Farming Salt & Light

Distance is the Only Security From Nuclear Fallout!

2012-02-11T09:44:00.001-08:00

There is a 1.1 megawatt TRIGA nuclear reactor 11.6 miles from my house. According to Oregon State University, that means: a water-cooled research reactor which uses uranium/zirconium hydride fuel elements in a circular grid array. The reactor is licensed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to operate at maximum steady state power of 1.1 MW, and can also be pulsed up to a peak power of about 3000 MW.

I recently read an article called 400 Chernobyls: Solar Flares, EMP, and Nuclear Armegeddon by Matthew Stein, P.E. over on Rawles' Survival Blog. One of the key paragraphs for me was:

"If an extreme GMD (geomagnetic disturbance) were to cause widespread grid collapse (which it most certainly will), in as little as one or two hours after each nuclear reactor facility’s backup generators either fail to start, or run out of fuel, the reactor cores will start to melt down. After a few days without electricity to run the cooling system pumps, the water bath covering the spent fuel rods stored in “spent fuel ponds” will boil away, allowing the stored fuel rods to melt down and burn. Since the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) currently mandates that only one week’s supply of backup generator fuel needs to be stored at each reactor site, it is likely that after we witness the spectacular night-time celestial light show from the next extreme GMD we will have about one week in which to prepare ourselves for Armageddon."

Then last night I woke up at 3:30 and envisioned trying to pack my 11 people, year of food, supplies, survival book collection etc etc into my truck and finding cash to get fuel and head a minimum of 250 miles away to... where?

All of my prepping is centered on staying in place. I have five kids, animals, elderly, and a ton (probably literally) of preps. I was focusing my energies on staying with my support system, building up reserves and security here. Now, I'm questioning everything. The idea of bugging-out-never-come-back-nuclear-disaster-no-more-grid was so overwhelming that I got up and read Psalms for an hour.

Today I read about the zones of destruction here at the DHS site. Seems like at 11 miles, the house will get broken windows, damage to trees, all people who see the blast will get a sunburn, and 25% people will get injured by flying debris. Ok, I'm thinking.

Then I continue to read about fallout and the minimum distance for surviving fallout is 160 miles.

Now, Wikipedia tells me that "Fallout can also refer to nuclear accidents, although a nuclear reactor does not explode like a nuclear weapon. The isotopic signature of bomb fallout is very different from the fallout from a serious power reactor accident (such as Chernobyl or Fukushima). The key differences are in volatility and half-life." HUH?! This, unfortunately, is easier to understand: "A meltdown is considered very serious because of the potential, however remote, that radioactive materials with long half-lives could breach all containment and escape (or be released) into the environment, resulting in radioactive contamination and fallout, and leading to radiation poisoning of people and animals nearby."

I am concerned for the liklihood of increased solar activity in upcoming years as the solar cycle peaks. It seems that the closer you are to the Equator, the less likely a GMD effects you, however, with the US's electrical grid so interdependent upon itself, if the grid goes out up north, I am not confident that ours will stay running in Texas. Maybe authorities would cut off power to the homes and businesses in order to keep the reactors cool in that event? I hesitate to leave us in their hands.

Reading the symptoms of radiation poisoning was exhausting. It seems the only prudent thing to do would be move, or get a cabin 250 miles away and stock it there.

*sigh*
We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Book Review: The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes, and Why

2012-02-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

For Christmas I redeemed my debit card rewards points into $50 of Amazon gift cards.
This book review is Amanda Ripley's The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why. It teaches mainly through the relating of disaster survival stories with commentary and analysis woven throughout. However, there are a few lessons I can share with you here to entice you to enjoy the book yourself, as it is cheap at only $10.

One interesting thing she created was equations for emotions like risk and dread. Check these out!

RISK = probability X consequneces X dread/optimism

DREAD = uncontrollability + unfamiliarity + imagineability + sufferability + scale of destruction + unfairness

Whew! how's THAT?! Wow, when I really thought that dread equation over, I found it to be spot-on with my biggest fears, in parenting, prepping, or what have you.

The following are direct quotes:

How a person responds will have something to do with their genetics, but also the sum total of their life experiences-- which is basically training.
If there's not enough training, you get channelized on one thing, and you forget the whole big picture.
The best way to negotiate stress is through repeated, realistic training.
Those with high senses of self-worth rebounded [from disaster] relatively easily.
After preparation, the next best hope is leadership.
When people believe that survival is negotiable, they can be wonderfully creative. All it takes is the audacity to imagine that our behavior matters.

The other helpful part of the book was Appendix 1, How To Improve Your Survival Odds. It detailed the following points:

cultivate resilience
get to know your neighbors
lower your anxiety levels
lose weight
calculate your risk
train your brain

There is a whole website, TheUnthinkable.com, which I found to be of limited help, but her blog reads like the stories in the book do. A recent post discussed survivors from the Costa Concorda off Tuscany.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Book Review: The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Skills that Protect Us from Violence

2012-02-06T15:23:00.000-08:00

I redeemed some reward points for books from my Amazon wishlist and here is book review number two. The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violence was familiar, I wondered a few times if I had read it before in my pre-prepper life. It is by a security specialist named Gavin DeBecker.

I began to be very concerned about personal safety (for pretty much the first time) after I frequented Ferfal's Surviving In Argentina blog. He discusses how dramatically and quickly crime becomes the most troubling aspect of a post-collapse lifestyle.

I'm going to share with you the things I marked up in the book. Much of the book is stories that teach, but most of what I've marked is easily transferable here. The following are direct quotes.

One way to reduce risk is to learn what risk looks like.
Dark humor is a common way to communicate true concern without the risk of feeling silly afterward.
The messengers of intuition are, in reverse order or urgency: nagging feelings, persisten thoughts, humor, wonder, anxiety, curiosity, hunches, gut feelings, doubt, hesitation, suspicion, apprehension, and fear.
when hiring someone [or choosing a survival group, etc] the goal should be to disqualify poor applicants rather than qualify good applicants. Those who are good will qualify themselves.
respect the value of avoidance and prevention
Most people killed by teenagers are known to them, but about 1 in 5 is a stranger killed during a robbery, either because the teenager panicked or because of peer pressure. Murder is most likely to occur when two or more juveniles jointly commit a crime... 75% of homicides by young people occur when they are high or drunk.

One section that I found very, very helpful, and am planning on teaching my daughters especially, was the section from "Signals and Predictive Strategies." It mainly but not exclusively lists tools that predators, stalkers, and dangerously persistent men will utilize to entrap and convince females to ignore their gut feelings and trust them. I paid $10 for The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violenceon Amazon, and that section alone would've been worth the full price. I recognized the tools that men had tried to use on me in my own life, and he was right on the money when he explained why women "fall for" the tools.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

How Quickly the Numbers Change When You Add People

2012-01-30T09:25:00.000-08:00

So, in order to be realistic and not deluding myself, I re-analyzed our food storage.

I added my parents, who live less than 5 miles away and don't have any food storage.

I added my husband's grandparents, who are probably coming live with us on April 1st.

And, excitedly, I added aother child because I'm pregnant (due end of July)!

So now my food storage plan is suddenly designed for 11 people, not 6.

(sigh)

When I used the Emergency Essetnials Food Storage Analyzer, I learned that I have 6 months of food stored for the entire needs of 11 people. This means, not supplementing with a garden or a grocery store, we are ALL set for 6 months.

However, I am running at 35% for Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, and Fat.

A multivitamin will help with most of that. Fat.... that's another story. I store coconut oil and olive oil. We don't eat a lot of meat, so I store what we eat: tuna fish, salmon, and chicken. I should can some sausage.

I'm planning this year to really take off in the goat and chicken farming I've been plotting/ coveting. So that should help a little, but I don't like to count on "when I's."

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Growing Tobacco: Last Barter Idea for Preppers

2012-01-18T21:58:00.000-08:00

I spent a tiny amount of concern for the fact that I haven't and won't be able to spend resources on a barter store... you know, calcium hypochlorite, alcohol, cigarettes, primers, chapstick, sewing needles, etc etc. All that stuff that the sheeple will need when the SHTF.

Then I read an article on Rawle's Survival Blog that reiterated what the little voice in my head had said in the background... It's called Post Collapse Barter; the Rest of the Story by DTR. His point, for me, was twofold:

1. "Am I more ahead to use resources to plug holes and strengthen our prepping position today, as opposed to using those same resources to lay in tradable items?"

2. "So, [preppers] have extra everything so [sheeple] really don’t have anything that we need and certainly nothing that is mission critical that we would trade high value items for."

Then I watched a whole long bunch of YouTube videos on growing, drying, and fermenting your backyard tobacco.

I thought a stand of home-processed tobacco might be the only thing I'll be willing to set aside for the sheeple I'll need- the builder, the plumber, the dentist, etc. Since we don't smoke (thus no personal demand), and historically cigarettes fetch a very high demand in times of stress, and that it is a small and easily stored item, I think it's do-able.

Here's the link to his channel on YouTube.

If you go to Ebay and search "Virginia Tobacco" or "Havana Tobacco" his seeds will come up for sale, free shipping and 100 seeds for $3.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Other Great Prepper Plants to Grow

2012-01-15T13:15:00.000-08:00

Waay back at the beginning of Farming Salt and Light I wrote a post about some great fruiting trees to plant. The moringa was one of them, and when I found this image today I thought I'd redirect you to the original post.

I'm also trying to get my hubby to perk up the front yard with some roses. I might have convinced him when I pointed out that we can harvest the rose hips from them at the end of the blooming stage for Vitamin C. Since we don't grow many plants high in Vitamin C, he acceded that this may be an acceptable idea.

Just like the pretty oil lamp on the mantle over the fireplace with the wood-burning stove are preps that can pass as decor, plants in the yard can too! Carrots are grassy, showy, clumping plants that many people wouldn't recognize as a food. Decorative cabbage in your yard doesn't have to be merely decorative! Think outside the square-foot box!

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

How to Package 12,000 Gallons of Safe Drinkable Water

2012-01-14T17:15:00.000-08:00

I purchased a box containing 5 one-pound bags of pool shock last summer at Wal-Mart. I don't remember the actual price, I think it was about $18.

I read on Rawle's Survival Blog that a safe way to package it for long-term is in a Reagent Bottle with ground glass stopper. Well, I didn't have any of those just lying around and had visions of antique bottles in expensive magazines. Then I did some searching on Amazon and found these for $5 each!

They are about exactly the right size to hold a one pound bag of Calcium Hypochlorite, or pool shock. Here's the recipes I got off of multiple posts also on Rawles' Survival Blog:

Bleach:

1/8 teaspoon pool shock
1 gallon water

Clean water:

dissolve 1/4 teaspoon pool shock into a quart jar of water. When it is completely dissolved, mix it into a 55 gallon drum of water that has been strained to remove visible impurities.

*One pint of bleach can purify 12 gallons of water.

Now in theory I have at least a handful of options:

purify 60,000 gallons of water for my own use.
sell 5000 pints of bleach to fund my survival lifestyle post SHTF
let it sit on the shelf forever to be inherited by my children when nothing happens, insurance for under $50

This does not solve the prepper problem of where to get water, how to have enough water on hand, or where to store water. But it is an important and relatively inexpensive step to ensuring that what water you do find/collect/have is safe and drinkable.

In addition, it is an excellent option for a post SHTF income that you can feel good about. You help ~~sheeple~~ people with sanitation and hydration for a very low cost and storage space investment. Unlike a supply of cigarettes, liquor and primers, bleach and sanitized water is both valuable and moral.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Info on Becoming An Ex-Pat in Costa Rica

2012-01-09T18:34:00.000-08:00

Lonely Planet online guide to Costa Rica

US.GOV website about travelling to Costa Rica

Costa Rica is in south Central America, north of Panama and south of Nicaragua. As you can see, Costa Rica is covered in mountains and volcanoes. There is a coast on the both the Caribbean and the Pacific sides.

When you travel in or around Costa Rica, the country is divided into regions, but the provinces' names do not match up to these region's names:

Here's an Anywhere map that can change region and focus! Really great map.

Here's a list of Costa Rica bloggers... whew! there's a lot of them.

Costa Rica has three international airports.

Liberia, north towards Nicaragua near the Pacific Coast (airline code LIR)
San Jose, the capital, centrally located in the mountains (airline code SJO)
Puerto Jimenez, south near Panama on the Pacific side (airline code PJM)

Here is an interesting and informative article comparing and contrasting Nicaragua and Costa Rica, although it lists many statistics from other Central American countries as well. It's focus is that Costa Rica has a powerful PR machine, and Nicaragua doesn't. Interesting!

If you want to be a part of Costa Rica, but can't go, or if you know you're going soon and want to have someone to visit when you get there, look into sponsoring a child there through World Vision.

Lonely Planet has a bargain pack that includes three great books here. Individually from Amazon they are:

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Info on Becoming An Ex-Pat in Nicaragua

2012-01-09T16:35:00.000-08:00

Lonely Planet online guide to Nicaragua

US.GOV website about travelling to Nicaragua

Here are the many regions of Nicaragua outlined. Nicaragua is bordered to the north by Honduras and the south by Costa Rica.

You can see that the northwestern side of the country has higher elevations. It has both a Pacific and Caribbean coast. You can see the large Lake Nicaragua to the very south. Santiago Volcano, San Cristobal and Cerro Negro volcanoes are also active.

I've read about a farm work stay program in Nicaragua, at a place called Abundance Farm. It's affordable and a revealing taste of an authentic Nicaraguan farming lifestyle. $10 a night for room and board for one person for the first 2 weeks, reduced after that if you're working.

-Outside review

-Homepage

Honduras has two airports and one international airport in Managua, code MGA

We recommend you use official taxis, which have a clearly visible red number plate. It is recommended you reconsider your need to travel to remote areas of the Nicaraguan Caribbean coast because of the risk of armed banditry, carjackings, kidnappings, drug trafficking and other serious and violent crimes.. Due to the remoteness of these areas, there is limited police presence and high levels of criminal activity.

If you want to be a part of Nicaragua, but can't go, or if you know you're going soon and want to have someone to visit when you get there, look into sponsoring a child there through World Vision.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Info on Becoming An Ex-Pat in Honduras

2012-01-09T14:42:00.000-08:00

US.GOV website about travelling to Honduras

Excellent article about the Honduran mindset regarding crime, narcotrafficking, and other analysis of crime in Honduras. Primarily a reflection on how they cope with high crime.

Lonely Planet online guide to Honduras

Here is the topographic map of Honduras. The country is roughly the shape of an upside-down triangle. You can see it is a rather mountainous country with a coast on both the Caribbean and Pacific sides. It is bordered by Guatemala to the northwest, El Salvador to the southwest and Nicaragua to the east.

Here is the regional map of Honduras

Here is a list of Honduran Bloggers

Honduras has four airports, and the international one is in Tegucigalpa, code TGU

If you want to be a part of Honduras but can't go, or you know you're going soon and want to have someone there to visit, think about sponsoring a child through World Vision.

A local organization called Helping Honduras Kids is located outside of La Cieba and has many different ways for you or your church to help. Check them out!

A well-known blogger, author of La Gringa's Blogicito has lived in La Cieba since 2001.

Water Ferry between Belize and Honduras, a good idea if you are interested in avoiding Guatemala altogether.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Info on Becoming An Ex-Pat in Guatemala

2012-01-09T12:37:00.000-08:00

Lonely Planet online guide to Guatemala

US.GOV website about travelling to Guatemala

Here is a topographic map of Guatemala. You can see that it is quite mountainous in the southern portion. It has a tiny Caribbean coast. There is a straight vertical border to the east with Belize. To the north and east is Mexico and the western border is met to the north by Honduras and to the south by El Salvador. There is a large lake, Lago de Izabal, near the Caribbean coast. Four of Guatemala's volcanoes are currently active.

Here is a regional map of Guatemala

Here is a list of bloggers from Guatemala

Guatemala City has an international airport, code GUA

If you want to be a part of Guatemala but can't go, or you know you're going soon and want to have someone there to visit, think about sponsoring a child through World Vision.

I met Maria and Norm in high school and was all set to go to Kids 2 Kids Outreach after I graduated, but I converted from Catholicism to Biblical Christianity and went to the Air Force instead. However, they do lots of work to help the people of Guatemala and are worth checking out so that you or your church can support the people. Check out their big-picture organization, Hope for Rio Dulce. They're located on the Rio Dulce off the Caribbean coast. They are not presently taking volunteers due to violence in the area.

