To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles [1], but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those — or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!
Jim Reports:
I cut one last poke of firewood, for the season. It was only about a half-cord. Propitiously, my chainsaw ran out of gas just as I was finishing the last cut on the last log. I guess that was the saw telling me that it was ready to go into storage for the winter.
I’ve been quite busy packing orders placed during our current sale on all of our Swedish Mausers at Elk Creek Company [2]. I’ve also been very busy writing descriptions of all of our new gun inventory: 10 down, and about eight to go. Thanks for your patience.
Now, Lily’s part of the report…
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
The highs this week were in the low eighties and the lows about forty-nine degrees Fahrenheit. We had several of dry boomers come through this week, but thankfully they didn’t appear to set off new forest fires. But we do have about six forest fires in our region that periodically depending on the wind direction pour smoke into our valley. That is not pleasant.
This week was all about harvesting potatoes. I have completely harvested about four rows of potatoes; Adirondack Purple, Adirondack reds, Yukon Golds (pictured), Purple Viking, and while doing so, cleared out tons of roots from the Canary grass and all of the other weeds that were growing there. I definitely had a much smaller yield than last year’s harvest. But still, perhaps enough for our family to bring us through the winter. I still have two long rows and two smaller rows to harvest. I think one of the long rows, being red Chieftan potatoes may be good. We’ll see. I may buy 100 pounds, though, just to be sure.
Henhouse was cleaned out.
I continued milking the three mama ewes. I froze two quarts of milk and made yogurt and yogurt cheese.
We went to town this week to buy mixed grains, alfalfa, kelp, and flax for our chickens and sheep. Also, of course, a few food items for us.
We took delivery of an order from Azure: frozen salmon, raisins, Einkorn flour, beef gelatin, Olive oil, and some Medjool dates.
A video on pre-1950 bushes and trees that were in yards that provided food for folks who were encouraged to be removed or eradicated by Big Ag. “Why These 20 Garden Fruits were Banned in the 1950s [3].” Please replant them on your properties.
I swam almost every day this week. The weather forecast here for this month appears to be in the very high seventies and low eighties. Definitely prolonging swimming season. I am taking advantage of it.
I finished reading the 2 books of Kings and started reading 1Chronicles.
May You All Remain Safe, Blessed, and Hidden in Christ Jesus,
– Avalanche Lily, Rawles
o o o
As always, please share and send e-mails of your own successes and hard-earned wisdom and we will post them in the “Snippets” column this coming week. We want to hear from you.