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 you see all three?) They do breed…

 

 

 

 

4 – Months of summer (yes, we have a short but glorious growing season).

5 – Hens (Dominiques and Jersey giants are very reliable egg layers for us – almost one egg per hen per day except in the darkest and coldest weather). As free-rangers in summer, they are terrific at reducing flies and other pests as well as weeds at the base of bushes.Continue reading“Twelve Live Gifts that Keep on Giving, by Mrs. Alaska”

Editors’ Prepping Progress

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, 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:

With out-of-town travel and some visits to the ranch over Thanksgiving, I had been falling behind on my blog writing.  I generally try to keep the blog written several days in advance. So this week I did some catching up.

I laid some more linoleum tile in our little guest cabin. This time it was in the sleeping loft.  I had some tile left over, so the next day I also tiled the cabin’s smaller storage loft. That all went fairly quickly. I really like working with the new-style adhesive 6″ x 36″ tiles.  It seems much easier to keep the tiles lined up squarely and snugly with the long, rectangular tiles.

On Friday, I attended a gun show, searching for more pre-1899 cartridge gun inventory for Elk Creek Company. Check the web page for the new inventory, as I catalog it.  There are some real gems.

Now, Lily’s part of the report…Continue reading“Editors’ Prepping Progress”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.

I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?

Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.” – Psalm 34: 1-16 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Friday — December 13, 2024

On December 13, 1266, rebels that were holed up inside Kenilworth Castle surrendered after 172 days to Henry III, ending one of the longest sieges in medieval English history. Here is an excerpt from a piece at English-heritage.org:

“In the mid 1260s England was divided by civil war. Henry III, who had been on the throne since 1216, was at loggerheads with some of his leading nobles, who wanted to reform how the king governed. Their leader was the king’s brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who defeated the king’s forces at the Battle of Lewes in 1264 and captured both Henry III and his elder son, Edward. He held the king captive for 15 months before he was himself defeated and killed in August 1265 at the Battle of Evesham by Edward, who had escaped captivity.

Many of Montfort’s supporters fought on after his death, and Henry had to deal with uprisings across the country. The rebels had one key asset: Kenilworth Castle.”

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December 13th was the birthday of Sergeant Alvin York.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 116 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  5. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $250 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. A Laptop EMP Shield and a Smartphone Faraday Bag (a combined value of $200), courtesy of MobileSecSolutions.com.
  4. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $935,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 116 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

 

 

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 their protein, and are not picky. Cats are obligate carnivores, a vegetarian diet will eventually kill them. They are not dogs, who can survive on vegetables.

Cats do sometimes want fruit and vegetables, so if they want your blueberries let them have some. But never onions or chocolate, which are highly toxic to cats.Continue reading“Why A Cat Is The Most Valuable Animal on a Farm – Part 3, by W.J.”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. In this column, JWR also covers hedges, derivatives, and various obscura. This column emphasizes JWR’s “tangibles heavy” investing strategy and contrarian perspective. Today, a year-end look at the gold markets. (See the Precious Metals section.)

Precious Metals:

Market speculators did their best to push down the prices of gold and silver this week, but they failed. Spot gold seems quite resiliently holding above $2,690, and silver above $30.75, per Troy ounce.  I’m repeating my assertion that $30.50 is the new floor for silver. Any day that you can buy silver below $31 per Troy ounce is a bargain shopping day.  – JWR

o  o  o

Gold SWOT: J.P. Morgan Says Gold Is the Top Commodity to Buy in 2025.

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Here’s Why the Gold Price Responds to Uncertainty and Chaos…

o  o  o

Trump Tariffs Will Trigger Global Trade War, with Gold and Silver Set to Benefit. (Full disclosure:  Bullion Star is one of our occasional affiliate advertisers.)

Economy & Finance:

Reader Daniel K. sent this: Russia turns to bartering. JWR’s Comment: This is not a new phenomenon.  Countertrade in tangible goods has been used extensively since the late 1940s by many countries, particularly those with hard currency problems.

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The Economic Times (of India)) reports: Shocking! Researchers say over half of U.S states are going bankrupt; here’s how that is going to affect average Americans.

JWR’s Comments: It comes as no surprise that the top of the list of financially troubled states is led by spendthrift Democrat-controlled “blue” states like Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois, and Massachusetts. And, surprise, surprise, California, Rhode Island, and Blue Hawaii are all close behind them.

o  o  o

November Jobs Report: All Net Job Growth in the Past Year Has Gone to Foreign-born Workers.

o  o  o

Hershey’s faces takeover bid by rival snack giant.  JWR’s Comments: Hershey also recently announced that they were planning to move the rest of their production to Mexico.  I take particular interest in this company because my father was born in what was Hershey’s west-coast factory town: Oakdale, California.  That plant was closed in 2016.

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: Biden Regime Quietly Revokes Veterans Hiring Preference For Civil Service Jobs.

o  o  o

State’s new wage law destroys more than 6,000 jobs in fast food.

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Thursday — December 12, 2024

December 12, 1914: The largest one-day percentage drop in the history of Dow Jones Industrial Average. It was down 24.39%.

—

December 12, 1953: Chuck Yeager reached Mach 2.43 in a Bell X-1A rocket plane.

—

And on December 12, 2019, the British General Election was won by Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party in a landslide win with 80-seat majority. The Scottish National Party also won 48 of 59 seats in Scotland.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 116 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  5. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $250 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. A Laptop EMP Shield and a Smartphone Faraday Bag (a combined value of $200), courtesy of MobileSecSolutions.com.
  4. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $935,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 116 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

 

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 looks like a cross between a cinder block and a powder puff, but she does a good job hunting. However, she can’t cross the living room in a single leap, as Rascal can – over twelve feet. He looks like a flying silk scarf: an absurdly long body soaring through the air. Relative to the difference in body size, that’s about the same leaping distance as a full-grown cougar.

