symptoms of pellagra very quickly, and this is easy to do with such a wide variety of foods available to us today. Should that food supply be diminished this may not be the case.
Anything that stops the supply of simple basic foodstuffs that contain niacin will cause a resurgence of this awful disease. This is evident in areas such as Zimbabwe, Nepal, Angola and Sudan where strife and adverse weather has diminished the food supply and left the populations relying on untreated corn as a staple food.There has been a rise in pellagra in these places since 2002 with the World Health Organization showing a niacin deficiency of almost 30% in females and 6% in children. The incidence of clinical pellagra rather than just naiacin deficiency is also rising in many of these areas.
Niacin can be found in foods that provide protein, something that may well be lacking in the diets of the majority of people in a post-collapse world. Most preppers store nuts, dried fruits and legumes all of which contain niacin but the population at large do not and this will invariably lead to problems. The best sources of niacin are beef, game, lamb, poultry and seafood. Some fruits and veggies are a valuable source, namely mushrooms and mangoes but even those only offer a small percentage of the recommended daily amount.
The symptoms are diverse: High sensitivity to sunlight,cardiomyopathy, aggressive behaviour, stomach pain, dermatitis, weakness, mental confusion,diarrhoea and later dementia, coma and death. Left untreated the disease gets worse and worse causing death on average in about 4 years. Prior to that the victims will be extremely debilitated and can die of infections when the dermatitis becomes infected if medical help is not available
It would be extremely wise to stock up on B3 supplements and B3 rich foods prior to any collapse. Pellagra is a slow and painful death, a death that sadly millions of people may face in the future.
Lizzie Bennett retired from her job as a senior operating department practitioner in the UK earlier this year. Her field was trauma and accident and emergency and she has served on major catastrophe teams around the UK. Lizzie publishes Medically Speaking on the topic of preparedness.
Living off the land sounds as inviting as Christmas dinner. But many have hardly had adequate experience being “farmers.” In fact, many have had no experience at all when it comes to planting anything. That being said, the day is slowly approaching where each of us may have to trade in our company identification badges for a shovel and a pair of overalls. Educating yourself on farming topics such as mirco farming, planting for the seasons, natural insect repellents, seed collection and seed storage could help prepare for an upcoming economic crisis. Learn about how many vegetables or fruits the plant will yield. It is truly an experience when it comes to the first garden. And the plants have many things to teach.
Start Practicing
The only way to be fully prepared as far as growing plants is concerned is to practice, practice, practice. If the economy takes a turn for the worse, then the gardening knowledge and skills acquired from practicing will come into play at this time. Initially, when beginning to plant a garden, start small and work your way up. Have a small garden plot or do container gardening if you are short on space. Make sure the seeds that are purchased are heirloom or non-GMO varieties. The seeds from these varieties will continually produce. As opposed to hybrid varieties that will only produce for one season.
With each gardening experience will come more wisdom on how to handle a larger garden. When researching what types of fruit and vegetables will be grown, think about what your family will need for an entire year. Keep in mind that if you are lucky enough to have any livestock, grains and grasses will be needed to be grown for them to consume. Any size family will have to have multiple plants. One plant per family member would be essential if you had a small hobby garden. You must think on a larger scale. You are planting a survival garden. And this is exactly what it means – to survive. Plant enough plants to have for food as well as to have left over for canning and preserving for the winters.
Survival Seeds
These seeds that were chosen were based upon their yield quantities, *ease in growing, nutritional content and for the season they are planted in.
Barley -Can be planted in the spring and winter and has the best results when planted early in the season. This grain has loads of health benefits and a variety of purposes. Such as feeding livestock, grinding the grains for flour, as well as making beer. Barley is high in dietary fiber and magnese.
*Beans - Beans should be planted in the early summer. One of the easiest vegetables to grow. Beans have different varieties such as pole beans and bush beans, kidney beans, etc. Pole beans begin and end earlier than bush beans. In comparison, pole beans give a high yield production. A stake is needed for the pole beans. Staggering your plantings will give continuous yields. Beans are very high in fiber, calcium, Vitamins A, C and K.
