Letter Re: Advice on Sawdust and Other Barn Waste as Fertilizers

Mr. Rawles:
I thought I would pass on a valuable tip I learned thank goodness not the hard way. I have found that taking the bedding from the horse stalls, (manure and urine-soaked sawdust), composting it, and mixing into the garden has converted my hard pan top soil into a nice “loam” which tills and works so much easier (after working it with a tiller).
We are going on year number 4 for our garden and have noticed a substantial decline in productivity and did not follow through with soil testing when I first noticed the “problem”. I attributed it to everything but the culprit.
I have found that sawdust in quantity into soil renders it much less productive, and I am not sure of the longevity of the problem. I understand that the sawdust absorbs the nitrogen in the surrounding soil and does not release it back. I do not have hard facts, but was told by an experienced farmer that he lost the top 14” of topsoil due to sawdust/ bedding introduction on an entire farm!
I am happy to say that I have not had to live off of my yield so far, so this lesson could have saved my family’s life. Two other thoughts come to mind:
1). If composting bedding, straw, clippings, etc., you can introduce a bunch of unwanted weed seed into your garden if you did not in fact let the mixture sit long enough to “burn out” the weed seed. Rotate often.
2). If situation necessitates, cutting wood for the stove may become a more thought thorough venture. Knowing what I know now about sawdust, I personally am making quite sure that where I do most of my cutting is not a potential “expansion” area of the garden, post-SHTF. Grateful for Experience Now, – The Wanderer

Odds ‘n Sods:

Another derivatives debacle! At least I can say that I warned you. From Bloomberg com comes this story: Sallie Mae 4th-Quarter Net Falls on Derivatives Losses. The article begins: “SLM Corp., the nation’s largest provider of college-student loans, said fourth-quarter profit tumbled 96% because of a decline in the value of financial contracts it uses to protect against swings in interest rates.”

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Reader J.M. sent us a news story link and asks: “When will the ‘nanny state’ mentality ever end?”: California may ban conventional light bulbs by 2012 OBTW, I also read that in California the Nanny-Staters want to make spanking any child under three years old a misdemeanor offense. There comes a time when people have to just vote with their feet.

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The folks at Freeze Dry Guy (one of our most loyal advertisers) mentioned that they are having a special sale for February on their Dehydrated Variety Case. This case is designed to expand your variety and increase calories and protein in your storage food supply. The Dehydrated Variety Case includes six #2 1/2 size cans, all nitrogen packed for long term storage: 1 Mountain Stew (13 cups), 1 Potato Granules (40 cups), 1 Stroganoff Casserole (11 cups), 1 Applesauce Mix (28 cups), 1 Butter Powder (29 Tbsp) , 1 Fruit Cocktail (11 cups), plus 6 plastic lids for #2 1/2 cans. Pricing: $62 for 1 case, or $166 for 3 cases, shipping included within the Continental US. Oh yes, be sure to ask for their excellent free report, “Thoughts on Disaster Survival.”

Notes from JWR:

The February “support our troops:” sale on copies of my novel “Patriots” has started off with a bang, with e-mailed reservations and PayPaled orders for more than a dozen copies on the very first day of the sale. I should mention that I’ve also received e-mails from two veterans who recently returned from The Big Sandbox. Both asked if they’d also be eligible for the special pricing. My reply: Yes, indeed! Just send a photocopy of your DD-214 showing that you served in OIF or OEF, or in Bosnia–along with the payment for your book ($12 + $3 postage) to:
Elk Creek Company
P.O. Box 303
Moyie Springs, Idaho 83845

