Odds ‘n Sods:

Trent sent this New York Times article: Push to Eat Local Food is Hampered by Shortage

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I just heard about a small company in Georgia that was founded by a retired USAF Tech Sergeant: Survival Solar Systems.

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A learning point (and OPSEC illustration) for SurvivalBlog readers: Militia group suspects charged with conspiracy. Don’t associate with mad bombers and radical “lunatic fringe” types! They are bad news and bound to suck a lot of innocents into trouble! Rest assured that there are a lot of good and honorable militias out there, but the Hutarees are not one of them.

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Damon sent this one: Scientists stumped as bee population declines further

Notes from JWR:

I just heard from SurvivalBlog reader Tom G. (who is presently deployed in Afghanistan) that a collection of my quotations is now available on Wikipedia’s “Wikiquotes”.

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Today we present another entry for Round 27 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be 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 between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 value.), and D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Luger, 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo. This is a $249 value.

Second Prize: A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $350.

Third Prize: A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing.

Round 27 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Stealth Edible Landscaping With Unusual Berries, by K.W.

Want to eat a wolfberry? How about some vaccinium jam? Some chokeberry wine? They don’t sound too appetizing, do they? Few people know it, but the fruits of these plants are not only edible, but delicious. They have unappealing names and don’t look familiar to most Americans, so if you incorporate them into your landscaping you will have a supply of fresh, nutritious fruit that your neighbors won’t recognize as food. This makes them ideal for people who must shelter in place in a small-town or suburban environment, where houses are close together and others can see what you have in your yard. In a worst-case scenario your vegetable garden may be raided and your apple tree might be picked clean, but the ravenous hordes will leave these fruits behind, assuming they are poisonous simply because they are unfamiliar.

Not everyone has a rural retreat with a spacious piece of land, so these berry bushes have the advantage of being relatively small and easy to fit into an ordinary yard. They all feature pretty flowers, shiny leaves, or other ornamental features that help them hide in plain sight, even in the most landscaped and manicured neighborhood.

All of these berries are sour, like cranberries, and like cranberries they become delicious once cooked or dried with sweetener. Their sourness comes from their high content of vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E, and other nutrients. Most of them have more vitamin C than the same weight of oranges. These berries will not sustain life in the same way that grains and beans will, but they will provide a refreshing change of pace and will help keep your family healthy during a crisis.

These plants will grow over a wide portion of the United States; some will even grow in Canada. If a plant is not native to your area, you can still grow it if you can provide the temperature range, soil type, and moisture level that it requires. Each plant will grow in specific “Zones” of temperatures described by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. To determine what zone you live in and what you can grow, see the USDA’s climate zone map.

Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)

This pretty little shrub is a member of the Rose family. In spring, it’s covered with large white flower clusters that shine among its glossy, dark-green leaves. Later, the flowers develop into purple-black berries. The berries are quite sour, but with sweetening they can be used to make delicious jelly, juice, and even wine. They are nutritional powerhouses, extremely high in antioxidants and other healthful nutrients.

Aronia is native to the northeastern half of the United States and southeastern Canada, and will grow in Zones 3-8. It prefers moist, rich soil and full sunlight, but will grow in drier locations and part shade; it may not produce as many berries in these locations.

Although this plant is a North American native, it has become popular in Europe, where it is used to make juice and wine. Several European varieties have been cultivated to produce larger, sweeter fruit; these varieties include “Viking” and “Nero.” An American variety is called “Morton” or “Iroquois Beauty.”

Two recipes for aronia jam appear on the web site of Raintree Nursery, which also sells the plants.

Seaberry (Sea Buckthorn; Hipphophae rhamnoides)

This is a vigorous bush or small tree that produces masses of vivid orange berries. The berries, which have a bright citrus-like taste to go with their bright orange color, are filled with vitamin A, C, E, and omega-3 fatty acids. During the Cold War, they were used in East Germany as a substitute for orange juice, and the plant is still widely cultivated in the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe.

Seaberry thrives in dry, sandy soil and full sun, and does not do well when shaded by other trees. It can grow in Zones 3-7. In order to produce fruit, you must plant at least two plants, one male and one female; male plants do not produce fruit, but feature brownish clusters of flowers. One male can pollinate up to eight female plants.

