One of the things that seems to often get left out of the picture in survival articles, blogs, forums, chats, etc. is community. Lots of times the debate of shelter in place vs. bug out is discussed. Often the topic of security against the "Golden Horde" or "Bands of Zombies" gets aired out (far too much for my liking if you must know) but I don't often see the frank discussion about community.
It takes a village to raise a child. Or so I've heard. It also takes a village to propagate the species. Breeding within families is generally a taboo topic so if the apocalypse comes to pass and we manage to survive are we only staving off the ending of our species if we hunker down with our food storage and survival gardens? Our children will need others. They will need them to security, for safety, for survival. As will we, truthfully.
Assuming it's my family against the world, there is only so long that my husband and I can keep watch before the lack of sleep starts to get to us, even on rotating shifts. Plus if one person is always on watch for those menacing hordes trying to take our stuff then how will any of the actual work of survival happen? Who will chop wood? Tend the garden? Cook the meals? Raise the children? It would be much easier if you had a community involved in security, food production etc.
So to that end I have started to build my community.
What I have found among survivalists is this sense of secrecy which I understand. I do. I'm not judging. If people get hungry they get desperate. They steal. They loot. They kill. So if people are hungry and they know you have food, well, there is a good chance you won't stand a chance. So I understand why people hesitate to share that they are preparing. They are learning. They are storing. Because we are afraid we wont have enough for ourselves we attempt to learn it all and horde it all with no thought of what happens after. But why not come out a little bit? Why not start sharing some information?
I blog in several places but I keep this blog very private from my friends and family because I know to them all of this sounds like Chicken Little and the sky is falling. If you look at it as a whole anyways.
During the holiday I gave canned goods from local fruits as gifts. That was my start of building my community. The other day I invited a friend to the upcoming Self Reliance Expo because of conversations we've had about rising gas prices and continued unemployment. Another friend and I had a long conversation yesterday about trees. I mentioned I was putting in apple trees this year. I was prepared for conversation about rising gas prices etc. but instead my friend mentioned that they have 2 apple trees in their backyard. We talked about the trees and I had some suggestions for her as to why they are only producing small fruit if any. She's been my friend for 5 years and I never knew she had apple trees in her backyard! That's another source of food in my community should we ever need it. (If we can fix the trees) Both of these friends live in my neighborhood which is my community.
So I'm not running around shouting from the rooftops that I have food storage but I am trying to turn my friends into a more local, survival, backyard thought process which I believe is a good first step towards building a community that could thrive without too many external inputs if needed. Is it complete? Is it whole? No. But it's a start.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Happy St. Patricks Day!
As my gift for St. Patricks day one of the tomatoes I planted last week has sprouted. YAY tomatoes! There is hope!
I was starting to get worried because the seed starting soil they are in seems REALLY packed on top no matter how often I try to break it apart. I'm kinda not pleased with that.
But I was pretty thrilled to see a "bit o' the green" today.
My family came from Ireland 5 or 6 generations ago. I joke that they did so to escape having to eat boiled cabbage. Certainly that is not a novelty food for me, that's for sure.
I hope you all are having a lovely week and a even more lovely St. Patricks Day. I'll write more later about my house of sickness.
I was starting to get worried because the seed starting soil they are in seems REALLY packed on top no matter how often I try to break it apart. I'm kinda not pleased with that.
But I was pretty thrilled to see a "bit o' the green" today.
My family came from Ireland 5 or 6 generations ago. I joke that they did so to escape having to eat boiled cabbage. Certainly that is not a novelty food for me, that's for sure.
I hope you all are having a lovely week and a even more lovely St. Patricks Day. I'll write more later about my house of sickness.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
My herb garden
I've gotten asked several times about the front yard herb garden. Specific questions are "what are you going to put in there?" or some variation of that theme.
My answer has been a shrug and "i dunno" for awhile. I had an idea. I sorta kinda new what sounded trendy or good. But I didn't have anything concrete.