Otherwise, to qualify for the special pricing , the book orders must be mailed to an APO or FPO address, (Roughly half of the orders that I’m getting are for “gift” copies that will be mailed to relatives that are serving in Iraq, Iran, or Bosnia.) Again, the price is just $12 per copy, plus $3 postage. (That is $10.99 off of the cover price–right near my cost.) OBTW, speaking of supporting our troops, be sure to visit the AnySoldier.com web site, and “do your bit.” As previously mentioned, some young enlisted troops that are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan get no mail from home, so anything that you can send them–even just a postcard–is appreciated. I now offer a couple of additional payment options for book orders: both AlertPay and GearPay. (I prefer AlertPay or GearPay because they don’t share PayPal’s anti-gun political agenda.) In my experience, AlertPay has a frustratingly labyrinthine account set-up procedure, but GearPay seems much quicker and easier to set up.
Our AlertPay address is: rawles@usa.net
Our GearPay address is: rawles@usa.net
Our PayPal address is: rawles@earthlink.net

Please continue to spread the word about SurvivalBlog. Please mention SurvivalBlog whenever you call a talk radio show. I would also greatly appreciate it if you’d consider adding a SurvivalBlog link to your web page and/or to the bottom of your mail “sig” block. Thanks!

Letter Re: Pondering Some Personal Consequences of Global Climate Change

James:
While the pundits assure us that global warming, if real at all, won’t affect us in our lifetime, other scientific models suggest explosive climate shifts as ‘tipping points’ are reached. (See the movie The Day after Tomorrow regarding tipping points). Discoveries of animals flash frozen solid with fresh grass their stomachs points to the possibility of a very fast onset to global climate change. While suddenly finding yourself in an Arctic climate is likely not survivable, we must consider if we have the flexibility to survive in a radically different or highly volatile climate. Global warming can make warm places colder and cold places warmer. Dry places wetter and wet places drier. Rather than thinking of global warming as a ‘warming’ per-say (as in the end it may even trigger an ice age), think of it as having the potential of radically changing in any direction your historical weather pattern and making weather very unpredictable. Questions to ponder are:

If it got much wetter/drier where I live what would happen? What if the rain stops, or it rains 50 times more than it used to? If you rely on catchment and the rain stops, then what? If you rely on a well in an otherwise dry climate, are you prepared for flash floods? Do you have proper drainage ditches?

If it got much warmer or much colder, do you have heirloom seeds for temperate and tropical climates? Are you prepared to build a greenhouse if temperature fluctuates from 70F to 6F in a matter of weeks (as it did in New York City recently). Do your crops require a frost and what if you don’t get one? Will your crops be killed by a frost and what if you do get one? If you live in the tropics, do you have any cold weather gear?
Warm weather can bring insect and vermin to an area that would otherwise not survive. Could your crops deal with insects from another climate? Witness the rising of malaria in locations that had until now been at a high enough altitude to prevent mosquitoes from thriving in central American cities. Alternatively, if you hope to add to your larder by hunting game and migratory bird, what if the birds shifted their flight path to accommodate a weather change? What if the local deer decided en masse to move south (or whatever direction was warmer)? If you hope to fish to augment your protein stores, what if the fish (which are as we speak disappearing) left your shores or your waters became another notorious ‘dead zone’?

If it got much windier or less windy, then what? If you rely on wind power and the wind patterns shift direction, can you move your system to accommodate it? What if the winds stop entirely (unlikely as climate changes tend to make for more wind not less), then what? If it got much windier, can your wind generating equipment handle it? Can you house survive a hurricane in a location where houses are not built with hurricanes in mind? (Remember the recent Pacific Northwest windstorms?) Would your crops suffer if your windbreak were suddenly on the wrong side of your farm?

If you rely on solar [power or water heating] and you go from a sunny location to clouds all the time, then what? Do you have crops that can handle both high levels and low levels of sunlight?

Do you have snow tires or chains for your car? What would you do if your roads were covered in snow and ice? Do you have anti-freeze?

Where would a 15 foot rise in sea level put you? – SF in Hawaii

Letter Re: Veterinary Antibiotics

All this discussion of antibiotic nephrotoxicity on a “non-medical” forum reminds me of just why modern medical education is so onerous, including (in the U.S.) four hard years of school — two mostly classroom, two mostly clinical — followed by many more years of clinical residency training. During such training, one encounters lots of side effects of the various highly potent chemical agents known as pharmaceuticals. Watching out for the kidneys is one reason hospitalized patients have so much blood drawn over and over again (to monitor BUN [blood urea nitrogen] and creatinine, markers for renal function).

