Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” – Philippians 4:4-8 (KJV)

Notes for Saturday – March 05, 2016

March 5th is the birthday of Momofuku Ando (born, 1910, died 2007) the Taiwanese-Japanese inventor of instant noodles and Cup-O-Noodles. He born in Wu Baifu, Taiwan.  His inventions have saved counted thousands of American college students from starvation.

This is also the birthday of Howard Pyle (1853-1911) an influential American book illustrator, painter, and author. He was the mentor of many great American artists including Thornton Oakley, Frank E. Schoonover, Allen Tupper True, and of course N.C. Wyeth.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 63 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value),
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul PMAG 30-rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt; (an equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package (enough for two families of four) plus seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate (a $325 retail value),
  8. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  9. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304, and
  10. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  3. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  4. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  5. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  6. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  8. Safecastle is providing a package of 10 LifeStraws (a $200 value)

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A $245 gift certificate from custom knifemaker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
  3. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading
    for Beginners     DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  8. 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).

Round 63 ends on March 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.

Community Risk Mitigation, by T.P.

I hate it when I see statements on prepping site that make assumptions of our fellow citizens that are overly broad and frequently demeaning. You know the things I’m talking about. “They assume the government will save them.” “Sheeple.” “They refuse to prepare because of their narrow mindedness.” There is certainly a small subset of people who fit that mold. Most however are of the “ignorance is bliss” variety. They simply haven’t woken up to the risk.

Prepping is simply a form of risk mitigation. It’s insurance. When my family woke up to the risk, we didn’t suddenly realize the world was going to end. We realized that the consequences of not preparing were beyond what we were willing to bear. I remember distinctly thinking about a grad-school course on finance where we discussed futures. A future buys a commodity now for set price to be delivered later. In other words the price may go up and it may go down, but you know exactly what you have is at the price you can afford. Isn’t that exactly what prepping is – risk mitigation. We’re buying supplies and learning skills now not because we’re sure we’ll need them but because living without them isn’t something we want to do should disaster strike.

Most people in the US do have blinders on, but these blinders are not usually of the willful variety. They simply do not understand the risk. Look at recent events. When the terrorist attacks in San Bernadino occurred, firearm sales nationwide spiked. This happened because many people woke up to the risk of not owning firearms and decided they couldn’t handle the potential consequences of not
owning firearms.

Similarly, the prepping industry is a growth industry over the last 15 years. Why is that? September 11th, Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy. Having seen the consequences of others living without preparing, many people decided that they didn’t want to be in that circumstance. Think about the number of blogs, food storage companies, and other businesses which support prepping that have started in the last five years.  One source estimated that in 2013 there were an estimate 3.7 million preppers in the US. Add in those who may not identify as preppers but who certainly live some of the principles–for example, the 7 million Mormons in the US–and we’re starting to talk about some serious numbers. We’re part of a growth population and part of a growth industry but we tend to view ourselves as backroom stepchildren. We’re not that at all and need to step out of our caves and help others to understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.

We as preppers need to be open minded about the blindness of our neighbors. It’s not because they’re stupid, it’s really because they are unaware of the risk. It’s obvious that we would all be better off if everyone put aside supplies for three weeks of food and water and a 72-kit / bug out bag. We should be the gentle nudge our neighbors need to take these small steps. I’m not saying we should throw open our doors and invite everyone in to inspect our homes. I’m just saying that we should take opportunities to spread the word that small preparations can make a big difference.

How can we spread the word? Here are some things I’ve done or seen done:

