Book Review!

It is rare that I find small books to be engaging, but I have to tell you that Bernie Carr's book "The Prepper's Pocket Guide, 101 Easy things You Can Do To Ready Your Home For Disaster" is not just engaging, but useful, timely and should not be ignored.

Measuring only 7" x 5"x 1", this book is small enough to fit easily into a backpack, or purse. It is written in easy to manage bursts of info. Don't have a lot of time to read, but you want to make your reading teach you something? This is the book. Want to start being more prepared for whatever life might throw at you? This is your book. Bernie talks about getting started, water needs, financial readiness, health and safety, teaching kids to be ready, food supplies, readying your home, prepping with pets, bugging out, staying in, doing without toilet paper if you have to, preparing for floods, tornadoes, starting a food storage plan on $5 a week, assembling an inexpensive first aid kit and so much more, you really have to see this book!

I first found Bernie through her blog, The Apartment Prepper. For those of you who are fortunate to have homes larger than a postage stamp, let me tell you that storage in an apartment is a challenge. Bernie made it all seem possible. Before long, I was a fan of the blog. Now I'm a fan of the woman herself and her book. It is worth every cent of it's cover price, $12.95, and I don't say that about many books.

If you are just coming into the world of stocking up, if you are new to prepping, if you have a nagging feeling that you need to start shopping so you have food back-ups, if you have been prepping for years ... you need to get Bernie's book.

I can promise you you will not regret getting this book.

A brief excerpt...

"If you are unable to boil water, you can purify it with sunlight. Fill clear plastic bottles with water you have already filtered and line a sunny area with heavy duty aluminum foil. Lay the bottles down sideways on the aluminum so the shiny side of the foil can reflect sunlight. Make sure the bottles are facing toward the sun. Leave them out for six hours"

Get this book. READ this book. Doing even just a few things Bernie talks about will make a difference in your lives. You will regain personal control, personal power and it may even save your life.

Vinegar Tip Of The Day!

Ever have one of those days where you learn something and say "Huh! Imagine that!"?

Today, I did just that. Here's why.

To stop bug bites from itching, dab vinegar on the bite. Vinegar can also be used as an antiseptic for minor cuts and scrapes.

(Wonder if that stings though?)

A Suggested 72 hour Emergency Pack

Yesterday I said I would post with regards to a 72 hour kit that could be grabbed quickly if one had to evacuate their home in a hurry. Please keep in mind that everyone has their own ideas about this, and each family and each person is different. So no list, no matter where you find it or who publishes it is going to be absolutely right.

First, remember that this pack you're going to put together will be one for each person in your family. Toddlers will need slightly different things than a forty year old. An adult's pack will need to include a first aid kit, radio, and possibly medications. The toddlers kit would not have any of these things, but would have one or two small toys to keep up morale. Family pets will need to be considered as well.

In an adult's pack you'll want photocopies or electronic copies of important documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates if applicable, any health benefit plan documentation, car ownership if applicable, vaccination records, passports, landed immigrant papers if necessary, as well as a small amount of cash. Yes, you need to stash money in your emergency kit and then not touch it. Believe me when I tell you that it might make the difference between sleeping in a motel with a shower or sleeping in your car. Pre-paid phone cards are a good idea also. Consider too a small pocket sized phone book with the numbers of your family and friends that will need to know where you are.

Since no one can know exactly what set of circumstances you'll face, you need to pack with a range of possibilities in mind. You may be lucky enough to stay in a motel. You may have to sleep in your car. You may be forced to camp out for a couple of days. I would include a tarp. Not the ones you get at a dollar store, because I believe you really do get what you pay for. Aim for mid range. Go to a camping supply store and department stores, the super stores and check out what's out there. Make note of the price differences for the same size tarp, really do your homework. This tarp may be your ground-cover, your windbreak or your protection from early morning dew. Also pack a space blanket, this will reflect body heat and make you more comfortable. A rain poncho is also worth considering. This is something that should be in everyone's bag, as well as a change of clothes. Don't forget the socks!

A three day supply of food. Make sure it is something each person will eat. There's no point in packing dried pineapple if your child won't eat it or someone is allergic. If you pack things like canned tuna or ham, remember the can opener. Dried fruit leather, or fruit chips like banana or apples are light and can be compressed into a ziplock bag. Don't forget granola bars, trail mix, ready to eat meals often called MRE's, bottled water, raisins, jerky, and even gum. Put together a basic dish/utensil pack for each bag too. A simple, non breakable plate, cup, spoon, fork and knife would suffice. You can often find these in the camping section of your favorite store, or even in some discount or thrift shops. Again, do your legwork on this. I would also suggest a small folding shovel, a couple of black garbage bags (heavy duty will serve best) and a roll of jute twine. In an emergency camping situation, lengths of jute make great fire starter that can be relied on for flame more than a handful of twigs.

