Local Raw Honey, image from freshstepsonline.com

There have been a few articles lately in the news regarding honey, mainly in response to a Food Safety News study that was published this week. To sum it up, the report found that most honey purchased in stores had been highly processed to the point that all the pollen had been removed. Aside from no longer supplying healthy benefits by containing pollen, removing all traces of pollen also makes it impossible to track the location of origin for honey if it turns out to be contaminated or otherwise harmful.

A few of us on this blog and many of our readers have become amateur bee keepers in the past few years. It is an enjoyable hobby and we’ve had a good time researching and posting articles on honey, its health benefits and general information on bee keeping and pointing out local classes and events focused around the hobby. With this background I feel that there is an easy solution to avoiding the problems with highly processed honey. In fact, the solution is quite simple.

Buy locally produced honey. This will help to support local businesses and keep your dollars local. You’ll obtain all the wonderful benefits of raw honey and be secure in the knowledge that you are supporting locally sourced food. This article on the Life Hacker web site sums it up quite well.

If you aren’t sure how or where to get local, raw honey just ask us and we’ll point you in the right direction.

Today, Wednesday November 9th, 2011 at noon (MST) Utah time the National Emergency Alert System will be conducting a nationwide test for the first time. The Emergency Alert system system is meant to allow governments at every level to alert their citizens to events that may affect them. The hope is that the system will be usable by local cities, counties and states as well as by the federal government to issue alerts at the national level. These alerts may cover child abuduction/Amber alert notices, sever storm warnings, tornado warnings, terrorist attacks, or pretty much any conceivable notice that a government may want to advise the public of.

As interesting and useful as this system will hopefully prove to be, I think it provides another, far more important purpose. It serves as a great reminder to check on your emergency plans and gear. Take few minutes today to check your car kit and your 72 hour kits. Are they still complete? We often “borrow” gear from our readiness kits and then forget to put them back or replace consumables. Use today as a reminder that as preppers we need to stay on top of our preps. Preps are not a one-time purchase but a commitment.

For more information on the test today, visit www.fema.gov/eastest/

I have a lot to work on! One of the things I’m doing right out the gate is to update our stake’s emergency preparedness plan. Our stake was formed only five years ago, so when it was organized, they got the preparedness plans of a nearby stake, and basically copied and pasted the name of the new stake over the other stake’s name in the plan. Reading over that plan now, I curiously wonder how long it had been since that other stake had updated it.

Why, you may ask? Get a load of this… In a section dealing with what to do after an emergency, it says:

Write, telegraph or telephone your relatives after the emergency is over, so they will know you are safe.

Telegraph. I kid you not, the plan suggests using the telegraph as a means of communication (second to writing…) for getting in touch with loved ones. Telegraph.

The LDS Church published a new website on preparedness recently which has some helpful information (albeit nothing new). Note that there are several sections on this page; in the section titled “Ward and Stake Emergency Plans” we read the following:

Plans should be updated periodically.

Indeed.

So, I’ll be replacing telegraph with texting, or Twitter, or Facebook. :) And while it’s certainly important for wards and stakes (and cities and states and companies and private organizations) to keep their emergency plans up to date, it’s crucially important that families do so.

Just yesterday I was reviewing our family list. Over the past couple of years, I’ve crossed things out on the original list and have written in new things—locations of where to find a certain important item, or what to evacuate with, etc. Even so, the latest information is slightly out of date, and needs to be revised.

In the chaotic minutes that follow an emergency, it will be extremely difficult to think with a clear mind and recall what we should do, or bring, or get set up. Having a detailed plan to refer to will help us ensure that our loved ones our safe, our homes are secured, and the needs of anybody injured or distressed are responded to.

So set aside some time in the next few days to go over (or begin!) your family plans and set calendar reminders every few months to review the list and see if anything needs to be updated or added. Because surely you wouldn’t want to be wondering, amidst the commotion of an emergency, where to find a telegraph.

