How to sterilize your soil/compost;

Place soil in an oven roasting bag (like those turkey bags you see at the store). Add a bit of water (dampened) and tie off the bag. Place the bag on a cookie sheet and poke a hole for a meat thermometer. Heat oven to 200F. Bake soil until the dirt temp reaches 160-170F. (if soil reads higher, reduce your oven heat). Bake for 30 minutes. Remove and cool completely before using.

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Preparedness on Iron Horse Back

Aw the feel of sweet clover or alfalfa filled air rushing at your face the cool air from cattle ponds and creeks making the experience even more enjoyable. Oh but wait, are those thousands of needles pricking at my skin?

Many of us drive cages, and some of us are on two wheels. As a motorcycle "enthusiasts" there are a few things we can do to be prepared.

Most know that leathers are wonderful to have in storms. Helmets help in the freezing cold, and you should have a small flare around somewhere. Simple, but what if your ol' lady starts smacking your back as you are doing 90, I mean the speed limit, trying to get you to pull over because she just heard that SHTF over her headphones? Or if you pull in a small town to get gas, and the entire village is there gossiping, and taking all the gas available?

Time to get your riding boots firmly planted to the ground, and think what to do before it happens.

Saddlebags, if you don't have any, I suggest getting even a small pack.

Your motorcycle emergency (prep) kit should include (if you can fit it all wonderful, if not pare down to what you need the most. Make sure all items are compact in size)

a canteen
basic wrenching tools (mechanic)
a tarp and rope, if not a pup tent
Small first aid kit
prepaid calling cards( phone booths tend to come back quicker then cells)
zip ties
A hip knife
A utility tool
Duct tape
A compass with magnifying glass
wind-up (no batteries) radio/flashlight/signal beacon
A flint and steel
Matches
Cloth (usually a hand towel or other)
Space blanket
A GPS or paper maps
A cell phone
and your ICE tag (In Case of Emergency Contact numbers)

Now motorcycles can go where other vehicles can't, you might want to include a tire patch kit just in case a little off roading is necessary. Remember to keep a cool head, and always know where you are, and where you should be going.

And I know a great little shop that can help you with some of these needs, as well as an awesome mechanic that can prep your bike for the long haul. In fact the mechanic for Broadway Street Bikes, is a Prepper.

A Simple List of Preservation Tools

Preserving your harvest involves many tools. Canning your harvest is the most common way around here. You need to have a large pot to either cook and mix sauces, or to blanch (if the canning recipe calls for it). You will need several large wooden spoons and different sized rubber spatulas (or scrappers). Possibly coffee filters for draining. A funnel, strainer, and a jar lifter, as well as a kitchen towels. Jars and lids are a must! So is a very good knife.

You will also need to have a food mill, a hot water bath boiler,

a pressure canner {remember you can have the pressure tested at your local extension office, usually free.}


You need the proper ingredients for your recipe, and instructions if you don't know it by heart.

For freezing, you need the blanching pot, waxed paper, a freezer, and jars for storage.

Drying can use different methods, so different tools are called for. The first one is your smaller herbs. A paper sack or an envelope can be used to hold your herbs as you clothes pin them to a rope in a dry airy place.

Your onions, need to be laid out in the sun and cured for a while before braided and stored. Braiding tools needed are scissors, string and instructions. I lay mine out on an old bed sheet.

Jerky and larger veggies that you want to dry, need either a dehydrator (good for fruit leathers} a Box fan and Cotton heater filters, and a window, or an oven. Drying out tomatoes need those items and for sun dried you need cheese cloth.

I do not salt cure, or smoke cure yet.

Feel free to add anything that you use.

Is your water safe to drink?

In the 1840's Great Britain had a Cholera outbreak, and in the 1970's Bangladesh dealt with arsenic poisoning.

In the US, there are reports of 5 Cholera cases per year, and 400 reports of typhiod. In 2000 25 States reported unhealthy levels of arsenic in the drinking water, as many as 56 million people are drinking that water. In 1997 the City of Cheney ranked number 35 of the highest arsenic levels in the US, finding 65.1 ppb. The EPA says that 10 ppb is the highest level you can have and still be safe.

