Category Archives: What I Did This Week To Prep

What We Did This Week To Prep 8/3/12

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Still not a lot of success in the garden, though our raspberries and snap peas are doing great. The tomato plants never got very big, but finally have a lot of buds on them and a few even have small green tomatoes. The sunflowers are doing well–though we didn’t plant sunflowers–we have several of them in the back corner;  I can only guess they made the “leap” from the neighbor’s garden (they had them against the adjoining fence last year). The squash plants also have buds and a few small squash growing, but they still have a ways to go also. I try not to compare our garden to the ones I read about in other parts of the country, summer here really doesn’t start until the first week of July and typically continues through the end of September. So we’re only a month into our “summer”.  I’m still hoping for some good things from the garden.

After I butchered rabbits with Rob, he gave me some meat to take home. We do a lot of cooking in the crock pot and decided we’d try rabbit stew. We put the whole butchered rabbit into the crock pot, bones and all (per the recipe), and added fresh vegetables and let it stew. Dinner was tasty and we were pleased with the results. Once we start breeding rabbits, we’ll average about 60 rabbits a year; so we need to find good, varied ways to prepare them. I had thought about grilling it, but Rob mentioned it dries out easily. He offered to have us over for dinner and show me how he cooks it.

Having helped Rob butcher the rabbits, and sharing his skinning knives, I decided I needed to get a set of my own. I picked up a 3-piece set made by Buck that has a light-weight knife, a heavier knife, and a guthook. They come in a durable, washable soft case. I probably won’t use the guthook for the rabbits, but it’ll be there in the future for larger game.

We made our monthly trip to Costco. After being sick last week I was motivated to continue stocking up on OTC meds and vitamins. We got guaifenesin (cough expectorant), multi-vitamins, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D. (I later picked up some Sudafed at another pharmacy.) Costco also had a good price on a 50-foot ,12-gauge extension cord for $20.

What did you do?

(Monday: Sharpening Knives, Part 2)

Momma Bear’s July Preps

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The end of June brought northern Virginia and lower Maryland a serious, and very sudden, storm that resulted in more than a week without power to over a million homes. While we were not personally without power, there were food and ice shortages at some neighborhood stores as supply chains were rerouted or disrupted. It was a great opportunity to talk to our family about heat related illnesses and to review what we would have done for more than a week without A/C in 100+ degree weather. While we have a fireplace to stay warm during cold weather power outages, staying cool in the summer is much harder without power. We are now considering getting a generator, in part, to run a small window A/C unit. We’re also considering some solar battery chargers to power electronic devices. The least expensive option, which we will probably do first, is to get an inverter for our automobile outlets so that we could charge our cell phones and laptops. I think we are going to plan a “power outage drill” weekend in the fall. It will be an opportunity to see if our planning is really living up to our needs.

The biggest weakness we found in our preparations was that simple drinking water is not always enough when the emergency/disaster is during a heat wave. In a long-term, high heat situation–especially during strenuous activity–a Gatorade-type drink is recommended to replace the electrolytes that are lost. So we have added that to our LTS list (diluting it to half strength which is a better ratio for the body, and helps avoid stomach aches and cramping). You can make your own electrolyte oral rehydration solution. Into a quart/liter of water add: 3 tablespoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon table salt and 1/4 teaspoon potassium chloride (bought as salt substitute, e.g. Morton Salt Substitute or Nu-salt) (note: if you don’t have access to potassium chloride double the amount of table salt to 1 teaspoon). Overall though our home is pretty well prepared for a week or more without power. We continue to stock up on alternative cooking fuels (charcoal, propane, butane, and sterno), as well as foods that require minimal cooking, and comfort foods.

After six years out of the country, we have recently purchased fishing gear and licenses (still searching for the perfect boat though). Although none of us are overly experienced fishermen we have begun/resumed fishing — though at this point it’s catch and release. Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, the types of fish we have here are quite a bit different from what we are used to so it’s all about practice. Bass and catfish are the most common and they require larger hooks and stronger line than what we use for trout back home. We are fortunate to live near a number of lakes, and the Potomac River, so there is ample opportunity to practice.