  • Be up front about some things when asked. When my neighbor noticed that I was making trips to the range with what was obviously a rifle bag he asked why I bought a gun. The answer: “I realized that I wasn’t prepared to be the protector in my home should I need to be.” No lecture on the second amendment, no discussion on the merits of 9mm versus .45 ACP – just pointing out that I wanted to do the right thing.
  • Next time you see a neighbor doing a project. Offer to help. By lending that tool or offering your generator for use in the backyard, you invite conversation about why you have those things. The answer: “They’re really handy… plus if I ever need power in an outage, I’m covered. We do live in tornado country after all.”
  • Reach out to your community through the organizations you serve. I am a Boy Scout leader. We are holding a Preparedness Fair for the community which will focus on 72-hour Kits. We’ll probably only get the boys neighbors and the people in the church who sponsors our troop to come. That will be 100 more people, boys included, who know why they should have these kits than before. That’s a win.
  • Along the lines of the above – volunteer in your community. There are many opportunities to help people and help them prepare at the same time. Be a Boy Scout leader or a youth leader in your church. Work in the community storehouse. You shouldn’t be surprised that the topic of preparation for economic events will come up while helping those who are suffering from economic events.
  • If there is ever a small crisis in your community. Selectively help close neighbors with food, water or supplies. Point out that you only want to help and the only thing you ask in return is that they be prepared for the next similar crisis. This is ideal because it simultaneously shows the value in being prepared while calling your friend to action.

Notice that the only case above which addressed a large audience was done through an organization. All others are personal encounters with those you know and who you think you can trust. You can be selective and sufficiently secretive to keep your operational security while at the same time helping people understand that risk mitigation is great thing.

The other benefit here is creating community. A prepper community is a group of like-minded people who plan to work together in preparing for and dealing with a crisis. Let’s be honest. How many of you have this sort of arrangement? I don’t. I know 3 or 4

Creating circles of community is a great idea for all preppers. If you think about it, we’re creating this just by living in a community. Recognizing that we are creating circles of prepping communities and helping the process along is a good thing. Think about some of these circles:

  • Your prepper group, if you have one, is the closest set of like-minded people you’re likely to meet and is at the center of your circles.
  • Your close friends and neighbors know some of what you prepare for. Share a little more with them and encourage them to be minimally prepared.
  • Your work friends probably notice that you always have water and granola bars on hand and can be counted on to know first aid. Several of my work associates have asked questions. A couple of them now come regularly with me to the range.
  • Members of your Church or volunteer organization already share the same values as you. They are an easy group to share basic principles of prepping with. This group is the most likely to understand why you prep and to think about why they should prepare as well.
  • Your fellow volunteers. That could be the coach of your kids soccer team, the dad on the scout camp out, the guy working to stock shelves at the local homeless shelter, the guy you meet at the range, or the security officer or EMT at your kids school.

These are concentric circles of associates. Some may belong to more than one group. Perhaps none of them will go into full-blown prepper mode. Let’s face it, that’s probably a good thing. We all have to live our lives now as well as prepare for and uncertain future.

If more of the people in your circles understand preparedness, they will wake up to the risk and prepare more for themselves. As they prepare, your security increases and you’ll be better prepared locally for any potential crisis.

It’s no accident that people who have lived through significant crises point out that the most important preparation is having a community. All the supplies and all the skills in the world are useless if you don’t have someone to watch your back. Even worse, the more people around you who are unprepared, the worse your situation will be.

You really can’t do it all by yourself. It’s unlikely you have six neighbors with two years of food storage, a bug out vehicle and a small armory. However, if you have six more neighbors with a bug out bag and three weeks of food and water, you’ll all be better off. The more people who understand the risk and make some preparations, the better off we all will be. You can improve the circumstance of those around you… all while improving your own.

Letter: Advice on Learning Morse Code

Dear Editor,
I have noted that the main characters in your novel Survivors use continuous wave (CW) Morse Code on occasion to stay in contact, around the globe. As a relatively new ham radio operator I am fascinated by CW Morse and have been trying to learn it for a couple years without a lot of success. Any words of wisdom or proven “best method” to learn CW especially for the over-50 age group? – J.S.

HJL Replies: There are a variety of inexpensive Morse code instruction tutor apps that will run on your smartphone or personal computer. While there are many methods of learning, I think one of the best is the “Koch” method. I’d highly recommend that you get a tutor program based on that method. Also, the skill of a straight key and a keyer do not really overlap. I really struggled to transition to a paddle keyer. It is probably easier to learn on a keyer and then shift to a straight key if you need to. For me, the straight key is intuitive, but the keyer is not.

