New York Preppers Network

Build a solid grape support and grow wonderful grapes

2011-08-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

By Paul & Liz Stevens

Like many we wanted to produce grapes, and like many that dream seemed to always end up in disappointment, as the grapes would come on and seem to just dry up before they matured. We did the typical 4 x4 post with wire strung between them, but after the first few years when the grapes were really starting to take off the post were crooked, the wire was sagging and no matter what we did the vines always ended up touching the ground.

In touring the Amish country we began noticing one more step they use in supporting their grapes. They use the post and wire, but they take one additional step. At about 54” high they run a solid pipe through the post and drill through and bolt it at each post.
When we moved to Texas we decided to take that next step and built our new support using three post set so that we could run a 20’ 1-1/2” galvanized chain link fence top rail through the post. This meant we had to subtract 4” off each end of the 20’ so that the pole would go from end to end, with one post in the center. Before we set the post we wedged them plum and used a string level on our chalk line and snapped a line level at 54” high, then another line where we wanted the top to be. We numbered the post took each one back out and drilled strait through the center of each post on our drill press using the chalk line as our horizontal center point. We used the next size up forstner bit from the actual pole size to give a bit of wiggle room. We then drilled a series of 3/8” holes in each post space 16” apart starting at 12” from the ground. This is where we ran our wire through to attach the vines as they grow up to the main pole. We cut the post to length and set the post back into the ground. With some extra hands we went ahead and slid the pole through the tops, drilled through the end post and bolted them, after we had the end post plumb, we plumbed the center post and drilled and bolted it.

We set the post with just a little bit of concrete just to fill the post hole, plus we only needed to go down around 2’. With this system all the tension is held by the pipe at the top, so we didn’t need to attack it with a 3’ deep hole and several bags of concrete. That was our first clue that we were really going to really like this approach, a lot less work! To add a bit of fancy to the project we purchased the ball tops and screwed them into the top of each post. After the post cured we ran our wire through the holes having the pole across the top keeps the post solid, thus we were able to really stretch the wire without worry of pulling the post inward.

We started our grapes and carefully nurtured them as they grew to the top. We choose Muscadine Grapes as we know someone living in the Florida panhandle suggested them. They have much of the same climate as we do in central coastal Texas, and have tried several of the varieties from up North with no success, except for the Muscadine, with that said where you live will have a lot to do with the varieties that do well in your climate.

Well with all this work we thought we were ready to cash in on a great grape crop, nope after they started to really mature about five years ago, the same old story, they came on strong and then just shriveled up like a pea and dropped off. We have them in the irrigation system so we knew they were getting plenty of water. We did notice that we were getting a fungus on the leaves and would spray but that didn’t really help either.

As we drove through Texas we would always admire the wonderful grape vineyards and wondered just what the secret was that we were missing. As we began to look closer we noticed there were no leaves up to around 4’ from the ground. At first we thought this was just because the plants were more mature. We went home and peeled off all our leaves that were close to the ground and kept new growth from coming out at that level. We also fertilized the plants and to our surprise the fungus went away the plants filled out the grapes came on stayed and we had a great crop that year. This year will mark our 3rd year with a strong crop of grapes. Last year off four plants spreading across that 20’ section we were able to harvest enough grapes to make jelly and nearly five gallons of wine.

In total it has been eight years since we planted our grapes, the support is still as plumb and straight as the day we installed it, and it appears it will be that way for some time. We are really sold on this system, as for what made the grapes finally take off, we are not sure which has more benefit the removal of the leaves or the fertilizer but we plan to keep a good thing going. Hope this helps someone else having the same problems with their grapes.

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http://www.cottagecraftworks.com

First Must Have in your Dental Prep Kit

2011-03-16T08:31:00.001-07:00

First Must Have in your Dental Prep Kit
From: roger o

Hi Everyone, in this first tip for what you should have in your dental emergency kit, I am going to tell you about a very simple yet invaluable product.

First, some language definitions; oil of cloves is the same as eugenol
cap is the same as crown

Other than routine dental hygiene and having toothpaste (whole 'nuther topic!) and dental floss, we have to address what to do in case of dental pain, the loss of a filling or cap, or an ulceration in your mouth.

One of the oldest, yet best medications we have to solve most dental problems is oil of cloves, also known as eugenol. A quick Google search revealed many sites devoted to the benefits of oil of cloves such as http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/251.html.

Eugenol, applied to a sore tooth, or on the gum tissue will reduce or eliminate pain within a very short time. Eugenol is highly anti-microbial, and wonderful for all kinds of infections, similar to tea tree oil. It can be somewhat irritating to sensitive gums, but can be thinned out with olive oil very effectively.

In addition, when mixed with zinc oxide powder, it can be made into a thick easily handling temporary filling material that can be placed in a tooth when a filling is lost, or inside a cap to recement it.

Eugenol is shelf stable essentially indefinately (although it will turn dark over time). It can be purchased at Amazon.com, as well as health food stores. Zinc oxide is also shelf stable, and can be purchased at Amazon, and many other sources.

A warning to all: Using any self applied medication is not a substitute for professional dental care. At the first sign of dental pain, swelling of problem of any kind, seek the advice and treatment of a licensed dentist.

Yours in health!

Roger

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New York Preppers Roll Call - All Preppers Please Check In

2011-03-07T06:07:00.001-08:00

The American Preppers Network is conducting a network-wide roll call. Whether you are a member or not please check in and let us know what you are doing to prepare.

This is a good opportunity to network with other preppers near you.

New York Preppers, to respond to the roll call please follow this link:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=184&t=9274

Reply to the Roll Call and let us know what you have been doing to prepare.

If you are not yet a member of the forum you can register here for free:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/ucp.php?mode=register

Twitter Reunites Homeless Man, Daughter

2011-02-27T19:18:00.000-08:00

One tweet. That's all it took to reunite homeless man Danny Morales with his long-lost daughter. But before we delve into the details--CNN interviewed Morales on just how he became homeless in the first place.

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Free Online Permaculture Course

2011-02-03T10:19:00.000-08:00

"Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that are modeled on the relationships found in natural ecologies." This results in very dense food production that requires very little maintenance once established. These techniques should make life considerably easier for a prepper looking to establish a long-term food garden.

Permaculture design courses typically run in the hundreds to thousand dollar range and are out of the reach of many people, especially in this economy. So here is a free online permaculture course provided by NC State. This won't take the place of a hands on permaculture course and the climate down there is different than New York State, but it's certainly a great start!

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Beef Jerkey

2011-01-22T21:12:00.000-08:00

Beef Jerky. Most folks love it. It's extremely versatile, stores well, and it's much easier to make than you might imagine. This thread on the APN forum has a few different recipes for great jerky and also has links to Alton Brown's Good Eats episode on the topic (See below). I highly recommended the episode because it shows how to build a bulk low-temp dehydrator out of a box fan, some filters, and two bungee-cords.

Part 1

Part 2

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New York Preppers Events Calendar!

2011-01-18T09:56:00.001-08:00

The New York Preppers Network now has an events calendar! Check out the block on the right titled "APN New York Events Calendar". This calendar will link to events in and around New York State that preppers may find useful.

The calendar is hosted by Google and you can access and subscribe to it in many different ways.

XML - A raw feed of the calendar's data.

iCal - The calendar's feed, in the popular iCal format. This is the link you will typically use if you want to subscribe to the calendar.

HTML - The calendar in the regular web format.

Here is an example of how to subscribe to the calendar in Microsoft's popular Outlook application. And here is an example in the Mac calendar application.

Have any event suggestions? Does your group maintain an event calendar that the NYPN Should follow? Let us know about it in the comments!

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The Elements of Survival, Part 1

2011-01-14T12:16:00.001-08:00

For our New York City area members, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation is running a four part series on the elements of survival. Part 1 is coming up tomorrow, January 15th at 1PM at the Forrest Park Visitor Center in Queens! See the NYCDPR website for more information.

In this four part series, you'll learn about the four basic elements of wilderness survival: shelter, water, fire, and food. The first part focuses on the importance of building a good shelter.

The other dates are:

Part 2 - Saturday, January 29, 2011 @ 1:00 p.m.
Part 3 - Saturday, February 12, 2011 @ 1:00 p.m
Part 4 - Saturday, February 26, 2011 @ 1:00 p.m

This looks to be a great free event for the residents of the city. I hope to see you there! If you come around, look for the really tall guy in the black ZS shirt.

There is also a winter survival class being held on the 29th as well down at the Salt Marsh Nature Center in Marine Park. (East 33rd Street and Avenue U, Brooklyn)

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APN Mentioned on Popular Mechanics Website!

2011-01-12T13:56:00.000-08:00

Our very own North Idaho Patriot was interviewed by popular mechanics for this nice little write up. See the link below.

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Mother Earth News Fair - Any Interest in Going?

2011-01-11T18:08:00.000-08:00

Attention New York Preppers: Mother Earth News is having a fair! It will be on the weekend of September 24-25 in Seven Springs, PA. Here is the relevant page from Mother Earth News and the APN thread as well.

If there's any interest in going, we can arrange a trip to leave from the NYC Metro area and try to get either discounted lodging or a nice camp site near by. Other members of APN will be going and it will be a great opportunity to learn and meet other like-minded folks.

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Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking

2011-01-03T21:56:00.000-08:00

When the grid goes down, will you know how to bake a loaf of bread? Do you have books of recipes that require exotic ingredients? Will you be able to throw together some kind of edible meal from strange or new ingredients? It may be time to look at cooking from a different point of view.

Ratio: Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman provides just that alternate point of view, focusing not on the recipes that make a good meal, but on the underlying ratios that make a good recipe.

From the review thread here...

I've been cooking for most of my life, even though my definition of cooking has changed considerably over the years. When I was young, cooking meant helping my mother in the kitchen with whatever she would let me do. It started out with holding a spoon here and there, to stirring the pots, to actually cutting up the veggies. Cooking was listening to what my mother told me to do, and following her instructions closely. As I grew, cooking became more complicated. I found cook books and cooking shows, which opened up an entirely new world! All of a sudden I had recipes to follow instead of just my mother's words of wisdom. This evolution continued as I learned to "customize" recipes. Take a little from one recipe, a little from another, maybe change up some spices here and there... This led to some culinary triumphs, like the oddly delicious scrambled pancake, and many culinary failures; pancakes should never have tendrils. The evolution continued as I realized there were different techniques for cooking. I purchased the Culinary Institute of America's The Professional Chef and worked my way through bits and pieces of it to broaden my horizons and skill base. I watched shows like Alton Brown's Good Eats and began learning how ingredients actually worked together. I started to see the patterns in recipes and come up with some of my own. But I was still basing my culinary work on existing recipes in one way or another.

Then I came across a list of Alton Brown's favorite cook books. Some of the items on the list were familiar, the first one was my mother's culinary bible, The Joy of Cooking. Others were just plain intriguing, like this book called Ratio. Math? In cooking? My inner engineer just had to know more...

Eventually, Ratio was ordered, made its way into my mailbox, my book pile, and my hands. Let me start by saying that Ratio is not a cookbook in the classic sense: it does not contain a list of recipes. In fact, Ratio has only a handful of recipes in the whole book. Ratio is, as its title suggests, about ratios. More specifically, it is about the fundamental ratios that exist in the world of cooking. Why is this important? Allow me to quote from the first paragraph of the book: "When you know a culinary ratio, it's not like knowing a single recipe, it's instantly knowing a thousand." Ratio is primordial culinary power, pure and simple.