So since my focus on my preperation of medicinal needs I set about deciding what I would put in my garden.
First, the garden has three functions. It's a medicine cabinet that only I know about really. It also is a cooking cabinet for herbs and spices. Finally, it's a butterfly and helpful insect attractant. In order for my backyard food production to get noticed I need to make my house THE place to be for helpful insects. So using the front yard (as well as parts of the backyard) as solely a place to put out the welcome wagon seems like a good idea.
For cooking herbs I want to have thyme, oregano, basil, sage, parsley, dill, rosemary and chives. Most of those will probably be in pots or just randomly spread through the raised bed and window sill in the front and back yard. Those I don't worry too much about.
When it came time to selecting medicinal herbs though I knew I needed to be a little more selective. I started by looking at what items I most likely would need by looking at my family's health and what issues we have.
1. Male, 36 - high blood pressure, some depression issues
2. Female, 31 (almost 32!) - hypothyroid, frequent headaches, menstrual cramping on and off
3. Female, 15 - no known health issues but of a child bearing age
4. Female, 6 - no known health issues
5. Male, 1 - asthma
On top of that I knew I needed to be able to handle seasonal issues like colds and the flu.
Then I needed to evaluate where we live and what will grow here. We live in the Rocky Mountain region, approximately a mile above sea level. We are pretty arid and our summer sun is intense. Soil depends on where you live. I currently have pretty decent soil.
Then I started reading and researching. I bought a book, Edible & Medicinal Plants of the Rockies and attended a class called Herbal Remedies for Cold & Flu at my local greenhouse.
Between these items I've narrowed down my list of MUST GROWS.
Elderberry - (Whenever I say this out loud I feel like I'm in a Monty Python movie) In the backyard I'm putting Black Elderberry bushes. While elderberry raw is often considered poisionous (there is some debate on that but lets just assume for safety's sake it's correct) the flowers and cooked or dried berries are edible and quite tasty. (I tried some at the class) Black elderberries are considered edible by the way, don't go for the red ones. In addition to being tasty and packed with vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron and potassium they also contain anti-viral compounds which are VERY useful in treating many strains of the flu. I've also found some information indicating the leaves and flowers are helpful for treating skin ailments such as eczema and blisters. Combine that with the fact that these berries have 5 times the amount of anthocyanins as blueberries and more antioxidants than cranberries and this feels like a must have in my food stash as well as my medicine cabinet. Also, this is safe for children.
Echinacea - Also known as purple coneflower. Most people use or have used echinacea as a vitamin suppliment to avoid getting the cold. I'm not certain how effective this is but it does appear that if you take it when you notice yourself coming down with a cold you can reduce the severity or almost avoid it entirely. Generally it is the roots and flowers used in either tea or tincture form.
Lemon Balm - The crushed leaves of lemon balm can act as a mosquito repellent and who doesn't need that? It also has mild sedative properties and anti-viral properties. It helps peoples mood and mental performance but shouldn't be taken by people like myself with hypothyroidism as it can make the body absorb less of the medication we take and possibly inhibit the hormone TSH from attaching to the TSH receptors.
Catnip - Of course my cat will LOVE this but did you know that Catnip can also be used for human consumption? It, like Lemon Balm, has a mildly sedative quality and the crushed leaves also act as a mosquito repellent. Also it is a mild muscle relaxer and has been used to calm coughing.
Goldenseal - Believe it or not goldenseal is actually very helpful for sub-acute or chronic conditions such as inflammation of the mucus membranes. Subacute means it's gone past the initial first 3 days of the disease and is lingering or causing a worsening of the condition. This is actually an endangered plant and so it would be better and more predictable if I grew it myself instead of trying to forage for it. It is not safe for pregnancy.
Coltsfoot - This herb is used to treat coughs and other lung complaints. It has mucous cleaning, cough suppressing and mucous inhibiting properties making it fantastic for use when people are experiencing a cold or asthma onset.