The most comon types of poisions in your drinking water are as follows;

• Arsenic -- The most common source of arsenic contamination in [ground water]] is the mobilization of naturally occurring arsenic on sediments.
• Lead --The only way to know whether your tap water contains lead is to have it tested. You cannot see, taste, or smell lead in drinking water.
• Fluoride --The weathering of primary rocks and leaching of fluoride-containing minerals in soils yield fluoride rich groundwater in India which is generally associated with low calcium content and high bicarbonate ions.
• Toxins --Road salt, toxic substances from mining sites, and used motor oil also may seep into groundwater. In addition, it is possible for untreated waste from septic tanks and toxic chemicals from underground storage tanks to contaminate groundwater.
• Heavy metal -- Years of mining for heavy metals has resulted in abandoned mines that are a source of ground- and surface-water contamination in many areas.
• Pesticide -- Pesticide water contamination occurs through Non-degraded pesticides migrating to groundwater. 95 percent of the rural population world over relies on ground water to meet their drinking water need.
• Antibiotics -Antibiotics are widely used in human and veterinary medicines for disease treatment. They are also largely used in animal operations for growth promotion and for disease prophylaxis. They are often partially metabolized after administration and a significant portion of the antibiotic can be excreted

You can find a list of Water borne diseass at the CDC website, here>>>

In an emergency you can purify your water by boiling it for 3-5 minutes. This will kill of the micro organisms, but not so anything to the heavy metals. You can also add a bit of bleach to your water, allow it to stand 30 minutes. This too will kill the micro organism but does nothing to your heavy metal problems. Even pouring the water into a clear bottle, capping it and sticking it into the sun for 6 hours will help kill off the micro organisms.

You can use cheese cloth, coffee filters or even your socks to filter the water.

You can store water safely, in a cool dark place for 6 months. Add a pinch of salt for every 1 gallon if it tastes "flat".

There are many water purification tablets and systems on the market. Do your research to find what is best for you

And by all means, have your water tested Contact your local extension office for more info.

How Much Food Should you Store?

It isn't easy to figure out how much food one should store for an entire year. I have said before that you should keep a food diary, to track how much your family eats to help you understand how much you really do go through, and give you a better idea of how much food you have to raise

Not everyone can raise their own food If you haven't yet LDS has a great resource. The Food Storage Calculator. You put in how many are in your family, click on calculate, then scroll past the ads to see the results This is just for suggestions, and is a great start so you are not hoarding and gathering blindly.

What happens to our elderly?

I was reading this article, and yes it is on Fox New. . .

Elderly and Abandoned, 85 Haitians Await Death -AP


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — The old lady crawls in the dirt, wailing for her pills. The elderly man lies motionless as rats pick at his overflowing diaper.

There is no food, water or medicine for the 85 surviving residents of the Port-au-Prince Municipal Nursing Home, barely a mile from the airport where a massive international aid effort is taking shape.

"Help us, help us," 69-year-old Mari-Ange Levee begged Sunday, lying on the ground with a broken leg and ribs. A cluster of flies swarmed the open fracture in her skull.

One man has already died, and administrator Jean Emmanuel said more would follow soon unless water and food arrive immediately.

"I appeal to anybody to bring us anything, or others won't live until tonight," he said, motioning toward five men and women who were having trouble breathing, a sign that the end was near.

The dead man was Joseph Julien, a 70-year-old diabetic who was pulled from the partially collapsed building and passed away Thursday for lack of food.

His rotting body lies on a mattress, nearly indistinguishable from the living around him, so skinny and tired they seemed to be simply waiting for death.

With six residents killed in the quake, the institution now has 25 men and 60 women camped outside their former home. Some have a mattress in the dirt to lie on. Others don't.

Madeleine Dautriche, 75, said some of the residents had pooled their money to buy three packets of pasta, which the dozens of pensioners shared on Thursday, their last meal. Since there was no drinking water, some didn't touch the noodles because they were cooked in gutter water.

Read the entire article here>>>

This makes me cry. And I keep hearing that we are better, that things like this won't happen here. I don't know that I trust that. Humans can panic, and things can rapidly deteriorate.

