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:
This week I was busy packing and mailing Elk Creek Company [2] orders. I also did some cataloging of new items. One of the latest additions is a nice original Gold Rush era Wostenholm fighting knife, made in Sheffield, England [3].
I also cut some more firewood and burned some slash on two days.
I made some progress on writing a novel manuscript. (I’m now back to working of the second and third books in the Counter-Caliphate Chronicles series.)
Using a 6-foot welded-wire stock panel, I constructed a Sheep Jug, in an attempt to get one of our ewes to accept a lamb that she had been rejected by its mom. This jug is a small triangular pen in a corner of our Dairy Flock’s corral.
Now, Lily’s part of the report…
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
We had beautiful weather this week gradually warming throughout the week. Temperature highs by the end of the week in the seventies, sunshine! We had a few frost earlier in the week. We may be done with the frosts now? The pool is warming up to 64 degrees Fahrenheit. Another few days and it will be swim temperature for me. Already some hearty souls would deem it ready now! Not me, yet. The vireos are back and the Western Tanagers. I hear them singing their hearts out in the mid morning, while working outside. I also caught a glimpse of the black and white Eastern Kingbird flying up to a tree. We have both Eastern and Western Kingbirds here.
One word describes this week: “Busy”.
We moved the meat and fiber flock ram to the outdoor pen from the open barn, because he didn’t have any more buddies, left… In about three weeks we will be moving most of this year’s ram lambs in with him. But currently he is all alone, but is quite close to the rest of the flock. I have two rams, so I must keep them separated. I cleaned out that stall. Big job.
I cleaned out the hen house, the cow shed several times, the Meat and Fiber Flock shed several times, raked most of the loafing area, and worked on the Dairy flocks, pen and its island mound. We have more work to do on it.
My last pregnant ewe that I am aware of, birthed this past week. It appears that my Meat and Fiber flock ram bred her last fall. She twinned. Her first born was not white! She violently rejected him. Sheep only want to be with their own kind and color. Her second lamb was white. So, she accepted it. I brought the lamb to the other flock which are also only one dark color. They also wanted nothing to do with this baby. So I have a third Bummer. BUMMER! However, thankfully, the ewe that lambed a couple of days earlier has a great disposition and does not treat the little “Off-colored” ramling terribly. So we jugged her up with him and her ewe lamb and they are doing okay, thus far. She butts him, sometimes, but its not with the same venom his mother displayed. Also she does let him nurse often, though I just discovered on Friday that she may only have one operating teat! And this is her first time lambing! Ooof! I am supplementing him to be sure he is getting enough. The other two bummers are thriving and are quite into the slow weaning process. Probably in about three more weeks.
I’m milking the Meat and Fiber sheep flock and the cow. I am not milking any Dairy sheep yet. I made Farmhouse cheddar cheese from cow milk this week, then for the first time made Ricotta Cheese with the whey. Fun stuff! I ordered Lipase cultures to make sheep Feta cheese soon.
This week I tapped our few birch trees and drank the sap, very refreshing, and boiled it down over a campfire. I have to finish it off in the kitchen this coming week. We may have another week of sap collecting, but one tap is already cloudy, so we shall see. I tapped rather late, I think.
This week some friends from our Saturday Bible Study came over to show me how to make soap with drain lye, olive oil, and coconut oil. I used lemon and lime essential oils to scent it. Oof it is a toxic process, the lye part, anyway. We mixed the lye with the Distilled water out on the porch and that was just fine. However, later while washing the Pyrex cup we mixed it in, I got the tiniest drops of lye on my skin while washing it and it burned. Now I know what the whole process entails, I will do it by myself next time. I will then write about it soon after. My goal is to use my own ashes to make the lye and make it with that and cow tallow, maybe even sheep tallow and sheep milk. I also think it is best to do the whole thing outside with an electric socket nearby (while we still have electricity) for the blending process. Some day I will have to use a hand blender to make the soap if the power grid goes down permanently. Next time when it comes time to wash the Pyrex cup, I will submerge it in a large container of water before attempting to wash it in the sink with running water. Yes, I wore eye protection, but not gloves or long sleeves. I will do so in the future.
I harvested kale, wild dock, sorrel, and dandelion greens and stir fried with them over the campfire. Jim, Miss Violet and I, really enjoyed them. It was the first time we have eaten the wild dock. It was good.
I made more dandelion fritters. We really like them. I might make dandelion flower jelly next week.
I cut the tops to a lot of mint that was growing in the green house and dehydrated it in my dehydrator.
Next week, I will finish cleaning up the loafing yard and the Dairy sheep pen. Then I will concentrate on putting in the gardens, Lord willing.
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.