Local first-aid company Shield-Safety is hosting two community preparedness fairs and wanted to spread the word to different preparedness groups and companies that might be interested.  If you are looking to attend, the dates and locations are as follows:

Lehi:

Sept. 16th 5 pm to 9 pm
Sept. 17th 9 am to 7 p

Herriman:

Sept. 30th 5 pm to 9 pm
Oct. 1st 9 am to 7 pm

Both events are free for attendees, and will feature first-aid training classes, and other opportunities to learn preparedness skills.

If you are interested in hosting a booth (vendor or community) we have a copy of the information you need here for download. The hosts have stressed to me they are very eager to work with all community resources such as CERT, safety officials, and other local companies.

When the Utah County Sheriff got the call about him falling in, I happened to be very close to the canyon just finishing up a picnic with my family.  I immediately headed towards the canyon and was almost there when we (Utah County Search and Rescue) were paged.  I was the third person on scene and was working with the Lone Peak Fire Department and several other local police and fire departments.  We set up right across from Timp Cave and started watching the river for a body.  Over the next hour, well over 100 members of the SAR Team and local PD/FD arrived and spread out over about 10 miles working our way up and down the river.  He was finally found after I had been there almost 2 hours.

Jayson was pinned in what is called a strainer.  Several logs were across the river and there was a lot of debris under the logs.  Swift moving water applies an enormous amount of force – it took several minutes and several men to work his body off of the strainer and out of the river.  My assignment was about 30 feet downstream as safety – half a dozen team members and I were positioned such that if one of our people working with Jayson’s body fell in the river we would be able to pull them out.  Once his body was freed from the river he was carefully passed amongst about 20 people to the shore and placed onto a stokes (stretcher).  Once everyone was clear of the river, the safety team moved to the stokes and he was carried to an ambulance.

I am attempting to convey a lot of imagery here, details you probably don’t always hear.  I’m doing that for a reason.  I DO NOT want to pull your kid out of the river – or YOU!  Four families in the last week have for some reason thought it would be ok to have their kids near the river – and they were WRONG.

In this case, and the details are not entirely clear, the mother either fell in with Jayson or jumped in after him.  She was fortunately pulled back out by two bystanders who risked their lives to grab her.  She was unconscious, hypothermic and immediately transported to the hospital.  She was extremely lucky that they were able to get her out of the water, as the ones who pulled her out were extremely lucky that they did not become victims themselves.

Those of us who live and play here know that you can often ford the Provo and American Fork river without too much danger.  Such is NOT the case right now and will not be for the next month and a half at least.  The rivers are extremely high and extremely fast – which equals EXTREMELY DEADLY.  With the current conditions of the water right now, if an adult went in I would say they have about a 90% chance of dying.  That goes for the Search and Rescue Team as well – our training, gear and preparation allows us to lower those odds as well as working as a team and controlling situations – but it’s still a huge risk.

If you’re taking your children in the mountains – which I highly recommend you do – just be cautious, aware and alert.  Do NOT let your children near the river!  The banks are water logged and getting hammered by water much higher than they’re used to.  Collapse of the bank into the river is a huge potential problem.  Just because you’re standing on dry ground at the edge of the river does not mean you are safe, that bank could collapse from your added weight with no warning.

Tell the story I just shared with your kids if you’re going to be in an area where the rivers are running.  Let them know that other kids like them are dying from falling in.  Show them a line 20 ft away from the bank and forbid them not to cross it.  Keep your eye on them – getting distracted for 30 seconds could easily mean you look back and your kid is gone – and 30 feet down the river – and they’re not coming back alive.

Whatever you do, don’t think “that won’t happen to me”.  There is nothing special to the river about you or your kids – it will devour you violently if you end up in it.  My kids have a lot of experience with the local rivers and I won’t let them anywhere near it.

Please, heed the warnings of the media, the authorities, of me – Do Not Let Your Kids Near the River for the next month.  There are plenty of places to play and have fun in the mountains without risking the river.  Pulling kids out sucks, I really don’t want to pull yours.

When:

Saturday, June 11, 2011

10:00 AM – 2:00 PM

And a nice video explaining things via the local newspaper, the Daily Herald

Click here to view the embedded video.

Courtesy Marin Magazine

If my allergies are any indication, Spring has sprung. This means it is time for Daylight Saving Time, spring cleaning, starting gardens and other activities.