*Broccoli - Plant seeds in mid to late summer to be ready for the fall harvest. One of the easiest vegetables to grow. This plant has a tendency to give yields past it’s first harvest. And can take light frost with no problem. Broccoli is a good source of protein, Vitamins A and K.
*Carrot - Carrots prefer cooler weather and should be grown in the fall, winter and early spring. One of the easiest vegetables to grow. High in beta carotene and vitamin A.
Cauliflower - This vegetable is a cool season vegetable. It harvests over a short period of time and cuts out a high head yield. High in dietary fiber, Vitamin C and K.
Corn – This is a warm weather crop and should be planted after last frost. Has a good amount of proteins, calcium and iron. The plant will produce two ears per stalk.
*Cucumber - This is a warm weather crop. This is one of the easiest vegetables to grow. There are large varieties and smaller varieties for pickling. Continuous picking increases the plants production. Cucumbers are good sources of Vitamins A, C, K and potassium.
Eggplant – Eggplants are warm weather plants and should be planted after last frost. This night shade vegetable is high in fiber, antioxidants, and a good source of vitamins B1 and B6. This is a very versatile vegetable to cook with.
*Lettuce – Plant two weeks before last frost as well as in the fall 6-8 weeks before the first frost date. One of the easiest vegetables to grow and one of the earliest crops to harvest. There are many different varieties that offer different nutritional content. This plant grows quickly and harvest can be extended by taking a few leaves at a time. Lettuce is packed with essential vitamins and proteins, iron and calcium. Vitamins such as A, B6, C, and K.
Melon - Plant 4 weeks after the last frost as these fruits are intolerant to cold weather. Cantaloupes and Melon varieties need lots of space to grow. Getting the dwarf size of these fruits can save space. One melon plant will produce two melons. Good source of fiber, B6 and folate.
Okra -Plant 2 weeks after last frost. This vegetable has a variety of uses such as in soups, pickled or canned. High in vitamin A, K and folate, and calcium.
*Onion/Garlic - One of the easiest vegetables to grow. Plant onion in mid to late October. Onions can be pulled earlier and used for green onions. A good source of dietary fiber, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, folate and potassium.
Peanuts – This is a hot season plant and should be planted in April until Early June. Peanuts are a good source for healthy fats, Vitamin E, protein and antioxidants.
*Peas – This is a winter loving plant who is resistant to frost. One of the easiest vegetables to grow. There are many varieties of the pea plant, such as shelling, snap, snow and sugar pod. Most varieties are fast growing. This is a good source of protein, fiber and has a good source of 8 different vitamins including vitamin A, B6, and K.
*Peppers- Grow after the last frost. There are many varieties of peppers as well as choices on if you want them to be hot or mild. Sweet peppers are one of the easiest vegetables to grow. The more peppers are harvested, the more the plant will produce. Peppers are high in Vitamin A and C.
Potatoes- Plant 4-6 weeks before last frost. 1 plant yields 5-6 young potatoes. Potatoes are high in fiber, Vitamin B6, Potassium and Vitamin C.
Pumpkin- Start pumpkin seeds in the late spring. Pumpkins require lots of room for the vines to grow. Pumpkins are packed with vitamins such as thiamine, niacin, Vitamin B6, folate, iron, Vitamin A, C and E.
*Radish – Can be started 4-6 weeks before last frost. Many have had success growing radishes in the fall as well. One of the easiest vegetables to grow. They are very tolerant of weather conditions. Radishes are high in Vitamin B6, dietary fiber, Vitamin C and iron.
Spinach- Spinach grows best in cool weather. However, there are some varieties that like warm weather. Many call this a super food based upon it’s large array of vitamins such as Vitamin A, C, iron, thiamine, thiamine and folic acid.
*Squash – There are both summer squash and winter squash varieties. One of the easiest vegetables to grow and most are prolific producers. Picking squash regularly encourages a higher yield. A Good source of Vitamin A, B6, C, K, and dietary fiber.
* Tomato- Plant tomatoes in the late spring and again in the late summer. One of the easiest vegetables to grow. Tomatoes are a good source of Vitamin A, C, K, E, Potassium, thiamine and Niacin.