Seaberry is extremely thorny, so it can be used to create intruder-repelling hedges. Once established, the seaberry plant sends up vigorous shoots that will make a hedge even thicker and more impenetrable. The thorns make picking the berries somewhat difficult; one way around this is to cut off berry-filled branches and freeze them. Once frozen, the berries can easily be shaken off and used for juice or jam. When you extract juice from the berries, if you let the liquid settle it will separate into three layers: a creamy layer on top, oil in the middle, and juice and sediment on the bottom. Strain the juice through a coffee filter to remove the sediment and mix it with 6 parts water to one part juice, sweetened to taste.

A recipe for seaberry jelly appears on this web site.

For a recipe for seaberry schnapps, a drink that’s popular in Europe, go to this web site.

Lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)

This unassuming plant only grows to about 8 inches high, and it makes a beautiful edible ground cover. It is evergreen, holding its shiny, deep green leaves all year. It prefers shaded, moist, acidic soil, and will grow in Zones 2-8, although it doesn’t do well in long, hot summers. It produces its crop of tangy, cranberry-like berries in the fall.

Lingonberry is native to the northern parts of Europe and North America and is closely related to cranberries and blueberries; it shares their refreshing tartness, and can be used just like cranberries, using the same recipes, to make a delicious sauce. It can also be used in muffins or to make jam. The berries are high in Vitamin C and Vitamin A, and the seeds contain omega-3 fatty acids.

Goji (Wolfberry, Chinese Matrimony Vine; Lycium Barbarum)
Goji or wolfberry, is native to China, and has been used in Chinese medicine for centuries. In recent years, the dried berries have become available at health food stores, at very high prices. Goji is a bushy vine, or viney bush, that can grow to 12 feet high and 8 feet wide; pruning will make it more of a bush than a vine. Goji has beautiful light-purple flowers that eventually become bright-red berries, which hang among the leaves like little coral earrings. The berries, which can be eaten fresh or dried, have a sweet/sour, tangy taste that is somewhat like a mix of plum, tomato, carrot, raspberry, and other flavors.

Goji is relatively trouble-free to grow and does not mind poor soil or fairly cold winters, growing in Zones 5-9. It prefers a sunny location but will grow in light shade.

You can order goji plants from nurseries, but you can also grow your own plants from seed using the dried berries. The pulp of the berries has a chemical in it that prevents the seed from sprouting, so first soak the berries in water for a couple of days. When they’re soft and mushy, carefully cut them open and scrape out the seeds. Put the seeds in a very fine strainer, like a tea strainer, and wash off all the pulp until the seeds are clean. Let them dry on a coffee filter or paper towel. Once they’re dry, you can plant them by putting them on top of the soil in a prepared pot and then lightly sprinkling a thin layer of soil over them. Keep the soil moist and when they sprout, place them in the sun or under a bright fluorescent light bulb. When the plants are a few inches high, you can transplant them outside.

Here is a recipe for goji berry rice pudding.

Evergreen Huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum)

Evergreen huckleberry is native to the western half of North America, growing from Alaska to California, but it can be grown in other parts of the country as well. The berries, which ripen in late fall, are similar to blueberries and can be dried, made into jam, juice, or pancake sauce, or cooked into delicious pies.

Because this bush keeps its glossy, dark-green leaves all year (except in the colder parts of its range), it’s an excellent landscaping bush for plantings around a home. In spring it’s covered in small white flowers. Evergreen huckleberry likes well-drained, acid soil and is one of the few fruits that actually thrives in shade. In shade, it can grow up to 6 feet high, whereas in sun it will only grow to about 3 feet high. It will grow in Zones 4-8.

Huckleberry can be used in any recipe for blueberries, but here is a recipe for huckleberry jam.

Black Elderberry (Sambucus nigra)

Black elderberry is an attractive, vigorous bush with feathery leaves; it can grow up to 12 feet high in a graceful fountain shape. The flowers are large, flat clusters, similar to Queen Anne’s Lace, making the bush very pretty when they appear in June. The flowers are edible; dipped into batter and then fried, they make delicious fritters. If left on the bush, the flowers will eventually develop into clusters of BB-sized purple-black berries that hang down heavily when they ripen in September or October.

The berries are tiny and very tedious to pick one at a time, so to speed things up, it’s best to pick the entire berry cluster, take it home, and then relax at the kitchen table while you “comb” the berries off their stems with a fork. Don’t wear clothes you care about because they will become stained with purple. Elderberry likes to grow in moist, well-drained, sunny locations, and will grow in Zones 3-10.