Ratio's author, Michael Ruhlman gives each ratio in its own chapter, where he discusses some of the nuances of the ratio. In the bread section, for example, he details kneading, yeasts, and a few ways to expand on the basic ratio. Each chapter then has some example recipes using the ratio, and a few final notes. Every section of this unassuming little tome is packed with useful information. Even it's cover is a useful chart of the continuum of dough, from bread to crepes.

Ratio is a true eye-opener. Want to bake bread? Five parts flour to three parts water. Salt and yeast are encouraged, but optional. Five to three and you will have bread. All bread, of any kind starts with this simple ratio. Want pie dough? 3:2:1 flour, fat, water. Crepes? 1:1:0.5 Liquid, Egg, Flour. Stocks? 3:2 Water, Bones. Mayonnaise, not the clunky, bland store-bought mayo, but deliciously creamy and flavorful mayonnaise? 20:1+1 Oil, liquid, yolk. Ratio is the culinary world at its simplest and most elegant.

Ratio by itself won't do the average person much good, I suppose. You have to have an appreciation for cooking and a desire to understand why it works the way it does. If you like your TV dinners luke-warn, Ratio is not for you. If, on the other hand, you want to learn the most fundamental parts of actual cooking, if you want to expand your horizons past simple recipes, if you want to grow as a cook and not just be a follower, Ratio may well be your path to enlightenment.

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“The Truth is We’re Freakin’ Finished”

2010-12-31T11:45:00.000-08:00

While Bob from Drinking With Bob may be a little bit emotionally driven he does a pretty good job of getting his point across. In the following video Bob rants about the failing public services sector in New York and points out what many of us already know:

(Video follows excerpt and commentary)

The truth is we’re freakin’ finished. The government has bankrupted this city, this state, and this freakin’ country. Meanwhile, they keep freakin’ taxing us. New York City is charging for services they can no longer provide. It’s like charging you for a movie they’re not going to make, or charging you a toll to go over a bridge that doesn’t freakin’ exist.

New York is just a microcosm of the greater problem facing the nation. As we reported in Doomsday Fear Mongers Get It Right Again, the cities and states are facing extremely serious budget problems which will eventually lead to a federal fiscal crisis unlike anything we’ve ever seen in America.

Bob discusses the problems New York is having with the lack of sufficient emergency personnel and law enforcement - and this trend is only going to continue to expand. Just about every state and major city in the country will be forced into the same cuts. They simply do not have the money to pay for these services anymore. Financial analyst Meredith Whitney stated in mid-2010 that the public sector will have to lay off 2 million workers over the coming 24 months - and that won’t even help them to break even, that’s just to keep operations going.

Currently, the focus is on the aforementioned public sector jobs, but consider what will happen as states can no longer afford public pension funds or health and human services like Medicaid and Medicare. Eventually, the contagion spreads to the Federal level.

The billions of dollars in services on which many Americans depend will start being reduced. This is going to hit Americans like an 8 pound sledgehammer.

We’ve become so dependent on entitlement programs, that the majority of people on those soon to be cut services will be left with nowhere to turn.

As early as the first quarter of 2011 we can expect to see massive protests, potentially even riots, as public pensioners and employees hit the streets because Republicans are now prepared to pass new legislation that will force states into bankruptcy - no more borrowing - which means states are going to have to make significant cuts to those pension funds.

Over the course of the next couple years, the outrage against forced austerity will continue to spread and will include all of those who have become accustomed to free government handouts, including those on welfare, health care, food stamps and unemployment. It’s not going to be pretty.

All the while, as government pulls services, they will move to raise taxes, either overtly or under the cover of doublespeak legislation or inflationary monetary policy.

Bob on the incompetence of Mayor Bloomberg and the state of affairs in America:

Author: Mac Slavo
Date: December 30th, 2010
Visit the Author's Website: http://www.SHTFplan.com/

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FCC internet takeover faces potential roadblock

2010-12-25T10:06:00.000-08:00

Just days after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decided to essentially take over the internet, FOX News is reporting that a procedural delay could bring any new FCC rules to a grinding halt. Several Congressmen plan to take advantage of the 60-day waiting period required before any new rules can come into effect, and effectively block the new regulations.

Sens. John Ensign (R-NV) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) together are planning to introduce legislation to overturn the FCC's takeover before it can take effect two months after being published in the Federal Register. And according to FOX News, the FCC is set to publicly release the new rules in early January.

"This vote is an unprecedented power-grab by the unelected members of the Federal Communications Commission, spearheaded by Chairman Genachowski," explained Hutchison in a statement. "The FCC is attempting to push excessive government regulation of the Internet through without congressional authority and these actions threaten the very future of the technology."

The FCC flagrantly violated several previous court rulings by deciding on Tuesday to seize control of the internet. In a 3-to-2 decision, the FCC Commission essentially declared that it would begin policing the internet under the guise of "net neutrality", even though the agency cannot legally do so with approval from Congress.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), incoming overseer of the House Energy and Commerce Committte, has also indicated that he plans to stop the takeover "by any legislative means necessary." And with many new Republicans set to be installed in the new Congress, analysts say it is likely that any new FCC rules will eventually be overturned.

Sources for this story include:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...
Thursday, December 23, 2010 by: Ethan A

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Terrorist may poison the food supply (but the food companies already have)

2010-12-25T09:54:00.000-08:00

(NaturalNews) Always on the terror streak, the mainstream media is now warning Americans that terrorists may strike the food supply by dumping poison into restaurant salad bars and buffets, for example. CBS News broke the story, quoting anonymous "intelligence" sources who insist that terrorists might use ricin or cyanide to poison foods in salad bars.

I have news for CBS, the federal government, and the terrorists: If you really want to poison the U.S. food supply, just use aspartame. It causes neurological disorders and yet remains perfectly legal to dump into foods such as diet sodas and children's medicines. You don't even have to dump it into the food supply in secret, either: You can do it right out in full view of the public. Heck, you can even list this chemical right on the ingredients label!

Or get into the MSG business. MSG, which is often hidden on "natural" foods under an ingredient called yeast extract, is a potent neurotoxin that promotes obesity and even cancer, according to some experts. Feed people enough MSG and they'll probably die of cancer sooner or later, and that counts toward the goal of terrorism too, doesn't it?

If you really want to get nasty and up the body count, start a hot dog company and dump sodium nitrite into your processed meat like all the other hot dog companies do. Sodium nitrite promotes aggressive cancers -- even in children -- and yet the USDA and FDA allow its use in the food supply (http://www.naturalnews.com/007133.html).

Better yet, feed the population genetically modified corn and then wait for the mutations to kick in. GMOs might actually be called a biological weapon because they cause so much harm to humans and the environment. (http://www.naturalnews.com/GMO.html)

Why be a terrorist when you can do so much more damage as a processed food company?

If you're a terrorist looking to poison the U.S. food supply, get in line, buddy! The food companies have beat you to it!

In the U.S. food supply right now, you can find toxic mercury, BPA, acrylamides, petrochemicals, dangerous preservatives, synthetic chemicals like aspartame, pesticide residues and artificial colors that alter brain function. The FDA doesn't seem to care about any of this, of course: All these poisons in the food supply are legal!

So here's a message to Al-Qaeda and all the other terrorists trying to kill Americans: Don't bother with bombs and missiles... just get into the processed food business!

Or, heck, if you really want to kill Americans with poison, get into the cancer industry! The "Al-Qaeda Cancer Clinic" could really rack up some body bags by doing what all the other cancer clinics do: Inject patients with chemotherapy and watch them die (http://www.naturalnews.com/029996_c...).

Seriously, if you want to kill Americans, all you really need to do is keep supporting conventional medicine and the FDA with its do-nothing position on dangerous chemicals that threaten the health of Americans right now. FDA-approved drugs kill well over 100,000 Americans each year -- a statistic that dwarfs the body count of any terrorist group.

Come to think of it, how do we know the FDA isn't already being run by terrorists? Their actions, which blatantly endanger American lives, are entirely consistent with the aims of a terrorist organization. (http://www.naturalnews.com/001894.html)

By the way, this is all depicted in a CounterThink cartoon I created in 2006 called The Food Terrorists: http://www.counterthink.com/The_Foo...

This cartoon anticipated today's terror news alerts by four years. That's because when it comes to the U.S. government's rhetoric on terrorism, it's not that difficult to see where they're taking it.

Want to know what the next four years will bring us? I'll soon be publishing a list of predictions for 2011 and beyond. Watch NaturalNews.com for that announcement.

In the mean time, you might want to steer clear of FDA-approved foods and drugs, because you just never know what's really in them.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com

Sources for this story include:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010...

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Magnesium Fire Starters

2010-11-30T12:00:00.000-08:00

Many folks have those old magnesium block fire starters in case of an emergency, but how many actually know how to use them properly?

Forum Goer Tigger2 asked that very question over in this thread. Here was my answer:

Use the hacksaw blade to shave the block (which is the actual magnesium). Do this till you have a nice sized pile in/on your kindling. I usually take 5 minutes worth of shavings working at a slow pace. Then, take the hacksaw blade and hold it over the pile. Put the ferrocerium rod against it firmly and pull the rod back. This should send a shower of sparks against the magnesium. This should cause it to ignite.

Below is a video example from a non-affiliated youtube channel.

What is your preferred backup fire-starting method? Have you practiced it recently?

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New York Preppers Roll Call

2010-11-27T10:34:00.001-08:00

The New York Preppers Network is conducting a Roll Call on our forum. If you are a prepper please check in.

* Here is a link to the Roll Call:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=184&t=6187

You have to be registered to check in. If you aren't registered please join here:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/ucp.php?mode=register

* If you are a HAM Radio Operator check in here:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=143&t=6219

* If you are an A.N.T.S. member please check in here:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=618&t=6220

Viking Turf Homes

2010-10-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

The folks over at Failblog came up with this interesting article on viking turf houses. The technique is very similar to cob construction and provides for a tremendous amount of thermal mass. Though the original designs were very unhealthy (Fire pit with no chimney/flue? No thank you!) these could be adapted as mid-term to long-term expedient shelters.
-TL

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New from New York

2010-10-07T13:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome our new members:

Jubil05

Hello All:

New to the site, been prepping for awhile as I live in snow country...4 WD vehicles,extra chow on hand, generator, wood burning stove and other things required. Veteran, retired civil service, HAM radio operator. Looking to sharpen skills, build knowledge,network in Western NY area.

Welcome our new member by clicking on link below:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=563&t=6073

Marksent

Small business owner in NY..my wife is retired..I'm working part time..
Always lived in the country..
Have always been self sufficient..
God-centered home..
Both A personalities..

Welcome our new member by clicking on link below:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=563&t=5980&sid=5877

hudval

Hello all, new member from behind enemy lines(NY).

Welcome our new member by clicking on link below:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=563&t=5945

tiiijaaa

I just found this site as I was looking for information on surviving the upcoming chaos we are all about to face. Although I won't be able to spend an inordinate amount of time here, I will most certainly be checking in from time to time. So hello to all from upstate NY.