Lobelia - Fast anti-spasmodic action, relaxant. Relaxes bronchial spasms during an asthma attack. Expectorant, bronchiodilator. Tastes terrible as a tea.
Chamomile - This plant is an anti-inflammatory and good pain reliever and also has been used as a sleep aid and to calm people and relieve mental stress and tension.
Lavender - Lavender has been shown to be effective as a sleep aid (anyone NOT used Johnsons baby lotion lavender scent?) as well as treating headaches. It can also be used to treat insect bites and burns as it has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.
That's what I've got on my wish list for now. I have a few others that I would love to add but I'm not sure if I can find them or they tend to grow wild and don't cultivate well (Gumweed I'm looking at YOU).
Additionally I'm looking at food as a way to combat some of our medical issues as well. For example Celery, garlic and tomato can all be helpful for lowering blood pressure and they are foods he will eat.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
My answer has been a shrug and "i dunno" for awhile. I had an idea. I sorta kinda new what sounded trendy or good. But I didn't have anything concrete.
So since my focus on my preperation of medicinal needs I set about deciding what I would put in my garden.
First, the garden has three functions. It's a medicine cabinet that only I know about really. It also is a cooking cabinet for herbs and spices. Finally, it's a butterfly and helpful insect attractant. In order for my backyard food production to get noticed I need to make my house THE place to be for helpful insects. So using the front yard (as well as parts of the backyard) as solely a place to put out the welcome wagon seems like a good idea.
For cooking herbs I want to have thyme, oregano, basil, sage, parsley, dill, rosemary and chives. Most of those will probably be in pots or just randomly spread through the raised bed and window sill in the front and back yard. Those I don't worry too much about.
When it came time to selecting medicinal herbs though I knew I needed to be a little more selective. I started by looking at what items I most likely would need by looking at my family's health and what issues we have.
1. Male, 36 - high blood pressure, some depression issues
2. Female, 31 (almost 32!) - hypothyroid, frequent headaches, menstrual cramping on and off
3. Female, 15 - no known health issues but of a child bearing age
4. Female, 6 - no known health issues
5. Male, 1 - asthma
On top of that I knew I needed to be able to handle seasonal issues like colds and the flu.
Then I needed to evaluate where we live and what will grow here. We live in the Rocky Mountain region, approximately a mile above sea level. We are pretty arid and our summer sun is intense. Soil depends on where you live. I currently have pretty decent soil.
Then I started reading and researching. I bought a book, Edible & Medicinal Plants of the Rockies and attended a class called Herbal Remedies for Cold & Flu at my local greenhouse.
Between these items I've narrowed down my list of MUST GROWS.
Elderberry - (Whenever I say this out loud I feel like I'm in a Monty Python movie) In the backyard I'm putting Black Elderberry bushes. While elderberry raw is often considered poisionous (there is some debate on that but lets just assume for safety's sake it's correct) the flowers and cooked or dried berries are edible and quite tasty. (I tried some at the class) Black elderberries are considered edible by the way, don't go for the red ones. In addition to being tasty and packed with vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron and potassium they also contain anti-viral compounds which are VERY useful in treating many strains of the flu. I've also found some information indicating the leaves and flowers are helpful for treating skin ailments such as eczema and blisters. Combine that with the fact that these berries have 5 times the amount of anthocyanins as blueberries and more antioxidants than cranberries and this feels like a must have in my food stash as well as my medicine cabinet. Also, this is safe for children.
Echinacea - Also known as purple coneflower. Most people use or have used echinacea as a vitamin suppliment to avoid getting the cold. I'm not certain how effective this is but it does appear that if you take it when you notice yourself coming down with a cold you can reduce the severity or almost avoid it entirely. Generally it is the roots and flowers used in either tea or tincture form.
Lemon Balm - The crushed leaves of lemon balm can act as a mosquito repellent and who doesn't need that? It also has mild sedative properties and anti-viral properties. It helps peoples mood and mental performance but shouldn't be taken by people like myself with hypothyroidism as it can make the body absorb less of the medication we take and possibly inhibit the hormone TSH from attaching to the TSH receptors.