I am in a situation that keeps my mother close to me. My father died a few years ago. But many are not in a situation that can keep your older or severally mentally ill family members near them, or at home. Now, while all this is fresh in our minds, is the time to talk to the nursing home about what their preparations for a disaster situation. If you don't like their reply, their are a few things you can do.


1. Move your family member to a different home

2. Move them in with you

3 volunteer to help improve their preparations.

You as the responsible party also need to have your own plans. Find different routes from your home to the nursing home. Different ways you can get to and from in the event anything should happen. Stock up on some things you might need for that family member, diapers, special foods, meds if you can. Do research on different herbs that claim to be efficient at treating your family members illness. I don't suggest you take them off their meds. But in an emergency, when meds are unavailable it doesn't hurt to be able to sooth your family member.

72 hours later

Although we in Kansas rarely feel or have earthquakes, the events happening in Haiti can get one wondering.

The largest earthquake happened in Manhattan Kansas in 1867 and it was a 5.1, and the States surrounding us have had large enough earthquakes to effect parts of Kansas. The last earthquake to happen here, was outside of Ark City (Arkansas City) January 1st 2008. It was a 2.7, but it happened none the less. We also have a fault line called the Crooked Creek Fault

Unfortunately I am unable to find too much info on this fault line.

Thankfully we only need to keep this info in the back of our minds. Not something that we as Kansans need to dwell on. Call it a bit o' trivia to amaze your friends with.

We do however have plenty of other natural disasters and man-made events to worry about.

In Coffey County we have Wolf Creek. Who has their Preparedness plan online in a PDF format for you to read.

During the Cold War, Wichita was on the top ten list of targets for nuclear war. Since we no longer have the B-1's I believe we have dropped off that list. However, since we do have a large community of airplane manufacturers, we might still be at an elevated risk.

Of course there are tornadoes, ice storms, severe thunderstorms, hail, floods, drought. . . oh we seem to get it all. We have Hurricane force winds, micro bursts, prairie fires. Why does anyone even live here? Because we don't have mud slides.

In any of these situations, it is suggested that you keep an emergency 72 hour kit. The thing is, if you are unable to leave your town or city, after 72 hours is when the scum start arriving. Just like what happen in Haiti last night, someone starts a rumor just to get people to drop their possessions, they come to our towns and cities, and start their scams.

The most important thing after the first 72 hours is to keep your wits about you. A portable radio could save you from fears and rumors. Remember that you have to take care of your family first, before helping the neighbor or anyone else. It's important not to fall for tricks or scams, or rampant paranoia.

In any situation you need to be aware of not only your surroundings but of the peoples attitudes. You should not be overly paranoid about those around you, but you should be cautious about what you are hearing.

Nowhere to go

It has been asked, "If you do all this prepping at home, and SHTF while you're away, then what good was all that prepping?"

For starters prepping isn't all about food and guns. It's about keeping little tidbits of info in the back of your mind, so that if an emergency of any kind were to creep up, you would have some idea of what you can or can not, should or should not do. Pretty simple.

As a homesteader, my goal is to survive winter. That's about it. That is why I talk a lot about food, and plant identification. But being a person that lives in Kansas I should be prepared for tornadoes, floods, blizzards, micro bursts, hail, fires and the combination of the many. And at home I am. Away from home could be another story.

If something should happen, home is your best and safest place to go. As I mentioned in a previous post, now is a good time to be a kid again, and go explore your neighborhood. Find the various ways to cheat your way home, get to know the dogs, neighbors and shop keepers in your area. If something should happen and I can't get back home, I know which fields are the easiest to hoof it through.

So your house is gone. The first thing you'll want to do is grieve. But please try to keep your wits about you. It will be hard, but it is important. For natural disasters, you should find your closest red cross tent, fire station, hospital or neighbor with a house still standing. (you did remember to get to know your neighbors, right?) Once safe, you can grieve more.

If you happen to be a tourist, don't rubber neck, and head back to where you are staying. If your relatives house is still standing or your hotel, stay put and volunteer to help others. If everything you have is gone, and you are able to, then leave. You will just be a burden and strain on that communities resources.