Elderberry fruit doesn’t taste very good fresh, and it gives many people a stomachache, but when the berries are cooked and the seeds strained out, they makes excellent syrup and jelly. Some people also make elderberry pie, leaving the berries whole; the pie is mildly crunchy from all the small seeds.

Elderberry syrup is said to help the immune system fight off viruses by preventing viruses from attaching to cell walls in the body. It’s also an excellent source of Vitamin C. Health food stores sell elderberry syrup, but it’s much more cost-effective to make your own.

One caution about elderberry: all parts of the bush except the flowers and the ripe fruit are poisonous. For safety, eat only the flowers and the fully ripe, cooked fruit. Do not eat “red” elderberry varieties, as they are poisonous. Only black varieties are safely edible.

A recipe for elderberry jelly appears on this web site.
If you make the recipe without the pectin, what you have is elderberry syrup; it will keep, once canned, for a long time.

This web site has recipes for elderflower fritters, elderflower juice drink, and elderberry soap.

Currants and Gooseberries (Ribes family species)

The plants in the Ribes family include currants, gooseberries, and jostaberries (a cross between the two). They all have juicy, tangy fruit that makes excellent juice, wine, and pies; black currant has a particularly rich, musky flavor. They grow in moist, well-drained soil, and unlike many fruiting plants, they enjoy shade and do very well when planted along the shaded north side of a house. In addition, gooseberries tend to be very thorny, so they can be an excellent intruder-repellent when planted under a ground-floor window.

These fruits are widely used in Europe, but are unfamiliar to most Americans because their cultivation was outlawed in the United States for most of the 20th century. This was because currants are a host for a virus that attacks white pine trees and other pines that bear their needles in clusters of five; they were banned to prevent the destruction of valuable timber. The federal law has since been repealed, but several states still prohibit growing these fruits. However, in many cases even these states will allow people to plant varieties of black currant that are resistant to the virus. These varieties include “Consort,” “Titania,” “Crusader,” and “Coronet” black currants. There are no resistant varieties of red currants, gooseberries, or jostaberries, so if you’re concerned about the laws or if you have pines growing in your area, check with your local agricultural extension office before planting them.

This web site has seven pages of recipes using currants.

Where to Get Unusual Berries and Learn How to Grow Them

The following nurseries, as well as many others, sell some, or all, of these plants:

Miller Nurseries
St. Lawrence Nurseries
Raintree Nursery
One Green World
Gurney’s Seed and Nursery

Nurseries will generally provide detailed growing information, but you can also find information at the following sites:

Aronia

Seaberry

Lingonberry

Goji

Evergreen Huckleberry

Elderberry

Currants and Gooseberries

Conclusion

The recipes given here are only a tiny sample of what’s available on the internet. If you grow any of these plants, take time to find and print out the recipes you like so you will have them when you need them.

All of these plants have many varieties that have been bred for different characteristics. Some varieties may have larger or sweeter fruit, may have larger or smaller growth, may ripen earlier or later, or may be adapted to unusual climates or specific soils. It’s best to check with several nurseries to see what varieties are available before buying a particular plant, because through research, you may find one that will be especially strong and productive in your area. If you live in a very cold or very warm zone, nurseries that are located within your zone are your best bet for finding plants that are especially adapted to your conditions.

Letter Re: Advice on Pre-1899 Revolvers for Self Defense

Dear James Wesley,
I thought that it was about time you mentioned Webley revolvers and their variants in your blog, and was pleased to see you’re recommendation in last week’s content. I am a long time prepper, mostly through accident of geography, my family and neighbors have a unique support system and find your blog quite useful. I spent just shy of a decade in and around West Africa, and a year in Israel, which is where I first became familiar with Webleys. The British mandate left behind a wealth of practical firearms for their newly independent allies, some of which was intentional and some reallocated. The reallocation of scarce resources has been an Israeli mainstay for close to three quarters of a century and the maintenance of those resources has been an ongoing occupation. Webleys and Enfield’s became an interest and then a passion, at the time, due to the availability and durability of both. Being a machinist, anything mechanical was of interest, but Webleys in their many iterations became first a hobby, then through need and availability, a viable avocation. Through that association I have become, first, a fair to middlin’ Webley gunsmith, then an appraiser of Large and Small Bore British Military Revolvers dating from the 1880s to the mid 1940s.

