Ensure that any fruits with pits have been pitted and put through a fine sieve to remove any seed particles.

It is even possible to take the technique a step further and make quick frozen yogurt by freezing containers of flavored yogurt and processing them with frozen canned fruit.

Sorbets could even be made off-grid using this archaic refrigeration technique.

Simply Delicious Sorbert

Ingredients:

• 16-ounce can fruit in heavy syrup, frozen at least 12 hours
• 2 tablespoons desired flavorings such as liqueurs, vanilla, additional fruit or juice.

Instructions:

1. Place the frozen can of fruit in hot water for about 1 minute. Remove the lid, and pour any liquid into a food processor. Remove the bottom of the can, slide the fruit out, and chop into 1-inch pieces.

2. Place in the food processor with the liqueurs, vanilla, juices or any additional flavoring and process until smooth, about 1 minute.

3. Serve at once, or transfer to a container, and place in the freezer.

Yield: about 1 pint, 4 servings.

Micro-farming

Different animals, of course, have different nutritional needs.  Many farmers like to purchase feed designed for the particular animal and then supplement with forage and other items.  Others, especially those of us working on our self-sufficiency, strive to keep it all on the farm.  That way we know our animals are consuming high-quality nutrients and avoiding chemicals, pesticides, and antibiotics.

What’s on the menu for your farm animals?

GOATS:

We’ve all heard the saying that goats will eat anything.  That isn’t necessarily true and it definitely isn’t safe.  Goats have to be protected from themselves by being securely penned in an area free of anything toxic or anything that could cause a blockage in their hardy digestive system.  Goats can be farmed for both meat and milk.  Because they are ruminants, they require hay.  The hay must stay perfectly dry, because moldy hay can cause severe illness or even death in goats.

• Haygrazer and peanut hay
• Alfalfa hay (very high in protein – don’t overfeed alfalfa!)
• “Loose minerals” (a nutritional supplement for goats that contains salt)
• Sunflower seeds (contains copper – vital for goats)
• Forage( letting them graze on leaves and brush)
• Grains (only for pregnant or lactating goats)
• Vegetable table scraps or fresh vegetables 

• 160 lbs. of Steam Rolled Barley
• 160 lbs. of Oats
• 10 lbs. of Black Oil Sunflower Seeds(BOSS)
• 5lbs. of Redman Salt (if you free choice salt, then don’t add it to the feed)
• 1lb. of Brewers yeast
• 25 lbs. of Wheat Bran

We feed this mix to all of our goats, dairy and meat, dry does, milking does and bucks. We have found that the mix has to be half barley half oats otherwise the girls don’t milk as well. Barley=milk. I know it is only 13% protein, but we have been using this mix for 2 years now and have had great success with it. Our kids have very fast weight gain, our milkers consistently milk a gallon + a day, and everybody stays in great condition. We also free choice water, alfalfa/grass mix hay, goat minerals, kelp, baking soda and salt. For feeding, we feed 1 lb of food to milkers for every 3 lbs of milk they produce, plus 1 lb for body condition.

Land of Havilah Farms is another excellent resource for other goat food recipes that you can make.

Rabbits

Rabbits are the perfect “micro-livestock” for the urban farmer and country dweller alike.  They take up very little space and are easy to feed.  Many people feed a small amount of commercial pellet food and supplement with the following.  Hay should always be available to your rabbits.

• Grass Hay
• Alfalfa Hay
• Leafy greens like collard greens, escarole, kale, lettuce and spinach
• Waste greens like carrot and turnip tops, dandelion greens and flowers
• Pea pods (minus the peas)
• Carrots
• Apples
• Strawberries
• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Peaches
• Pears
• Squash
• Papayas
• Mangos
• Tomatoes

• 400 g. Chopped alfalfa/lucerne hay or cubes, or any other grass or clover hay
• 150 g. All-purpose wheat flour (white) or instant masa meal
• 100 g. any other fibrous ingredient, such as bran from wheat, oat hulls, rolled oats.
• Plain or Trace Mineral salt
• Water
• optional – 1:1 mineral, vegetable oil, molasses.

1. Using a sawing motion with a cleaver, cut lucerne (alfalfa) hay across the stems to 1 to 2 cm length. If using alfalfa cubes, the material inside is already chopped, just soften cubes in the liquid part of the recipe.
2. Measure 300 ml water, to this add 45 g molasses, 2 g salt, and 8 g oil, if you are using these extra ingredients. Mix this solution thoroughly.
3. Put 400 g chopped hay in large bowl. While turning the hay with your hands, slowly add the liquid and 1:1 mineral, mixing thoroughly. Break up any clumps. Squeeze the hay tightly a couple times to make the liquid soak in.
4. Add the other fibrous ingredient to the wet hay, mixing well.
5. Then add the flour, in about 5 additions while mixing by hand. Mix until all the flour is invisible. Press down on the mixture, if it comes back up much, you may need maybe 50 ml more water, depends on dryness of hay.
6. Press the mixture into a flat glass or pottery pan. If possible, press it flat with another pan that fits in the lower pan. The final thickness should be 4 or 5 cm thick.
7. Place pan with hay mixture in microwave oven and bake for 2.5 minutes at power level 8 in a 700 watt oven. After backing, turn the feed out onto a rack to cool. Break into chunks to put into the cages. In hot climates, the feed can be sun-baked.
8. There is very little waste from this feed. This recipe makes almost 1 kg of feed, but remember that this is “wet” feed, the normal as-fed air dry weight is the sum of the ingredients less the water, about 635 g.
9. With average alfalfa, the results on DM would be about CP= 16.6%, TDN= 68%, Ca= 0.9%, P= 0.48%, ADF= 20%, CF= 17.9%. The flour used is (air-dry basis) CP= 13%, carbohydrates= 71%.
10. If you wish to have a protein supplement, substitute some soy milk for some of the water, or use some soy flour or pea flour. Pea flour also adds starch, so reduce the amount of wheat flour. Other interesting feed mixes can be made using barley flour or corn (masa) flour.

Yes, this feed is using wheat flour, which should be reserved for human consumption, but for now this is the easiest milled grain to obtain that is ground finely enough for rabbits (100% passing 0.3 mm sieve, 40% passing 0.1 mm sieve).

Don’t use “whole wheat” flour, the bran has been ground too fine. You may add whole bran separately along with the white flour; bran has an appropriate particle size for the rabbit.

Chickens

Chickens are raised for meat and egg production.  It’s important to note that laying hens need more calcium than non-layers.  All chickens need plenty of fresh greens, weeds and grass every day.  Aside from this, the following items are great organic chicken food options.

• Forage
• Earthworms (grow your own – they can eat such things as hair, paper and potato peelings!)
• Alfalfa
• Duckweed
• Comfrey
• Leafy greens
• Lime sand
• Brewers Yeast
• Sunflower Seeds
• Sesame Seeds
• Watercress
• Grit (made from tiny bits of granite)
• Quinoa
• Corn

Mix the feed by hand so that it is thoroughly mixed. It doesn’t hurt to run your hands through it before feeding in case something settles.

A word on grit:  According to “The Basics of What Chickens Need” grit is  “angular, hard crushed rock, preferably from granite, used by the chickens in place of “teeth” — seashells and bone CANNOT substitute for grit; for confined birds, grit should be offered several times a month at least; it should be of the right size for the age of the bird…. birds allowed to free range don’t need to be offered grit — they find their own ideal sizes and types to suit themselves.”

One reader explains her feeding method: “We put plain layer feed in their coop. We make a mixture for feeding outside the coop of Scratch feed, layer feed, sunflower seed, flax seed, ground egg shells, ground nuts (what ever we have at the time when we mix the scratch), homemade seasoned bread crumbs. Plus I make them what I call mush on occasion (oats, rice, tri-colored pasta, various diced fruits and veggies depending what we have and homemade raisins)”

A great treat for both your poultry and your garden soil is to grow a cover crop over the winter.  Mother Earth News recommends growing a cover crop over the winter to improve the condition of the soil.  Some options are legumes such as cowpeas, vetches and clover; and non-legumes like millet, rye, sorghum, sudangrass and buckwheat.  Once the cover crop has matured, release a happy flock of poultry to process the garden and eat their fill of fresh healthy food.

Growing and making the food that your livestock consumes allows you the ultimate control over your own food change.  Not only are you more sustainable this way, but you can avoid the harmful elements found in some feed store brands. Natural News recently broke the story that the FDA has allowed arsenic to be present in commercial chicken food for years.  This, of course, is consumed by the chicken and eventually makes its way through the food chain into our own diets.

Plan your garden with your livestock in mind to create an endless circle on your homestead.

Sources:

Nutritional Needs of Goats

Feeding Goats

Raising Meat Rabbits

What do Chickens Eat?

There are many types of emergencies that can befall us, personal, familial, local, national and global. This is why we prepare, this is why we have back ups, and back ups for those back ups. Have you ever looked closely, really closely at your kit, in particular at your water filtration system? Will it actually do what you think it will do? Do you know the size of the filter in your system? Have you read the list of nasties that it will filter out? See anything missing from the list?

Viruses

There are a great many viruses, and all of them will flourish if municipal water supplies fail. How fast they flourish depends on the weather, run off of untreated water into natural water courses, and how quickly humans soil the supply by indiscriminate disposal of animal and human waste.

West Nile virus, Coxsackie virus, hepatitis A, hepatitis E, adenovirus,reovirus, Calicivirus, poliomyelitis, and leptospirosis all have a size of 0.09-0.1 microns, this is smaller that the 0.2 micron pore size in the best of the best filters available today. All of these will increase if municipal water treatment is no longer available.

One of these, leptospirosis, is already in a great many fresh water supplies. Any situation that puts humans in contact with fresh water increases the risk of infection. It is endemic in tropical and sub-tropical regions, but not purely due to the climate. Many of these areas are in the developing world, and as such these areas have less treated water, less refuse collection services, and no pest control systems beyond those employed by individuals. This is exactly the situation we will find ourselves in if there is any event, natural or man made, that results in a long term breakdown of the power grid, which results in water treatment plants going offline. Those currently living an off grid lifestyle, or preparing to should some kind of collapse occur, should be aware of the dangers lurking in even the most pristine looking natural water supplies.

You may know leptospirosis as Weils disease, it’s a zoonosis, that is it can cross the species barrier from animals to humans. The animals themselves are asymptomatic, they show no signs of illness or disease. Leptospirosis is spread by infected urine, and less commonly by other bodily fluids. The spiral shaped bacteria are safe when dry, but live for an extended length of time in damp and wet conditions. They can, if they have not been dry for too long, deactivate on contact with water. The prime sites for the bacteria to be found is in the water itself, alongside it on banks, under vegetation, mud, puddles and gardens where infected animals may have urinated.

A word about rodents, they are incontinent. If you have rats and mice, you have urine, it’s that simple. Although rodents are the main vector for leptospirosis all animals can carry it, including domestic pets. It gets into the body via mucosal tissue, such as the eyes or mouth, via abrasions and rarely by ingesting infected meat, though cooking well usually avoids this.