Crime in Guatemala:
US Embassy report of crimes

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Info on Becoming An Ex-Pat in Belize

2012-01-09T10:36:00.000-08:00

Here's the link to the State Department website with information regarding requirements and warnings for travel to Belize.

Here's the OSAC (another dept of State) website with a report for crime in 2010. Evidently, Belize City is quite dangerous and the touristy cayes are pretty safe.

Here's the Lonely Planet online guide to Belize.

Here is the topographical map of Belize, you can see it has an expansive coast to the east and some mountainous areas to the south. It is bordered by Mexico to the north and Guatemala to the south. Offshore are many coral reefs and cayes.

Below you can see the six regions of Belize. Ambergris Caye is part of Belize and is a great place to learn about the ocean and the biggest coral reef in the Western Hemisphere.

Here's where you can find some bloggers living in Belize.

Here's a website listing Belize in the news, and recent developments.

Belize City holds the international airport, code BZE.

Travelers will encounter the most crime in Belize City, and the tourist centers, such as San Pedro, Caye Caulker, and Placencia. It is also best to be careful in less populated areas and especially along the Guatemalan border.

Water Ferry between Belize and Honduras, a good idea if you are interested in skipping Guatemala altogether.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Info on Becoming An Ex-Pat in El Salvador

2012-01-09T08:35:00.000-08:00

Here is the Lonely Planet online guide to travel in El Salvador.

Here is the State Department page of regulations and warnings about travel to El Salvador.

This is a small topographical map of El Salvador, you can see that after a low-lying coastal area the altitude increases to mountainous areas throughout.

I'm sorry I couldn't find a larger regional map, but this one shows you the breakdown of the 15 regions of El Salvador. You can see that it is bordered by Guatemala to the west and Honduras to the north and east.

A great ex-pat blog I follow is called What's Up El Salvador. Other blogs can be found HERE.

El Salvador has one international airport, in San Salvador, airport code SAL.

Although the "worst gang in the world," MS or Mara Salvatrucha, began with El Salvadorean immigrants to Los Angeles, much of the heinous barbarity was imported back to El Salvador from US prisons. (TIME magazine article) This Central American Forum seems to be informative.

If you want to be a part of El Salvador, but can't go, or you are going soon and want to have someone there to visit, consider sponsoring a child through World Vision.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Info on Becoming An Ex-Pat in Panama

2012-01-09T06:33:00.000-08:00

The State Department has a website with requirements and travel warnings regarding travel to Panama.

Lonely Planet also has an online travel guide for Panama.

Below is the topographical map for Panama. You can see, and probably know, that it is a long country bordered by Costa Rica to the west and Colombia to the east. The Panama Canal, of course, is in Panama.

Here is the regional map of Panama, showing the 13 provinces.

Panama City has an international airport, code PTY.

The Panama Canal, of course, is in Panama.

You can find bloggers in Panama here.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Exercising Jus Soli to Ease Residency or Citizenship as an Ex-Pat

2012-01-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

Expectant parents weigh many choices when they know they are having a joyful addition to the family. Among them are:

find out the gender?
make a birth plan?
go natural or get an epidural?
to circumsize or not?

A question less parents ask, is "What country should we have the baby in?" Here is an article that helps you weigh the decision, "Giving Birth Abroad, Setting Your Child Up with a Second Citizenship."

Jus Soli, is a Latin term that means law of the soil. In some countries, jus soli system or birthright citizenship is followed. According to this principle, citizenship of a person is determined by the place where a person was born. Jus soli is the most common means to acquire citizenship of a nation. The system through which a person acquires citizenship through their parents or ancestors is called jus sanguinis. In the U.S., jus soli system is followed to determine citizenship. This means whoever is born in the U.S. and is subject to its jurisdiction is automatically granted U.S. citizenship. source

Sometimes, parents and siblings can also. Less than 20% of countries practice this.

Citizenship in a Globalized World, although written in 2006, is informative and covers many aspects.

An excellent, detailed and long website entitled "Questions and Answers on dual US/other country citizenship." Of special interest is question 12, "But it's against the law to have more than one passport, isn't it?" and question 14, "My son/daughter was born overseas. Can he/she become a US citizen?" From question 14:

"An American who has a child born outside the US should contact the nearest US embassy or consulate as soon as possible, to request an application for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad. This form needs to be filled out by both parents and returned with payment (check with the consulate in advance to be sure what the current fee is and what forms of payment will be accepted), as well as supporting documents including parents' birth certificates, marriage certificate, passports, and the child's own birth certificate. For the supporting documents to be returned, you must enclose sufficient local postage for registered mail (ask the consulate for the required amount), or else bring everything in person to the consulate (in which case they will prepare the certificate while you wait; expect the process to take about an hour). Note, once again, that a child born abroad under these circumstances is a US citizen by birth (in addition to possibly being a citizen of the country of birth). The "consular report of birth abroad" is not a bestowal of US citizenship, but simply an acknowledgment of same."

Some airlines restrict travel after 32 weeks. Here is the CDC website regarding travel when pregnant.

If headed to Costa Rica, here is a thread about birth practices there. It leads you to an OB/GYN named Adam Paer who works at Hospital Catolico in San Jose. His name pops up a lot among American, natural-birth parents having their child in Costa Rica. Here he is again, with his contact info (at the bottom) and also info on doulas too. Again here, written by a nurse, includes a ten-minute interview in which he discusses water birth. We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

How To Teach Yourself Spanish

2012-01-07T18:24:00.000-08:00

It can be very intimidating to learn, much less teach, a foreign language. If you don't know a language other than English, it can be especially difficult. Did you know that over 20% of Americans don't speak English in the privacy of their own homes (AP)?

Here is a quote from Edward Trimnell, author of Why You Need a Foreign Language & How to Learn Onethat I whole-heartedly agree with:

"A foreign language is one of the most practical skills you can acquire. It gives you the ability to move freely in a non-English-speaking environment without the aid of an intermediary.The key is to make language study part of your daily routine. You don’t have to attend formal classes, although they are effective if you have the time and resources. There are many audio programs that can be purchased for less than $100. It is also a good idea to expose yourself to unscripted bits of “real” language as soon as possible. I have also benefited tremendously from Spanish-language cable television and from various foreign-language radio programs that are available over the Internet. When you learn a foreign language, you are better able to represent American viewpoints abroad."

I love languages and figuring out grammar. I love speaking to people from other countries in their native tongue, and seeing if they can understand me. I love talking to foreigners who are trying to get me to understand what they're saying! I even love foreign food. I have studied Spanish, Russian, Italian, Japanese, and American Sign Language.

My suggestions for the homeschool study of a foreign language in the elementary years especially are these:

-Read picture books in target language to your children

-Look at large, colorful picture dictionaries with your kids (my 1st 1000 words)

-Listen to books on tape/CD with accompanying picture book

-Learn songs in target language (from educational materials; days of the week, etc.)

-Listen to the radio of target language online (while chilling around the house) or in the car

-(PREVIEW!)watch tv shows for children or nature shows in target language from internet

The key is to do it each day, by which I mean at least 4 days a week. For older kids, a sit down, listen, write, read and speak curriculum is excellent. Siblings should take the same course together, even when they are different ages, so that they can talk with each other. Plus tutoring and such can be two-for-one! The language instruction for younger kids is alot less structured.

Fifteen minutes a day in the foreign language will seem tedious when you are going over the same phrases for what seems like months, but it is valuable. In our home I made a bingo game that was based on the Adventures With Nicholas (Spanish Edition) that we use. It was alot easier than you may suspect, because one benefit of that series is a picture dictionary at the end- just copy it, cut it up, glue it in the boxes, voila! a bingo game. The pictures match the words you learned in the story, and now you have a Bingo that builds on the story.

A week of language instruction in our homeschool might look like this:

Monday: listen to a chapter in Adventures with Nicholas a few times. Go over plot in English.

Tuesday: play Bingo that matches story (there are 3 Nicholas books)

Wednesday: listen to CD of songs, singing along as best we can, in car on the way to and from the grocery store. (most songs have the English and Spanish (or whatever language) in one song)

Thursday: listen and dance to Tejano radio station or watch Spanish Sesame Street while we make lunch and eat. Glance through picture dictionaries while eating.

Friday: Listen to chapter again. Afterward, go over introductions in conversation with each other. 'Hello. My name is Jackson. How are you? I am fine."

Other things to consider: Trade speaking practice for childcare, dinner prep, whatever you can to get your kids speaking with a native speaker of that language. Kids are excellent, if merciless, teachers; laughing at your mistakes, admitting when you make no sense, and correcting you with great joy. Split the cost of a great language program with a homeschooler who is a few years ahead or behind you. Then you can take turns with it, and resell it. Check your library for resources such as bilingual picture books or Rosetta Stone software. My favorite idea, though, is to get an au-pair or housekeeper who lives with you and is willing to help you learn their language too... then you get childcare or housekeeping and language instruction!

I hope these ideas are useful. Don't be intimidated by early second language introduction! What has worked for your families?

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Info For Considering Becoming An Ex-Pat in Central America

2012-01-06T18:38:00.000-08:00

"My Goodness, But Eating Hot Nachos Causes Pain!" That's what I learned in grade school to help me remember the names and roughly, the order (west-east) of the Central American countries.

(Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Except for Belize (officially English), the language of Central America is Spanish, although many indigenous languages are also used.

The US dollar is pegged to Ecuador, Panama, and Belize. Gives me concerns when I think about the probable future of the dollar.

Here is the CDC site with recommended vaccinations based on destination.

Here is a Hostel search site. It has great maps and reviews, descriptions and online reservations. It lists the price clearly- per person. I enjoyed zooming in on the map and mentally planning my itinerary, and then switching countries and seeing the red flags (denoting hostels) in the new country. You need to spend time in your destination country before you decide to go, and hostels are one way to stretch your money so that you can spend a real amount of time with real people.

Travel insurance- what kinds, what they do. Squaremouth is the most recommended travel insurance comparison site. But get it, at least for the first year.

If you are interested in getting certification to teach English, here is a list of schools in Central America. It is from Oxford Seminar TESOL website. They have classes on weekends only that work in conjunction with a thorough online course. After the test you have a 100-hour certification accepted at education centers all over.

If you're curious about how your life would compare to other countries in the world, check out this comparison website. "If It Were My Home" It also shows the size of the country compared to your home nation.

*Be sure to read my post about gaining residency or citizenship through your child's birth: Jus Soli

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Wikipedia Links:

safety points

4 Nations with high crime rates:

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

First Steps to Becoming an Ex-Pat

2012-01-05T06:16:00.000-08:00

Moving to a new country... Can you imagine it? And when you do, is it a nightmare, or an adventure?

Very real possibilities:

don't know your way around
brands of foods you don't know
language barrier
being the minority
unknown customs
no support system (friends and family)
no dishwasher
no central air
bars on windows for safety
no car
no library
different driving habits

The list could go on and on. However, did your imaginings include:

friendly people
small-town atmosphere
simpler way of life
less stuff
family unity/ bonding
new language skills
new sights and sounds
more time
more temperate climate
more rain; longer growing season
affordable living

The first step in this adventure is your mindset. It will be the foundation your adventure rests on. Is it solid?

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Passports have been ordered!

I called the post office and made an appointment two weeks later. I put seven one hundred dollar bills in an envelope and filled out the forms. They were the same I filled out 16 years ago when I went to Europe in highschool. I have read about the new form, you can read about here, which "asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any “religious ceremony” around the time of birth; and a variety of other information. According to the proposed form, “failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.” This is an opportunity to prevent Americans from leaving their own country, and a chance to prosecute people who "lie" on a form, because they put the wrong address or manager's name, or don't know the name of the priest who baptized them 40 years ago.

Well, now all we do is wait for our original birth certificates to return to us, and then for the passports themselves to arrive. *sigh*

June 2011: got last birth certificates for two of the kids ($26 each)
July 2011:

made appt at post office
made 5 copies of each of adult driver licenses (1 each adult and each of the kids)
set aside $105 for each kids passport and $125 for each adult's
brought all 6 of us in for appt

August 2011:

received passports in Priority mail envelopes
received birth certificates in manila envelope a week later
made color copies of passports

---------------------------------------------

Now that we've received our passports, the first thing we need to do is go make color copies of the first page. For carrying around on our person when traveling, it's important to carry a copy and not the original when out on your daily adventures.

I'm also going to laminate our copies. At Fed Ex Office, it's easy to use the laminator yourself or simply put the (cut down) copy into a luggage tag sleeve and slide it through. It's also a good idea to leave some copies with family and trusted friends at home, in case you (or they) need them at some point. Either way, you can save a few dollars by copying two passports on one page.

If you are going to be moving to your destination country, other important documents, such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, Social Security cards, etc (you know what you have) are important to bring with you. Always carry irreplaceable papers like this on your person when travelling. Copies at home are helpful if family or friends need to do stateside errands for you.

Giving copies to a few trusted people is a good idea too in case one or the other can't help you when you need it. No matter what it is you leave behind, make sure it is clearly labeled and easy to find.

------------------------------------------------

I was looking at airfare from Austin to Central America. Trying to get the best price for my family of six, I checked weekday flights to any Central American airport. All the flights had a stopover to another American city. Travelling with children, I was trying to find a flight that left at a reasonable time- booking time for getting up, eating, and spending a few hours getting through security. But I also wanted a flight that would allow us to arrive at our destination in the late afternoon with time to transit to our hotel and eat dinner before too late, knowing the kids would be tired.

To fly into Costa Rica, a nation which makes much of its income through tourism, a plane ticket was $1300. To Panama, it was $855. The same, $855, to Belize. However, when I searched tickets through Dallas, a few hours away, the airfare dropped dramatically. $300 to Belize! That's a HUGE savings!! So check big cities near you when looking for flights. The drive might be worth it!!

Click here for a chart of all the major airlines charges and fees for luggage.

Of course, it's good to research prices beforehand, but when it come times to buy, have the money ready and pounce when you find a great deal.

Be aware if you try to buy one-way tickets to save money. Some countries require an exit ticket of some kind before they allow you into the country. This requirement can be fulfilled through a bus or ferry ticket, though.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

WHY Would You Want to Ex-Patriate?

2012-01-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

Hm, such a big question for such a small space.

There are so many reasons why we decided to begin this adventure. There are 3 main reasons we want to travel in Central America for a few months and check it out in person:

adventure, encouraging family unity
learn Spanish and show the kids other cultures
escape coming inflation on a fixed income

We really want our kids to be close as they get older and learn to depend on one another. One day James and I won't be here, and they'll have each other. I've always told them "Don't hit him! One day he'll give you guy advice or help change your car's oil!" and "Don't hit her! One day she'll help you decorate your apartment and give you girl advice!"

A long trip in a foreign land, with new sights and sounds, new modes of transportation and unfamiliar foods, coupled with exciting activities and new experiences are bound to help us foster family unity. Working together to reach savings goals and then settling in new places with just each other is going to be a huge rewarding adventure.

Since our house flooded in September of 2010 we have been displaced and ready to move. We've been getting rid of things and seeing what is important to us, what we really value and what we're actually attached to emotionally. We're looking for the perfect property for our family as we check items off our credit repair checklist. But as the time stretches on, we realize that this might be the perfect time to take a long sabbatical from everyday life. We don't have a mortgage, we have a monthly VA stipend, and our dog died. It's the perfect time to go somewhere!

=========================================================================

Regarding number two, Learning Spanish and about other cultures:

We homeschool so we are comfortable teaching our own kids. We are confident in our ability to teach and their abilities to learn. What better way to really learn a language and it's cultures than traveling to that place?! So much more efficient and fun than looking at a library book and making a meal from a recipe!

Here's what we do in our homeschool for Spanish study. We are looking at the financial side of in-depth, native speaker, family lessons here in Texas, and I'm researching immersion schools in Central America.

=========================================================================

Regarding number three, inflation:

James was declared 90% disabled through the Veteran's Administration in 2011. Although he is considering medication and behavioral therapy, right now it looks like he may not be capable of working fulltime in the near future. If our family of 6 is on a fixed income, how will we survive if hyperinflation hits us? Borrowing money and printing money to pay interest on debt is coming back to get us if not this year, then the next.

Argentina has gone through what many suspect will happen here. Learn from example.

The Difference Between the Collapse of the USSR vs the USA- we're worse off!

Read about historical hyperinflation in Germany and Zimbabwe- America is not immune to what has happened elsewhere.

As the global economies falter, we can remember that it's not just America's dollar that is collapsing. At no other time in history has the economies of so many countries been tied together... Almost all countries are inflating their currencies and (NIA) expect to see massive worldwide inflation, although it will be much worse in the U.S. than almost anywhere else.