Letter Re: Fitness for Success When the SHTF

HJL & JWR,
I am writing to give a brief comment on whether crunches or sit-ups, are important or relevant to the back.  The spine is a series of over 50 joints.  Those joints are “capsular-synovial” joints.  (just like your knee, hip, and shoulder, just smaller)  To say that a  crunch, or sit-up is good or bad is way too generic… to the point that it is irrelevant.  It is popular, often repeated, but not correct as it relates to its benefit, or detriment to the spine.  Most joint pain is intra-capsular (within the joint).  It is often a result of poor joint health, and bad “wearing” of the cartilage surface.  Generic crunches, or sit-ups won’t help, or harm the joint. 

All joints have 3-options.  Normal movement (or joint-play), hypomobility (something is hindering normal motion), or hypermobility (slip/sheer….think blister).  If a joint has degeneration (usually due to joint hypermobility) the cartilage surface is worn down.  Forcing the surface to “rub” more, by doing a crunch, or sit-up, may make it worse, but more than likely won’t do much at all.  A hypermobile joint can benefit from strengthening of muscles, but the abdominal muscles are at best, half of the solution.  There are small muscles that follow your spine joints, and look sort of like the branches of a Christmas Tree going up your back called the Multifidi.  These little muscles “literally” cross the small spine (facet or zygapophyseal) joints.  If strengthening is needed, these little muscles are what’s really important. 

Acute spine injury can be muscle related, but if it is very sharp, and one-sided (left side or right side of the spine), it is frequently a meniscoid pinch, or “entrapment”.  Both crunches and sit-ups will drive this acute injury crazy, and make you hurt for a long time. 

If the pain is starting in your back, and going down your arm or leg,   anything into significant flexion (crunch movement), or extension (back arching), will likely make the radiculopathy much worse. 

So, there’s nothing wrong with a crunch, or sit-up, if performed in a pain-free range-of-motion.  If you have an injury, and cause a “new” sharp pain with your exercise, and keep performing the exercise, then you will be worse..  If you want to stay core-strong, great.  That is good for prevention.  If you already have back pain (or shoulder, knee, ankle, finger), that is now “pathology”, or traumatized, damaged tissue.  Fitness exercise doesn’t ever fix pathological tissue. – D.W. (Physical Therapist & Athletic Trainer for 25 years)     

Economics and Investing:

Avalanche Lily (Mrs. Rawles) recommended a  great piece by economist/commentator Ann Barnhardt:  The Mark of The Beast Explained: MV = PQ, With Totalitarian Control
of V(elocity)

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G.G. flagged this:  Food Stamp Users Near Record High Despite Low Unemployment Rate

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Fresh recession will cause eurozone collapse, warns Swiss bank

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By way of Paul Caron’s TaxProf blog, we read:
The IRS is using a system that was hacked to protect victims of a hack—and it was just hacked

Items from Professor Preponomics:

US News

A Conversation with My Neighbor “Sam”(Mises) 
Bank of America Revs Up Auto Loans Business Despite Warning Signs (Reuters)

Obamacare Enters Final Stages of Collapse (Government Waste Fraud and Abuse) …and an additional article tracking Obamacare concerns as these unfold from Townhall — Catastrophe: Last Remaining Obamacare Exchanges Teetering on Total Collapse

International News

Brazil On Course for Worst Recession in Century (Yahoo News)

Gold No Longer Glitters in Canada’s Official Treasure Chest (Bloomberg)

Fresh Recession Will Cause Eurozone Collapse, Warns Swiss Bank (The Telegraph)

Schaeuble Hints Germany May Be Ready to Give Greece Some Leeway (Greek Crisis) The EU may have finally recognized that Greece is truly on the precipice and the refugee crisis may provide the push. Here’s an additional related report from the Washington Post: The Astonishing New Numbers Behind Europe’s Refugee Crisis 

Personal Economics and Household Finance

Are You Buying Too Much Car for Your Budget? (Clark Howard) Excerpt: “Simply put, people are buying too muccar for their budget. If your payments per month are too high to knock out the loan in 42 months, you’re buying more car than you can afford. Forget about those 60 month and 72 month loans that people love to do.”