My tomatoes are also growing like gangbusters; I picked one yesterday that is over a pound. This past weekend I canned my first batch of ketchup. It is a little on the gourmet side for flavor (meaning the grownups like it but the kids don’t). Next up for canning is fire roasted tomato salsa. My husband, who is quite the city boy, has been blown away by the idea that we are storing food that we actually grew ourselves, and from which I have harvested seeds for next year’s garden. Like Sarah, I have kept a garden journal to keep track of what is and isn’t working. We are already looking forward to next year to try a few different vegetables and probably more containers since our sunny spots are not necessarily gardenable otherwise. We are working as best we can with what we have.

How is your summer going? What are you canning or storing?

(Monday: Building In Redundancies In Case You Aren’t Available)

What We Did This Week To Prep 7/20/12

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Packing For The Trip

Not much happened this week, prepping-wise, because we were in Colorado visiting family for a chunk of it. Sarah and I went down for five days with the kids, and the kids are staying another week with their grandparents and cousins.

When I was packing for this trip–as I did for our Las Vegas trip last month–I pondered what I could bring to help me be as prepared as possible while traveling. Obviously on any trip like this you can’t prepare for a major disaster (if you think there is likely to be a major disaster maybe it’d be better to just stay home); you can be more prepared for minor problems though, and minor problems are far more likely to happen. We try to avoid checking bags, both because it’s a hassle and most of the time costs extra; so we’re more limited to what we can bring. Since we were going to be staying with my parents I wondered if I really needed to bring much of anything. Then I remembered that we were going to be renting a vehicle and doing a lot of driving around, and of course there wouldn’t be anything extra in a rental vehicle.

So I started with our ‘five basic needs’.

  • Food: I kept the four power bars in my bag, but on a trip like this going without food isn’t too big of a risk.
  • Water: I have a 3-liter CamelBak and a 750 ml water bottle in my pack (redundant). Enough for a day trip for myself and to share as needed. The kids each had their own water bottles.
  • Shelter: It’s summer so I took out the fleece jacket, rain jacket, and warm gloves, but I left in the thermal shirt and stocking cap. I also had leather work gloves and a small tarp.
  • Security: Again with just carry-on luggage you’re very limited: no knives, no pepper spray, no firearms. I do carry a heavy chain with my pack to secure luggage as needed, it could be used as a weapon if necessary.
  • Energy: I have a flashlight and a headlamp in my pack, both use AAA batteries; I also have extra AAA batteries and a cell phone charger. I took my fire starting kit out, but left in a couple of lighters.
  • Medical (6th basic need?): I have my personal trauma kit and then a back-up first aid kit with extra supplies. Excessive? Maybe. But I do have the knowledge and training to take care for those around me and I’m the one everyone will come to. I also carry a sampling of OTC meds.
  • Hygiene: I always have a towel (per Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), a ziplock bag of wet ones, and some antibacterial wipes.
  • Miscellaneous: I have a few basic hand tools, zip ties, some duct tape, para cord, paper and pens, and a couple carabiners.

My bag is always checked VERY closely by the TSA, but it’s now been vetted in the Seattle, Las Vegas, and Colorado Springs airports. And yes, in addition to this I did fit my clothes. After years in the military, and long motorcycle trips, I have learned to pack lightly and very compactly. I can fit most of my clothes in an Eagle Creek Pack-It Cube which fits nicely in my pack’s main pocket.

Also this week, the hand washing laundry stuff we ordered arrived. We are now proud owners of a Rub-Lite Glass Washboard and a Rapid Washer. Next month we’ll get a couple of wash tubs and probably a hand wringer. Then we’ll be ready to start learning that skill set.

What did you do?

 

What We Did This Week To Prep 7/13/12

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It’s been a busy week as we get ready to leave on a family vacation. We’re heading to Colorado Springs, CO to see my parents and other assorted family members. We’re looking forward to the trip; my two youngest, Emily and Alison, have never flown before and are very excited about that.