This short video had a lot to do with knocking me rudely out of ignorance:

Go to the National Inflation Association to learn more.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Upcoming Posts: Alert!

2012-01-03T18:22:00.000-08:00

Frequent readers here know I have been wrestling with the "do you stay or do you go" question, or, rather, "should I flee the land of my birth and go to _____?"

Upcoming posts will bring you up-to-date on my research and process.

We are officially undecided, although we have tentatively decided to stay.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Essential Oils- Which do You REALLY Need?

2012-01-01T07:54:00.000-08:00

You may have gotten gauze, tape, and other first aid essentials. I know I have plenty of hand sanitizer, suture kids, and all the other "gear" I can get. It is a good idea to have a selection of ibuprofen, antacids, and other OTC meds on hand, to hold your family for a year or two. However, what about after that? What if you can't get more powerful meds for infections and imbalances? After I became a prepper I began to hear about essential oils and trusted the hours of research and use that the Preparedness Pro had invested by buying from Be Young EO. Previously, I had only known these as those tiny bottles that were for sale at the pricey grocery store that you did who-knows-what with. What is the difference between those oils and Be Young EO's?

Essential oils generally used in aromatherapy in North America for “commercial fragrancing” and bath, culinary, and beauty products are not suitable for therapeutic use. In contrast, Be Young essential oils are specially grown and extracted to perform deep therapeutic action in the body and the mind. Oils extracted using harsh or chemical-based distillation methods are very common throughout the world and are universally dangerous and ineffective for therapeutic uses.

All Be Young EO are Essential Oil Botanically and Biochemically Defined, or E.O.B.B.D. In the essential oil industry, there is no higher standard of quality than that. For more information on Be Young quality and methodology, look at the article which is the source for these quotes, here.

I have a varied selection, but there are a few powerhouses that I have decided to get as many as I can afford of, to store against harder times. These are the ones I suggest for you as well.

The really wonderful, powerful oils for preserving life, in my opinion, are these ($87):

Other excellent oils to combat germs and infections that haven't started are ($37):

tea tree
eucalyptus

If, like me, you are skeptical of the power of these and are hesitant to invest in wierdo non-pharma meds, these are the ones to get. You can read my other posts about EO and my experience with them here.

If you'd like to buy these or other oils, they are the highest quality. Every month this company, Be Young, has certain items on sale as a bundle purchase. If you buy the sale each month (the price stays the same for easy budgeting), then in one year you will have nearly all the oils. If you sign up as a member (don't worry you don't have to sell things to people, or get a "start-up kit" or anything) you get 20% off. Go to www.beyoungeo.com/9037 to sign up "under me."

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Safe Tea-Light Illuminator

2011-12-30T06:03:00.000-08:00

I did a little experiment.

I was trying to go to sleep the other night and couldn't because of a large bright glowing on my end table. I usually face the digital clock to the wall to avoid it. However, not only was it facing me, but there was a gallon jug of water in front of it. This acted as a diffuser of sorts and made the light much less focused and more bright.

I immediately got a prepper idea.

I cut the top off a gallon jug, leaving the handle. I filled it half way with water. Then I put a rock in a mason jar and filled it with sand until the top was flat. I put a tealight on the sand. Then I put the mason jar into the gallon jug with the water, and lit the tea light.

It diffused the light beautifully! To continue the scientific method, I went into a dark walk-in closet and lit a tea light. Ok. Then I lit the tea light in the jug- huge difference!

Now this isn't the kind of light you can read by, but it's enough to light the table for conversation, mark the steps, or other low-light uses. It's about as safe as a lit candle can get, being in the jar, in the jug of water! The gallon's handle made it easy to tote around.

I think I will save a few gallon jugs, strung on a cord, in the rafters of the attic or garage, just-in-case.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Wart be GONE thru the Power of Essential OIL!

2011-12-28T17:53:00.000-08:00

I have another Essential Oil success story for you!!

My son, 4, had 3 warts on his back. I put a drop of Thyme oil on a spot band-aid, stuck it on there, and distracted him with a snack and a movie for about an hour (it stings if undiluted). About 36 hours later, I took the band-aid off. A tiny square of skin to match the size of the gauze (incorporated in the spot band-aid) was very dry. A few days later it was scabby. Today I looked, and it was clean smooth skin!!

My girlfriend had a wart on her face near her nose. It was embarrassing to her, but the dermatologist said since it was facial, there was nothing he could do that wouldn't leave a scar. She used Be Young EO (Thyme) and applied it with a q-tip even 5 times a day, and it is gone, gone, gone!

If, like me, you are skeptical of the power of these and are hesitant to invest in wierdo non-pharma meds, Thyme is defintely one to get. It is a very powerful oil similar to Oregano. You can read my other posts about EO and my experience with them here.

If you'd like to buy these or other oils, they are the highest quality. Every month this company, Be Young Essential Oils, has certain items on sale as a bundle purchase. If you buy the sale each month (the price stays the same for easy budgeting), then in one year you will have nearly all the oils. If you sign up as a member (don't worry you don't have to sell things to people, or get a "start-up kit" or anything) you get 20% off. Go to www.beyoungeo.com/9037.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Books on Monetary Failure... God be with us!

2011-12-11T06:04:00.000-08:00

Please let the widget load! Thanks.

Amazon.com Widgets

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Back and Forth; Overseas, Redoubt, Stay?

2011-12-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

Oh how I waver!

To build as sustainable place as I can here in the land I love, although it no longer resembles that land? Where is our Constitution?!

To move overseas, find a place to put down roots? To be a "wealthy" minority (and thus target)?

Here are two good articles addressing the topic. One is called "More Americans Go Abroad for Economic Opportunities" from CNBC. "the percentage of Americans aged 25 to 34 actively planning to relocate outside the U.S. has quintupled in just two years, from less than 1 percent to 5.1 percent."

The other is "What Is The Best Country In The World For Americans To Relocate To In Order To Avoid The Coming Economic Collapse?" It's from an info blog called The Economic Collapse. I used to subscribe to a blog called the Coming Economic Collapse, but it was too overwhelming and I felt impotent to protect myself. Please read the comments on this article; they're respectful and intelligently weigh the choices- not just countries, but the broader questions:

is one a coward to leave now?
is one prudent to leave now?
can the US return to its roots, or will it slide further into a socialist police state?
if the Constitution no longer stands, am I really "abandoning my country?"
is any country really safe when the global economy fails?
will SS retirement and Military retirement continue to pay out?

"Many people on here have been saying how those who desert America are nothing but traitors and good riddance to them if they leave. They need to realize that the America of today is very different to the America that our founding fathers envisioned. My loyalty is first to my family, secondly to my country. If I can achieve the American dream outside of the US, I will do so."-stillcode (comment)

We are looking at Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Uruguay.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

When Crossing the Mississippi

2011-11-19T14:38:00.000-08:00

I went on a road trip to North Carolina this month. I had to cross the Mississippi River with my four kids 10 and under. Of course, I had a box in the trunk with water, jumper cables, some rope, a first aid kit, and some MREs. In my purse I always carry a folding knife that has a window breaker and strap cutter on it. When I crossed the Atchafalaya River Basin Bridge- a 17 mile expanse of one-way bridge spanning a few swamps and bayous- I had it on my lap. It gives me peace of mind.

Reading about earthquakes and fault lines, flooding and freezing, I wondered if we would face any disasters on our journey. We didn't, but my mama's mind tends to grab an anxiety and run with it. So I thought I'd share my idea since this is the one place I can!

I imagined that something happened to the car- or the country- and for some reason I had to get my kids across the river myself. After much thought I decided I would take them Swiss Family Robinson style- in home made life preservers. I would wrangle up some cranberry juice bottles or 2 liter bottles and make floaties. I looked and looked on the internet for a good image but this is all I could find. If you remember when they went back to salvage everything from the wrecked ship, they made slings between two barrels and put each of the farm animals into the sea like that, to assist their buoyancy as they swam to shore.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

How to take a Medical History

2011-11-18T13:57:00.000-08:00

If you are in the position to give medical care to someone other than a family member, such as your kids or spouse, you will probably have to take some sort of medical history. Of course, this assumes that you have a leisurely time to interview them, and that it isn't some sort of emergency response situation. This is the interview you do after you have taken vitals (blood pressure, pulse, respirations) and before you do a physical. A great resource for this procedure is Jarvis Pocket Companion for Physical Examination & Health Assessment.

Here is an acronym I learned in my recent first aid class (Hey! you learning skills or just buying things?!):

SAMPLE

S- Signs /Symptoms

what is wrong?
visual symptoms
reported symptoms

A- Allergies

medications
foods
environment, insects

M- Medications

currently taken
taken before TSHTF
recreational
include how much, frequency, if there is relief

P- Pertinent Past

surgery or illness in past
recurrent symptoms?

L- Last oral intake

when and what did he last eat or drink
how does he feel after eating
appetite

E- Events leading to injury or illness

what were you doing when you injured yourself
what changed in diet/ environment before fell ill

Don't forget to document, document, document. Not because you are going to be chased down and sued but to create a patient history.

Now, more about Jarvis Pocket Companion for Physical Examination & Health Assessment. I have it and I really like it for many reasons. It has 20 chapters, beginning with

the interview and health history
mental status
assessment techniques and the clinical setting
the general survey, measurement, vital signs and pain assessment

Then it has 16 chapters on the different body systems followed by one chapter called "Integration of the complete physical examination." It uses medical terminology that is familiar to anyone in the field. Each page is broken vertically in half, with the left being "normal range of findings" and the right being "abnormal findings." It is generous with the color illustrations and photos. In addition, they layer illustrations on top of photos, such as showing the muscles of the neck. Another thing I really like is the way they list descriptions and details for pediatric, elderly, and dark-skinned groups so that what is "normal" won't be missed.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Materials for Sun Oven from PetSmart!

2011-11-17T13:57:00.000-08:00

I went to PetSmart with my son to buy crickets for his lizard. In case you don't know, crickets are sold next to the fish department. When we walked up, the employees were unloading a pallet of fish that had just been delivered. Each cardboard box was double-lined with these reflective bubble envelopes so that the fish would be kept at the right temperature during their shipping time. I asked the employee if I could have the ones she had just unpacked- she gave me a sideways look and said "No problem." I asked her how often they got new fish and she said nearly every day!

Blogger that I am, I immediately thought that you should know that this free resource is probably available anywhere near you where you can buy fish for your home aquarium- a great place to have last-ditch water, I might add! Our two fish tanks have over 80 gallons of water right on display.

This material is good for many uses, here are a few I thought up- please add more in the comments!

in a cardboard box oven, you could line the box (behind the tinfoil) with this to insulate it
reflect heat from your windows during hot weather
in cold weather, turn it around and make an insulating pocket of air
use it as the reflective material for a homemade sun oven

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

www. Goats 101

2011-09-18T09:11:00.000-07:00

As you may have read the other day, now that we have somewhere to put them, we are in the market for some goats. Initially I was searching only for Nubians, but now I am thinking Pygmies are what I'm looking for. What made me change my mind? Well, to tell the truth, the nearby fires killed the three Nubians I was in the process of buying, so I impatiently looked on Craigslist for other goats for sale, and there were a lot of Pygmies (cheaper, too). But when I researched Pygmies, I learned something I was glad to hear: Higher milkfat content than Nubians.

I like butter. We use a good bit of butter in our house, and I want it for free. One of the preps I lack is butter. I tried some dehydrated butter but it totally didn't make the cut. Great for mashed potatoes or things with butter IN them, but not for toast. Preparedness Pro cans her own butter and I have no doubt, but that's a lot of glass jars, and I'd like a sustainable source.

Hence the goats. Milk, cheese, butter, and the occasional cabrito. Excellent!! Here are the websites I've found that are really informative.

Pygmy Goats

Burdizzo/ Ritchey Nipper (fixing/ modern "castration")

Home Dairy supplies

milking 101

The Modern Dairy Goat (PDF)

Fiasco Farm (great informative site)

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

News from Salt & Light

2011-09-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a month since I last posted, and I wanted (thanks to a nice comment from a reader on an older post) to let you know where I've been.

First, prepping slowed down hard and fast when my husband's semester ended and we dropped our income by 1/3. Then, the school year started and I was really busy with my homeschool group leadership responsibilities and the new homeschool year, this year with 3 students (because my daughter is bigger now). Last, my laptop bit it and now to use the computer, I have to sit in front of the tv hooked up to the other laptop with a broken screen. It's a little Acer and the keyboard is TINY so it's a pain to type on. Wahh.

Anywho, there has been NO RAIN in Central Texas for waaay too long and you've probably heard about the fires here last week which were spread by winds off Tropical Storm Lee. Smoke in my area, but we have been safe. That's another thing, we've been collecting homeschool materials for families who lost everything in the fires. It's ironic that we just celebrated the year anniversary of our flood, caused by Tropical Storm Hermine, and now we're all praying for rain.

Another development is that we are creating plans to use creative owner financing to purchase the home we're in, which is my prepper daydream:

well water
one acre
barn
long driveway
out of town, but in town
grandfathered for animals (goats, chickens, etc)
big house w 2 master suites (and 5 other bedrooms!)

I measured the back part of the property; it's 9000 sq ft for goats. Behind the detached garage is a similar size area that we've cordoned off for our square foot garden. Then there is a similar size area right out the back door for the kids to play. Off to the side is an area, about 30ft by 40 ft, that is where I want to create my chicken run.

Three goats I was planning on buying were set free and presumably burned up in the recent fires. I had just purchased 3 Polish Crested chickens, but my two hens were killed last night and now my rooster looks lonely. No chickies for me, from those girls. *sigh* I may be the worst farmer ever, but at least I'm getting these failures under my belt now.

So that's what I've been up to. More posts soon, I promise.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

New Thoughts

2011-08-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

We got passports for our family of six, last month. Whew! To the tune of nearly $700, this was a big expense. We are also ramping up our homeschool studies of Spanish. These are small steps to prepare ourselves for what may seem, even to preppers who entertain extreme ideas on a daily basis, an extreme idea- that of expatriating.

We spent three weeks in Costa Rica on our honeymoon. We lived in Arteaga, Mexico, (near to Saltillo, near Monterey) for over a month before that. My husband and I have a good grasp of Spanish and are now beginning with more rigor to pass that to the kids.

Right now we are planning a family vacation to Central America. Our plan, right now, is to spend one month in each country familiarizing ourselves with the area, people, and residency laws. We don't plan on being tourists, hauling cameras, speaking English, and elbowing our way about tourist attractions. We plan on renting a home and continuing our homeschool lifestyle while we are there, shopping at the market etc.We are culling and disposing of some of our belongings here each week to lesson what we own. We'll see what happens.

Because the economic situation here in the US has entangled the economies of nearly every country on earth, we know that a collapse of the dollar will have repercussions worldwide. We are trying to figure out where may be safer than another to protect our family.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Comfort Food

2011-08-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

Dried a bag of frozen okra yesterday, frozen dries so much nicer than fresh. Anyway, it dried up to less than a half-sandwich bag. I'm putting it with a can of shrimp and crab meat so that my hubby can make up a big pot of gumbo as comfort food one day.

I also dried a 10# can of sweet potatoes. They were, of course, cooked. The can filled my dehydrator. (and two more trays, so I ended up drying a tray of the okra, above.) I cut the potatoes into slices so they would dry evenly and rehydrate quicker. They turned out nice and crisp and filled a gallon ziplock over half full.

Has anyone dried cream cheese? I am going to try slicing it and drying the slices. I am going to store the sweet potatoes and cream cheese with a sprig of rosemary, some dried garlic cloves, and some dehydrated butter. Every Thanksgiving we have mashed sweet potatoes with rosemary- a savory dish instead of overly sweet. It's delicious, and another comfort food I love.

Other comfort foods I've also set aside include coffee and chocolate. Then, I thought of the kids and got fruit leather, mac and cheese, and the granola bars that they love.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Rochester, NY: Best of Craigslist

2011-07-20T14:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a taste of this "best of Craigslist" ad:

"Lately, the majority of people I see look dead inside. Battered...beaten...tormented. SLAVES. I then ask myself, "What will these people do when civil unrest and social breakdowns occur in the not so distant future? It's going to be an ugly sight."

Go read the rest of it, the musings of a "30 year old male who's losing hope on "people.""

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

How Do You Know You're Crazy?

2011-07-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

Enola Gay over at Paratus Familia posted a truthful and reassuring post called 'TEOTWAWKI Fatigue' that I really appreciated.