Andy Holmes, the Olympic rower died of leptospirosis in October 2010, it is thought he contracted the disease whilst practicing on the river.

The World Health Orgaization monitors leptospirosis as it is a notifiable disease, most countries take part in the system, the USA does not. It removed leptospirosis from the list of notifiable diseases in late 1995 after being criticised, for failure to notify cases. It was questioned as to why a country as vast as the USA had such a low number of reported cases each year. The investigation concluded that the reporting system was flawed, and that based on land mass and fresh water volume the USA would have in the region of 10,000 cases per year. They were at the time, reporting between 58 and 70 cases per year. The report concluded that under reporting is less important than under diagnosing and that continued under diagnosis could have serious implications for the population.

Current statistics show leptospirosis is present in some 20% of the fresh water supplies on the planet. This figure will grow should water treatment, refuse removal and pest control mechanisms fail. Most of those 20% are found in countries that do not have these safeguards.

The answer then is obviously to avoid it, but sadly that is not possible. For example, the Hardjo version of the disease affects only cattle, but it is fatal to humans, it is currently kept out of the food chain by the destruction of animals found to be carrying it. Without veterinary care and excellent husbandry standards this will not be the case..

Many things increase you chance of catching leptospirosis, anything putting you into contact with fresh water, or wild animals increases your risk.

How to Minimize your Risk

• Stout walking boots, long trousers and long sleeves should be worn where there is a danger of scratch injuries
• Waterproof thick gloves should be worn when drawing water, be it from a well, stream or river
• Eye and mouth protection, as well as long sleeves and waterproof gloves should be worn during ANY contact with wild animals, especially so when removing them from traps, skinning or butchering them
• Thick plastic bags should be worn over foot ware when in areas contaminated by livestock waste
• Areas where children play, and wild animals/rodents have access to, should be treated with chlorinated water prior to them playing there
• Water destined for human consumption should be treated even if it has been filtered.
• Domestic pets should not be allowed in food preparation areas
• Food prep area should be wiped with a chlorinated cloth before use
• Hands should be washed in chlorinated water before entering the home
• Get in the habit of not touching your eyes and mouth with you hands when out and about

The signs and symptoms of leptospirosis are varied and many. Most people, 60-65% will have a flu like illness for a week, this will be accompanied by severe headaches and possibly an occasional nosebleed. 25-30% will have a severe flu like illness accompanied by severe incapacitating headaches and nosebleeds.they may well show unexplained bruising. Some in this group will go on to develop kidney and liver function issues at a later date. 2-5% will die, having gone into kidney failure. For these people the headaches do not subside, they have frequent profuse nosebleeds and unexplained bruising on a large scale. This is due to clotting mechanism malfunctions.

Anti-biotics kill leptospirosis, the cyclines are best, but these must not be stored as they become toxic after their expiration date. Penicillin was once the treatment of choice and works well. Chlorine also kills leptospirosis, as does boiling the water before ingestion.

I have gone into detail about leptospirosis because currently it is the one we all face everytime we come into contact with untreated fresh water. Of the others, some are killed by UV, some are not, some are killed by anti-biotics, some are not, most are killed by chlorination, some are not. ALL are killed by boiling.

Boiling Water Reduces Exposure to Harmful Microorganisms

So, filter or not, boiling your water before drinking is still advisable. It should also be noted that some bacteria are smaller than 0.2 microns and would therefore not be removed by filtering.

Water does not have to be boiled for an extended period, this wastes time, fuel, and water in the form of steam. Raising the water to a rolling boil for one minute is enough to kill any viruses and bacteria present.

Water filtration systems have their place, and are great items to have, filtering out the vast majority of organic and inorganic impurities, just be aware of the capabilities of the system you have.

About the Author:

Lizzie Bennett is 51 going on 35, and spent 24 years working in hospitals as a Senior Operating Theatre Practitioner, specialising in anaesthetics and Accident and Emergency. She has been involved in the setting up of and team leadership of major catastrophe teams in the Midlands area of the UK, is an advanced life support provider, and a paediatric life support provider, and have taught basic life support and emergency treatment -cardiac arrest, head injury, electrocution, ice rescue and haemostatic techniques, as well as anaesthetics and anaesthetic pharmacology, to medical and lay persons for many years. These groups include prison officers, police forces,holiday reps, nurses, medical students, and trainee paramedics and EMT’s. 

Lizzie has made it her mission to bring solid, sound and practical information to the awake and aware, getting them ready for the time when help does not arrive…regardless of how badly they need it by starting a medical preparedness blog, Medically Speaking.

Like any preparedness plan we must plan for the unexpected by finding food and supplies that can withstand the test of time. It is my hope that by now your preparedness supplies are diverse and large enough to cover both short-term and long-term emergencies.

From the start, my goal with this series was for you to be prepared enough to survive the above scenario. In order for you to get through this relatively unscathed, you must prepare for the worst.

Listed below are some examples of long-term food sources. If you are planning for emergencies such as EMPs, nuclear attacks, economic collapse, grid-down scenarios, apocalyptic epidemics, etc., then I would strongly encourage you to invest in the following prep items.

• Lifetime Foods – Foods that can last for up to 10 years or longer will be a solid investment for your future, as well as  your best bet at surviving a long-term disaster. Foods such as wheat, sugar, salt, white rice and corn are some food items that can last a lifetime. To learn about more of these forever foods, click here. Ensure that these foods are stored properly and away from your food’s worst enemies.
• Freeze-Dried Food - Freeze dried food can last for 20 years. There are a variety of freeze dried ingredients and cuisines to choose from for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The best part of investing in this long-term food source, is different cans of freeze-dried ingredients can be mixed together to create new entrees. The best way to get your money’s worth is to purchase the #10 cans. Further, purchasing by the case will save you even more on your investment. Due to the preservation measures, they can be pricey, but when you work out the math per serving, it is quite reasonable. Many preppers have stocked up on this as their initial food source for a disaster. Because of the long expiration date, I prefer to keep the freeze-dried foods on standby in the event that I run out of my other foodstuffs. Please keep in mind that due to the sodium in the freeze-dried foods, it tends to back up the intestines. Therefore, if you choose to stock up on these essential long-term foods, I would advise for you to also stock up on stool softeners.
• Seeds – As previously indicated in the newsletter for week 43, non-GMO or heirloom quality seeds are the best types of seeds to store and grow during long-term emergencies as these seeds produce seeds you can save for future harvests.  However, some believe that having some packets of GMO seeds to rely on would be beneficial during times of long-term crises as they have been formulated to survive droughts, have larger yields and be disease resistant. Having dependable seeds and dependable fertilizers and soil amendments in times of a crisis is another example of having back up for your backups.  Further, if stored properly, these seeds can last much longer than their expected expiration dates. Consider growing vegetables that have high yields and high amounts of nutrition and vitamins, as well as finding varieties that possess medicinal properties. For other considerations for a survival garden, click here.
• Water Catchment Systems - Those that do not have access to their own water sources run the risk of being completely dependent on municipal water supplies. Having knowledge about how to harvest water through means of rainwater catchment systems is a great place to begin this path towards self-reliance. Some suggested low cost options are: collapsible water containers or 5-gallon buckets, rain harvesting containers or barrels, rainwater downspouts routed to water tanks by PVC pipes. If outside water catchment systems are being used, learn more about which catchment system is best for your home. Here is a great YouTube video on creating a rain harvesting system from scratch. This website has multiple water conservation projects that you can adapt to your lifestyle.
• Water Filtration Units – In an extended emergency, possessing knowledge on how to properly clean water will be essential in keeping sanitation related illnesses at bay. Water filtration systems with extra filters and parts, water purification tablets, chlorine granules, bleach, electrolyte or re-hydration powders, anti-diarrhea medicines are essential in having clean drinking water. Here is a YouTube video on how to make a gravity fed water system similar to the Berkey Water System for the low price of $50. There will be a high risk of water-borne viruses, so anti-diarrhea medications will also be valuable to stock.

For many of us, our core beliefs are to provide for our family and keep them safe. But, according to societal mores we should only provide safety up to a certain extent. It is a societal taboo to think in terms of worst case scenarios. But sometimes, we must break through societal codes to do what is best for our family. In the case of preparedness, thinking in worst case scenarios may help you better prepare. Unexpected events will happen during SHTF scenarios, and it will be up to you to be ready for them.

Preps to Buy:

[In Quantity]

• Foods for long-term storage such as wheat, rice, sugar, salt, honey, and corn. To learn more, click here.
• Freeze-dried foods
• Stool softeners
• Seeds, both GMO and Non-GMO
• Fertilizers (enough for 3 seasons)
• Water catchment system items
• Anti-diarrhea medicines
• Re-hydration powders or drinks
• Filtration units such as the Berkey Water Filter

Action Items:

1. Ensure that you have enough food supplies to last for a long-term emergency. Refer to the Ready Nutrition Food Calculator to make sure.
2. Research ways that you can conserve water or harvest water on your property.
3. Look for natural water sources, and underground reservoirs to turn to for an emergency water supply.
4. Practice necessary skills that will help you thrive during long-term emergencies. Skills such as gardening, food preservation, and water harvesting.

Greetings and Salutations,

By now, most of you that have utilized the 52-Weeks to Preparedness suggestions can feel more secure about going through a disaster. With 7 weeks left, there is still a lot of information to cover! So, I hope that you will continue to stay with me and continue reading about how you can get prepped.

At this point in our preparedness endeavors, we need to begin preparing our backups to our backups. What if a disaster lasts longer than expected? What would you do if lasts for years? We have to anticipate this and prepare for it. I want all of you to be ready for whatever may come your way. This week we will be discussing different examples of long-term food and water sources and the preparedness measures that can go along with it.

Next week, the subject on long-term food and water will be revisited, but with an emphasis on why having a survival cache is the ultimate in back up plans. We will also touch on what items would be best to include in a cache and ways to waterproof containers that will be buried.

For those of you around the Colorado area, a Self Reliance Expo will be held in Colorado Springs, Colorado on May 18th and 19th. There will be some great preparedness and self-reliant vendors there, as well as educational workshops.

What’s the best piece of advice you can give a fellow prepper? Your preparedness story or advice could make a profound difference for someone just beginning to prepare or move into their next stage of preparedness. Why not take a moment and leave your story.

If you haven’t already, follow us on Twitter or Facebook. I love to interact with the preparedness community, because after all, we are all in this together!

Best,

Tess Pennington

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

PREP OF THE WEEK

Week 45 of 52: Long-Term Food and Water Needs

Let’s assume for a moment that a devastating disaster occurred and you have realized that the life you formerly knew has ended. You are now in a fight for survival. Luckily, unlike many of those around you, you have provisions in place and have planned accordingly for a long-term emergency. But, the longstanding disaster is now threatening to exceed your food supply. What do you eat after your food supply is depleted or, if it is ruined by insects and rodents?