Turnips/Rutabagas – Seeds should be sown in late May or early summer. Turnips are fairly disease free and easily cared for. The greens as well as the root can be eaten. Turnips are high in B6, Vitamin C, Iron and Calcium.
Wheat- Winter wheat can be planted from late September to mid October. This is the preferred variety due to the nutritional content as well as the protection it gives the soil in the wintertime compared to spring wheat. Spring wheat is planted in early spring. This is one of the most commonly used food crops in the world. Wheat is high in copper, zine, iron and potassium. Planting a 10×10 plot will yield between 10-25 loaves of bread.
Other seeds to take into consideration are crop cover seeds such as hairy vetch or clover. These crop covers loosen up soil as well as gives the soil nitrogen to feed the plants for the next season. These crop covers are also food for livestock such as cattle, sheep and rabbits. When the crop cover is mowed, the cuttings can be used as a natural mulch.
Having a wide array of food choices when times get tough will keep spirits up, nutrition high and give each person a high amount of energy. Do research and find the best plants for you and your family. Become familiar with planting cycles at a local level. Finding pertinent information regarding soil conditions, natural fertilizers, and germination of seeds can get you ready for a good planting season. The more prepping you do on this, the better your family will eat when they need food the most.
With what we have done now we have assured our future although life should be hard and uncertain. It isn’t going to be easy. One thing that most of us have just skipped over though in the previous few articles is security. We just ignored it really.
For many of us, and I consider myself in with this, we will not simply be left on our own to scrape together a living, we will have to handle our neighbours, refugees from other areas and even our relatives visiting and wanting food and shelter. Food and Shelter which we are unlikely to have in sufficient quantities to keep all these extra mouths and have enough to survive ourselves. After all we are putting aside our stores from our own money and few of us have enough to put aside what we want for ourselves never mind others.
That is why one of the processes that we must follow is Operational Security, or OPSEC as we commonly call it. The rest of the population knows it as Keeping Mum. This means quite simply that we just don’t talk to third parties about our prepping and we take care when we are buying preps and equipment. After all if you tell your next door neighbour that you have food and water for a year when his children are crying with hunger what do you think his thoughts will be? If may start of nice and polite but unless it ends up with you feeding all these extra mouths it won’t end that way. Think what you will do to protect your children. Of course the other neighbours will be interested too and all your preps will be consumed a few short weeks.
My idea is to keep my head down right at the start and keep out of peoples way. Keep in communication but sharing nothing. Don’t be mistaken, it will be heart rending to see people you know starving whilst you have food but simple logic dictates that if you share your chances of survival are reduced. Sure, the infrastructure may be restored before your stores run out but what if it is not. You have sacrificed much to put these stores aside whilst your neighbours watch the soaps on a nice plasma TV, have a PS3 and the latest games you cannot afford those but your pantries are always full and you are never hungry. They made their choice that nothing was going to happen and put nothing aside. You put resources aside just in case. You never know, they could be right and nothing will happen. Prepping has been around for 50 years and nothing has happened in the UK but imo odds are that something will happen sometime.
So you kept your head down and your neighbours have left or died. It won’t be easy but you have to do it. With a bit of luck things may start to come together and society starts to rebuild. That would be good but we are working on the worst case assumption that things will not return to normal, albeit with much less people, but instead will continue with no infrastructure or control.
Over the time since the event there have been refugees looking for food. Some were entering homes and searching, using violence to take what they wanted, and then moving on. You have been careful though, your home has been searched but there is nothing to find because you have prepared and buried your caches and have hidden your supplies. You keep out of the way yourself as much as you can and now the few refugees you see give your home a miss because the whole area looks as devastated as everywhere else. Just as you have planned.
OPSEC starts now. Explain to everyone in your family. They must not talk about your hobby. They must not mention the extra food you have. It is best to try and build your supplies with just you and your other half. Keep the kids in the dark until they are old enough to understand. Make storage spaces in your home, false walls and burying caches where you can. Consider carefully any livestock you want because keeping some of them quiet will be an issue. Plan for black out curtains and keeping a low profile for a while. My estimate is 15 months. Even after that though there will be an occasional visitor so you need to plan how you will handle those. It may even require you abandoning your retreat to ensure your survival. Think about different situations, the loner, the sneak thief, a gang, a family, your family. How are you going to handle them? Depending on the timing and your current situation your will handle them differently.