While we're on the topic of fire, let's not forget either wooden matches in a waterproof container, a lighter or possibly even a fire striker kit. Now, each component of this kit so far should be wrapped in either hefty bags or ziplocks. There's not much point in preparing all this without considering the possibility of your bag getting wet. Also worth getting, a small radio that either has fresh batteries or can be wound for power. There's some great ones out there that won't break your budget, but again, it requires some footwork to find them. Some folks have suggested a roll of duct tape, since it has so many uses. I think this is a good idea.

First aid supplies. A basic first aid kit, and each persons toiletries are also important. A roll of toilet paper can be squashed down to make room, and should be packed in a ziplock bag. Ever tried to use damp t.p? Any medications, inhalers, epi-pens or allergy medications should also be included. Non-scented soap, hand sanitizer, a small towel, a brush or comb, toothbrush and small tube of toothpaste. The travel size of these items will work fine, and will save on space in the pack. A bottle of pain reliever will come in handy as well, and don't forget some for the kids if you have children too small for adult dosages.

Last but not least, a book or deck of cards should also find a home in the pack. A big part of staying sane in a crisis is keeping yourself together. I know from experience that kids can ride out an emergency better if the adults are staying calm. It's more important than you think.

Next time, we'll talk about emergency packs for the furry members of your family.

It Can Happen Here Too

These days, I shake my head at the sheer number of natural disasters that seem to hit the world every week. Earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, mudslides, drought, famine, and the list goes on. I am not a biblical person, but even I see that something is happening. Preppers talk about when TSHTF, to break it down, when the s*** hits the fan, and I cannot help but wonder if it's hitting it now.
I do not consider myself an extremist, or an alarmist, but as much as I hate paying attention to the news for it's depression factor, one really can't avoid it these days. Our planet is going through massive changes, and we are simply in the way. Some of those changes, we as a people helped hurry along, like the depletion of the ozone layer, global warming and species extinction. Up here in Canada, we get a glut of news from across the border, and many of my countrymen/women seem to have adopted a "won't happen here" attitude. This according to a 2010 poll conducted by Phoenix SPI. 31% of people polled last year seem to think a basic 72 hr emergency kit is unnecessary, and 27% in 2009, 27% in 2008, 24% in 2007, and 16% in 2005.
I'm not sure why these numbers are climbing.
Saturday, Nov 10, 1979 more than 200,000 people, including my family, were evacuated from their homes in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. A train had derailed due to improper lubrication of a bearing, spewing styrene, toluene, propane, caustic soda, and chlorine into the air. Thankfully, no one died. (But I clearly remember my mother going back into our apartment to get our dog.) The city was all but abandoned and only reopened properly on November 16th. To date, this evacuation is the second largest, after the evacuation of new Orleans; after devastating Hurricane Katrina.
There have been a rash of earthquakes off the shores of British Columbia, even in the past month. Quebec had a quake of 3.6 magnitude on the 27th of August. An earthquake of 3.5 magnitude was felt 46 KM southeast of Cornwall, Ontario on August 24th of this year. I could go on, but suffice to say that we here in Canada have more quakes than you might think, and these are at least felt even if no damage is done. Naturally, British Columbia has far, far more than we here in the east do. This spring brought extreme and sever flooding to our western provinces, and a severe drought came to Southern Ontario this summer; effectively throwing food production and food prices into the collective crapper.

We're also "lucky" enough to have our own "tornado alley", which covers the British Columbia interior, the Province of Alberta, Southern Saskatchewan through southern Manitoba to Thunder Bay, Ontario, Southern Ontario, Southeastern Quebec, and Western New Brunswick. According to Environment Canada, we get an average of 80 tornadoes a year. The deadliest Canadian tornado was an F4, in Regina, Saskatchewan, killed 28 people, and injured hundreds on July 30th, 1912. It had a funnel three blocks wide and demolished the downtown core of Regina. Now I don't know what business might have been impacted back then, but I know if that were happen today, Regina would have serious food shortages and a much higher fatality rate. Fires happen so often across the country that most of them aren't even covered in the media. The most recent one that caused a mass evacuation was on Sunday, May 15, 2011 and over 7000 people ran for their lives. The local police clearly experienced some confusion after they ordered an evacuation and then closed roads for safety reasons. The only fatality was a helicopter pilot as he did his best to help battle the fire in the community. The fire destroyed roughly 2/3 of the town, 374 properties were destroyed and 52 were damaged. The town hall and the library were completely gutted.

My point in all of these examples is that disaster can happen anywhere, anytime. No matter what country you live in, no matter how rural or urban. It is our responsibility to do the best we can to assess the likelihood of a catastrophic event in our area and prepare. How to do that is a complex, personal and very involved answer.
Tomorrow, I'll share some ideas for a basic 72 hour pack for each member of your family, (furry ones too!) that you can grab quickly if you need to evacuate in a hurry.