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SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Odds ‘n Sods:

Virginia Governor Signs Concealed Carry Reciprocity Bill, Concealed Carriers Rejoice

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Commander Zero, the Editor of the Notes From The Bunker blog, mentioned this fascinating little collection of photos, with brief descriptions: In Heinlein’s Bomb Shelter.

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Finally, some progress on Servergate: Justice Dept. grants immunity to staffer who set up Clinton email server.  I hope that a jury puts Hitlery in prison, where she belongs. 

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Golly! I just saw that $32 will now buy you a tiny 128 GB memory stick that is USB 3.0 compatible. That is some serious Secret Agent stuff.  128 GB is the equivalent of the contents of 4,480,000 HTML web pages. Or think of it as 9 full uncompressed copies of everything in Wikipedia. By the way, I vaguely remember paying around $75 back in 2004 or 2005 for my first 64 MB flash drive that was physically five times that size. So I’d call this progress. (Oh, and if you don’t need to tote around an entire encyclopedia, and if you don’t need 3.0 compatibility, then you can now get a very compact 16 GB USB 2.0 stick from Kingston for just under $6.)  One proviso: Keep in mind that with higher component density comes more heat generation and dissipation problems. The 64 MB sticks tend to run hot, and the 128 GB sticks even hotter. For daily use, I therefore recommend using flash drives no larger than 32 GB. Your mileage may vary. – JWR

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the Lord. And Solomon brought in the things which David his father had dedicated; even the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, did he put among the treasures of the house of the Lord.” – 1 Kings 7:51 (KJV)

Notes for Friday – March 04, 2016

March 4, 1678 was the birthday of Venetian Baroque violin virtuoso and composer Antonio Vivaldi, best known for Le Quattro Stagioini (The Four Seasons). (He died in 1741.)

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The good folks at Always Empowered have announced that they are now offering a special 10% discount for SurvivalBlog readers. Just enter the discount code “prepared” at checkout.  They also now offer a clever new transportable 500-watt wind power generator called the “Tactical Turbine.”  Anyone living in a windy but cloudy region (or planning an expedition or a bugout to such a locale) should check out those turbines..

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I see that Safecastle is having a big sale on Mountain House long term storage foods, with discounts up to 39% for members of their buyer’s club, with additional gift certificates and reward point bonuses.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 63 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Tactical Self-Contained 2-Series Solar Power Generator system from Always Empowered. This compact starter power system is packaged in a wheeled O.D. green EMP-shielded Pelican hard case (a $1,700 value),
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate that is good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul PMAG 30-rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt; (an equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions),
  6. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  7. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package (enough for two families of four) plus seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate (a $325 retail value),
  8. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  9. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304, and
  10. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A transferable certificate for a two-day Ultimate Bug Out Course from Florida Firearms Training (a $400 value),
  3. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  4. A Trekker IV™ Four-Person Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $250 value),
  5. A $200 gift certificate good towards any books published by PrepperPress.com,
  6. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site, and
  8. Safecastle is providing a package of 10 LifeStraws (a $200 value)

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A $245 gift certificate from custom knifemaker Jon Kelly Designs, of Eureka, Montana,
  3. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading
    for Beginners     DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  8. 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).

Round 63 ends on March 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.

Bees and Lavender: The Perfect Symbiotic Relationship Yielding Health and Healing, by K.T.

Many survivalists have found their bit of land, and it is deeply inspiring to read online the various journeys of men and women turning those plots into small Edens, into havens of self-sufficiency, or even into comely places to make a final stand. But for those of us who will not be planning to bug-out, or who aren’t lucky enough to have an extended guerrilla skillset, it is wise, I think, to find activities or projects that are multi-faceted in their rewards.