What are the UtahPreppers up to?

Ekim

Besides decluttering and planning a massive garage sale, we are also finalizing plans for our garden. We have the layout designed and are rotating some crops from last year. Our garden last year was our first real attempt at gardening since moving into our house a few years ago. Thanks to the classes we took from Gordon Wells, we were able to have a *very* successful garden our first attempt. You can find some great garden reference cards based on Gordon’s classes in a previous post here.

To kick off the season, we began looking through seed catalogs in anticipation of planning the garden. Then, once our plan was in place, we ordered and have started the seeds in seed pots to sprout them indoors. We’ll be moving them outdoors a bit at a time. This weekend we’ll be roto-tilling the garden area and creating the beds per the spacing and size requirements in the documents linked to above.

We are also increasing the number of chickens that we have. Due to a number of factors, we are down to two chickens at the moment from which we are getting an average of 1 egg a day. We will be adding five more chickens to our brood. This is about one more than I would like, but if our previous luck holds, we’ll have at least one rooster in the bunch that will end up in the freezer or canning jar.

Jayce

My recent exploits have leaned mostly towards doing extra contract work, keeping the bank account to a happier level.  I have been gazing longingly at my garden, but keep getting distracted from giving it the attention it really needs.  I did begin doing basic soil amendment for the year, working in compost from last year into about half of what I need ready.  I’ll be getting a late start on some of my plants, but with the way this year has gone, it seems that it might be for the better.  I’m not doing any specifically new plants this year, just hoping to implement some of the changes in locations, last year, and hopefully making good use of some saved seeds.  My biggest hope is that some of the beds that underproduced last year will see better results with some soil changes, and rotation of a few of the plants.  Also, we think we’ll have much better results from a “cleaner” planting, making it easier to get at the food, and less will go to waste.

Beyond the garden, my wife and I are really going to be working on how some of our food and equipment is organized over the next couple of months.  We have large plans in place to sort, clean, categorize, and document things far better than the haphazard manner they are in now.

Phil801

My top priority is to finish off the huge project I started last fall.  A few of us (including Jayce and Angela) started a very aggressive project to build a massive network of sites to make prepping much easier.  So far we’ve pretty much completed our community forum, LDS Preppers and we’re nearly finished with our Preparedness Store, US Preppers (we still have about 3,000 products to get listed there).  Our Preparedness Training site, Survival Training Center, is still in the early stages and has a ways to go.  We’ll be adding about 2 dozen new classes over the next month.  We have a couple other sites that we are going to be starting on soon that provide more tools for Preppers.  We’re in the process of launching our new Prepper Newsletter that will be coming out every two weeks and providing the cheapest prices possible on lots of preparedness items (look for a post about that this week).  In all, I’m hoping that by the end of summer we’ll have our entire network of sites completed and we’ll be able to provide all of you with some very valuable resources!

We moved to a new place at the first of the year and we’re going to be putting in a new garden.  I’m going to be spraying the grass in the next couple days to get that started.  I still have a big list of projects that I thought I would get done last year but got bumped.  Hopefully I’ll be able to do some of those this summer.  We’ve got several camping plans this year and hope to use the RV we got last year for some of them.  Currently I have plans to attend Sniper School this summer, we’ll see if that pans out!  I’ve been pretty heavily involved lately in developing some new survival classes that we are planning to bring to Utah County and I’ll be spending a lot of time teaching those.

We lost about half our chickens to a variety of factors and will be looking at replacing those this year as well.  And then of course, there’s the big plan to get rich and buy 1,000 acres and build the ultimate retreat.  I’m thinkin’ that probably won’t be happening this year though :)

When things get to where I’m not spending 20 hours a day building the new network, I’ll start authoring a lot more posts here again too!

Wade

My plans are short since I am moving, but have been involved with my spring garden. My garden is fertilized, tilled, de-rocked (an annual event), and raked. I started peas and lettuce inside in February but lost them all last week unfortunately when the temperature dropped extra low. So, this past Saturday I tilled them under and started over. In their place, I cheated and planted onions, broccoli, and cauliflower that I bought from the nursery.