Modify and Adapt

It's hard to watch, or read, the news these days and not accept the fact that our world is changing. Politically, environmentally, economically and socially. The price of food is rising while the quality slides into uselessness and mega-companies take over more and more control over what we eat, shop for and how it's produced. Wages are either locked, clawed back or stagnating, depending on where you live. There are very few benefits for anyone who works hard, and many days it seems as if it's every man, woman and child for themselves. Indeed, we're seeing a rise of the 'latch-key-kid' again as parents work two and sometimes three jobs to avoid drowning in debt.
My partner has a saying that I've adopted and work to the death.
"Modify and adapt"

We do. I've written here before about making do for ourselves. The way we do laundry has changed, the way we cook, what we cook, how we shop, how we cool our apartment, and on and on. I've written too about doing more for ourselves so that we are not reliant on others, and I've given examples of how we walk the talk, so to speak.
So I was stunned to learn that in some places it's illegal to stockpile, or grow your own food or even keep a few chickens!
Holy Habaneros!
There's a woman in the States, Texas I think, that was sued for replacing her lawn with a vegetable garden. In the end, she won her case, but still...I cannot imagine living in a neighborhood that would presume to tell me how I can live! (One good thing about living in Ontario) Although the region we live in is still trying to decide if they want to allow folks to keep chickens... At least I have the option to grow my own vegetables, herbs and fruit! I don't get enough sun to do that...but I have the option.
So how do we survive these ever changing times? Well, keep our heads down as much as possible. If you stockpile and you're worried that your government or your neighbors are going to knock on your door with either guns or hands out...don't publicize it. I watch a lot of YouTube videos in which this prepper or that will talk about OpSec (operational security) and then make themselves easy to find with a business website found by Google in 3 seconds! If you are concerned about a diminishing market for local beef, then buy your beef locally. Ask at your "local" health food store if they know of any beef producers that are looking for customers. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised. If you worry that Monsanto will come knocking on your door inquiring about your large field of corn, don't advertise that you save your own seed. keep your heads down.

If the price of bread irritates you to no end, as it does me, learn to make your own, either by bread machine or the old way. If the presence of chemicals in your jam worries you, visit your local farmer's market and learn how to preserve the bounty. Tired of paying good money for two Big Macs? Learn how to make burgers at home. You'll save money and might even discover that a burger can have taste. (I'll refrain from going on about growth hormones, antibiotics and other surprises in our meat here, and save that for another post)
We can do more to change our daily lives than what you think, but it does require thought, creativity and commitment.
Change what you do, how you think about the world around you, vote responsibly and pay attention to the news.
Because if we don't pay attention, modify and adapt, we'll wake up one morning to find life as we know it very, very different.

Homesteading Factoids

Did you know...?

The Homestead Act was passed in 1862 and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. Its purpose was to encourage the settlement of government lands by offering homesteads at a nominal price. Laws had been passed prior to 1862 to support homesteading, but none had been effective.

The Homestead Act granted a citizen land after three steps. He first had to submit an application. If cleared, he had to live on the land for five years and build a dwelling. Finally, he would file for a deed.

On January 1, 1863, Daniel Freeman, a Union Army scout, was scheduled to leave Gage County, Nebraska Territory, to report for duty in St. Louis. At a New Year's Eve party the night before, Freeman met some local Land Office officials and convinced a clerk to open the office shortly after midnight in order to file a land claim. In doing so, Freeman became one of the first to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Homestead Act.

Six months after the Homestead Act was passed, the Railroad Act was signed, and by May 1869, a transcontinental railroad stretched across the frontier. The new railroads provided easy transportation for homesteaders, and new immigrants were lured westward by railroad companies eager to sell off excess land at inflated prices. The new rail lines provided ready access to manufactured goods and catalog houses like Montgomery Ward offered farm tools, barbed wire, linens, weapons, and even houses delivered via the rails.

In 1936, the Department of the Interior recognized Freeman as the first claimant and established the Homestead National Monument, near a school built in 1872, on his homestead near Beatrice, Nebraska. Today, the monument is administered by the National Park Service, and the site commemorates the changes to the land and the nation brought about by the Homestead Act of 1862. By 1934, over 1.6 million homestead applications were processed and more than 270 million acres—10 percent of all U.S. lands—passed into the hands of individuals. The passage of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 repealed the Homestead Act in the 48 contiguous states, but it did grant a ten-year extension on claims in Alaska.