I would like to suggest that anyone who can, consider the pairing up of two simple elements whose whole is far greater than the sum of their parts. I will share with you a richly rewarding pursuit that yields benefits for the kitchen table, the medicine cabinet, physical health, mental health, community benefits, and perhaps, in a Home Alone sort of way, even self-defense…

Honeybees and Lavender. It sounds so simple—and in many ways, it is. Keeping honeybees, of course, has its challenges, but no one can deny the numerous benefits that can come from having hives in your own backyard. Just to quickly name a few benefits of the products given straight from the bees:

  • The wonderful, silky bee’s wax is safe and kitchen grade! (Have you thought of all the ways you will need wax or other lubricants or emollients?) But there are many other uses for beeswax. One interesting use is as a perfect sealer for cheese. And you probably know that beeswax candles are different from other candles…they drip far less.
  • Propolis, the resinous stuff collected from sap flows, tree buds and other plants. Bees mix it with a little wax and use it to seal tiny spaces (a quarter inch or less). A review of the science shows that propolis (and its 300 active compounds) aids health of the the brain, pancreas, kidney and bladder, skin, prostate, breast, colon, liver, blood, and more. Propolis is also antiseptic and repels invaders like mice and snakes. Propolis: Greek, meaning “defense of the city.” It should also be mentioned that propolis has antibacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. It speeds up healing of wounds and burns and has been found to prevent or assist in healing respiratory tract, dental and gum troubles, and middle ear disorders. Many of us are not surprised that studies show this natural product is more effective than the high priced drugs used for identical purposes. Propolis eliminates some parasites and can even be used for wart removal.
  • Bee pollen is a miracle. It is richer in protein than any food. I won’t belabor the point, but consider that this little gift is an energy enhancer, has antibiotic properties, is high in B vitamins, calms psoriasis or skin problems, is high in anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, clears asthma and sinus problems, packed with digestive enzymes, corrects blood problems such as high cholesterol, and has even been found to treat difficulties with the prostrate, urination, and fertility.
  • Honey. Don’t get me started! Okay, I’m sure I don’t need to educate you on all the benefits of honey and bees, but I did want to get you a little excited.

So—next I will give you the low-down on starting your own hives. But let me take a quick side jump and tell you a key reason why some hives fail.

The bees are at the mercy of the Nectar Flow. In a perfect world, there are timely waves of nectar flowing, and the bees are dependent on wave after wave. Depending on where you live, certain plants will be flowering in March, then a new range of plants begins flowering in April as the March flowers end nectar production. Throughout the summer beekeepers are quite aware of nectar flow. Most beekeepers—all that I know—supplement their hives with sugar water or some form of sugar food. One can buy “candy” to lay atop the hive, or fondant—a soft, sugar-rich substance—which will keep the bees producing when there is no nectar flow. And—there is often no nectar flow. Even when the fruit trees are flowering, if there is insufficient rain, those flowers and the nectar they hold become almost useless as a food source for bees.

In the past few years I became concerned with the amount of purchased sugar needed to provide sugar water. Putting the cost aside (between 5-12 pounds of sugar per week to feed 4 hives during low nectar flow), I was concerned about sustainability: what will happen if I can no longer buy sugar?

Here is where the Lavender comes in.

Blue or violet is the top color choice for a bee. Lavender, borage, and marjoram, along with certain clover, are the flowers most attractive to bees. Okay, so bees like lavender—but lavender is spectacularly special in its own right.

  • We now have reliable physical research showing the remarkable health and healing properties of essential oils. And lavender is the mother of all essential oils.
  • Lavender oil has a range of healing benefits that once understood and practiced, will make a true believer out of anyone. It is the most important item for healing burns (along with vitamine, aloe, calendula, and ice). A drop on the temples can calm, steady, clarify, and focus thinking when awake, and a drop under the nose promote restful sleep. There are entire books devoted to the important medicinal qualities of lavender.
  • If you have not already added several bottles of lavender essential oil to your preps, do a little online research, print out some guidelines, and do so! Of course, everyone reading this already has a little case full of essential oils, right? At least some tea tree, and peppermint. Well, that’s another article.
  • Lavender plants will not need any type of insecticide (very bad for bees!) as it is a self-protecting plant. Rabbits and deer stay away. It is a hardy, potent plant that shares its aroma with your entire farm. Each year, the perennial plants grow bigger and stronger with a bit of pruning.
  • Lavender is a tough plant that produces lots of flowers, over-winters well, and is drought resistant. Most importantly for the bees—Lavender can flower from spring through the end of fall. The long flowering spikes are full of nectar producing buds that laugh at drought. That is, your lavender field will be nectar-producing all season long.

