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:
I was able to get all but one of my slash piles burned, early in the week. Sequentially untarping and igniting them, and then tending all of those fires occupied my time from 6:30 AM until 4:30 PM. This was a tiring, but gratifying day. Other than mounting snow tires, this was the last major hurdle to clear, in our preparedness for winter. The last slash pile consists of some green bows from a pine tree that looked diseased. I cut that down just three weeks ago. That pile may have to wait until next spring. I have the pile tarped, so it should be easy to touch off — either late this fall, or just after the snow recedes, next spring.
On Wednesday, I slaughtered and butchered nine chickens. Then on Thursday, I did in another six of them. These were our notorious Eag Eaters. As usual, I slaughtered, beheaded, de-winged, de-legged, gutted, and skinned the birds. Then they were carried into the house, where Lily did the final cleanup, at the kitchen sink. We have already raised a younger flock that will soon be laying eggs, so it was definitely time for the older flock to head to the freezer.
Now, Lily’s report…