Some people will never see another soul after an event. Some will not survive meeting refugees and some will survive. Make sure you are among the latter by considering, where appropriate, being the grey man.
The US House of Representatives quietly passed a last-minute addition to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill for 2013 last week – including a provision protecting genetically modified seeds from litigation in the face of health risks.
The rider, which is officially known as the Farmer Assurance Provision, has been derided by opponents of biotech lobbying as the “Monsanto Protection Act,” as it would strip federal courts of the authority to immediately halt the planting and sale of genetically modified (GMO) seed crop regardless of any consumer health concerns.
The provision, also decried as a “biotech rider,” should have gone through the Agricultural or Judiciary Committees for review. Instead, no hearings were held, and the piece was evidently unknown to most Democrats (who hold the majority in the Senate) prior to its approval as part of HR 993, the short-term funding bill that was approved to avoid a federal government shutdown.
Senator John Tester (D-MT) proved to be the lone dissenter to the so-called Monsanto Protection Act, though his proposed amendment to strip the rider from the bill was never put to a vote.
As the US legal system functions today, and largely as a result of prior lawsuits, the USDA is required to complete environmental impact statements (EIS) prior to both the planting and sale of GMO crops. The extent and effectiveness to which the USDA exercises this rule is in itself a source of serious dispute.
The reviews have been the focus of heated debate between food safety advocacy groups and the biotech industry in the past. In December of 2009, for example, Food Democracy Now collected signatures during the EIS commenting period in a bid to prevent the approval of Monsanto’s GMO alfalfa, which many feared would contaminate organic feed used by dairy farmers; it was approved regardless.
Previously discovered pathogens in Monsanto’s Roundup Ready corn and soy are suspected of causing infertility in livestock and to impact the health of plants.
So, just how much of a victory is this for biotech companies like Monsanto? Critics are thus far alarmed by the very way in which the provision made it through Congress — the rider was introduced anonymously as the larger bill progressed through the Senate Appropriations Committee. Now, groups like the Center for Food Safety are holding Senator Mikulski (D-MD), chairman of that committee, to task and lobbing accusations of a “backroom deal” with the biotech industry.
As the Washington Times points out, the provision’s success is viewed by many as a victory by companies like Syngenta Corp, Cargill, Monsanto and affiliated PACs that have donated $7.5 million to members of Congress since 2009, and $372,000 to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
It remains unclear whether the bill’s six-month expiration means that the provision will be short-lived. Regardless, Food Democracy Now has begun a campaign calling on US President Barack Obama to veto the Continuing Resolution spending bill, which seems unlikely as HR 933 includes a sweeping amount of government funding.
Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis database End The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. He is available for podcast and radio interviews. Madison also now has his own radio show on UCY.TV from 7 pm — 10 pm Pacific, which you can find HERE. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at admin@EndtheLie.com
Last night we got home from 2 days of traveling. We were tired and hungry. It was so nice to pop a lid off a jar and heat up a tasty, nutritious and filling meal in less than five minutes, without worrying about all of those nasty additives that a store-bought can of soup would contain. The instant gratification from a home-canned meal is wonderful on a day that you just don’t feel like cooking, and invaluable when disaster strikes and you are unable to use your usual methods of preparing a meal.
You can preserve your own recipes easily – find the guidelines HERE.
Soups, stews and chili can help you quickly produced a well-balanced meal. Click the preserving tab at the top of the page for more recipes.
Some meals need only a quickly boiled carbohydrate like rice or pasta to make a satisfying meal at the drop of a hat – here are 3 tried-and-true canning recipes to enjoy…
Hungarian Goulash
Ingredients
4 pounds of stewing meat (beef, pork, etc.)
4 tbsp of REAL Hungarian paprika (must be the real stuff for an authentic flavor)
2 tsp of dry mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
4 onions, quartered
4 cloves of minced garlic
1 tbsp of olive oil
4 carrots, sliced into coins
6 potatoes, diced
2 bell peppers, diced
1 can of tomato paste
½ cup of red wine vinegar
Water as needed
Directions
In a bowl, mix Hungarian paprika, dry mustard, salt and pepper.
