Category Archives: Sarah’s Views

Sarah’s View: Raising Children in a Collapse World

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Momma Bear’s post about birth control got me thinking: “What would it be like to be raising young children in a collapsed world? What would that look like? How would it be different from what we do today?”

I should start by saying that I don’t have any children of my own. However, that doesn’t mean that I won’t someday or that my friends or step-kids won’t. It’s important to consider the ramifications of having a child, both in our society as it is now, and how it would be in a potential disaster or complete collapse.

The challenges of having an infant or toddler in a post-collapse world would be huge for today’s ‘modern’ parents. It becomes incredibly difficult – if not impossible – to easily bug-out, especially if you’re going any distance on foot. An infant (child under 12 months old) can be carried, but if you are carrying that child you are then limited in what else you can take with you, i.e. BOBs, additional water, food, etc. Now, what if that child is a toddler? Anyone who’s spent any time with a child this age knows that they don’t always (ever) want to be carried. You now have a toddler fighting being carried and/or walking (toddling) beside you. Neither of these scenarios allow you to walk with any speed and could potentially draw unwanted attention.

If you can instead bug-in this removes some of the mobility issues that accompany infants and toddlers. However, now there’s the surviving day-to-day. Are you hunting and/or scavenging for food? A crying child doesn’t do much to lure game to you, or help you remain unseen. What is your child willing or able to eat? If your child isn’t used to eating anything but jarred baby food, suddenly switching to a hunter/gatherer diet, or even an MRE diet, will not go smoothly.

The things to think about with young children don’t differ greatly from the things we need for ourselves.

Food – The best thing you can do for an infant is breastfeed. I know this is not possible for some, but it is the easiest and cheapest way to feed a baby. If you can’t breastfeed, make sure you have in your preps enough formula or other supplemental milk to last your baby through six months of age. For toddlers, start encouraging them to try the food you eat (and store). If you need to, overcook it a bit and squish it up.

Water – Young children are especially susceptible to dehydration caused by overheating or diarrhea from dysentery, therefore sanitary water is key. Unlike adults a child will appear just fine, until they’re not, and then deteriorates very quickly.

Security (Safety), Shelter – Infants and toddlers love to explore so keeping them safe, even today, can be a challenge. In a collapse, when every able adult will need to be working, minding the babies is not something that a mom or dad can be spared to do. For infants I recommend checking out the various slings available for carrying babies – they are simple, come in many shapes and sizes, and are tremendously versatile. This option allows the child to be carried while leaving both hands free for working. What is your group’s plan for caring for toddlers? It’s great if there are older children around, or maybe a “grandma”, who can play with and watch over them. Keeping young children safe truly is the ‘village’ raising the child.

I believe that much of our “preps” for living with young children can be taken from human history and can be applied now and not just in a collapse situation. For thousands of years infants and toddlers were raised in tribes where they are no daycares, formula, or Purell. Instead there were grandmas, slings, and water. Prepping with and for infants and toddlers doesn’t need to be difficult; but thinking and planning for it now is key.

(Friday: Momma Bear’s June Preps)

Sarah’s View: Gardening Journal

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“No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden…But though an old man, I am but a young gardener.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

There’s a podcast I listen to on a regular basis that I highly recommend – The Thomas Jefferson Hour – and it was the inspiration for this month’s post. As you may or may not know, Thomas Jefferson was quite the gardener. Not only did he spend a significant amount of time gardening, but he also kept an exquisitely detailed gardening journal.

I was talking to Trace about the concept of a gardening journal and he asked if I would like to do one for our garden. I had thought about it keeping one, but hadn’t worked up the motivation to actually get started. With Trace’s encouragement I found a blank sketch book (it doesn’t really matter what you use) and started making notes. Since I just started it this weekend I’ve had to look back over the last couple of months’ blog posts to make sure I got my dates right for what we planted and when. I included the date we planted the seeds and placed them in the indoor grow box, the date we moved them out to the greenhouse, the date I transplanted and separated the seedlings and, finally, the date I transplanted the seedlings into the ground.

