Month: January 2008

Letter Re: Burning Soft Maple Wood as a Primary Home Heat Source

Hi Jim, I have set out on an experiment in heating my home that has been interesting and is important to relay to other readers as their are many questions about using Soft Maple as a heat source. My experiment follows nearly a lifetime of wood burning, tree felling, splitting, chimney cleaning lifestyle and is of course not from a “professional”, so ask a professional when experimenting with home heating. I have used wood only heating in my current home for five years with 100% safety and 1,000% enjoyment. Before that, I had 11 years of consistent home heating by …


Letter Re: Grandpappy’s Pemmican Recipe – A Native American Indian Survival Food

James, The following information is freely available on the internet at a variety of web sites including the Wikipedia, the USDA, and the FDA web sites. First a simple clarification of the USDA information: Dried meat may pose a health risk if: (1) the meat is improperly dried, and (2) the original meat contained harmful microorganisms or the meat is processed in an environment that contains harmful microorganisms. The original USDA quotation does not mention the addition of sodium nitrite as a solution to this problem. The scientific experiment discussed at this web site evaluated the growth of Salmonella on …


Odds ‘n Sods:

I stumbled into a great Do It Yourself (DIY) blog with some very practical projects: The DIY Blog.    o o o A reader in East Tennessee wanted to put out a heads-up to anyone looking for property. It’s 88 acres with a small house, both sides of the road, ridge to ridge, lots of water. The house is tactically situated and in a good position for solar exposure, good pasture and soil. The location is three roads off the beaten path, but about an hour from the Tri-Cities area. The reader doesn’t have any financial interest in the property, …


Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“We might think of dollars as being ‘certificates of performance.’ The better I serve my fellow man, and the higher the value he places on that service, the more certificates of performance he gives me. The more certificates I earn, the greater my claim on the goods my fellow man produces. That’s the morality of the market. In order for one to have a claim on what his fellow man produces, he must first serve him.” – Dr. Walter E. Williams


“Terminator” and “Jericho”–Science Fiction as a Preparedness Motivational Tool

The new science fiction television show “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” will premiere in the US on Sunday (January 13, 2008) at 8 p.m. (and will be repeated the following evening.) Thenceforth, it will air on Mondays at 9 PM. I watched an early reviewers’ edit of the pilot episode, and I was impressed–particularly with the special effects. Oddly, I found the Terminatrix “Cameron” played by Summer Glau more captivating that the lead characters–Sarah Connor and her son John. (You may remember Summer Glau as “River Tam” from the short-lived but highly-acclaimed “Firefly” television series and its spin-off “Serenity” movie.) …


Letter Re: Thanks to Congress, Ethanol and Biofuel Mandates Cause Food Prices to Soar

Jim, You may have noted the article titled Thanks to Congress, Ethanol and Biofuel Mandates Cause Food Prices to Soar, before and I missed it. The article [by Dana Joel Gattuso a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy Research–a conservative think tank] is very interesting. I can’t vouch for the veracity of the report, or the organization, however, it doesn’t do anything to lessen my fears that any congressional involvement in the energy business only makes things worse. Here are a few scary quotes from the article: ” …ethanol requires enormous quantities of water, a valuable resource …


Letter Re: Grandpappy’s Pemmican Recipe – A Native American Indian Survival Food

Sir, I must say that I do not recommend the gentleman’s pemmican recipe. Unless he adds sodium nitrite and brines the meat, sickness can occur. From the USDA: “Salmonella not only survives drying but also becomes more heat resistant with drying and is more of an issue in non-fermented dried meats, such as jerky, and whole meat cuts, such as dried hams. Starter cultures are generally not used in the production of jerky. Microbial hazards include Salmonella, L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, and, for beef and venison jerky, E. coli O157:H7. If the product receives inadequate lethality treatment and is insufficiently …


Letter Re: Home Canning Your Garden Produce and Meat

Hello, I’ve seen several mentions of sealing home canned food with wax, most recently in the email from Troy H. My grandmother did this for jams and jellies, which she put up with enough sugar to preserve them even without canning. The wax seal was intended to keep the jam from drying out, and to stop mold from forming on the top. It would too often fail, and we would find mold growing under the wax. I suspect that it failed to seal more often than the mold grew, too! I would very strongly advise against using a wax “seal” …


Weekly Survival Real Estate Market Update

Wintertime Retreat Shopping -Part II In a recent edition of the Weekly Survival Real Estate Market Update, I covered the winter access issue relating to getting into your retreat after an event during the winter months, now let’s cover how to shop for your retreat during the winter. When traveling to shop for your retreat during the winter months there are several issues which you’ll be dealing with when your boots hit the ground. First and foremost realizing that not every listing agent can force their sellers to plow the driveway to the property will help keep you calm. Recently, …


Odds ‘n Sods:

A bit of “I told you so” for my friend Fred, who claimed that he had “missed the boat” when gold got up past $550 per ounce. I have been begging him to diversify into some silver and gold, ever since gold was around $345 per ounce. Yesterday, (Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008), spot gold spiked briefly to $895 per ounce and spot silver shot up to $16.21 per ounce. There will surely be a lot a volatility–including some scary dips–but the long term trend is almost certainly up for all of the precious metals. Buy on the dips, folks.    …




Grandpappy’s Pemmican Recipe – A Native American Indian Survival Food

2

Pemmican is a Native American Indian survival food that has a very long shelf life and it requires no refrigeration. It is similar to a Granola Bar except it contains no artificial preservatives. It is a compact energy source that contains protein, fiber, fat, carbohydrates, natural fruit sugars, vitamins, and minerals. It also tastes great because it is a simple combination of meat jerky and your favorite dried fruit. To make pemmican you only need three basic ingredients: 1. lean meat, 2. animal fat, and 3. fruit or berries. Pemmican has several very important and desirable characteristics: 1. It uses …


Letter Re: Home Canning Your Garden Produce and Meat

Howdy! I appreciate the SurvivalBlog site and loved your novel “Patriots”. Keep up the good work! Let’s assume TSHTF in a long term way. Let’s further assume you have made reasonable preparations for food, both stored food, and open pollinated seeds for future gardens. How do you store all this future food? Freezing will be iffy since the electricity may become unreliable. It only takes a few days to ruin a freezer full of meat and veggies. Drying can be effective for some, but not all foods. It’s a very time consuming to prepare the food, and it has to …


Odds ‘n Sods:

“The Other Jim R.” sent us this: Goldman Sachs sees recession in 2008. Since this recession was triggered by a global credit collapse rather than just a typical market cycle swing, the recession could be deep and long. (There is even the outside chance of it worsening into a full blown depression.) The nascent recession will also doubtless make the post-Housing Bubble period much longer and deeper. Be ready.    o o o Thanks to WW for spotting this article: Shortwave infrared: Next-generation night vision    o o o Steve in Pennsylvania flagged this BBC story: South Asia Hit With …