In a large stockpot, heat olive oil and begin to sauté your onions and garlic.
Dip your stewing meat in the spice mixture, then place the meat in the stockpot to brown with the garlic and onions. Brown lightly – the meat does not have to be thoroughly cooked.
In quart jars, layer your meat and vegetable mixture, carrots, peppers and potatoes.
Add 6 cups of water, vinegar and the jar of tomato paste to the stock pot and mix with any drippings or spices that remain after browning the meat. Bring this mixture to a boil.
Ladle hot liquid into sanitized jars over the layered contents. Use a table knife to remove any air pockets in the jars. If necessary, top up with water, allowing 1 inch of headspace.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: When heating your goulash, whisk in 1 tbsp of flour in order to thicken the sauce. Once it is hot, stir in a half cup of sour cream or yogurt and heat only until the sour cream is warmed through.
Serve your goulash over egg noodles, potatoes, spaetzle or dumplings and don’t forget a side of fresh sour dough bread!
Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients
3-4 pounds of stewing beef or sliced sirloin
2 onions, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 cups of mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp of butter
2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Water to deglaze pan
Directions
In a large stockpot, sauté beef, onions, garlic and mushrooms in butter until lightly browned.
Stir in Worcestershire sauce and enough water to deglaze the stockpot. Use a metal utensil to scrape the bottom of the pot to loosen the flavorful pieces there.
Add 1 cup of water and stir well, bringing to a boil.
Ladle the stroganoff into sanitized jars, distributing the sauce evenly across the jars.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: When you are ready to serve the beef stroganoff, stir 1 cup of sour cream or plain yogurt into the heated sauce. Serve this over rice or noodles.
Chicken Cacciatore
The rich herbed tomato sauce and the tender chicken will not last long on the pantry shelves – as soon as you serve one jar of it, your family will beg you to make it again!
To make life even simpler, this is a raw-pack recipe!
Ingredients
3 pounds of boneless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces (a mix of breasts and thighs is nice)
2 cups of red and green peppers, cut into chunks
2 cups of onion, cut into 8ths
2 cups of mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves of garlic
4 cups of diced tomatoes, with juice
1 bottle of red wine
2 tbsp of oregano
2 tbsp of basil
2 tbsp of thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Layer chicken, peppers, onions, mushroom and garlic in quart jars.
In a large stockpot bring wine, tomatoes, and herbs to a boil. Ladle hot liquid over the layered ingredients in your sanitized jars.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: When preparing the cacciatore, stir in a small can of tomato paste when heating to thicken the sauce. Serve over pasta, with a side of garlic bread.
Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor. Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca
Editor’s note: My good friend over at Durable Faith got my wheels spinning with his article challenging conventional wisdom about farming and gardening. I’ve always grown gardens. Til a patch of earth or prepare a medium for a container garden. Plant in rows, build a fence, water, and harvest. Is there a better way to grow more food with less effort?
In his article, Durable challenges us to pursue the ancient paths – of permaculture. We might learn something hidden. I know I did.
Conventional wisdom is that mankind has evolved from hunter/gatherers to agrarian societies and that only primitive societies gather …
By the Bronze Age, wild food contributed a nutritionally insignificant component to the usual diet. If the operative definition of agriculture includes large scale intensive cultivation of land, mono-cropping, organized irrigation, and use of a specialized labour force, the title “inventors of agriculture” would fall to the Sumerians, starting c. 5500 BCE. Intensive farming allows a much greater density of population than can be supported by hunting and gathering, and allows for the accumulation of excess product for off-season use, or to sell/barter. The ability of farmers to feed large numbers of people whose activities have nothing to do with agriculture was the crucial factor in the rise of standing armies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_agriculture
So farming progress brought us mono-cropping (potato famine anyone), big cities, and standing armies…Progress indeed…
We know that conventional wisdom is just dead wrong on many items. God’s thoughts are higher (Isa 55:9) than our thoughts and his ways are higher than our ways.