Lavender and Bees

My purpose of this little essay is to propose that if you are able, that you keep yourself a hive or two of honeybees. And, to ensure that they have a long, sure, steady flow of nectar—that grows larger and stronger each year, God willing—plant yourself a half acre or more of lavender. The more, the better. The honeybees flock to the lavender, which benefits from all the attention. So, not only will you have a sustainable food source, you will have two arrays of powerful medicinal substances in your own back yard.

The Lavender Field

Here are my suggestions for optimizing your success in starting a lavender field:

  1. Check your geographical location against the USDA Plant Hardiness Map. My experience is in growing (both bees and lavender) right smack dab in the middle of the country. If you are north, (hardiness zones 1-4), you may select different lavender cultivars. Obviously those who live in the more southern zones can have a bit more leeway in choosing lavender types, as the winters are not as harsh. Spanish Lavender, with its enormous flowers, is very popular in Texas. Any decent greenhouse and many online sites are dedicated to providing good information about lavender choices exactly right for your specific area. DO NOT WASTE TIME AND MONEY buying types that are incorrect for your climate zone location. Start with the proven varieties and add new “testers” each season
  2. Also, I suggest that while you DO want to buy several cultivars for variety, stick with True Lavenders (not hybrids). True lavenders (Lavandula angustifolia) are able to withstand winters better. English lavenders are a good place to start. Angustifolia varieties, which bloom either continuously or multiple times, offer a greater opportunity for bees to have a regular ‘diet’ of lavender pollen and nectar. Importantly for beekeepers, lavandin hybrids (L. x intermedia) are poorer nectar producers. So, you do NOT want to get fooled by the pretty flowers.
  3. To grow lavender, one needs soil which is ideally just slightly alkaline, has good drainage, and not too rich. The field must get at least 8 hours of sun. Long, super-hot days = Good! You will not need to fertilize. Think rocky Mediterranean poor soil…
  4. Don’t bother with lavender seeds. Plants are usually propagated from cuttings. So if you plant 20 plants, you can take 2-5 cuttings from each plant and double, triple your field quickly. I first started by buying several flats at a local greenhouse. Three-inch plants in the spring became 2-3 foot flowering mounds by the end of summer. (Actually, first I did try to propagate with seeds. I babied those little suckers like they were gold seeds–all 600 of them. They sprouted well but could not survive a transplant.)
  5. The plants like to be watered when dry but will die or mold if left sitting in water. That’s why you see the mounded rows—so the water will drain off quickly. I found that those mounded rows made for easy weeding, tilling, watering (watering is rare—when needed, mainly when young). I also mulched with wood chips in the winter, which kept the snow from getting the soil soggy.

The Honeybees

  1. Join a local Honeybee Keeper’s Association. This was the best move I could have made. Experts were there to help, and saved all us newbies from many mistakes. I discovered there are associations all over the country, and they appear to be real fine people. I have made real friends through our association, people who tend to have similar outlooks on life…
  2. A real benefit from joining an association is the availability of used equipment. New equipment is great but used equipment is much cheaper and sometimes free! At times beekeepers will need to get rid of their entire hives; for example, if they are moving or discover their spouse has an extreme bee allergy… Extracting honey can be done more efficiently using the shared resources within a club, and information about nectar flow, wintering issues, local insecticides, and other important data is shared.
  3. You can learn how to start hives through good books and from several archived SurvivalBlog articles. And you can go to online sites such as Kelly’s or Brushy Mountain, and they will send you the equipment you need right away. But I had the help of my association, so I am unable to say how easy this path would be.
  4. After a year or two, belonging to an association is less critical. I do suggest that if possible, at least 2 in your household learn about the bees, as it is great fun and much easier as well to examine the hive and do the maintenance needed with four hands. Still, there is no reason that even a solitary honey-lover can’t raise honeybees all by her or his lonesome. It is actually kind of a romantic image…
  5. Warning: Bees are amazing. Their intricacy, stunning activities, impossible feats, and general sweetness will make you believe in the Ineffable Divine. You will also pray for them, because you will fall in love with them. I could go on and on with stories and advice about bees, but you get the picture.
  6. For your library: The Hive and the Honey Bee, circa 1850, expanded regularly,
    and published by Dadant and Sons of Hamilton, Illinois. 1,300
    pages.