Anonymous posted this in Enola's comments: "Just last night I said, "How many times did Noah and his wife ask themselves were they crazy for doing what they did?" Oh, probably just daily for 120 years, that's all! They say that if you think you might be crazy, you're not. The crazy ones never suspect it!
While pailing up food this week, I looked at my 72 year old mother and said, "Wouldn't your own parents have been thankful to have had all this surplus during the Great Depression?" And she replied, "Oh my YES!"'

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

What About Just Abandoning the Country?

2011-07-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

Although Ron Holland of the Daily Bell first says "Create A Domestic Safe-Haven Location: The potential for violence, theft and property destruction in the US dwarfs what could happen in Greece. If you can afford a safe-haven second home away from major cities and high crime locations, then do so. Consider taking advantage of the real estate collapse and buying something you can enjoy in good times and have as insurance for bad times."

He then follows that advice with this statement: "You Will Likely Be Safer Outside the US: In a serious crisis, most of the criminals out to steal your property and do harm to you will come with official government sanction and not from traditional criminal elements. Consider a more secure safe-haven jurisdiction where the rule of law might still prevail with a condo, second citizenship or residency in a nation outside the United States for the duration of the domestic disorder and economic collapse. Remember, currency and government debt collapse is common throughout the world and history shows the difficulties don't last forever. My fear is we haven't seen a world reserve currency collapse before and the aftermath is uncharted waters. I would expect a scenario several magnitudes worse than the 1991 Russian collapse."

Needless to say, the prep for our family for the month of July is passports. We have our forms filled out, our pictures ready, and the fees in hand. Our appointment is July 15th.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Checkup on my TO DO List

2011-07-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

Just going through my old To-Do lists and seeing how well I'm doing. Although I have the full support of my husband and control of our finances, I'm doing this myself and no one is checking up on me.

To Do:

get more chocolate
plant potatoes-DONE!
get goats
learn to slaughter chickens-DONE!
slaughter chickens
get more hens-DONE!
get more Mel's Mix
make more raised beds
empty storage unit ($100 more month in pocket)-DONE!
get doubles of essential oils
take more crap to Goodwill-DONE!
get more canned milk-DONE!
get more brown sugar and grits
get pump backup for well (even if we're renting)
get more Tattler reusable canning lids

So, not so bad, not so bad... Not even half of the whole list, though. I skipped numbers 7 and 8 when my chickens started harassing my tomatoes. I need to fence in my existing garden. Regarding #10, essential oil doubles, I finished my purchases to now include one of each that I found important, and they are used so slowly I decided to not get duplicates until many other prepping goals are met.

Another of my to-do lists, Continuing Education, Prepper Style, is also in progress. I took the one-day first aid class and was disappointed. Here's the gist of the training:

secure the safety of the scene
call 911
put on personal protective equipment
wait for more knowledgeable help to arrive.

*sigh* What was I expecting. But my Medical Terminology Class has been a blast- incorporating both language and the body, my two favorite subjects. So far on the three tests I've gotten a 96, a 94, and a 89.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

In Case of Nuclear Attack...

2011-07-01T21:49:00.000-07:00

With all the news we're NOT getting regarding nuclear near-catastrophes, here's a great link from a blog I seem to be "finding" more and more, called "The American Dream."

From here, "Zeolite is a breakthrough supplement that works at the cellular level by trapping heavy metals and toxins and safely removing them from the body. Zeolite is also very effective in removing radiation, as shown in the cleanup after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. The people showed a 30% reduction in radioactive isotopes after the very first application of Zeolite! Continued use shows increased benefits.

is a breakthrough supplement that works at the cellular level by trapping heavy metals and toxins and safely removing them from the body. The actual Clinoptilolite Zeolite molecule is shaped like a honey-comb and carries a natural negative (-) charge. When this type of Zeolite is ingested into the body all of the positively charged (+) heavy metals, toxins, and harmful chemicals bond with the zeolite and are flushed out through the urine within 6-8 hours."

I followed the link from Survival Blog to look at Geiger counters and NukAlert. Waaaay to expensive for my budget. But the site had some informative, encouraging links to documents every prepper should read. Here's a quote: "When fallout is first anticipated, but has not yet arrived, anyone not already sheltered should begin using their N95 particulate respirator masks and hooded rain ponchos. Everyone should begin taking Potassium Iodide (KI) or Potassium Iodate (KIO3) tablets for thyroid protection against cancer causing radioactive iodine, a major product of nuclear weapons explosions. If no tablets available, you can topically (on the skin) apply an iodine solution, like tincture of iodine or Betadine, for a similar protective effect.(WARNING: Iodine solutions are NEVER to be ingested or swallowed.) ... Absorption through the skin is not as reliable a dosing method as using the tablets, but tests show that it will still be very effective for most."

Here is a horrifying video from the archives called "Duck and Cover" from 1951. "Atta boy, Tony, the bright light means "ACT FAST!"" Ugh!

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Self-Immolation Here in the US of A- Have You Been Told?

2011-06-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

Here's a link called "12 Things the Mainstream Media is Strangely Quiet About." Number 7, regarding weather and planet changes, and number 11, NASA's efforts to prepare their employees, are the ones I'm most interested in.

What about this one, though? On June 16, 2011, an American man set himself on fire on the steps of his New Hampshire courthouse. Check the link. Have you heard about this? Why not?

"Late last week, Thomas James Ball reached his breaking point. Driven to desperation by a system that bankrupted him and destroyed his family, Ball walked up to the main door of the Keene County, New Hampshire courthouse, doused himself with gasoline, and lit himself ablaze." from Simon Black

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TMI: Prepping for Women's "Monthly Visitor"

2011-05-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I've waiting long enough.

Here's my post about dealing with "that time of the month" from a prepper point-of-view. If you're of the male persuasion, feel free to copy the URL and email it to your wives. Then click away to some other article.

I'm going to continue now as if I knew you and as if this was something that applied to you... ahem... thanks, men, for going....

ok we're alone.

So, about 6-8 months ago I heard about the Diva Cup. It's a "menstrual cup" and it fits inside the vagina. The job of a menstrual cup is to collect flow in a cup instead of a tampon or pad. Instead of changing it every few hours you empty it once a day, and reuse it up to 5 years. Comes in two sizes, and has a little tab you trim to fit, to make removal easier and less messy. I haven't used it so I can't review it here. It's $40 and lasts a year or two. When I first heard about it, I found it at my local "natural foods" store, but the price tag was too steep.Something I can review for you is the Instead cup. It's $7-9 for a package of 14, but I have only found it at Walgreens (not CVS or my grocery store, although they may order it if I asked).

Each cup is supposed to be used once (for up to 8 or 12 hours) and then discarded. Also, the instructions say to remove the cup completely and rinse it out (if you're out during the 8 hours and want to empty it) however I have found much easier and less messy to just catch the edge of the ring and tip it out. It's easier to simply push it back up instead of completely taking it out and reinserting it. After my first cycle doing it the rinsing and replacing way, I began using one cup per period and I haven't had any trouble of any kind doing it that way. I heard that they now make another version to be used for this way (one each menstrual cycle). Here's a picture:

It's an extremely flexible ring with a plastic, cellophane-like cup. The cup is crumpled in the middle of the ring and thus comes flat in the individually wrapped packages. To insert it, you pinch the ring flat and insert it similar to a tampon. Here's the video:

There are two interesting things to note when looking at the Instead cup from a prepper point-of-view. First, the amount of sheer cubic storage needed to store a year of supplies is very low. if you bought one package of Instead cups and one box of 60 of pantiliners you'd be set for a year. TWO BOXES! Less than $15 probably. If you invested in some washable pads like fellow prepper Enola Gay makes (called Naturally Cozy) you'd have a bigger initial investment, but they wouldn't run out. Here is a photo of one month's worth, so you can imagine how small a year's supply is!

The other interesting thing is birth control. If there isn't a supply of hormonal BC, the Instead cup can work like a diaphragm or cervical cap. It blocks sperm from entering the cervix and starting the trek to your eggs. I did this once, and it worked out fine with no complaints from my husband. Be sure to empty the cup before sex though, so there aren't any... messes. :)

Here is an EXCELLENT, MULTI-BRAND FORUM full of great info on all the options- how to insert etc etc.

The last thing I wanted to say about all this is really into the "too much information" territory.

Another thing I think is helpful for preppers about any of the menstrual cups is blood. Obviously, blood is the whole reason you have to think about dealing with your period. In America today we are really distant from anything personal or messy. Our babies are "delivered" to us. Our meat comes in a styrofoam tray. OB tampons are "fringe" because you use your own! finger! as the applicator. It's just too foreign for many women. So if TSHTF when there is an injury or disaster, and we come in contact with blood, it is unusual and uncomfortable.

Using the Instead cup brings you closer and more familiar with your own body. You will see and smell and interact with and wash blood from your finger/ hand. At first it's gross and weird, but as the months go by, it's not such a big deal.

Here's a funny Aussie post also about menstrual cups.

I so hope this has been helpful!

The other other thing I wanted to throw out there while we are talking about girlie stuff is the GoGirl. It's a flexible thingie that lets girls pee standing up. Great for being stuck on the side of road while evacuating too late before a hurricane, while camping, or traveling somewhere iffy.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

War with Fruit Flies

2011-05-22T07:29:00.000-07:00

So, I don't know how they got here, but we were really struggling with fruit flies a while back. It was driving my husband nuts, and I was getting frustrated because I really didn't want to do the dishes. We didn't have a fruit bowl or obvious area they were attracted to. They seemed to like the sink.

We have a friend that has a crazy cooking habit, and composts all her kitchen trash, and she has an ongoing fruit fly problem, but it doesn't seem to bother her really.

She always has a trap or two to catch them with, so I knew how to make one with a paper funnel and a piece of tape around a container from the recycling bin. I wasn't very satisfied with the results. I found another design online that uses the top portion of a bottle instead of a paper cone.

Then I ruthlessly cleared the counters and put all the food, every thing, in the fridge. I washed the cabinet we keep potatoes in and tried to keep up with the dishes. Then they were in the bathroom, crawling on the toothbrushes! It had gone too far. I'd put down my glass of red wine and when I picked it up for another drink, there would be a fly or two on the rim. GROSS!

So I declared war. I made a delicious trap- a strawberry top and a piece of banana peel in a little crock, with a paper cone, in each of the bathrooms. Then I made a packing tape bomb with a little piece of banana peel on it. My idea was that they would come in for a snack and get glued to the tape, like fly paper. No. Didn't work. I got excited one morning and saw a bunch of them on my tape trap and I tapped it. They all flew off!! I was so mad. When you try to smash them or clap your hands over them, it seems futile, and I rarely get one that way. But when I saw that cloud of them come off the banana peel, I got an idea.

I had been washing dishes earlier when I saw a fruit fly go by. I snatched at it with my soapy hand - and caught it! The bubbles made all the difference. So I ran upstairs to the bathroom tape-trap, soaped up my hands, and then tapped the tape. I CAUGHT ALL OF THEM when I cupped my soapy hands around the trap. This also worked when the stupid things would collect on the paper rim of the trap and not go in.

So, there you have it. A long yet triumphant tale of the war with fruit flies. I wish you skill and speed with your soapy hands in your own battles.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

How End Times Relate to Prepping

2011-05-21T09:33:00.001-07:00

What with all this "excitement" about the May 21 "beginning of the end" talk, I thought I'd take this moment to direct you to my page, "END TIMES?!" It's been in my nav bar, but if you read Farming Salt and Light in a reader, you wouldn't know that. It's a big collection of info regarding end times and why some prep with that in mind. I liked it enough to put it permanently in my nav bar... take a look. Here's the link: End Times?!

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Fail Now, Not Later

2011-05-21T07:29:00.000-07:00

I made a photo collage of the process of making tuna-can lights, but then I erased them by accident, and this post has just been waiting.... so to just get it done, I took a picture for you of the pile of lint growing on the shelf next to my clothes detergent. There's a partial roll started next to it, too.

These are really easy to make, just take a roll of lint, and lay it on a piece of cardboard cut to the height of your can. Roll up the cardboard, adding more lint, and new pieces of cardboard, until it reaches a diameter matching the can you plan on using. Then scrunch it and smush it to fit in the can and pack more lint into the cracks.

I bought some candles and broke them up to melt in a double-boiler made of a soup can in a pot of water. (Do not walk away.) They poured easily into the can, and I pressed 3 short wicks into the lint rolls. I thought I would use them for light, or cooking.

Thinking OPSEC and the value of cooking inside when others may be struggling, I took the electric coil and the drip tray out of my stove, and put the tuna can in the recessed area there. I put the rack from my oven on top of the stove, and put my teapot on top. I was going to time it and see how long it took 4 cups of water to boil.

Well, pretty quickly, there was too much smoke to continue safely in the kitchen. I easily blew out the tuna can with one long breath.

Good thing I had a large, tall empty can set aside for this purpose! I had already used a wedge-shaped can opener to cut 4 openings in the top of the can so that air could get to the flames.

I put the tuna can light into the soup can. (let me tell you here that a long lighter or a long stick is necessary to light this, whether it was in the stove recess or in the can) I lit it and put the teapot right on top. I checked the flame after a moment, and it was nearly out. So I dumped out the soup can and cut four more wedges into the bottom rim with the can opener. Now there would be some air draw.

So the flame was just bookin' along, and I looked at the clock to see how long it took to boil my four cups of water. And I waited. And waited. When 15 minutes passed, I took the temperature and it was only at 140 degrees. So I made tea and called it quits.

However, with my optimistic survive! mindset, I am cheerful and I don't count this adventure as a total loss. Here's what I learned:

tuna can lint lights are not suitable for indoor use due to smoke.
they evidently don't burn hot enough to boil water.
the water at 140 degrees was hot enough for making hot drinks, hydrating some foods, even warming an MRE, or washing stuff.
the flame burns quite high and caution must be used (of course)
would be great for getting a fire started if you didn't have much kindling/small branches
I read that these can be made in egg cartons for similar purposes.

Better to try these things now than try them later and have an unpleasant surprise! I was planning on having more than a dozen of these for lights and cooking.... yeah, not going to work like I thought. But they are great for for-certain fire starting!

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2-Month Barrel Project

2011-05-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

This is an unimpressive photo of what will become my first "2-month barrel" project. It includes:

50# white rice
50# hard red wheat
25# white sugar
1# brown sugar
40# assorted beans- I think 7 kinds, plus popcorn!
25# oatmeal

Next I have to add

25# assorted pasta
4 12-pks evaporated milk
Mylar bag of baking essentials
Mylar bag of coffee beans
Mylar bag of Tang ("makes 22qts" size)
15# dried potato slices

and in the 10# can size:

peas
cheddar cheese
mozzerella cheese
applesauce
craisens
corn

And then seal it up in a 55-gallon barrel. Ideally it could be buried, but sticking it in a closet or something works too. It's the bare bones supplies for hard times. Go me!!

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Huge Mylar Bags

2011-05-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

I get 6 gallon Mylar bags from Pleasant Hill Grain. They are $1.23 each.

I put one inside a 5-gallon bucket, put in some diatomaceous earth, a 25# bag of wheat (or whatever), shake it down, add O2 absorbers, and fold the excess over a narrow board. At first I thought the board (nearly 2 inches wide) was too wide, and that I was wasting precious Mylar. But when I trimmed the excess off, I had a nice, nearly inch-wide sealed area on each side of the cut.

I was left with another 3-sided Mylar bag, that, when you cut it in half, are perfect for sealing away smaller amounts of supplies. Above you can see what it looks like if you DON'T cut it in half again. Above it is holding 8 cups of flour.

Waste not, want not!

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Prepping for Future Births

2011-05-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

I have four children.

daughter- supposed to be born at a birthing center, but my water broke and I didn't go into labor. Induced with Pitocin, no pain meds, 9 hour labor, 6 lbs 11 oz. Midwife attended.
son- born at birthing center in a tub, no pain meds, 9 hour labor, 9 lbs even. Midwife attended.
daughter- supposed to be born at home, but we were out of town and she was born at hospital, no pain meds, 3 hour labor. She was very sick and was on antibiotics for 10 days for "Group B Strep," and would've died without them. 6 lbs 14 oz. OB attended.
son- born at hospital, 7 hour labor, epidural, 7 lbs 14 oz. OB attended.

So I've had quite the range of experiences. I used to want to be a midwife in high school. I love being pregnant, nursing, it all comes easily to my body. Many women don't have this, and struggle with nausea, heartburn, spotting etc during the pregnancy and complications during labor.