Welcome our new member by clicking on link below:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=563&t=5885&p=55638

Rondygal

Hello all! Western NY here. Happy to meet you all. I am a disabled grandma who tries to put something back every payday because I believe food is going to become harder and harder to come by. I really like the concept of this site and am excited to read what others here have to say.

Welcome our new member by clicking on link below:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=563&t=5593&sid=7489

ranger61

Hello from Darien Lake New York everyone!I happen to come across this site and it looks very interesting.I have a long background in survival and prepping.I am looking forward to learning more from all of you,you can never get enough info in your life there is always something new to learn.Glad to be here with you all!

Welcome our new member by clicking on link below:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=563&t=5555

ClosetPrepper

Hello,

Thank you so much for having this forum. Can't wait to learn from all the experienced preppers here.

Welcome our new member by clicking on link below:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=563&t=5394&p=51072

laditek

Hi! I'm Laditek and I've been prepping for a few years now (mostly getting camping gear and other BOB essentials together). I live in NYC with theLight and we split the preps between the two of us. I'm an amateur radio tech and love to do anything and everything related to fiberarts. Hoping to exapand my knowledge and meet some like-minded folks.

Welcome our new member by clicking on link below:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=563&t=5163

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Items For Your Prepping Library

2010-10-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Forum member TaffyJ posted about a particularly good series of books from the Hesperian Foundation. Here are the books available for download with links. Readers are encouraged to add them to their physical library by printing them out or purchasing the published versions.

The Hesperian Foundation requests email verification for downloads. The following links take you to their website:
A Community Guide to Environmental Health (Paperback)
Where There Is No Doctor (Paperback)
Where Women Have No Doctor (Paperback)
A Book for Midwives (Paperback)
A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities (Paperback)
Disabled Village Children (Paperback)
HIV Health and Your Community (Paperback)
Helping Children Who Are Deaf (Paperback)
Helping Children Who Are Blind (Paperback)
A Worker's Guide to Health and Safety
Cholera Prevention Fact Sheet
Sanitation and Cleanliness for a Healthy Environment
Water for life
Pesticides are poison
Safe Handling of Health Care Waste
Women's Health Exchange
Global Health Watch 2005-2006
Global Health Watch 2
Where There Is No Dentist (Paperback)
The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard

Some of the above books are also available in other languages. Check out Hesperian's Download Page for more information.
-TL

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New New York Members

2010-09-28T13:27:00.000-07:00

The New York Preppers Network Welcomes our Newest Members

urban bugger

Hi everyone just wanted to introduce myself to the forum. Im from NYC and thus am prepping for a bug in situation. Anyone else from NYC please feel free to say hello. I would be very interested in sharing ideas for prepping in an urban area particular to NYC where we are surrounded by water

to post your welcome please follow this link:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=563&t=4965

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How To Join The New York Preppers Network

2010-09-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

Come learn survival, preparedness and sustainable living with us!

The Preppers networks are all about volunteering our knowledge and skills with each other. We share ideas, tips and basically network with each other to survive any type of disaster whether natural, man made, or economic. Information that you learn and share with others will help everyone learn how to find "Freedom Through Teaching Others Self Reliance."

Joining the New York Preppers Network is simple, and most of all, it's Free! To join, just follow these few steps.

1) Register to become a member of the American Preppers Network www.AmericanPreppersNetwork.net The registration page is here: http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/ucp.php?mode=register

2) Once you have your account, go to the index page of the forum and do your first post by introducing yourself in the new members area. http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/index.php

3) Once you know how to do posts, visit the New York forum and introduce yourself. The New York forum can be found by scrolling to the lower section of the index page where you will find a list of states, or you can go directly by following this URL: www.NewYorkPreppersNetwork.net

4) After you've visited the New York forum, follow this link to learn how to join the New YorkPreppers Network group:
http://americanpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=564&t=2738

APN's success depends on your contributions. If you would like to donate to our organization by becoming a Gold Member you can join the APN Gold Members club by following this link:
http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/page.php?p=apn-gold-membership&sid=5b241e92a767cdfbe7a345c54dd55127
Gold Membership is only $5 per month. For a list of Gold Member benefits go here

Thank you for your support!

Potential Future Gas Drilling Effects in NY

2010-06-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

This also effects other states where the damage has already polluted ground water, damaged landscapes and turned natural areas into a stomping ground. Be prepaired for the changes in
our habitat that will begin to threaten our lives as much as wildlife, and plant species.
Soon to be coming...to a town near you..

Tompkins Legislative Committee Advised on Potential Future Gas Drilling Effects
Members of the Legislature’s Public Safety Committee were told today
that local natural gas drilling in the Marcellus shale will likely
produce more above-ground emergency incidents—many stemming from human
error—and social effects arising from an influx of drilling workers.

Dr. Theodore Them, MD, Chairman of Occupational Medicine at the Guthrie
Health Care System in Sayre, PA, also holds Masters degrees in Science
and Public Health and a PhD. In an hour-long presentation to the
committee, he spoke not only from his background in occupational
medicine, but also from many years of experience as a geologist, who is
familiar with drilling operations throughout the country and with
Marcellus hydraulic fracturing operations during the past decade in
nearby Pennsylvania. Public Safety chair Nathan Shinagawa invited Dr.
Them to advise the committee on public safety and emergency
preparedness issues related to drilling in the Marcellus shale.

The gas drilling, Dr. Them said, boils down to a matter of risk versus
benefit. With the highly concentrated natural gas supply in the
Marcellus shale, he cautioned that too much political pressure exists
for the gas not to be extracted: “The question is not ‘if’, it’s
‘when’,” he said, “…the trick is getting it out safely.” While much
focus has been on chemical hazards, the doctor suggested that “most
problems will be above ground”—related to aspects including
transportation, deliveries, and dilution of substances. And he
predicted that most hazards “are going to be people, rather than
chemicals” related to human error, since “mistakes kill.” He advised
that the drilling will produce “what you have now, but a lot more of
it”—more people, traffic, movement, trucks, and accidents.

Based on his experience in other locations, Dr. Them advised that an
influx of new workers will create social issues such as increased
crime, drug and alcohol problems, traffic, housing shortages, school
overcrowding, poaching, and the related effects to an infusion of new
money to landowners, including an increased number of scam artists. Of
the workers who will come in to drill the gas, Them said, “These are
hardened, tough, heavy-duty people who are used to a hard life,” with
“enough bad apples to create a problem.”

Danby Town Supervisor Ric Dietrich, who has been involved in the
Tompkins County Council of Governments’ efforts to assess potential
effects Marcellus drilling would have on the area and its local
governments, expressed concern that there is much for local responders
to do to prepare within a relatively short time.

County Director of Emergency Response Lee Shurtleff stressed that the
area’s emergency responders are committed and well prepared to protect
their communities, and to handle a full range of challenges, and will
continue to train and prepare to handle the potential increased volume
of events that drilling could eventually produce.

Contact: Nathan Shinagawa, Chair, Public Safety Committee, 280-7557.

- END -

------
Marcia E. Lynch
Public Information Officer
Tompkins County
125 E. Court Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
Tel: 607-274-5555/ Fax: 607-274-5558

What is Hydrofracturing and how is it used.
http://www.hydrofracturing.net/

The Marcellus Project in NY and PA
http://nywellwatch.org/what-is-the-marcellus-shale/

http://www.ithaca.edu/naturallands/fracking/

What it really is in the natural gas industry
http://nywellwatch.org/2009/11/27/what-is-hydrofracturing/

Problems in other States
http://shaleblog.com/category/hydrofracturing/

http://www.baski.com/WWDR_AskHank_Hydrofracturing.pdf

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Trees with multipurposes - landscaping and biofuel

2010-06-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

^-My buddy in my tree pot
While visiting one of my other Prepper friend Nets, I was inspired to talk about my experience with volunteering locally to help learn more about our trees and green space. How important it is as drinking water, and how to not only better appreciate it, but identify some possible problems with my own landscaping plans, and benefits.

Here in NY I was a volunteer with our cooperative agency. They had us plant a bunch of "bio fuel" willows. Many places along highways as windbreaks and in some park lanes. The great thing about these (and they are being studied) is that they grow relatively fast, you can start them by just taking a one ft cutting and jabbing it into some dirt. (I put my cutting in dirt in a pot so I could keep my eye on it! I'm not easily convinced..lol) and when we had to go late fall, in the snow to prune them, I was offered some to take home for baskets or whatever else. So I helped prune and then started making two bunches of the thinner branches and some thick ones to store in my attic like local basket weavers used to do. (It used to be a trade industry here before Chinese baskets and then plastic baskets took over)

In fact I bent and cured a few to make basket handles and just now taking them from the attic. Though I did plan on this as a traditional winter project, my husband got ill so it had to be detained. (thankful he is feeling much more human, but not cured)
I feel its important for you to know about, because they grow so well, and are great for making fuel to run vehicles, as well as warming a stove, maybe you should look into planting a hedge row. They can be very useful windbreaks for other plant protection and typically get about as tall as two persons. You can shape them bushier or more single stem with longer branches. They tend to grow mostly upward instead of weeping. They are a light tan to yellow bark on younger wood to a deeper tan for the central or older bark. If you need sticks of any shape or size for a project, this is the way to get them cheaper and more convenient. Twigs..yes..Twig furniture, baskets, frames, poles for tomato plants (last seasons cut wood) or bean poles..You know how cheap these used to be, but not anymore! or you might want to build a living trellis by trimming the trees (topiary) and then you can twine or graft sections together into an arch..leaving the central part high enough to walk through. In the Spring time while awaiting for the walk through to truely mature, you could plant beans or even morning glories along the outer edge to give a color of blooms or useful food space by going up instead of out. If you like to learn more information, I included some links for you to check out.

http://www.heatingoil.com/blog/middlebury-college-plants-willow-trees-for-biofuel-1020/

Wikipedia has a good explanation also and the plant name identifier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_Biomass_Project

Last but not least. What we are doing here in NY state and Central Ny to learn about biomass and supporting local development as well as greener alternatives.
http://cnyrcd.org/
Then I was a volunteer working in contingent with CommuniTree Stewards to help get the willows planted.
http://www.esf.edu/energycenter/salix/willowbrochure.pdf

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Are You Already a Prepper?

2010-05-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

There are many aspects of being a Prepper. Some people already do some of the
same things a Prepper would do, but might not actually be a Prepper. Its complicated
and then again it's not. Really...

We all gravitate towards that which we know and understand best, so some may get to
know us a little bit and decide, oh well that's all a Prepper is....Ummm Maybe.

I know many times I write about gardening, seed saving, or methods of preparing of
food; but this is only one little aspect of the whole big picture. The part of being more
self reliant with ones self to some degree.

Some people feel disaster preparedness has to do with more every day possible turn of events, or being ready in case the power fails to come back on after a few hours or even days. What if your car were to slide off the road because of heavy rain or ice, or maybe just quit on a long stretch of road. Hot summer or mid winter both could be a challenge. All the way to the ultimate disaster loss of home, family members and job all at the same time. We felt that with 911 and the Katrina disaster. Even though I was not there it compelled me to take a few classes
at a training center in CPR and helping my neighbors if we had to open a shelter.