Changing The Soil Of The Province

As an apartment renter, I'm lucky to live on the ground floor. As a dog owner, I'm a little concerned about the lack of grass around the trees. Now, it's not just our dogs that use the trees, every dog in the neighborhood uses these trees too, we're on the way to a large field. I've been concerned for some time about soil health, and with all all that urine hitting the soil, I've started wondering what I can plant there that might have a fighting chance.
Clover would help rebuild the already horrible soil. Grass seed would be better than nothing, but "regular" grass seedlings might all die back again next summer. Maybe a mulch of wood chips, but then that doesn't help rebuild the soil, it would just cover up the bare spots. So buying a mixed grass seed high in fescues or rye grass would be better I'm thinking. We also have a worn spot that leads from the sidewalk to our patio door, so a small bag of the aforementioned grass seed is needed in a couple of spots. I know that we're not responsible to fix these spots, but I feel guilty because the trail from the sidewalk to our door, and the bald spot in front of our patio door is our fault. Our soil here is nutrient empty and only occasionally sees a worm, so I'm thinking anything I can do to help is going to be a good thing.

I can hear you wondering just how I plan to do this....

I am going to haunt my local hardware store and my favorite local seed company to see what choices I have. I'll open up my compost bucket and see how things are cooking and if it's a t a state that I can use it soon, I'll develop a reseeding plan that includes new soil, compost and grass seed.

I feel a little like Johnny Appleseed...only with soil. Changing the soil of the province, one address at a time.

Preparing For The Worst While Hoping For The Best

I have a favorite saying, "Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it"
To this end, I suggest tweaking your shopping habits just a little. Now, those of you who know me, know how much I hate to shop, but I've had to come to terms with it lately if I want to see what's out there. There are sales out there (and I shudder to say this) that are actually very worth while. A case of 24 bottles of water for $2, tuna cans for $1.29 or less (a sale for us), or heavy freezer bags for...you see my point. When shopping for canned goods, let one become two, and two become three. In other words, whatever number of , say, canned peas you normally get for your family...let's use a nice round number like 4, get 5 instead. If you find peanut butter on sale, get one, even if you don't need it this week. If your family eats beans, green, yellow, lentil or whatever, get one more than you normally would. This line of thinking can be applied to a few items each week, or month, whenever you do your family's shopping. We recently spotted a large jar of Kraft peanut butter on sale for $2, and we wasted no time in getting one, even though we still had some at home.
So why are we doing this?
Because the economy sucks and grocery prices are rising and grocery stores typically only stock three days worth of food.
Anything can happen. In the winter, blizzards would be an obvious risk. Here, I am the only formal income earner, what if I were to fall off the ladder and break my leg? I'm off work for a few weeks with no income. It'll be nice to have that supply of food.
What if you discovered a friend or family member ran into a tight spot and needed a couple days worth of food to tide them over? If you had extra, you could help them out without taking food out of your kid's mouths.
Recently it occurred to me that we've been buying extra food for us, but not our dogs! Prepping for ourselves is all well and good, but we can't forget the furry members of our family either!

Part of this mindset that will bring a little more peace of mind is skills. Can you make bread? Can you bake sweets? Can you fish and clean what you catch? (I have to work on that last item, it's been years for me) Bread and sweets is a great morale booster. Knowing where and how to fish is a simple way of acquiring meat for your family without going Rambo in the woods chasing down Bambi's mother. I have nothing against hunting, or venison (I adore a good, tender venison steak) but if I am faced with not being able to afford meat for my family, then I'm going fishing. Simply because it's easier, cheaper and less complicated than hunting. Especially because, for now, I still live in a city.
Herbs too will prove to be a morale and health booster.
With the prices of manufactured vitamins these days, for some families, it comes down to 'do we buy a chicken this week, or multi-vitamins that will expire before we finish the bottle?' So learn how to forage for the basics, and learn how to use them.
Dandelion, stinging nettle, willow, rose hip....and if you have a picky eater in the family like we do, learn to get creative. We need vitamins more in the winter, because we tend to eat less fruit, so when you make soup or stew, slip in a dandelion leaf and then take it out before serving. (It makes compost even better for those of you that have composters). Your family will never know that they are eating something filled with vitamins and minerals, but you'll have the peace of mind of knowing they're probably going to be healthier than the family down the street.

These two points are very, very basic, but very, very necessary. Just think about what I've suggested. If I can do these things on my less than shoestring budget, you can too.
Just start small and don't get overwhelmed.

I welcome comments and suggestions

Now That I Know What I Have To Work With...

First off, let me apologize for a lack of postings; my partner and I went away for a week to see my folks in Northern Ontario. It was to be a kind of working vacation; research, re-con and networking. Let me explain...