I also tried something new this year and planted some strawberries. Other plans include saving for a portable propane oven and building out my non-food supplies.

Angela

Gardening is always big on our spring list.  I’ve got some seeds started in peat pots to plant and will also be trying some of the seeds I collected last year along with a few new varieties of veggies.  Our snow just finished melting, so we’ve got a lot of mud.  I’ll be planting the cold crops as soon as the ground is workable.  We’ll also need to expand the drip water system to the strawberry box and squash areas of the garden to make it easier to water those, and there’s always repairs and changes to be made to the water system.

On the animal front, as of yet, there are no plans for new animals this spring.  We will be putting a nest box extension on the chicken house and painting/staining it also.  Eggs are in high production already, so we’ll be looking for someone to share them with.

I’ve also got a few purchases I’ve been saving for (sun oven, water filter, not-so-dangerous food processor) that are on tap to be purchased in the next month or so, so those should lend themselves to a good deal of testing and puttering as soon as they are in hand.

Definitely looking forward to getting outside and playing in the dirt as the weather gets better!

Connor

Wait, it’s spring already? When did that happen?

My efforts will be a carry-over from last year, since I’ve been far too busy to have the time necessary to plan any new projects. As such, we’ll be planting a variety of plants in our three planter boxes (using the Mittleider Method), rotating one of our water tanks, replenishing the supplies in our bugout bags, and getting in some more target practice to refresh my skills acquired at Front Sight.

I’ll also be setting up (for the first time) the TurtleTuff Shelter I got late last summer so I’ll know how everything works should I ever need to use it in an emergency.

Joseph

I hope to get at least one plot set up for a square foot garden in the next week or two, but my main focus lately has been on hydroponics. I built a basic indoor garden a couple of weeks ago, and as of the time of this writing, 4 out of 6 plants have sprouted. Expect at least a short post soon. While I do hope for a decent harvest from both the hydroponic and the square foot gardens, most of what I’m doing is trying new techniques to see how well they work.

It’s so difficult to find fresh lemongrass in Utah. I’ve been wanting to grow it hydroponically for years, but I don’t know that my basic setup is appropriate. I’ve read articles on growing it both conventionally and hydroponically, and am trying to put it altogether. My thoughts are that since it grows via rhizomes, growing it in a little cup probably isn’t conducive to propagation. So I’m thinking about switching from lots of little baskets to one big basket. Design details to come, assuming my wife doesn’t veto it.

Neybar

Gardening looms large in my sites.  I have 3 boxes that I’m getting ready for (using the square foot gardening technique).  I’m going to mainly grow a salsa garden, with a few beans and zucchini thrown in.  I was lucky to get the lawn mowed last year, so I’m not going to grow a huge garden.

I also need to re-visit my bug out bags and vehicles.  When I originally put my bags together I was planning for Armageddon, the problem is that my kids can’t actually carry their bags… I need to scale down a bit and rethink some things.  I also want to organize how the bags are put together so that I can rapidly scale up according to both my available retreats, and the means of getting there.  For example: weather related disaster, no vehicle = light bags, and destination is the closest church/school.

Forum

For people interested in forum discussions, we have two available places to talk.  The APN forums will allow you communicate with the other utahpreppers, as well as other state prepper groups.  Also available is the new LDS Preppers, a similar concept but geared for the LDS readers.  By keeping with the rest of the groups, you can participate not only in the Utah discussions, but also any other regions, or specialty topics you wish.  It’s a great resource to communicate with other preppers, without having having to come out of your well-stocked mountain retreat (ok, a little humor there).  If you need to understand a little bit more about what a forum is, check out the wikipedia description.

Chat

If you like real time discussions, you can now join us in our chat rooms.  These chats are accessible to computer novice, as well as the geeks among us.  For the novice, you can easily go HERE and join the chat rooms in your browser (no software to install).  Just click the link, and you will be prompted for a nickname to use, then it’ll log you in and you will have a page to  There are several rooms available, the most important ones being the #preppers, and the #utahpreppers rooms.  Chat rooms are an ‘always-open’ type of room where you can go in and interact in real-time.  Just clicking that link will open a page with a small bar on the top that lists which rooms you can listen in (just click on one to see the activity in that room).  On the right hand side will be a list of people currently in the room, and at the bottom, you can type in a message, and just hit enter for everyone to get it.