Let’s take a fresh look at the creation story’s account of the garden
Geneses 2: 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin[d] and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.[e]14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
Clearly, it was God who planted the garden, NOT ADAM. So, he was caring for something that already exists, sounds more like tending perennials than planting annuals.
But then came the forbidden fruit, the fall, the curse, and everything changed.
Gen 3: 17: To Adam he said “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.19By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
So looking at this in english, it appears that when Adam was blessed, he ate perennials in a sheltered river valley, but after the curse he had to work the fields and produce annuals, battling weeds, weather, etc.
But in the Hebrew, the word translated as field (haś·śā·ḏeh) in verse 18 is pretty generically used to refer to all types of land in other places in the old testament.
A few quick examples of other ways the hebrew word haś·śā·ḏeh is translated into english
Ezekiel 20:46 - forest land
2 Samuel 19:29 – the land
2 Samuel 23:11 – plot of land
2 Chronicles 25:18 – the wild
So then, the curse should not to be interpreted as any dissuasion or lack of permission from eating off wild and forest lands. Adam was certainly not promoted to tilling and dealing with weeds as a result of the fall of man.
In the context of what is being called ”peak topsoil”, scientists are taking a fresh look at the methods of historical indigenous peoples and the line between gathering / optimized foraging / permaculture and what we consider to be active farming has disappeared. It seems that it was the pride of the superior race that looked at gatherers and saw their methods as rudimentary.
In fact, a noted expert observed that :
“The Iroquois could support roughly three times as many people on an acre as contemporaneous Europeans could with their wheat crops.”
So much for our modern superiority of technologically advanced agriculture.
1 Corinthians 1: 27 - But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
Jeremiah 6: 16 – This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
As for Durable, I am studying native american soil management techniques and the modern equivalent of optimized foraging referenced by the concept of food forests.
Todd Walker is married to the lovely Dirt Road Girl, proud father and grandfather, a government school teacher, a lover of the primal lifestyle and liberty. You can check out his website at Survival Sherpa with a vision of helping each other on the climb to self-reliance and preparedness…the Survival Sherpa way…One step at a time. Follow him on Twitter. Send him mail: survivalsherpa@gmail.com
We all worry about maintaining our health at the best of times, doing so after a collapse will be difficult to say the least. Bone heath MUST be maintained at all costs. A weakening of the skeletal system is quite normal with advancing age but getting into the situation where we are more prone to weak bones or even osteoporosis when the only people we can rely on are ourselves needs to be avoided for as long as possible.
Healthy bones depend on us having enough essential nutrients,vitamins and minerals to maintain optimum density. Calcium is the main requirement, but the addition of vitamin D, easily obtained from sunlight ‘fixes’ the calcium more efficiently than taking calcium alone.
Eggshells are primarily made of calcium in its elemental form. Eggshells also contain trace elements, 27 of them in all, that make the composition of eggshell very similar to our own teeth and bones.
The average requirement of calcium is 1000mg a day for an adult. More is required by rapidly growing teenagers, pregnant women and people aged over 70. A teaspoon of powdered eggshell contains about 800mg of calcium, . Your body would not be able to deal with more than 500mg of calcium at one time so split the dose if you are getting the bulk of your calcium from supplements. Many foods are rich in calcium so it’s unlikely you will need more than half a teaspoon,( 400mg) of the eggshell supplement.
Foods rich in calcium
Dried herbs are almost all rich in calcium with savoury coming top with a whopping 2132mg per 100g which is about 85mg per tablespoon.
Cheeses all contain calcium but very hard cheeses such as Parmesan comes top with 1376mg per 100g which is about 69mg per tablespoon.
Sesame seeds provide more calcium when they are dried or roasted giving 989mg per 100g which is about 64mg per tablespoon.
Almonds will provide 267 mg of calcium per 100g or 74mg for 20 almonds.
Milk and yogurt skim milk/yogurt comes in at 415mg per cup and full fat products at 276mg per cup
Leafy Greens All vary but come in at between 196 and 105mg per cup if chopped.
Nuts All contain calcium. Brazil nuts the most 213mg per cup or 45mg for 6 average nuts.
Obviously this is not an exhaustive list, many foods carry calcium within them and its worth finding out how your long term storage food measures up.