The Marks I and II that you mentioned, which date from 1887 and 1894 respectively, do indeed fall into the category of antique firearms and require no ATF paperwork, but you should also take into consideration the Mark III, which is an updated Mk II with improved lock work, dating from 1897, and is a sturdier than either the MK I or II. All three of these marks were originally designed for use with black powder/cordite but are of sufficient strength to withstand a certain amount of use with modern smokeless powders as long as you don’t go over the 700 fps mark. Accuracy suffers in the Webley when you use full metal jacket ammunition, especially .45 ACP cartridges held in full or half moon clips, due to the shallow rifling in the 4 inch barrels. The original 265 grain soft lead bullet was of conical configuration and left the barrel at about 650 fps, I have found that hand loading your cartridges is the best way to recapture that accuracy, using an available 250 grain .45 caliber soft lead bullet of at least .454 diameter (intended for Long Colt revolvers) and with a velocity of between 650 and 700 fps. You will want to use either a .455 caliber sizing die, if you can find one, or a .45 Long Colt sizing which is commonly used. For cut down .455 cylinders, (re-worked for use with .45 ACP cartridges in full or half moon clips), you can use .45 Auto Rim cases sized in the .455 sizing die.

I would appreciate you not giving out my name or contact information, but can be reached through my property manager if you have any questions or need any more information about British revolvers. Sorry if I got long winded, but I’ve been waiting you to discuss Webley revolvers and wanted to get this information to you when I was at a computer.

Take Care, our thoughts and prayers go out to you over your recent loss. – The Hebrew Hobbit

Odds ‘n Sods:

Martin S. wrote to mention that he found some videotaped lectures from the University of California on Home Vegetable to be interesting.

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Grasshopper outlook strikes fear on Western range (Thanks to Jeff B. for the link.)

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SurvivalBlog’s Editor At Large Michael Z. Williamson sent us this You Tube clip: So Useless, It’s Awesome! Mike’s comment: “Tautological running”!

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There is an interesting post over at Leon Pantenburg’s site on survival knives.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that’s it.” – Marko the Munchkin Wrangler, in his blog essay “Why the Gun is Civilization.”

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 27 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be 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 between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 value.), and D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Luger, 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo. This is a $249 value.

Second Prize: A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $350.

Third Prize: A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing.

Round 27 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

A Personal Journey in Preparedness, by Mountain Man

I’m fairly new to SurvivalBlog but now it’s an every day read. I wanted to write and share my own journey of preparedness with you and your readers. After living with three and a half million people for about 22 years, a move to the country was long over due. I made the decision to get out of the city back in 1999, when I starting to take things a bit more seriously with all of the talk about Y2K. I was really hoping that something would have happened back then so I could test my skills at being prepared for it. I fear that those skills will be tested in the not too distant future none-the-less. Like you, I grew up in the age of bomb shelters and the threat of nuclear attack. My father was a member of the Civil Defense and I remember a small book that he gave me that showed how to build a fallout shelter in your basement. I always wished he would have done that but it never happened. What a great little fort that would have made for me and my brother, more on that later.

Anyway, I have wanted to live in the mountains since I was 12 years old so I headed out to the Rockies in search of a good bug out spot. I found just the right spot out in the middle of nowhere, 36 acres off a dirt road with the nearest Wal-Mart on the other side of the mountain range. It took another 5 or 6 years to actually be able to make the move. I was fortunate enough to start dating a like minded gal before the move and the minute we started talking about bug out bags and storing food, I knew I found myself a winner. We sold most of my furniture and put my home up for sale and were finally able to make the big move to our retreat property and start getting things situated.

Since we settled down we have been able to stock up on about two years worth of food, medical supplies, gasoline and diesel etc. To date we’ve put up about a ½ ton of wheat and a ½ a ton of corn, beans and rice. More than enough for us and enough to share with those that haven’t or couldn’t do it on their own. I love making things from scratch, so owning a welding and fabricating business has been a huge blessing as we are able to make most anything right here in the shop. And those things don’t necessarily have to be made from metal. We’ve been able to fabricate everything from a well water retrieval bucket made of pvc to our own colloidal silver generator to our bio diesel processing set-up. We converted an old exercise bike into a pedal powered grain grinder and I’ve made a lead melting pot so we can pour our own ammo and start loading it once we set up a loader. We have made a solar oven, solar air heaters for the roof of the shop and will be putting together a solar hot water heater real soon.