Like any preparedness plan we must plan for the unexpected by finding foods and supplies that can withstand the test of time. It is my hope that by now your preparedness supplies are diverse and large enough to cover both short-term and long-term emergencies.

From the start, my goal with this series was for you to be prepared enough to survive the above scenario. In order for you to get through this relatively unscathed, you must prepare for the worst.

Listed below are some examples of long-term food sources. If you are planning for emergencies such as EMPs, nuclear attacks, economic collapse, grid-down scenarios, apocalyptic epidemics, etc., then I would strongly encourage you to invest in the following prep items.

• Lifetime Foods – Foods that can last for up to 10 years or longer will be a solid investment for your future, as well as  your best bet at surviving a long-term disaster. Foods such as wheat, sugar, salt, white rice and corn are some food items that can last a lifetime. To learn about more of these forever foods, click here. Ensure that these foods are stored properly and away from your food’s worst enemies.
• Freeze-Dried Food - Freeze dried food can last for 20 years. There are a variety of freeze dried ingredients and cuisines to choose from for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The best part of investing in this long-term food source, is different cans of freeze-dried ingredients can be mixed together to create new entrees. The best way to get your moneys worth is to purchase the #10 cans. Due to the preservation measures, they can be pricey, but when you work out the math per serving, it is quite reasonable. Many preppers have stocked up on this as their initial food source for a disaster. Because of the long expiration date, I prefer to keep the freeze-dried foods on standby in the event that I run out of my other foodstuffs. Please keep in mind that due to the sodium in the freeze-dried foods, it tends to back up the intestines. Therefore, if you choose to stock up on these essential long-term foods, I would advise for you to also stock up on stool softeners.
• Seeds – As previously indicated in the newsletter for week 43, non-GMO or heirloom quality seeds are the best types of seeds to store and grow during long-term emergencies as these seeds produce seeds you can save for future harvests.  However, some believe that having some packets of GMO seeds to rely on would be beneficial during times of long-term crises as they have been formulated to survive droughts, have larger yields and be disease resistant. Having dependable seeds and dependable fertilizers and soil amendments in times of a crisis is another example of having back up for your backups.  Further, if stored properly, these seeds can last much longer than their expected expiration dates. Consider growing vegetables that have high yields and high amounts of nutrition and vitamins, as well as finding varieties that possess medicinal properties. For other considerations for a survival garden, click here.
• Water Catchment Systems - Those that do not have access to their own water sources run the risk of being completely dependent on municipal water supplies. Having knowledge about how to harvest water through means of rainwater catchment systems is a great place to begin this path towards self-reliance. Some suggested low cost options are: collapsible water containers or 5-gallon buckets, rain harvesting containers or barrels, rainwater downspouts routed to water tanks by PVC pipes. If outside water catchment systems are being used, learn more about which catchment system is best for your home. Here is a great YouTube video on creating a rain harvesting system from scratch. This website has multiple water conservation projects that you can adapt to your lifestyle.
• Water Filtration Units – In an extended emergency, possessing knowledge on how to properly clean water will be essential in keeping sanitation related illnesses at bay. Water filtration systems with extra filters and parts, water purification tablets, chlorine granules, bleach, electrolyte or re-hydration powders, anti-diarrhea medicines are essential in having clean drinking water. Here is a YouTube video on how to make a gravity fed water system similar to the Berkey Water System for the low price of $50. There will be a high risk of water-borne viruses, so anti-diarrhea medications will also be valuable to stock.

For many of us, our core beliefs are to provide for our family and keep them safe. But, according to societal mores we should only provide safety up to a certain extent. It is a societal taboo to think in terms of worst case scenarios. But sometimes, we must break through societal codes to do what is best for our family. In the case of preparedness, thinking in worst case scenarios may help you better prepare. Unexpected events will happen during SHTF scenarios, and it will be up to you to be ready for them.

Preps to Buy:

[In Quantity]

• Foods for long-term storage such as wheat, rice, sugar, salt, honey, and corn. To learn more, click here.
• Freeze-dried foods
• Stool softeners
• Seeds, both GMO and Non-GMO
• Fertilizers (enough for 3 seasons)
• Water catchment system items
• Anti-diarrhea medicines
• Re-hydration powders or drinks
• Filtration units such as the Berkey Water Filter

Action Items:

1. Ensure that you have enough food supplies to last for a long-term emergency. Refer to the Ready Nutrition Food Calculator to make sure.
2. Research ways that you can conserve water or harvest water on your property.
3. Look for natural water sources, and underground reservoirs to turn to for an emergency water supply.
4. Practice necessary skills that will help you thrive during long-term emergencies. Skills such as gardening, food preservation, and water harvesting.

 WHAT WE’RE UP TO

In the Home:

Our official move out date is at the end of next month. So, packing and cleaning has kicked into high gear! One great aspect of packing up is getting rid of the clutter. We have already made multiple donations of toys and outgrown clothing. I am also taking much pleasure in my new “You Drop It, I Box It” policy being enforced in the house. My kids are horrible about leaving their toys on the floor. Although the kids are not happy with this new policy, it is an effective way to get them to clean up after themselves.

Family Preps:

As many of you know, moving can be quite expensive. Therefore, every extra penny this month is going towards the moving vans, extra boxes, etc. I am also continuing to use our short-term food supply so that it can be replenished after we move.

In the Garden:

I have some sad news. I am going to have to find homes from my potted fruit trees, fruit vines, and herbs. Apparently, it is against the law to import plants into the state we are moving. Some family members are going be very lucky!

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STATS AND FACTS

It’s a fact of modern wilderness life: Any back country water source, no matter how high or remote, is susceptible to contamination due to unsanitary practices of the creatures that visit it — from birds and bears to possums and humans. Many experienced wilderness travelers recognize the need to play it safe with back country water and thus treat every drop before they drink.

Here are some tips for selecting safe drinking water:

• Avoid filtering water in area where animal activity is obvious. Are you near signs of beaver impact? An area where the deer and the antelope have played? A meadow dotted with cow patties? Find another place to draw water.
• The same principle applies to human impact. Is a heavily used campsite nearby? Are you near a trail crossing? A mine? If so, go further upstream for water.
• Try to select water from still, clear water sources. Many microorganisms, particularly giardia, tend to sink in still water due to the weight of their shells; turbulence keeps them suspended.
• If your only water option is melting snow or ice, choose ice. Ice supplies greater water content, but keep in mind many bacteria are impervious to freezing. Thus while boiling can kill pathogens in water, freezing cannot. Clean snow, though, is still a good source for water. Beware of pinkish “watermelon snow,” however. This is a toxic algae that filtering will not remove. If you see it, look elsewhere for ice or clean snow.

Source

LETTERS TO TESS

Do you have a preparedness question? One of the perks of my job at Ready Nutrition is to address questions and/or concerns that you may have with your prepping endeavors. Feel free to ask anything that is on your mind because no question is too big or small. You can email questions to: getprepped@readynutrition.com

This week’s question addresses the importance of a generator:

Hello Tess,

I keep going back and forth about getting a generator. There are sound arguments for both sides. In your opinion do you feel that buying a generator is a valid investment for your preps?

J.R.

Answer:

J.R.,

I will admit from personal experience that during bouts of short-term power disruptions I have gone through, a generator is a great convenience to have. But paying obscene fuel prices to power the generators makes me question the need.

To answer your question, I think it really boils down to personal preference. In my opinion, if you have someone that has medical or health issues and is dependent on electricity to power breathing machines, etc., then investing in a generator would be seen as a necessity.

Those that are prepping for long-term emergencies or are taking steps to living a more self-reliant lifestyle may not see the practicality in having a generator because they want to conserve their fuel sources and not waste it on running a generator. Also, they have more than likely stocked up on manual or off-grid devices to compensate. There is also the concern about drawing unwanted attention from a well-lit home or from the noise  generators put off when they are on. On the other hand, there are solar powered and humless generators on the market that can eliminate the noise issue.

If you are planning on investing in a generator, make sure that you have spare parts in case the motor or cords break. Also, having a manual or knowing how to fix it would also be a good skill to have.

I’m sorry that I can’t provide a concrete answer on whether you should invest in a generator, but there are a lot of factors to consider. I do hope that I have given you some points to think about before you make your decision.

Best of luck,

Tess

What You Won’t Have…

The responsibilities of a medic in times of trouble will usually be one-to-one; that is, the healthcare provider will be dealing with one ill or injured individual at a time.  If you have dedicated yourself to medical preparedness, you will have accumulated significant stores of supplies and some knowledge. Therefore, your encounter with any one person should be, with any luck, within your expertise and resources.  There may be a day, however, when you find yourself confronted with a scenario in which multiple people are injured.  This is referred to as a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI).

A Mass Casualty Incident is any event in which your medical resources are inadequate for the number and severity of injuries incurred.  Mass Casualty Incidents (we’ll call them “MCIs”) can be quite variable in their presentation.

They might be:

• Doomsday scenario events, such as nuclear weapon detonations
• Terrorist acts, such as occurred on 9/11 or in Oklahoma City
• Consequences of a storm, such as a tornado or hurricane
• Consequences of civil unrest or battlefield injuries
• Mass transit mishap (train derailment, plane crash, etc.)
• A car accident with, say, three people significantly injured (and only one ambulance)
• Many others

The effective medical management of any of the above events required rapid and accurate triage.  Triage comes from the French word “to sort” (“Trier”) and is the process by which medical personnel (like you, survival medic!) can rapidly assess and prioritize a number of injured individuals and do the most good for the most people. Note that I didn’t say: “Do the best possible care for each individual victim”.

Let’s assume that you are in a marketplace in the Middle East somewhere, or perhaps in your survival village near the border with another (hostile) group.  You hear an explosion.  You are the first one to arrive at the scene, and you are alone.  There are twenty people on the ground, some moaning in pain.  There were probably more, but only twenty are, for the most part, in one piece.  The scene is horrific.  As the first to respond to the scene, medic, you are Incident Commander until someone with more medical expertise arrives on the scene.  What do you do?

Your initial actions may determine the outcome of the emergency response in this situation.  This will involve what we refer to as the 5 S’s of evaluating a MCI scene:

• Safety
• Sizing up
• Sending for help
• Set-up of areas
• START – Simple Triage And Rapid Treatment

1.  Safety Assessment:  Our friend Joshua Wander (the Jewish Prepper of blogspot fame)  relates to us an insidious strategy on the part of terrorists in Israel:  primary and secondary bombs.  The main bomb causes the most casualties, and the second bomb is timed to go off or is triggered just as the medical/security personnel arrive.  This may not sound right to you, but your primary goal as medic is your own self-preservation, because keeping the medical personnel alive is likely to save more lives down the road.  Therefore, you do your family and community a disservice by becoming the next casualty.

As you arrive, be as certain as you can that there is no ongoing threat.  Do not rush in there until you’re sure that the damage has been done and you and your helpers are safe entering the area.  In the immediate aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, various medical personnel rushed in to aid the many victims.  One of them was a heroic 37 year old Licensed Practical Nurse who, as she entered the area, was struck by a falling piece of concrete.  She sustained a head injury and died five 5 days later.