I guess the best TEOTWAWKI preparation would be to stockpile antibiotics and an experienced practitioner to administer them, preferably a board-certified infectious disease specialist. Unfortunately the latter are not available via mail order! Lacking such experienced members in your family or mutual assistance group, one is advised to be rather cautious in dosing — i.e. respect those meds — they can cure but they can also kill. In short, please “don’t try this at home” unless you absolutely have to.

On the specific subject of tetracyclines, the relevant paragraph in “the” standard textbook, Mandell’s Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases (4th ed.) begins “The tetracyclines aggravate pre-existing renal failure by inhibiting protein synthesis, which increases the azotemia from amino acid metabolism…” The paragraph concludes with rather brief mention of toxicity in expired tetracyclines due to the outdated manufacturing issues [i.e. binders that are no longer used], but says “It is unlikely this complication will recur.”

The best reference to this issue I can readily find on-line (as opposed to textbooks) is as follows — pay attention to the years cited:

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INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME ON CHEMICAL SAFETY — ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH CRITERIA 119 —
PRINCIPLES AMD METHODS FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF NEPHROTOXICITY ASSOCIATED WITH EXPOSURE TO CHEMICALS

Tetracyclines
The nephrotoxicity of tetracycline incited considerable interest in the early 1960s, shortly after its introduction. People, particularly children, developed a reversible proximal tubular dysfunction after receiving outdated drugs. The nephrotoxicity was found to be due to a degradation product, anhydro-4-epitetracycline. The problem has disappeared with the substitution of citric acid for lactose as a vehicle (Curtis, 1979).

Other rare effects of tetracycline that have been reported are impairment of renal-concentrating ability by demethyl-chlorotetracycline and occurrences of acute interstitial nephritis after minocycline treatment. More important to current usage is the awareness that the serum half-life of the two most commonly used drugs, tetracycline and oxytetracycline, is greatly prolonged in renal failure, and that the anti-anabolic effect of the tetracyclines, which inhibit the incorporation of amino acids into protein, may further contribute to negative nitrogen balance and uraemia by raising blood urea nitrogen (Curtis, 1979).
Reference cited : CURTIS, J.R. (1979) Drug-induced renal disease. Drugs, 18: 377-391.

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One last comment: A useful aphorism that I was taught in medical school is that “any drug can cause any side effect in any patient at any time (…but some are more likely than others).”
– A Public Health Physician

Odds ‘n Sods:

The price action in the precious metals markets has been uneven for the past couple of months. It seems to be a market looking for a sense of direction. Just as with the base metals, there is of course a habitual tendency for the precious metals to follow the price of crude oil. But as previously mentioned, that linkage is weakening. Even though oil is off more than 25% from its highs of a few months ago (presently it is down in the low $50 range, per barrel), the metal prices have not followed. They’ve weakened a bit, but stayed in a fairly consistent range. With all of the international tensions–particularly regarding Iran–why hasn’t the the precious metals bull resumed his charge? I’m surprised that this hasn’t happened. Perhaps the sagging oil prices have made the metals traders cautious. All of this aside, I remain confident about gold and even more confident about silver as investments in the long term, since the inevitable long term direction of the dollar is downward. Whether in inflationary or deflationary times, the precious metals are a decent hedge. But it is in times of mass inflation that they really shine.With the Democrats now in control of congress, unbridled spending seems likely, and both higher taxes and and inflation will follow. I recommend that you continue to grow your physical silver holdings each time that there is a sharp price dip in the spot silver market. (For example the recent dip to down near $12 per ounce was a good time to buy. I hope that you took heed when I mentioned that dip )

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There are just 14 days left in the big “Container load sale” at Survival Enterprises. Several items have sold out. These are going fast! All of the storage food items are “first come – first served.” The prices are less than half of retail.