Calcium is best taken with food as it absorbs better that way. Some people advocate taking magnesium at the same time as calcium. Both are absorbed in the intestines and the one you take most of is readily absorbed and the other mostly excreted.
The recommended daily dose for magnesium is between 310-400mg daily. Most of the food in a prepper pantry is magnesium rich, grains, legumes, peanut butter, beans of all kinds dried fruits and nuts are all magnesium rich. Taking supplemental magnesium is a personal choice, something you must decide on.
Even if you don’t have chickens (geese or ducks) of your own you can save eggshells now and turn them into a calcium supplement. Organic eggs are best for this as the better the nutrients the chicken eats then the better the nutrients in the eggshell.
It’s important that the eggs are carefully washed before you crack them to remove bacteria from the outside of the shells.
Making powdered eggshell calcium.
Wash the outside of the egg before you crack it. Set it to one side and enjoy whatever you’re cooking.
Gently rinse the eggshell to remove albumin (white) but leave the membrane on the inside of the egg in place, it contains trace elements that are beneficial.
Leave them to dry out, overnight is sometimes long enough but they do need to be totally dry. Make sure they are protected from flies etc.
Grind the eggshells into a fine powder. You can use a food processor, coffee grinder or even a mortar and pestle but the aim is to get the finest powder you can.
Store the power in a screw top jar in a cool, dry and preferably dark place. The back of the food cupboard is ideal.
Use as required.
The ground shell will taste a little gritty regardless of how well you grind it. Adding it to crunchy food such as granola works well at disguising this especially for children.
If preferred the powder can be mixed with lemon juice before taking it. It will fizz up as the acids in the lemon juice set to work dissolving the powder. Add a spoon of honey or pour into a glass of water once the powder has dissolved the shell.
Lizzie Bennett retired from her job as a senior operating department practitioner in the UK earlier this year. Her field was trauma and accident and emergency and she has served on major catastrophe teams around the UK. Lizzie publishes Medically Speaking on the topic of preparedness.
Every year I get older and my backpack gets heavier. To trim some weight, I began downsizing items in my bag. Here’s a great stove that weighs less than 6 ounces and runs on twigs.
I humped my backpack the other day through the woods with DRG. I immediately noticed the extra strain on my hips. Not overbearing, but noticeable. As I age, I look for ways to lighten my load on stuff I carry – body weight included Here’s a great way to shave a few ounces off any fishing kits you pack for your bug out bag, walk-about bag, or hunting bag. It fits in a glove box in your vehicle nicely too.
The idea for my last fishing kit for my bug out bag came from Dave Canterbury. It was made of PVC, which was very sturdy, but weighed more than I liked. This summer I wanted to trim the weight on my BOB. It’s not going to be ultralight, but every pound I trim only makes humping that thing easier. The first piece I tackle is my…well…my fishing tackle.
First, assemble materials. I looked for a lightweight tube for a couple of weeks. I didn’t want glass. Plastic would work. Aluminum would be even better. I found a plastic tube that held a watch on a shopping trip with my wife. I bought it for $5.oo and ditched the cheap watch. The problem with the plastic tube is that I would not be able to use it for boiling water in a survival situation.
Then we stopped by the adult beverage store for some wine. This place also has a nice humidor with a great selection of cigars.
*Aha Moment*
We spent the next five minutes rummaging through stogies looking for the perfect candidate. I needed it to be long enough and with sufficient diameter to hold the necessary fish-catching supplies. I found a cigar, which I enjoy from time to time, with a great tube. It measures 1 inch in diameter by 6 1/4 inches long tube. Being aluminum, I can use it to boil water in a pinch. The picture below shows the difference in sizes of the old PVC kit (bottom) and the new one completed.
Here’s what I used to assemble my kit: Cigar sleeve, duct tape, bank line, electrical tape, 10# fishing line, strike anywhere matches, fire starter, dry flies, artificial lizard, non-lead weights, 3 types of fishing hooks, metal leader, swivels, 2 floats/bobbers, and a snack size zip-lock baggie.
