EMP Shield, by Pat Cascio

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First off, let me state that I’m no expert in anything, just a serious student, who is always learning. I’ve spent a lot of time researching the effects of an EMP attack on our electrical grid. One thing that I’ve learned is that there doesn’t seem to be any one source that agrees with others on just what exactly will happen when there is an EMP strike. No one seems to know how long there will be an electrical outage — will it be weeks, months, years, or longer? Some people in this field state that it might be a decade or longer, before we could have an electrical grid up and running once again. And others state that a grid-down collapse could be a multi-generational dark age.

One thing for certain is that any long lapse without electricity can and surely will result in millions of deaths in a very short time. Some experts claim that about 90% of our population will die within a year without electricity. I believe it will be a much shorter time period. Without power, there is no way to produce food, and without food we will die in short order. Additionally, there won’t be any clean water produced for drinking, and without water, everything will die off — this is a fact! There won’t be any production of anything — without power, nothing moves or works.Continue reading“EMP Shield, by Pat Cascio”

Recipe of the Week: R.R.’s Iced Pumpkin Cake Bars

Reader R.R.. kindly sent us this recipe for iced pumpkin cake bars with a cream cheese icing.

Cake Bar Ingredients
    • 4 large eggs, warmed to room temperature
    • 1-2/3 cups granulated white sugar
    • 1 cup of vegetable oil
    • 16 ounces (one can) of solid-pack cooked pumpkin
    • 2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 2 teaspoons of baking powder
    • 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
    • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
Icing Ingredients
  • 6 ounces of cream cheese, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, room temperature softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons whole milk
Cake Bar Making Directions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F.
  2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until well blended.
  3. Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  4. Gradually add this into the pumpkin,and mix well.
  5. Pour into a lightly-greased greased 10″ x 15″ baking pan that is no more than 2″ deep.
  6. Bake at 350° F for 25 to 30 minutes.
  7. Test with a toothpick to be sure that it is baked through.
  8. Completed cake will only be about 1″ thick.
  9. Cool completely before icing.
Icing Making Directions
  1. In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla.
  2. Add just enough milk to get an icing that can be spread consistently.
  3. After the cake has cooled, spread icing over the cake.
  4. Slice into bars that are less than 2″ wide, and about  3″ long.
SERVING

The icing is a bit messy when warm, so let the cake cool completely, before icing and cutting into bars.

STORAGE

Both the iced bars and any extra icing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days. But they will be gobbled up long before then!

—

Do you have a favorite recipe that would be of interest to SurvivalBlog readers? In this weekly recipe column we place emphasis on recipes that use long term storage foods, recipes for wild game, dutch oven and slow cooker recipes, and any that use home garden produce. If you have any favorite recipes, then please send them via e-mail. Thanks!

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at the market for deactivated guns, in England. (See the Tangibles Investing section.)

Precious Metals:

Revisiting the Dow to Gold Ratio

o  o  o

Bank Behind World’s Largest Money Laundering Scandal Offered Russians Gold Bars To Hide Their Fortune

Economy & Finance:

Reader A.K. mentioned this, over at MarketWatch: The biggest risk facing the stock market in the coming year isn’t trade jitters or the election, Deutsche Bank warns

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: How To Spend $45,000 On A $27,000 Car

o  o  o

US dials back tariffs on some big-ticket items made in China

o  o  o

At Wolf Street: The State of the American Debt Slaves, Q3 2019

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”

Preparedness Notes for Sunday — November 17, 2019

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On this day in 1777, the Articles of Confederation were submitted to the states for ratification. They differed from the Constitution in that they emphasized the primacy of the states. This brings to mind the dangers of convening a Constitutional Convention, because the last time this happened the Articles of Confederation were thrown out and totally replaced by the Constitution. Do you honestly believe that our politicians today could craft a document that so thoroughly protects the rights of the individual as they did then?

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 85 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3,000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  3. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  4. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  7. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Good2GoCo.com is providing a $400 purchase credit at regular prices for the prize winner’s choice of either Wise Foods or Augason long term storage foods, in stackable buckets.
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.

Round 85 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Outdoor Survival: Of Belts and Tins, by Randy in S.C.

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M1 Garand cartridge belts and Altoids tins are a match made in prepper’s heaven. You may already have some of these vintage items gathering dust. If not, they are easy to find. Together they can be a literal lifesaver, more capable than smaller survival kits and far less bulky than the typical bugout bag.