Catnip - Of course my cat will LOVE this but did you know that Catnip can also be used for human consumption? It, like Lemon Balm, has a mildly sedative quality and the crushed leaves also act as a mosquito repellent. Also it is a mild muscle relaxer and has been used to calm coughing.
Goldenseal - Believe it or not goldenseal is actually very helpful for sub-acute or chronic conditions such as inflammation of the mucus membranes. Subacute means it's gone past the initial first 3 days of the disease and is lingering or causing a worsening of the condition. This is actually an endangered plant and so it would be better and more predictable if I grew it myself instead of trying to forage for it. It is not safe for pregnancy.
Coltsfoot - This herb is used to treat coughs and other lung complaints. It has mucous cleaning, cough suppressing and mucous inhibiting properties making it fantastic for use when people are experiencing a cold or asthma onset.
Lobelia - Fast anti-spasmodic action, relaxant. Relaxes bronchial spasms during an asthma attack. Expectorant, bronchiodilator. Tastes terrible as a tea.
Chamomile - This plant is an anti-inflammatory and good pain reliever and also has been used as a sleep aid and to calm people and relieve mental stress and tension.
Lavender - Lavender has been shown to be effective as a sleep aid (anyone NOT used Johnsons baby lotion lavender scent?) as well as treating headaches. It can also be used to treat insect bites and burns as it has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.
That's what I've got on my wish list for now. I have a few others that I would love to add but I'm not sure if I can find them or they tend to grow wild and don't cultivate well (Gumweed I'm looking at YOU).
Additionally I'm looking at food as a way to combat some of our medical issues as well. For example Celery, garlic and tomato can all be helpful for lowering blood pressure and they are foods he will eat.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
What's that? Snow on the ground? Temperature is below freezing? Bah! It's spring if I ever felt it! So you know what that means right?
It's time for your FAVORITE annual series, Lacy's Vegetablepalooza!
This year I've toned down my excitement and am eagerly awaiting my raised beds, hopefully going in at the end of the month. *fingers crossed* That means that this year I have honed my focus and know what I want to grow instead of just haphazardly planting whatever I felt like.
Since a lot of my later season plans for canning involve tomatoes it only made sense to try and grow them. To that end today I planted 6 Amish Paste tomatoes, 1 cherry tomato, 1 plain old eating tomato and a pea plant. Just for funzies.
One of the good things about my house is the southern facing garden window in the kitchen. While my own green thumb is pretty small, this window makes it seem like I'm a LOT better at gardening or growing things than I really am. Thank you ex-husband for selecting this house. At least that window.
Hopefully in the next 2 weeks I'll have some sprouts. Then I'll be on my way to tomato sauce BABY!
It's time for your FAVORITE annual series, Lacy's Vegetablepalooza!
This year I've toned down my excitement and am eagerly awaiting my raised beds, hopefully going in at the end of the month. *fingers crossed* That means that this year I have honed my focus and know what I want to grow instead of just haphazardly planting whatever I felt like.
Since a lot of my later season plans for canning involve tomatoes it only made sense to try and grow them. To that end today I planted 6 Amish Paste tomatoes, 1 cherry tomato, 1 plain old eating tomato and a pea plant. Just for funzies.
One of the good things about my house is the southern facing garden window in the kitchen. While my own green thumb is pretty small, this window makes it seem like I'm a LOT better at gardening or growing things than I really am. Thank you ex-husband for selecting this house. At least that window.
Hopefully in the next 2 weeks I'll have some sprouts. Then I'll be on my way to tomato sauce BABY!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
It's a gorgeous day outside today, has been all week. My chives that I abandoned last fall have made a recovery and are doing some massive sprouting. My strawberry runners are showing green growth and at least for right now my outside feels like spring.
It's supposed to snow in the next week. Of course.