We have made plans to move to Northern Ontario in order to help my folks out. This will involve not only help around the house, preserving and baking, but also getting back to a better sense of being self-sufficient. My parents are getting up there in age and health issues seem to be getting the best of them. So they are offering us an out (of the city that is) and we're going to help them out where we can. A part of that is food production, specifically, gardening. We're not in a position to have chickens. My mother had them years ago, but as I've said, health issues and the rising cost of feed phased out the chickens. We will at some point, but likely not in the next 2 years. The gardening will fall to me, no problem there, it's what I enjoy. So while I was up north, I took a good, days-long look at the yard. A decade ago or more, I had a garden there. it was not wonderful, but we grew enough to put some food up. Now though, it is a rutted mass of gravel, weeds, sucker trees and ferns. The surrounding bush is trying very hard to take over the yard, and succeeding with tag alders, wild raspberry canes, goldenrod and a rampant unknown vine. Did I mention it's mostly gravel? So the challenge, as I see it, is a multi-layered one. First, clear back the bush. We, my partner and I, started that this week. I knew in advance that the composter had stopped "cooking", so I took the lid off, not knowing what to expect. The problem had a relatively simple fix; cut the waste into smaller pieces and feed it more regularly. Which was easy while I was there, but I'm not sure the aforementioned health issues are going to allow that composter to be tended as it should, so it may very well stop for now.

I have plans to not only ramp up the composter but also to plant green cover crops, clover and legumes specifically. My folks make clover honey, so the blossoms will be useful to them as well as helping me make the soil a little more fertile. There are some folks nearby who have chickens, so I'm hopeful they'll let me have a few buckets of chicken manure. It's going to be a long time before the soil is dark and crumbly, I know, but I also know that every year will produce better yields. Another thing I'm learning about now is permaculture, which I've blogged about here before. The land has been left to fend for itself, so any positive attention will have benefits. I have lists of what all of us would like to eat, and as I go, I'm planning how to best grow those things in the circumstances I have been given. I know the best place to plant a pumpkin is the compost pile. But since it's still cooking, I can't plant the pumpkin seed there. So I turn to what I do have, and what I can do next year to get pumpkins. I know they won't be the biggest, or sweetest, but they will be more than what we had last year. Which was none. I'd like to grow a variety of tomatoes, peas, beans, peppers, berries, lettuce, carrots, a wide variety of herbs, collards, potatoes, corn, radishes, beets, turnips...and in a couple of years I'd even like to try growing wheat. Now before you tell me I can't, I say, why not? No, I will not be growing enough to avoid buying flour for the entire year. The point of growing things like potatoes and wheat and corn is not to save us money. It is to prove I can, to show the kids where their food comes from, for the good of the land, so that I can build up a store of these things in case the road washes out again, or ever-spiking food prices. (Our milk just went up to $6.00 for a bag of 4 liters!) I would like to grow my own potato sets, my own corn seed and even make a loaf of bread with non bleached wheat. I want to grow as much of our own food as I can for all of those reasons and more. Not the least of which is because I know I can do it. I just have to remember to not expect miracles in one season.

An enjoyable challenge has been trying to decide where to start once the trees are under control. A good neighbor has offered to go over and till the garden for us in the spring, even though we won't be there till the summer is mostly over. I have plans to plant legumes, clover likely. It will grow enough that I can get the green I need, and Mom will have the blossoms for honey. When the end of summer comes, I'll hand till it all under and let it all break down over the winter. This is the quickest way to put some organic matter back, and the nitrogen is sorely needed. I'll be building raised beds so my mother won't have to bend over, sawhorses, cold frames, a large cabinet style solar dehydrator, square foot beds and planning irrigation for the next year. Also in the list of to-do is water collection and storage, even though a river is only minutes away, as is a creek on the other side. So I suppose I'll need to learn how to install gutters, clean out a rain barrel and make another. I also need to learn as much as I can about the well and pump to rectify the crummy water pressure.

Lots to plan and do, but I have to admit, I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Beating the Cost of Clean Laundry

Anyone who wears clothes will produce laundry. Cleaning laundry is getting expensive, and I hate paying $7 for laundry soap and $2 for dryer sheets and another $3 for softener, but I'm not willing to go naked either! My solution? Offset the cost of doing laundry by making my own laundry soap! Because I am in an apartment, with a laundromat nearby, and have no washing machine of my own, and no clothes line...I'm stuck with what I have, so, let's make the best of it.
The Apartment Prepper offers this recipe:
* 1 bar bath soap such as Ivory or Zote, or anything comparable in your area. (I've used Zote myself, and I was happy with it)
* 1 cup Arm & hammer Washing Soda
* 1 cup borax
* bowl
* plastic container

"Grate the bar of soap with a cheese grater and place it in the bowl. Add the borax and Arm & Hammer Washing Soda. Mix well. Store in a plastic container and label it. Keep it out of children's reach. To use, measure one tablespoon of homemade detergent per load, or two for heavily soiled loads."