2. Sizing up the Scene:  Ask yourself the following questions:

• What’s the situation?   Is this a mass transit crash?  Did a building on fire collapse?  Was there a car bomb?
• How many injuries and how severe?  Are there a few victims or dozens? Are most victims dead or are there any uninjured that could assist you?
• Are they all together or spread out over a wide area?
• What are possible nearby areas for treatment/transport purposes?
• Are there areas open enough for vehicles to come through to help transport victims?

3.  Sending for Help:  If modern medical care is available, call 911 and say (for example):  “I am calling to report a mass casualty incident involving a multi-vehicle auto accident at the intersection of Hollywood and Vine (location).  At least 7 people are injured and will require medical attention.  There may be people trapped in their cars and one vehicle is on fire.”

In three sentences, you have informed the authorities that a mass casualty event has occurred, what type of event it was, where it occurred, an approximate numbers of patients that may need care, and the types of care (burns) or equipment (jaws of life) that may be needed.  I’m sure you could do even better than I did above, but you want to inform the emergency medical services without much delay.

If the you-know-what has hit the fan and you are the medical resource, get your walkie-talkie or handie-talkie and notify base camp of whatever the situation is and what you’ll need in terms of personnel and supplies.  If you are not the medical resource, contact the person who is; the most experienced medical person who arrives then becomes Incident Commander.

4.  Set-Up:  Determine likely areas for various triage levels (see below) to be further evaluated and treated.  Also, determine the appropriate entry and exit points for victims that need immediate transport to medical facilities, if they exist.  If you are blessed with lots of help at the scene, determine triage, treatment, and transport team leaders.

5. S.T.A.R.T.:  Triage uses the acronym S.T.A.R.T., which stands for Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment.   The first round of triage, known as “primary triage”, should be fast (30 seconds per patient if possible) and does not involve extensive treatment of injuries.  It should be focused on identifying the triage level of each patient.  Evaluation in primary triage consists mostly of quick evaluation of respirations (or the lack thereof), perfusion (adequacy of circulation), and mental status.  Other than controlling massive bleeding and clearing airways, very little treatment is performed in  primary triage.

Although there is no international standard for this, triage levels are usually determined by color:

Immediate (Red tag): The victim needs immediate medical care and will not survive if not treated quickly.  (for example, a major hemorrhagic wound/internal bleeding) Top priority for treatment.

Delayed (Yellow tag): The victim needs medical care within 2-4 hours. Injuries may become life-threatening if ignored, but can wait until Red tags are treated. (for example, open fracture of femur without major hemorrhage).

Minimal (Green tag): Generally stable and ambulatory (“walking wounded”) but may need some medical care. (for  example, 2 broken fingers, sprained wrist).

Expectant (Black tag): The victim is either deceased or is not expected to live.  (for example, open fracture of cranium with brain damage, multiple penetrating chest wounds).

Knowledge of this system allows a patient marking system that easily allows a caregiver to understand the urgency of a patient’s situation.  It should go without saying that, in a power-down situation without modern medical care, a lot of red tags and even some yellow tags will become black tags.  It will be difficult to save someone with a major internal bleeding episode without surgical intervention.

In the next part of this series, we will go through a typical mass casualty incident with 20 victims, and show how to proceed so as to provide the most benefit for the most people.

Dr. Bones

For part 2: http://www.doomandbloom.net/2012/05/the-mass-casualty-incident-triage-part-2.html

For part 3: http://www.doomandbloom.net/2012/05/the-mass-casualty-incident-triage-part-3.html

To learn more about survival medicine, visit Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy’s website www.doomandbloom.net

We could spend a significant portion of our time outlining the various reasons for why the world’s economic, financial and political systems sit on the brink of an unprecedented paradigm shift that promises to change the landscape of the entire system as it exists today.

I could try to convince you that it’s a good idea to prepare for what’s coming, but the fact that you are reading this article via Tess’ Ready Nutrition newsletter means that you’re already in action planning and execution mode. If you’ve been following the 52 Weeks to Preparedness from the beginning, then you’ve spent the last 44 weeks establishing an emergency and disaster response plan that would probably make FEMA jealous.

Like Tess and I, you’ve probably done your research and spent months or years gathering as much information as you can about the many possibilities that could significantly impact your life and the lives of your family members and close friends, and you’ve actively involved yourself in making sure that you’re as insulated as possible from whatever may befall us.

My initial inclination when Tess asked me to contribute some thoughts on wealth preservation during times of uncertainty was to point out the fundamental economic problems and fraud facing the system. I realized after delving into this topic that, while the ramifications of an economic or currency collapse are life alteringly severe, my family’s personal preparedness plans have always been focused on ensuring we’re ready for anything that gets thrown our way – not just an economic crisis.

The strategy that we try to employ is well rounded and considers as many variables as possible.

• Natural Disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, flood, solar flare
• Man-made calamities like currency hyperinflation, cyber attack, EMP detonation, nuclear fallout or global conflict
• Personal emergencies like a job loss, injury or over-extension of credit

With this idea in mind, when we look at the concept of investing and wealth preservation for uncertain times, we want to employ a strategy that will provide as much coverage as possible so that if we are hit out of the blue with something totally unexpected, we’ll at least have the basic necessities to survive.

While I’ll stop short of advising you to sell all of the stocks and bonds in your 401(k) account and investing all of your proceeds into ‘preps’, a little diversification could mean the difference between surviving a disaster, or succumbing to it.

Keep your 401(k), IRA or other investment accounts, but consider expanding your horizons with a new 401(Prep) strategy as well.

The Currency of Kings

Gold is the currency of kings, Silver the currency of noblemen, and Debt the currency of slaves. 

While disregarded by mainstream economists as a relic of civilizations past, gold still remains a highly sought after asset by central banks around the world including those of China, India, Venezuela, Iran and a host of other countries losing faith in the petro-dollar reserve currency system. We’ve seen it rise to record breaking nominal highs in the last ten years for a reason. Those in the know – including investors who understand that gold always rises during periods of uncertainty and crisis – have been acquiring gold and its cousin silver for over a decade and have seen it’s value increase multi-fold.

We need look only at recent history to see what happens when economies and currencies of nations collapse. When the monetary systems of the Weimar Republic, Argentina, and Zimbabwe collapsed their currencies literally became worthless over night. During Germany’s hyperinflation people were burning wheel barrows of paper money just to stay warm. When Zimbabwe’s currency hyper inflated over a period of about 10 years, a loaf of bread went from one $1 to $1 trillion dollars; today there are people panning for granules of gold in Zimbabwe’s rivers so that they can purchase bread to eat for a day.

While nothing is guaranteed, history has proven one thing about gold and silver. There is and always will be a buyer for these precious metals. And if there is a central bank or large investor buying, that demand will always trickle down into the rest of the economy – even if it is operating as a black market.

If you want to expand your portfolio to include precious metals, here are some considerations:

• A single ounce of gold stores more value than silver. If you need portability for a large amount of wealth gold coins and bars will be your primary precious metals investment. Currently an ounce of gold is about $1550. With less than a pound of coins in your purse or backpack you can conveniently move $25,000 in value.
• What gold offers in portability it lacks in divisibility. This is where silver comes in. You may not be able to move $25,000 of silver conveniently (weighing around 50 pounds!). But because of it’s lower value per ounce silver is an excellent mechanism of exchange for things like food, gas, clean water, or tools if the dollar hyper-inflates or crashes. You can purchase silver in bars (100 oz, 10 oz) or coins (1 ounce, or U.S. government issued pre-1965 halves, quarters and dimes). With the smaller denomination coins like US quarters you will have portability for a small amount of cash (40 quarters is about $150 dollars worth) and you’ll have coinage that should allow you the ability to purchase just about any item someone is willing to sell.
• When buying gold or silver, buy from reputable sources like your local coin shop or an online dealer like Apmex or Kitco.
• The only exception we can make to the above rule is for the purchase of pre-1965 U.S. government minted 90% silver coinage. While we would avoid purchasing any other coins on auction sites like ebay, there are often some great deals to be found on half dollars, quarters and dimes containing 90% silver (pre-1965 coins only!). You can also purchase Kennedy half dollars dated 1965-1969 containing 40% silver content. Since these coins are government issued and in such small denominations, the possibility that they are counterfeit decreases significantly.
• Silver allows you to make modest, weekly investments of anywhere from $5 to $50 dollars and still build a store of wealth.
• To get the current price of silver and gold, as well as the specific prices for dated U.S. coins, check out the calculators at coinflation.com.
• If you are investing a large sum of money into precious metals, gather details about the types of coins you are buying, especially if you’re buying gold. Acquire a coin caliper and/or testing kit to ensure you’re getting what is being advertised.

While you may be able to easily utilize gold and silver as a mechanism of exchange at the onset of a crisis to buy much needed supplies during a currency meltdown and use it to exchange for land or equipment during a recovery period, you may be faced with a period of time when no one will be interested in your PM’s. Selco of SHTF School points out that gold is not the silver bullet the provides complete insulation from TEOTWAWKI. When all hell breaks loose, as it did in the Balkans in the 1990′s, and a war is being fought right outside of your front window, gold and silver may not get you very far, as people are more concerned with the immediate need of getting out of harm’s way than they are with anything else.

With that in mind, and for those who (correctly) argue that we can’t eat our gold, let’s continue diversifying our 401(prep) account.

Commodity Investing with Zero Counter-party Risk

In this type of environment where nobody can get a safe return on their money within the United States that beats the official rate of inflation, buying canned foods and such is actually a better investment than a Treasury bill. What I would look to do is have a backup supply of at least several months of the basic commodities you need to live with – canned food, toilet paper, as well as barter items…
-John Williams, Economist, Shadowstats.com

One thing analysts and financial pundits agree on is that, in general, commodities will continue to rise. As central banks continue to inflate their money and hundreds of millions of people in once under-developed nations join the ranks of the global working class, the demand for food once reserved for the middle class in America and Europe will rise in countries like China and India. The end result is a higher cost for corn, rice, wheat, meat and other staples.

Thus, as the experts suggest, investing in commodities may be an excellent way to grow, or at the very least preserve, your money. Where I disagree with the experts is how to invest in such assets. While you can purchase Exchange Traded Funds or contracts that follow specific commodities, the inherent problem with these investments is that, even though you have a paper receipt that says you own a particular commodity, if it’s not in your possession your are subject to counter-party risk. What I mean by this is that if the investment firm (or the numerous associated firms) has a problem and goes out of business, your paper receipt may become worthless. A recent example of this was the MF Global scandal, where the investment firm headed by a trusted former governor of New Jersey actually took the deposits and commodity investments of their depositors and transferred those assets to other investment banks days before completely collapsing. Their clients, who had receipts to prove ownership, were left with nothing.

If you’re investing into commodities because you expect prices to rise dramatically, then you must also assume that those dramatic price rises will result from either a currency crisis, or shortages caused by exceedingly high demand or adverse weather conditions (think Great Depression dust bowl). That being said, the only sound method of investing in these assets is for you to take physical delivery – just like you would with gold.

