Notes from JWR:

This is the day we remember the 2,975 Americans that died as a result of the September 11, 2001 Islamist terrorist attacks (2,751 of them at the World Trade Center). We must remain vigilant and well-prepared, both individually, and as a nation. If you don’t yet have your logistics together, and haven’t yet got the requisite training, then you’re way behind he power curve.

—

Today we present another entry for Round 24 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

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.) and C.)A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 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 24 ends on September 30th, 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.

One Woman’s View of Budget Preparedness, by Lisa L.

I wanted to write something for the contest for other ladies with children were in the same situation with wanting to be more prepared but not having the means to do so like the books recommend. I’ve had my frustrations but I’ve learned and bought gradually and wanted to share. 🙂 It always upsets me when I hear in the media or from people their point of view that people are helpless due to their income level. This is what I’ve learned so far, how to cook with wheat, stockpiling shampoo for very little and ways to acquire some supplies for a 72-hour-kit inexpensively.

1. Educate yourself! I was able to get every preparedness book I requested from inter-library loan. Now I have high speed Internet and there are so many videos on YouTube. I was interested in learning how to use wheat so this is my experience. 🙂 There are so many other preparedness topics and skills on youtube and in books.

Long Term Preparedness – Using Whole Grains

2. Learn about whole grains and different ways they are processed. Learn about red wheat, white wheat, oat groats, buckwheat groats, rye, and barely. Learn about the benefits of milling flour at home. There are so many different types of beans to learn about too!

3. Find where you can make a small purchase of whole grains. You can buy a #10 (large) can of whole wheat and cracked wheat from online retailers. If you use an EBT (Food Stamp) card, try a health food store’s bulk section. The point here is not to use a lot of money until this is an item you and your kids consume. You can learn with a small amount. 🙂

Try to eventually purchase wheat in different forms like whole wheat berries, cracked wheat , bulgar, whole wheat flour, and whole wheat pastry flour. Purchase items found at regular the grocery store too like oats, beans and rice.

4. Learn how to use your grains. Cooking with whole grains is a skill but it’s not complicated. A simple crock-pot makes it easy to cook wheat and other grains. One of the best cookbooks that helped me a lot is “Cookin With Wheat” by Pam Crockett. You can use wheat in other ways besides it’s flour form and baking bread. She has a lot of recipes that use wheat cooked in the crockpot in there. As far as using whole wheat flour, I found baking bread to be very time consuming but I always put whole wheat flour into prepackaged mixes like brownies and muffins. Make oatmeal cookies! Serve oatmeal for breakfast and try it with different fruits and nuts. Learn how to cook and season beans. Something simple like a ham bone gives them a lot of flavor. I use allrecipes.com for new ideas. I like that site because I can convert recipes for two people.

5. Once you are using whole grains, consider purchasing grain processing equipment. This step was a long one for me. It was four years from the time when I learned about using whole grain and wanting a grain mill until I was able to purchase one. The IRS made a mistake on a previous tax year and sent me a check with interest so that allowed me to purchase an electric mill. I have the Marcato Atlas Grain Mill/oat roller (it manually flakes grain) and the Wonder Mill (electric grain mill to make flour from the whole wheat). Both have pretty good resale value compared to the initial cost [if purchased used] on eBay if you ended up needing to sell it quick to pay a bill. I use the grain flaker to crack wheat and turn oat groats into oats. I use the Wonder Mill to make whole wheat flour.

6. Buy wheat in a larger quantities like 25 lbs or 50 lbs. At this point you will already be using it in your meals. You can do this from the same place you bought it in a small quantity before. Do this even if you don’t have grain processing equipment but are cooking it on your crock pot. Look into buying other grains in the large quantities too like beans, rice and oats. Sam’s club has the best price on Bastmati rice. Learn how to store food in 6 gallon buckets with a mylar bag and oxygen absorber. The same place that sells you wheat should sell 6 gallon buckets except for a health food store. I have not tried to pack my food like this yet but it’s next on my list. 🙂 There are some great videos on YouTube that demonstrate this. You can buy grains already packed like this. For some things like rice, I plan to pack myself with the O2 absorbers and mylar bags myself since it’s more economical. (And sugar, too, minus the O2 absorbers.)