My backyard is where most of my food production happens or is going to happen since it gets a ridiculous amount of sunlight. My front yard, as you've seen before, is destined for kitchen and medical herb use. While I have the actual ground part mostly figured out I'm not trying to decide what I want to put in the window boxes.
So I'm looking for suggestions. As you can see they are shallow, maybe 4 inches deep but long, about 2.5 feet. Width is also in the 4 inch range. These boxes get around 3-4 hours of direct sunlight in the morning and then the rest of the day they tend to be in shade.
So what would you suggest?
I could certainly plant other items besides herbs as well since I would like to be able to entire bees and butterflies to my area with flowers etc.
It's supposed to snow in the next week. Of course.
My backyard is where most of my food production happens or is going to happen since it gets a ridiculous amount of sunlight. My front yard, as you've seen before, is destined for kitchen and medical herb use. While I have the actual ground part mostly figured out I'm not trying to decide what I want to put in the window boxes.
So I'm looking for suggestions. As you can see they are shallow, maybe 4 inches deep but long, about 2.5 feet. Width is also in the 4 inch range. These boxes get around 3-4 hours of direct sunlight in the morning and then the rest of the day they tend to be in shade.
So what would you suggest?
I could certainly plant other items besides herbs as well since I would like to be able to entire bees and butterflies to my area with flowers etc.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Coveting
This weekend my family drove 6+ hours to visit my closest relatives in Wyoming. I hadn't seen them in almost a year and it was a good visit. My own mother passed away over 5 years ago so it's nice for my Aunt to play Grandma to my kids.
My Aunt lives outside of a small town called Buffalo. Population is around 3900. She grows her own garden and my uncle hunts so that they are able to provide a large majority of their own food every year. She bakes her own bread. All of it.
She has a large wood fireplace that heats the whole house (which is three levels if you include the basement) and a cold room that I covet.
She isn't "prepping". She isn't preparing for a coming Apocalypse. She's just providing for her family and friends. I spent a good hour just lingering in her cold room, admiring her shelves, her work.
It's large enough to have a spot for her husband to make his own ammo. She has potatoes and large bags of flour. She has MASSIVE shelves that I can only dream of.
It was the food on these shelves that I admired too though. All of it is her own canned items. Hers and a few gifts she's received. She had apple butter. Applesauce. Peach jams. Raspberry jam. Pickles both small and sliced. She had beets. She had peppers. Tomato sauce. Green chili sauce (I think).
She also had dried herbs. Thyme, basil, oregano. And dried orange peel and lemon zest. It was impressive. I found myself with massive cold room envy. House envy even since her home is built in such a way (it's a backsplit I think) that not very much wood energy is required to heat it, even with 3 floors. She has a large southern facing window and it's well insulated. She has a pump that supplies the majority of their water. Did I mention the envy?
It certainly gives me something to strive for though. I like seeing it being done and having goals.
My Aunt lives outside of a small town called Buffalo. Population is around 3900. She grows her own garden and my uncle hunts so that they are able to provide a large majority of their own food every year. She bakes her own bread. All of it.
She has a large wood fireplace that heats the whole house (which is three levels if you include the basement) and a cold room that I covet.
She isn't "prepping". She isn't preparing for a coming Apocalypse. She's just providing for her family and friends. I spent a good hour just lingering in her cold room, admiring her shelves, her work.
It's large enough to have a spot for her husband to make his own ammo. She has potatoes and large bags of flour. She has MASSIVE shelves that I can only dream of.
It was the food on these shelves that I admired too though. All of it is her own canned items. Hers and a few gifts she's received. She had apple butter. Applesauce. Peach jams. Raspberry jam. Pickles both small and sliced. She had beets. She had peppers. Tomato sauce. Green chili sauce (I think).
She also had dried herbs. Thyme, basil, oregano. And dried orange peel and lemon zest. It was impressive. I found myself with massive cold room envy. House envy even since her home is built in such a way (it's a backsplit I think) that not very much wood energy is required to heat it, even with 3 floors. She has a large southern facing window and it's well insulated. She has a pump that supplies the majority of their water. Did I mention the envy?