For food, your best bet would be to look at the 11 Emergency Foods That Last a Lifetime. Dry goods like rice, wheat, beans, salt, honey, and dry milk will provide you with an investment that will grow in value as prices rise, and also offer you peace of mind in case paper markets crash because you’ll be in direct possession of your food. How much food should you add to your 401prep investment portfolio? It depends on the size of your family and your time horizon. Think about what could cause a massive price rise in food prices and you’ll realize that whatever the crisis is, it could be long-term. The Ready Nutrition food storage calculator can help you to determine how much inventory you may need and allows you to break your purchases into weekly shopping trips so you don’t have to invest thousands of dollars up front.

In addition to food, there are a variety of other commodities that you won’t want to live without if the system comes crashing down around us – so consider adding these to your preps as well:

• Toilet paper , various toiletries, hygiene products
• Cooking oils
• Off-grid lamps and fuel
• Over the counter medicine like ointments, aspirin, anti-diarrheals, anti-constipation meds, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide
• Hand sanitizer (you’ll want lots of this because clear water may be hard to come by and disease will be rampant)
• Lighters (highly recommended barter item from the Balkan collapse)
• Ammunition
• Teas, coffee, cigarettes, drinking alcohol
• Off-grid survival tools like hand saws, hand drills, etc. (this may also include low-power requirement tools that you can charge with solar power or other alt energy)
• Antibiotics (Here’s one survival item that will be worth more than gold in a post-collapse world!)
• Read the Emergency Items: What Will Disappear First for more ideas

Investing in these asset was a sound practice in January of 2010 when I first recommended it (you’d be up over 25% today!) and it’s a good strategy today, because as you well know things aren’t looking any better on the economic and monetary front.

When investing in commodities you’ll want to ensure that you are able to physically store your assets so that they are available when you need them post. Be sure to properly store all foods for the long-term.

Land and Real Estate

Agricultural commodities are the place to be in for investors. It will be farmers not bankers driving Ferraris.
-Jim Rogers, Contrarian Investor

You may be surprised to see real estate listed here as a 401(prep) related asset, especially considering that the average price collapse in housing since the crash has been about 30%, with some areas of the country seeing in excess of 50% shaved off of bubble-top prices.

With real estate prices still dropping, it’s certainly not a bad idea to wait for further price reductions before jumping into a new home, especially if you are planning on paying cash. One thing to consider however, is that if you aren’t paying cash for a home and are looking to take on a mortgage then you are in one of the best interest environments we’ll experience perhaps in our lifetimes. Money is cheap, and if you happen across the right property, taking advantage of those low interest loans may be the right thing to do. As the dollar continues its decline and confidence in our ability to repay our debt is lost, you will likely see interest rates rise significantly. During the inflation crisis of the late 70′s and early 80′s some mortgage rates were running as high as 18%, so getting in now may not be a bad idea, especially if you are not planning on flipping your house any time soon and you have an investment time horizon in excess of a decade.

But what is the right property?

Being prepper-minded, I immediately dismiss the possibility of buying a home in a urban or suburban setting. The fact is that these kinds of homes are, in my eyes, liabilities. They have absolutely no productive capacity whatsoever, thus I have hard time looking at them as assets. Moreover, if we’re planning on the S hitting the fan, we want to be in a low population area, something that our typical cookie cutter neighborhoods in big cities simply can’t provide.

When we talk about real estate and land investments during times of crisis we want to focus on a property that will give us the ability to produce something – anything of value. In the event you lose your current income flow, or if the system falls apart, you’ll want to be on a piece of property that allows you to produce some of the commodities we discussed above – either for personal use or to run as a business if employment becomes difficult or impossible to acquire.

Thus, when looking at land, look for land that will provide you and your family with productive capacity. If you can do this, you’ll have turned your home and land into an asset instead of the typical liability held by most Americans.

You’ll also be much closer to achieving self reliance by being as off the grid as is possible, so you are no longer dependent on services provided by the government or large business conglomerates.

Here are some thoughts on real estate investing based in part on Ten Things That Make a Survival Homestead:

• Does your land have the space and soil to allow you to grow a vegetable, herb or fruit garden? Even limited space can be used to product a huge amount of food, so you can be flexible on land size if your financial situation requires it.
• Are you able to produce your own energy – perhaps install solar panels, mini-wind turbines or some type of hydro power if you have a stream or river? Whether the world collapses around us or not, energy self reliance is a long-term benefit that will reduce or eliminate your utility bills, something that will insulate you from not only a collapse of our power grid, but keep the energy flowing to your home if you experience a personal financial catastrophe that makes it difficult to pay your bills.
• Do you have enough land to raise livestock? The bottom line is that people will always need food, and if you can provide that food you’ll always have customers willing to buy it or trade for it. Space is an important consideration for livestock, but there are ways to raise poultry, goats and even micro Dexter cows without a huge pasture. Look into micro-livestocking for some ideas (it’s something you can even do in suburbia if your HOA allows it!).
• You need a water source. This is self explanatory. You can’t grow food or keep animals if you don’t have water. Either make sure you have a well, or a river or stream with easy access so you can collect or divert water to irrigate your garden.
• Another water solution that provides multiple benefits is a pond. Not only will it provide water, but you can expand your offerings by raising fish to boot!
• Can you defend your property? In addition to the commodities listed above, other physical assets to look at acquiring are property and self defense supplies like barbed wire fencing to protect your inner perimeter, flood lights or another alarm system for the external perimeter, empty sang bags that you can quickly fill if needed.

Owning land is a dream held by most individuals. But, few people understand the difference between your home being a liability vs. an asset. If you’re going to be buying (or even renting) land I strongly suggest you look into how you can make your home work for you, instead of the other way around.

Get Some Skills!

I don’t even have any good skills. You know, like nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills…
-Napolean Dynamite

I have a friend who is a specialist in piping design and engineering. In his spare time he builds high quality copper water/alcohol distillation units. Sitting around testing his first unit, my friend and I began discussing the various applications for such an apparatus and how knowledge of manufacturing such units would be an essential skill in a post-collapse world. With his distillation units one can not only purify their water over an open fire, but can also produce drinking alcohol, antiseptics and fuel grade ethanol to run a generator. His project initially started as a hobby, and has since turned into a fledgling side business. If the system collapses, and my friend loses his job in the engineering sector, he will always have his skills of manufacturing to fall back on. In addition to producing distillation units, he is a lifetime prepper, so he is well versed in the manufacture of anything from traps and snares for animals, to making his own ammunition.

The point of this story is that every one of us, even though some of us may sit at a computer all day or work a retail counter, has something we know how to do. Get better at it and consider how you may be able to apply these skills in a post collapse world.

Also of note is that if you are skilled at something – machining, sewing, food preservation or some other skills – stock up on the necessary supplies to run your business now, because they won’t be available. My friend who manufactures distillation units is heavily invested in copper piping and related materials. While copper may not be a practical investment for you because of your skill set, perhaps yarn or canning jars are.

Every one of us is unique, and we each have different life experiences, skills and backgrounds. This is great news for post-collapse survivors, because you can be assured that American innovation will always return with a vengeance. Necessity will be the mother of invention in a post collapse world, and while knitting sweaters for the Holidays may be a hobby for you now, it could be the skill that sets you apart and keeps your family fed if traditional commerce breaks down.

The following list is based in part on The Barter Value of Skills and will give you some ideas on ways you will be able to exchange your time and energy for yield (money, trade, etc.) in a post-collapse world:

• First Aid or Critical Aid (Whether you are an EMT or just have basic first aid training, your skills will be in high demand during a serious crisis)
• Midwifery/delivering babies because there won’t be any hospitals
• Animal Husbandry – Those who haven’t developed animal rearing skills will call on you to help them with their animals or ranching. If you have a large enough post-collapse survival property, you may even be able to lease space on your property for others.
• Blacksmithing, Carpentry, Construction, Machining, and any host of other skills that will be required for jobs that we take for granted today because of home improvement mega stores.
• Mechanics – Whether it’s for small engines like generators or understanding the inner workings of alternative energy, there will always be a need for skilled mechanics. After a collapse it will be difficult if not impossible to buy new items like we do in our current consumptive paradigm. Learning to fix what’s already out there will be a fantastic way to make a living.
• Food preservation, sewing/mending, soap and candle making, production of alternative medicines (with herbs from your garden) will all be skills that are in demand.
• Also see Top Post-Collapse Barter Items And Trade Skills for more ideas

Planning for the Unknown with 401(Prep) Investing

If there is one thing we can say about our current economic, financial, social and political climate it’s that we have entered an era in human history of total unpredictability. While we can theorize about what may or may not happen, we need to understand that we are operating on limited information. As Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld once said :

There are known knowns – there are things we know we know.

We also know there are known unknowns – that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.

But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.

As humorous as Rumsfeld’s comments were to the press in the room, there is quite a bit of insight to be gleaned from them.

The key takeaway is that we really don’t know what we know or don’t know, so plan for the worst. Furthermore, ensure that your preparedness plans are flexible enough to be applied to situations that we haven’t even contemplated as even being possible.

While the ideas listed above may not work for everyone, I hope I’ve been able to present an informative enough primer on Collapse Investing to get your mind working on how you can apply your specific situation and skills to a complete action and execution plan.

Best wishes to you all.

Get Prepped, Stay Prepped.

Mac Slavo
www.SHTFplan.com 

Action Items:

1. Research how other countries used alternative currencies in post-shtf emergencies. Some great online resources are FerFAL’s Surviving in Argentina, Selco’s SHTF School.
2. Familiarize yourself with alternative currencies that could be deemed valuable during a post-SHTF scenario.
3. Familiarize and become proficient in skill sets that would be seen as profitable during an extended emergency.

Subscribe to Get Prepped! Newsletter for weekly updates from the 52 Weeks to Preparedness series.

Happy Friday Everyone,

Howard Ruff once said, “It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark.” The funny thing about the unknown is that no one can be too sure how it’s going to turn out. Most of us are realists and understand that in regards to the future, it’s better to prepare for the likelihood of falling on hard times than be stuck in the middle of it without any preparations or plans. In all honesty, I would much rather invest in a cushion to fall upon rather than hit the ground with nothing to brace my fall. For the last 43 weeks, we have invested in that cushion, because we know that life will not always be sunny and fair.

It’s time we took another proactive step in securing our future. In our 44th week, we will be discussing pertinent wealth preservation measures and TEOTWAWKI investment strategies to consider for our long-term preparations. Mac Slavo of the incomparable SHTF Plan will be writing the section on investments. For those of you who do not know Mac Slavo or his website, he has an uncanny sixth sense for digging up news that would otherwise be buried; and offers poignant advice on shtf planning and long-term strategies.

Remember to fall back on the Ready Nutrition food calculator to ensure that you are storing the correct of amount of foods for a short and long-term emergency.