Long Term Storage – Healthy and Beauty Products
7. Combine coupons with loss leaders/sales to build a supply of health and beauty products like toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner and shower gel every six months. I utilize the site HotCouponWorld.com (HCW). They have previews of ads for major drug stores. I don’t get a paper or clip coupons. I order them from a clipping service on eBay. Ads of chain drug stores are posted in advanced on HCW so you can order your coupons in time. If you get too much you or realize stuff will expire soon before using it, you can always post it on Freecycle. I guess donating it to a food bank or shelter is ideal but they never have donation hours when I can get there. With Freecycle (search it on yahoo groups with your city name) someone will pick it right up. 🙂

Short Term Preparedness.
Inexpensive ways to get started on a 72-hour kit. There are some great PDFs on the Internet and checklists about 72-hour kits. These is a just a few low cost things to get you started.

8. Bags. If you don’t have bags around your home to designate for this, buy some from the thrift store. There are a lot of varieties of backpacks and travel bags there. Be sure to check things like zippers and if there is any foul scent before you buy. I’ve had good success with bags there. You also want to buy a box of larger zip lock bags for hygiene items. Save some of your plastic bags from the grocery store too.

9. Documents & Notebook. Most banks offer free photocopying. Grocery stores have it for around 15 cents per page. Copy your ID, birth certificate, social security cards, bank account statement. If you don’t have things things start to acquire them. There are many lists on the internet on what to copy for an emergency financial folder. Make a list of important phone numbers, addresses and account numbers. I keep a notebook with page protectors for all of my important documents. My experience with hurricanes is the phone was turned on before power. I was able to get many things done over the phone. Keep some pens and sharpies in there. You may need to write ID on yourself and your children. US Mail may come back before power and phones. You may be able to send a letter before you have phone access so keep some stamps too and a few envelopes.

10. Medication. Ask your pharmacist for an extra labeled bottle and stick a few pills in there to put in your bag. If you use a local pharmacy you may want to transfer a few days worth to a chain pharmacy like Walgreens, CVS, Wal-Mart or Sam’s in case you had to leave the area.

11. Food. Stick food in there that does not need preparation. Make sure to eat this food every so often. See what your kids eat and what didn’t store so well. My son loves pop-tarts but they crumble pretty badly. I prefer canned food with a pop top lid. We like those small 1 – 2 oz cereal bowls too to snack on. Granola bars with chocolate melt and are messy. See what makes you feel full or not too. One day decide to only eat what is in there. Divide it up into 3 and see if that third gets you and your kids past 2 pm or not. 🙂

12. Drink. If you have a small child, use some type of drink that they can open without assistance. If they can’t twist off a bottle cap use a juice box they can puncture. You could also keep a water bottle that has been opened. Practice with them. I recommended stocking some Kool-Aid singles. In a situation where the National Guard arrives they give out a lot of water bottles.

13. Whistle and Poncho and [Mylar] Emergency Blanket. These are less than $2 each. Make sure your kids know how to blow a whistle. 🙂

14. Discounted entertainment. When school supplies go on sale pick up some for your children for your bags. I cut inexpensive notebook paper into origami size paper. You can get pens, paper, markers, crayons inexpensively before school starts. Keep the crayons in a ziplock because they can melt. Around Christmas time the dollar store has $1 chess boards, checkers, word searches, suduko, card games and coloring books. This cost more than a $1 but Rainbow Resource Center has some inexpensive instructional books by Dover about origami, drawing, and paper airplanes. I don’t have a daughter to use them but I’ve seen paper doll books too. I buy magazines for 25 centers each from the thrift store for my bag. I rotate these every few months.

15. Bug spray and sunscreen. You want to store this separate from your food. I find this highly discounted at the end of summer. I live in Florida so this is necessary here. You may need blankets from the thrift store or inexpensive warmers instead. 🙂

16. Discarded CDs. You can use these to reflect light. [JWR Adds: Save those ubiquitous AOL CDs for use in various projects including mirrors for home security, and to glue together front-to-front, and -hang up on monofilament fishing line, to scare marauding birds from your garden.]

17. Chewing Gum and Hard Candy.

Some Lessons Learned

It now seems so easy but at first I had no idea about purchasing small quantities of wheat. I called some of the vendors and had no idea about small cans, had no idea the health food store sold wheat, etc. It really took me years from the time of learning about it to purchasing it because I didn’t have the money for 50# and had no idea I could buy it in a #10 can or locally one pound at a time at the health food store. It would have saved me a lot of time had I known those things. I learned about 72-hour kits and low cost things from dealing with the hurricanes.

