Growing Potatoes From True Potato Seeds, by ShepherdFarmerGeek

Take a quick look at this clever video (1:47) describing the advantages of growing potatoes from potato seed. Advantages of Growing Potatoes From Seed Using traditional cross-breeding techniques, a company in the Netherlands named Solynta (So-lynn’-ta) has developed a line of potatoes that reliably produce “true potato seed” (“TPS”). Most potato seeds have a lot of genetic diversity, which is not a bad thing for home gardeners. They produce potatoes with varying sizes and colors, so they’re unsuitable for commercial production. Less than one ounce of their seed can be planted in place of 5,500 pounds of “seed tuber” potatoes …


Letter: Earthbag Shelter

Regarding the Odds ‘n Sods entry last month: Owen Geiger has several earthbag shelter designs that are inexpensive but labor intensive and that are an option for radiation protection. Examples Earthbag Survival Shelter September 20, 2010 by Owen Geiger [I would like to see this design in an above ground configuration.] Triple Dome Survival Shelter April 12, 2011 by Owen Geiger Mother Earth News Earthbag Dome July 15, 2009 by Owen Geiger Step-By-Step Earthbag Building [YouTube Video Play list] Earthbag Natural Building, Last updated on Jul 1, 2014 http://www.earthbagstructures.com/basics/basics.htm



USMC Mountain Survival Course- Part 5, by E.T.

Casualty Exercise A few hours later, after dawn, we began our death march back to the USMC Mountain Survival Course base. To add excitement to our return, the instructors gave us several “casualties” that had to be carried out. We cut poles and ran them through our buttoned blouse sleeves to make stretchers. We soon realized that even with the casualty holding on, they would need to be tied onto the litter. As we carried it over rocks and up and down inclines, they would slide around and fall out. We almost made them into a real casualty several times. …


Letter Re: Excessive OPSEC

JWR, A good friend of mine recently died unexpectedly from a massive heart attack and had excessive OPSEC. Let’s just say he was prepared for the Zombie Apocalypse but not prepared to die. He kept much of his information to himself, including the combinations to his gun safes, hidden keys, and buried caches among other things. This has created huge problems for his surviving family members. Since none of us are immune from death, proper planning should include passing on critical information in a secure manner. – JEH


USMC Mountain Survival Course- Part 4, by E.T.

Phase 3 – Group Survival (continued) Relocation and Warmth We had been in the field on our USMC Mountain Survival Course for four days in Phase 1 and five days for Phase 2. Phase 3 was just beginning. We had taken in roughly 1500 calories over nine days. After everyone had arrived from our isolation locations, the group went for a hump. We moved about five klicks up and down a couple of mountains and posed at the top in some snow for a couple group pictures. Then we humped back down into a large, mostly barren valley, which had …


USMC Mountain Survival Course- Part 3, by E.T.

Second Phase – Individual Survival in the USMC Mountain Survival Course (continued) I was on the third day of my individual isolation survival of the USMC Mountain Survival course. By mid-afternoon I had improved my fuel (wood) situation, improved my shelter and signaling for rescue, and boiled enough water to fill my plastic bladder and two Nalgene bottles. So I went scrounging for food. Food for Day Three I was five yards from a small running stream that provided just enough running water to scoop some out with a metal cup. Another 50 yards downhill from my shelter, the stream …


USMC Mountain Survival Course- Part 2, by E.T.

Rabbits On the evening of the first night of being in the instructional phase of our USMC Mountain Survival Course, we were handed a pet shop rabbit. The Marine Corps had bought a batch of larger farm raised rabbits, only to find out they carried the nasty Tularemia (rabbit fever). They discovered the disease after looking at the first rabbit’s liver, which was spotted white/yellow and/or swollen. They weren’t willing to accept the risk of disease transmission. So, they searched all the nearby pet shops and bought up all the pet bunnies they could find. Those bunnies were small and …


USMC Mountain Survival Course- Part 1, by E.T.

Preparations For Mountain Survival I spent June of 2014 in Bridgeport, California at the USMC’s School of Mountain Warfare undergoing the grand reopening of their Mountain Survival Course. Over the span of 13 days, I lost 31 pounds while in training. Here’s my story and lessons learned. I left an elevation of 3,300 feet in the mountains of North Carolina for Bridgeport, which is at 6,500 feet. The first morning we ran our PFT with less than 12 hours of acclimation to the new elevation. We were required to score a First Class PFT before continuing the course. We had …


Essential Communications on a Budget, by TCM

Communications within a survival group and with the surrounding area is not just important; it can be a matter of life and death. The lack of communications taken to the extreme can be illustrated by imagining yourself with your eyes and ears covered. Now, try to defend yourself and your family. We all know it is not possible. Being without, at least, basic communications is almost that dangerous. I’m not suggesting that you should blow your entire prepper budget on high dollar electronics. There is a low-cost, but effective solution. This article will offer some practical solutions for emergency communications, …


Recipe of the Week: Pizza Pasta, by Georgia Girl

Georgia’s Girl’s Pizza Pasta Ingredients: 3 c. hot water 14 oz. jar of pizza sauce, using a little water with lid on to rinse out the last remaining sauce and add to pot 2 (4 oz) cans mushrooms, drained 2 1/4 c. pasta, such as elbows, spiral, etc. (Mueller’s brand only) Add-ins, such as pepperoni, ground beef, onions, basil, Mrs. Dash, or other herbs and spices you prefer and Mozzarella cheese for topping, shredded is best


Homestead and Financial Ledger Books- Part 2, by S.T.

We have been looking at the use and benefit of Homestead Ledger Books. In Part 1, we looked at documenting activities, items harvested, canned or dried, and items sold or orders received. We have looked at a possible scenario from January through September and left off at September after participating in the farmer’s market. Furthermore, let’s look at what activities we might record in our ledger for October. October In October, the family could take time to plan out the next year’s garden and locate free buckets. The buckets that could be used to expand the garden output by growing …


Homestead and Financial Ledger Books- Part 1, by S.T.

Looking back in time, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and the other founding fathers of the United States all maintained Homestead and Financial Ledger Books of one kind or another. Some, like George Washington, had one for each of his businesses (grist mill, whiskey, et cetera). With the advent of computers and the move to city life, these ledgers have gone out of fashion. But they remain an important tool, and it is to sad that families do not use them anymore. We would spend less on unneeded items if more of these were used. What Are Homestead Ledgers? Benjamin Franklin …


Basic Rifle Marksmanship- Part 1, by Mark Bunch

For most of my life I have been a rifle shooter, competitor, and instructor. I have also carried a rifle in combat when people I didn’t know shot at me. I know a fair amount about the subject and would like to share some of the things I have learned about basic rifle marksmanship along the way. A man or woman with a quality rifle and the training to use it is a formidable combination indeed. What are you going to use it for? Just as with handguns, a prospective buyer needs to know what he/she is going to use …


New Frontier Compact, by X. Liberal

Dear Readers, This is a Compact I wrote for a ficticious people in a ficticious land and at a time of world calamity. It is not based upon any Constitution of political significance of today, unless otherwise noted. I’m anxious to obtain feedback. If you were going to ratify this, what changes would be needed from your perspective? I will also not have time to reply to feedback but will gather all into account. Of course, if the balloon goes up today, this might come in handy real soon. Thanks and God Bless! – X. Liberal PREAMBLE We, the peoples of …