Swine flu fact check

• 10 Aug 2009
• wade
• 14 responses

Part of prepping is being smart. Educating yourself with existing knowledge and acquiring the skills to accurately and quickly secure and evaluate future information is critical for survival. Preppers should be leaders. People will look to you in an emergency for leadership and direction. Many people already do. As we work to help people understand the importance of prepping, it is crucial that we do it in a way that is not only sincere, but honest. Using scare tactics is not the right approach.

While stories of fear and death may motivate someone in the short term, its effects will not last and will not produce the change of lifestyle required for someone to truly be prepared. Being seen as a conspiracy theorist and a radical nut-job will also not help your efforts to convert friends and family, or worse, progress towards larger efforts for larger subjects nationally and across the world. Regardless of what you believe, where you stand, or which way you lean politically, your actions contribute to the perceived image of a prepper. Whether it’s individual rights, big-brother, small government, war, or the current battle over health care, the way you contribute to the conversation has a dramatic effect over the conversation. (more…)

Tags: Education, facts, H1N1, knowledge, leadership, Pandemic Preparedness, Swine Flu

Price drop on oats, rice, and milk

• 15 Jul 2009
• wade
• 24 responses

The LDS Home Storage Center updated their prices two weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised that the prices have come down on many items. The most substantial discounts are bulk oats (-28%), rice (-35%), dry milk (-44%), and apple slices (-16%). Black beans (+29%), white beans (+10%), and sugar (+26%) on the other hand have gone up. So, if you have the means, I would recommend getting some oats, rice, and milk now. If you were planning on getting some more beans and sugar, you might consider waiting a bit to see if the prices change. I’d buy now regardless of the price if you don’t have any however.

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Tags: bulk, dry-pack canning, Food Storage

Final call for orders on water storage tank option 2

• 22 Jun 2009
• wade
• 4 responses

We are excited about those that have been able to participate in the high-capacity water storage tank group buy. We will soon have a lot more people prepared water-wise. The last orders for option 1 were collected Saturday. That option is complete. The window to submit orders for option 2 has been extended to Tuesday, 30 June. We will place the combined order the next day. Those that have already placed their orders should have already been contacted by the distributor to arrange for payment. Additional orders (between now and the end of the month) will be contacted after the order is closed.

The product is a high-capacity residential water storage tank. It holds 275 gallons (the equivalent of five 55 gallon water drums) and is being sold for $345 (includes shipping). The unit fits through a standard doorway so you can place it in a back room or a basement. Please note the SureWater tank also comes in a 525 gallon option. While we did not include the larger size in the original announcement, it is available for the same discount at $470.

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Tags: Group Buy, preps, Water, water storage

Freezing broccoli and cauliflower

• 19 Jun 2009
• wade
• 10 responses

One of the most significant weaknesses in my gardening has been storing my harvest. Gardens aren’t just about fresh produce. People used to live off them year round. With so many people struggling to make ends meet or struggling to establish adequate food storage, I am surprised there are so few gardens. This year I have committed to educating myself on effective storage techniques and significantly adding to the variety and quality of my food storage with the fruits of my garden.

There are many ways to preserve and store food including canning, smoking, bottling, drying, and freezing. Each has it’s own advantages and weaknesses and varies in effectiveness depending on the food. For example, I could eat canned green beans with meatloaf every night of the week but would rather eat dirt than canned peas. Of course, if it really came down to it, I would likely choose to supplement the dirt with the canned peas to avoid death. Thus, I would recommend having a variety of food stored in several different methods.

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Tags: Food Storage, Freezing, Gardening, Howto, Vacuum Sealing

An attempt to build a rotating compost bin

• 10 Jun 2009
• wade
• 32 responses

I’m fascinated by compost. Watching kitchen scraps turn into dirt in just a few weeks time is exciting and anything I can do to improve my soil is worth the effort. I want the ComposTumbler, but finding $429 in the family budget (the price after you give them an email address) for a barrel that holds dirt is proving difficult. So, this past weekend I decided to build my own.