Here are three web sites that I found useful:

The Prudent Homemaker. I know Brandy from the internet and she eats from her food storage. The nice thing about her blog is she posts recipes that she actually makes from her food storage and garden. She is really talented in making the food look really nice too.

Filling Your Ark. I know Erika from the Internet too and she is just brilliant with food storage and everything else! The PDFs there are great too.

Crockett’s Corner sells the Cookin’ With Wheat cookbook and DVD. They are both so helpful to someone new to long term food storage like wheat. It’s not just bake bread, bread, bread. LOL.

In Closing
My final thoughts are first don’t be discouraged if you have to “use” your preparations too outside of a disaster like you need the food or hygiene items in your 72-hour kit or items in your pantry you bought extra of, for a short-term emergency. I’ve had to use ours so much and hindsight it’s a blessing because I am more educated about what we will use or need. One time was this past January, I remember being so happy about all the canned goods I bought at a Sam’s Club [warehouse store]. I was finally prepared again for a short-term power outage. Not long after that I was unable to work due to a short-term illness. So soon we had very little canned food left. I was so discouraged but now looking back I see what was left (that we didn’t eat for some reason or didn’t eat as much I thought we would when purchasing) and what to buy double or triple of when I could.

Secondly ,prepare to the best of your ability. It’s now September and I still haven’t been able to replenish even an extra one week canned food supply. Keep learning and educating your kids about self sufficiency regardless of what you can buy or not and you will make better decisions when you do have the means to make purchases.

Four Letters Re: Prepare to Garden Like Your Life Depends on It, by Prepared in Maine

Dear Editor
I would suggest The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible by Edward C. Smith and The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control edited by Barbara W. Ellis and Fern Marshall Bradley. These books both recommend Neem Seed Oil for insect control. [After looking locally.] I found that one must order it online. Regards, – Glennis

Mr Rawles,
In my humble opinion, many blog readers haven’t got a clue about gardening/farming without artificial/soil depleting chemicals. The reason “commercial” farmers must use these items is due to their monoculture crops grown in the same thousand + acre plots year after year. When the soil is robbed of it’s water holding ability, when the basic elements for plant growth must be replenished artificially year after year, the end result is soil that is, for all practical purposes, useless.

I have been gardening on our 2+ acres since 1999 using organic methods. The biggest factor in my yearly plantings has been the use of my homegrown vermicompost (worm castings). It is far and away the best soil amendment for adding living microriza, fungi and bacteria that aid plant roots in taking up nutrients that are immediately available as opposed to compost which requires further decomposition from finished pile to field application. Further, vermicompost is hydroscopic. It holds moisture in the soil, thus enabling plants to withstand fluctuations in watering.

Crop rotation is vitally important as well as soil amending. Together with adequate watering, these two gardening techniques will just about guarantee the absence of any and all plant pests and diseases and give you the most productive plants and the healthiest produce. I have never experienced thrips, whiteflies, tomato hornworms, cutworms or a myriad of other nasties and I give all the credit to worm castings that have gone into my clay soil over the last decade.

I don’t believe for a moment that it is necessary to rely on man-made fertilizers and pesticides for the home gardener/farmer. After all, the reason we choose to raise our own food is based on health concerns. Let it be known that I am not a whacked environmentalist, but neither do I see any reason for being ambidextrous in both organic and commercial methods of food production when “doing it naturally” is far superior.

With that said, it would behoove survivalblog readers to incorporate a vermicomposting setup to their gardening plans. Start-up costs are minimal, but the results are priceless. – Carolyn on The Divide

Jim,
Since most folks seem bent on using non-hybrid seeds to their SHTF gardens, I think eschewing the use of pesticides and commercial fertilizer is fraught with peril. Most hybrid vegetable varieties have been bred for pest and disease resistance in addition to better yields. Heirloom varieties will likely be much more susceptible to ailments that chemicals can prevent or cure.

There is nothing at all wrong with organic gardening, and certainly nothing wrong with growing non-hybrid food, but I sure wouldn’t bet my life on it – especially until things are more established and alternate food sources become more available. SHTF is not the time to be a tree-hugger – survival comes first.