We did get a few things done. We picked up a seven month old male American Chinchilla Rabbit this week, from another breeder. He will be the patriarch of our future litters; he’s full grown and sexually mature. The does are just three months old now and we need to wait until they are five months to breed them; so the first breeding will be about mid-September. (Winston, our male, looks more brown than gray in the picture, my understanding is that his coat was discolored from the sunlight.)

Speaking of does, I should instead say doe. As advised, we went back and “sexed” our two younger rabbits to ensure they were both female. Turns out one is male. It’s much harder to determine, especially when they’re young, than I would have thought.  Rob, the breeder we got them from, is more than happy to exchange him for a her. I’ll be going to Rob’s place in just over a week to learn from, and help, him butcher his next batch of rabbits. I’ve never done that before and I look forward to the opportunity to learn, but am a little cautious about how I will feel doing it. I believe in what we’re doing and I think it’s important, but taking another life is–and I believe should always be–a difficult thing. I’ve discussed it with Rob and he’s very respectful and efficient about it.

One of the things I really wanted to get done this week, and did–sort of–was to set up an automatic watering system in the rabbitry. Trying to attach a 2-liter water bottle to the side of the hutches is a pain in the butt; I wanted a system that would provide them plenty of water and we wouldn’t have to hassle with it. Sarah’s Mom will be staying at our place and taking care of the dog, cat, rabbits, and garden while we’re gone and I  wanted to make things as easy as possible for her. The system we built basically worked, though I’ll have to spend some time fine tuning it when we get back. We put it together using a 5-gallon bucket to hold the water, 1/2 PVC pipe, and attachments and auto feeding spouts (I got from the feed store). I have little experience with plumbing or PVC piping, but it seemed simple enough. My first attempt leaked too much and had to be redone. It still drips a little and I’ve only routed it to the first two hutches, but it’s fine for now and will be relatively easy to fix and extend as needed. My eventual goal is to use the surface area of the rabbitry (4’ x 12’ = 48 square feet) to catch rain water and channel it into the 5-gallon bucket. After all, we live in Western Washington and have plenty of rainfall, even on that small surface we could collect almost 1200 gallons of water annually; yields will be as low as 30 gallons in July and as high as 170 gallons in November.

What did you do?

 

What We Did This Week To Prep 7/6/12

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One of the goals we have this year is to learn to identify local plants. We wanted to learn not only for us, but to be able to identify plants that grow wild that we can feed the rabbits. We ordered, and received, a plant identification book this week: Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, by Pojar and MacKinnon. We just got it and it looks like it’ll be a great resource. Every plant has a colored picture(s), it’s well organized, and has lots of good information.

To continue working on our goal of being able to do laundry by hand we ordered a washboard and a Tin-Plated Steel Washer from Lehman’s this week. Next month we’ll budget money for the rest of the stuff needed: wash tubs and a hand-wringer.

We also ordered LifeStraws, personal water filters developed by Vestergaard Frandsen. I’ve read great reviews about them and decided to order three, one each for Sarah, Ryan, and my Get-Home Bags (GHB*). The literature states that they are designed to be used by one person and are capable of filtering 1000 liters of water (enough for one person for one year), removing 99.9% of waterborne bacteria and parasites.

We also made our monthly trip to Costco. We bought, after previously looking at and researching, a Goal Zero Portable Solar Power Pack Kit ($100). It’s designed to hang on a pack, absorbing sunlight to recharge your smart phone, camera, iPod, or anything else that can plug into a USB port, in addition to being able to charge AA and AAA rechargeable batteries. This is our first, and very minor, step into the world of photovoltaic solar power; I’m sure there’ll be a lot to learn.

It was interesting, at Costco, to find that we’re spending less on our normal purchases. Since our SWYE non-perishable food is basically complete (thus we have plenty of EVERYTHING we regularly use) we only buy replacement items when they are on sale. We love the fact that we can have our food storage and save money!

We also bought a couple of boxes of medical exam non-latex gloves; I prefer latex, but they’re getting harder to find and don’t store long-term as well (when they get old they tend to break when you put them on). And picked up some additional OTC Loperamide, they’re anti-diarrheal pills (combination of imodium and kaopectate); dysentery in a collapse is a huge risk.