The shop has a small lathe, mill, drill press, cutting torch set up, MIG, TIG, Arc, and Plasma machines with two generators, sheet metal bender, notcher, roller, English Wheel and a ton of various hand tools. The hand tools will be a real important part of the operation when there is no more power from the grid and the gas for the generators runs out. We’ll be putting together a Faraday shielded box for some of our electronics in case of an EMP. In this box we will store a spare computer set up, radios, walkie talkies and anything with a circuit board that we don’t want to do without. Granted, the Internet may become a thing of the past but we have a lot of valuable information stored on hard drives and discs, we’re talking thousands of pages of info, and if we have a working computer, then we can access that info when needed.

Speaking of information, our survival library is currently at over 75 books, so at least some of our information is accessible without a computer. A few of the books and magazines that I would personally recommend would be “Dare To Prepare” by Holly Deyo, “The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It” by John Seymour, The Foxfire Book Series and The Mother Earth News magazine.

Every library should have books on gardening, first aid, holistic medicines and any skills that you might consider learning. It could be hunting or fishing or re-loading ammo or carpentry, canning, raising livestock or whatever peaks your interest. ‘Never stop learning’ is a good motto to hold on to. We try to learn something new every day. And this blog is a great way to do that.

We’ve been able to put in a huge garden, two greenhouses and I take a deer right off the land each year to put in the freezer. Moving here really has been a dream come true. Many of our friends here in the mountains feel the same way as we do about what the future holds and it amazes us as to how many people are getting ready for what’s to come. And yet we only discuss it with a select few from our church.

We have always felt that this was our bug out retreat since we left the hordes, but lately we’ve been wondering what we would do if we had to bug out of here. So, as soon as the ground thaws this spring, we start the next big project, an underground bunker. Dug into the side of our mountain, it will be made out of cinder blocks with the roof made out of ½” thick channel iron, since we just happen to have a bunch of that laying around. Then the entire thing will be buried under about 2 or 3’ of soil and will have two steel doors and even a periscope that I’ve made out of two 90-degree fittings and a couple of mirrors that we found at the hobby store. That way we will at least have a small view of the outside world if we have to hunker down for an extended period of time. Our biggest problem will be concealing everything with the proper camouflage, the tube that the periscope will be housed in, a solar panel to help keep the battery charged, a wire antenna for a radio and one of the steel doors will all be outside of the shelter. I‘m enjoying the other posts on this site of other shelters and would like to see more folks write in with their ideas. There are some pretty talented folks on this site.

My father has been a Ham for as long as I can remember and before too long I will be getting my Ham radio license and that will be another big asset for this whole effort. We’ll even try to install a transceiver in the shelter so we can keep in touch with the outside world.

I’ve read quite a bit on this site about obtaining skills for when TSHTF and couldn’t agree more. One of the first things I did when we got settled in was to join the local Search & Rescue team and Volunteer fire dept. and not long ago I got involved in a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). The training that I’ve received from each of these has been invaluable. Skills like wilderness first aid, CPR, rock climbing, rope rescue techniques, evacuation, firefighting, use of radio and much more. It takes a lot of personal time but I urge others to make the commitment and learn as much as they can. Being involved in these organizations might also give us a heads up with some advanced information and that could come in real handy.

Another thing we’ve done here is to load up a number of six gallon buckets with all sorts of items that we might need if we had to evacuate the house for some reason. These buckets hold some emergency supplies like food, bottled water, meds, blankets, tarps, rope, fire starters, gloves, socks, knife, flashlight, spare batteries and a small Sterno stove to heat water with. It’s amazing how much stuff you can cram into a six gallon bucket if you do it right. These buckets are buried strategically throughout the property. We keep the locations handy so we can get to the nearest bucket, dig it up and at least have some supplies to work with. In each bucket taped to the lids are the locations of the other buckets. Chances are pretty slim that anyone would find any of the caches by accident, being that all the buckets are buried on our own property and well camouflaged. All of the containers have a good seal around the lid to prevent moisture from getting in and when we bury them we have a piece of plywood cut in a circle that is an inch or two larger in diameter than the bucket. This helps keep the dirt off the lids when we need to dig them up. Each bucket is buried only a few inches below ground level and we stash a small garden shovel nearby underneath a rock, bush or by a tree trunk to make it easier to get the buckets out in a hurry.