I think the most practical approach is to have both heirloom and hybrid seeds and also have plenty of fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides available – just in case. If you don’t need any of the above they will be valuable barter items.- Matt R.

Mister Rawles,
The debate on organic gardening could go on endlessly like Ford versus Chevy and wheelgun versus automatic. I’ve got to agree with your suggestion: be ready and able to do both kinds of gardening–both organic and with chemicals.. To lock one’s self into just one mode or the other could detract from your chances of survival. Be prepared for all scenarios! – Gil H.

Economics and Investing:

This piece, sent to us by Damon S., should come as no surprise to SurvivalBlog readers: The Dollar Collapses; Commodities, stocks and foreign currencies all rise as investors sell dollars. As I’ve stated before, the magic number to watch for on the US Dollar Index (USDI) is 72. The territory south of 72 is terra incognita. “There Be Dragons.”

Phil G. sent this: Swiss topple U.S. as most competitive economy

U.S. ‘unlikely’ to recoup auto outlay, panel finds

Lack health coverage? You may pay; “Americans would be fined up to $3,800 for failing to buy health insurance under a plan that circulated in Congress on Tuesday as President Barack Obama met Democratic leaders to search for ways to salvage his health care overhaul.”

From Damon: China Moves to Internationalize Currency

Items from The Economatrix:

Rising Commodities Push Industrial Stocks Higher

Oil Pushes Higher on Weakening Dollar

McDonald’s Sales Growth Slows in August

A Year After the Financial Crisis, the Consumer Economy is Dead

Economic 9-1-1: Did Lehman Bros. Fall or Was it Pushed?

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: China, Bernanke, and the Price of Gold

Wall Street to Cash in on Death

Odds ‘n Sods:

I just heard that my writings were mentioned on page 60 of the latest issue of Popular Mechanics magazine. It had been 10 years since they last mentioned me. To get more PM ink, I suppose that I need to write more about gadgety stuff in SurvivalBlog.

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Flesh-eating Superbug Killed Dad in Just Four Hours

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Huge Solar Storm Could Hit Earth Again

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Super-soldier exoskeletons ready for troop tests in 2010. (Thanks to FG for the link.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“It will not be quick and it will not be easy. Our adversaries are not one or two terrorist leaders, or even a single terrorist organization or network. It’s a broad network of individuals and organizations that are determined to terrorize and, in so doing, to deny us the very essence of what we are: free people. They don’t live in Antarctica. They work, they train and they plan in countries. They’re benefiting from the support of governments. They’re benefiting from the support of non-governmental organizations that are either actively supporting them with money, intelligence and weapons or allowing them to function on their territory and tolerating if not encouraging their activities. In either case, it has to stop.

We’ll have to deal with the [terror] networks. One of the ways to do that is to drain the swamp they live in. And that means dealing not only with the terrorists, but those who harbor terrorists. This will take a long, sustained effort. It will require the support of the American people as well as our friends and allies around the world.” – Donald Rumsfeld, press briefing on September 18, 2001

Letter Re: Living in the Time After TEOTWAWKI

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I think there is a blind spot in a lot of preparedness/survivalist writing that I would like to address. There are a number of sites which do a good to excellent job of getting the word out about the nuts-and-bolts of getting prepared to allow a family to get through a short term emergency, and there are sites which encourages us to get a retreat in farm country.

However, I have not seen anyone talk about how we will boot strap ourselves to back towards some sort of village life and civil society[, in the event of TEOTWAWKI].

In your novel “Patriots” , you touch on this with the Troy Barter Faire, and then fast forward at the end of the book to this being an accomplished fact. In the novel “One Second After“, the author makes the point that an EMP event could have pushed people back to a 19th century lifestyle, but things were more medieval because no one had the knowledge of how
to live in the 19th century, or readily had the tools.

In a post-SHTF scenario, there won’t be much call for fibre-channel administrators, but there will be a demand for bakers and candle makers. What I suggest is that while people are assembling their preps, they also look at the skills and services that they will need afterwards, and see if they can’t learn to do these things themselves. After all, if they need them,
so will other people, and some folks will be willing to trade for them. Free trade will be the boot-strap which brings about village life again.

Here’s a quick list of skills/trades that I think would be useful in a post-SHTF world.