We've used a recipe very similar to this (I didn't know about the Apartment Prepper then), and we were happy with it. Lately, I've taken to washing some of our laundry in a non-food grade bucket. Shirts, underwear and socks have all been getting washed at home. In this way, we save laundry funds for those items that are more difficult to wash and wring out by myself, towels, jeans, sheets, quilts and dog blankets. So in goes the homemade laundry detergent, mix well to dissolve. put in the laundry items. I have a plunger that was purchased JUST for laundry, and I'll plunge, twist and mash down the laundry in the bucket, imitating the action of the washing machine. The advantage here is that I use only enough water to cover the clothes, saving on water. Great for those on a well or who have to pay for water. i do this for a while, moving the soapy solution through the clothes, agitating the dirt out until my arms get sore. If certain pieces of clothing needed extra stain fighting power (I love Spray & Wash for this), they've already been treated and they go into the bucket now. More plunging for awhile, then I rinse, repeatedly. Nothing is itchier than undies with soap residue! when the laundry is well rinsed, I wrong it out. Shirts and dish towels and pillowcases go out on the patio over my little accordion style clothes dryer to dry in the little sun that we get. (They smell better for this) and the socks and undies go up in the dryer. Too much work you say? Some days, I would agree, but for the most part, I am getting cleaner laundry, saving and prioritizing my laundry budget AND giving my upper body a workout too!
For those of you who have to use liquid detergent in a laundromat, I offer the following vid from WellnessMama.
Take control of your laundry budget folks!

Suburban Prepping...Or Saving a Buck

The Apartment Prepper is the blog perfectly suited to those of us in small apartments who are trying to change our lives. For those of you who may not know, "prepping" is a term that simply means preparing for...well, anything. Financial collapse, hurricane, floods, fires, sudden unemployment, sickness, sudden food or water contamination, power interruption, anything that might change our daily lives in a dramatic way. The Apartment Prepper, gem that she is, has written a wonderful book "The Prepper's Pocket Guide:101 Easy Things You Can Do To Ready Your Home For A Disaster" The book is not a massive tome, so it fits easily in a bag or briefcase for that commute into work. It's broken up into manageable sections and chock full of great ideas that anyone can achieve, so there's no need for 'prepper envy'. I love the idea of storing drinking water in sterilized 2 L pop bottles. Easy and totally do-able. Before you think we've gone all strange on you, think about your own area and how many times you may have been under a boil water advisory. With water stored, this event won't be a big deal. If your city has ever sent around notices warning of work being done on the water mains, it's no biggie if you have drinkable water stored. But, storing water isn't the point of today's post. Suggestion #32 in The Prepper's Pocket Guide is.

Simply, "learn basic cooking skills"

Now, even if you aren't a prepper, hear me out. Basic cooking skills are getting harder to find in most folks. I know people that would burn water, teenagers that have no idea how to cook anything other than a pop tart in a microwave. We're not talking about making a roux, or learning how to make eggs benedict, just ordinary cooking skills. Knowing how to make your own potato chips if the store is closed, or looted, or just didn't get their delivery when YOU want chips. Knowing how to make a burger, from scratch. (Just imagine the envy around the barbeque next company picnic!) For those of us trying to make our income stretch, this is a good idea too. Figure out what a box of Hamburger Helper costs where you live. Now, break that down into basic components. Meat, noodles of some type, flavoring and thickener. All of this is attainable. You can put any kind of meat you want in there, even more than one kind if you want! You can also control the fat content if that's important. Substitute ground turkey for beef, or consider adding sausage to beef if you're looking for added flavor. Herbs are easy, depending on the flavor you're aiming for. An Italian-type dish would have oregano, thyme, perhaps a bit of rosemary, and garlic. A Mexican style dish would have paprika, cilantro, chili or even cumin. Noodles of any type can be purchased in bulk, as can thickeners if you need them. Browse your local yellow pages for a bulk food or dried goods store, you may be happily surprised. The more you can buy in bulk, that you realistically have room for, the more money you save, while being less dependent on someone else to feed you. Do you work all week, or possibly work weird hours and don't feel like cooking when you get home? Have teenagers in the house and slightly concerned about what they eat? Want to insure that your family have something good to feed themselves in case you get ill or have to leave on a business trip? Easy, make meals ahead and freeze them. Let the family know the dishes are there and make sure they understand how to properly warm them (think latch-key kids here or teenagers).

Go to your local library and look for books that teach beginners how to cook. (We love Rachael Ray) Teach yourself how to cook if you don't know how, or teach those teenagers, or tweens, or husbands how to cook by having them help you while you make basic recipes. If you don't have a library card, get one, they're invaluable when you haven't got enough of a budget for entertainment. Scour the web for interesting recipes. What originally got me cooking years ago was a love of Mexican food. I don't do it as often as I used to, but it's on my list of things to pick up again. Perhaps there's a member of your family that is a really good cook? Ask them to teach you how. You may develop an interesting relationship while you learn a skill! Are there cooking classes in your neighborhood? Usually community colleges offer "continued learning" classes for a small fee, and the most popular classes usually revolve around food.

Learning how to cook can provide us with benefits many of us don't even consider. From a prepping point of view, it is security and control. From another view, it helps us save money and provides an opportunity to teach and share with family, or even learn and share.

