Showing posts with label Seeds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seeds. Show all posts

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Growing Your Own Food From Seed


The Value Of Sustainability Today
Today’s economy has a dramatic aspect to it. The moment you think things have become stable, something strange knocks everything out of whack again. It wouldn’t be so bad if you had the resources to weather the storm in some degree of comfort. But the vast majority of people just aren’t in such a position, and are further hampered by debt.

There needs to be a way of escaping things like debt, reducing living expenses, and increasing the solidity of your current situation. One thing that is characterizing many households today is the sustainability movement. This is a kind of living wherein individuals try to concoct solutions that preclude government reliance.

In terms of energy, three modes of electrical production are becoming more mainstream for residences: solar energy, wind energy, and water energy—all three of which can be installed on a property that has a fast enough body of water nearby and regular wind for about $15k, depending.

Something else that is quickly becoming a characteristic of the modern household is a vegetable garden—something which bears its own elegance. There are plants which will grow in just about any environment, and don’t necessarily require a deluge to maintain. Certain cacti can grow in almost any environment, and many seed-bearing plants with nutritional benefits (like hemp) are likewise easy to grow.
 
Husbanding Your Garden
As you might expect, a market has developed due to this shift in consumer sensibilities. While it may take a few years to get a garden’s growth at such a level where it regularly produces enough for your household, this gives homeowners not just a useful hobby, but a means of deferring costs related to nutrition.

It is possible to remain healthy from an entirely vegetarian diet sourced through a garden. Chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, hemp seeds—these all have protein and fats necessary for health. Tomatoes, potatoes, mushrooms, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, apples, squash, peppers, onions—these are just a few available plants you can husband toward healthy, regular yields annually.

To get started, you want to do your homework beforehand, know the seasons of your local community, and source your seeds from a purveyor that understands the market, and what that market is demanding.

At https://www.myseedneeds.com/collections/vegetables you can find seeds provided through a top-tier operation; according to the site: “Seed Needs consistently ships thousands of seed packets on a weekly basis. The vast majority of our seed products are packaged based on customer demand, and are stored in a temperature-controlled environment for maximum freshness.”
Comprehensive Sustainability
Now imagine a possible scenario: after five years, you’ve got a garden that is regularly productive and has facilitated its own micro climate which requires much less intervention than it did from you previously. Additionally you don’t need energy from “the grid”, because you use solar, wind, and water energy.

What you save in electricity pays for the garden. If you’re savvy with plumbing, you may be able to use nearby water-sources as means of irrigation, cutting out your water bill. The coup de grace? A crypto currency mining operation in the basement. Double down on architectural developments and install a prefabricated structure on your property.

If you are savvy, you have the potential to live entirely off the grid without losing money or health while yet providing a service to society that returns you assets. It’s conceivable you could do all this for well under $100k, and be without the bounds of debt in under ten years.

Yes, it will take a lot of work—but it’s not something entirely impossible. Still, you may not want to go with so comprehensive a venture. It may be wiser to start small—with a simple vegetable garden in your backyard, or hung from a planter in the window of your apartment.
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Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Top 10 Barter Goods

During an economic meltdown, a wide spread Power Outage, Hurricane, Terrorist take over, or any other long term serious event, barter will be necessary.  With out electricity, credit and ATM cards are worthless.  The only reason a paper bill (dollar) has any value at all, is the confidence the public has in it; that it is worth more than the paper its printed on.  Isn't it a bit amazing how the same piece of paper with "20" printed on it is worth much more than with a "1" printed on it? The same paper and ink with just a slightly different image makes a huge difference in the perceived value. But what is true value?  Obviously things that are necessary to survive (see Rule of 3) like air, water, food, shelter and security are very import.