Lavender fields and honeybee hives will give you gifts in one season. You can start in early spring, and by fall are reaping blessings, to say nothing of the actual joy involved in the work. Both of these endeavors can, with good fortune, increase naturally year after year.

So, there it is. My little way of keeping bees happy without buying sugar: plant a lavender field. You could also plant a clover field, which will also come back strong each year (God willing). But the benefits of having the most important medicinal herb right at your doorstep—along with the $25 to $50 a quart for Lavender Honey—and the scent of Pure Well-being surrounding your little Eden. Well, need I say more?

JWR Adds: Keep in mind that lavender flowers are mildly toxic to dogs, cats, and horses. If you own horses, make sure that your horse pastures are isolated from your lavender fields!

Letter Re: Low-Carb Paleo and Primal for Preppers

Dear Editor,
Regarding the article “Low-Carb Paleo and Primal for Preppers, By T.Z.”, there are a few points of this article that should be clarified. The low-carb diet can be used to great effect, however you need to be aware that you can overdue it and cause yourself harm. Symptoms of harmful ketosis are thirstiness, feeling tired, peeing a lot, feeling sick to your stomach, belly pain, throwing up, dry or flushed skin, trouble breathing, confusion, and fruity smelling breath.  The main benefit of the ketosis diet is the lack of hunger your body feels when on the diet, making it easier to eat less. When done correctly there is no danger to your health.

The Inuit Indians of the previous century are often used as the model for the modern Paleo diet. The research shows that the Inuit consumed only meat for most of the year. The research also shows that they averaged 15-20 percent carbohydrates in the form of muscle and fat glycogen (a form of glucose), from the raw meat they consumed. The glycogen levels of seal blubber can be as high as 30% when eaten raw, immediately after the kill. Once rigor mortis sets in or the fat is cooked, the glycogen disappears and you only have fat. Protein toxicity is also a problem, if not enough fat is consumed in proportion to the protein. Protein toxicity was a problem many native people had in late winter, because the animals they relied on for food were depleted of their fat stores after a hard winter.

In the article T.Z. stated that “The only macro nutrient you need is protein”. Fat is also an essential macro nutrient that you can’t live without. There are nine essential amino acids and two fatty acids that your body cannot make on its own and need to be part of the food you eat. It is easy enough to do a web search to see which foods can supply the essential amino and fatty acids necessary to live. If you only consume protein and do not consume the proper amount of fat you will suffer from protein poisoning.

When I read the article it seems to suggest that a five-pound jar of Whey protein and some vitamins in a bugout bag, will last the average person three months.  Five pound of Whey contains roughly 9000 calories. If you are on the march you will need at least 3000 calories a day, which translates to a three day supply of energy for every five pounds of Whey protein. If someone were overweight, then consuming the Whey protein would maintain their muscle mass while they were using their stored body fat for energy. Depending on the degree of obesity and activity, five pounds of Whey could last much longer. For the five pounds of Whey to last 90 days you could only consume 25g a day, which is half the recommended daily requirement for protein. Vitamins take up very little room in a bug out bag and would be an excellent choice to include.

There is little doubt that we eat too many carbs. In my opinion the best Paleo diet that avoids both ketosis and protein poisoning, would be to consume 30% of your calories from protein, 50% from fat and 20% from carbs. Once your body uses up the carbs it will convert the protein into energy through the liver, by a process called gluconeogenesis. This is the same process that an athlete’s body employs when available carbs are depleted. Gluconeogenesis is the not the same as ketosis and ketosis is not necessary to convert protein to energy. The Inuit diet was not ketogenic and multiple researches were unable to detect any evidence of ketosis resulting from the traditional Inuit diet. My suggestion would be to use the ketosis low carb diet (less than 30g of carbs a day) until you reach your target weight and then increase your carbs until you are no longer producing ketones in your urine. You can buy urine test strips that detect the presence of ketones. Figuring out the proper diet now may change what you decide to grow and store in the future. Best Regards, – M.J.