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Personal Savings in U.S. Drop to Lowest Rate Since 1933–the Depth of the Great Depression. Gee, decades of chronic inflation wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would it?

Jim’s Quote of the Day

"It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error." – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson

Note from JWR:

Congratulations to JLM, the winner of Round 8 of the SurvivalBlog writing contest. He has won a four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. JLM wrote the article “Gardens of the Future”, which was posted on January 26th. Additionally, honorable mention awards go to S.N. for his article “Horse Power, the Real McCoy” (posted January 12th) and to John in Central New York State for his article “Which Vehicle Will Work? Choices For Post -TEOTWAWKI Transport” (posted December 25th.) These two gents will each receive a complimentary autographed copy of the new expanded edition of my novel “Patriots”: Surviving The Coming Collapse. To the prize winners: Please e-mail me your snail mail addresses.

Round 9 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. begins today. The writer of the best non-fiction article will win a valuable four day “gray” transferable Front Sight course certificate. (Worth up to $1,600.) Second prize is a copy of my “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course, generously donated by Jake Stafford of Arbogast Publishing.If you want a chance to win the contest, start writing and e-mail us your article. Round 9 will end on March 31st. Remember that the articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival will have an advantage in the judging.

Letter Re: Rural Retreat Matchmaking for Big City Dwellers

Dear Jim:
Regarding retreats for big city dwellers, the more you read and think, the clearer it becomes:
1. Your retreat from the big city needs to be more than a distance than is convenient to travel on a weekly basis.
2. You really need someone there full time for security and maintenance. [JWR Adds: And to establish/develop gardens, fruit trees, nut trees, and livestock for self-sufficiency.]
3. One family (unless a humongous family by modern standards) is not enough folks to have a diversity of skills, keep good perimeter security, or defend in a TSHTF situation.
4. [Affording both] a rural retreat and a city home is an expensive proposition.
The obvious solution is for like-minded families to band together to share costs and work. But an even better solution would be to come to an arrangement with a rancher or farmer who is survival savvy, but land rich and cash poor. (Or that needs more folks on board in a crisis).
The hard parts are:
1. How to make the connection between urban and rural dwellers in the first place, and
2. Then of course how to have a “let’s date before we sign contracts to get married” period to build trust and teamwork, and to make sure that there is enough compatibility and common ground.
Any ideas / advice ?
Have looked at the site you recommended where survivalists could connect, but it seemed most postings were old. Perhaps there is an opportunity here for SurvivalBlog to be of service doing classified ads or “match-making” for a fee? Regards, – OSOM

JWR Replies: For liability reasons, I refrain from posting any matchmaking “classifieds” –or anything similar. (You’ve probably read about the $4.3 million dollar settlement paid by Robert K. Brown, very nearly bankrupting Soldier of Fortune magazine.) Sorry, but I can’t afford to roll those dice. I still recommend The Survivalist Contacts Page, which is kindly sponsored and hosted by SurvivalistBooks.com. So far as I know, they are still accepting new contacts posts. If you utilize this free service, be sure to patronize their on-line book store. (They have a wide assortment of preparedness and self-sufficiency books, at competitive prices.)

Letter Re: Heirloom / Open Pollinated Seeds

Sir:
Your recent posts on seed varieties sparked some thoughts on my recent reading. We’re going to find fellowship and learning opportunities within the “Authentic Agriculture” movement. Since living at the retreat is ideal, perhaps “Authentic Agriculture” is how to make it happen.
About halfway down the page in this link the farmer describes breeding a plot of open pollinated corn in order to maximum the desirable expressed phenotypes for his soils and micro-climate. By hand selecting seed over generations he is increasing his protein content for his animals. A 3,000 acre Farmerus maximus miserabli just can’t compete with a homesteader clipping open his seed corn samples to check on starch-to-endosperm ratios.
Somewhere else I read recently (cannot find the link) that by saving seed and selecting characteristics, a homesteader was able to increase corn yield 10% over ten generations. It’s not just the right thing to do; there’s profit in using heirloom and open pollinated varietals. In His Service, – BH