The M1 cartridge belt is an adjustable canvas belt with 10 snap-closure pockets, each measuring approximately 3 ¾” x 2 ¾” x 1”. It was standard issue from about 1910 until the full adoption of the M14 rifle in the late 1950s. The belt was originally designed to carry 100 .30-06 cartridges in 5-round stripper clips.   When the Garand came along, GIs instead used these to carry ten 8-round en bloc clips instead. Coincidentally, Altoids tins, at about 3 ½” x 2 ½” x ¾”, also fit just fine…but you probably don’t need ten tins of breath mints. The good news is that lots of other things fit in them when the candy is gone.

Things Came In Tins

When I was young, lots of great things came in tins. Empty, they could be used in any number of ways. Prince Albert tobacco tins, for example, made perfect back-pocket fishing kits. A few worms, a hook, some line wrapped around the outside, and you were set for the day. Band-Aid tins were thicker and didn’t fit my Levi’s as well, but held more marbles or baseball cards. Even Premium saltines came in tins: big ones, maybe five inches square and a foot long. I now wish that I had a hundred of them.

Altoids tins are about the only ones left. I doubt there’s a prepper of my generation who didn’t turn an Altoids tin into a shirt-pocket survival kit, or perhaps a first-aid kit. These are still viable projects. In recent years, recycling Altoids tins has become virtually a cottage industry. There is seemingly no limit to the ways they have been reused. They are particularly popular for small electronic devices. At the end of this article I have included links to some of the most popular and ingenious uses. Many of these projects tend to be just-for-fun, but the solar iPhone charger could have a practical application. The tins are so useful that they can even be bought empty, and in any quantity you might require. Twelve cost about $12 at Amazon. Unless you really hate the Altoids label, you might as well buy them filled and eat the candy.

Where It All Began

I began with a shirt-pocket survival kit – I don’t recall what brand of tin I used. The concept is simple: a container small enough to have with you all the time, packed with tools to make fire, purify water, catch food, treat minor injuries and find your way back to civilization. These took a little ingenuity. At the time a lot of handy items were not readily available for purchase. I had to waterproof matches with nail polish. The best fire starters we had were charcloth and extra-fine steel wool. Cotton balls saturated with Vaseline worked, but were rather messy. Nobody made neat little towelettes and sterile swabs in mylar pouches. Superglue hadn’t been invented. We didn’t even have duct tape!   My early kits were built around a button compass, fishline, hooks and sinkers, a single-edged razor blade or X-Acto knife, waterproof matches, a few band-aids and a small container of antiseptic, and a carefully-folded sheet of aluminum foil. I ‘tested’ my kits on day hikes in the woods, caught and cooked a few fish, and went home convinced I could conquer the world.Continue reading“Outdoor Survival: Of Belts and Tins, by Randy in S.C.”

The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “JWR”. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. Today, we look at illegal immigration statistics.

Activated Charcoal for Detox, Food Poisoning & Hangovers

Reader DSV mentioned this, over at Phramacist Ben‘s site: Activated Charcoal for Detox, Food Poisoning & Hangovers

Yale University Claims Up to 29.5 Million Illegal Immigrants

Yale University shocker: 29.5 million illegal immigrants, 3X higher than Census number. The article leads off with this:

“The illegal immigrant population is as high as 29.5 million, far more than the 11 million accepted by experts and the government, according to an explosive new report from three Yale University experts.

“Our results lead us to the conclusion that the widely accepted estimate of 11.3 million undocumented immigrants in the United States is too small. Our model estimates indicate that the true number is likely to be larger, with an estimated 95 percent probability interval ranging from 16.2 to 29.5 million undocumented immigrants,” said their report published by PLOS One, an academic journal.”

Retreat Property in Bridger, Montana

There is a new listing for an off-grid property in Bridger, Montana, over at my #1 Son’s SurvivalRealty.com site.

Supreme Court Lets Sandy Hook Families Sue

H.L. sent this from Fox News: Supreme Court lets Sandy Hook families’ lawsuit against gunmaker proceedContinue reading“The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods”

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

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“We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.

For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” – Galatians 2:15-21 (KJV)

Preparedness Notes for Saturday — November 16, 2019

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November 16th was the birthday of Michael D. Echanis (born 1950, died September 1978), a former United States Army Special Forces and 75th Ranger Battalion enlisted man. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with “V” device as a LRRP in the Vietnam War. He was born and raised in eastern Oregon. Echanis was killed while working for the CIA in Nicaragua in 1978 in a plane crash along with his colleague Charles Sanders and members of the Nicaraguan armed forces. There was conjecture that the plane was destroyed in flight by a saboteur’s bomb. JWR’s novel Survivors includes a minor character from Oregon with the surname Echanis, as a small homage to Mike Echanis.