As I’ve always said, buying things is easy; so look for future posts that discuss, and review, our experiences as we develop the skill-sets needed to use the above items.

The garden is about the same, though the strawberries and raspberries are starting to produce. Summer has finally started here in Western Washington, with forecasted temperatures of 70s and 80s and sunshine for the next week; so hopefully that’ll give the garden the kick it needs.

What did you do?

(Monday: 1/2 Through 2012 – Reviewing The Goals)

* For a complete list of abbreviations go to the ‘Check Here…‘ tab at the top left of the page.

What We Did This Week To Prep 6/29/12

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We’ve started pasturing our rabbits. We spent the first few weeks we had the rabbits slowly/progressively getting them used to fresh grass and clover. They adapted well as evidenced by their continued solid poops and healthy growth. We’ve now started taking them out of the rabbitry daily and putting them under a movable “rabbit tractor’ in the backyard. We have a good growth of clover and the white clover we planted in the spring is finally starting to come up, so the rabbits should have plenty to eat; hopefully they’ll eat enough to make up over half of their diet. We’re still feeding them rabbit pellets and dried grass hay, but they have been eating progressively less.

Even though the rabbits are still several months away from breeding and producing litters we are already benefiting from their manure. Rabbit manure is the most concentrated fresh animal manure available (NPK), it can be put straight onto the plants, it breaks down relatively quickly, and has no smell. The chart below shows how it compares with other livestock manure (the others all need to be composted before adding to the garden, and many have a strong odor).

Material Nitrogen (N) % Phosphorus (P) % Potassium (K) %
Chicken Manure 1.6 1.5 0.9
Cow Manure 0.3 0.2 0.1
Horse Manure 0.7 0.3 0.6
Pig Manure 0.5 0.3 0.5
Rabbit Manure 2.4 1.4 0.6
Sheep Manure 0.7 0.3 0.9

Since we don’t have enough to manure yet to cover all the plants, we’re maximizing what we have by making rabbit compost tea. We mixed a couple of large scoops of manure into a 5-gallon bucket of rain water (from our rain barrels); it’s been sitting for a couple of days and this weekend I’ll go around and water each one of the plants with it. We’ll especially get some extra on the tomatoes because their leaves are yellowing a little and I understand that means they’re low on nitrogen.

Unlike most of the country, Western Washington had cooler than normal temperatures in June. Our average high temperature for the month was 65.1 degrees, and we’ve only had six days that have reached over 70 degrees. We’ve also had 27 days with partly cloudy or cloudy conditions. Because of our cooler temperatures and lack of sunshine our garden hasn’t done much yet. It hasn’t suffered but it certainly hasn’t “bloomed” either. Most of the plants are about the same size as when we put them in the ground, with the snap peas and potatoes being the exception. This week we put more plants into the ground from the greenhouse, but we still have half of our tomatoes in there and the ones in the greenhouse are doing better. While we know much of the country is suffering from hot temperatures we’re jealous of their garden productions and early harvests. We’re ready for summer to start here, July should be warmer and more sunny; it typically is, with a monthly average high of 75.3 degrees.

What did you do?

Momma Bear’s June Preps

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My June preps have kept me busy with my beginner’s garden. My family has been wonderful taking turns watering and weeding! My tomatoes got over their initial aphid romance — no more picking off bugs by hand; now I just go out to talk to them, tie them to the stakes as they continue to grow skyward, and sucker them off as they blossom. The first tomatoes (the two determinant plants) were almost ready to harvest when the squirrels started eating them. I am now covering them, and the blueberry bush, with ‘bird netting’ and hoping that will be sufficient to keep away the squirrels. We also had our first harvest of FIVE blueberries! We did not actually anticipate any fruit from the blueberry or blackberry bushes this first year, but they seem to be doing well since they are putting off a few handfuls of berries. Quite a pleasant surprise to be eating berries this year!