Food:
Baker
Brewer
Canning fruits, vegetables and meats
Cheese making
Smoking meats
Sausage making
Truck patch gardening
Vintner
Yogurt making

Dry goods, sundries:
Soap maker
Candle maker
Paper making

Clothing:
Seamstress/tailor
Leather worker (shoes, belts, coats)
Weaver

Materials:
Leather tanning
Wool shearing
Wool carding
Wool spinning
Lumbering (the hard way!)
Foundry for smelting recyclable metals

Manufacturing:
Blacksmith
Tin smith
Wheel wright
Cartwright
Cooper (barrel maker)
Leather worker (tack for animal drawn equipment)
Glass blowing (jars, bottles and apparatus)
Pottery

Many of these skills and trades can be started as a hobby. I suggest that people think about these now, and find what they have a knack for and consider it “job security” for the future. – Bear in California

Letter Re: A Practical Use for Post-1982 US Zinc Pennies

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I was reading the post on Survivalblog regarding “A Practical Use for Post-1982 U.S. Zinc Pennies.” You may want to remind your readers that in December 2006, the U.S. Mint announced a regulation making it illegal to melt cents and nickels. While this regulation was obviously aimed at large-scale melters and not us “little guys,” the fact remains that the Mint considers the melting of these small-denomination coins illegal, and punishable by up to a $10,000 fine or up to five years in prison.

Of course, the feds won’t necessarily know if you or I are melting down coins in our backyard foundries, but it probably isn’t advisable to advocate such a practice on your web site. [JWR Adds: For the record, I advocate stockpiling pennies and nickels, in anticipation of a a future change in the anti-melting law.] And how they could possibly enforce this, well it would be nearly impossible. Speaking for myself, and off the record, if I want to melt a penny, the feds can go jump in a lake. It is my money after all. – Mr. Coin

Letter Re: Prepare to Garden Like Your Life Depends on It, by Prepared in Maine

Mr. Editor,:
If one was truly going to “Prepare to Garden Like Your Life Depends on It” I would never rely 100% on organic farming unless it was as a last resort Personally I wouldn’t rely on it anymore then compost and manure, if it was free and available (Do you deliver?)

I work in agriculture and during growing season, I see organic crop failures, and these are professional farmers. Could you afford to loose 25-80% of your crop, or how about 100 percent?
Organic growers are operating at a huge disadvantage using “organic pesticides” with many that just don’t work. Sure, some will knock the problem down for a short while, then you will be back where you started, as all the eggs hatch out again.

If you have ever had problems with: Whitefly, Thrips, or Spidermites just too name a few, then you will know exactly what I mean. Commercial growers feed the world, and turn out crop after crop with reliable results using the correct amounts of pesticides and fertilizers, shouldn’t you be doing the same? After all, your life might depend on it right?

Ok back to work, Now lets see… Who was it that had fertilizer and Malathion on sale? And I need… – Barry

JWR Replies: In my estimation, the best course is lies in the middle ground: Get experience with both gardening techniques. If we ever have a dreaded multi-generational TEOTWAWKI, then experience with organic gardening will be invaluable. In the short term, it also has some health benefits, and amending the soil naturally is a good thing, even if you decide to use pesticides. I agree that after the Schumer hits the fan, crop yield will trump all other considerations, since there will suddenly be a lot of hungry folks to feed, without any conveniently-stocked supermarket shelves. Even devoted organic gardeners should store some pesticides! But don’t overlook the possibility of a worst-case situation that could go on, and on, and on, and we find that all available pesticides and chemical fertilizers are expended and irreplaceable. Again: Get experience with both techniques.

Economics and Investing:

The latest weekly commentary and podcast from Don McAlvany: ECOSPASM: Inflation, Deflation, & Stagflation in One

From DD: Is Buffett worried about stocks?

Regular contributor Karen H. sent these news bits:

Currency Crash Possible

Wealthy Families Face Bankruptcy on Real Estate Crash

Dollar Falls to Lowest in Almost Year on Borrowing Costs

Items from The Economatrix:

Lew Rockwell: The Great Fakeroo Recovery

Backlash Against Banks Growing over Mortgage Modifications

Study: 2 Out of 5 Working-Age Californians Jobless

Post Office Closures Threats Adds Woes to Property Market

Reality Excluded (The Mogambo Guru)

Dollar’s Fate Written In History

Often-Overlooked Readiness: Preparing for Joy, by Carla

This article from Virginia was picked up by our local newspaper: Fed-up Smokers Grow Own Tobacco

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Yet another use for baling twine: The Baling Twine Knife

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Reader “Yankee Doodle” sent this: The vegetable gardeners of Havana.