I found a website that caters to midwives and those who plan a home birth. It's called Cascade and it looks great. It sells IV fluid bags very affordably and individually. Previously I've only found huge quantities (as a lot) for big money on Amazon. I created a kit with gloves, IVs, and a bunch of other stuff for 5 deliveries for less than $150.

Amazon.com Widgets

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Preppers Need More Humor!

2011-04-30T22:42:00.000-07:00

I used to be one of those people who would go to sleep at night petting my 80 pound backpack whispering, "My Precious... My Precious..."

"FOR THE LOVE OF HEAVEN, MAN! YOU'VE WATCHED THAT OPRAH RE-RUN 7 TIMES! GET UP OFF YOUR BUTT AND START PREPARING FOR ARMAGGEDON!"

The 60 Second plan is just that. You will be out of the house in 60 seconds. There are all kinds of possible needs for that. Perhaps the house is on fire. Perhaps your mother-in-law called, but she's two miles away and if you hurry you can miss her. Whatever.

Here's an excellent website/blog that is really informative, and hilarious in a subtle way. I just spent over an hour going through his workbook. Check it out! It's called "Listening to Katrina."

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Exciting News regarding our Fuel Costs!

2011-04-28T06:02:00.000-07:00

We're converting our diesel truck to run on Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) in May. (Our life follows the cycle of payday.) We have a diesel Ford F-350 with 4 full-size doors, a long bed, and 2 fuel tanks. It's blue- green. It's what I use to drive the kids around in. You should see us. I weigh 115 pounds and the five of us pour out of it after I successfully park that sucker.

Most importantly, WE OWN IT. In May we're installing a heating element into our larger gas tank. It's where the WVO will go. Regular diesel, on which the price has risen nearly $.50 since we bought the truck in February, goes in the rear, and smaller, tank.

The WVO is bought from a guy who picks it up from restaurants. He turns around and sells it, marked up, to feedlots. He's selling it to us for $30 for a 55 gallon drum. Woo-hoo! We, in turn, will let it sit in the garage for 2 weeks. Gravity is one of the very best filters. Then we filter it through a small micron sock-thingy.

Then it goes in the larger tank (on the truck). When we get in the truck and turn it on, we do so with the diesel fuel from the rear tank. The heating element that we installed on the WVO tank begins to heat the oil to 160 degrees. When that point is reached, we can switch to the WVO tank. A few minutes from our destination, we switch tanks again to flush the WVO from the lines.

I am so excited. The WVO tank holds 100 gallons. At 20 miles to the gallon, we would have a range of over 2000 miles on that, not including the diesel tank. The ability to lower our fuel bill substantially, and store a decent reservoir of safe fuel, is really, really appealing and comforting. Did I say I am so excited?!

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Continuing Education... Prepper style!

2011-04-27T05:54:00.000-07:00

So I am taking classes under the GI Bill. Another way to make some money, and learn stuff in the process. This semester I took some "fun" classes to get back in the groove of education (it's been a while since I was a student), if you consider Physical Geography and Creative Writing "fun"- at least I learned alot about weather and soil.

It's time to sign up for summer classes. I'm looking at:

first aid (one day)
CPR (one day)
cheese making (one day)
bedside manner for nursing (6 weeks)
medical terminology (11 weeks)

In addition, I'm picking up my .32 this week and I'm trying to organize a CCL class for next month. There seems to be enough interest in the carry class that I can get a good rate from the teacher. The more people I get, the cheaper the class will be.

I asked a friend of mine who's into raw milk if she'd watch my kids for me the day of the cheese-making class if I taught her what I learned, and she was excited to do so!

I need to take Medical Terminology before the EMT Basic class and lab this fall.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Prioritizing as if it was the Last Days before Collapse!

2011-04-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

When I left the complacent ranks of sheeple last January, and made my first prepper purchases (backbacks and Camelbak bladders) last February, the blogs and newsites were screaming- prep like there's no tomorrow! and I felt a few months of panic. Then I figured that was normal, and I calmed down and continued prepping. Now it seems as though "the end is nigh." Silver is through the roof with no signs of slowing. Rawles wrote his Redoubt. Ferfal is writing imminent warning posts, not just answering emails on his blog. Preparedness Pro is about as excited as she can get without inciting panic instead of peace. The IMF. Soros. etc etc etc.

So it all makes me take stock and look three and four times at my prepper budget before I spend. Heck, I made two food orders in the early days of March that aren't here yet! What is the best way to do with what I have?

And at the rate with which I'm eating chocolate while reading these news clips, I need to beef that storage up too! I think I'd rather quit drinking coffee than go without chocolate.

To Do:

get more chocolate
plant potatoes
get goats
learn to slaughter chickens
slaughter chickens
get more hens
get more Mel's Mix
make more raised beds
empty storage unit ($100 more month in pocket)
get doubles of essential oils
take more crap to Goodwill
get more canned milk
get more brown sugar and grits
get pump backup for well (even if we're renting)
get more Tattler reusable canning lids

More To Do coming... continuing education and converting the diesel truck to waste vegetable oil.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

What a Lice Day

2011-04-25T07:46:00.000-07:00

I told you earlier this year that I was ordering some Essential Oils from Be Young EO like Preparedness Pro recommended. Here's a little bit of our experience with them, so far.

Twice in the past two years my older son has gotten a blistery, red, swollen patch on his arm. The first time it started where he had a mosquito bite and the second time it was just a scratch. The first time the doctor said it was staph and the second time, I was sure it was staph again because it looked the same, but she said it was strep. I don't know, either way it's not a good infection.

He got the same thing again last month. I looked in my little Essential Oil book and pulled out the Ravensara oil and we applied one drop twice a day for two days and it was gone. The first time he had it a few years ago, it spread to a cut on his leg and a tiny patch on his chin. Nothing like that this time! Gone in two days.

The next success story is... less wonderful on some levels, but equally exciting on a preparedness level. So, it happens to everyone. Rarely can you identify where it came from. No one likes to talk about it. But I am excited to tell you about our recent bout with LICE. Yeah, not so NICE. (sorry.)

A few weeks ago this same son was scratching his head and I looked, and he had the signs of lice. I took Eucalyptus oil and Thyme oil (per my EO book) and put drops on his scalp at intervals and let him scratch it all over to distribute it evenly. He whined and cried that it tingled too much but when I was looking at his hair and pulling out dead lice (I think there were 8 in all) he was easily distracted and stopped fussing. We didn't even wash it out. I treated both my daughters and myself too, just in case.

Be Young EO makes a parasite blend called Tickaboo that has all the useful oils for these kinds of problems so you just need the one bottle. Lice treatment and the little combs are really expensive and who wants to put pesticide on their kid? Especially people like me who wash fruit and buy organic when I can. These Essential Oils are all natural and actually beneficial, yet they accomplish the same end as the nasty chemicals that cost so much. Google the phrase "dangers of lice chemicals" and see what there is to learn about the heinously dangerous and potentially lethal practice of putting pesticides on those we love.

If you'd like to buy these or other oils, they are the highest quality. Every month this company, Be Young Essential Oils, has certain items on sale as a bundle purchase. If you buy the sale each month (the price stays the same for easy budgeting), then in one year you will have nearly all the oils. If you sign up as a member (don't worry you don't have to sell things to people, or get a "start-up kit" or anything) you get 20% off. Go to www.beyoungeo.com/9037.

Latest Plotting... Bwahaha!

2011-04-15T08:40:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I posted and I wanted to put an idea in your head.

I ordered 2, 6 gallon buckets of dried sliced potatoes from Augason Farms in early March that still haven't come. I've started drying diced potatoes since now "I'm set" for sliced.

I ordered an 84-pack of dehydrated entrees and breakfasts from Wise foods through Jimmy the Screwdriver at Prepare Your Family. He gave me a great price and I'm looking forward to reviewing them here soon. It still hasn't come yet, either, but at least they gave me a water bottle purifier to help the waiting be less painful. At the same time, I ordered 84 4-ounce water packets (a heavy Mylar bag) from Emergency Essentials to reconstitute the meals. I am going to put 8 meals into each of our BOBs. There are 6 of us, so that will be a total of 48 each of meal and water packets. The remaining 3 days (36 meals) and matching water packets will go back into the nice square bucket they came in and be ready for a grab-and-go or share bucket. Anyway the point of all that was that if you're buying dehydrated meals for any reason, you might consider getting water packets to match so that you won't cut into your drinking water to eat. In a situation necessitating eating these meals, you don't want to have to think about it.

The water packets are only $.34 each and with Emergency Essentials decent shipping costs, not bad at all.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Cipro, stat!

2011-04-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

I've been watching the Jericho series... I know, late to the prepper party... I'm on Season one, disc two.

Just finished the scene where the husband is revived with mouth-to-mouth by his wife, as his DIL does heart compressions and his two sons look on, aghast. Geez.

Boy oh boy.

One month post Jericho-TEOWAWKI, mindsets are a'changin and things are getting hairy. (But not the people- they're all pretty clean and sparkly. A lady in the grocery store just paid for a package of disposable diapers with a vase.)

Great series so far, the prepper in me had been really pleased with the reality of the show as a whole.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Beware the American!

2011-04-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

Just got caught up to date on my Rawles blog reading, and this one stuck out the most... oh my goodness...

Beware of Homeland Security Training for Local Law Enforcement, by An Insider

I like these kinds of articles because they are written by "insiders" who are "like us" who want us to work with as much information as we can. This is the part I didn't like:

So how does a person qualify as a potential domestic terrorist? Based on the training I have attended, here are characteristics that qualify:

Expressions of libertarian philosophies (statements, bumper stickers)
Second Amendment-oriented views (NRA or gun club membership, holding aCCW permit)
Survivalist literature (fictional books such as "Patriots" and "One Second After"are mentioned by name)
Self-sufficiency (stockpiling food, ammo, hand tools, medical supplies)
Fear of economic collapse (buying gold and barter items)
Religious views concerning the book of Revelation (apocalypse, anti-Christ)
Expressed fears of Big Brother or big government
Homeschooling
Declarations of Constitutional rights and civil liberties
Belief in a New World Order conspiracy

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Test Driving the New Sleeping Bags

2011-03-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

Last night, my four kids slept outside alone. They hooked a tarp up between two of the big city trashcans and the two corners of the truck bed, making a roof. They spread another tarp on the grass and put their new sleeping bags in the middle.

My husband and I were skeptical as to how long it would last, and when they would come in for the night. But at ten I went out to check on them and all four of them were fast asleep.

I got 6 sleeping bags from the Epicenter.com, on sale for $22 each. I went to look them up to link for you, and they were gone. They were on sale, maybe I got the last ones for a while!

They are British military surplus. They are dark green, nylon inside and on top and poncho-style plastic on the bottom. They are down-filled. They have a hoodie shaped thing, not really a pillow, at the top. The zipper is on the inside and the foot area is square. They have three big buttons to help cinch it up for compressing- one about at the ankles, one in the middle, and one right below the shoulder height. They get wider at the shoulder.

They are warm and cozy. You really have to compress them but when they're rolled up they tuck into a duffle bag -shaped cover (that is connected), and buckle shut with two more buttons, and end up seeming pretty moisture- resistant. The duffle-shaped cover is made of the same poncho material and has a carrying strap incorporated.

They're lined up at the foot of a closet now. They are so well-packaged when rolled up that even my three-year-old can carry his. I really like them... and second best of all, I got to put six big checkmarks on my prepper to-do list!

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Comments Please

2011-03-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

I am in sort of a questioning time regarding housing and would love your input.

Picture Perfect World: The VA loan, which we will most likely use, doesn't cover mobile homes or manufactured homes, which are on most of the acreage out here. Of course, I want anywhere from 1 acre up to about 11 acres. I would like some woods, a place for a backstop for target practice, but cleared areas near the house for gardening/ yard. Other similarly sized lots (neighbors), moving water or a pond would be welcome. A well is pretty much a deal-sealer and a metal roof would be ideal. I'd love to have a huge front porch. I need 3 bedrooms and would like 2 living spaces. I have dogs and kids that need a space to play, then I want space for chickens to be secure and a big grazing space for goats. Outdoor shed(s) and workspaces for my husband are pretty much required, and a garage in addition would be ideal. A greenhouse and our cups of joy would overflow. So, pretty typical for preppers?

At present, we are renting a house from my parents. They want to sell it, but it's too big for most families (incl. us). They have 5 years to sell it and avoid capital gains.

PROS/CONS:

relatively inexpensive rent
well (electric-no solar pump)
large lot (1+ acres)
in town, road with neighbors, but not a "house farm" neighborhood
no garage
lots of ground-floor windows
room for chickens
yard is unfenced (regarding dogs- mine or others)
may or may not be allowed to get goats
prob. have to buy it or move in 4 years
waaay out of our price range- more than 3x.

We are looking for a place to buy of our own. We're trying to balance Ferfal's and Rawles' advice, which directly contradict each other. Distance from town to avoid sheeple and golden horde. Close to town to have community and none of the home-invasion-no-one-can-hear-you-scream crime. Space to garden and have sheep and goats. Close enough to neighbors to have community. Near hospitals and fire departments. Far from panicked hordes.

It's harder to compare pros and cons of an as-of-yet non-existent property. But I have found a few patterns in the properties that come up on searches.

PROS/CONS:

wells are out there...
land- will it need fencing? different fencing than existing?
too far away from our existing support network
great (land) deal, but house in disrepair
house is great, but no room for goats
if only I had income for a $400,000 property that was perfect!
for anywhere from $45,00- $90,000 we can get 2 acres and a "handyman special" style home.
for anywhere from $90,000-$130,000 we can get a 25,000+ square foot lot with a nice house, neighborhood, no well, no HOA (so chickens are ok- now). 25,000 sq ft is about the smallest lot we'll consider.

I guess my question is: should we just rent here and try to settle in or should we continue looking for our own place? After the flood last year, we are tired of boxes and unpacking and moving, but we are really, really ready for our own place, with no one to tell us how to use it. I want to paint and get a dozen more chickens and stop hauling our stuff around. I'd prefer to get our own place, inexpensively, and spend money repairing/updating it instead of that money getting tied up in a higher mortgage or rent (for a nicer place). But I really don't want to get a place "with potential" and then have inflation hit and we can't afford wood or tile, etc.

I know we can never know. What are your thoughts or questions?

I'm of the prepper variety that there isn't going to be an official "C-day" (collapse day) but just a continual deterioration and rising prices and crime, if that helps. I've thought of staying here and spending money on supplies- Mels' Mix, lumber etc, but the mere idea of moving all that to a new place later is exhausting.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

What Stress Looks Like Here

2011-03-18T15:10:00.000-07:00

What do these pictures have in common? Me. That's how I roll I guess.

About a week before the Japanese earthquake/tsunami/nuclear catastrophes, I was having a pretty bad day. I think my stress (the economy and silver prices and my seedlings freezing and the news and Arkansas earthquake and meeting my sister's fiancee and my classes and an article I read that said kids would rather starve than eat strange foods) all added up and I went a little loco, even though I've been doing more this month for our preps that I have in a long time, with packages coming nearly every day, but "it's never enough." Always another hole to fill! Another concern about mindset or physical ability.

I bleached out a chunk of my hair and dyed a blue streak in it. I spent $40 on a collection of "old lady" lotions and potions because my skin is looking like my mom's more each day. I had two glasses of wine back-to-back and then yesterday I got a tattoo. It's been one of the ones I've planned on getting, and I've always loved this verse (she looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness) but it wasn't until I was in the car leaving that I thought it does relate to prepping, sorta. But that's not why I got it!!

None of this has to do with prepping really but I wanted to let you know.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Mel's Mix

2011-03-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

Have you done the Square Foot Gardening? We got the 3 kinds of dirt that Mel (the author of Square Foot Gardening) tells you to go get. It was $134 for 2 cubes of peat moss, 4 bags of compost, and 2 bags of vermiculite. Here's a picture of the 3 kinds of soil before my husband mixed them:

Left- compost; bottom middle- peat moss; splash of white- vermiculite.

Here are the two beds, right outside the back door, with the tarp ready for mixing soil in front. At the corners of each bed we are putting a large (10 gal?) pot with a plant such as blackberry, zucchini, or tomato.

I got some seedlings at the store but I'm also starting some plants myself. Looking forward to more gardening practice this year! Hopefully this year we can garden through the winter, last year was shot when our house got flooded. For more about that, click "Hermine" in the side bar.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Taking Care of Business

2011-03-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

I have been super busy!