This month we have been doing some research and are thinking about buying a used boat. Although we live close to the interstate, and not too far from Washington D.C.–imagine the gridlock in an emergency–we are also only a walk from the Potomac River (and exactly 10 miles from our marina located on a secure military installation). We have been boating with various friends, learning, and considering the many different types of boats available. A boat would serve as both a recreational and bug out vehicle. There are many great deals out there on used boats due to the poor economy, but we are taking our time before we find just the right one. Has anyone else opted for a boat as a bug out vehicle/home?

Lastly this month, I have hit a turning point on the food storage program. While I have a big storage room in my basement, my food storage has reached a size that requires me to start reducing my other “stuff” to keep meeting my food storage goals. This is both a happy and sad occasion since it means I will be downsizing in some ways, while still building my food security. At the same time, I do not want to become a hoarder that can’t stop keeping/saving things (food included). The other difficulty with food storage, for us, is that we try to eat fresh rather than canned/packaged foods; so every item I store is not necessarily part of my household food rotation. How do YOU decide exactly what foods to store? Has anyone else had to make space compromises to continue storing food? At what point do we ever have enough food stored? When is one area of “prepping” ever complete or enough? I am sure these are all issues we share in common. I would love to hear some feedback about it.

What did you do?

 

What We Did This Week To Prep 6/15/12

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Ryan and I spent more time working on the rabbit hutch, or I guess I should correctly call it our ‘rabbitry’. It’s covered now, the top row of cages are hung, and our does have moved from the garage and are now in their new home. As planned I put it where we can see it through the kitchen window, kind of the “in sight, in mind” concept. This is their second week on fresh grass and clover, we’ve doubled the amount and they seem to be handling it well (poops still solid). Next week we’ll start pasturing them. We told the kids they could name these rabbits (since they’ll be the parents); then Ryan, in his wood shop class, made some nice signs with their names on them for the rabbitry (we’ll get them stained and up this week).

I mentioned, during our last ‘lights out drill’, that we couldn’t get the garage door to open manually when the power was off. We pulled the red handled cord and nothing happened, we shined the flashlight around and tried to figure it out and couldn’t see anything wrong, we pulled harder and still nothing. At that point we gave up and continued with the drill. Yesterday I went out to figure out why it wouldn’t open (as I mentioned, the garage door opener was recently replaced), eventually–it took longer than it should have–I figured out the manual disconnect handle had been tied off to the wrong spot. I moved it over to where it should be and now it works just fine. Look around your own homes and double-check the little things, make sure you not only know how to open/close/shut-off or whatever but you actually do it to make sure it works (except don’t shut off your natural gas, that’s a hassle to relight). If this had been a true emergency there would have been the associated increased stress level already, and the door not opening would not have helped; a stressful blackout emergency is not conducive to calmly trouble-shooting something that is not working properly.

A couple of months ago I went to a friends semi-official/developing prepper group. Mike is doing a good job getting people together on a regular basis and slowly exposing them to prepper ideas and concepts (this month, our second get together, I taught first aid to the group). The first get together, he did a short presentation on home safety items: backup/emergency lighting, fire extinguishers, smoke and CO2 detectors, escape ladders, etc. We had everything thoroughly covered at our home, except the escape ladders. We have two bedrooms with windows that are about 14 feet off the ground, not impossible to hang and drop from but we figured it’d be better to have the escape ladders. We bought two ladders (about $30 each) and will practice with them soon, and then store them under the beds near the windows.

What did you do?

(Monday: NO POST – we’ll be in Las Vegas on vacation with friends)

What We Did This Week To Prep 6/8/12

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Rabbits have been our prepping focus this week. As mentioned, we got two American Chinchilla does. We’re glad we have them and really feel like they will be a positive addition to our family and our preps. The kids enjoy holding them, and while they understand they’re not just pets, we feel it’s okay for them to bond with the mothers of our future litters. We’re starting to slowly introduce fresh grass, clover, and dandelions to them to get their guts use to it. Our goal is to pasture them in the backyard (under a “rabbit tractor” to keep them safe and contained) as much as possible, especially during the summer; then during the winter grow greens for them. We’ll continue to feed them pellets daily to supplement, and round out, their natural diet.