As far as transportation goes, we have a gas powered pick up, a diesel pickup and a 1970s-vintage Jeep that has no [microprocessor] electronics in it that would be affected by an EMP. We burn vegetable oil in the diesel during the summer months, the harsh winters here make it a bit too thick to use, even with the additives we put in to help thin it out. I would also suggest that you get a good bike for each family member, know how to tune it up, know what the most common items are that would break and how to repair them. Have the right tools to carry on the bike and know how to use them. Here in the mountains we are a long way from anything and someday a bicycle might be the fastest way to get there. But in a big pinch there is always foot power. You obviously need to have good packs that fit well and a couple of comfortable pairs of hiking boots. You also need to maintain good physical health if you plan on hoofing a lot.

We try to teach others to be prepared as well. Not necessarily for TEOTWAWKI kind of thing but for the more common ‘what if’ scenarios like bad weather, power outages etc. We feel that if we can get our family members to consider those scenarios then they will be able to use that knowledge in case things really do hit the fan. It’s pretty frustrating knowing that my loved ones will not leave the big city and are pretty clueless as to how to survive when things take a turn for the worse. All we can do is pray for them and hope that they get a clue before it’s too late.

I know some readers will be thinking that we have it made being able to have a retreat, vehicles and a business that allows us to fabricate most of the things we need. Much of the emergency items we have were purchased from yard sales and thrift stores. We also barter for a lot of items and services. No doubt we’ve been blessed but it was not easy in any sense of the word. When we first got here we lived in an old camper with no water, shower or toilet for 14 months. We started out with a bucket for a toilet until we could get a port-a-potty hauled in. That was reason for celebration! It took about a year to get our place built and has been an ongoing struggle the whole time. But it has all been worth it. Being out in the middle of nowhere, we had no idea how we would make a living. It took about two more years to make a name for ourselves in the fabricating business. But word of mouth is the best advertisement in tight knit localities like this. We depended on miracles almost every month (and still do) when we didn’t know where the money was going to come from to pay the mortgage. It was a big leap of faith moving here but that’s what we were led to do. That leads me to one more item to mention before I close and that is faith in God. As many others have stressed, getting yourself right with God is the most important thing you can do. Faith has brought us this far and we continue to build our faith as things start to look darker and darker by the day. Pray for each other for knowledge, provision, wisdom and discernment and that we’re on the other side of the fan when it finally hits!!

Economics and Investing:

“H2O” in California sent this news item about Kern County, California: Kern unemployment continues to climb: 17.4% in February. H2O’s comment: “The bulk of Kern’s population is located in the Southern San Joaquin Valley, where agriculture and oil are the lynchpins of the local economy. With the legislative/judicial droughts being imposed on California, local farmers have been allocated just 15% of their annual contractual water supplies. This means that they cannot secure the crop loans necessary to grow the crops to feed the nation for the fourth year in a row. Food shortages are right around the corner, I fear.”

Alice W. was the first of several readers to mention his commentary by Charles Krauthammer at NRO: The VAT Cometh.

GG sent this: Supply fears start to hit Treasuries

Also from GG, the latest Friday Follies: Regulators shut 2 Georgia banks, 1 in Florida, 1 in Arizona; makes 41 US bank failures in 2010.

Items from The Economatrix:

Banks Unlikely to Cut Mortgages for Many Borrowers

Eurozone Agrees On Bailout Plan for Greece

Underemployment Hits 20% in Mid-March

Jobless Rate Rose in 27 States in February; 4 Hit Record Levels

Spring Outlook: Housing Sales Are Looking As Bleak As Ever

“We Are At A Tipping Point”–The Only Thing that May Save the Euro is a Collapse of the US

Odds ‘n Sods:

I found an interesting piece linked over at Steve Quayle’s site about climate change: Global cooling: What happens if the Iceland volcano blows

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Greg C. sent this: 1918 and 2009 Pandemic Influenza Viruses Lack a Sugar Topping; Finding Could Aid Vaccine Design. (It sounds like we dodged a bullet!)

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Both Mark P. and my old friend Sandy sent this: Has SSL become pointless? Researchers suspect state-sponsored CA forgery

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price [is] far above rubies.
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
She perceiveth that her merchandise [is] good: her candle goeth not out by night.
She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household [are] clothed with scarlet.
She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing [is] silk and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
She maketh fine linen, and selleth [it]; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
Strength and honour [are] her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue [is] the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband [also], and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
Favour [is] deceitful, and beauty [is] vain: [but] a woman [that] feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. – Proverbs 31:10-31 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 27 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round will include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be 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 between $500 and $600, and B.) Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees, in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $392 value.) C.) A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 value.), and D.) A 500 round case of Fiocchi 9mm Luger, 124gr. Hornady XTP/HP ammo, courtesy of Sunflower Ammo. This is a $249 value.

