Category: Contest

Soil Chemistry Basics, by D.N.G.

I want to write about soil chemistry.  A very brief overview is as follows: I became interested in gardening when three years old and by the time I was a teenager I was putting as much (sometimes more) food on the table as my father. I had pretty much taken over the family garden and spent more time there than all of our other family members put together. Winter Squash was my number one vegetable that I enjoyed growing the most, but there were others including sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, green beans, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, watermelon, muskmelon, cucumbers and a …


Why I Still Have Dairy Cows, by SaraSue

I have been a milkmaid now three, going on four, years.  Of all the things I’ve tried on the farm, the dairy cow is one I hope to have until I am so old I can’t carry a bucket of milk.  I don’t have any cows “in milk” right now, as a planned winter break.  I have two cows pregnant with Spring calves, and one heifer (a young cow who has not yet been bred back or calved).  This is the first time I’ve taken a milking break in three years and I’m having dairy withdrawals.  I tried purchasing milk …


Prescription Drug Preparedness – Part 2, by Rural Pharmacist

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) My thoughts on the kit, it is a good grouping of valuable broad-spectrum antibiotics. I would like to store larger quantities. I think the kit could be purchased cheaper through a local Doctor/Pharmacy if available for you. A good emergency antibiotic kit should include the previous mentioned drugs; Augmentin 500mg or 875mg, Azithromycin 250mg Z-pack, Ciprofloxacin 500mg tablets, Doxycycline 100mg, and Metronidazole 500mg. I would add: Amoxicillin 500mg capsules; a broad-spectrum antibiotic, easier on the stomach than Augmentin, good for dental infections, and upper respiratory infections, pneumonia, usual dosage is 500mg 3 …


Prescription Drug Preparedness – Part 1, by Rural Pharmacist

I am a registered pharmacist licensed in both an American Redoubt state and a state in the Ozarks. I own my pharmacy in a small town in a rural area. I have had many discussions with patients about larger than normal supplies, rotating stock, ‘vacation supplies’ and various ways to accumulate a stockpile of prescription medicines. The content in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional medical advice. Having your personal pharmacist on board with your prepping list of medications, is probably the cheapest way to accumulate a stockpile. I have compared prices at …


Reloading for the 1891 Argentine Mauser – Part 6, by Tunnel Rabbit

(Continued from Part 5.  This concludes the article.) The 6.5×55 Performance Standard A modern heavy for caliber bullet that is soft in construction and has a very high ballistic coefficient is the smarter way to compensate for modest velocities. The 6.5x55mm Swedish Mauser cartridge is emblematic if not iconic for sedate velocities yet flat trajectories and spectacular accuracy at ranges that can exceed 1,400 yards. A high ballistic coefficient allows a bullet to retain its momentum and buck the wind far better than most higher powder cartridges and it does this at pressure suitable for most antique actions. Beyond 100 …


Reloading for the 1891 Argentine Mauser – Part 5, by Tunnel Rabbit

(Continued from Part 4.) Temperature Stable Powders I will use temperature stable powder in these rifles so that during summer time temperatures, my previously safe-to-shoot cartridges is not adversely affected by an increase ambient air temperature or while chambered in a hot rifle barrel. H4895, H4831, H4350, and Varget are my top choices. I engineer a wide margin of safety for powders that are not temperature stable and settle on a lesser weight charge. Accuracy can often be found at lower pressures when using lighter projectiles and at higher pressures if using heavier projectiles. Good accuracy for lighter projectiles is …


Reloading for the 1891 Argentine Mauser – Part 4, by Tunnel Rabbit

(Continued from Part 3.) In my opinion, regardless if the chambering is .300 Savage, or .308 Winchester, or .30-06, using a temperature-stable powder at charge that delivers a muzzle velocity of 2,150 fps to propel a .308 150 grain round nosed bullet designed for the .30-30 is the safest practical load I could put together and recommend if the reloader is primarily interested in safety. As an example in the extreme to illustrate that a larger case capacity is more desirable in antique actions. If it were chambered in .30-06, 35 grains of IMR3031 behind a 150-grain round nosed bullet …