Back to being away from home and unable to get there, along with your 72 hour kit, you should have a small tent. Camping will be important. If you can do it on your own property, wonderful, you will be able to stay and salvage some of your goods. If this isn't feasible, please remember not to camp just anywhere. Head to a known public camping area. Here you can find the nearest KOA to you, and here is for general camp sites.

Here is a weird thing, chat up whomever you set up close to. Community is important in these situations. You can pool resources and make things easier on all of you.

If you have the opportunity, get to know a homesteader or farmer. Show them that you are hard worker, and talk about if things could go bad, if they would welcome you there. Private land can only hold so many people before it is useless. Small land owners are quicker to turn strangers that aren't harmed away then anyone else, because of this fact. They have a family to feed as well. If your farmer or homesteader agrees that you can come there if anything should happen to you, show some initiative. Bring things out for yourself to be stored. Offer to work there on the weekends for free, while your children play together. If nothing ever goes wrong, you will have learned a new set of skills, made close friends, and discovered a pride in yourself that you might not of had before. Getting dirty and working close to the land changes ones perspective on life.

I think that's about it. The run down is, if you can not get home, say goodbye to your preps, and go camping. Kicking in your inner woodland (open prairie) survivalist mode.

Sew Her up!

My husband taught me how to preform sutures with a needle and thread and granny knots, and a whole lot of alcohol for your patient and yourself. But not every one can be married to my husband.


If you wish to learn how to preform sutures, of more than just the granny knot style, First Aid Lessons has a free video on it. Enjoy!

Radiation Sickness

If you should ever happen to stumble upon some radioactivity, and become ill, you need to cleanse your thyroid asap.

Keep these items handy.

Potassium iodide is a nonradioactive form of iodine. Because iodine is essential for proper thyroid function, the thyroid becomes a "destination" for iodine in the body. If you have internal contamination with radioactive iodine (radioiodine), your thyroid will absorb radioiodine just as it would other forms of iodine. Treatment with potassium iodide may fill "vacancies" in the thyroid and prevent absorption of radioiodine. The radioiodine is eventually cleared from the body in urine.

Prussian blue, a type of dye, binds to particles of radioactive elements known as cesium and thallium. The radioactive particles are then excreted in feces. This treatment speeds up the elimination of the radioactive particles and reduces the amount of radiation cells may absorb.

~definitions of what they do found at the Mayo Clinic


Of course only a doctor can tell you if you have the correct radiation poisoning for these treatment to be helpful.

clicking on links will take you to places that these items can be purchased

Hoarding vs Prepping

There is a fine line when it comes to being prepared and hoarding. At is a line that would be better not to cross. Yet for many, things will become overwhelming and a hoarding house will develop, and you will not know where to start, and it quickly becomes overwhelming.

Indeed there is a sense of urgency as of late for people to prep, for various reasons. Because of this urgency, it can become confusing on what we should keep and what is merely clutter. First things first, prioritize.

What is the most important thing to your well being? Medical? food? clothing? entertainment? We all have different views on what we should always have on hand. But it will be up to you alone to decide what is in the best interest of your family. If you have gotten to the point where you look at everything and think, I might need that someday, and then try to ferret it out of the way, it may be time to prioritize.

Let’s start with the smallest room in your home, the bathroom. What is it that you truly need? are there things in there past the expiration date? Are there items that you have held onto for yeas just in the off chance you might need them? Rethink these items. If you have a snake bite kit and do not live in an area where bites are common you need to discard it. Prepping is about being prepared for what may come, but not for unrealistic events. If you go hiking or camping then, remove those items from your bathroom and place them with camping gear.
un-cluttering can be difficult, there are so many what if’s. But t is important. Not only does hording effect you mental state, but it can also cause problems with Child welfare and fires.