So what are the characteristics of ideal Barter Investments:
  1. Low cost, but certain to increase in value after a collapse; essential to survive
  2. Stable over a many years; made from stainless steel; long shelf life
  3. Unlikely to flag you as a Prepper; secrecy is critical to avoid making you a target
  4. Used in your every-day life so that they can be rotated like other stockpiled items
  5. Contributes to (not threatens) you, such as seeds traded to a neighbor in exchange for a bushel of food as opposed to a gun or ammo that could be used to shoot you.
Here are some Top 10 items that should be valuable to barter with, listed in what I believe might offer the best return on investment. 
  1. US Silver Coins - the most stable form of currency throughout history.  Gold is too valuable; what would you buy with a $10,000 bill if no one could make change?  A low cost alternative might be copper pennies, which they stopped making in 1982 because the copper in them was worth about 3-4 cents. One-gram gold might also be good for protecting wealth but for barter would be like having 100 bills where not many people could make change for them.
  2. Ammo - there is debate here that you don't want to arm potential enemies and so you should not trade any ammo, but it will offer a substantial return on your investment being worth more than gold in a "Walking Dead" type break down. A counter to the argument is that arming your neighbors could serve and an outer layer of defense. A solution to this concern might be to barter a limited number of small caliber, short range ammunition like .22 LR (or 9mm) and not long range sniper rounds.  Barter individual rounds, not boxes of ammo. Some suggest popular magazines, which will be critical in the early stages, but not longer term as casualties mount and weapons are readily available.
  3. Manual Can Openers - cans of food will be an important source of salvaged food, but you need to be able to open them with out injuring yourself. See our post on Salvaging Supplies.
  4. Seeds  - one of the most valuable items long-term along with chickens and other livestock. Save low cost seeds of fast growing Prepper foods that can be preserved.  Short term, they are not worth much, but long term they would be priceless. See our posts on seeds for survival and gardening in the Blog Table of Contents.
  5. Hand tools - shovels, hoes, rakes, post hole diggers, crescent wrench, pipe wrench, hand saws, hand drills, hand planer, axe, machete, water hoses, hand water pumps, sprinklers, etc.  A good garden hoe will be priceless when trying to grow your own food.
  6. Handheld radios for communications  at $23 for 2, you can't afford not to have a set for you and a set or two for your neighbors to warn you if a threat is coming. Be sure to have rechargeable batteries and several $5 solar powered battery chargers
  7. First Aid/Medical Supplies, bandages, disinfectants, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, acetaminophen, Ibuprofen, antibiotic creams, Listerine mouthwash - rotate them as they will expire over time (their Achilles heel). Have a still to make your own disinfectant and purify water.
  8. Books of all types, but especially educational ones and those that teach basic skills like gardening, farming/ranching, food preservation, hunting, fishing, firearms, reloading, chemistry, carpenter, military experience, ham radio, bio fuels, medical care, the ability to fix broken mechanical devices, tying knots, teaching and other important skills. 
  9. Maps, especially water proof ones are valuable during migrations and a good Silva compass
  10. TBD - to be determined - I will complete this with your suggestions 
Here are some additional items that are good to have and valuable for barter, but are not necessarily a good investment because they don't meet our criteria, so they didn't make the top 10 list: 
  1.  Items like tobacco, alcohol/whiskey, chocolate; too expensive and not essential, however for people who are addicted, these are important.
  2. Cross Bow or Bow and Arrows for long term for stealth and security after, ammo runs.
  3. Bicycles with trailers, padlocks, chain and parts for them (along with horses) will be essential for travel. But these are far too expensive to invest in for Barter, unlike can openers.
  4. BB Guns (higher powered) and lots of BB's for hunting birds and small game but which also do not represent a security threat to you like trading ammo does.
  5. Rolls of heavy PE film (black & clear)
  6. Pesticides for gardening and insect repellent for security watch (short term) but develop natural sustainable sources for long term needs.
  7. Fly Swatters, old fashion pest control before other means were available.
  8. Lanterns, candles and matches, especially waterproof ones.
  9. Pencils, paper, and a sharpener.
  10. Smokers for preserving foods
  11. Mason canning jars & lids.
  12. Fishing line, hooks and nets.
  13. Duct tape, glue, screws and nails
  14. Camping, travel supplies, and collapsible water containers.
  15. LED flashlights, both battery and crank dynamo powered.
  16. Para cord
  17. Salt
  18. 12-volt electrical components, LED bulbs, AC inverters & Solar Panels
  19. Your suggestions? 
Credit/ATM cards and paper money will be worthless.  There will be swap events, traveling salvagers/traders and resale shops along with fix-it shops that will be popular.  No nail salons, gyms or video games.  Only Silver and Barter are sustainable over time.  Our post on Investing for Preppers talks about the value of goods in terms of silver coin.