If you haven’t already, follow us on Twitter or Facebook. I love to interact with the preparedness community, because after all, we are all in this together!

Best,

Tess Pennington

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

PREP OF THE WEEK

Week 44 of 52: Collapse Investing: Money and Wealth Preservation During Times of Uncertainty and Instability

We could spend a significant portion of our time outlining the various reasons for why the world’s economic, financial and political systems sit on the brink of an unprecedented paradigm shift that promises to change the landscape of the entire system as it exists today.

I could try to convince you that it’s a good idea to prepare for what’s coming, but the fact that you are reading this article via Tess’ Ready Nutrition newsletter means that you’re already in action planning and execution mode. If you’ve been following the 52 Weeks to Preparedness from the beginning, then you’ve spent the last 44 weeks establishing an emergency and disaster response plan that would probably make FEMA jealous.

Like Tess and I, you’ve probably done your research and spent months or years gathering as much information as you can about the many possibilities that could significantly impact your life and the lives of your family members and close friends, and you’ve actively involved yourself in making sure that you’re as insulated as possible from whatever may befall us.

My initial inclination when Tess asked me to contribute some thoughts on wealth preservation during times of uncertainty was to point out the fundamental economic problems and fraud facing the system. I realized after delving into this topic that, while the ramifications of an economic or currency collapse are life alteringly severe, my family’s personal preparedness plans have always been focused on ensuring we’re ready for anything that gets thrown our way – not just an economic crisis.

The strategy that we try to employ is well rounded and considers as many variables as possible.

• Natural Disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, flood, solar flare
• Man-made calamities like currency hyperinflation, cyber attack, EMP detonation, nuclear fallout or global conflict
• Personal emergencies like a job loss, injury or over-extension of credit

With this idea in mind, when we look at the concept of investing and wealth preservation for uncertain times, we want to employ a strategy that will provide as much coverage as possible so that if we are hit out of the blue with something totally unexpected, we’ll at least have the basic necessities to survive.

While I’ll stop short of advising you to sell all of the stocks and bonds in your 401(k) account and investing all of your proceeds into ‘preps’, a little diversification could mean the difference between surviving a disaster, or succumbing to it.

Keep your 401(k), IRA or other investment accounts, but consider expanding your horizons with a new 401(Prep) strategy as well.

The Currency of Kings

Gold is the currency of kings, Silver the currency of noblemen, and Debt the currency of slaves. 

While disregarded by mainstream economists as a relic of civilizations past, gold still remains a highly sought after asset by central banks around the world including those of China, India, Venezuela, Iran and a host of other countries losing faith in the petro-dollar reserve currency system. We’ve seen it rise to record breaking nominal highs in the last ten years for a reason. Those in the know – including investors who understand that gold always rises during periods of uncertainty and crisis – have been acquiring gold and its cousin silver for over a decade and have seen it’s value increase multi-fold.

We need look only at recent history to see what happens when economies and currencies of nations collapse. When the monetary systems of the Weimar Republic, Argentina, and Zimbabwe collapsed their currencies literally became worthless over night. During Germany’s hyperinflation people were burning wheel barrows of paper money just to stay warm. When Zimbabwe’s currency hyper inflated over a period of about 10 years, a loaf of bread went from one $1 to $1 trillion dollars; today there are people panning for granules of gold in Zimbabwe’s rivers so that they can purchase bread to eat for a day.

While nothing is guaranteed, history has proven one thing about gold and silver. There is and always will be a buyer for these precious metals. And if there is a central bank or large investor buying, that demand will always trickle down into the rest of the economy – even if it is operating as a black market.

If you want to expand your portfolio to include precious metals, here are some considerations:

• A single ounce of gold stores more value than silver. If you need portability for a large amount of wealth gold coins and bars will be your primary precious metals investment. Currently an ounce of gold is about $1550. With less than a pound of coins in your purse or backpack you can conveniently move $25,000 in value.
• What gold offers in portability it lacks in divisibility. This is where silver comes in. You may not be able to move $25,000 of silver conveniently (weighing around 50 pounds!). But because of it’s lower value per ounce silver is an excellent mechanism of exchange for things like food, gas, clean water, or tools if the dollar hyper-inflates or crashes. You can purchase silver in bars (100 oz, 10 oz) or coins (1 ounce, or U.S. government issued pre-1965 halves, quarters and dimes). With the smaller denomination coins like US quarters you will have portability for a small amount of cash (40 quarters is about $150 dollars worth) and you’ll have coinage that should allow you the ability to purchase just about any item someone is willing to sell.
• When buying gold or silver, buy from reputable sources like your local coin shop or an online dealer like Apmex or Kitco.
• The only exception we can make to the above rule is for the purchase of pre-1965 U.S. government minted 90% silver coinage. While we would avoid purchasing any other coins on auction sites like ebay, there are often some great deals to be found on half dollars, quarters and dimes containing 90% silver (pre-1965 coins only!). You can also purchase Kennedy half dollars dated 1965-1969 containing 40% silver content. Since these coins are government issued and in such small denominations, the possibility that they are counterfeit decreases significantly.
• Silver allows you to make modest, weekly investments of anywhere from $5 to $50 dollars and still build a store of wealth.
• To get the current price of silver and gold, as well as the specific prices for dated U.S. coins, check out the calculators at coinflation.com.
• If you are investing a large sum of money into precious metals, gather details about the types of coins you are buying, especially if you’re buying gold. Acquire a coin caliper and/or testing kit to ensure you’re getting what is being advertised.

While you may be able to easily utilize gold and silver as a mechanism of exchange at the onset of a crisis to buy much needed supplies during a currency meltdown and use it to exchange for land or equipment during a recovery period, you may be faced with a period of time when no one will be interested in your PM’s. Selco of SHTF School points out that gold is not the silver bullet the provides complete insulation from TEOTWAWKI. When all hell breaks loose, as it did in the Balkans in the 1990′s, and a war is being fought right outside of your front window, gold and silver may not get you very far, as people are more concerned with the immediate need of getting out of harm’s way than they are with anything else.

With that in mind, and for those who (correctly) argue that we can’t eat our gold, let’s continue diversifying our 401(prep) account.

Commodity Investing with Zero Counter-party Risk

In this type of environment where nobody can get a safe return on their money within the United States that beats the official rate of inflation, buying canned foods and such is actually a better investment than a Treasury bill. What I would look to do is have a backup supply of at least several months of the basic commodities you need to live with – canned food, toilet paper, as well as barter items…
-John Williams, Economist, Shadowstats.com

One thing analysts and financial pundits agree on is that, in general, commodities will continue to rise. As central banks continue to inflate their money and hundreds of millions of people in once under-developed nations join the ranks of the global working class, the demand for food once reserved for the middle class in America and Europe will rise in countries like China and India. The end result is a higher cost for corn, rice, wheat, meat and other staples.

Thus, as the experts suggest, investing in commodities may be an excellent way to grow, or at the very least preserve, your money. Where I disagree with the experts is how to invest in such assets. While you can purchase Exchange Traded Funds or contracts that follow specific commodities, the inherent problem with these investments is that, even though you have a paper receipt that says you own a particular commodity, if it’s not in your possession your are subject to counter-party risk. What I mean by this is that if the investment firm (or the numerous associated firms) has a problem and goes out of business, your paper receipt may become worthless. A recent example of this was the MF Global scandal, where the investment firm headed by a trusted former governor of New Jersey actually took the deposits and commodity investments of their depositors and transferred those assets to other investment banks days before completely collapsing. Their clients, who had receipts to prove ownership, were left with nothing.

If you’re investing into commodities because you expect prices to rise dramatically, then you must also assume that those dramatic price rises will result from either a currency crisis, or shortages caused by exceedingly high demand or adverse weather conditions (think Great Depression dust bowl). That being said, the only sound method of investing in these assets is for you to take physical delivery – just like you would with gold.

For food, your best bet would be to look at the 11 Emergency Foods That Last a Lifetime. Dry goods like rice, wheat, beans, salt, honey, and dry milk will provide you with an investment that will grow in value as prices rise, and also offer you peace of mind in case paper markets crash because you’ll be in direct possession of your food. How much food should you add to your 401prep investment portfolio? It depends on the size of your family and your time horizon. Think about what could cause a massive price rise in food prices and you’ll realize that whatever the crisis is, it could be long-term. The following food storage calculator can help you to determine how much inventory you may need and allows you to break your purchases into weekly shopping trips so you don’t have to invest thousands of dollars up front.

In addition to food, there are a variety of other commodities that you won’t want to live without if the system comes crashing down around us – so consider adding these to your preps as well:

• Toilet paper , various toiletries, hygiene products
• Cooking oils
• Off-grid lamps and fuel
• Over the counter medicine like ointments, aspirin, anti-diarrheals, anti-constipation meds, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide
• Hand sanitizer (you’ll want lots of this because clear water may be hard to come by and disease will be rampant)
• Lighters (highly recommended barter item from the Balkan collapse)
• Ammunition
• Teas, coffee, cigarettes, drinking alcohol
• Off-grid survival tools like hand saws, hand drills, etc. (this may also include low-power requirement tools that you can charge with solar power or other alt energy)
• Antibiotics (Here’s one survival item that will be worth more than gold in a post-collapse world!)
• Read the Emergency Items: What Will Disappear First for more ideas

Investing in these asset was a sound practice in January of 2010 when I first recommended it (you’d be up over 25% today!) and it’s a good strategy today, because as you well know things aren’t looking any better on the economic and monetary front.

When investing in commodities you’ll want to ensure that you are able to physically store your assets so that they are available when you need them post. Be sure to properly store all foods for the long-term.

Land and Real Estate

Agricultural commodities are the place to be in for investors. It will be farmers not bankers driving Ferraris.
-Jim Rogers, Contrarian Investor

You may be surprised to see real estate listed here as a 401(prep) related asset, especially considering that the average price collapse in housing since the crash has been about 30%, with some areas of the country seeing in excess of 50% shaved off of bubble-top prices.

With real estate prices still dropping, it’s certainly not a bad idea to wait for further price reductions before jumping into a new home, especially if you are planning on paying cash. One thing to consider however, is that if you aren’t paying cash for a home and are looking to take on a mortgage then you are in one of the best interest environments we’ll experience perhaps in our lifetimes. Money is cheap, and if you happen across the right property, taking advantage of those low interest loans may be the right thing to do. As the dollar continues its decline and confidence in our ability to repay our debt is lost, you will likely see interest rates rise significantly. During the inflation crisis of the late 70′s and early 80′s some mortgage rates were running as high as 18%, so getting in now may not be a bad idea, especially if you are not planning on flipping your house any time soon and you have an investment time horizon in excess of a decade.

But what is the right property?

Being prepper-minded, I immediately dismiss the possibility of buying a home in a urban or suburban setting. The fact is that these kinds of homes are, in my eyes, liabilities. They have absolutely no productive capacity whatsoever, thus I have hard time looking at them as assets. Moreover, if we’re planning on the S hitting the fan, we want to be in a low population area, something that our typical cookie cutter neighborhoods in big cities simply can’t provide.