Closets are he next stop. How many coats does each family member really need? We keep it at two. One for work and one for public. If no one has worn the coat over the past 2 winters, in is just in the way. Donate it. Keep thread and needles handy to repair your coats. A quick stitch is simple even for people like me with no talent in sewing. Many of us also keep family games in the closet. Discard the games that are missing pieces. I know there are good intentions in replacing those pieces, or adding from another game. But this is just another unnecessary clutter. Shoes also stay in many closets. How many do you need? Here we keep 2 pairs each, one for work and one for public. We keep a resoling kit and leather patching handy in case it is needed. There is one complication though. I have 3 growing boys. Shoes that are still in decent condition, that one of the older boys have out grown and the little one is still not able to wear get stored, together in water proof, mice resistant bags in my cellar. As does clothes and coats. Luckily my boys are close enough in sizes that those items do not stay stored for long. Clothing can be yet another problem for the prepper. How much clothing do we need? We try to keep work clothes and social cloths to a minimum. The problem is that are work clothing tends to wear quickly, thus we have a rotating system. If the clothes are un repairable, they will move to either our rag bag or to our quilting bag, to be used later. Social clothing that have been worn thin or stained, move into the place of our lost work clothes. We save Christmas for replacing social wear clothing. We keep only enough clothing to fit into our small closets and our dressers. No over flow.

The living room is simple. keep this room for entertainment purposes only. Work and prep doesn’t belong in this room. this is for the family. If you are placing boxes of “might someday need” you should sort through them, discard what you don’t see as need in the immediate future and put the other things in their proper place. Keep the living room simple and stress free. You will need it.

The kitchen becomes harder. How much food do you need? This varies from each prepper. If your freezer is bursting, go through and examine the items. Food that has been in there for a year or more, need to go. After that time, it no longer has any nutritional value. If something happens and you must eat the old items, you might feel full, but it will be a slow starvation. this isn’t good prepping. Rotate your pantry as well. Don’t just hoard your food, actually use it. We keep enough food for one year, but we eat that food, and replenish it during the next harvest season. Not everyone can do this, and must replenish more often through store bought items. 6 months is usually the longest I would suggest for your pantry goods from the store. Anything over that should be thrown out. After 3 months, canned goods start to lose their flavor, and 6 months to 1 year, their nutrients.

Pots and pans should be donated if you have used them in a full year. Chances are you will never use them if you haven’t yet.

That is the best advice I can give you. Try to keep things organize and prioritized. Be cautios with your prepping and trying not to fall over that line.

Keeping clean

The last post we talked about using bark that includes tannic in it to cleanse your teeth. Remember that tannic is a poison and will make you sick, it will also stain your skin so use it sparely.

We talked a bit about female hygiene, today we shall talk about it in general. Keeping clean while in survival mode won't weight heavily on your mind, however I will reiterate that hygiene is an important skill to have when you are in emergency survival.

Soaking the inside bark of the tannic carrying trees, will produce a solution of natural insect repellent. The amount of water you add or subtract will determine that strength. This same solution can be used as a "soap" as well. Just remember that it doesn't lather up very well, and not only stain you a dark tan color if used too strong, but will stain your clothing as well. (like it will matter much in this situation)

You can also make a general cleaning antiseptic by crushing and seeping pine needles in water until the surface of the water is oily. for handfuls of pine needles will yield you about a thimble full of a powerful cleanser (you can use this at home as well, not just for survival)

Any plants that contain Saponin can be used to make soaps.

yucca

spirea/ meadowsweet

bouncing bet also known as soapwort




Phlox

Mash up these plants and mix the juice with a bit of water. For a stronger soap, do not add water.

Learning your area

If shtf, you don't necessarily have to bug out. Many people will do that, and you might find yourself relatively alone where you are. One of my biggest prep tips would be, know your area.

Take a moment or two to walk around and actually look at your neighborhood. Remember when you were a kid and you knew your town/woods/fields/neighborhood like the back of your hand. You could disappear and no one had a clue where you went to. You knew all the great hidey holes, shortcuts, which fences you could leap in a single bound, and whose dogs were lickers rather than bitters. Well, now is a good time to throw out all those adult inhibitions and rediscover all those things.

Where is the closest store? Not the one you shop at, but the closest. It might get raided, before you can get there, but I bet they will have left something that you can use, behind, like non food items.

Locate all your alley ways, and take note of the dogs in the area. Some of these companions will bug out with their owners, but some will not. Know all your short cuts to and from your house, find several different ways, so that you never get into the habit of using the same path. More than likely you won't be alone, and the odds are your new residents weren't as prepared as you were.

Take note of gas stations, hospitals, clinics and veterinary clinics. These places could come in handy, just as your locals bars could. Liqueur isn't just for drinking.