—

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 85 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The more than $12,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3,000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A gift certificate from Quantum Harvest LLC (up to a $2,200 value) good for 12% off the purchase of any of their sun-tracking models, and 10% off the purchase price of any of their other models.
  2. A Front Sight Lifetime Diamond Membership, providing lifetime free training at any Front Sight Nevada course, with no limit on repeating classes. This prize is courtesy of a SurvivalBlog reader who prefers to be anonymous.
  3. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  4. A $300 purchase credit for any of the products from EMPShield.com
  5. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  6. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  7. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. Good2GoCo.com is providing a $400 purchase credit at regular prices for the prize winner’s choice of either Wise Foods or Augason long term storage foods, in stackable buckets.
  2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
  3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  4. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  5. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  6. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.

Round 85 ends on November 30th, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Brewing My Own Kombucha, by S.C.

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Kombucha is a fermented sweet tea. Commercially, it is found in the refrigerated section with other prepared teas. It is loaded with live probiotics, so it has many health benefits. It tastes like fizzy vinegar, which takes a little getting used to. The fermentation process converts most of the sugar and caffeine. However, the caffeine sensitive may have to drink it only early in the day.

Caveat: Kombucha has a minor amount of alcohol; less than 0.5% if it is sold commercially, and 0.2% to 0.8% (other estimates say 1-3%) if made at home. I mention this so that those avoiding alcohol for religious, pregnancy, or recovery reasons — so they can make an informed choice.

I found Kombucha to be beneficial for my whole family, as we all need probiotics. It has been good for our overall digestive health, and helped mitigate diverticulosis, constipation, irritable bowel, and reflux. It even helped make the last bout of stomach flu to hit our house shorter and less violent. At least for the “booch” drinkers. Now we are all booch drinkers. It is especially beneficial for feminine health. My overall health was improved as I began consuming it regularly, and I found my body craving it.

My Doctor recommended consuming live probiotics, such as kefir or kombucha, for my diverticulosis. When I first looked for them at the grocery store, I was lucky to find some kombucha discounted for quick sale at $1 a bottle (a 16 oz bottle has two 8 oz servings). The normal price range was $3.5 to $4 a bottle. Most stores throw outdated kombucha away (they won’t even give it away for fear of litigation), and refuse to discount it before expiration. Finding it at a discount can be challenging. Even then, a dollar a bottle is awfully pricey for pennies worth of sugar and tea, and dimes worth of flavorings. Besides, I would rather not be dependent on a store for something as vital as probiotics. There had to be a better way, so I began looking for one.Continue reading“Brewing My Own Kombucha, by S.C.”

Editors’ Prepping Progress November 16, 2019

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To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. Note that as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in the Comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready!

Jim Reports:

I was quite busy writing this week, so I only had the chance to get out and do just a bit of deer hunting.  I also managed to to get our pickup ready to plow snow.

I hauled out another 50-pound salt with selenium block for our cattle and horses, to our east pasture. These blocks only seem to last a few months. I should mention that selenium blocks are only needed in regions that have soil that is deficient in selenium. (Generally, less than .20 ppm. But I’ve read that the selenium content of soil must be higher, if you have acidic soil–which is common in coniferous woodland areas. This is because grasses growing in acidic soil have less selenium uptake.) Our local soil is marginal for its selenium content, so I err on the side of caution, and buy the salt blocks with selenium.

This weekend, I’m at another gun show. I’m still gathering an inventory of pre-1899 guns, in anticipation of the planned launch of a web-based sales company, in February or March of 2020. It will be called Elk Creek Company. I plan to post some details about that in January.  I won’t have an FFL and won’t be selling and modern guns — only pre-1899 attiques.

Avalanche Lily Reports:

Dear Readers,

This past week has been rather cloudy and cool at the ranch.  I had another quiet week of not much prepping.

I have been busy in our indoor greenhouse — a seasonally converted guest bedroom.  I will have some details on that in a feature article which will appear in the blog (Deo Volente) on Tuesday, November 19th.

I spent two early mornings walking around some trails and fence lines of the ranch, pruning tree branches and dead saplings, mostly pines, to open up more trails for Cross Country Skiing/Hiking/biking/horseback riding.

And I did go for two-one hour power walks this week on the the same trails that I had just pruned.

I added a baggie of Himalayan salt to my Bug Out bag.  It entered my mind to add it, so I did…

Most of my time was spent doing school with Miss Violet, writing the article on the indoor garden, studying the first nine chapters of the first book of Kings in English and Hebrew, translating, and doing the same with Chapters 18 and 19 in John. I also discovered the Red Alert Israel App that lets one know when rockets are being launched.  I downloaded it onto my i-Pad and spent time praying whenever I’d hear it go off.   And in general, I was maintaining the status quo of the ranch life: cooking, cleaning, feeding animals, organizing, etc.  Some weeks are going to be quiet.  I’m sorry that I haven’t given you something more interesting to read about…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) bubbled up to 28,000 points by the closing bell on Friday.  If and when that blows…  …it will be spectacular, but not in a good way.  Please continue to prep, and pray, and watch.