Who would ever think there would be a time when there was a divider page in your phone
book on how to plan for a disaster, dialing 911, or where to find the nearest shelter? Who
would rather not think of the worst and try to live more positive. Well part of being a
Prepper is preparing in various ways, the best you can so that if any disaster hits, you can
be ready in case it happens. I remember a few winters just after the blizzard we had in 1966.
Every time they said we had some heavy snow heading our way, the store shelves would empty
out by the time everyone got out of work to go home. It was sort of eerie to walk around a large
supermarket and literally see large empty spots. There was a limit on bread, flour and sugar and still the market had no problem emptying its shelves. Perspectives had changed.

Make a habit of checking your stored supplies on a regular basis. Even if its just buy ahead sale items to put away, and your not stocking up for any big disaster. Check cans for rust, bulges
and date or rotate newer items to the back of the shelf as best not to create a disaster.
Nothing like going for the flashlight and find the batteries have malfunctioned in your unit so
new batteries wont work. (Batteries that are almost discharged or worn can leak) We keep candles already mounted on safe holders with a way to light it, along with battery flash lights and generator types. (btw..Check those hand generators as we did just the other day and found one barely still worked and one the rechargeable battery failed in it. The unit we purchased was made with screws so you could open it, so it was worth the few extra dollars we paid and with some research found the right batteries to go in it.) We even purchased a solar light tube. We
used this for years during storms and to go up into the attic where there is no electric to
find things like Christmas decorations or camping equipment. It could light a huge room for hours (around 12) if used constantly.

I could list all the things you could possibly use, the very least you need, or even fancier systems that people have purchased. Just remember, that the back pack of supplies back home doesn't help if you can't get to your house or are somewhere else. If your home, and you have to leave, you cant take it all with you. So take some time to think of ways you may have already prepared yourself or maybe some way you could become just a little more by organizing some of the items in a safe reachable location.

Maybe you need to take a moment and open that pack and see where things are. Anything get borrowed out of a kit? Anything outdated or possibly be put in a better space. Even if you might be going to a shelter, its a good idea to try and bring ID, and your meds, and possibly a snack/or diabetic bag in case it takes longer than you think to get to another location or you have to wait for a transport or even getting through in your car; or heading to another family members home.
If an older family member brings up a memory of one of their struggles, this might be a good moment to inquire about what they would want you to do, or if they have what they need in case
something were to happen. Keep it matter of fact and upbeat, and maybe even understand how well they made it though that time.

Thanks for stopping by and reading this article. I hope that it helped in a positive way to think about what you have done or used to do.

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Welcome back....to Living

2010-04-28T14:02:00.001-07:00

I am leaving my first message in a long time here. Just recovering from knee surgery and my husband is doing much better, at least stable with his cancer..Talk about a survivalist, I give him a pat on the back for what he has endured the last few months. Especially the part where you are not sure you can swallow food again. He said to me again he really wants to start reading the Ham net so I am bringing up the link for him and hope he will get involved.

I think staying busy is what we all need...My Irish mom once said to me "Living is what you do while you are waiting to die". A very solemn saying which one can take as negative or that what Living is what you make of it as eventually we all do die. It tends to make one take a moment and say a much more tender phrase or lend a helping hand instead of being impatient or intolerant. We all have had our trials in life and I don't think anyone ever gets away without facing a few..even if a good period in our lives helps us forget those bad spots that we can even say.."nope..not me! or Better yet..Never again!" Then all of a sudden "It" happens.

Remember the old Fable taught to us as kids? The one where the grass hopper fiddled all Spring, Summer and Fall and then when winter came, he was begging for food and a warm place from his neighbors..It was easier to get the point then as kids think more simply (at least they did) that he not only didn't bother to work towards security when food was scarce like most lowly of insect does if not hibernate or a combination of the two..He laughed and scoffed when others said..Maybe its a good time to start putting some extra food away on a shelf in case you have a lean couple months. When I was a young wife and then military wife, I would buy beans and extra flour and "staples"...I get kidded about was I going into the bakery business or something like Better Crocker.. Sure they loved my cooking but they didn't even understand why bother making a bowl of soup when you can purchase it in a can at the store?? We didn't know much about the difference between home made and canned except it took longer and sometimes you just about broke even unless someone suddenly gave you a basket of apples, or tomatoes or other items.

I read Mother Earth News in the 70s and just took it for what it was that there could be other ways to live not just because they were simpler but you didn't have to give half you pay check to the electric company...By the time I was ready to have children..my husbands career, and then the "standard of living" stated you could not bring up kids in a house that had less than for windows and two doors and indoor pluming. Oil lamps were considered fire hazards, Mind you some people here still live with well water and lanterns, and because they are grand parents or native or by some long shot of the imagination their families lived generations in the boonies (Are there any real boonies anymore?) you could get in trouble for not having the best in modern living... I had a couple friends who had to give up their dream of a house without electric because they could not have children there. Yet these were capable, educated persons who wanted to give up their city jobs and go back to living like their grandparents' parents.

Then suddenly it became interesting to have solar power..or earthen houses...it was quaint if you could build it off some dirt road on your back 40 or you had the money to invest in a solar powered system that were still in the trial and error stages. Not that they are not improving every day, just not cost effective for the average home owner. Unfortunately they were not worth the work until the cost of utilities got ridiculously high. This made utility companies less fearful of these alternative lovers, and figured it was just a fad. This leaves a further point..should the price go up before all the gas or oil is gone, or now so we can start working towards a transition? Nobody likes paying more, but every small increase, people just seemed to take it in strides till we had a super big hike in the cost of things we use.

Then to find out some of those bargain goods were not good to live in (wall board) eat or drink out of (earthen ware with lead) or even toys our kids would teeth or suck on... Our kids used to get rag or corn dolls, then plaster head dolls with bodies made of corn sacks. If a kid was lucky he got a rocking horse handed down or made by grandpa..wow. A bicycle was probably the
pull mule, and if a family could afford a bike, it usually was for delivering newspapers or getting to school on time. We actually had bike racks at school and you could park your bike without having to lock it to the holder! (Imagine that!)
Maybe all those things we used to make do with made us appreciate people more, or even think how lucky we were to have elder persons around making us a warm hat and scarf, warm and glad we had them. The family pet was with us its whole life and even most times served a purpose..Intruders, scavenger animals, warmth in the winter, or even to keep mice from eating next seasons grain.
So what dose all this have to do with being a prepper? I think alot..Its about humanity and having a reason to work towards a common goal and caring as well as preparing for what ever may come your way. With that I will say thanks for being there when you can and if you can't then pass it forward in the future. You know what I mean.
I always wanted to be one of those person who wanted to just ride the bus from one end to the other, and each time some young person in trouble couldn't find their bus money, I would put it in for them. When they said thanks, I would tell them to pay it forward.
One day I was waiting outside this church after finishing a participation class. That day I was catching a bus home when this man come struggling out with a box of food he could barely carry. He stopped for a moment and said it was a warm day..I agreed and took it upon to ask him where he was headed and he said "Downtown and then I have to catch a bus to the other side of the city". It was already late afternoon and if he walked downtown he would miss the line up and have to get home in the dark late if he were lucky... I started fishing out my money and seeing if I had enough for myself and asked..if you miss this bus coming you probably will miss the line up. He said yeah, but my family needed food and I dont have a car, so this is the way it has to be. I pulled out my change and put my bus money in a separate pocket and then went through and found him enough to get down town...He literally got a tear of joy.."You dont know how much I would have to walk and then looking in the bottom of my purse came up with the extension..he offered me some food...I said No thanks..just get the food home to your family..He asked what he could do in return...I told him someday you can do a favor for someone else. He smiled as our bus pulled up and at down town he went his way and I went my way..He felt compelled to tell me thanks again for $1.25 cents. I just smiled and said "good night"...

I hope all who happen to come along and read this or just happen to be passing someone on their trip through life. I hope your able to help someone too. Thanks for making me feel at home here at the Preppers network and I love all the messages I have read and the inspiration I had to continue on with a more positive attitude on life.

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NYC Preppers Meetup

2010-03-22T20:44:00.001-07:00

For NYC Preppers Meetup go here: http://www.meetup.com/NYC-Preppers-Network/

Disaster Alert: Floods in Virginia , West Virginia , North Carolina , and New York

2010-01-26T10:13:00.000-08:00

The APN-Disaster Reporting Service thanks D_Loki for providing us with the following update:

January 26, 2010

Disaster Alert

Virginia – Heavy rains caused flash flooding in Augusta , Rockbridge and Albemarle Counties on Monday that prompted the evacuation of residents in low-lying areas. The Central Virginia Chapter deployed a Disaster Action Team (DAT), opened a shelter, placed an Emergency Response Vehicle on standby and provided Mass Care (MC) for shelter residents. The Shenandoah Chapter deployed DAT and opened a shelter for affected-area residents.
West Virginia – Storms caused river flooding that affected the residents of Greenbrier, Monroe and Pocahontas Counties on Monday. The Governor declared a stat of emergency for Greenbrier County and the surrounding areas. The Chapter deployed a DAT Team, opened 4 shelters and provided Mass Care to local residents.
North Carolina – River flooding in Surry County destroyed homes, damaged others and prompted the evacuation of dozens of local residents in the affected area on Monday. The Surry County Chapter deployed a DAT Team, opened a shelter, and provided MC services for the evacuees. The Northwest North Carolina Chapter deployed DAT and provided individual assistance to affected-area residents.
New York – A rainstorm that filled rivers and streams in the northeast portion of the state delayed flights and blew debris from buildings on Monday. The ARC of Northeastern New York Chapter deployed DAT and opened a precautionary shelter for local residents.

Making Changes

2009-12-14T10:42:00.000-08:00

Simple Living: A Cool Lifestyle for a Hot Planet

Duane Elgin, who introduced Americans to Voluntary Simplicity in the 1970s, believes conscious living can save the world. And the time is now.

This article is a reprint with permission to share if credits are in place. I felt that it stated many important factors. To continue reading the whole article, you will end up going to their site, but its a good read. Please take time to leave comment here and also share any lifestyle changes you made voluntarily or felt you needed to do because of changes in the world. Cher

November/December 2009

By Duane Elgin

Simplicity is not an alternative lifestyle for a marginal few; it is a choice for the mainstream majority, particularly developed nations.

Photo By Povy Kendal Atchison

Global trends indicate that a rapidly developing “world storm”—a planetary systems crisis—will push the human family to make deep and lasting changes in our approach to living. We confront many simultaneous challenges: climate disruption; an enormous increase in human populations living in gigantic cities; the depletion of vital resources such as fresh water and cheap oil; the massive and rapid extinction of animal and plant species around the world; growing disparities between the rich and the poor; and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. We are being pushed to wake up and learn to live far more sustainably by making profound changes in our manner of living, consuming, working and relating.

Simplicity is not an alternative lifestyle for a marginal few; it is a choice for the mainstream majority, particularly in developed nations. Even with major technological innovations in energy and transportation, it will be crucial that people embrace simplicity as a foundation for sustainability and change our overall levels and patterns of living and consuming. Fortunately, we can introduce simplicity into our lives in several ways.

A garden of simplicity

For more than 30 years, I’ve explored the simple life, and I’ve found that the most useful and accurate way of describing this approach to living is with the metaphor of a garden. I see seven ways to grow in the “garden of simplicity.”

As with other ecosystems, the diversity of expressions fosters flexibility, adaptability and resilience. Because there are so many pathways into the garden of simplicity, this cultural movement has enormous potential to grow. Consider the seven steps below and how they could help you simplify various aspects of your life.