By this time, it obvious to the few who have survived that things have changed, reset you might say, from an era of stupidity and laziness.  The degree of the break down will largely determine the length and slope of the recovery. Foreign "help" (a.k.a invasion) is likely, whether wanted or not. Not only will we have to fight to survive, we will have to fight to keep our freedom from Communist China, Socialist Europe or the Muslim Middle East. But that is a topic for another post.

For additional information see the following links: 
Blog Table of Contents;

Top 10 List of Prepper info
Top Rated Prepper Handbook Posts of all time
Top Rated Prepper Website

Or click on a label below for similar topics.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Salvaging Supplies

Salvaging Supplies in a serious "event" may be essential to survival, yet this is not something we hear much about.  Even if you have supplies, replenishing them will extend the time window that you can survive. You need at least enough supplies to get a big or bigger garden planted and the harvest started.

There are several factors to consider:
  1. The law - is the situation bad enough to justify breaking the law? The answer to this determines our strategy.  If the local law is functioning or outside assistance is expected to arrive, then it is important to obey they law if at all possible.
  2. Risk - how desperate is our situation; this determines how much risk we are willing to take.  Don't underestimate the potential risk in salvaging supplies that are coveted by many people, possibly even desperate, violent ones.  House to house salvaging may be extremely hazardous in free countries where guns are permitted. Protecting your supplies will also require a gun, ammo and a good security plan to prevent loosing them.
Your best approach is to have a Salvage Plan that includes a map of all nearby locations that may have food.  If law and order exists, then that limits you to grocery and convenience stores provided you have cash. If you don't, go back and read our Beginner Prepper List section in the Blog Table of Contents.

IF law and order is gone, and finding food is a mater of life and death, then you should find sources of supplies other than the obvious grocery stores which may be crowded, looted or guarded by gangs.

First print or obtain a local map and regional paper phone books.  Remember Google Maps may not be working so phone books will be valuable. Then start to look for and mark the following on your map:
  1. Wal Mart & Grocery Stores or even better - Delivery Trucks
  2. Truck Stops
  3. Fuel Trucks
  4. Food distribution centers
  5. Gas Stations
  6. Schools
  7. Restaurants
  8. Restaurant supply businesses
  9. Drug Stores
  10. Bottled Water or soft drink distributors
  11. Businesses with large staffs, break rooms or cafeterias
  12. Gun Shops
  13. National Guard Armory
  14. Police Departments
  15. Sporting Goods Stores
  16. Hardware or Farm supply stores 
  17. Day cares for baby formula
Map these and develop supply run routes around your retreat.  There are two basic salvage route approaches:
  • Loop Routes that are shaped like flower petals that go out along certain routes and return via other random parallel routes.  The goal is to salvage triangular shape segments that extend out from your area as opposed to cleaning out everything immediately around your facility.  At the same time, you are exploring far out from your territory.  This route may be best with low populations, limited information, and when risk or threats are considered low.
  • Concentric Ring Routes consisting of circles of increasing diameter.  With these, you first deplete all the supplies that are close to your retreat.  After which you must start going out further and further as supplies are exhausted.  This allows you to learn your immediate area very well and progressively explore out further and further as the rings grow.  This approach might be best for high risk scenarios where you don't want to get too far from home.
The best approach is potentially a couple of small concentric rings to explore your immediate area and then transition to the petal or triangle shaped routes. 
Your Scout / Salvage Teams (never solo) should practice Group Drills that allow them to work together.  The best shape is an expanded diamond (a four person team),  with the person in back staying behind as if secretly tracking the other team members so that if they get captured, the back up person can retreat and get reinforcements, or follow them to their destination to be able to lead a rescue effort.  A bounding over watch formation is best when it is known that the risk is high such as moving in to perform a rescue operation. If you are in the city you should have an Urban Security Plan and in the country, a Passive Layered Security Plan.

If it becomes necessary to Salvage to survive, the situation is serious, and you need to be looking for garden seeds and tools.

For more Prepper information see our:
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