A long-bodied, long-legged, lean “flying” cat will chase the birds out of your garden, and out of your fruit trees too. Yes, they do kill birds. The weak, slow, and stupid ones. Cats are often accused of killing vast quantities of birds, but somehow there are always the same number of birds every year, century in and century out. Birds are an occasional treat; I did not see feathers every day. Mice are the main course.Continue reading“Why A Cat Is The Most Valuable Animal on a Farm – Part 2, by W.J.”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, a link to a Tucker Carlson interview with Sergey Lavrov.

Tucker Carlson: Russian F.M. Sergey Lavrov Speaks

Mark was the first of several readers to mention this: Exclusive: Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Describes the War With the US and How to End It.

Astronomers Discover More Dark Comets

Reader C.B. suggested this article: Astronomers discover more dark comets. Frome the opening of the article:

“The first dark comet—a celestial object that looks like an asteroid but moves through space like a comet—was reported less than two years ago. Soon after, another six were found. In a new paper, researchers announce the discovery of seven more, doubling the number of known dark comets, and find that they fall into two distinct populations: larger ones that reside in the outer solar system and smaller ones in the inner solar system, with various other traits that set them apart.”

Another Grid Collapse Strikes Cuba

Over at Zero Hedge: Total Grid Collapse Strikes Cuba (Again).

Claim: Generators Worth $45,000 Solen From Hurricane Victims

$45,000 Worth of Generators From Hurricane Helene Victims Disappear…

Update (December 12th, PM): Mitchell County North Carolina officials have denied the claim that 40 generators were stolen.

Your Household Appliances are Data Miners

Reader D.S.V. sent this: How Your Air Fryer and Other Household Appliances Became Data Miners.

Continue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

Preparedness Notes for Wednesday — December 11, 2024

On December 11, 1913, DaVinci’s “Mona Lisa” was recovered two years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum.

—

December 11, 1978: Six masked men bound 10 employees at Lufthansa cargo area at NYC Kennedy Airport and made off with $5.8 Lillion USD in cash and jewelry. All of the participants and some associates were later killed on order of the alleged organized crime mastermind. The loot was never recovered.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 116 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A Peak Refuel “Wasatch Pack” variety of 60 servings of premium freeze-dried breakfasts and dinners in individual meal pouches — a whopping 21,970 calories, all made and packaged in the USA — courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses. Their course catalog now includes their latest Survival Gunsmithing course.
  5. HSM Ammunition in Montana is providing a $250 gift certificate. The certificate can be used for any of their products.

Second Prize:

  1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
  2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  3. A Laptop EMP Shield and a Smartphone Faraday Bag (a combined value of $200), courtesy of MobileSecSolutions.com.
  4. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.
  5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of gun purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

  1. A Berkey Light water filter, courtesy of USA Berkey Filters (a $305 value),
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A $200 credit from Military Surplus LLC that can be applied to purchase and/or shipping costs for any of their in-stock merchandise, including full mil-spec ammo cans, Rothco clothing and field gear, backpacks, optics, compact solar panels, first aid kits, and more.
  4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

—

More than $935,000 worth of prizes have been awarded since we started running this contest. In 2023, we polled blog readers, asking for suggested article topics. Please refer to that poll if you haven’t yet chosen an article topic. Round 116 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how-to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

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 her intentions. She was quite the sight: a dead rattler dangling from her mouth, surrounded by a cloud of long, fluffy whipped cream and chocolate fur, with her deep cobalt blue eyes lovingly gazing at me. She looked like the most useless, luxurious thing on earth, but despite her totally sheltered life, she was all huntress.Continue reading“Why A Cat Is The Most Valuable Animal on a Farm – Part 1, by W.J.”

SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets

This weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters.

—

Peter in Washington wrote:

“A reminder that HB 2118 takes effect on July 1, 2025 in Washington State.  Here is the key part of the bill, Section 1 (3) from the final language:

No dealer may sell or otherwise transfer, or expose for sale or transfer, or have in his or her possession with intent to sell, or otherwise transfer, any ammunition without being licensed as provided in this section.

Some (including me) believe this will stop many companies from selling ammo to Washington State residents due to the compliance requirements.  Time will tell.

Assess your needs and plan/buy accordingly…  I still recommend AmmoSeek.com. I have no affiliation with them.”

o  o  o

Video from Armed Scholar: Supreme Court Decision & Remand Order Set To End Firearm Permits Nationwide!

And on the same topic: SCOTUS Conservatives Say Aloha to Hawaiian Gun Control Appeal.

JWR’s Comments:  A disagreement between two Circuit courts (a “Circuit split”), is the ideal situation to get the Supreme Court to step in, and give them a proper spanking. Hooray!

o  o  o

324 additional gun models!  Which guns are now banned in Canada? Here’s what you need to know. Here is an excerpt:

“Attached to Thursday’s expanded bans is an amnesty period to allow individuals and businesses time to turn over the prohibited weapons to police, participate in a federal buyback program or through other specified means.

Participants in the buyback program are compensated for their surrendered firearms. While it is currently only available to Canadian businesses, Public Safety says that a pathway for individual gun owners to participate is forthcoming, and that gun licensees will be notified some time next year.

Owners who lawfully possessed the firearms before the bans are protected from criminal liability for the duration of the period, which will run until Oct. 30, 2025. Additional considerations for Indigenous peoples and those who hunt for sustenance apply.”

There is a more detailed explanation in this video by a Canadian attorney: Canada Bans Hundreds More Guns And Destroys Many Shooting Sports — A Lawyer Explains.

o  o  o

Continue reading“SurvivalBlog Readers’ & Editors’ Snippets”