The project was not a success in my mind but I thought I would post this how-to article anyway describing what I tried and the lessons learned in the hope that it will save others of you time and money should you embark on such a project yourself. The unit is complete and in my garden cooking up a batch of compost at this very moment, but it is difficult to use, I have concerns about how long it will last, and the door doesn’t stay closed.
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Tags: Gardening, How To, Lesson learned

Messiest pantry contest: cast your vote

• 07 May 2009
• wade
• 5 responses

Shelf Reliance, maker of the famous rotating shelf system, is holding a Messiest Pantry Contest. It began on 19 April with contestants submitting photos of their messy pantries or food storage rooms along with a description of why they deserved the makeover. The entries have been narrowed to five semi-finalists which are now competing in an online poll on Shelf Reliance’s blog to be one of the three winners. (more…)

Tags: Food Storage, Links, Storing Systems

Skills as a prep

• 30 Apr 2009
• wade
• 4 responses

A few weeks ago a guest author on a popular preparation blog discussed the value of gardening as a resource. He put forth the opinion that while he enjoys gardening as a pastime, the decision as to whether to engage in it should be based solely around time and cost. Citing the inability to move a garden in an emergency and the amount of labor required to get to harvest, he concluded that it is better to save your seeds for a bug-out and expend today’s efforts and money on a trip to the grocery store. “It’s all about time,” he says, “not a skill or desire.” (more…)

Tags: Food Storage, Gardening, Practice, Rotation, Skills

Gardening resources (local and mail-order)

• 10 Mar 2009
• wade
• 14 responses

Gardening in Utah can be a wonderfully enjoyable and productive experience. Knowing how to get started however can be a major deterrent for many people. Fortunately, there are a number of local resources we can rely upon in order to help us to get started on the path to productive, self-sufficient gardening.

After doing some research myself, here’s my garden fertilized and tilled, ready for the first planting next week:

If you are interested in getting started, keep reading for some recommendations on local resources.
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Tags: Gardening, Links, Seeds

Starts for the Spring garden

• 05 Mar 2009
• wade
• 4 responses

Ten days and counting. Boy do I have spring-fever. We planted lettuce, broccoli, carrots and two kinds of peas Monday night in our starter trays and by this morning they had already sprouted and pushed their heads up through the soil. I will be moving them outside on the fourteenth. I tried two approaches to see which would perform better. Half the seeds went in a 72 cup Jiffy Greenhouse Kit and the other half went in biodegradable peat pots filled with seed-starting potting soil and covered with cellophane.

I found the Jiffy Greenhouse Kit cumbersome, but it does appear to be performing better than the pots I filled with soil by hand. The peat pellets in the kit are compressed and dehydrated and come as small wafers. Before use, you must rehydrate them with an eighth a cup of water and slice open the top of the fabric that holds them together so that you can get the seed inside. The raised plastic lid also appears to be regulating the humidity better than the cellophane on the others. The cellophane is also going to have to be removed once shoots get much higher than the edge of the peat pots.

The only real obstacle that I foresee is distinguishing between each of the plants while they are young as my toddler has removed my markers.

Tags: garden, planting, spring, starts

Flash Alert: Sears in American Fork closing

• 03 Feb 2009
• wade
• 2 responses

Sears is closing it’s store in American Fork. A fourth of the store is already empty. I was there last night and it appeared that everything was thirty to sixty percent off. I was able to get bunch of batteries and toilet paper. Their prices are higher than Walmart to begin with so I am not sure how much of a deal it really is, but even saving a little is worth a trip when buying in bulk. Other things I saw while there were tents, canopies, air compressors, tools, and clothing.

Tags: Alert, Store Closures

Emergency home heat

• 19 Jan 2009
• wade
• 43 responses

My next preparation project was obtaining an emergency heat source. This is a purchase that I have been researching and planning for a quite a while now, wanting to make sure that I had adequately weighed options and made the best choice. There are a lot of factors to consider including the size and shape of the areas you want to heat, altitude, portability, direct versus ambient heat, ease of use, safety, ventilation, and fuel source.

For me, fuel source was one of the most important factors. And, while availability, storage life, and heating power are importing things to consider, my main concern was selecting a universal fuel. Whether I am cooking, lighting, or heating, my preparations will be much more effective if I only have to store one type of fuel. I would also like a solution that I can use regularly in addition to working well in an emergency. (more…)

Tags: emergency heat, heat, heaters, home heat, preps, Reviews, Winter

Dry-pack Christmas

• 12 Jan 2009
• wade
• 11 responses

For Christmas this year, we decided to forgo gifts and add to our dry-pack food supply. With access to a dry-pack canner through the local unit of my Church, I decided the most cost effective and efficient route this time would be to buy in bulk and do the canning myself at home. I purchased all of the food and supplies from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Home Storage Center in Sandy.

We were able to get everything we wanted except wheat which they were out of until the first of the year. I will be going back in a few weeks to finish off that part of the order. I did learn exactly how much will fit in a 4Runner, although I had more than the traditional blind-spot to worry about on the drive home. For this round, I canned rice, sugar, pinto beans, black beans, white beans, potato flakes, dry milk, dried onions, apple slices, and both quick and regular oats. (more…)

Tags: Canning, dry pack, Food Storage, preps, Storing Systems