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If you’ve ever wondered how you can archive the educational videos you find online: How to Download and Save YouTube Videos to Your Computer

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Wired magazine: ‘E-Bomb’ Doomsday Conference. (A tip of the hat to Tom R. for the link.)

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“When a man spends his own money to buy something for himself, he is very careful about how much he spends and how he spends it.
When a man spends his own money to buy something for someone else, he is still very careful about how much he spends, but somewhat less what he spends it on.
When a man spends someone else’s money to buy something for himself, he is very careful about what he buys, but doesn’t care at all how much he spends.
And when a man spends someone else’s money on someone else, he doesn’t care how much he spends or what he spends it on. And that’s government for you.” -Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 24 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.

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.) and C.)A HAZARiD Decontamination Kit from Safecastle.com. (A $350 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 24 ends on September 30th, 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.

Prepare to Garden Like Your Life Depends on It, by Prepared in Maine

So you plan on growing your own food in times of need. Here are some facts to bear in mind: 1) your garden is not just what you have in your tilled yard, greenhouse and cold frame; 2) prepare yourself
physically for this way of life and diet; 3) organic gardening/farming will be the only kind of farming in the future; and 4) go native.

Local food gathering and native plants are an essential aspect of a long-term, sustainable food supply. What grows in your area that can be eaten or used as a medicine? The most common edible plants are dandelion, chicory, cattails, amaranth, lamb’s quarters, and milkweed. If you garden, you probably pull [and composting] many of these from your “garden” now as weeds (they grow well in temperate zones of America). Time may come when we will have to adjust out thinking to recognize free food. If it grows in your area and you don’t have to work at it, you benefit by saving time and money.

First, get a good book on the topic for your area, such as: Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places or A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plant (Peterson Field Guide Series). With book in hand, take a walk around the backyard and surrounding areas and look for the edible wild plants in your area. Odds are you’ll have no trouble finding half a dozen or so. Consider pulling these weeds now and eating them (instead of composting them if they grow in your yard and garden). Can you find or create a recipe for the plant? Do you (and your loved ones) like the taste? If so, then hooray! You just cut back on your grocery bills. Also, some weeds can be made into teas (medicinal or tasty). Don’t overlook the joy of a tasty drink in the summer or importance of hot flavored drinks during cool months to lift the spirits.

Importance of stored foodstuffs in February and March. There is a good reason the full moon in February is called the Hunger moon [in the Northern hemisphere] and why many religions have fasting periods in early Spring. Before civilization, food was hard to come by during these months (hunting is often poor and very little is edible). To get the most out of your stores, you should plan to tap into your stored food stuff only when can’t get by on what you grow, hunt, gather (due to illness/injury/weather).

Read what you can about extending your growing season. Some very simple changes to your garden, techniques, and seed stores can extend the growing season by weeks if not months in most areas. Here in Maine, my cold frame will grow food I can harvest until early December and start again in late February to harvest in early April. You can learn more about these techniques here or from the master (Eliot Coleman): Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long.

Perennials rather than annuals are the best choice for survival gardens (you don’t need seeds and most of these plants are more resistant to pests and drought than annuals). Think about dual use
ornamental plants. Think blueberries or cranberries rather than burning bushes. Can the trees you plant for shade or cover should be fruit bearing trees? Finally, start that rhubarb and asparagus bed
now. Asparagus beds take a few years to bear, but your children will harvest from it in 20 years. And it is one of the first food plants to emerge in the spring (remember the Hunger moon?). What about growing hops vines as screening/cover. Hops makes boiled water taste better, has medicinal uses, and it has other purposes, too (*wink*). Any perennial food plants you put in now will save you many hours of labor when the Schumer hits the oscillator.