Letter Re: Solar Power Subsidies

HJL,
The author of the article on Solar titled Cost Of Defecting From The Grid is a mistaken. It only affects people who are on the grid. It is an economic subsidy problem and should not affect prepping directly. What was happening is that the utilities were forced to buy solar energy at retail, whether they wanted it or not. If you were charged (for example) $0.15/kWh, the utility would have to pay you the same if your meter ran backward. This caused too many people to install solar systems not because they were worried about the grid going down (some don’t even have batteries to store for cloudy days or nights), but because they could finance it easily with the very low interest rates, and be guaranteed an income [and tax breaks] that would pay off the installations. They installed huge systems, more than they ever could use themselves. As I recall one provider was even selling “free” systems because they could pocket the money. But the utilities themselves had sunk costs and can only exist by making a profit on energy, e.g. their costs are $0.12/kWh to sell at $0.15. So what is ending – and many predicted this – is the huge subsidy and payment for anything you can generate over your own needs.

I have a solar power system, and my state has it so the utility doesn’t pay me for any extra, so at best I can pay nothing for the kilowatt-hours (my utility bill would just have infrastructure charges). My system is inexpensive and sized for my usage (and even portable!), but even my small system would take a decade or more to pay for itself just in utility bill savings. But the true purpose is as a backup to the grid if it goes down, not for income. So those considering a solar power system should do so to be independent of the grid, not make income from it. Also, depending on the regulations, right now electricity is very inexpensive, but it might triple if the EPA continues on its track. So a system sized for your own use might still be worth it if/when that happens, but the opposite might happen as well making it even less sense for non-emergencies. I even have a big battery charger and would use that to recharge my battery banks quickly instead of waiting for the PV panels to do the job in full sunlight. – T.Z.

Economics and Investing:

Over at The Deviant Investor: Silver Prices in Five Years?

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CBC reports: Canada sells off most of its gold reserves. (Thanks to G.G. for the link.)

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Items from Professor Preponomics:

US News

Understanding the Federal Reserve’s Shell Game (Mises)How the US Government and the HSBC Teamed Up to Hide the Truth from a Pennsylvania Couple (Liberty Blitzkrieg via Zero Hedge)
Warning: Commentary following article may contain foul language and/or inappropriate avatar images.

International News

UK Exposed to Steel Deluge as US Clamps Down on Chinese Imports (The Telegraph)

ECB Ready with New Stimulus: Bank of France Chief (Market Watch)

Argentina Tried to Fight the Financial World — and Lost Miserably (The Telegraph)

Venezuela Sees Savior in Gold as Country Fights to Avoid Default (Bloomberg)

Personal Economics and Household Finance

Forget Phishing Scams, Criminals are Now Using Your Every Day Activities to Steal from You (Clark Howard)

Excerpt: “…according to the report done by computer security company Proofpoint, scams coming through email and social media became a bigger threat than malicious software last year.”

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SurvivalBlog and its Editors are not paid investment counselors or advisers. Please see our Provisos page for details.

Odds ‘n Sods:

The new face of the patriot movement is a Kansas-raised teenager. (Thanks to loyal content contributor RBS for the link.)

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J.B.G. was the first of several blog readers to send this: Hard to find bread in shortage-stricken Venezuela  (JWR’s Comment: Why must the inevitable folly of socialist centrally-planned economies be repeated over and over?)

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Tam, over at the always entertaining and informative View From The Porch blog mentioned the clever new “Get Off Me” Tool #4 from FLC Knives. It provides a covert method of carrying a small penetrating weapon that is probably not legal in all jurisdictions. I’m quite confident that this would put the TSA’s blue-gloved goons into apoplexy in the unlikely event that they realized what they were looking at. (Do your legal due diligence, before ordering.)   This video shows a #4 Tool in use.

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Reader D.M.S. mentioned an archived 1991 article on old school food storage, over the venerable Mother Earth News:  The Fundamentals of Root Cellaring