Frustration and A Lack of Tomatoes

I confess, I'm getting a little disheartened. While the pepper plant is beginning to flower, and that shows a lot of promise, I am continually thwarted by pea plants that will not flower. The squirrels ate the carrots, and while the tomatoes are growing tall and very green, there are no signs of flowers on them. In contrast, a good friend has tomato plants that she has already gotten fruit off of. I'm sure the difference is the amount of sun. We get hardly any.

So I've been wrestling a lot lately with the question, do I bother trying veggies at all after these are gone? Or do I continue to scour Cambridge for another grow light and try lettuce, peas and carrots inside? Should I get another bag of soil and try sweet potatoes? (I know I can bring those inside once they're started in a bucket)

I want so badly to make this work, but it's hard not to get frustrated. Thing is, there's nothing I can do about the light we get. I think I just need to give myself a slap in the back of the head, a Gibbs-smack as it were and carry on.

More tomorrow, when I have soil and manure. If nothing else, I'll give you an update on the urban bucket compost situation.

Homemade Ketchup Video

Running out of time this morning before work, but I wanted to share.

Enjoy and be inspired! Make something for yourselves today!

First Foraging Success of 2011

We went for a brief stroll today, just a jaunt before I had to go to work, and came away with all the berries you see to the left, as well as the promise of some very good grapes later in the season!

Ten Rules For the Self Sufficient Garden

Yesterday I picked up my second favorite magazine, "BackHome Magazine" and in it is an article that's really got me thinking. Without re-copying it word for word, I'll give you the gist of it and my thoughts.

(By the way, the video I promised has to wait until I can get some soil and time, but it IS coming, I promise)

Rule #1: Plant what you eat.

I'm planning on doing just that, but it has to wait until we get up north, because the only thing growing here with any great success is the herbs. (I doubt we'll get any tomatoes, but the apple tree is going gangbusters!) Our plans include growing apples, radishes, carrots, mesclun, cucumbers, cabbage, rye if I can get it to grow, potatoes, peas, broccoli, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, chives, peppers, tobacco, rhubarb, sweetgrass and sage, among others.

Rule #2: Plant what you can reliably grow under adverse conditions.

Key phrase here, "what you can reliably grow". well, that remains to be seen considering I'm not sure yet how bad the soil is up there.

Rule #3: Diversify

I think the above list shows a pretty wide diversification.

Rule #4: Preservation

We have extensive plans for preservation. Dehydrating, freezing, canning, powders (more about that later). I'd love a root cellar, but I don't think Mom & Dad would like it much.

Rule #5: Plant more than you think you'll need

With 6 or 7 mouths (depending on whether the Eldest Child moves with us) to feed, exactly how many pounds of potatoes does that work out to? How many tomatoes plants does that translate to? If I'm the only one who likes radishes, should I even bother? What about the aforementioned rye? Surely there must be some kind of chart on the web to answer these questions?

Rule #6: Save your own seed

It's one thing I'm trying to learn about now, while I still have all this time to read. I have at least learned how to save tomato seed successfully. I have visions of jars and envelopes lined up in the freeze, labelled carefully and waiting for soil.

Rule #7: Don't forget the specialty items.

For me, that means tobacco, sweetgrass and sage. These will be grown for spiritual reasons, for gifts and out of respect for the Native teachings we follow.

Rule #8: Stay organic

Because I have a sensitivity to pesticides, organic was my goal all the way along. I think I'm facing poor soil, so I've been learning all I can about green manure crops, compost and egg shells and coffee grounds in the soil, as well as the benefits of biochar. It also means I'll have to learn to distinguish between good bugs and bad. I know what a Colorado Potato Beetle looks like, and the Ladybug. But I've never seen a caterpillar with wasp eggs dotting it's back. Wonder if Chapters bookstore has a book on beneficial bugs?

Rule #9: Don't try to do it all in the first year.

That will be the tough part for me. I already have plans for a solar dehydrator, a solar oven and maybe even a cob oven, a mini greenhouse and a hoop house.

Rule #10: Time is your friend, not your enemy.

It takes time to learn some of the things that I want to learn, it's going to take time to improve that soil, time to build the preserve supply, the seed bank I want, and time to settle into home once more.

It's going to be a long year of waiting.

Sweet Potatoes, Lettuce and Squirrels. Again.

I was cruising YouTube late last night when I came a cross a video in which a fella had started an indoor garden. Okay, not surprising you say, a lot of folks have done that. What caught my attention though is that he had melons growing. He had already gotten a crop of lettuce, and that got me energized to try again. So after long discussions with the best partner on the planet, I've decided to suck up my frustration and disappointment and try again. So tomorrow I'll be starting two buckets of sweet potatoes, rigged to keep out the squirrels, we'll be starting lettuce inside again, and carrots too.

I am still on the hunt for a grow-bulb to augment the one we already have, and I figure all I need to get is a couple of bags of potting soil and a bag of zoo poo.

I will get my helper to take pictures tomorrow as we go and provide regular updates as the tubers grow.

Squirrel Thighs With Toasted Pine Nuts!