The multiple meanings of simplicity

Compassionate Simplicity (Humanity)

Simplicity means to feel such a strong sense of kinship with others that we “choose to live simply so that others may simply live.” Compassionate simplicity is a path of cooperation and fairness that seeks a future of mutually assured development for all.

Uncluttered Simplicity (Physical Space and Time)

Simplicity means taking charge of lives that are too busy, too stressed and too fragmented. Cut back on clutter, complexity and trivial distractions, both material and nonmaterial, and focus on the essentials—whatever those may be for your unique life. As Thoreau said, “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.”

Civic Simplicity (Community)

Simplicity means a new approach to governing ourselves, recognizing that to live more lightly and sustainably will require changes in every area of public life—from transportation and education to the design of our cities, public buildings and workplaces.

Frugal Simplicity (Personal Finances)

By cutting back on spending that is not truly serving our lives and by practicing skillful management of our personal finances, we can achieve greater financial independence. Frugality and careful financial management bring increased financial freedom and the opportunity to more consciously choose our path through life.

Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >>

Kitchen Gadgets - The Funnel

2009-11-26T08:00:00.000-08:00

Re-post courtesy of Matthiasj from Kentucky Preppers Network

Most people have a fully stocked kitchen with the tools they need to cook nearly anything. But it still seems that people overlook some of the simplest things to keep around. A funnel set is one of these overlooked items. Funnels come in handy a lot and help keep things clean and prevent spills. If you're transferring liquid from bottle to bottle always use a funnel. It's faster and a lot cleaner.

Most people buy their preps in bulk, so it wouldn't be uncommon to have a large bottle of cooking oil, water, honey, ect. Buying preps in large quantities is a great way to save money and save space, but they aren't as easy to work with. This is why it's important to have some smaller bottles that you can transfer the products into, and with a funnel you can pour them in without spilling or losing any. If you don't have a good funnel set you can pick one up at your local supermarket and for less than $5 you can have a funnel set with multiple sizes. In the event of a disaster, every little bit counts so you want to conserve your preps as much as you can.

What Can I do to Get Prepared?

2009-11-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

Re-post courtesy of Matthiasj from Kentucky Preppers Network

If someone where to ask me that question "What can I do to get prepared?" I would say you need a 3 month supply. A 3 month supply is the perfect starting point on your path to preparedness. It is an easily achievable goal and with it you can know that you are well on your way to being prepared. You need to be prepared to quarantine yourself for at least 3 months if the time came. This concept is also referred to as bugging in. The time might come where you have to lay low for possibly months. Swine flu outbreaks, civil unrest, bank holidays/failures, natural disasters, are all real possibilities that might cause you to have to lay low for a while.

A 3 month supply would include everything you would need to survive independent of any amenities for at least 90 days. It doesn't cost a lot of money, nor does it take up much space to store. You would need food for three months and I have created a chart detailing the storable foods that would be included in a $200 3 month food supply. 3 months of water at 1 gallon per day is 90 gallons. Water containers don't cost a lot of money. A propane backup would be best for cooking the food. Along with batteries, flashlights, hygiene products, cleaning products, and anything else you use on a daily basis.

Before you start storing anything you must have a plan. A plan for yourself, or your family. Laying low at your home is possible but you have to remember that others who didn't store could be pretty hungry so you must stay low so you don't have people lined up at your front door to get food. Cook indoors, never "flaunt" what you have. This is where your operational security comes into play. So bottom line, get a plan together. If you need a starting point, start with 3 months for each person in your family and go from there. Use my chart as a guide. The information is there so there's no reason for you not to be prepared.

How to Browse the Web Anonymously

2009-11-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

Re-post courtesy of Matthiasj from Kentucky Preppers Network

I know a lot of preppers out there are concerned about big brother tracking their moves in the internet. Nowadays anyone can access your IP address and track every site you visit. This is an invasion of privacy although the government does it anyway. There are some services out there that offer ways to browse the web anonymously. Some cost money and some require you to download software onto your computer. If you've been waiting for a free, simple, and easy way to browse the web anonymously wait no longer.

Enter in ItsHidden. ItsHidden is a free service that allows you to surf the web anonymously. There is no software to download, and no subscription fee. ItsHidden creates a virtual private network on your computer that routes all activity through their servers in the Netherlands. ItsHidden was setup with torrent users in mind who want to hide the fact that they download files.

ItsHidden uses 128 bit encryption and doesn't save any of your own files. It's 100% secure and keeps anyone from viewing your browsing information. I have been using ItsHidden for the past couple days and I must say it works great. I recommend anyone and everyone to start using this service. It runs from your computer so any activity, downloading or browsing is hidden. I haven't experienced any problems, everything is still just as fast and works 100%.

Click here to register for the service. After registration, click here for setup instructions on Windows XP, and click here for setup instructions on Windows Vista.

Cal Ben Pure Soap

2009-11-23T17:00:00.000-08:00

Re-post courtesy of Matthiasj from Kentucky Preppers Network

There are tons of ways to make your own soaps and home cleaning products using ingredients you could buy at any supermarket. Some recipes for those items are in my previous post about Homemade Cleaning Products. This is by far the cheapest way to have all the soap and cleaners you need. But for those that don't have the means or the will to make a years worth of soap and cleaning products I have a solution.

Cal Ben Pure Soap is a company that has been around since 1947. They make all natural cleaning products and soaps with no harsh chemicals or cheap ingredients. There are a lot of natural soap makers on the market but nobody can beat Cal Ben's prices on their products. They offer everything from deodorant to shampoo. The only thing they don't offer is toothpaste, and I have a recipe for that one posted.

I have tried Cal Ben Pure Soaps and I can honestly say they are wonderful. The shampoo, bar soap, lotion, deodorant and laundry detergent are awesome products. For anyone looking to save a TON of money on soap and cleaning products look no further than Cal Ben Pure Soap. They offer a Superstar 4800 Pack which would last the average family up to 4 years! At an unbeatable price of $335.00 (without shipping).

So if you're looking to stock up on cleaning products, increase your level of preparedness and save a lot of money in the process, Cal Ben is the route to go. Just like your food storage you can rotate your cleaning products on a yearly basis. You can visit them at http://www.calbenpuresoap.com/.

Snow is flying in Central NY

2009-11-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

As I got up today to see the first snow in our area for the season, I was reminded of how changing and rugged our winters can be. I just finished insulating a door we do not use during the winter months with extra insulation since it has alot of glass and the storm is quite drafty. There was some insulation left over from a repair so I put it to good use.

Its sort of amusing to see peas on bloom in the garden in November when the snow is flying about but there they were defying logic and looking very healthy even though we have had several frosts. If I had done like I first planned and made a plastic dome or sheet over them , I probably would have had peas to pick by now. They prefer the chillier weather to hot weather and are a great later season crop, like Indian Summer weather. So I still might get some extra peas. Does this mean they are snow peas? Actually they are a type called Early Alaska and they are very pleasing to eat and I also saved quite a few for planting this next Spring also if plans go okay for us.

To keep myself occupied during the winter, I do my seed packaging and collecting till all the usable seeds are collected and labeled. Then I start a few seed trains or swaps to get new items to try in my garden. Trying new items and keeping a diary of how things do, helps me to remember better what worked and what needed some changing or possibly looking at it with a new angle. Like I am constantly trying new types of raised beds. At first glance it would not seem to make much difference, but it does and I have various level of beds depending on what I need to grow and where. I never have enough space for all I wish to grow, but Its alwasy fun to get at least some things and add a few in a second growth period. Or some veggies will winter over like carrots, so you can have spring carrots along with some of your sparse greens and winter onions (Egyptian walking onions) and potatoes (sunchoaks) can really make a difference in an otherwise sparse start up in the spring. If your broccoli went to seed you can collect the extra seed and make sprouts that are very nutritious during the winter also.. So when some of your broccoli bolts and blooms, just remember you can collect the seeds too. Then in the Spring I fill in with broccoli raab, or rapini which is a fast growing Spring green that tastes just like broccoli. I had some come up in my lawn and identified it, So allowed it to grow and then grazed off of it as it was coming up faster than that which was planted in my garden bed!

Funny how nature can be sometimes. Weather, climate and microclimates make for new challenges each spring and fall, but it also keeps it interesting. If it was all way too simple, it would be simply boring. Each season I have my triumphs and trials and all are fun for different reasons. Such as the grape vine that never would grow, but in the same place morning glories just outdid themselves.. I finally figured I had a runoff problem from the driveway. So since I did not have an alternative area for the grape, I had to just dig it up and relocate it.

I hope that families will always try growing some of their own food even if its only tomatoes. I think its more prudent to learn to grow a varitey of foods and identify those items around you that grow aound us, especially in our lawns for free that are edible. I still have hope that the manicured lawn with perfect grass is really more prudent for some small areas but should not be an important part of every yard where it must be mowed at the very least and in some extreme cases, fertilized, chemically weeded, seeded, and degrubbed etc.. I was looking forward to taking yet another large portion of the lawn and making it into garden. I still might do that.

The pears were abundant again this season, so I shared and also made pear sauce. We found out its fantastic with Chinese five spice which has licroice root, ginger and cinnamon in the mix. My husband found this most pleasing and also is great for settling your stomach too. Pears also naturally keep you regular without having to use alot of other more expensive methods and contain much needed potassium that helps to lower blood pressure..You need to balance your salt intake with potatssium. Potatos that are not boiled with the water tossed out are also a good source. Bannanas are usually touted as being the great potassium source, but they cant be grown locally as well as its always good to get to know what you have and how it affects your health also. I guess the natural laxitive effect is not only the fiber but sorbitol is found in pears.

I also love my pears as I know they have not been sprayed with alot of chemicals to make them perfect fruits. Much fruit you purchase at the grocery store is sprayed for various reasons and is retained by the fruit you then consume. The total load on our systems makes a great difference on how well you bounce back from set backs to your immune system due to a cold or flue or even say your area is hit by disaster. I know what we eat makes a great difference because of all the elderly people I took care of in my career; the ones that did their own canning or grew fruit and veggies in their yard, or cooked from scratch always were the healthiest.

Winter season is also a time of working on something traditional or home made. Whether it be a family recipe, basket making, a wreath, or knitting a hat. So many thought that these things were passe and out of style. Especially since you can buy a knitted hat for a couple bucks, why bother? Not only for the sense of accomplishment, but for that experience with the nature of material in your hands and shaping it yourself. If you do not have a craft you do, but know a friend who makes soap, or dries herbs. Ask and see what your niche might be or encourage those who work with crafts. Support your local neighborhood.

I know many already are thinking about thanks giving and probably even Christmas. Things like batteries, and candles or even having enough supplies incase of blizzard gets away from us, or we have the cupboard already brimming with items we have not looked at in over a year. Take time to make sure that food is not setting too long on the shelves and you are rotating stock and canned goods. Make sure you have basics incase you might not be able to get out of the house for a day or two due to hazzardous conditions. It usually doesn't get too bad where we live, but there have been times where you could not drive on some roads because the snow was just coming down too hard and fast. That is not the time to rush off to the store, though many do wait to grab whatever supplies they think they might need for bad weather.

I would like to hear from some people about their experiences with storms or any other experience where you had to use some keen sense to get through their difficulty. May we all learn by sharing. What did you bring from going through this experience.