Besides simply recording the important dates, I’ve tried to make a few simple observations as to how certain plants are doing or why I chose to transplant some on one day and others at a later time. I also put the receipts from our seed orders in there, as well as the sketch I did of the layout for the garden.

I would encourage anyone with a garden (large or small) to keep some sort of record. At the very least, keep track of what you planted and when and what was successful. If nothing else, this may help you decide what to plant (or not plant) next year. It doesn’t need to be complicated, while there are “official” garden journals available, it can be as simple as a piece of paper.

I hope to make notes and observations in my gardening journal as the season continues. While it would be beneficial to make notes daily, both on the plants themselves as well as on the weather, and animal or pest activity, I’m not sure I have the discipline. My goal, therefore, will be to observe and write weekly. Then, next winter as Trace and I sit down to plan the 2013 garden, hopefully the 2012 gardening journal will provide us with hints as to what we might do to improve our garden, or at least, what we should avoid doing.

“A garden is half-made when it is well planned. The best gardener is the one who does the most gardening by the winter fire.” ~ Liberty Hyde Bailey, Cofounder of the American Society For Horticultural Science

(Friday: What We Did This Week To Prep)

Sarah’s View: The Disaster I See

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In high school I was introduced to a book that changed my life and provided me with a foundation to accept the concept of prepping when Trace introduced it. That book was Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Quinn was able to hit a nerve in my subconscious and explain the world, “our” culture, in such a way that – for a split second – I felt like I “got it”. Of course, as is the case with many such occurrences the feeling of “got it” was fleeting and life went on as normal. I went off to college and there, while studying Anthropology, returned to Ishmael and Quinn’s other books. I don’t know if I enjoyed my Anthropology classes more because of Daniel Quinn or if I enjoyed, and understood, his ideas because of Anthropology. Regardless, they were very complementary.

But what, exactly, does all of this have to do with disasters? or with prepping?

While the story of the boiling frog is, unfortunately, scientifically inaccurate, it still provides an excellent illustration for the concept of a slow, and therefore unnoticed, deterioration or destruction. We are the frog, simmering away in the belief that the world was meant for humans and that we are living – finally – as humans were meant to live. But, humans lived for millions of years as ‘part of the world’. Then, something changed and we started thinking that instead of being a part of the world, the world was meant for us and could – no should – be molded to our will. Quinn proposes that change was agriculture and, more specifically, putting food under lock and key, thereby allowing for larger and more concentrated populations but also introducing a cultural control mechanism in food and other resources.

Honestly, at this point, I don’t think it really matters what caused the change; what matters is to recognize the issue with this “new” mindset.

Humans live as if we are alone on this planet – utlizing resources without regard for what happens tomorrow, or in a month, or a year from now, when there is none left. As Quinn says in Ishmael, “I have amazing news for you. Man is not alone on this planet. He is part of a community, upon which he depends absolutely.” We have forgotten that we depend on everything – water, fuel, plants, animals…

And, I bring us back to prepping. As a group I believe preppers intrinsically understand how much humanity depends on the rapidly depleting resources. The disaster I see is that too few people have recognized this early enough for the world to continue as we know it.

(Friday: What We Did This Week To Prep)

Sarah’s View: DIY Potato Box

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This weekend, with the beautiful weather we had here, Trace and I decided to work on some of our outdoor projects. I was able to build my potato box (in one day) and asked Trace if I could share the results, on our blog, sooner rather than later!

This year will be our first year growing potatoes. As we understand the way potatoes grow, they need soil added as the plant grows bigger to further stimulate production. Many people choose to simply mound the dirt around their plants or use old tires for their potato ‘frame’. However, years ago (before Trace) I saw a design for a ‘potato box’ that allows the grower to harvest the baby (or new) potatoes throughout the growing season.

We had already bought all the materials needed: one treated 2x4x12 and ten 1x6x6 boards (actually fence slats).

We pulled out the power tools – my dad’s mitre saw (which now ‘lives’ at our house) and the drills (plural because, if you have two, you don’t have to switch bits between the pre-drilling and the screwing in of the screws) – and, after quick review on how to use each, I got started (I’d used drills before, but not the saw).