For the Geeks, we’re all using the rizon IRC network, and you may use any IRC client (such as XChat, WeeChat, or others) to connect.

I read a post at Preparedness Pro recently about the importance of learning skills. Acquiring useful skills is actually something I’ve thought about a lot in case you couldn’t tell by all the crazy stuff I share with you that I’ve been doing. I believe that having a quiver full of skills and things you’ve actually tried is way better than having a library of books about self sufficiency. Now don’t get me wrong, your resource books are very important. It’s just that having experience with something, even if it didn’t go so well, gives you so much more to work with.

The type of skills that were the focus of the article were the skills that will make you an asset to society if it ever needs rebuilt from a major disaster or TEOTWAWKI type situation. Skills like blacksmithing, woodworking, weaving, sewing, leatherwork, candle and soap making. Skills that were everyday and ordinary in the past but are not as necessary in our world of convenience and electricity. Unfortunately, because of that, many of these skills just aren’t taught anymore. But I wanted to let you all in on a great resource for learning some of the “old time” skills (no, it’s not my mother). It’s historical reenactments or living history events.There are so many different groups that organize and participate in historical reenacting or living history events. I bet there’s one near you. These events usually range from a few hours to a week long, and encompass many different time periods. Everything from vikings to pioneers to World War II and everything in between.Our family participates in historical reenacting of the colonial and mountain man eras (1770′s-1840). We’ve been doing this since my kids were very small, in fact the littlest turned 2 months old at her first rendezvous. Besides being a great family activity, these types of living history events are an amazing resource for learning skills from the past. Through reenacting, I’ve been able to take classes on different types of weaving and cordage, outdoor cooking, flint/steel firemaking, basketweaving, butter making, tanning leather, and the list goes on. My husband has taken some of the same classes plus done some blacksmithing classes as well. You can learn to make knives and other weapons, shoot guns appropriate to the era, and primitive archery. You can even learn to throw knives and tomahawks. (Yes, she’s only 4 here, yes, she popped the balloon with her own tomahawk, and yes, it’s scary how consistent she is with it–watch out future boyfriends!)Get to an event and ask questions. Most re-enactors are more than willing to share what they know. If you meet one that’s not, go ask someone else. Some events have organized classes, others don’t. You might need to get out of your box and strike up conversation to learn the skills you want to know.

Attending these events as a visitor is a good start, but will only give you half the experience. Why not step up and become a participant? Then you too can experience the joys of primitive dishwashing!
You learn how creative you can get when the whole family is cramped in a little tent while the rain pours, how fast or slowly shoes dry out, how to wash hands, faces, hair, clothes, and dishes with minimal water, how long making a fort of sticks and rocks in the woods can occupy a boy, how to string canvas together to make a shelter when the tent isn’t big enough anymore–you get the picture. It is exhausting and fun and educational all rolled into one.
And you get to do it all . . .
wearing . . .
really . . .
cute clothes!

Here’s some ideas to find your nearest living history event:
Check this page at wikipedia.
Or this site for a listing of events.
Search for your state muzzle loading association and contact them to see if they sponsor any events.
Ask your local chamber of commerce.
Ask the “locals” in your community.
Watch out for flyers or notices in the newspaper.
Sometimes even the TV news crews will cover events.

So if you’re looking to learn some “old” skills, give some thought to giving living history a try–you might find out you really like it! :)

photo credit: micsx032

In 1624, the English poet John Donne wrote in one of his Meditations that “no man is an island.” His poem explains how our common humanity ties us together in one common thread, and that as individuals we cannot thrive in isolation. Christians have been taught likewise, their common identity as followers of Jesus binding them together into a body focused on one purpose. Whatever the commonality that brings us together, the simple fact is that our spiritual and physical survival depends on our willingness and ability to help one another along our shared path.