The Wind is Blowing

2009-10-07T17:32:00.000-07:00

As I sit here listening to the wind blow, at gusts over 65mph, I'm comfortable, not worried, why?
Well like most preppers I think of things that may happen and make a few adjustments to our lives.
I have a generator, ready to fire up a minute after the power goes off, so if a tree falls on the power lines or any other reason for a power outage here, I'm ready. I can sit read, watch tv, heat a cup of tea, take a hot shower, cook a dinner for the family.
Convincing my DH we needed one years ago was hard to do at first, till I came up with the idea, call him with the cell phone, everytime I lost power. Now in most areas, most people lose power occasionally. Here it happens frequently. The month I made the decision to make my DH calls, we lost power 10 times. Haven't had that happen since. I think I had Divine intervention. When I called DH all I said was ,power is out see you when you make it home.
Once it went out while he was home, both an odd occurance. (DH travels for work a lot.) It was Father's Day and we had just gotten dinner on the table. The kids complained about having to go to the bathroom with a candle, no cable, no internet, poor babies, (really young 20's at the time).
Amazingly DH had me order a generator to be hooked up as soon as they could get the one I wanted in.

Making a generator decision is complicated, you need to look at your needs and wants. How do you want it to work, which fuel do you want to use.
I live in suburbia, nothing irritated me more then hearing a neighbors generator from 3 blocks away turning on, not sure if it was because I could hear it or because I did hear it and I was jealous.
#1 - You have your fuel choices, gasoline, natural gas or propane.
#2 - Your needs and wants: what do you want to power up in your home. (& do you really need to power it up)
#3 - Do research, lots of research, both of the generators and the installers.
#4 - Really part of #2 but separate, how much do you really want to spend on it.

Remember a gasoline powered needs to be filled, so you need to keep a supply of gasoline handy. Also remember it needs to be started usually by a pull cord and does need to be hooked up and detacted at each use.
I in no way shape or form could pull start a generator, I couldn't start a lawn mower, so there was no way I was going to go over to a neighbor who didn't have a generator and beg him to come start mine.
My wants at the time exceeded my needs when I was looking. Don't go glossy eyed looking, be realistic, add up the wattage you need before going out shopping. My response was, I want it to run the house. Yes, that is easily possible, but also think of the cost of running it, if you can afford it, then by all means go for it, otherwise, be conservative.
I purchased an 11watt (quiet) natural gas powered generator. It can't run the central air, but in the winter it does run the heater, hot water tank, stove, frig and freezer, I have tv and lights. The kids still complain though. now it's because they have to listen to the noise the generator makes. it's quieter then the small gas generator my next door neighbor has and sits next to my bedroom and I can sleep through it, so it isn't that bad.
But in the last ice storm, for 3 days of usage and that was continuous it ran an extra $400 in natural gas and we kept usage down as much as we could.(But kids sometimes think they need something to complain about)
The propane generators run about the same as the natural gas. Power goes out, you generator turns on, all by itself, one minute after and when power returns, it shuts itself off.

I look at it now as another appliance in the house. One I would not like to have to live without. It's part of my preps but it is part of my life. Normal life runs smoother having it, no worries, no concerns. Just think, a lot of people that have generators wouldn't even consider themselves preppers, but are. If they only knew.

There is a large range of sizes and prices on generators out there. just please remember to do your research and have a licensed professional install it, someone that knows what they are doing.

My plumber had stories of people calling and saying their's wasn't working right, come to find out that company that installed it put the wrong size gas pipe in, then replaced it with the right size but left a paper towel stuffed in the pipe. Ask the installer if they have gone to classes on the installation of the units. Make certain they check the total of wattage used by it, how many of the breakers they hook up, did they ground it for lightening. Do your part and be safe. Be knowledgable before rushing into the purchase.

Now back to my cup of tea.

To stay or Not to stay

2009-10-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm Rubies,
I live in Upstate New York. You all know, it's known for it's winter weather, but I'm here to talk about being more concerned over needing to stay or leave my home due to unforseen or forseen events.
I have been prepping mildly to moderately for 37 years. But now in resent years I have been a suburbanite, not by choice but neccessity, for proximity to work for DH.
If we have an ice storm and no electric for a couple of weeks we can survive, I had a natural gas powered generator installed a few years ago and it has come in handy over the years, been in use at least 10 times per year. I'll tell you though, listening to it running for 3 days or more does give you a slight headache, so stock some tylenol. I have enough food to get by if roads are blocked. water is stockpiled, gasoline for snowblower, showels, salt, roof shovel, (don't want a roof to collapse from the weight of the snow and ice). Propane tanks in case I really need to heat in a different manner and cook on gas grill. So I feel pretty confident there, BUT!!
What if? Lets see if they hit the nuclear facility near me I'm a gonner. If civil unrest gets out of control, I need to leave, defending my home is not an option for me, me against a crowd of uncontrolled individuals just doesn't work for me. So I need a bug out plan. These are times I wish I had a pick up truck. Though I know my car can hold a lot, large trunk to say the least. They just don't make them like that any longer. I bought it with the purpose of shopping, really. You never know how much room you need.The car gets 28mpg on hywy to 30mpg, not bad for a big V8.
Also bought the car due to the V8, gets you moving out of the way quick. AND truthfully it cost me less then one of those 4 bangers on the road.
I've teased my kids that the trunk can hold 4 bodies, (I have 4 kids and 2 grandkids) it probably can, but I'm hoping never to find out.
I never let the gas tank go under 1/2 full. Lots of reasons for that. Weight in the winter. Plus when you have little money, filling a tank takes to much of it, so I have pretended for many a year that a 1/2 full tank is an empty tank, it cost me less to fill.
In winter the water condensation in your gas tank causes frozen fuel lines, car refusing to start,so more gas in tank, less room for condensation to build up in tank, less water problems, no freezing. I dump a bottle of additive in every month, if it needs it or not. I think of it as a little drink for my car, it deserves it for all it does, never heard of one alcoholic drink a month hurting.

It's Fall going into Winter fast. What to pack and what to leave.
Important papers, warm clothes, food we all know that. A local map, state, nearby state maps. Paper maps are a neccessity, not everyone has a GPS, I have none and happy to say that. No tracking of my vehicle. I have always stopped and picked up state maps wherever I have travelled to nice freebie. I have a folder of them in car and change them out every year by the state I travel in. I will admit my WV map is 6 years old though.

If you are going somewhere predetermined, which should already have been decided, you need a good map to get there and alternative routes, now where is that 4 wheel drive when you need it. That map should be in car at all times, ready for use.
If you live in Upstate NY you should already have a winter kit in your car, you know those things that move around in your truck while your driving through the potholes. A blanket, a change of warm clothes, mittens (not gloves, they don't keep your hands as warm) hat, scarf to protect your breathing, nothing like sucking in -10 degree air to freeze those lungs. Does get colder here. Shovel, snow brush, most know the routine but think there isn't a reason for it any longer with cell phones, so lets all pretend that little cell phone doesn't work any loner and pack that winter trunk.

I need to consider what I have that is most helpful to where I am going. What is most needed or helpful. FOOD, of course, but what else. Pressure canners, definitely, but have to remember to fill them with essentials, waste of good space otherwise, so fill them with lids for canning, bands or just more food. Toilet paper with inner tubes taken out and crushed for space conservation. Blankets to keep other warm, I have a load of those.

Books, yes there are always a few that have to travel along, medical, foraging, herbal, canning. don't forget to grab that cast iron fry pan. Any kitchen appliance that needs no power put together in a box, can opener, can you see the only one at the bug out location breaking. Pasta maker, you do want to eat, grain mill, well you get the idea, essentials to survival without power. Don't forget the knives. I almost forgot to pack the non-geneticly modified seeds, hard to find now a days.

Now how long do you need to be bugged out, no idea, right. You have your Winter bug out bag all packed and ready but now Spring is coming and you'll still in your heavy clothes, so remember no matter what season, pack a little for the others.

Medical Supplies, I have most of mine packed in 5 gallon buckets, an easy toss into the car. Also at home use they are in plastic drawers, also an easy toss. I've learned even if it isn't cold season and cold meds are on sale, buy them because when the season hits, everyone goes through them like water. One week I was stocked, by that weekend my kids had cleared me out. Bandaging, medical tape, gloves anything for a serious accident is together, don't forget to get a bottle of betadine, iodine. You want to be able to sterilize an area that needs attention. Sewing supplies come in handy here also.

I also want to say, if you plan on knocking on someone else's door, wouldn't it be nice now to ask what you can bring. They may be low on somthing you have or not have something you have that you can bring. You may not think it's an essential to bring but it is to them, and you need to do your part. Be helpful.

Remember before you do leave.
Learn where your main water line shut off it, turn all water lines off.
Turn natural gas line off to house, yes, get that wrench.
Turn main breaker off to house, check electric meter to make certain all is off.

I know I have missed a million and one things to do but i just want to get you started at least on thinking of " WHAT TO DO".

Growing Roses in your Garden

2009-08-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

(My rose bush this season just before blooming, tipped over it was so tall; but covered with bloom buds!
After blooming, I removed the tall canes as I have to dig it up and move it away from the Spruce tree.)

I was working in the garden today and wondering what I could do with those long
canes that needed to be trimmed off my rose bushes. It seemed like such a waste of
nature just to toss them to the compost pile.

A couple of very long ones I tried weaving into the open part of one of my garden
arches to fill a large gap for my morning glories to climb on and it worked out! So
I kept the four longest ones and wove them into the top to give the vines more of
a support to attach itself to.

I know from experience that the best trick I ever came up for making my rose s
happy was to tuck banana skins in the soil near the plant. This worked so well that
my rose bush shot up past the 6ft spruce that is growing near it. I didn't have the
heart to cut off the branch just because I wanted to see what it would do!

So finally it bent over in an arch over the garden and produced several dozen red
roses along its length! It was just so pretty! I fear though that this red climber is
the root stock to my original pink rose which the top had died in a winter freeze,
but the hearty stock, even though its red, I feel I can live with this older style and
somewhat wilder rose.

Roses are a little more work at times but are well worth the beauty and color they produce.

The New York State flower is the wild rose. My mom used to have one in our back yard with dozens of delicate yellow blooms all over it each season. She never had to do any extra care to it, and even though there were a few Japanese beetles, there didn't seem as many as there are now. My family used the method of a jar with water and taking them off the branches with the lid and checking once or even twice a day during their peak time of visiting your plant. They have learned they emit a hormone for mating that attracts other beetles to your plant. If you remove them early, you might get away with not having to use a poison. I only use the systemic when needed as I wont spray my flowers. This helps break the cycle without harming bees passing through and which do not chew on the leaves.

Skills Tour

2009-08-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

The Skills for a New Millennium Tour vision
are going to be in the NY area in September.

• to provide empowered learning to individuals, groups, and youth in order to develop a community skill base that supports social change activism, ecological awareness, and economically sustainable patterns of living.

• to shift patterns of consumption while informing individuals and communities about how to engage in political action that strives for a more ecologically sound, economically sustainable, and socially just world.

Through a series of training workshops and discussions, the Skills Tour improves the capacity of individuals and communities to meet basic needs in a more sustainable way.