My first step was to cut the 2x4x12 into four 33-inch pieces. These will be the upright corner posts. (A handy tip from Trace: measure from the end for each cut, that way you don’t lose the width of the saw blade from your cut). I then cut the 1x6s into twenty 24-inch pieces.

Next, I attached four 1x6s across the upright 2x4s to form the bottom frame into a square.

Originally I’d intended to build up just two layers of boards, leaving the rest to be added as dirt was piled onto the growing potatoes. I realized, however, that there was no reason not to build three sides up completely and only have one unfinished/working side. The first side went slowly as I lined up each board, pre-drilled the holes and then attached them. The second and third sides went much faster as I got used to the tools and the box gained more and more stability.

The fourth side boards will be attached as we add dirt. These will be attached with only one screw on each side, for easy removal, with the intention of harvesting the potatoes at the bottom of the box early, while allowing the rest to continue to grow.

We placed the three-sided box at the corner of our garden, where sun will hit the open side and we had some good dirt. I planted the seed potatoes–Kennebec and Red Pontiac–and hopefully, fingers crossed, we’re good to go for this year’s potato crop.

(Wednesday: Momma Bear)

 

Sarah’s View: A Prepper’s Budget

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by Sarah Adams -

How To Have A Balanced Household Budget Every Month

Trace regularly refers to me as our family’s Chief Financial Officer, and that I “control” the finances. Actually, we do our overall budgeting and planning together; I simply take care of the day-to-day bills as well as maintain our financial spreadsheets (aka all the work).

For various reasons we both came to the relationship with more debt than either of us liked. However, early on in our marriage we agreed that a mutual goal was to be debt-free. I wanted the peace of mind of not constantly playing catch-up and Trace felt like getting out of debt should be a primary goal for any prepper. In the beginning we tried to save, tried to pay down debt, but we struggled without a concrete strategy and plan. Then, about 18 months ago, a good friend of mine introduced me to Dave Ramsey and his “Seven Baby Steps”. I really liked his “debt snowball”; it inherently made sense to me. In addition, his concept of spending money “on paper and on purpose” helped give me some focus on how we could move forward. From there I read more about zero-based budgeting.

Since December 2010 we have created a zero-based budget every month. I start with our joint income and assign each dollar a “job”. Before the month even starts we have “pre-spent” every dollar we are going to make. It sounds a bit scary, even a bit controlling, to budget this way but to tell you the truth it is completely freeing. When we go to the grocery store we know exactly how much is available for the month; we can spend it all the first week or spread it out over a couple of trips. There’s no worrying about whether the funds are available or not – they ARE, this is their job!

Even better, you can plan for fun too. Last year, when we had a family trip scheduled, I started budgeting a couple of hundred dollars into a vacation fund each month. By the time we took our trip we had plenty of money set aside, allowing us to play while not worrying whether we’d be able to pay the bills when we got home. It was one of the most relaxing trips, money-wise, that I’ve ever taken.

Instead of feeling restrictive, budgeting this way has allowed us to do and buy things that otherwise might not have been possible. We’re building a greenhouse this spring. Last month we assigned some money for it; turns out that didn’t quite cover the full cost so this month we’ve assigned a bit more. Trace wants to build a rabbit hutch; I’ve got it on the list to add to the May budget. It may mean we allocate less to Costco or entertainment or somewhere else, but because we both review the plan each month and talk about our desired expenditures, it works out well.

The other strategy that we both like is to use cash as much as possible. I do pay most of our bills online, but other than those and buying gas, most of our expenses are paid with cash. Instead of the traditional envelope system, I use a receipt folder; each slot is for a different category (Haircuts, Groceries, Costco, etc.) and I put the total amount budgeted for each category in the proper slot at the beginning of the month. We’ve both found it’s a lot harder to hand over five $20s than it is to hand over a debit card. Each purchase is that much more deliberate. And, from a prepper point of view, this means we always have cash on us in case of a disaster (i.e. the power is out at the gas station, you can still pump gas, but they will only take cash, allowing us to fill up if necessary).

Money is a tough topic for many. When we don’t have enough it’s scary and when we have plenty, well, no one wants to hear about that! Trace and I have found that working as a team to plan, budget, and spend has made money simply another prepping resource.