May you all have a very blessed and safe week.

– Avalanche Lily, Rawles

o o o

As always, please share your own successes and hard-earned wisdom in the Comments.

The Editors’ Quote of the Day:

1

“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:

Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!

Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?

Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men’s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein.

Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil!

Thou hast consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul.

For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.

Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!

Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” – Habakkuk 2:1-14 (KJV)

Food Production at a Remote Home, by Mrs. Alaska

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JWR’s Introductory Note:   You will recognize the author’s name ( “Mrs. Alaska” ), from one of our Retreat Owner Profiles.

—

Nature is very generous with her gifts, but at least here in Alaska, rarely consistent.

I think about the highs and lows of our food production history (animals, plants, honey) whenever I read some optimistic, wannabe homesteader or prepper declare, “I will live off the land!” or ”I will learn to garden when I get there.”   The key to food production, I have concluded, is to (a) learn to read the weather, (b) learn what grows in your ecosystem, (c) don’t expect the same harvests each year, and (d) be adaptable.

The following are a few examples of surprises that have impacted our food harvests of wild and domesticated animals (first) and vegetables (second) in recent — and variable — years:

WILD and DOMESTICATED ANIMALS (and INSECTS):

BEAR:  Last year, my husband shot (from our front porch) a large black bear (6’4” according to the hide) that is still feeding us from quart jars I canned.  Stew, tacos, spaghetti, stuffed wontons, moo shoo bear, just to name a few.

This year though, we never even saw one.  (Just scat from surreptitious night time visitors).  That is hundreds of pounds of meat we had expected, but did not get.

FISH:  When we bought a property on a lake, two miles from a stream, we assumed we would eat fish all the time.  But Mother Nature foiled those plans. Pike moved into our lake/river system about 15 years ago, eradicated all of the other fish.  I prefer trout but like pike: we used to haul out monsters 39 – 42 inches long and make three meals at a time. In the past two or three years, they have virtually disappeared.  A biologist inferred that when their population peaked and they had killed off everything else, they started cannibalizing their smaller progeny until few remain today. Therefore, the fishing we took for granted petered out before I even thought to preserve any of it!  Is it worthwhile to re-stock the lake with purchased fry and fingerlings? Not as long as a mating pair of predatory pike remain, we are told.

Yes, we can kayak across the lake and then hike two miles through bog and woods for salmon, grayling, and trout as we did years ago, but to do so, we need to resurrect and maintain a feeble trail, now overgrown with plants and downed trees and beaver dammed creek sections.  This, we have neglected to do while working on our property, so it will be a major project. Hiking two miles through untended old growth forest in Alaska is not like hiking through a state park.

HONEY:  Last year was our worst honey harvest ever, because the summer was so rainy that the bees did not want to fly.

This year was our best honey harvest ever because it was so warm and dry.   Also, our improved hive insulation and ventilation helped three of four hives survive the winter. Thus, they enjoyed an early start on pollen collection.  Since we did not expect that success, we had ordered four more “nucs” (a queen with a small, nuclear colony). This year, even after harvesting 28+ gallons for ourselves, the bees are fortified for the upcoming winter with plenty of honey (their food). We have high hopes for their survival to spring (which will save us $265 per ”nuc”).Continue reading“Food Production at a Remote Home, by Mrs. Alaska”

Economics & Investing For Preppers

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Here are the latest news items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. Most of these items are from the “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor, JWR. Today, we look at investing in silver. (See the Precious Metals section.)

Precious Metals:

Jim Wyckoff: Gold, silver slip to 3-month lows at chart-based sellers emboldened. JWR’s Comment:  Buy on dips like these!

o  o  o

Commander Zero of the great Notes From The Bunker blog had this terse but pointed commentary:  Silver.

o  o  o

Daryl Robert Schoon: Illiquidity And Gold And Silver In The End Game

Economy & Finance:

Dimon says problems like the repo lending crunch could happen ‘increasingly if we’re not careful’. JWR’s Comment:  Even the Perpetual Cheering Section at CNBC must have taken notice, when they heard that!

o  o  o

Port Report: LA port sees biggest October box drop in 24 years

o  o  o

At Zero Hedge: Sears To Close A Third Of Its Remaining Stores As Iconic Retailer Fades Away

o  o  o

Visualizing Walmart’s Domination Of The US Grocery Market

Continue reading“Economics & Investing For Preppers”