Changing the world is not a part time project. This work requires revolutionary ways of living that must be learned over time. Therefore, the skills we offer, grounded in decades of activism and spiritual consciousness, emphasize making marginal lifestyle changes that enhance social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

In order for sustainable community development to be successful people must be able to extract themselves from current models while actively resisting political and economic policies that support the destruction of the environment and the oppression of living beings. The Skills Tour cultivates a knowledge base designed to support people controlling their own lives so that they can more effectively shift from awareness of the problems the world faces today to actively creating the change they desire.

The Skills for a New Millennium Tour offers training to community groups, colleges, high schools, church groups; anyone who wants our training. We understand that community needs are diverse, so we offer a menu of program options to encourage local groups to work with us in order to develop the training series most useful to their community.

The Skills Tour is organized by consensus and functions as a collective.

Note: The Permibus travels around to many states and will be in NY State in September; but will travel by appointment or special event to a location by request.

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National Public Lands - Get involved and Care

2009-08-04T22:40:00.000-07:00

Perpetuating Our Forest Legacy

From the time of Teddy Roosevelt, America's hunters have been strong advocates for protecting our country's unique natural landscapes and resources. In the spirit of this hunter-conservationist legacy, the NFF is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Remington Outdoor Foundation (ROF).

Over the next three years, the Remington Outdoor Foundation will provide $300,000 for restoration projects in areas of vital wildlife habitat within the NFF's conservation campaign sites. This year, the ROF also served as title sponsor of the NFF's annual Sporting Clays fundraising event in New York, which attracts shooters and outdoors enthusiasts who value our National Forests—a sponsorship they hope to continue over the next couple of years.

The generous contribution of the ROF gives the NFF leverage for raising additional funds for on-the-ground conservation work—enhancing and protecting the wild places and public lands so many of us treasure for sport and solace.

National Public Lands Day

Saturday, Sept. 26, marks the 16th annual National Public Lands Day. Events across the country will encourage citizen stewardship and visitation to our National Forests and Grasslands, as well as other public lands. All day-use fees will be waived that day. Launched in 1994, National Public Lands Day began with three federal agencies and 700 volunteers. Last year, more than 120,000 volunteers worked in 1,800 locations in every state, and eight federal agencies now participate. To find out about events taking place near you, visit the National Public Lands Day site.

Getting reacquainted with the Earth

2009-07-20T07:02:00.000-07:00

Its been an unusual Spring and Summer, and equally unusual growing season for gardeners. So if this has been one of your first efforts at
growing your own, please do not be disappointed. Its been tough on
all of us so far.

Victory gardens are coming back into style since the price of oil has raised the price of everything whether its been directly effected or not; it makes us yet once more in the position to be a bit more independent in our needs to find real wholesome food at a reasonable rate. Not so
much because of shortage but because of the cost. Plus farmers and
gardeners have been sold so many prepackaged items to supposedly
make the experience of gardening "easier" we tend to gravitate towards
that instead of learning the traditional ways, as it might not be so darn
convenient.

For many to get through the idea of using organic compost (decaying
food and plant matter!) they have to have it go to a recycling center
then go back to shovel it in bins to pick it up. Yet we still toss many
things such as coffee grounds and banana peels into the garbage can.
A very few have taken to putting the coffee grinds back into the original
container which is a great idea! But instead of tossing them away for
another giant land fill, they could go around the base of your flowers or
shrubs. Or even into the composter, or in a hole in the garden and then
cover back up with dirt. As it decomposes it feeds beneficial fungus that
roots need in the soil along with the release of nutrients.

If you had a difficult time to get anything to grow, consider working on your
planting beds. There are various methods which can at times make it seem
more difficult, but the best advice is to make sure the soil can stay loose,
but also have the right amount of "stuff" that makes plants want to grow no
matter what you put in that spot. Also never plant tomato plants in the same
soil as last year. If you have space limitations, this might mean sterilizing the
soil in your oven, or use freshly composted soil from a hot pile, or put your
tomatoes in planters. Just as long as a heavy rain doesn't wash out all the
good nutrients out of the soil and then it immediately dries out when the sun
comes back out. I did this more than once even with my experience. You
are then forced to keep watering the soil with tomato food plant food or any
plant food you might have available. If you feel a need to dump out the water
from the bottom tray, save it and pour it in your garden elsewhere, or save in
a jug and re-water the plant when it gets dry.

Another good tip is to either work on new beds before you go out and start
buying a bunch of plants, or try growing a few from seed each year till you
get that skill down. Even if your first few attempts seem failures, you have
to try again, for the experience.

If you have porch or patio space; try growing herbs like basil in a pot. Then
you can bring it in when the weather gets chillier. Usually soils topped with
peat moss keeps insects at bay. Also if the pots are elevated into a type
of window box or deck, they are less likely to get an aphid infestation. Yet
another method is to take cuttings and get them rooted and put into fresh
potting soil for indoors for the winter. The rooted cuttings can be brought in
and inspected for bugs if its a big problem in your area, though I have had
quite good luck just bringing in certain plants and saving them so I didn't
have to purchase them all again next season. Like geraniums. (that is a
story for another article)

If certain plants grow in your soil and others won't. Try to discern why certain
plants may or may not be doing well. It took a few tries to figure out that a
few different things could be affecting plants. Runoff from driveway, black
walnut trees, continued heavy rains on bare soils, or potted plants, growing
plants of the same type in the same place several years in a row. Large
population of squirrels in the area or deer. Soil infestations of nematodes
or cut worms that like to stump newly planted plants; or maybe even snails.

One problem that has sharply decreased is bug damage since I befriended
the toad population in my garden. If I run the sprinkler they come out to play
and also to gulp down their weight in bugs of all kinds..If it moves they eat it!
No deciding if its chocolate or vanilla - it's gone! Also remember worms in the
garden soil are needed to aerate and make worm castings. When you use a
product such as Roundup to kill weeds to save edging your boarders, you are
also poisoning the worms and the toads. So you are saving yourself a little
work but killing off other beneficial friends of the earth. If you have a weed that
attracts bees, you are also helping to kill off the world population of pollinators
and making it more difficult for food to grow. Anywhere.

So keep it as simple as possible. Try some test beds and keep a small journal
with weekly notes, and keep trying. If you had to grow your own food, or more
likely your grandchildren will have to grow their own food and you will be able
to pass your knowledge and experience on to them.

CQ CQ CQ NYPN CQ CQ W4DMH CALLING CQ QRZ

2009-06-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

OK now I have done it in true DX fashion for all you HAM'S out there....

I know others that read this will be real confused now but I would really like to hear from you HAM'S out there. So I figured I would write in a language you would understand.

We need to get HAM'S involved here so we can try to get a net going to help with off the grid communication among the prepper networks. I know there are many Ham's already involved in the prepper network and many more that read so please come forward and help us with getting this going. Now that all the people that read this (that are not HAM'S) are confused let me add one more slang that only the HAM'S will understand.

73 de W4DMH

PS Please email me so we can get to work on this. wvsantaclaus@aol.com
_________________
God Bless all from the Wild and Wonderful West Virginia
Santa

National Forests News

2009-06-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

tree-mail™ — June 2009

Dear Cherrie,

With 155 National Forests and 20 Grasslands in 42 states and Puerto Rico to choose from, an exciting and inexpensive summer vacation is not too distant for most Americans. As the kids wrap up with school and the weather warms up, check out the Forest Service web site for more information about vacationing on a National Forest near you. From tent camping to backcountry cabins, whitewater rafting to pack trips on horses and mules, a National Forest vacation is a great way to keep the costs down while supporting local communities. Happy trails!
Shooters Take Aim to Protect our National Forests

The National Forest Foundation’s 15th Annual Sporting Clays Invitational was a great success! Sponsored by the Remington Outdoor Foundation, this year’s two-day event began with a cocktail party and live auction at the GlenArbor Golf Club in Bedford Hills, N.Y., on May 8, where guests had the chance to bid on a diverse selection of exciting items. Smokey Bear greeted attendees and wildlife expert Jim Fowler shared some of his fascinating wildlife stories with the crowd—assisted by several owls, two gibbons and a young kangaroo.

On Saturday, May 9, nearly 200 individuals gathered for the annual team sporting clays event at the Pawling Mountain Club in Pawling, N.Y. Awards were given to the top three teams—led this year by the Camp Fire Club team, with second-place going to the Verizon Business team. Individual shooters also tested their accuracy in the Rolex Betteridge Challenge—where the best score earned one lucky shooter a very special Rolex watch.

This annual event helps the NFF meet critical fundraising goals—but it also gives a very enthusiastic and generous crowd an opportunity to learn more about the forests they love and give back while having some fun. Next year’s shoot is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, May 8.

Seed Vault Celebrates Its First Anniversary

2009-05-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

Svalbard Global Seed Vault Celebrates Its First Anniversary

On February 26, 2009, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway dubbed the "Doomsday Vault" by the press and hailed by Time Magazine as one of 2008's greatest inventions......

Seed Savers Exhibit - NY

2009-05-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

Visit Seed Savers Exchange in New York City

If you are traveling anywhere near the New York City area this summer, try to schedule a visit to Seed Savers Exchange -- in the Bronx.

The "Seed Savers Heirloom Vegetable Garden" is one of six special exhibitions that will be on display at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) from June 27 through September 13.

Our heirloom garden will be planted with the most outstanding heirloom varieties that originated long ago in the Mid-Atlantic area, such as Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage, Henderson's bush lima bean and Jimmy Nardello's frying pepper.

The garden is being designed by Rosalind Creasy, a California landscape designer, who introduced the concept of "edible landscaping." She is a long-time Seed Savers supporter and currently serves on SSE's Board of Directors.

Other exhibitions in NYBG's "The Edible Garden" celebration this summer include:

* The Heirloom Tomato
* Tropical Fruits, Roots, and Shoots
* Martha Stewart's Herb Garden
* Vegetables and Kids
* Be A Seed Saver
Keep checking the Seed Savers web site for more details, or go to www.nybg.org
http://www.seedsavers.org/Content.aspx?src=whatsnew.htm#vault

Seed Trains - Seeds for everyones garden

2009-04-04T10:24:00.000-07:00

With gardening seeds going up in price and sometimes not always being able to find that extra special variety that grandma grew; we started to develop "Seed trains".
You might ask "What is that!" Well, here in New York State, we started trading seeds with other fellow gardeners and seed savers. Eventually we had people from other states join in to want to swap favorites and heirloom seeds.

With all this talk about genetically modified seeds; many of which are being developed not to produce viable seed, or you have to sign a contract with the company (such as monsanto) to say you will not save seed and you will purchase new seed each season. I think its terrible when we continue to develop rules on people against what comes natural just so you can make more $$ per person.

I can see being paid for the toils of your labor for growing crops; but to make seeds that grow in your soil illegal to own and control is like saying - "Im going to sell you this pet, but if it has puppies, I can sue you!" This makes me want to grow my own produce more and more. Not to purchase any products knowingly with these seeds crops used, and to become more self suffient so that by buying or trading original heirloom or natural seed, I am making a conscious vote as to what I feel is important to me and my humanity.

This brings me to my original thought. Seed Trains.
People collect seed from their garden plants and flowers. Label and date them and reuse those seeds for future gardening or trade with others.