You will also need to take a moment to get to know your neighbors if you haven't yet. This is very important. If these people stay, more than likely they will be suspicious and that will not be a good time to get to know them. Start now. Bake a batch of brownies and take it to them. Don't ask too many questions, don't snoop. Make it friendly and calm. Don't announce that you are a prepper at the first meeting. That needs to come later in a casual chat.

Burying your Dead

Here in the great State of Kansas we have some lenient laws of the dead. You are allowed to bury your dead on your property, but you must check with your county to see if they allow it. It must be done within 24 hours of death. No casket required, and you must supply the State with a death certificate. Embalming is not required, as I said you have 24 hours to bury, unless you can refrigerate or place the body in a sealed container. And you do not need to use a funeral home.

So how does one go about doing such things. First off, always honor the deceased requests, as much as you can within the law. It isn't legal to smoke pot out of your buddies skull, no many how many times he made you promise that you would.

6 feet down is not the law. Most places do not have a depth standard, California, it is only 18 inches. 6 feet was the standard during the plague, in England. The thought was that at that depth, the dead wouldn't be able to pass the disease onto the living. They did not know at the time that it was fleas that were the problem. Your grave should be deep enough to keep scavengers away from the remains, 30 inches at least.

I was unable to find any info for the State on a Pyre Cremation. With something like that, be prepared to stay with your dead for several hours, to a few days. Make sure the fire stays very hot, and doesn't spread to your land.

I wouldn't bother taking the time to mummify your dead, unless it is winter and your can't or don't have anything else to do.

Living in your car

I came across this article by Kevin Hellman, on the site Live Safely- Personal Freedom

How to Live in your Car.

Record numbers of Americans are faced with the possibility of loosing their homes and finding themselves in desperate situations without a place to live. With the massive wolrdwide economic crisis and number of Americans who lost their homes due to the predatory sub-prime mortgage crisis, more and more people are resorting to living in their last personal possession - their cars.

The numbers of the so-called “mobile homeless” increase whenever rate of growth of the cost of living exceeds the rate of growth of wages. While their are many reasons for homelessness, such as addiction and mental illness - which still make up the lion’s share of causes, many people are being forced into mobile homelessness simply because of economic factors. Read entire article here>>>

It is very good advice. My husband grew up living in cars. I think I will have him dictate an article for me, Living in your car with children. I grew up spending months at a time camping. Living in a campsite is much easier than living in Downtown Denver, in a small car, with 4 children.

The Kentucky Preppers Network is doing a series on Vehicle Maintenance, which should go along nicely with my living in your car series that is forthcoming. Read it here, Part 1

Prepin' Doc

There once was a woman with Lupus. She was told 8 years ago that she only had 5 years left to live. The lupus was destroying her, literally eating her from the inside out. She suddenly went into remission, something that none of the doctors had predicted. She looked around and found a specialist. This woman soon discovered that this Doctor was warm and chatty, and soon the woman would gently probe the doctor about how she felt about the politics and the world in general. The doctor turned out to be a prepper. This topic was talked about by the two on many visits, and soon the Doctor told the woman that no matter what happens, if this doctor was forced to stop working, that the Doctor would treat this woman for trade or free if the Doctor was able.

Sometimes talking carefully about your views of the world can lead to a secure friendship and medical care if SHTF.

Canned Meat

We have to talk spam. There is no way you can go through a canned meat concert without spam. Now mind you I do not have the recipe for the store bought, nor have I found anything good online. The only one I found was kind of nasty, and not a real recipe. Does your chickens have any lips? After some trial and error, I have discovered a reasonable substitute . Stop groaning, some people like spam. I myself ain't to thrilled with it, but making it at home you can use up some of your extra pork and chicken parts if you don't feel like making more sausage.

You need scrapes of ham and chicken. Push through your meat grinder. Place this in a food processor, add a dash of paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. You can get fancy and add other flavors. Puree the meat. Stuff into a pint canning jar leaving 1 inch headspace, and process in a pressure canner for 90 minutes.

Now we got that out of the way, let us talk about canning meat. There are reasonable fears out there about canning meat. You don't want to mess up an entire batch, wasting the food, or you don't want to end up poisoned. Canning meat is just as simple as canning green beans. Just more people like to put the fear into you about it.