When we talk about real estate and land investments during times of crisis we want to focus on a property that will give us the ability to produce something – anything of value. In the event you lose your current income flow, or if the system falls apart, you’ll want to be on a piece of property that allows you to produce some of the commodities we discussed above – either for personal use or to run as a business if employment becomes difficult or impossible to acquire.

Thus, when looking at land, look for land that will provide you and your family with productive capacity. If you can do this, you’ll have turned your home and land into an asset instead of the typical liability held by most Americans.

You’ll also be much closer to achieving self reliance by being as off the grid as is possible, so you are no longer dependent on services provided by the government or large business conglomerates.

Here are some thoughts on real estate investing based in part on Ten Things That Make a Survival Homestead:

• Does your land have the space and soil to allow you to grow a vegetable, herb or fruit garden? Even limited space can be used to product a huge amount of food, so you can be flexible on land size if your financial situation requires it.
• Are you able to produce your own energy – perhaps install solar panels, mini-wind turbines or some type of hydro power if you have a stream or river? Whether the world collapses around us or not, energy self reliance is a long-term benefit that will reduce or eliminate your utility bills, something that will insulate you from not only a collapse of our power grid, but keep the energy flowing to your home if you experience a personal financial catastrophe that makes it difficult to pay your bills.
• Do you have enough land to raise livestock? The bottom line is that people will always need food, and if you can provide that food you’ll always have customers willing to buy it or trade for it. Space is an important consideration for livestock, but there are ways to raise poultry, goats and even micro Dexter cows without a huge pasture. Look into micro-livestocking for some ideas (it’s something you can even do in suburbia if your HOA allows it!).
• You need a water source. This is self explanatory. You can’t grow food or keep animals if you don’t have water. Either make sure you have a well, or a river or stream with easy access so you can collect or divert water to irrigate your garden.
• Another water solution that provides multiple benefits is a pond. Not only will it provide water, but you can expand your offerings by raising fish to boot!
• Can you defend your property? In addition to the commodities listed above, other physical assets to look at acquiring are property and self defense supplies like barbed wire fencing to protect your inner perimeter, flood lights or another alarm system for the external perimeter, empty sang bags that you can quickly fill if needed.

Owning land is a dream held by most individuals. But, few people understand the difference between your home being a liability vs. an asset. If you’re going to be buying (or even renting) land I strongly suggest you look into how you can make your home work for you, instead of the other way around.

Get Some Skills!

I don’t even have any good skills. You know, like nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills…
-Napolean Dynamite

I have a friend who is a specialist in piping design and engineering. In his spare time he builds high quality copper water/alcohol distillation units. Sitting around testing his first unit, my friend and I began discussing the various applications for such an apparatus and how knowledge of manufacturing such units would be an essential skill in a post-collapse world. With his distillation units one can not only purify their water over an open fire, but can also produce drinking alcohol, antiseptics and fuel grade ethanol to run a generator. His project initially started as a hobby, and has since turned into a fledgling side business. If the system collapses, and my friend loses his job in the engineering sector, he will always have his skills of manufacturing to fall back on. In addition to producing distillation units, he is a lifetime prepper, so he is well versed in the manufacture of anything from traps and snares for animals, to making his own ammunition.

The point of this story is that every one of us, even though some of us may sit at a computer all day or work a retail counter, has something we know how to do. Get better at it and consider how you may be able to apply these skills in a post collapse world.

Also of note is that if you are skilled at something – machining, sewing, food preservation or some other skills – stock up on the necessary supplies to run your business now, because they won’t be available. My friend who manufactures distillation units is heavily invested in copper piping and related materials. While copper may not be a practical investment for you because of your skill set, perhaps yarn or canning jars are.

Every one of us is unique, and we each have different life experiences, skills and backgrounds. This is great news for post-collapse survivors, because you can be assured that American innovation will always return with a vengeance. Necessity will be the mother of invention in a post collapse world, and while knitting sweaters for the Holidays may be a hobby for you now, it could be the skill that sets you apart and keeps your family fed if traditional commerce breaks down.

The following list is based in part on The Barter Value of Skills and will give you some ideas on ways you will be able to exchange your time and energy for yield (money, trade, etc.) in a post-collapse world:

• First Aid or Critical Aid (Whether you are an EMT or just have basic first aid training, your skills will be in high demand during a serious crisis)
• Midwifery/delivering babies because there won’t be any hospitals
• Animal Husbandry – Those who haven’t developed animal rearing skills will call on you to help them with their animals or ranching. If you have a large enough post-collapse survival property, you may even be able to lease space on your property for others.
• Blacksmithing, Carpentry, Construction, Machining, and any host of other skills that will be required for jobs that we take for granted today because of home improvement mega stores.
• Mechanics – Whether it’s for small engines like generators or understanding the inner workings of alternative energy, there will always be a need for skilled mechanics. After a collapse it will be difficult if not impossible to buy new items like we do in our current consumptive paradigm. Learning to fix what’s already out there will be a fantastic way to make a living.
• Food preservation, sewing/mending, soap and candle making, production of alternative medicines (with herbs from your garden) will all be skills that are in demand.
• Also see Top Post-Collapse Barter Items And Trade Skills for more ideas

Planning for the Unknown with 401(Prep) Investing

If there is one thing we can say about our current economic, financial, social and political climate it’s that we have entered an era in human history of total unpredictability. While we can theorize about what may or may not happen, we need to understand that we are operating on limited information. As Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld once said :

There are known knowns – there are things we know we know.

We also know there are known unknowns – that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.

But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.

As humorous as Rumsfeld’s comments were to the press in the room, there is quite a bit of insight to be gleaned from them.

The key takeaway is that we really don’t know what we know or don’t know, so plan for the worst. Furthermore, ensure that your preparedness plans are flexible enough to be applied to situations that we haven’t even contemplated as even being possible.

While the ideas listed above may not work for everyone, I hope I’ve been able to present an informative enough primer on Collapse Investing to get your mind working on how you can apply your specific situation and skills to a complete action and execution plan.

Best wishes to you all.

Get Prepped, Stay Prepped.

Mac Slavo
www.SHTFplan.com 

Action Items:

1. Research how other countries used alternative currencies in post-shtf emergencies. Some great online resources are FerFAL’s Surviving in Argentina, Selco’s SHTF School.
2. Familiarize yourself with alternative currencies that could be deemed valuable during a post-SHTF scenario.
3. Familiarize and become proficient in skill sets that would be seen as profitable during an extended emergency.

 WHAT WE’RE UP TO

In the Home:

It is absolutely the worst feeling when you see your kids sick. All week, I’ve had kiddos sick with the flu. How my kids can get the flu in May, I have no idea, but all three were sick as a dog. Most of my free time has been spent making herbal teas, soups and cuddling with sick kids. Yesterday was the first day that all three were back in school. God bless the herbal tea industry!

If I have time this weekend, I’m experimenting with pickled watermelon rind. Who knows? It could become a family favorite!

Family Preps:

“Am I out of band-aids?,” I thought to myself while frantically searching for first aid supplies for my 5-year old. I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but somehow I overlooked the fact that my band-aid stash was running seriously low. I suspect my 5 year old found them. For some reason, children think that having a band-aid on 1. Takes all the pain away, and 2. Is a proud badge of honor for their “war wounds,” and 3. Are equivalent to stickers. Even when they have no cuts, they want a band-aid. Those of you with young ones, know what I’m talking about.

This prompted me to stocked up multiple boxes of the assorted band-aids, and some assorted first aid supplies. I will need to stock up on many more boxes to get my band-aid stash back up, but this is a start. Note to self: put the band-aids up high so the kids don’t get into them.

In the Garden:

I am in awe of how many cucumbers I am getting this year. In the past, by this time, they would have been eaten up by aphids or the squash vine borer, but this year, the cucumbers are happily growing. I didn’t even fertilize! I have already pickled 5 quarts of cucumbers and the cucumbers keep coming.

My cilantro, dill and basil are so big that I plan on cutting them back and dehydrating the cuttings to make spice blends this weekend. The pepper plants are setting fruits and I believe I may be able to enjoy them before we move.

 RECENT ARTICLES

EMP: An Event That Could Cripple Our Way of Life

5 Ways to Stretch Your Meals SHTF Style

DIY Faraday Cage Ideas

LETTERS TO TESS

Do you have a preparedness question? One of the perks of my job at Ready Nutrition is to address questions and/or concerns that you may have with your prepping endeavors. Feel free to ask anything that is on your mind because no question is too big or small. You can email questions to: getprepped@readynutrition.com

This week’s question addresses bugging in in the suburbs:

Hi! I wanted to ask you a question..But first – I love your posts and and everything you are teaching!! I have a problem though. I live in a Houston suburb and though we would LOVE to move to the country, we just can’t do it right now. I can’t have any goats, chickens, etc in my neighborhood. I can begin to grow a garden though. I have 3 months so far of dried food storage (from the Mormon supply house in buckets with the air thingy’s and mylar bags, etc) and water. I’m still working on all the rest. I know I need more than the threee months, but that’s all we could afford to do at the time.

SO, here’s my question. I’m freaked out by the whole shtf concept while in suburbia. We have weapons and ammo (husbie is former military) but I can’t build any kind of bunker or anything. I guess what I’m wondering is how do I become prepared while in suburbia. We don’t have any hills to run to in case the shtf, so I think we would have to hunker down here.

You may have already put all this info together in some resources already available. If so, could you please point me in the right direction on what to read?

J.J.

Answer:

J.J.,

Congrats on all of the preparations you have made thus far. Three months of supplies is a great accomplishment!

I also live in a suburb of Houston, so I completely see where you are coming from. The more research one does on extended emergencies and post-shtf scenarios, sooner or later, you are bound to come to the realization that you are not as safe as you once thought.

If your plan is to hunker down in suburbia, my advice to you would be to beef up the outer security of your home. Having more security layers on the outside will keep you more protected from looters and those up to no good. Here is an article on different ways you can accomplish this.

Another way to further protect yourself is get your neighborhood involved in prepping. Those who share a common goal are more likely to come together when faced with a threat. Whether getting a few neighbors on board or working with the neighborhood watch programs, you could start a preparedness program that could help the entire neighborhood prepare. Being that you live in a hurricane prone area, you could use this as the excuse for preparing and getting others involved.

Even though you have a good amount of dry goods storied up, and plan on gardening, you may want to consider investing in some sprouting seeds to give you and your family a natural vitamin source during an extended emergency. Sprouting will provide you with vitamins and nutrients within 48-72 hours of sprouting.

Also, regarding the livestock. You mentioned that you couldn’t have chickens or goats, but have you considered rabbits? This livestock would go undetected by neighborhood watch programs, need minimal care, can be enclosed and can live off of the unwanted parts of the garden vegetables you grow.

I hope this helps, and wish you and your family the best of luck in your preparedness endeavors.