Realize that growing, hunting and gathering were full time jobs for early Americans and still are for primitive cultures. Do you have the knowledge and skills to make these yours? Strive to acclimate yourself to the challenges of this diet (challenges both physical and psychological).Going cold-turkey from fast food to a home-based diet can be bad for your morale (if not yours then any family members under 18!). Start eating local from your garden and native foods now so these are not foreign when they are the only option. For some this will also mean weaning yourself off coffee and chocolate. These are [imported] luxuries that need not be a daily necessity. Withdrawal from these is not easy or fun, but better now than in time of crisis.

The one thing most US climates cannot grow is sugar. Historically people used honey or maple syrup. The reality is that wild honey is hard to come by, bee stings are not fun, and beekeeping is not easy.
As for maple syrup/maple sugar, collecting sap to make syrup is a lot of effort and boiling it down takes a lot of time and heat. Early American settlers and had apple trees and used apples as a sweet
treat. Perhaps you can survive on MREs three times a day, but children will be much happier if they have an apple or warm cider on a cold winter day. Cut back on refined sweets now and natural sugar will start to look a lot sweeter.

Farming in the future will not be driving a $250,000 International Harvester fully air-conditioned combination CD-player and tractor back and forth on the land and following Big Ag spray and pray methods. It will be work by animal or hand. For this, you should take a close look at your gardening/farming tools. A wooden handled shovel, rake, and standard hoe will lead to misery and disappointment. I’d suggest a real shovel. The Fiskars shovel is a good one. That, and a scuffle or colinear hoe , an Ames multipurpose trowel will be your mainstays. While I’m at it, I may as well include a wide-brimmed hat. Straw hats are great and have been worn for centuries for a reason. They provide good shade and move perspiration from your head to keep you cool. Like your defense arsenal, your garden tools need not be fancy, but must be reliable and easily maintained. You should (through hours of practice) know how to use them properly and effectively without causing harm to yourself (blisters, strains, or worse) or damaging the tool or your crops.

Your future garden will be organic. Over time, gardening will deplete the soil of macro and micro nutrients. There will be no “Weed be gone” or “Miracle Gro”. If you depend on those to grow your food, when the balloon goes up you are in trouble. For a peek at what to expect you can read a book on what happened to Cuba’s agriculture after the US embargo: Greening of the Revolution: Cuba’s Experiment with Organic Agriculture. These can be replaced through natural (some would say organic) additions to the soil. Animal manure or humanure or good compost The Complete Book of Composting or you can buy the new version: The Rodale Book of Composting: Easy Methods for Every Gardener will do it. If you start this now, you will save money to be spent on
other preparedness items and learn how to do it properly. [JWR Adds: See my previously-posted emphatic warnings about any use of “humanure”.]

On a related note, stop using any chemicals on your yard. Period. All non-wooded areas are potential gardens or pasture. The sooner you stop putting chemicals on your yard, the sooner you can use it to grow food. Encourage your neighbors to do the same (if necessary, under the OPSEC guise of being environmentally-minded). Your yard and theirs may become your garden or pasture. You don’t want 3-tetra-methyl-weeddeath in your red wheat flour before grinding it to make biscuits for supper.

Research how people lived in your [geographic/climate] area and you will learn a lot about how to prepare. What did native people do in your area for food and shelter. You can learn a lot about what it takes to survive in your area by reading history books about natives or early settlers. Where did they live, what did they eat, what did they trade with/for.
Answers to these questions can help you identify needs or resources you may otherwise overlook. If no native people lived in the area you are considering to be your retreat, then you should probably not try to make a go of it there.

Remember: The Lord does not give us more than we can handle. Pray for the best and prepare for the worst – Prepared in Maine

Letter Re: Bank Walkaways–Banks Intentionally Not Fully Foreclosing?

James Wesley,
I just read an ad on Craigslist explaining some sad stories for individuals on “Bank walk aways” . See BankWalkaways.com for more. It appears that [some] banks are intentionally not auctioning off properties foreclosed on and leaving the titles (
 legal responsibility, liabilities, etc.) in the original record holder’s name. Down the road these vacant properties are vandalized, looted, burned etc., then the city comes a callin’ for the “homeowner” to fund the repairs / demolition. This is outrageous if this is true!

Thanks are hardly enough for the wake up call you’ve given me through your book and web site, but Thank You all the same. This is my first email to your in an attempt to contribute to your great knowledge resource looking out for people. On one hand I hope this is not happening, but if it is I hope you post the wake up call. All the best. – Hal H.