Adding to the news, our national affiliation APN (American Preppers Network) was one of the highlighted links in a Blaze article focusing on preppers as those “Stockpiling for disaster“.

It’s nice for larger organizations to see the tide of preparedness sweeping across the population. Many people are going back to their roots to find just how they can provide for themselves.

What is sad though is to see those among the comments that cannot understand a need for preparedness, or see preppers as simply another form of consumer to be swayed by new products. Find out what you need to be prepared for, and how a little provident living can help your family achieve the stability and security it needs.

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.

Topic

How to Prepare for a Coming Pandemic

Learn:

What your family needs to do to prepare. Pandemics can be survivable with proper preparations – learn those guidelines NOW.

Where:

Spanish Fork East Stake Center
870 East Canyon Rd. Spanish Fork, Utah
(major cross streets – Main and 300 South
300 South transitions into Canyon Rd.)

When:

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Time:

6 – 8 pm in the Chapel

Dress:

Church Dress – We are meeting in the chapel.

Speaker:

Kenneth Moravec

Kenneth Moravec’s professional training and reputation makes him an excellent instructor for Pandemic Training. Joanne and I have heard him speak several times, he is great. Please come and listen to him, gather this important information for your family and ward. You may want to invite others (age 18 and older), your family, friends, neighbors, business associates and etc.

We look forward to seeing you there

Hosts:

The City of Elk Ridge – Spencer Sheets

Well, several people have been wondering how they could possibly start a group for their own state.  Some even stooping to asking us (talk about a rewarding feeling, as if this is successful :) ) how to get a group started.  I’m glad to say that somebody has stepped up to make this process even easier.  Check out American Preppers Network, which is an umbrella blog.  He’s also created blogspot blogs for each of the 50 states, and will hand them out to anybody who’s willing to step up and lead the charge.  Interested in seeing something for your state, step up and help out, it’s never been easier.

Of course, if you have the technical aptitude, feel free to use other means.  This site here just happens to have a bunch of geeks running things, so we run our own software, on our own server.  But as all things preparedness related, use your own strengths. :)

Here’s a list of some already running.

California

Colorado

Florida

Idaho

Indiana

Kentucky

Minnesota

Ohio

South Dakota

Texas

Wisconsin

I grew up in Utah and currently reside in Lehi with my gorgeous wife and children. I am a member of the North Temple Group where I work as an interaction designer and user advocate for web applications. I also started and administer the Utah PHP Users Group, the Utah Graphic Artists Forum, and the Utah Apple Users Group.

I’ve always considered myself to be fairly prepared. But as of a few months ago, I don’t any more. I have a lot of work to get done. The change in opinion comes from a change in perspective. I spent a week over the holidays filling 340 ten pound cans in my garage. I had a lot of time to think. I thought about how few people are prepared—whether by choice, ignorance, or because they are unable. I enjoyed the good feeling inside (that came with knowing I had another twelve months of food tucked away) for a bit but then started asking myself a lot of questions.

I realized that I was not prepared. Generally, when people talk about being prepared, they talk about having the necessary supplies to sustain their current lifestyle through a temporary emergency (whether that be a natural disaster or simply a personal financial hiccup). There is a difference between having supplies and being prepared though. Having supplies is important, but being prepared is more important. We might have stored wheat but do we know how to cook it? What am I going to do once my storage runs out? Do I know how to hunt? If I am able to kill an animal, how am I going to store it? If I run out of water, do I know how to dig a well? Once my propane runs out how am I going to cook? Where am I going to go to the bathroom? How am I going to heat my house? Can I grow a garden? Am I prepared to protect my family?

I believe the greatest weakness of our current society is that people have very few skills. We purchase everything we need and rely on technology to sustain us. If Walmart was gone tomorrow, what would people do? Even if we choose to not live a self-reliant lifestyle, I believe it foolish to not have the skills to provide for ourselves and families if we needed to. I have a to-do list that I am putting together of things that I need to learn. I need to learn how to store food short term without refrigeration. I need to build a root cellar. I need to learn how to hunt. I’d like to buy a wood burning stove. I need a solution for waste disposal. How do you milk a cow? How do you make candles? How do you make soap? People talk about a year’s supply of food all the time, but what about toilet paper?

I am excited to be included as an author with the others here and look forward to hearing about your adventures and preparedness efforts as well.

IT’S A SIMPLE IDEA, REALLY – provide quality, healthy food at a substantial savings through cooperative purchasing; and build a sense of community by bringing people together and promoting volunteer service.

The Community Food Co-op is for EVERYONE. Whether you are struggling to meet your basic food needs or are just looking for a way to share in community, you can be part of this simple exchange: giving and receiving.

So the Co-op is just individuals, and community groups working together to buy the best quality food, directly, at the best price for the group. Costs are kept as low as possible by buying only a select set of items, at the best negotiated price point, then distributed via donated resources of the co-op members.

To join, you simply give a one-time voluntary donation of your choice of amount, then place an order. It is also requested that you donate some time to help in distributing the food in some way. Usually this means getting together with a local team (Find one near you) to help divvy up items, or maybe help in dropping off individual order to those who need more help. You can place the orders via phone, fax, or mail, and can check out the order form here: Food Co-op order form.

There really are some amazing prices there, and each month you just order as you can. It’s a great opportunity to get a good price on great quality food, usually locally supplied. With the rising costs of food, we can all use a break on the budget with that, and even better, by participating in the co-op you can help others in your community who desperately need access to programs like this. Add to that, the discussions of an oncoming depression, and it gives even more reason to get used to shopping with a co-op, that will allow our community to support local food producers. Plus by getting more members, the co-op has even greater buying power, thereby negotiating better prices for the whole group. Adding in an extra share or two each month if you can also gives you a known amount that you can use to practice learning how to do canning. An easy way to augment your food storage each month, at a low cost.

Given that you have about a month to get your food, this also helps in budgeting your families food bill, as well as planning out very nutritious menus.

Of course if this Friday is too late for you, you can always look to January. There is a new order, with new products every month. Whether you are planning for a depression, trying to find a better deal for your grocery bill, interesting in just buying local food, or any of many other good reasons, check out the co-op.

Riverwalker has a great way of presenting very useful information in an appealing, direct manner.  He’s also been great at helping other preparedness bloggers get their start, and get connected to other folks.  Please take some time and read up on what he’s already published.  A lot of nice, simple, to the point posts that will go far in helping anyone be ready for any kind of emergency.

A few recent topics of interest from his blogs:

• Shotgun Ammo Choices For Home Defense
• Food Storage: Preventing Corrosion
• Food Safety – Rice Contamination
• Riverwalkers Fire Bowl

We’re a group of Utahns that share various interests in preparing for whatever the future may hold.  From TEOTWAWKI, to the common extended layoff.  We hope to share resources found among our members that will help everbody get ready for whatever the future may bring to each of us.

We’re off to a good start already with some helpful posts, hosted content, and links to other preparedness networks like us.

If you are interested in helping out from any way, from authoring original content, cross-posting from your own blog, or just commenting, let us know.  Join us and get your own @utahpreppers.com email address :)

Also, add our RSS feed to automatically receive content as it’s published.