I got a pill canister for my keychain so I can carry 2 Primatene tablets and 2 Benadryl tablets if I get stung by a wasp and don't have my Epi-Pen. I carry my Epi-Pen 95% of the time, but redundancy, redundancy, redundancy! I will get a canister for my husband's key chain too, and I've put some tablets in my EDC (my purse's first aid kit).

I went to the dentist twice. I have to go back for the full x-rays, cleaning, and assessment of the rest of my teeth, but I got the fillings I needed. (whew!)

I have been repackaging 125 pounds of beans into gallon bags. I have been reading Ferfal's book (finally!!). I ordered 3 copies of the newspaper to come each Sunday so I can start couponing with reckless abandon.

I also dried another 3 10# cans of diced tomatoes for my friend to pulverize in her powerful blender to make tomato powder.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Branching out to Essential Oils

2011-03-07T18:47:00.000-08:00

I am excited about a new thing I am trying. I trust Preparedness Pro and so I am giving essential oils a try, something she talks about a lot. I am trying Birch oil for my finger joints which are very tender and delicate- I would call it arthritic, but I'm barely 32. I am getting Ravensara oil for my three kids who have a croupy cough. I got my husband a liver cleanse which includes Peppermint and Lemon oils.

They are supposed to come this week and I will be sure to tell you any results we feel!

I decided to try them because I was working on my medical/ first aid/ home care supplies. I am taking the EMT basic course this summer, but I wanted to have a good deal of supplies to take care of the things that can/ sometimes do happen. I felt there was a "hole" in my breathing/ lung/ cold supplies. Cough syrup can only take you so far. We already take vitamin D and vitamin C when we feel any sort of tickle or complaint, and also just prophylactically in the winter. I had read about the abilities of essential oils and they seemed to address many respiratory illnesses, so I thought I'd try them.

We'll see!

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

First week of March: preps

2011-03-06T18:34:00.000-08:00

Tonight it crossed my mind to make bread! I didn't do it, but it rarely crosses my mind to do that, so I guess that is the first step, right?!

Tonight I actually did make black beans and rice for dinner. I made refried beans and rice for dinner last week! So I am doing better. In addition, my picky eater tried dried mangoes and liked them. After much drama, he tried rice with butter and LIKED it!! woo-hoo!!

I ordered a pound of dried butter from Walton Feed. Paid as much for shipping as I did for the dang butter. (I wanted to try it before I committed to buying a 50# bag to the tune of $277.) I'll tell you what I think when I reconstitute it.

I bought a bunch of seedlings- 3 kinds of tomatoes, 2 kinds of peppers, peas, zuchinni, 2 blackberry bushes. I checked the weather for last night and it wasn't going to freeze- I left them in the yard- and everything except the peas and the blackberries froze. *sigh* That is why we start now, right? But we did get enough of Mel's Mix (from All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space!) to fill our 2 raised beds- 3 X 7 each. Worth the $134 since it won't get washed away by a flood here! I love his method since you don't spend years amending your existing soil.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Why Preppers Should Homeschool

2011-02-27T18:09:00.000-08:00

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Tomato Drying Tip

2011-02-26T17:41:00.000-08:00

I have been drying the large Costco-sized cans of diced tomatoes. I spread them out evenly the first time and they dried to a supercrisp and were nearly impossible to chip off the dehydrator trays. Since then I have been superloading only 2 of the trays with the entire huge can of tomatoes. Then when they dry they look like this:

You can see how spread out they are, although when first filled, it was packed in as densely as possible. You can imagine, seeing as how tomatoes are mostly water! Anyway, they are much easier to break off this way. When I have dried 3 cans, I take the pieces to a friend's and she grinds them all up in her crazy blender. It makes about 3 cups tomato powder. Perfect for sauce or flavoring when rehydrated.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

World Going nuts as I prep

2011-02-25T16:11:00.000-08:00

Man, oh man! Times have been going crazy lately, huh?!

I see I haven't posted since February 13th! If you look forward to news, sorry... I've been prepping and planning for all I'm worth. I feel so satisfied to see things knocked off my list one by one by one!

Azure Standard is my new favorite place to buy 25# bags of beans- they sell so many kinds! Variety is the spice of life- and success. I made some refried beans the other day with dehydrated onions and they turned out delicious. My husband, who is usually the chef in our family, actually liked them ((wow)). Anyway, back to Azure Standard. They have a driving dropoff route through the south and midwest. I can't find a route list anywhere. They have a lot of organic and bulk items. I love them so far. Cheap canning jars, bulk beans, sprouting seeds...! I got one bag each of the beans and a bag each of corn and popcorn. Then I thought about it and got another bag of each kinds of corn. Never know, with prices and the world the way it is.

I've spent a lot of time honing and perfecting my Amazon wishlist, comparing prices and trying to search for items from the same vendor to reduce shipping. I think I'm ready to make my order. I've been focusing on medical / first aid supplies, and my favorite vender on Amazon is MedVetInternational. I like their:

cotton balls
porous tape
cohesive tape
absorbent underpads
4X4 gauze squares
scalpels
skin staplers
irrigation syringes
teaching sutures- needle and sutures, asst
cast plaster and padding

I'm very excited about some of the books on my list too. I'm always excited about books though. (On a related topic, we are unpacking books here at the rental and are nearly done... or so we thought, because we have another 12 boxes in the storage unit.)

The other thing I have been thinking about is going back to the LDS storehouse near me and getting some more wheat. Part of me thinks I have "enough" (I don't make my own bread yet) but the other part of me says that for another $35 I can have another 125#. It doesn't go bad, stored properly. I guess, since I'm going in for more 12x15 Mylar bags, I should just get some anyway.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Bits and Pieces

2011-02-13T19:02:00.001-08:00

Well, blogfolks.

I hate to write when there isn't much to say, so here's the compilation post of all the little things that have crossed my mind in the past few weeks but aren't worthy of your attention by themselves.

I used my dryer lint and a melted candle to make little "sternos." It was easy and it burned nice when I tried it. Dries hard and no mess! (post coming)
I tried to prime a new Black Berkey element and it has a crack in it- trying to return it, but haven't gotten a callback yet.
Got a new sewing machine from a pawnshop to replace my flood-ruined one. I have a stack of mending to do now!
Reorganizing the pantry, again. New shelves in there and room to do so!
Bought 6 gallons of water for short-term use in the next hard freeze or power outage.
Super excited about upcoming medical supplies purchase. Finally getting Ferfal's book too!
Ironed some Mylar bags shut finally. Finally!
Ordered a microscope for homeschooling. Looking forward to seeing what it can do for preps/ medical purposes.
my 6 chickens are giving me 5 eggs a day!!
paid off 2 debts off my credit report to ready it for a pre-qual letter so we can buy a farm
bought a diesel truck with seat belts for all 6 of us. Looking for a veg. oil supplier.
now that we have a monthly income, I am calling my local Craigslist water barrel supplier and setting up a monthly purchase from him to get my water storage settled.
I set aside money for my husband and I to both take the concealed carry class and get the licenses. He's trying to get a gun that belonged to his father from his BIL and I'm looking for a good deal, then we'll be set!

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Prepper FAIL

2011-02-02T11:28:00.000-08:00

Well, here is another "procrastination and its consequences" post.

My Monday "to do" list had this on it:

3. Bring 3 15-gal water containers from flooded house to rental house

Because of whatever multitude of reasons, it didn't happen. Aaand this week has been bitterly cold weather, even in Texas. Aaand the well pump froze.... Aaand we had no water all morning. At least the rolling blackouts haven't hit us (yet) we were able to defrost the pump head with an electric space heater. So now we have water again.

"How can we have all that (preps) upstairs and no water?!" my husband says.

I know. Even after my challenge to y'all a while back (HERE) I didn't have the financial resources to get a 55 gal or 275 gal water container. But I did have the 3 15-gal containers, but they are *NO GOOD* empty. So procrastination, and an "it won't happen to us" mindset strikes again.

But HEY!! The VA decided in our favor and awarded my husband 90% disability! So he's crazy, and I'm not, we got backpay for all sorts of things and now a monthly income. We're also both students under the GI Bill and are getting some stipend from that. So no more "unemployment" for us, we're "students." Heh-heh, and moolah for preps! And for our CCL!

And for some water containers. Obviously.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

For Free at CVS?!

2011-01-12T16:10:00.001-08:00

I wanted to give a better explanation of what I meant when I said, in my goals for 2011 post, "become proficient at getting everything for free at CVS." After you lay out an initial $20 or so, the freebees start rolling over and you don't spend barely any real money after that.

It's complicated, and others say it better, so here's the link from Money Saving Mom. She calls it CVS 101 and it lays out for you, step by step, how it works. The only comment I have is that now you can spend $.99 for a green leaf keychain thing and get cashback for using your own bag when you shop there.

My brother and his wife both have cards and they have rubbermaid totes full of toiletries. They donate bags of stuff to their food bank every month. Why buy something you don't need or use? Preparedness Pro, who teaches a coupon class (worth it, I took it) puts it this way: If you would accept this item if it was free or for a quarter, would you take it? I don't buy nail polish or dog treats, but I wouldn't turn them down if they were free.

This week at CVS, for instance, if you buy $20 of Maalox you get $10 in CVS bucks. There is a coupon out there for $5 off a Maalox. So you get 4 Maalox for free and $10 back. Preppers may like the idea of 4 Maalox, or they can give it to Grandpa or the food bank. Then you use your $10 to buy q-tips or other things you want and need and can never get coupons for. My brother occasionally returns things, unopened of course, for a store credit, especially when you get multiples of the same things.

Preppers don't like the idea of 'the man' having a record of what you've bought at the store. At CVS you have to get a card. I've heard of people putting fake info. You have to determine yourself the pros and cons. My BIL and SIL get emails with serious coupons all the time in their inbox. In addition, there is a kiosk in the store that you can print coupons out of each time you go in.

One caveat though, this program only works completely amazing if you have a computer printer and multiple copies of the coupon inserts. There are many ways to get free inserts if you think about it. If you subscribe to Krazy Coupon Lady and she'll send you links to the online coupons and tell you sales that coincide with recent coupons.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Goals for 2011

2011-01-06T18:38:00.000-08:00

Read over at TEOTWAWKI blog a post about how to make goals well. So here's mine....

organize all my foodstuffs to match my plan on paper by March 1

get the immunizations req'd for EMT course this summer by April 1

take the EMT basic course at the community college this summer

get my CCL by April 1

begin going to the range 1x per month

start making bread at least weekly

start having beans and rice at least weekly

begin incorporating sprouts into our diet

aquire minimum of 4 275-gal water cubes

become proficient getting everything for free at CVS

find a 1 acre, well, metal roof property by July 1st and buy it

attempt to save seeds from my veggies

diversify my bean storage through Azure Standard foods orders
get all dental work done

so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Protein 101

2010-12-23T10:43:00.000-08:00

Here are some ways to get a complete protein without eating an actual source of protein, such as beef, chicken, pork, or fish.

Grains plus legumes.
Nuts and seeds plus legumes.
Corn plus legumes.

Here are a few possible combinations.

Corn and black bean salsa.
Try whole grain pasta tossed with peas, almonds, and your favorite sauce.
Whole wheat toast with peanut butter will give you a complete protein.
Bean soup with whole grain crackers.
Corn tortillas with refried beans and rice.
Lentil soup with a serving of almonds on the side.
Pinto beans in a corn tortilla.
Beans and rice.

Remember that you need masa to make corn tortillas. Your shopping list probably has this on it anyway: beans, rice, corn, peanut butter. Add nuts and whole wheat pasta (or make your own). Corn dries beautifully and nuts can also be stored easily.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Crucial Printouts

2010-12-22T10:09:00.000-08:00

In many places online you will find suggestions and instructions, recipes, procedures, diagrams, etc that you will bookmark and return to. But what if you couldn't access that computer, or the grid was down? The info you needed for that time would be impossible to reach.

I suggest that your printouts are personally catered to your family and your situation. It will minimize the amount of printouts and be more helpful. However, if you are planning on the manual to be for unprepared people, you might want to add in some other info that they may not know.

What are my crucial printouts in my supply bucket? Funny you should ask.

cream of tartar/ baking soda recipe
basic (but good!) bread, muffin, pancake, etc recipes
hypochlorite recipes (water disinfection & bleach strength)
homemade gravity-fed (Berkey) H2O filter diagram
planting dates for geographical area
solar cooking options and directions/diagrams
how to "catch" yeast

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Supply Bucket

2010-12-20T11:03:00.000-08:00

Usually when someone calls you repetitive, it's not a complement. But if you're a prepper and someone does, be glad! If I had to tell you three things about prepping it would be:

water water water water: have enough!
redundant systems: 3 is 2, 2 is 1, 1 is a big fat ZERO.
rule of 3: AIR-WATER-FOOD: you can survive an extreme situation depriving you of these elements for only 3 minutes, 3 days, 3 weeks. Prep in that order.

Today I want to address number 2 above by telling you about my supply buckets. It starts out simply enough, a 5 or 6 gallon bucket with a screw-on lid. Then, add:

Berkey filter
spigot, rubber washer
plastic tubing (at least 4-6 ft)
spool of florist wire
2-geared, swing-away can opener
rat and mouse traps
pencils, sharpener, composition notebook
heavy duty tinfoil
package oven bags
roll duct tape
roll para cord
lamp, lamp oil, extra wick
lighter, butane, big box matches
winter and summer seed assortment
Mylared hypochlorite powder
pkg clothes pins & clothes line
J hooks and pulleys for clothes line
baking soda + cream of tartar
pkg sea salt
knige sharpener
bottle adult multi-vitamins
folder of printouts

If possible, if there was room and finances enough, a manual wheat grinder. That is sorta wishful thinking, but you never know what you might find at a yard sale.

The idea behind this bucket is to have everything you might want in a crazy situation. Each of these items are in my home, in my preps, in my cabinets and supplies. The supply bucket simply assembles them into one place for convenience. However, if TSHF and a family member needed it, or I had to bug-out I could grab this bucket and GO! I am planning to make as many of these as I can. Maybe next year, I could give each family unit in my family one. But I'd still have a few on hand to fulfill the need for redundant systems.

The bucket can be used for a million things, including washing clothes. The spigot is for filtered water to be dispensed from, the siphon is to get water out of heavy or large containers, and of course the hypochlorite (pool shock) is to disinfect the water before you filter it, or to make and sell/barter bleach.

The salt, baking soda, cream of tartar and multi-vitamins are just some basic nutritional necessities. The paracord, duct tape, and florist wire have a multitude of uses. The tinfoil and oven bags are for off-grid cooking. I think the rest of the supplies are pretty self-explanatory. I bend the composition notebook to match the curve of the bucket and it all fits pretty well.

The last item may well be the most important. It has the crucial printouts from the hundreds of lists, recipes, instructions, ratios, frequencies etc that you have determined the most important for your family and situation. This will be covered in a future post.

One thing I'd love to have in there is a couple of grams of gold taped to the inside! What do you think I'm forgetting? Keep in mind the space!

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Four is Three and One is Zero!

2010-12-19T10:47:00.000-08:00

I have been writing posts about my prize winnings from Survivalist Blog's writing contest. (I took my entry and made it into a nav bar page. Click "Print this" (above) to read it and print it for your family and friends!)

Here's an excerpt from it to intro into today's post, and an example. "Another important principle of prepping is having redundant systems. It means that if you only have one water bottle, and it gets shattered, then you have none. If you have 2, though, and one leaks, then you still have one. So, now you'll understand when you see the phrase "One is none, two is one, three is two.""

I wrote about my Ultimate Seed Vault. It was huge and came in 2 shipping boxes. The seeds themselves came in 2 ammo cases. I don't know about you, but when I don't have any money to add to my preps, I mess around organizing my existing preps and making lists and reading blogs. Well one day I was drooling over this seed bank and saw that there were a lot of repeated seeds, ie., quite an assortment of tomatoes, a couple of kinds of radishes, a few varieties of lettuces. I started to sort them out and came up with 5 piles:

a stack of herbs
a stack of sprouting seeds (to eat raw)
a generous pile of summer and winter vegetable seeds
a second pile nearly identical to #3
a good but less rounded pile (like #3 and 4)

So, now, just because I took a long hard look at what I had, and spent a little time and effort sorting them, I now have redundant systems. I have 2 excellent supplies of summer and winter vegetables. I have one fair supply of summer and winter vegetables. And don't forget the stack of herbs and the sprouts!

The best part of this is that from my own preps I have an expanse of summer and winter vegetable seeds that I've accumulated myself. So now I have 4 sets of seeds!

Redundant systems! Redundant systems!

Tomorrow I will write about my redundant supplies bucket. Woo hoo, you can't wait can you!