Second Prize: A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $350.

Third Prize: A copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, from Arbogast Publishing.

Round 27 ends on March 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Alternative Heat Survival Concepts, by Philip T.

It’s the dead of winter. Snow is flying. There is nothing more comfortable in the cold of a winter season than knowing you are cozy in your home. You are warm and oblivious to the penetrating cold of the outdoors. But just how vulnerable are you to a sudden and unexpected power outage from an ice storm or another failure of the electrical grid? Do you depend on oil, natural gas, propane gas or electricity for your home heating? Under any circumstance, could your home heating system become unworkable? This article should help prepare you enough so you and your family won’t freeze to death if the grid goes down.

I have spent 37 years of my life working as a chimney sweep and/or a brick mason. So my first love of heating alternatives are solid fuel heaters. When I say solid fuel, I am specifically talking about wood, coal, or other biomass, which can be combusted in a controlled environment in exchange for the heating value–as measured in British Thermal Units (BTUs)–of the fuel source.  Wood fuel will average up to 8,500 BTU of heat per pound. Coal is approximately 12,000 BTU per pound. Variations of the actual BTU of heat potential will be specific to the density of the solid fuel being combusted and moisture content. Lighter density woods like pine and cedar will take a larger amount of wood to make the heat potential that a smaller amount of oak or hickory will produce. Of course one is limited to whatever is locally available. If you have a good source of coal locally available, that could be your fuel of choice.  However, it is unfeasible to import coal or wood from other regions of the country because of the transportation costs and energy expense of the transport.  For this reason I do not recommend pellet fuel as a viable survival fuel. I will talk about pellet stoves specifically a little later.

There are three types of solid fuel appliances. Fireplaces, free standing stoves, and central furnaces. Each has unique properties, advantages, and disadvantages. Out of the three categories, a fireplace is the most inefficient. A fireplace will achieve perhaps a 10% efficiency rating because most of the heat goes up the chimney. Dampers must remain partially open during all phases of the heating cycle. Glass doors help efficiency considerably over an open fireplace. A better fireplace will have ducting around the outside of the firebox to allow more heat exchange. Masonry fireplaces store more ambient heat than metal box fireplaces. But a metal box fireplace will put out more radiant heat in a shorter period of time. And a masonry fireplace is relatively difficult to add to an existing structure without major modifications in footings and other structural considerations.

 The installation of a wood burning stove in an existing fireplace, called an Insert will increase the efficiency of a fireplace upwards to a comparable free standing wood stove. But before installing an insert stove in any fireplace, be sure to check manufacturers instructions for both fireplace and the stove insert for compatibility! Failure to follow the instructions or the use of mismatched parts can lead to unsafe and potentially deadly consequences! Safety cannot be stressed enough when using solid fuel heaters. When properly installed and maintained, solid fuel heat is safe, efficient, and economical under any conditions.

If you choose to have a gas fireplace, or gas log, be aware that the convenience comes with an expense. If the fireplace has an electric igniter and the power is off, that appliance will not function. Without blower circulation heat build up can become excessive and unsafe. Gas logs can be added, but they are relatively inefficient and ever an increasing expense to operate. Also keep in mind that if there is a disruption in gas supplies and distribution, your gas appliance may become useless within a very short period of time. Propane gas appliances allow storage on site, which may buy you some time. But under a prolonged disruption of gas supply, that appliance will no longer be useful.

Free standing wood stoves are the most popular. They can be located centrally in a house or cabin for maximum heating. Many stoves come with an electric blower system, which improves efficiency. However in a power outage, the stove will still produce enough radiant heat to keep you warm.  Stoves that have no blower,  rely upon their design to produce area heating. EPA Certified solid fuel heaters will have an efficiency rating of 85%, which is nearly as efficient as gas heaters. You may be able to pick up an older, used wood stove for not a lot of money. But be aware that the stove may not have the highest efficiency and by law may not be legal in some environmentally sensitive areas. But in a survival situation, the goal is to keep from freezing to death. On a tight budget, an older stove is still a worthwhile investment if it is sound working condition.