It certainly gives me something to strive for though. I like seeing it being done and having goals.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Retail therapy
I got laid off. Again. For the second time in 3 months. It stings.
As a general rule I think a LOT of people probably shop to make themselves feel better. I've read all sorts of studies that suggest that shopping is a lot like foraging and so for both genders we feel like we're doing "something" which makes us feel better.
I like to shop just as much as the next person although rarely is it for me. I don't care about shoes or purses and I have a limited professional wardrobe.
But this morning I was feeling oh so low. Lost the job yesterday so of course there is the worry about money but there is also just the feeling bad about myself. I knew I needed to make myself feel better.
I did the dishes. Not feeling better. I did laundry. Oh did I do laundry. Still not feeling better. I ran errands that cost zero dollars. Not feeling better.
So I decided I would sink to my lowest and buy something.
It only made sense to buy for my Apocalypse closet. Since this quarter I'm focusing on first aid and medical supplies I went online to my local pharmacy and checked out the weekly ad. Asprin (generic) on sale. Good. Excedrin also on sale. Excellent. (I have migraines from time to time and Excedrin is my second line of defense against them) I searched for coupons, printed some and off I went.
I bought:
2 100 ct asprins for $1.99. Total. (They were discounted and it was buy one get one.)
1 50 ct Excedrin Extra Strength for $2.99 total (discounted to $3.99 and then $1.00 coupon)
1 50 ct Excedrin Migrain for $2.99 (see above)
and 2 bottles of hydrogen peroxide for $1.98 total. (They were .99 each).
With tax I spent $10. Not too shabby. Not great, I KNOW there are coupon mavens who can do WAY better. I read their blogs. I'm just not that good yet.
These items join my mini first aid kit with generic band aids, some old burn cream and rubbing alcohol. Oh and oddly enough some Quik Clot. I would like more of that for sure but it seems to cost a bunch so it's one of those save up type of things.
I will continue to hunt for first aid supplies on the cheap and hope to have a decent looking first aid kit for not very much money by the end of March.
As a general rule I think a LOT of people probably shop to make themselves feel better. I've read all sorts of studies that suggest that shopping is a lot like foraging and so for both genders we feel like we're doing "something" which makes us feel better.
I like to shop just as much as the next person although rarely is it for me. I don't care about shoes or purses and I have a limited professional wardrobe.
But this morning I was feeling oh so low. Lost the job yesterday so of course there is the worry about money but there is also just the feeling bad about myself. I knew I needed to make myself feel better.
I did the dishes. Not feeling better. I did laundry. Oh did I do laundry. Still not feeling better. I ran errands that cost zero dollars. Not feeling better.
So I decided I would sink to my lowest and buy something.
It only made sense to buy for my Apocalypse closet. Since this quarter I'm focusing on first aid and medical supplies I went online to my local pharmacy and checked out the weekly ad. Asprin (generic) on sale. Good. Excedrin also on sale. Excellent. (I have migraines from time to time and Excedrin is my second line of defense against them) I searched for coupons, printed some and off I went.
I bought:
2 100 ct asprins for $1.99. Total. (They were discounted and it was buy one get one.)
1 50 ct Excedrin Extra Strength for $2.99 total (discounted to $3.99 and then $1.00 coupon)
1 50 ct Excedrin Migrain for $2.99 (see above)
and 2 bottles of hydrogen peroxide for $1.98 total. (They were .99 each).
With tax I spent $10. Not too shabby. Not great, I KNOW there are coupon mavens who can do WAY better. I read their blogs. I'm just not that good yet.
These items join my mini first aid kit with generic band aids, some old burn cream and rubbing alcohol. Oh and oddly enough some Quik Clot. I would like more of that for sure but it seems to cost a bunch so it's one of those save up type of things.
I will continue to hunt for first aid supplies on the cheap and hope to have a decent looking first aid kit for not very much money by the end of March.
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