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Hubbies and Wives

2010-12-18T09:16:00.000-08:00

Many people began prepping to help keep their kids safe. Many blogs are out there written by moms and are focused on prepping as a mother.

Well, I'm not only a mother of four, I'm a wife. And one thing I don't want to see is my husband injured or desperate because he took part in a mob trying to provide for us. While I don't see him fighting crowds to get a bag of rice provided by the UN, I can envision him in a store that is being restocked/ransacked during a government price control shopping experience. For you men, usually the woman is the one getting things at the store, and frequently she has the kids with her. You don't want her in that situation either.

How easy it is to do what we can to prevent that from happening by preparing what we can now.
I feel good about my food storage. I need to beef up my water supplies. I am going to change my focus to building up a 6 months supply of dry supplies like clothes soap, dish soap, TP, shampoo, flossers and lotion. How about you?

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

No Coin for this Winner

2010-12-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

This is a continuation of some posts I'm doing describing my excellent winnings from the contest I won at Survivalist Blog a while back.

Part of my winnings was a case of Mountain House food (6 10# cans). Wow! I was so excited. I didn't want them to just send me whatever, so first thing I called Ready Made Resources, the company that sponsored the prize, and asked them what it included and if I could choose.

First off, they answered the phone on the second ring- a real person! It was a friendly guy who was a great help. He said they normally send a case of Chicken a la King, but I could switch out anything I wanted, so long as it was of equal value, or I could pay the difference. I think the total value was about $145. Cool! I was excited and just jumping all over their website. Right as I decided to get a case of dehydrated butter, I realized that I had to stick to Mountain House.

Dang it! I looked and looked and got grumpy. I had read a few reviews of Mountain House and was convinced I shouldn't get anything with pasta in it. All I could find that wasn't Chicken a la King or noodle-based was dried peas. So I went nuts and got one can of clam chowder and 5 cans of dried peas. (Must be something with me and dried peas, I won a can of them from Preparedness Pro too!)

Here's where I felt a little gypped. All over the website was a notice that if you got a full case, you would get a free silver ounce coin. The guy who took my order was really kind and attentive and also answered the phone in person, on the first ring, but he did not give me a free coin.

I'm sure that if you were a "Paying customer" that you would have gotten your free coin. And they did answer, in person, quickly. They were great all around but I wouldv'e loved that silver!

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

buy, store, eat; repeat

2010-12-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

So, I read about the knuckleheads who have family members allergic to wheat, yet they do what "the experts" say and buy up 750 pounds of wheat for their family's food storage. What's up with that?!

And yet, I found myself with four packages of powdered milk. We don't drink a lot of milk in our house. We finish about a gallon of milk in a week, even though there are 6 of us.

We use canned milk pretty frequently, though. When I run out of creamer for my coffee, it's the first thing I look for. I water it down and give it to the kids when we used to eat cereal on the days we ran out of milk. It's great for cooking.

So now that we have a Costco membership, I started getting a 12-pack. I figure each one would last us 3 weeks if need be. So add 15 cases to my food storage goal! For my long term storage, I was wondering how it would work to pour 3 cans into a Mylar bag and carefully seal it. Less weight than the can, you know. Still airtight.

Just to let you know, I returned the 4 packages of powdered milk. (I told the girl that I was too ambitious in my holiday cooking plans) Now I have a $65 store credit to get TP!

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Mylar Assortment

2010-12-15T10:23:00.000-08:00

Many people plan on bugging out to some other location. I have four kids and somewhat of a support system where I am, my lot isn't tiny (ie, gardening space), good water stores, in the 'burbs, generally low crime area... I'm planning on staying in place.

That being said, I see the value of 'grab-n-go' storage and it also serves well to know how much you have. Such as, 4 'grab-n-go' buckets, each one good for 2 weeks, equals 2 months of food. I decided to go with cardboard boxes instead of buckets for one main reason- OPSEC. I can label mine "summer clothes, girl, size 4" and put it in my daughter's closet top shelf and look a lot less suspicious than having white armeggedon buckets in every corner.

One thing I wanted to show you from my grab-n-go box was my veggie mix. In a Mylar bag I have an assortment of dried vegetables (yep- dried 'em myself!).

You can see, top going clockwise, 2 pounds dried potatoes, a can sliced olives, about 3 carrots, 3 cans green beans, 4 cans corn, and a big package of mushrooms. I haven't sealed up this bag yet because I haven't put in the little baggie of garlic, a head of celery, or 3 sliced green peppers.

When I open my box to rotate the peanut butter I don't have to mess with this, because it's good indefinitely. I also have a Mylar bag of parmesan cheese and one filled with a dried fruit assortment. My last Mylar bag has:

cream of tartar
small box baking powder
assortment of tea bags
package of TVP
Kool Aid pkt
6 gelatin pkts
8 lemon and 8 lime pkts
cup of sea salt

I call it my basic supply bag. It's all stuff that needs to stay dry and doesn't go bad. For the first post about this project, read "Veggie Assortment."

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Visible Accomplishment

2010-12-14T10:10:00.000-08:00

You can't see much detail, but the volume speaks: this is part of what I've prepped in the 3 months since our house was flooded. Being out of our home because of flooding has make very visible what I've accomplished in a certain time frame.

All the boxes on the left are full of foodstuffs. I got the boxes at runs to Costco and they stack great! I collected a few bags of wheat, rice, and sugar. I need to beef up my bean supply. Buying the one-pound bags doesn't work because I just cook them up and eat them!

I also compiled a 5 gallon bucket ab-so-lutely stuffed with chocolate: a huge bag of mini bars (assorted), 2 boxes of Hershey's full-size bars, and a 4# bag of M & M's. And another 6 gallon bucket FULL of coffee- beans, instant, and ground.

And I know now that it takes our family of 6 three months to use 24 rolls of TP.

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At the Checkout with Preps

2010-12-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

I was reading a fun post (I love the comments as much!) at MD Creekmore's Survivalist Blog. I thought I'd share with you the two interactions I've had at the store when I'm at the checkout with my preps, and a few other comments I've fielded from friends.

Once I was buying a 25# bag of flour, a lot of yeast packets, a case of canned milk, and a 25# bag of sugar. Of course, it's easier to "get away" with buying similar items... when the checker asked if I had a restaurant, I just told her we were preparing to go to a cookie swap.

Another time I was checking out with a whole bunch of items from the first aid aisle- rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, bandages, etc, etc. The teenager kept scanning the items through with this look on his face. I volunteered that my son's scout troop was learning about first aid and these were the supplies to make each of the boys a first aid kit.

When my house flooded, there were bins of food taken out of ruined cabinets. A few people said something, and I just responded "It looks like so much out of the pantry, doesn't it! Four kids eat a lot!"

Although I haven't gotten any questions about it, I was thinking about what I'd say if the neighbor asked why I had a bright blue 55-gallon barrel in my garage. I'd tell her that we had been thinking of being foster parents, and one of the requirements was to have a few day's water on hand. I'd agree with her about its ugliness and the hoops they require us to jump through. She doesn't have to know that it's full of Mylar-ed food!

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MY CHALLENGE

2010-12-12T18:00:00.000-08:00

PLEASE.

Going on the one gallon/one day/one person rule of thumb, my family of 6 needs 42 gallons of water for one week. (I won a 2.5 gallon Berkey that sits on my kitchen counter, so I know we use less for drinking/cooking, so I'm hoping that on tough rations 6 gallons a day would do us well.) If I round up a little and for simplicity's sake, I just count a 55 gallon drum for one week.

Now, water is way more important than food, survival-wise, so my goal is to have 4 275 gallon cubes under my deck. In addition, a 55 gallon drum easily accesible in the garage, and 3 15-gallon totes for easy grab-n-go. Then I would have over 5 months of rationable water.

I challenge all of you to get on your local Craigslist and find someone who is selling 55 gallon drums. Whether it has a locking lid or 2 bungs, get at least one. Next time you're at the pet store or the hardware store you can get some plastic tubing to siphon the water out.

Bonus points to anyone who gets a 275 gallon cube!!

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Appleseed Weekend

2010-12-11T16:45:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed some winter weather camping at (sorta) local Appleseed event last weekend. From their website: "Our volunteer instructors travel across the country teaching those who attend about the difficult choices, the heroic actions, and the sacrifices that the Founders made on behalf of modern Americans, all of whom are their “progeny.”"

The majority of the time was spent in marksmanship training. I took my two oldest and although I sat out of the shooting to assist the kids, it was a great time. At 9 and 7 they were the youngest there. There were less than 20 shooters and 4 instructors. We all got plenty of attention and assistance, and they were helpful and patient. The range was extremely safe the entire time.

We camped out on the land that night, and although it was a rush job packing, and we weren't allowed to have an open fire (just a stove), it was alot of fun. We put two flat metal panels on the dry grass and had a propane burner to cook on. A cast iron skillet and an old-fashioned stovetop percolator were all we had to cook with. My kids loved using their enamelware cups and camelbak bladders. There were 7 of us in all, but we didn't even use 5 gallons of water, but we did know that we were going home to wash everything. Everyone was warm, but man was it cold getting up in the morning!

I grew up camping so I love it. Alot of the camping I did was when we accompanied my dad to his civil war re-enactments, so for me, the smell of gunpowder is a familiar part of camping. My kids made me proud. It was the first time for them on the range. They didn't even touch the target in the startup round, and by the time we left they were in the right area every time. When they got tired of shooting, they took a break and ran around the field to the back of the range (it was totally safe don't worry!). My daughter used her .22 Chipmunk rifle (it was mine when I was little!) and my son used one of the instructor's .22s with a scope. He loved it!!

Here's an excellent post from a blog you should follow, Accept the Challenge. His Appleseed post is much more in depth and detailed about exactly what to expect and bring.

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A Thought for Next Year's Garden

2010-12-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

I thought that I would mention a smart idea I read somewhere.

You should definitely be buying and properly storing organic non-GMO seeds for your garden so you can save the seeds. However, I think it is also a good idea to buy a big assortment of readily available cheap seeds too. However, "(GMO) seeds, on the other hand, do not always reproduce true to type. The hybrid seeds will grow, but you might have some variance in your results, so if you want the exact same type of plant, it is usually necessary to buy new seed every year." (source)

This is my thought process: In high school economics class when learning about the stock market, you didn't actually buy stocks and watch their prices go up and down. No, you had an imaginary $1000 that you pretended to buy stocks with, and then you watched "your" stocks for the semester to see if you "made" any money. It's the same with this seed idea.

Last spring when I planted my "learn-to-farm" garden, like all good preppers I used my organic non-GMO seeds. I felt a heavy pressure to do well, even though I had no experience, because my seeds were expensive. At that time I didn't even own a seed-saving book. Now I do. I've read it. I still haven't had any experience, much less success, with gardening or seed-saving.

So here's what I propose. Buy cheap seed to practice on. Grow it, learn to harvest the seeds. When you've gotten the hang of it, switch over to your smart organic non-GMO seeds.

And for pete's sake, tell your Senators that Senate Bill S510 is stupid.

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Hyperinflation Article

2010-12-09T12:55:00.001-08:00

I know that whenever I get a few bucks I want to go to the store and trade them for commodities- fill my 5 gallon gas can, get some wasp spray (I'm allergic), buy some Tylenol.

Here's a good article that has some clear insights about hyperinflation. I like articles that aren't inflammatory or panicky. Check it out.

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S510 passed Cloture

2010-11-30T14:16:00.000-08:00

Did your Senator vote for S510?!

Write him and tell him he's an idiot, and to change his vote!

Akaka (D-HI)
Alexander (R-TN)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Brown (R-MA)
Burr (R-NC)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Coons (D-DE)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagan (D-NC)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kirk (R-IL)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
LeMieux (R-FL)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
Manchin (D-WV)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (D-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (D-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

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EMP Video

2010-11-16T05:14:00.000-08:00

Here's a great video by National Geographic about the effects of solar or nuclear EMP on our nation. Wow. Just finished it just now... catastrophic.

My first thought was "Water. Do you have enough water!"

My second thought was "If it's solar, at least we'll have 3 days notice, *if* NASA tells us." Evidently, the visual blast of a coronal mass ejection hits the earth in 8 minutes, the photon blast which causes EMP takes 3 days. So you can fill every freakin' vessel with water. If they tell us.

I have to say, my husband and I discussed what we'd do if we were given some sort of notice that it was the day, the hour... the official announcement that the SHTF... we'd hunker down. We'd say "time!" We wouldn't run out for another bag of wheat, another pack of batteries, another gallon of water or a can of propane. We'd lock up the door and circle the wagons. All we'd do is make concrete plans with the family locally.

But man. The food thing is just too hard. No one seems to have any food on hand. If you could hunker down for a month straight and not interact, just "disappear" from play, it seems like everyone would die off. You'd think. And you could go on... unless China decides to invade at that point. Bleak bleak bleak.

Think of the internet at the moment that a nuclear EMP went off. All the Americans would just fall off the web at the same moment. You know all the people who sponsor a child in a third world country? All that aid would cease, and imagine how that would effect those millions of families too. All the subs and aircraft carriers would be fine, if they were out of range. All of the military stationed in other nations would be fine. However, no one could reach the President for decisions. Unless of course he made it to a fortified underground bunker. I can just see Obama hoofing it a hundred miles out of DC on foot!

I hope they have a plan for defending our borders from invasion if this happens.

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Food- it's in the details!

2010-11-15T10:13:00.000-08:00

My mother put on a pot of lentils this morning. I saw that they were soft so I served up a cup. After the first taste I realized that aside from a few slices of bacon, she hadn't seasoned them. So I shook some garlic powder, cayenne, and a pinch of sea salt into my cup... what a difference!

I have one each of garlic, sea salt, cayenne, cumin and onion powder in a mylar bag. These bags are so cheap at my local LDS Food Storehouse that I can't resist. I have four bags filled like that- should last over a year. I also have a few cinnamon's and vanilla extract too. (Real or imitation vanilla? check out this article by Cook's Illustrated.)

Have I ever told you the secret about baking powder? It has a short shelf life. But baking soda and cream of tartar have a pretty long shelf life, when stored properly. And guess what happens when you mix them? Yep- baking powder. These are baking essentials.

Mix 1 tsp baking soda with 2 tsp cream of tartar. Mix well and store tightly sealed.

Another thing we need when baking is yeast. Yeast can be caught from the air pretty easily by putting a dish with a cup of flour and water in a glass bowl outside. Loosely cover it, and wait. It should turn frothy, but not black or red. You'll have to keep feeding the yeast to keep it growing, but if you're baking a lot it shouldn't be a problem, just keep saving a portion to "start" the next batch, and you won't have to catch it again. Here's a great article to print out for hard copy.

When my husband and I dated we almost always ate Thai food. Wherever we lived when we served in the AF we found a good little Thai place to enjoy. Sometimes I just get a hankering for Thai, so I created a "Thai comfort food" bucket. It has 2 cans of coconut milk, some dried mushrooms, 2 cans of chicken, dried lemon packets, 2 cans of crab meat, 6 cans of Thai tea, and boxed Thai rice and noodle dishes (preseasoned). I should add some dried cilantro (wonder how that rehydrates?). What is your comfort food? As long as it isn't ice cream, I bet you can figure out a way to make your own bucket!

As I was reading about hyperinflation, I thought it would be smart to pick up a few of the candybar assortment packs at Costco next time I go. I love chocolate but I'm not paying $15 a bar for it!

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Update: Resources

2010-11-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

I have done some editing and added new resources to my nav bar. If you haven't check out my "Resources" page, or read "Begin Now!" or my "End Times?" article, grab a cup of coffee while you can still afford it and go read 'em!

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Cool Fresh Food Storage

2010-11-13T15:17:00.000-08:00

So, if the electricity goes out for a long time... but only if you're in a relatively dry climate, this might work for you!

It's called a zeer, and has been around for a long, long time. So many electric-free solutions have, but we don't know about them.

Essentially it's two clay pots, with drainage holes sealed up, a smaller pot inside a larger, with wet sand packed into the space between them. Put fresh vegetables inside, and cover with a wet cloth, and viola! A food cooler. Here's a wiki article for your reference.

Here's an alternate lid option.

Here's a whole set-up for them, to have food for sale or just a lot of food!

Here's one in action. You can see the sand. A few samples of what's inside sit on top of the cloth when vendors are selling their produce.

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Water in a Time of Cholera

2010-11-10T18:46:00.000-08:00

One fast, easy, cheap thing you can do today is grab a box of pool shock the next time you go to chinamart. I got 5 1# bags in a box for about $17, I think.