Step one, work clean. If you are process something on the counter, make sure you wash the counter down good before placing a new chunk of meat down on it. Keep your hands clean, and sterilize everything.

Here are the basic guidelines to meat canning.

We can start with chicken,

Once you have dressed your bird out, allow it to chill for at least 6 hours. Remove as much fat as possible. For canning raw (this is best with your bannies) Fill your pints or quarts with raw meat, do not add any water, and leave an 1 1/6 head-space. Do not pack the meat tightly, it should be loosely sitting in the jar. In your pressure canner process your boneless chicken for 75 minutes in pints, 90 minutes for quarts. Got bones? 65 minutes for pints, 75 minutes for quarts.

Follow these directions for turkey as well. Rabbit is the same process, expect that you need to soak the rabbit meat in salted water (1 tablespoon salt per quart water) for 1 hour, than rinse well.

Now for hot packing the above meats.

Cook the meat in whatever manner you see fit until it is only 2/3 of the way cooked. Fill your hot sterile jars loosely, cover with the broth or water leaving 1 1/4 inch head-space. Process in a pressure canner, no bones, 75 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts. Got Bones? 65 minutes for pints, 75 minutes for quarts.

Chunks of meat.

So you have your beef, pork, lamb and venison. Your smoker is full as is your freezer, or maybe you just feel the need to can something. Well do I have instructions for you!

Make sure the meat is chilled and remove excess fat. Cut into cubes, or plain ole chunks and pack loosely into your hot sterile jars. Do not add water and leave 1 inch head-space. Process with a pressure canner, pints 75 minutes, quarts 90 minutes.

To hot pack these meats, you will need to cook your meat rare. Fill your jars and cover with boiling broth or water (tomato juice if your kinky) leaving a 1 inch head-space. Process in a pressure canner, pints 75 minutes, quarts 90 minutes.

Canned hamburger? Are you kidding me? Nope and I did see it brought up on another blog, of course this person was going to buy it from a supplier instead of making there own. Saute your ground meat fill your jars, cover with boiling broth (not the fat) or water (tomato juice if your kinky) leaving a 1 inch head-space. Process in a pressure canner, 75 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts.

Of course you can flavor these products however you wish, except do not add a salt substitute, it turns bitter. Do not eat your meat unless you have boiled it uncovered for 10 minutes.

All these times are for altitudes below 1,000 ft (this is standard with just about all general canning guides) And your dial should be at 10 or 11 PSI. (or weight gauge in lbs)
1,001-2,000 dial gauge at 11 PSI, weight gauge at 15 lbs
2,001-4,000 dial at 12, weight gauge at 15 lbs
4,001-6,000 ft dial at 13, weight gauge at 15 lbs
6,001-8,000 ft dial at 14, weight gauge at 15 lbs
8,001-10,000 ft dial at 15, weight gauge at 15 lbs

The above isn't just for meat, it is for all your pressure canning food stuff.

The Art of Gleaning

I apologize for my absence, someone changed my password and was unable to get online.


Gleaning is a wonderful and cheap way to get food stuff for your pantry.

Definition of Gleaning;

To gather grain left behind by reapers.



When it comes to gleaning there are some simple rules to follow;

1 ask first
2 be polite
3 respect others property
4 don't take more than the owner allows

Gleaning isn't just about grain as the definition states, it is about any food item left in fields and orchards.

When you approach the farmer, do so before harvest. Ask if it would be ok to go over his fields after harvest and gather any leftovers. Many farmers, especially those that have a root veggie, will be more than happy to allow you to do so. Make sure you bring your own tools.

When it comes to fruits, finding the orchard is as simple as driving down suburban streets, looking for neglected trees. Most the time the owner will be grateful that you are willing to clean up their yard of all those unwanted apples. (and crab apples make great jellies).

Always talk with your family and friends. Some people have too many of something (like grapes) and would be more than willing to share with you. Older couples that have small backyard grape vines or orchard are also a good resource. I always offer to share fruits, jellies, jams and pies with them in exchange for allowing me to glean. And sometimes they are willing to share their special recipes with you.