(Friday: What We Did This Week To Prep)

My wife Sarah writes, from a prepper’s wife’s point of view, ‘Sarah’s View’ the second Wednesday of each month (see her bio, and the posts she’s written, on the Guest Contributors page).

Sarah’s View: Traveling For Work

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This week I am travelling to Minneapolis for work. I’ve traveled for work a couple of times before, but never for a full week and not since Trace and I began prepping. Traveling offers a whole new set of “what ifs”, and not even of the SHTF* variety. Simply, what if the plane is delayed? What if they lose my luggage? What if…? And then there are the disaster what ifs.

Luckily I was able to mitigate many of the life ‘what ifs’ by taking a nonstop flight (if it’s delayed, it’s not a big deal as there are no connections I need to make) and I decided not to check any luggage. The luggage question, however, was one Trace and I discussed; not checking makes sense for many reasons – cost, time, risk (of loss) – however, from a prepping point of view it would make more sense to check a bag. By checking a bag I would be able to bring my pepper spray and my Gerber EAB knife both part of my EDC. We looked at the pros and cons of checking a bag, as well as at the likelihood that I would need those items, and decided not to.

There were a couple of reasons we came to this conclusion. First, my hotel is less than two blocks from where I’m working. Not only that, but Minneapolis has a wonderful system of skyways, which, for me, mitigated the need for either item. The skyways were also the reason I chose to leave my winter coat at home. What?!? Minneapolis in March and no winter coat? The weather report was uncharacteristically good – upper 40s to low 70s– and I did bring a number of layers that would keep me warm should the weather turn.

I did, however, decide to bring my good boots. If anything were to happen while I was here, it was important I be able to walk, through wet ground or snow if necessary. My sister works in the other Twin City, St. Paul, so, if the SHTF while I was here, my plan would be to get to her and/or her place of work. Obviously this is a fairly loose plan, but at least it’s something. I’ve planned for the likeliest scenarios (snow/bad weather, flight delays, lost luggage) and thought about how I would respond to something bigger.

All in all, for better or worse, I didn’t really bring any extra “get home” stuff. I have my work backpack which also serves as my GHB when commuting to and from work normally. Ironically, not only did I not add to it, but as I said, I took out my pepper spray and EAB knife (both of which usually “live” in my backpack). I also took out my mini-leatherman and any other non-TSA approved items. I did bring my towel, my headlamp with extra batteries, a few protein bars, and water bottle. Unfortunately I don’t have much that can be used as a weapon, however, I am prepared to be somewhat self-reliant and mobile, if necessary.

As the wife of a good prepper, I don’t have to think too much about our preps on a day-to-day basis (thank you Trace); he takes care of most (all) of the worry and the coordination. I help on an as-needed basis with logistics, planning, and allocation of finances. However, as the one travelling, alone, I was forced to think about what was important to me and what I needed with me in order to feel prepared and as safe as possible.

(Friday: What We Did This Week To Prep)

My wife Sarah writes, from a prepper’s wife’s point of view, ‘Sarah’s View’ the second Wednesday of each month. See her other posts: Time To Order Seeds, and “What Do You Think of All This?”.

*For my list of abbreviations and other information, open the above ‘Check Here…’ page tab.

Sarah’s View: Time To Order Seeds

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Even though we’re still in the dark of winter, now is the time of year when we peruse the seed catalogs and start planning our garden.

Last year was our first “real” garden, and it did okay. It wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t horrible either. Part of that can be blamed on the weather – it was a very cool summer and plants that normally do well around here, like tomatoes, struggled. But much of the garden success, or in this case failure, was directly related to our inexperience. It was the first year we started our plants from seed (instead of seedlings) and we tried items that we had no previous experience growing. We also do not have the best soil… okay, the soil here sucks. Our subdivision’s “soil” is mostly rocks and clay.

Trace has been actively working to improve our soil. He built up our back yard compost pile, brought in additional compost from the local landfill, and expanded the space for the garden. We hope to continue the soil enhancements this year. We will bring in more compost and are selecting specific crops with soil improvement in mind. Trace is also pursuing a lead on donkey manure.