Tess

When I was younger I was lucky enough to have a job that allowed me to travel to some relatively exotic locations.  As a jewelry importer, I visited rural Mexico and Italy on several occasions.  I never hit the big tourist destinations – my time was spent in small villages where the culture was very unique to the area.

One unforgettable element about those years was the food.  Sometimes it was so fantastic I tried to recreate it when I returned home.  Other times the simple food I was served reflected the poverty of the area, which was underlined by an attitude of using the resources that were available, whether or not they happened to be appetizing or generally acceptable to my North American standards.  To encourage the reluctant American guest to try the unfamiliar foods, my hosts nearly always told me “It tastes just like chicken.”

When offered hospitality in a poverty-stricken area, it was important to cast aside my reservations and simply eat what was offered.  In the Third World, survival is dependent on making the most of what is available.  One day this may be true for us as well.

After the first time I was served el gato (cat) in Mexico, I learned the valuable lesson of not asking where the meat had originated until after I’d already eaten.  In Mexico, I have consumed cat, rattlesnake and armadillo.  Here, I learned that with enough tasty seasonings and spices, nearly anything can be not only palatable, but downright tasty.

My travels in northern Italy were very different.  Italy is as far from the Third World as you can get.  However, the food there, especially in the Northern portion of the country, is quite different.  It was in Padova, Italy that I was served carne de cavallo.  It was served on an antipasto platter and was quite tasty, until I made the mistake of asking the waitress if it was beef.  Because I didn’t speak Italian and she did not speak English, she got the point across by whinnying and slapping her thigh.  (I regretted instigating that little pantomime as soon as the horrible realization set in that I was eating Black Beauty.)

In a long-term change of lifestyle, we may have to get over our squeamishness in order to survive.  We can take lessons now from other cultures by learning not only how they prepare their foods, but what they prepare.  If it boils down to survival, we may have to broaden our concept of what constitutes an acceptable source of protein.

Changing the texture of the meat can make it more palatable.  Ground meat of any type can be added to spaghetti sauce or any other recipe in which you would use ground beef.  You can turn your meat into sausage with the use of a meat grinder and the addition of sage and some other spices.  Smoking the meat or turning it into jerky are other options that make it less recognizable to the more squeamish members of the family.

When providing food for your family in a survival situation, think outside of items you would find in the meat department of your local Kroger.  In many places the following animals find their ways into the stew pot:

• Alligator/Crocodile
• Armadillo
• Bear
• Beaver
• Boar
• Cat
• Dog
• Fertilized Eggs
• Frog
• Grouse
• Guinea Pig
• Horse
• Insects
• Rabbit
• Raccoon
• Rats
• Seal
• Snake
• Squirrel
• Turtle
• Worms/Grub

Take the time now to look over some recipes for meats that you may not have considered before.  Then you can plan ahead by stocking the spices needed to prepare these foods in the tastiest way possible. After all, it tastes just like chicken.

Chicken
Chili Mix
Deer
Desserts
Dove
Duck
Elk
Exotics
Fish
Frog
Goose
Grouse
Hog
Moose
Pheasant
Quail

  This post was written by Laura Imm at www.Alt-Market.com

When you think of collapse, what mental pictures come to your mind? Hiding in a hole, eating your dinner out of a can, willing to trade your left pinkie finger for a plastic spork? If we’re talking economic collapse, things probably won’t be that dire, at least for a while. But there definitely will be deprivations. Have you given much thought to what they will be?

One of my main concerns is how I will keep my family healthy now and through collapse. How will I afford vitamins and good alternative health care when I’m unemployed and my money is worthless?

What if I could make my own vitamins? What if I could make my own probiotics, without the need to support a home dairy or when my dairy animals are dry? What if doing so only cost me some tea bags and sugar, items I can easily, and cheaply, stockpile? What if all the space it would require is a few square feet of my kitchen (or cave, depending on your vision of collapse)? What if doing so required absolutely no electricity? Sounds great, right? What could possibly fulfill all these expectations?

Enter kombucha (pronounced kom-boo-cha). What in the world is kombucha, you might ask? It is fermented tea. The fermentation is produced through the use of a SCOBY, a Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. During this fermentation acetic acid, lactic acid, glucuronic acid, probiotics, and a host of B vitamins are produced. The typical profile for an 8oz serving of kombucha looks like this.

(Source: G. T’s Kombucha)

While all of this is wonderful, by far the star of the show is glucuronic acid. It is a substance created and excreted by the liver, which binds to toxins and carries them out of the living body. Considering we face dioxins, heavy metals, BPA, fluoride, pesticides and whatever is in chemtrails everyday, any mechanism our body has to flush out toxins is welcome and vital. But just like with any living organ, the liver can get overburdened and constantly having to create an overabundance of glucuronic acid to combat the toxins we face everyday can wear it out. Supplementing our bodies with extra glucuronic acid is a wise and prudent action if we plan to outlast these toxins and ultimately, beat the globalists at their own game.

Kombucha’s ability to detoxify the living body is why its been referred to as the Elixir of Life and the Tea of Immortality. It is one of the easiest and sustainable ways to preserve and promote vibrant health.

Kombucha is an old beverage. Its modern popularity originates from the Ural Mountains of Russia during the late 19^th century, but it is considered much older than that, with references dating back to the second century BC in China. It is a very light, lightly effervescent beverage, that reminds me of ginger ale.

All this goodness and only 2-10 grams of sugar, depending on how you flavor it. In fact, ounce for ounce, flavored kombucha contains less sugar than yogurt or kefir, and certainly less than a soft drink or a sports drink. Natural News just named kombucha one of the four best functional beverages.

http://www.naturalnews.com/035634_functional_beverages_health_performance.html

So, how to get started? To make your own kombucha you will need a SCOBY. You can order one, from sites like kombucha2000, but where’s the integrity and self-reliance in that? Or frugality?

http://www.kombucha2000.com/products.html#mushroom

Or, you can grow your own, like I did. To do that, you will need only a few things; some sweet tea, unflavored kombucha, a glass jar, and a kitchen towel.  In my line of work, moving things around introduces contamination and loss, so I decided to set up my SCOBY growing and kombucha brewing all in one vessel. That way, once the SCOBY was grown I could move right along to brewing by just adding the next phase of ingredients to the jar. This means I chose a fairly large jar, a 0.8 gallon sun tea jar with a spigot. When brewing kombucha, no metal can be present, so I made sure all the innards of the jar and spigot were plastic or glass.

A word about ingredients. Since this is a brewing process, you will want to use distilled water or if you have a home RO unit, water that has been purified by reverse osmosis. Also, you will want to use organic tea. Nonorganic tea introduces a much higher level of fluoride to the end product than organic tea does. And since that is one of the toxins we are trying to avoid, why not start off with the best foot forward. After carefully selecting the other ingredients, it just makes sense to use organic sugar as well. If you’re going to go to the effort of brewing your own, why not make it as good and as pure as possible? I buy organic sugar from one of our local bulk foods stores in 10lb bags.

To prepare the vessel, I washed the jar in hot, soapy water, then rinsed and let it air dry.  If its glass, I will remove the spigot and bake it in the oven at 225F for an hour to sterilize it, keep in mind you can’t bake plastic in your oven. You can also use food safe detergent, like the kind used to clean beer brewing equipment.

To prepare the tea, use 1 organic, black tea bag, 1 cup of hot water and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Cool the tea to room temperature, then add the tea and kombucha to the jar. Do not cover the jar with the lid. Cover the jar with the kitchen towel and secure it with a rubber band. A worn out hair band works well for this. Then place in a warm, dark spot to grow. In two to three weeks you will find what looks like a light, tan colored pancake has grown in the jar. That is the SCOBY. Once it is at least ¼ inch thick, its big enough for brewing.

To move on to brewing, prepare your sweet tea by following the ratios listed below. Black tea will produce the most glucuronic acid, but any combination of black and green tea can be used.

Allow the sweet tea to cool to room temperature, then add to your brewing vessel, replacing your cloth on top. Now wait.

How long you will wait will depend on how acidic you like your kombucha. I would pour a few ounces off after a few days to try it. Generally, its going to take 3-6 days to get to where you like it. Since I like to practice continuous brewing, I let it go the 6 days, since after that I will be taking some off and replacing it continuously.

Continuous brewing means exactly how it sounds. You never completely empty a brewing vessel, so once you get it started there is no more cleaning or transferring or anything else that could disturb your SCOBY. Your SCOBY will last a good, long while this way, and will stay very happy. So happy, that it will begin forming a baby SCOBY as soon as it goes to work.

When bottling your kombucha, commercial kombucha bottles, Perrier bottles or Grolsch bottles (with the swing-top lid) are recommended. Once your kombucha is ready, start bottling it according to the following schedule. I usually pour off every other day, then once a week pour off an extra bottle from each vessel. But I have also liked the results pouring off every day and a half.

After you pour off your kombucha, replace the liquid you poured off with fresh, room temperature, sweet tea. When replenishing the brewing vessel is a good time to inspect you SCOBYs for health and check the growth of the baby. Any tan color is good, but if you spot anything that looks green, blue or black, a mold or an unwelcome bacteria has invaded and its time to discard the contents and begin anew. Continuous brewing helps to keep the baby hydrated, but nonetheless, you will want to take good care of your SCOBYs.

You can drink your kombucha plain or flavor it in any number of ways. I like to use fruit juice, since it is so easy and convenient. I look for true juices, not from concentrate, since juice diluted from concentrate may have used fluoridated water. I have also found juice concentrates at my local health food store that can also be used. Just be sure to use a tiny amount of those since they are concentrated!

Variations:

Different teas can be used in Kombucha. You can blend white tea with your black or even different herbal blends. To make your kombucha truly self-reliant, Territorial Seed Company sells green tea plants. Why not grow your own?

http://www.territorialseed.com/product/1330

Continuing on the path to self-reliance and sustainability, here in maple country we have found that maple syrup also makes a good source of sugar for kombucha and is a great way to use up the darker grades of syrup that might be too strongly flavored for those morning pancakes. Also, using maple syrup will bring manganese and zinc into your kombucha, increasing its health benefits even further.

What about caffeine?

Yes, kombucha does have some caffeine, about 8mg in an 8oz serving. If this concerns you, you can decaffeinate your tea following the instructions in the link concerning continuous brewing.

The gift that keeps on giving; good health:

You may have already realized that continuous brewing of kombucha is going to result in lots of baby SCOBY’s. These babies can be used to start new brewing vessels, can be given as gifts to friends and relatives or could become an important barter item in our post-collapse world.

We love continuous home brewing of our own kombucha. It allows us to enjoy daily, what used to be an expensive, occasional treat. We drink it all the time and we all prefer it to sweeter, less healthy drinks. Regardless of how big my little brewery gets, it cannot keep up with demand. I encourage you to try home brewing for yourself and start taking advantage of this wonderful, life-giving gift.

For more information follow these links:

Further information on growing your own SCOBY

Further information on continuous brewing and decaffeinating

The history of kombucha

Benefits of glucuronic acid

 This post was written by Laura Imm at www.Alt-Market.com