From a SurvivalBlog writing entry:

It is 100% Calcium Hypochlorite with 65% available chlorine. Cost, about $4. You can find this same formula elsewhere as well. With this pound of Pool Shock, you can now make 1,000 bottles of chlorine bleach. Each time you drink one of your pint bottles of water, save it. When you refill that little bottle with filtered water, and add pool shock, you have a bottle of great disinfecting bleach. Each one of those 1,000 pint bottles of chlorine bleach can be added to 12 gallons of filtered water. Let it sit 30 minutes, and you have 12 gallons of safe drinkable water. So your one pound of Pool Shock will disinfect 12,000 gallons of water. I actually have 7 pounds of Pool Shock set aside. If things really fall apart, I plan to sell/barter pint bottles of bleach to others who are less prepared for long-term troubles. Since I have enough Shock set aside for 7,000 bottles of bleach, I should have a nice little business, and I'll save lives at the same time.

How's that for a super-cheap barter tool, and water safety at the same time?! With cholera spreading through Haiti, it's something to think about.

Berkey suggests putting Clorox into questionable water and then running it through the Black Berkey filter will get rid of every waterborne threat.

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One Thin Dime

2010-11-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

WOW!

Silver is at $27.70!!

Here's a project that is probably better suited for 6 months ago than it is today... You know, don't you, that pre-'65 dimes are 90% silver, right? You can "order" $100 or more of dimes at your local bank and search through them for silver dimes. One silver dime, at this moment, is worth $1.93. In my short experience there is one silver dime per $100 of dimes. But there is no real "investment" and you can turn the coins back in and go to another branch and get more.

At first I was expecting to have to look at the date on each one, but it's actually much easier than that. If you unroll the paper slowly, you can see the side of each dime (when they're still resting in the paper, mostly unrolled) With a careful scan you will see if any are silver. Most dimes are all copper-colored or half silver, half copper-colored. The REAL silver ones just jump out at you and you can't miss 'em! The only other thing to watch out for is a really grimy one. These seem to be from the '80s but one was from the '50s, so I would double-check those.

You can also do this for half-dollars, which have a much greater value. They are also pre '65 and also 90% silver. Most $.50 pieces are worth $9.68 each (at today's silver prices) but some more modern ones ('65-'70) are worth $4.02 (at today's prices). My bank requires a minimum $500 order for half dollars. If you order $600, they will order two boxes of half dollars and you can come trade $400 in and get the other $400 to work through. I haven't done this yet, but my brother does really well with this technique. Recently he worked through $3000 and found 24 silver pieces.

I bank at two different banks in the same parking lot. You can really work them with your invested amount by knowing

what day do they order coins?
will they take back unrolled coins?
what is the waiting period for coins to come in?
what is the waiting time for coins to be counted?
is there a minimum amount?

Check out NIA's "coin melt" chart that tells you the value of coins- the face value and the real metal value. Woo, an eye-opener.

Here's an unrelated (well, it's about financial/economics) article:

Upcoming G20: China says NO. In the first official comment by a senior Chinese official on the subject. “If you look at the global economy, there are many issues that merit more attention – for example, the question of quantitative easing.”

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Projected Food Prices

2010-11-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

NIA's food price projections are "based on the way NIA calculates real price inflation, by eliminating geometric weighting and hedonics" comparing prices to "real adjusted high in September of 1974."

loaf of bread; $23.05

ear of corn; $11.43

pound of sugar; $62.21

pound of coffee; $77.71

2 qts soymilk; $24.31

1.55 oz chocolate bar; $15.50

plain white t-shirt; $55.57

2 qts OJ; $45.71

See the entire report HERE.

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Heavy Heart

2010-11-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here are a few things tumbling around my head:

REAL lifespan of canned (tin) goods

Well as you've heard QE2 is here. I just don't know how they can't see what this is going to do. Or how they think it's not going to affect them and theirs. You can just hear the presses rolling now!

Tomorrow morning I'm going over to the local LDS food storehouse and see what the price of sugar and wheat are...

So many new articles linked to from prepper blogs about solar flares, EMP, hyperinflation, "time is up" attitudes. The scariest article I read: the gist was "terrorist nuke causes EMP over Kansas which shuts down America, we all (non-prepared) die off or kill each other; then China invades what's left and easily conquers."

*sigh*

Our own situation here is still in limbo. It looks like we are going back to our rental which was flooded in September. It's all clean and nice again (well, inside at least, the yard is trashed) with an expanded laundry room and updated kitchen. The fence will be extended 20 feet further back than it was previously. It won't be ready until the first week of December. My husband is still unemployed. Now with the news it feels pretty grim.

I'm going to create a post listing NIA's projections for food prices. Of course, they say these prices will be reached within the next 5-10 years.

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You Know You're a Prepper If...

2010-11-01T15:01:00.000-07:00

It happened to me this morning. I've read about your experiences like this too. You know you're a prepper if...

You are in the bathroom one morning and the light goes out. The hum of the AC drones away and you enjoy the silence of an electricity-free home. This house frequently has the electricity go out for an hour or so, so there wasn't any real reaction.

I couldn't see clearly in the kitchen so I touched the side of the coffee pot- yes! Someone else had turned the pot on and it was sitting there, hot and fresh, waiting. As I poured a cup, the sirens started.

This noise alone is not something for alarm at this location. There is a police station about a mile from here. But this morning I wondered, because it was so close on the heels of the power outage. How ready was I?!

How ready are we?! National Inflation Association put out their long-awaited video last night. It's not breathtaking, but it's good- ticks in at about an hour and a half. It's called "End of Liberty."

I've always said the only thing that could make me leave the US was if homeschooling became illegal. Well I think I will go if Senate Bill s510 passes. What are your thoughts?

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Prepping Epiphanies

2010-10-26T18:12:00.001-07:00

I had some prepping epiphanies this weekend... I'd like to share them with you:

- I packed some beans in 25# Mylar bags... I regretted putting an entire bag of pintos in after I sealed it up. At the local LDS store I can get black, white, or pinto beans in 25# bags. At the store I can get 1-2 pound bags of limas, lentils, split peas, kidneys, etc. I thought about how bored we'd get working our way through a 25# bucket of the same ol' same ol' so I decided from now on to divide the beans up, one fourth each kind of bulk beans, and one or two pounds each of the grocery store beans. Same 25# bag, big diversity.

- I grew up with cherry pies at special occasions, maybe an occasional key-lime. I married my husband and his family does pecan pie, and as an adult I really enjoy pumpkin pie. I thought about making pie crusts with my mom as a kid, and thought about how easy it would be to throw a can or two of pie filling in each 25# bucket of wheat. What a treat it would be to find makin's for pie when you have to cook from your stash!

- I've seen a lot recently on prepper blogs about hiding your stash from the "authorities" or whatever SHTF food-round-up your imagination provides. I know everyone doesn't have the basement or whatever that easily lends itself to a secret room. But nearly everyone has a master bedroom closet. If you put all your food preps into plastic buckets to absolutely ensure that no critters would get to it, you could stack buckets about 7 high, at least 3 or 4 stacks wide, and install a sheetrock wall in front of it. You'd lose about 18 inches of closet depth, but gain peace of mind.

- The other thing I thought of in relation to food storage... putting some Nestle chocolate and/ or strawberry flavor mix in a ziplock bag, and putting it in with the dried milk (in a Mylar bag). Preparedness Pro says that if you mix the milk powder with water the day before, it's much more palatable. I imagine flavoring (ooh- vitamins and minerals!) could only improve it further.

- I've never mentioned the Eddie Eagle program by the NRA. It's a gun safety program for kids similar to the "stop, drop, and roll" fire safety program. You can call the NRA and order a sample and use it for your family, or get a free set for a group if you go through the police station, library, or school.

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Prize Winnings!!

2010-10-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

If you recall, I won the article contest over at The Survivalist Blog. My article is called "Principles and Procedures Of Prepping." Here's why I wrote it:

"I created this article as the one-chance, first- or last-ditch attempt to teach someone about the basics of prepping. For many of us, we stand alone in the prepping arena, and are desperate to share our knowledge with others without seeming nuts or outrageous." I wrote about the Rule of 3 and the importance of Redundant Systems. It was pretty good, you can print it out and give it to friends or all your neighbors.

Well, the prizes ($1200 value in all!!) have begun to arrive in the mail. It's really exciting. The first three boxes were the "ultimate seed vault" from The Emergency Seed Bank. Mine consisted of TWO ammo boxes full of packets of seed ranging from .5 grams to 5 oz bags- more than 70 packets of vegetable and herb seed! IN ADDITION, I received a 450 gram bag of sunflower seed for sprouting, and FOUR 10# cans of sprouting seed: buckwheat, soybean, red wheat, and green peas! The packets at first seem very lightweight and nearly empty, but I opened one and it had a generous few teaspoons of tomato seeds in it.

Today the package came from Directive 21. Wow. The Big Berkey really is as shiny and wonderful as it seems online. It had two fat black filters and I primed them and put the spigot on the base, and filled it up. After priming, the water just seeped through pretty quickly. Since Tropical Storm Hermine flooded my house, we've been staying across town with my parents. They are on a well- great for many reasons. But, they don't have a water filter... the water, especially when it's all confined in the shower stall, smells like sulpher and brimstone. Now we don't have to drink it- the Berkey is so pretty on the counter with the stainless steel fridge nearby. The Berkey filters were one of my first prepper purchases. I got the plans for making the tower system out of 5-gallon buckets online and never planned on buying the pretty shiny set... but here it is! Gorgeous!
More prize announcements coming as they arrive!

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Permanent "Makeshift" Rocket Stove

2010-10-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a good little video that describes how to make a little brick stove that works like a rocket stove-- it funnels the heat upward and uses very little fuel. This one is built a little higher and doesn't require crouching or balancing!

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Help ME Win!!

2010-10-13T16:58:00.000-07:00

Go read my article at MD Creekmore's blog- and then tell him in comments that I should win the prize!! Thanks!

Prepper Principles and Procedures

EEEEEE! I won! I won! I won!

Thanks for voting for me! Print my article and send it to people you want to start prepping!

WOO-HOO!

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Is a Solar EMP Inevitable?

2010-10-06T11:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Lisa over at Survival Mom for allowing me to be a guest poster. Read my article, "is solar EMP inevitable?" over there today and leave a comment!

It may be of interest for those wanting more information but the National Geographic Channel will be showing a program entitled "The Electrical Armageddon" this Saturday, October 9th at 11 am eastern time. I watched a short clip of the program of the NatGeo's website (TV listings tab). I believe it relates more to an EMP attack but some of the effects from a large solar flare will be similar. -from Molly M

Additionally, I found this long, technical (but readable) and informative article detailing the Russian 1962 aerial detonation of a nuclear weapon, and it's effect on the local technology. Keep scanning and scrolling downward. It discusses the 1989 Canadian outage and is really helpful.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Inflation fortold

2010-10-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a bit from the Rapture Ready site about inflation: "Just in the past month, cotton, sugar, wheat, oil, and rice have risen more than 12 percent. The motor oil in your garage and the Uncle Ben's in your kitchen cupboard outperformed the best traders on Wall Street."

Although I explain in my End Times? article (see the navigation bar above) that I don't believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, I think this site is pretty cool because they are looking at the news and weather, globally, to see how our present circumstance measures up with Biblical prophecy.

"The Bible warns of ramped-up inflation in the last days. The book of Revelation says a person will need to work for a whole day just to earn enough to buy a measure of grain equal to a loaf of bread... Any movement towards high inflation may indicate we are headed in that direction."

Q: What happens if massive inflation occurs not just in the US but all across the world?

A: Almost all countries are inflating their currencies and we expect to see massive worldwide inflation, although it will be much worse in the U.S. than almost anywhere else.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Water and other Essentials

2010-10-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

Here's an eye-opening article by Ferfal about Economic Preps.

I was using the search bar on Craigslist, something I do about once a week, using words like

rainwater collection
canning
dehydrator
bucket
wheat grinder/ grain mill

and whatever else I happen to think of. It's a good way to cross things off my list at a lower price.

I found a guy this way who sells barrels for water or food storage. His prices were lower than the other local guy I had bought from a few months ago. He also has 6 gallon buckets with a screw-on lid for only $4! He gives a dicount for buying more than 3 at a time, and he said he'd drop the discount but deliver it in exchange!

I was doing the math for my family of 6:

1 gal each X 6 people X one week = 42 gallons a week. Rounding up to 55 gallons means one barrel would take care of us for one week.

55 gallons X 5 weeks = 275 gallons. This is the exact capacity of the largest barrels he has for sale, at $90. So my new goal is to have 12 of these under my deck, filled with city or rain water, for at least a one-year supply of water.

I understand that these are the bare minimums. One gallon a day per person is just drinking and water for that person's cooking. In addition, two of "my people" are under 5 years old. We also have decent rainfall. There is a creek in my backyard, literally. It does dry up during droughts, when you need water the most.

Many writers urge you to rotate water supplies. I plan on running all my stored water through my Berkey anyway. Berkey suggests treating water with Clorox and then filtering it through the Berkey.

One method I like the idea of, for the kids at least, is outdoor bathing. My kids love putting on their suits and playing in the rain. I just love the idea of using a large plastic sheet to collect rainwater. Imagine how quickly you can gather water by funneling it into a rubbermaid tote for a bath! Then you can wash your hair.

The Japanese have a bath ritual that I know only the gist of. One at a time, the family member sudses down their body on a seat near the tub. They rinse with a cupful or two. Then they soak in the same tub as each other (but their bodies are clean, so no one gets the dirty grey water). You probably have heard of a similar idea when you use rationed water to wash dishes. Wash in one bin. Rinse. Use rinse water to wash the next load.

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Certainty

2010-09-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

This is what I said earlier... forget about maybe a nuclear EMP maliciously detonated above the country, the more certain problem is the real "Y2K" that is coming in 2013. The Sun's magnetic energy cycle touches its highest level in every 22 years and the number of sun spots, or flares, reach its peak every 11 years. These two events will take place together in 2013 to produce huge levels of radiation.

The National Inflation Association says that inflation, even hyperinflation, is a near-certainty in the next 5-10 years. This translates to buy commodities (not stock in commodities, but actual food and supplies) NOW, as much as you can, before prices rise daily. Read this excellent dialog explaining it clearly.

Couple the near-certain failure of the electricity grid and the simultaneous frying of all electronics, with the social and economic catastrophe of hyperinflation and you have a dismal near future if you're not prepared.

Banks will lose all records and will not know what loans they have, nor where to collect them, or have the communication skills to organize the collection of them. (this is a good thing!)
Electronic bank balances will disappear and people will be left with the money they have on them, usually paper.
Legitimate attempts to go to banks to get the contents of your security boxes will precipitate encounters with those going to merely harvest what they can find.
Anyone with preps should lay low while the initial chaos strikes those who realize that they don't have any supplies (mainly food and water; they won't realize the extent of their situation at first). Many will take what they can, many will die in the struggle.
As people realize that nothing will be produced any more (such as Tylenol, sheets, string cheese) they will go into scavange and hoard mode.

Now, as I said in my earlier post on this same topic, I am just a stay-at-home mama, prepping for all I'm worth, who doesn't know everything there is to know about astronomy, economics, or psychology of a collapse.

I'm trying to educate myself as best I can using the tools I have. I read about hyperinflation in other countries (such as Germany, Zimbabwe). Please read this dialog that makes it really easy to understand, and has some good examples from history.

I read about the effects of an EMP (solar or nuclear- same result) on computers, cars, and electricity. Seriously, what makes our society the way that it is? Electricity to run our computers and charge our iPods and iPhones. Cars to get places. Trucks to deliver computers to stores, where they sit in A/C and are sold via electronic funds transfers on an electric cash register. If all that is fried, life as we know it will have ceased.

I was fearful back in February when I learned about prepping for the first time. I felt like surely, "it" was going to happen tomorrow, before I got started, and I'd be out of luck. Now I understand the necessity of prepping as each day allows, prioritizing, and not acting out of fear, but from a position of information. That's why a solar storm in our near future makes me want to prep all the more. The zombie preppers and TEOTWAWKI preppers and doomsday primitive blacksmithing preppers suddenly seem less nuts!

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!

Collapse: a History Lesson

2010-09-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

You may have read that I used to be a Russian linguist in the Air Force... so I have an interest there. Saw this article on Jewish Preppers and thought it was well thought-out and informative. Buy commodities!

The Difference Between the Collapse of the USSR vs the USA

We're so pleased you are reading Farming Salt & Light! Choose how you live!