There were a few plants that did well. Of the perennials we planted, the strawberries, raspberries and asparagus all survived. The rhubarb, on the other hand, didn’t go so well. And we were able to harvest some tomatoes (albeit mostly green) at the end of the season. This year we’ll again try tomatoes, green beans, and zucchini. I’ll have to check on the herb garden and see what survived the snow, but we will have – either from seed or carried over from last year – basil, rosemary, thyme, sage and chives.

Besides the “regulars”, we are hoping to branch out (pun intended) a bit this year. Trace has requested cabbage; luckily I’ve heard it grows well around here and shouldn’t be a problem. I would also like to grow potatoes. We found a potato box diagram online that will allow us to grow them without using a huge amount of space.  We are also going to add butternut and spaghetti squash, radishes, onions, garlic, black beans, and peas to our garden. None of those are all that uncommon, but will be “new to us”.

One, more unusual, plant we’re going to try is garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas). We regularly fry them on the stove to make a snack and would love to have enough to do this and make our own hummus. In addition, the other uncommon plant we are going to try is comfrey. We are specifically planting this with soil improvement in mind as it is known as a valuable fertilizer and will pull nutrients up with its long tap root.

This year, after having more time to look over the many many options, we are going to go ahead and order from Bountiful Gardens again. Their catalog has a plethora of information on each plant and I truly value their philosophy: “For the benefit of all farmers, gardeners and consumers who want an alternative, we pledge that we do not knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered seeds or plants.” As preppers, I feel it is important that the plants we grow have seeds that can be saved and successfully planted in future years.

What are you planting this year?

(Friday: What I Did This Week To Prep)

note: This is my wife Sarah’s second post (first post: “What Do You Think of All This?” – A Prepper’s Wife’s Point of View). She will continue to post under ‘Sarah’s View’ the second Wednesday of each month. I’m excited to have her regularly writing for us!

Sarah’s View: “What Do You Think Of All This?”

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A Prepper’s Wife’s Point of View

I’m Sarah, Trace’s wife. We have been together almost three years and married for a year and a half. The year I met and moved in with Trace life completely changed. However, it wasn’t until shortly after we got married (a year after we started dating) that Trace discovered The Survival Podcast and our prepping life began.

Prepping, in our house, began in the “normal” way – with 72-hour kits. Since we live in Western Washington – prime earthquake territory – I’d always thought an emergency kit was a good idea. Although I would never have actually created one, I was quietly supportive when Trace started putting them together. Slowly, however, the “kits” began taking on a life of their own. They went from manageable backpacks to a backpack plus extra bags, totaling close to 60 pounds. At some point the bags went from being called 72-hour kits to Bug Out Bags, and the rest is history…

I didn’t totally “get” it, but I went along with his prepping. I love my husband and it seemed very important to him that we do this. It wasn’t until several friends – and then my mom – asked me, “What do you think of all this?” that I was forced to actually articulate my thinking. Trace does this, all of this, because he loves us and wants to protect us. If he were single he would not be prepping this way. He does this to give us the best chance in a worst case scenario.

There are parts of prepping I enjoy more than others. I like contemplating “what if?” scenarios. “What if” Mount Rainier (which is within 20 miles of our backyard) erupts and we’re trapped because of landslides? How would I get home from work? “What if” a pandemic breaks out? How do we help the kids when they’ve been at their mom’s for over a week and possibly exposed? “What if” the kids are with us when disaster strikes? They want their mom, Trace wants the kids with him…so we plan for me and Trace, the kids, and Trace’s ex-wife.

The  more tedious logistical aspects, i.e. calculating how much of each item we need, rotating food, etc. are less interesting to me. I help out as needed and appreciate our preps and all their redundancies, but – if it were just me – I wouldn’t be doing all this.

Being the wife of a prepper has had its eyebrow-raising moments, but when I remember that Trace does this because he wants us to be safe and happy no matter what life brings, I can’t help but smile. What girl doesn’t want to help her man be her knight in shining armor?

(Friday (back to Trace with): What I Did This Week To Prep)