Letter Re: Urban Freeway Traffic Gridlock in a Disaster

James;
As Bob B. from the Seattle area stated, the gridlock of freeways is a huge issue, especially in Seattle. I had the unfortunate experience of being on the 50th floor of a large building in Seattle during the earthquake of 2000, and again on Sept. 11th, 2001. I was more prepared for the latter. in the aftermath of the earthquake, I became acutely aware of the fact that Seattle is an island: bridges to get in and out of the city that cross both Lake Washington, and Lake Union. And while there, the entire freeway system is elevated. Not a place to be stuck! Especially considering it’s such a liberal city, full of sheeple.
After that [first] experience, I put to together an emergency bag, and kept it with me at all times when traveling to, from, or in the city (now everywhere.) It consists of my black Gortex shell coat. 60 folded one dollar bills, a Grundig self-powered (hand crank) radio, energy bars, first aid kit (with extra prescription drugs, and pain killers) LED head lamp, water bottle, a hard plastic folded street map of the city and surrounding area, my cell phone (always charged to full) and my favorite caliber Glock in a comfy suede in-the-pants holster, two extra [Glock] magazines in my bag, (each having a situation specific load). Given, it’s not a lot, but if I were to become trapped on “The Island” (Seattle) for most reasons–minus NBC situations–I am confident that I will survive, or escape, with little to no trouble. If nothing else, I have a piece of mind: the Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) that my basketball coach instilled in me all those years ago. And with that, and God, I can do anything legal or necessary. – John Denver’s Last Fan

Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog reader Norman in England mentioned this piece in The Times of London; Thousands to Test Flu Emergency Response. Norman’s comments: “If this thing does mutate and get world wide then it will be very difficult if not impossible for society to hold together as it is now. What will come from this exercise will be bulls**t. I’ll try to keep you posted but I expect most of it to be kept under wraps. The systems that hold our society together have very little fault tolerance and it will not take much to bring society down. Once we are on the conveyor belt of collapse there will be nothing to stop total collapse. We must think seriously of how any who survive this will live without our current systems which includes electric power. As I have stated before how are we going to replace those broken or worn out part of generators, motors, pumps etc. How are we going to be able to forge the metal for those parts? What about such things resistors, transistors, etc. We who call ourselves ‘survivalists’ must use what little time we have left to plan for this eventuality. Not just with stocks of food and equipment but by planning to revert to a standard of living where if we can not make an item ourselves, or at least within a small community, we will have to do without.”

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Fred the Valmet-meister wrote to tell us about this web site in England on collecting anti-tank rifles. Fred calls it “a really cool web site for reading on a winter’s day:”

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A web search yielded this interesting product web page: LINE-X – Blast-Proof, Anti-Terror Paint Saves Building in New Mexico Explosion Tests.

Note from JWR:

For the entire month of February, I’m having a special “support our troops” sale on copies of the new expanded 33 chapter edition my novel “Patriots”. If you place an order directly with me, and you have us mail it to an APO or FPO address, then the price is just $12 per copy, plus $3 postage. (That is $10.99 off of the cover price–right near my wholesale cost.)

OBTW, speaking of supporting our troops, be sure to visit the AnySoldier.com web site, and “do your bit.” Some young enlisted troops that are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan get no mail from home, so anything that you can send them–even just a postcard–is appreciated.

I now offer a couple of additional payment options for book orders: both AlertPay and GearPay. (I prefer these because they don’t share PayPal’s anti-gun political agenda.) In my experience, AlertPay has a frustratingly labyrinthine account set-up procedure, but GearPay seems much quicker and easier to set up.
Our AlertPay address is: rawles@usa.net
Our GearPay address is: rawles@usa.net
Our PayPal address is: rawles@earthlink.net