Reloading for the 1891 Argentine Mauser – Part 3, by Tunnel Rabbit

(Continued from Part 2.) Sizing the Brass to the Chamber Assuming we have had a gunsmith evaluate the rifle, we should also fit the case to the chamber by backing out the die a full turn so that the shoulder of the case might be more than 1 to 2 thousandths of an inch longer. This process will compensate for the generous head spacing that exists in military actions coupled with the original military barrel, and remove any remaining and unneeded head space variance out of a re-barreled action. Accuracy might also be improved. The bolt should not close without …


Reloading for the 1891 Argentine Mauser – Part 2, by Tunnel Rabbit

(Continued from Part 1.) Pressure Limits, PSI, CIP, and CUP How many PSI are in a CUP? And to continue the absurdity, how many CIP’s of PSI are in a CUP? Could we be more baffled and confused? Yes! And this is all the comedic relief we can expect. To include CIP into our calculus is unnecessary, yet it is mentioned only to note that it is a competing metric used in European manuals and can be a source of additional confusion. Some of the false assumptions about the pressure limits of the Swedish Mauser may lie in the inaccurate …


Reloading for the 1891 Argentine Mauser – Part 1, by Tunnel Rabbit

Remember that 1983 movie, A Christmas Story? It beautifully recreated a classic scene that captured the wonder and magic of Christmas, the anticipation and excitement of Santa’s arrival and the delivery of that Red Rider BB gun. In my case, the rifle most recently delivered by Santa was not a Red Rider BB gun, but something just as wonderful, yet better suited to an old man who is beginning to reminisce, something that is perfectly suited for the old man, but you could not know that until you had it in your hands. To my surprise, the fit and finish, …


Staying Sane and Happy in Isolation, by M.J.E.

When an October snowstorm brought down leaf-covered tree branches all over the city and onto the power lines, we were without electricity for nearly two weeks, and took in our friends who had neither a wood burning fireplace nor gas appliances. During the pandemic, lockdowns found people all over the world sheltering in their homes in isolation. In the dead of winter, with feet of snow on the ground, getting out of an isolated cabin can be not only dangerous, but sometimes impossible. Since we all prep, we have food and water and heat, our people are fed and the …


Twelve Live Gifts that Keep on Giving, by Mrs. Alaska

In the spirit of the season, I offer a “Twelve Days of Christmas” list of LIVE gifts that keep on giving to us here, at a remote homestead in Alaska. 1- Gallon of red wiggler worms, divided among my food gardens. They eat the kitchen scraps I toss there and rapidly improve the soil. 2 – Years’ worth of seeds (many degrade after that: check with a float/sink test each year). 3 – Rabbits (1 buck and 2 does). They can be mated at about five months and over the year, fill our larder. (In the photo at left, can …


Why A Cat Is The Most Valuable Animal on a Farm – Part 3, by W.J.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) HOW TO MAINTAIN AN OUTDOOR CAT COLONY If you want cats to be attracted to your home or homestead, and to stay around, you need to give them food, water and shelter, and teach them that people are a good thing. And you need to encourage good traits and prevent inbreeding. Food: I did not give my outdoor colony cats the Farmina Prime lamb kibble, imported from Italy, that my indoor fur family gets. But they get decent stuff, as well as leftovers, bones, and oddly enough, wheat germ muffins. They want …


Why A Cat Is The Most Valuable Animal on a Farm – Part 2, by W.J.

(Continued from Part 1.) Mayoclinic.org has good information on hantavirus, and preventive rodent control (they do not address natural predators). They advise not keeping mice or rats as pets, unless they are tested, and then totally quarantined HOW TO CHOOSE A CAT OR KITTEN PHYSICAL ChARACTERISTICS The longer and leaner the cat is, the better. The more it looks like a cheetah the faster it will be, the higher it can jump, and the better it can hunt. While even a chunky hunk of a cat may be a good hunter, it is fighting against its body type. My Joyful …


Why A Cat Is The Most Valuable Animal on a Farm – Part 1, by W.J.

My original title for this article was: Would You Like A Rattlesnake With Your Coffee? Or, Why A Cat Is The Most Valuable Animal on a Farm. (That was a bit long-winded.) I was sitting peacefully in a recliner, sipping my morning coffee, when my beautiful cat, Rosita, jumped up onto the chair next to me. She wanted to offer me a treat to go with my coffee. A nice, tasty rattlesnake. Fortunately, she had already killed it. She held it up to me, hoping I would like it. What I liked was that it was dead, but I appreciated …