This principle is especially important in terms of preparedness. When a catastrophe comes our way, each family will quickly discover a need for things they didn’t think to keep in supply, and only through bartering and buying from others will they be able to obtain those things. Isolated individuals will be easy prey for roving gangs and other desperate groups. Lack of communication will increase frustration, loneliness, and ignorance. Only by becoming part of a trusted network beforehand will we be able to more easily deal with whatever disasters may strike.

Numerous stories of survival bear out the wisdom in this concept. One such example comes from a group of mentally unstable people sticking together after Hurricane Katrina struck:

They’re out there.

The shooters, the choppers, the looters, the lines, the foul water and the bodies. Especially the bodies.

“But we’re in here,” says Victor Fruge.

Others — hundreds of thousands of them — had also escaped from New Orleans. But few could match the extraordinary, even miraculous odyssey of Fruge and his comrades — 16 men with mental illness and addictions, cast out of their group home, Abstract House, by the storm.

For a week the men stuck together through Hurricane Katrina and its rising waters, following a survival instinct like a candle in the dark and gamely caring for each other as they traveled unsupervised for nearly 500 miles.

Along the way they ate and slept in at least four different shelters and caught rides on four different means of transport, always clutching the psychotropic medications that keep their imaginary devils at arm’s length while the real world around them sunk into a deeper hell.

The article continues, noting how this common experience forced these housemates to band together for their mutual survival:

For these men who are schizophrenic, bipolar, severely depressed, obsessive-compulsive and shellshocked from war — often simultaneously — Hurricane Katrina and its agonizing aftermath have forced them to function as a family, perhaps for the first time in their lives.

“We look out for each other,” says Raymond Jean Pierre, who everybody agrees is the oldest.

“We stick together,” says Patrick Pitchford, whose tattoos crawl down both arms like psychedelic shirt sleeves. “If one person had to go to the bathroom, we all go’d to the bathroom.”

This and other stories of community-based survival illustrate the importance of establishing a trusted network of neighbors before an emergency arises. The fact of the matter is that geography means everything during an emergency—local events affect those in a small area, while general events may likely force communities to take care of themselves. Whatever the scenario, having well-supplied and skilled neighbors you can rely on for assistance is optimal. Basic sustenance, hygiene, medical care, communications, defense, and entertainment can all be effectively continued to some degree after a disaster among a neighborhood where the majority of people know and trust each other, have identified each others’ skills, have delegated assignments and responsibilities, and agreed to maintain a personal supply of basic supplies.

The contrast is not fun to consider. A well-prepared family living in an unprepared neighborhood is, in the event of an emergency, an easy target for hungry, needy neighbors. Even the nicest of fence-mates can turn into an aggressive thief if the circumstances are right (or, well, wrong), he has no food, and his children are starving. A year supply for one family who charitably supports unprepared relatives and neighbors will soon turn into a short-term supply of mere days or weeks. It is apparent, then, that a family is only as prepared as their neighbors are. Anybody who claims to have X months of food storage on hand really only does if their neighbors have the same amount or more, and thus are unlikely to be a drain on their supply.

It has been said that any city is three days away from anarchy. Imagine a disaster where supply lines are cut off, communication is restricted or non-existent, and store shelves are emptied in hours. Within one day, your neighborhood must live on what it has previously stored in their homes. How would you fare? Whom would you support and whom would you turn away? Would you give in and share with the needy, frustrated father of four wanting some of your storage? Or would you keep your food to yourself and defend it at all costs?

Abraham Lincoln once said that “The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.” In each of our neighborhoods exists a handful of potential enemies who, in stressful circumstances and with empty stomachs, would do whatever would be necessary to commandeer some of your supplies. One could ameliorate the situation after the fact by sharing your supplies with would-be agressors, but sooner or later your supplies will run out. It is far better, then, to make friends with them before disaster strikes. Talk to them about food storage, establish or participate in a block captain system, discuss your skills and talents, organize group buys, and most importantly, establish relationships and turn your neighbors into friends. In the event of an emergency, you and your family will personally benefit from the preparations of those around you. All the more reason, then, to work hard now to encourage others to stock up on basic supplies and acquire useful skills.