I’m looking forward to watching Sarah’s gardening journal grow and expand. While a journal isn’t a new concept and it’s a very simple idea, I’m not sure I’d have thought about it in reference to a garden. I think it will be very valuable, and interesting, to track our progress over the years. Sarah will also be keeping a rabbit journal, recording: breeding, litter size, butchering, diet, any health problems, and other pertinent information.

Even though we have our rabbits we don’t have our full rabbit hutch completed yet (so they’re still in the garage). Ryan and I are building it in the backyard on the north side of the house. We figured the north side would work best because it gets less sunlight, so we don’t grow anything there, and it’ll be cooler; rabbits deal better with cool temperatures than hot. Plus it will allow us to see the rabbits through the kitchen window so it’ll be easy to watch them and ensure their comfort and safety.

Even though we won’t be able to breed and butcher our rabbits anytime soon, one advantage of rabbits that we’ll be able to take advantage of almost immediately is their manure. Rabbit manure is some of the best stuff you can get to fertilize your garden. It can be put straight onto the garden, without having to be composted first (it’s not “hot”), even around plants you will be harvesting soon. Rise and Shine Rabbitry, has a great post on the uses of rabbit manure. Between the front and back yards we have a lot of garden space to cover. I’ll start by putting it around individual plants, then as we get more spread it all through the garden. When we get a good layer everywhere it’ll either be time to start over or share it with some of our neighbors who also garden. Maybe we’ll arrange a trade with them, their old garden and vegetable scraps for rabbit manure.

What did you do?

(Monday: Be Sure You Have Alternate Routes)

 

What We Did This Week To Prep 6/01/12

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Now that the garden is mostly in place, minus a few things still in the greenhouse, there really isn’t that much to report out there. I go out and check the garden each day and smile as I see the progress our plants are making. Strawberries and squash are starting to bloom, the raspberries have lots of small green berries. I weed as necessary, water when it’s too dry (though we do live in Western WA and that’s not a big problem), and reset the mouse traps.

Mouse traps? Well we’ve had a problem keeping Kate (our 9 month old Border Collie) out of the garden, and especially from digging in the nice soft soil (that we worked so hard to get). We debated options of fencing the whole thing in (but she can easily jump over three feet, she’d just see it as another fun challenge), or putting in an invisible fence–though that costs a lot and seemed to be a bit of over-kill. So I came up with the idea of trying mouse traps. She’s already jumpy and overly cautious of the unknown, so I put traps in the places she had been digging, near the compost, our new plants, and her usual paths. In the past couple of weeks she’s set off several of the traps (getting her nose once) but is getting much better at avoiding the areas they are in and, in general, just staying out of the garden.

I finished reading Holding Their Own II: The Independents (the sequel to Holding Their Own that I reviewed a couple weeks ago). It was okay. It’s changed from being a prepper-type book, with many good ideas incorporated into a novel, to a post-apocalyptic, adventure, “super cool guy hero” book. (If you enjoy Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels you’d probably enjoy continuing this series; though they’re not nearly as well written as Child’s). Joe Nobody expands the scope of his original book and is now taking on the task of rebuilding the nation, with opposing factions–the federal government and the “Independents”–moving toward civil war. The second book ends leading straight into a third book.

Ryan and I (with some help from Emily and Alison) spent quite a bit of time this week building rabbit hutches. I bought a roll of 1” x 2” 14 gauge galvanized wire fencing, cut it and bent in into a square. Then, using J clips, attached it to itself and put on a roof, and using 1/2” x 1” wire fencing, attached the floor. This weekend we’ll build the frame to hold them and be ready for the rabbits. I’ve got a potential lead for rabbits, but haven’t heard back from him yet; if anyone knows of a good source of rabbits in Western Washington let me know, otherwise I’ll just hit Craigslist.

Quote of the Week: “The only time you can have too much ammo is if you’re drowning or on fire.” -Jeff Chudwin

What did you do?

(Monday: We’re Raising Rabbits)