There's nothing like a reality check to bring a gardener down.

<----- That is what my carrots were supposed to look like.

There is nothing to show you now, the squirrels ate them. I went to work the day after my last post, pleased with how the plants were growing, and came home to an empty carrot planter.

I have spent the days since grinding my teeth at those little black-furred varmints. And coming up with squirrel dishes. Even at work yesterday I would randomly blurt out recipes to my boss, who knows why I'm resorting to such stress management tools. Squirrel stew, beer battered squirrel with home fried potatoes, squirrel and mushroom pie, squirrel hagis? (That one made even the Scottish boss turn a little green) My favorite was squirrel thighs in a pita with a side of toasted pine nuts. Ironic and fitting.

But now the question is, do I replant, and bring them inside when the weather turns nippy, or give up on carrots?

How My Breakfast Feeds My Plants

Is it silly to be happy I got 2.5 cups of rainwater the other night?
This morning i have top dressed my tomato plants with a mixture of coffee grounds and crushed eggshells, and then watered it in with rainwater.
For me, this is big. The less water I have to use from the tap, the happier I am. Every ounce, every spoonful of extra TLC I can give my plants, the happier I am. So this one small act this morning made me feel that much closer to my plants, and my food.
The egg shells will boost the calcium in the soil, and help the tomatoes fight off end blossom rot, and the coffee grounds will help bring nitrogen. It seems likely these plants will never see my home-made compost, so any organic additive I can give them is good.

This year is all about learning and experimenting, and every time I do something like this, I feel a little closer to my goal.

The First "Wild" Onion of 2011

We visited an abandoned farm today that we've been keeping an eye on, since there's a few edibles there. I went only to check on the state of things after the rain, and in order to see how things were growing I pulled one up. Even though I'm a writer, I find it hard to express how it felt to be standing there with a dirty hand holding a gift from Mother Nature and the property's former owner. It was as if I heard a small voice whispering to my heart, 'There? See? THAT'S what your hands are meant to do!' I swear, I felt a piece of the universe fall into place. Here's the video.

Permaculture, Part 2

Produce No Waste:

By valuing and making use of all the resources available to us, nothing goes to waste.

On the land, on the farm, this is easy to understand. The animals consume and return to the eco-system in the form of their young, fiber, eggs, milk or meat. Along the way, their "waste" is composted and used to improve the soil. The compost enriches the fields and the crops enjoy heavier, healthier yields, to be consumed by both human and animal; once again coming full circle.

But in the city, this concept of "produce no waste" is a little more complex. We recycle. Magazines, newspapers, glass, plastic, office waste (including computers and assorted electronics), we can re-direct our rainwater, garden waste and kitchen trimmings are composted. Even urine can be used! Free nitrogen, anyone? I know of one heroic soul who doesn't use toilet paper. Now THAT'S reducing your waste!

So how do we reduce our waste even more? One idea is to pay attention to packaging. A friend and I had a discussion about this one day. She told me they were putting fewer bags out at the curb. Ever since, I've been wondering how my own family could produce less waste. We drink quite a bit of Coca-Cola, but much less now than we used to. I wonder which packaging harms the environment less, plastic bottles, or cans? Anyone know? We re-use our grocery bags (we have dogs), we use our backpacks when shopping and if we need more room than those provide, we always have 4 or 5 cloth bags with us. I have a few travel mugs to help me be a more responsible coffee drinker. But that begs the question...What do we do with the travel mugs when they are no longer usable? I have cups that leak and need replacing, are they recyclable? (Kudos to Tim Hortons for the .10 cent discount if you come in with any travel mug. Theirs or anyone elses) Even when we sit in, I use china mugs to go easy on the landfills.

I'm proud to say we compost, even though we live in an apartment. I get food grade buckets from Tim Hortons, so it was relatively easy to convert one into a compost tumbler. All one needs to do is drill a few holes in the bucket large enough for air to get in but small enough to keep stuff in and critters out. It's an interesting dance of 3 parts green matter to 1 part brown. Too much green and the compost-in-the-making will stink. Too much brown matter and it won't "cook", as I found out a few weeks ago. For those of you unfamiliar with composting, "green matter" is things like vegetable ends, peelings, cores, coffee grounds, tea bags and even the water the veggies are cooked in. My cold coffee goes in too unless I remember to water the tree with it. "Brown matter" in our neighborhood is the hay bale someone dumped down the road, last year's corn husks and leaves from the path beside the corn field. I make sure the composter lid is on tight and flip the bucket around a few times, roll it around a bit and take a peek to make sure it mixed thoroughly. yes, it's more work than just tossing it all out, but I know I'm giving back to the Earth. In the end, I'll have the greatest soil I've ever had, full of micro-nutrients that will give me happy plants and I'll know that I did my part to NOT clutter up our planet.

So enough from me, now it's your turn. What do you do to minimize waste?