Here is a story of my family gleaning, Called Gathering Apples in Eden. And I got all those apples, and more every year simply by asking around.

Basic Female Survival

Sorry boys, I need to talk with the girls today. You men have all kinds of reference material to surf if you want to learn the basic. However the woman out there, after a detailed Internet search, have very few except for forums.

When it comes to woman and survival we are not talking about burying guns and merely storing food. Your basic homesteading skills prepare you for all that. And we are not talking TEOTWAWKI survival either. This is basic female readiness.

Self defense is something I can not spout enough of, learning how to use knives and guns are a great step for any woman. By now you should all know the whole “Don’t let them take you to the second location” spiel. That would be the going limp, the screaming FIRE and every dirty trick you can think of to get rid of your attacker.

But guns and knives are also important for other things, hunting is were my mind first wonders. Knives can be so useful in just about any situation. They can be substitutes for scissors, to spread things, used as a screwdriver, marking paths, and all your other basic knife uses, like scraping, skinning, killing, and jabbing.

One subject that doesn’t come up very often is menses. There are many practical items that are non-disposable that you can purchase before hand. However there might be a time that you will not have those items on hand. Of course rags are the basic of it all. Your knife will now become a big help by cutting up something to use. You want to keep yourself very clean in survival mood. If you are lucky enough to find yourself near running water, take advantage of it to clean yourself and your rags. You do not want to call attention to yourself by leaving the smell around for animals to find. I know it seems like common sense, but have you ever been inside a female locker room? Some of you are nasty! That is not a habit you want to hold onto if you find yourself in the wilderness. Hygiene is also important when it comes to being female, it isn’t about looking good as much as it about keeping infection away. Some of these infection, if untreated, could be deadly.

KEEP YOUR LEGS CLOSED! Another common sense suggestion. However you will find yourself in situations were men will be able to give you something in return for your favor. Pregnancy and STD’s are not something you will want to deal with while in survivalist mood. (we will talk about pregnancy on a later post) The wilderness will find a lack of men wanting to barter, towns however you will find plenty. Female wiles can go a long way if you know how to use them and how to get out of sticky situations. The best bet is to just stay out of those situations and carry a knife.

When it comes down to it, all the basic survival needs are covered for both male and female, however my best advice to you, is to learn knife skills. These can be practiced while you prepare dinner. Be aware of your surroundings, be cautious, find a buddy if you can, keep things clean and simple, and you should be just fine.

This article first appeared on Woman not Dabbling in Normal

Back to Basics

When it comes to prepping, the most important thing, the most discussed issue, is food storage.

There are many opinions on what you should store, how often you should use the stored food, and how you should store it. Here is my opinion.

Only purchase and store food stuff that you can't grow yourself.
My pantry includes:

Sugar
Chocolate
baking powder
Salt
Brown Sugar
peppercorn
Canned tropical fruits
cream of tartar
Yeast (you need some to grow more)
Coffee
cloves
vanilla
tropical fruit extracts
nutmeg
flour (for now)
vinegar
canned sea food


These are indeed considered our basics. Everyone will be different. As a small land owner, we grow the remainder of our food. our home grown food pantry includes

Dehydrated onions
onion powder
french onion soup
garlic powder
different dried herbs
Chicken broth/stock
ketchup
dried mustard seed
dried pepper (various)
canned milk
pizza sauce
various jams, jellies and preserves
Alfredo sauce
vegetable stock
various meats
various soups
various canned vegetables
dried meats
dried fruits (for children snacks)
fruit leathers
dried beans
chili
spaghetti sauce
various types of dried noodles
pumpkins (canned and whole)
apples (canned and whole)
potatoes (canned and whole)
squashes (canned and whole)
Sweet potatoes (canned and whole)
popcorn

These are just some of the items. We try to live on our stored items harvest to harvest. Sometimes we do, and other times we can't. We will be trying again this year.

When putting your basic pantry together, make sure that the items you have on hand are things you are unable to grow yourself. And things that you will be using. There is no point in wasting money on items that you don't really like, or items that will go bad before you can use them.

Remember to keep your pantry diary handy. and if you are just starting out, start a diary to see what exactly your family goes through, how often and how much. This is a great starting point to secure your food storage needs.