 There is also a class of solid fuel heater called pellet fuel heaters. While they may be the current rage of environmentally friendly solid fuel heaters, they will not function without backup electricity. I used to own a pellet stove. They are nice when you have electricity, but worthless if the power goes off. Unfortunately the cost of transporting the wood pellets is making the fuel source very expensive per BTU of heat. If there is a disruption of the transportation grid, the fuel would become unavailable in many areas of the country. By and large, I would never recommend a pellet heater for a survival heater.

Third category of solid fuel heaters is central a furnace. My home was originally “all electric”. A couple years ago we had a severe ice storm in Central Missouri that knocked out power to thousands of homes for over a week. My neighbors essentially had to leave their all electric homes because the temperature became unlivable. But I was able to remain in my home. Why?  I have a central wood furnace that is ducted into my heating system. Without electricity, the blower circulation will not function. But the radiant heat rose from the top of the furnace duct and circulated naturally through my central ductwork.  When it became evident that the power might not be restored for several days, I brought my portable generator into use. I located my generator in my detached garage and ran an electric cord through my clothes dryer vent, into my furnace room. From there I was able to power the wood furnace, freezer, and extra refrigerator. Warning: Because of the risk on carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, never place a generator in an attached garage or living space! Also be absolutely sure to “lock out” the circuit breakers to prevent a back feed condition to the grid power lines. During the power outage, several people needlessly died due to carbon monoxide poisoning because they placed generators in their attached garage and the CO gas entered the home. The goal is to survive here so be smart.

Another popular wood furnace is located outside the house. A generator could run that system from outside. But one disadvantage to an outdoor wood furnace is having to go outside to add fuel. If there is some kind of outdoor environmental situation that makes it unsafe to go outside, the indoor furnace can be fueled from inside wood storage for a few days. Not having to open doors preserves the indoor air quality. The indoor furnace will still send heat into the ductwork without a fan. The outdoor furnace has a much more difficult ducting system that may not transfer enough heat to sustain livability if power is lost completely.

Having a generator is very good for short term survival circumstances. But you may be limited on how much use you may get out of a generator if there is a long term disruption of gasoline delivery. You may be able to use a good generator sparingly and operate a wood stove or furnace fan for many days on 5 gallons of gas. But in the long term your solid fuel system should be capable of sustaining enough heat in your home to make it livable under the worst of winter conditions.

A solar electric panel with battery storage will operate a blower , so that could be another consideration for power to circulate heat or other power needs. [JWR Adds: An inverter would be required to run an AC fan. But when sourcing your power from a DC battery bank, running a DC fan is much more efficient.]

You may have to consider blocking off some rooms to keep the heat in the main area of habitation.  If your wood appliance has a cook top that is capable of basic cooking or boiling water that is a plus. If there is a disruption of water supply, the ability to melt snow or boil water on a cook top wood stove could allow you to process enough drinking water to sustain an ample survival water supply.

One last item to consider for a survival situation utilizing any solid fuel appliance is the chimney. I cannot stress enough the importance of having a clean and structurally sound chimney system. If your masonry chimney has cracked tile liners, or is unlined, I strongly suggest you have a Certified Chimney Sweep inspect your chimney and perform any necessary repairs before you consider using a solid fuel appliance. There are stainless steel chimney liners available to reline your chimney. If the chimney has ever been used to vent a gas appliance, the mortar becomes weakened by chemical reactions and is unsafe to use without the addition of a stainless chimney liner. Under no conditions should you vent a solid fuel appliance into a chimney being used by a gas furnace or gas water heater. This can create a dangerous condition. In addition, the gas damages the structure as I’ve already outlined.

The other type of chimney system is called a Class A Chimney. These systems consist of insulated, prefabricated sections of stainless steel pipe that snap or lock together. They can be fully supported by the ceiling rafters, which allow installation in areas where a masonry chimney is impractical. Where a masonry chimney requires a concrete footing, a prefab Class A chimney can be easily installed into any existing structure. A chimney should be cleaned and checked prior to use in the fall, and cleaned and rechecked at least once during the heating season to insure safety and long term durability.

All in all, as a matter of long term survival, alternative heat should be a top priority as an equal to food and water storage. Winter may be almost over for many, but now is the time to start gathering firewood for next season. As a rule, one acre of timber produces, by natural turnover, about a cord of wood every year. Not many trees need to be cut to heat your home. I will heat my 1,900 square foot home with two to three cords of firewood a year with very little electric furnace operation. But if you do cut a tree, be sure to plant one for sustainability of your wood supply. In a survival situation. One can never have enough dry, split firewood handy if the power grid goes down in the dead of winter.