Day: September 30, 2005

Recommended Region: The Grande Ronde Valley Union, Wallowa, and Baker Counties, in Northeastern Oregon

This region is on the east side of the Blue Mountains Statistics (for La Grande): Average high temperature in August: 85. Average low temperature in January: 23.1. Average snowfall in January: 6.7”. Growing season: 160 days. Advantages: Proximity to good hunting and firewood sources in “The Blues.” More plentiful water than in many other parts of eastern Oregon. Fairly diverse agriculture. Grande Ronde Valley crops are primarily wheat, hay, and barley, with some oats, apples, cherries, sugar beets, and beans. From the Oregon Blue Book: “The Grande Ronde Valley in Union County is nearly table flat and is covered with …


Letter Re: Mormons, Knives, and Olive Oil

Jim: I am an non-denominational Christian, (not a Mormon), but I do appreciate the fairness you exhibit on your blog. The Mormon man’s recent comments were good reading and I hope his view is representative of all Mormons. Thank you for your fairness and honesty. ABOUT KNIVES: I have found that the Cold Steel “Recon Bowie” with its 5/16′ thick blade is an excellent field knife which can be used like a hatchet and it is quite tough. It’s big brother – the Trailmaster Series is also another great large knife. ABOUT OLIVE OIL: I purchased a three liter can …


Letter Re: Retreat Architecture

Hello from a long-time fan. With some of the discussions going into how to build a home that will be designed with survival in mind, I’d thought that the following may be useful (If you haven’t seen this stuff already). I’ve been researching extensively differing home structures and came across what the owners of this home call “The Ultimate Secure Home” See: http://www.ultimatesecurehome.com/ Now I’m not advocating anyone buy this place, but it is chock-full “Secure Home”. What scenarios to consider like plague, economic collapse, fire, and items dealing with water support, off-grid power, communications…etc. Also the unique dome-structure itself …


Letter Re: Advice on Missouri’s Retreat Potential?

Mr. Rawles, I realize you are busy, and appreciate any response you can supply. I am residing about 20 miles out of St. Louis, Missouri. I realize my close proximity to such a large urban area is far from ideal, but I do not have the financial security to quit the job and move out to a less populated area. Now, my question is not in regard to my specific area. Rather, my question is regarding the rest of Missouri. I have friends owning land in central Missouri in a small community that have extended an offer to allow me …


Letter Re: Buckshot Bruce’s –“I Could Never Eat That!” Article

Hello Jim, I really enjoyed Buckshot’s post on eating wild game. Like him we eat “off the land,” on a regular basis. There is bear, beaver, turtle, pheasant, muskrat, rabbit, squirrel and venison in our freezer right now. We recently tried canning up some blue gill with great success.Free food is out there for the taking and it is good. Get started now and find out for yourself, which is the best way to fix game to your tastes. By the way we like to brown the cut up muskrat, place it in a roaster, make gravy in the frying …