Assembly Process
Step A: Wrap the screw end (or non-rounded end) with about 3 or 4 feet of duct tape. Do I even have to tell you about all the uses for this miracle survival material? I keep strips of it in my cars, wallet, desk, almost every where I go. Duct tape may not help you catch fish, but I’m sure it’s possible with a little creativity. It’s a utility player that should be on and in every preppers gear and bags.
Step B: Tie a slip knot on the end of your bank line (don’t forget to burn the nylon end to prevent unraveling) and tighten it around the tube next to the duct tape. Wind about 50 to 100 feet of line onto the tube. I used closer to 50 feet to keep the profile of the tube even. Bank line can be used for limb hooks and trot lines in a true survival situation. This allows for passive fishing while you attend to other tasks. [NOTE: Check your local fishing and game laws during rule of law times before using these methods.]
The bank line can also be used for a makeshift fly rod (and other cordage needs). Simply cut a sapling about 8 feet, attach 10 feet of bank line to the end, add a piece of mono filament line to the bank line with one of the dry flies in the kit and you have a hillbilly fly rod rig. When no bait is available for your hooks, use this rig to catch smaller pan fish to use for bait on limb hooks. This is very enticing for larger fish and turtles.
Step C: Secure the bank line to the tube with a couple of wraps of electrical tape. Again, more tape to use as needed.
Step D: Now you’re ready to add the mono filament fishing line. I used 10# line. I wouldn’t recommend anything below 6# line. (Update: I used 50 lb spider wire for our son’s Christmas stocking). In a survival situation, the last thing you want to see is a decent sized fish run with 4# line and snap it off.
An old technique I’ve used for years is to lay the line inside a book and feed the line onto the tackle. I did this for the cigar tube as well. Tie a slip knot on the end of the fishing line and secure it to the tube where you taped off the bank line. Start rotating the tube to add line. I guess you could wind the line on the tube with you free hand. I prefer to roll the line on by rotating the tube with my finger tips from both ends of the tube. I’m a little OCD. I think the line might accumulate more kinks if you wind it with you free hand.
Add line until you get within one inch of the rounded end of the tube, then double back over the existing line. I added about 50 feet of line to my rig. Next, add a layer of electrical tape to secure the line to the kit. A wide rubber band might work, but I like the tape.
Below is the finished exterior of the kit. By the way, if you haven’t purchased and read “Boston’s Gun Bible“, do so now. I read it yearly.
Step E: Place the strike-anywhere matches, fire starter (more details about this item later), dry flies, artificial lizard, non-lead weights, 3 types of fishing hooks, and swivels in a snack size zip-lock baggie. Squeeze the air out by rolling it toward the top of the bag. Seal the bag and slide into the tube.
Step F: Screw end-cap onto tube and wrap with electrical tape for a water-tight seal.
Fire Starter Note: I made the fire starter a few years ago. It’s jute twin that was saturated with paraffin wax. It literally only takes a spark to get a flame going. Just cut a one inch piece, unravel, and “fluff” to create more surface area for your spark. Another added bonus is that it even lights in wet conditions. I have bundles in all my bags. You never know when you’ll need to cook up those fish you just caught with your new Cigar Survival Fishing Kit!
The only modification I’d add is to make a paracord loop extending from the end of the cap. I’ll add pics when that happens.
Your turn. Got any suggestions to make this better? Please add them in the comment section.
Todd Walker is married to the lovely Dirt Road Girl, proud father and grandfather, a government school teacher, a lover of the primal lifestyle and liberty. You can check out his website at Survival Sherpa with a vision of helping each other on the climb to self-reliance and preparedness…the Survival Sherpa way…One step at a time. Follow him on Twitter. Send him mail: survivalsherpa@gmail.com
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Tess Pennington is the author of The Prepper’s Cookbook: 300 Recipes to Turn Your Emergency Food into Nutritious, Delicious, Life-Saving Meals. When a catastrophic collapse cripples society, grocery store shelves will empty within days. But if you follow this book’s plan for stocking, organizing and maintaining a proper emergency food supply, your family will have plenty to eat for weeks, months or even years.
Here’s a great way to shave a few ounces off any fishing kits you pack for your bug out bag, walk-about bag, or hunting bag. It fits in a glove box in your vehicle nicely too.