Collecting seeds is not only fun and money saving, but guarantees that you will have seed from your favorite tasting tomato and not have to settle for a perfectly tasteless tomato that is modified to keep bugs away but also probably you as well. I do not think I wish to eat food full of "natural insecticides" As much as this seems cool and step saving, it also takes from the total value of the vegetable grown. This is also apparent with more variety of blooms in color but not much scent. That is why we tend to like some of the older style garden plants that attract butterflies and birds. Healthy for them and us too.

Anyone who wishes to become involved in a Seed train can do so by stopping in to visit at CNYPlantcycle http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cnyplantcycle You do not have to live in New York to enjoy the benefits. In fact once you take a look at who is involved, you will see they are from all over and enjoying the benefit of seed swapping and seed trains. Some even post their lists which they are willing to send some seeds to you for just a S.A.S.E. (Self addressed stamped envelope)

You learn more about gardning this way as well as learning about a variety of food we used to grow in our gardens and include in our diets before we became more limited to corn, beans and potatoes. Those are great veggies too, but so are some of those we grew up with as kids or were loved by our grandparents.

If your not used to seed saving or trading, you are not alone! You can easily learn just by participating or asking questions. Each year I learn more about gardening just by trying a new variety or saving seeds from the best tasting tomatoes of the crop from my own garden. Seed saving is something we should teach our children as it is as important as some of the other life skills.

2009-03-04T12:19:00.000-08:00

Photo by Cher B of CNYPlantcycle
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cnyplantcycle

Last season, I was involved with a bee counting project through the University of SanFrancisco, in which you were given sunflower seeds to plant and then count the bees visiting the flowers. The main goal was to see how many or fewer bees there were out in nature buzzing around.

This project helped me not only to be more aware of bees and their importance, but also that there are several kinds of bees. The bad part was what I knew all along which is many of the bees are being destroyed by the over abundance of sprays used to keep our crops, and timber bug free, along with spraying to edge lawn and weeds, or some even spray their garden to kill unwanted bees in their yard.. Sad to think people are so far removed from their food and nature as to go outside and want to kill our food producers..some unknowning and some just dont care as long as they have their QP with cheese.

The topic of Bee colony collapse, seems to be a very intense topic these
days with articles first stating they had no idea what was causing total
hives to just suddenly fail to thrive. From what I learned about
what roundup alone does to insects and worms, its a wonder what it does when
farmers plant acres of GMO corn or soy beans which is Roundup resistant,
can then spray their crops so they don't have to worry about weeding.

This not only affects bees but the migrating monarch as well.
I found a good article that describes what was found from doing an
autopsy of honeybees in Georgia and comparing them with Calif. honey
bees which at the time were healthier. Even the GMO crops themselves
seem to be in question as to being unhealthy food for the bees even if
they are lucky enough to survive the crop dusting.

Not too many weeks ago I found out that spraying is also used in the
protection of tree lumber from insects that would devaluate the wood.
When the trees are sprayed bees are caught in the drift on their way
from the orchards or other plants back to the hive. So a bee doesn't
have to land on the trees to get infected. If the wind is right it
might even reach some of the hives. It doesn't matter if the hives were
there first or that we keep trying to master our natural resources and
make them into patentable commodities. Take time to read this
article.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8436

There is another article sent to me by my moderator, Kathryn, which
sheds more info on the use of Roundup and similar products that seem to
make our lives more convenient, but at what price.
http://www.thecampaign.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1159

Conscientious Recycler Does Something Smaller

2009-02-19T19:59:00.000-08:00

I was pleasantly suprised today to find out one of our local citizens made the news by making a statement about waste. For one year, she saved all the non-recyclable plastic or refuse that could not otherwise be recycled at her home. This included any napkins or plastic she might use at restaurants! The reporter who went to interview her expected to see several bags worth and was amazed to find only about 5pounds of trash total in a single bin.

See the live News Clip and a picture of Liz!

http://www.wtvh.com/

I know hard she works at something really important because, if you ever went walking on most city streets now days your going to see some papers blowing around. This bothers a lot of us but we choose to ignore it. Its someone else responsibility.

I have met Liz several times and she is always there to listen to anyone
who might wish to offer a way to make our city greener and encourages
any amount of positive energy no matter how small and make it so worth
wile. Her energies have wide effects into various regions from
recycling, growing a community garden, or even bringing life back to
some of neighborhoods with reclamation; including Habitat for Humanity
on the near West side.

People can get involved through Syracuse grows, Slow Food, as well as
through the Alchemical Nursery Project which supports permaculture, and
green living. (alchemicalnursery.org)

On top of that, she also loves to crochet non-recyclable materials as
much as I do!
Gotta love that! Cher

Seed Saving in general terms

2009-02-18T22:12:00.000-08:00

I like to do "Seed Trains" with persons who would like to learn about seed saving, trading, and growing your own. (It does'nt matter what state you live in) You can send me an email, or just ask.

The basic rules are collect seeds of plants you can comfortably identify and mark the name on a package. If its from a garden, then know the rules of how to probagate or collect heirloom seeds. Make sure the seed is fully mature before picking. (This may take some practice or experience. Some seeds are easier to collect than others)

When growing some types of vegetables from seed, if its planted next to one of its realtives, it might cross pollenate. You will still get a tomato from a tomato seed but it may not taste or look the same. Keep this in mind if you decide to plant 12 different tomato plants next to each other. Even if they are "heirloom".

If your not collecting the seeds it doesn't matter; but it sure is cheaper to save some seed than having to purchase it each year and hope your usual distributer still carries it. You can choose to rotate your favorites, or plant them further apart, or use spun bond to cover during blooming and keep one type covered while the other is getting pollenated. Or hand pollenate. This is reasonable with some types of veggies but not all.

People started collecting seeds in the first place; to ensure that their best loved plants would be there for them again the next season. They would take the best tasting tomato and keep the seeds in a cup to ferment for a few days. When it starts to look like the gelantous mass is breaking down and releasing the seed; its time to rinse and dry off on a paper towel. Allow a few days to dry completely.

I usually take a half of an envelope or make some packets from recycled paper. Or reuse some envelopes to keep seed in. I keep a scrap book of types and growing conditions and notes to fall back on for next season. Seeds do best when they are cool and dry, and kept out of direct sunlight. The viability of some seeds is longer than others. And some seeds do best when replanted right away. (More so wild edibles)

Its best if your going to collect seed to try it with one or two items the first season. If you try and take on too much you will end up not being a happy gardener and give up. If the price of food keeps going up,(should I say when?) it will be a good skill to have.

I know from past experience, even with my own family they would grow a dozen tomato plants and then give away tomatoes to everyone. I'm guilty of the same thing; and sharing is nice but don't forget about sauce or canning.
If you ever tried to make sauce, you would not just toss the "imperfect" ones into the compost, but instead try and make sauce out of them if not a bushel or so. Give it some thought. If your seed grows true to form, taste and color three seasons or more in a row, you can safely say you still have an heirloom seed. If you save seed and all the tomato plants look different, and taste different, and some even have curled leaves or other problems, you probably got a throw back from one of the original parent plants or a new cross breed. If you were in a tight pinch and didn't wish to just toss the seed, you could do a test planting of some of the seeds and see what happens.

If your wanting to ensure some will be heirloom and then mark those with a colored twist tie and numbering system and then the next year try growing the seeds and see what you get. If one tomato plant tastes way better than some of the others, then that is the one you want to keep seed from. Even when you have all the same variety of tomato plant you may end up with some better tasting than others.
This is very true with wild edibles. Since they are not cultivated, they can vary in taste and texture from plant to plant and even in chemical content. That is why it is good to know what you have when foraging and what to expect. Some plants are quite edible and some only certain parts of the plants can be eaten like rhubarb..the stalks are edible but the leaves will make you quite sick. This used to be passed down from grandparent to grandchild. Now most of us are re-learning it.

Some plants when allowed to go to seed, will "winter sow" and you get new starter plants which you just transplant into their new beds while they are still small. I have done this with broccoli, parsley, leeks and garlic. I have also had some leafy greens come up by themselves as well as dill. If I don't eat them before I make it back to the house, I take little bits of edibles and toss them into my salad bowl. When its early in the season, I toss in some garlic scapes, dandilion leaf and even wild violet leaves and flowers can be added to beet top leaves or even wintered over carrots. Once you get a feel for the how and why, it starts to become a little bit easier each time. I feel its important for everyone to grow some food even if its only one tomato plant. A cardboard box full of corn which can be a nice privacy screen, smells great and the stalks are useful for fall decoration as well as crafting. corn stalks make great compost too, if you don't end up feeding them to livestock. I believe everything has a use. If you are dragging alot of refuse to the curb for others to carry off, maybe you need to rethink your plan. I can't help but shake my head when I see pumpkins at the curb instead of composted in the garden.

You can save some of your pumpkin seeds and roast the rest of them to eat like nuts. Some people grind them up to make a flour or add to flour. Raw foodies grind them up and add them to smoothies, as well as sunflower seeds.

Other seeds like broccoli. If you keep extra seed available you can start sprouts for a salad, sandwich or snack. There are so many reasons to collect seeds as there are plants.
If anyone has collected seeds, they can post their experiences, or you can ask questions and we will try and answer a few of them too.

Plus don't forget about joining a seed train or have a seed swap. I can tell you more about that too if your interested. Cher

I wanted to add another great NY source for Heirloom seeds: The Victory Seed
Company
Take a look at their topics which talk about various aspects of seed saving that are important to know. They sell seeds but also are a seed bank for providing heirloom seeds.

Victory Seed Company

Rare, Open-pollinated & Heirloom Garden Seeds

News & Information

We do rely on the sale of seeds to fund our work, but our primary mission is to protect seeds. One of our tools for doing this is through education and dissemination of information.

The following links are to tools and information located on our Web site. In some cases, the links will lead you to other sites.

Glossary of Terms
Seed Topics
Gardening Topics
- Successfully Starting Plants from Seeds
  - "Damping-off" - Description, causes and controls.
- General Garden Planting Guide
- U.S. Agriculture Extension Sites Organized by State
- U.S. Gardening Resource Links Organized by State
- Gardening with Kids! - An overview and resource page.
- Gardening Almanac Pages - What to do this month.
- Why Grow Heirlooms - FAQ
- "A Case for Gardening with Heirlooms" by Mike Dunton
- Tomato Specific Information
Historical Topics
- Vegetable Historical Origins
- A History of Victory Gardening in W.W. II-era America
  - Historically accurate VG seeds in a retro packet design.
- Victory Horticultural Portal - A Community for Historical Research
- Seedsman Hall of Fame - Want to know more about the people who introduced various seed varieties and built the seed industry in America? This is a site created and sponsored by us to promote agricultural history.
- A. W. Livingston Tomatoes - Learn about this pioneering tomato seedsman.
- Agricultural Reference Material Links - Online books, journals and old seed catalogs. Part of the Seedsmen.org project (see below), these historic materials are critical in seed preservation work.
- Links to Sites Maintaining Period Specific Gardens
Miscellaneous Information
- General Informational Links
- Scoville Units Explained

Visit them at: http://www.victoryseeds.com/catalog/index.html

Seed Savers - Why do they do it?

2009-02-18T21:07:00.000-08:00

I wanted people to learn more about the various aspects of Seed Saving. There are individuals and families that have grown the same tomato seeds for generations. To some of us this seems a bit redundant if not amazing with all the choices we have today; but , are they informed choices?
It used to be that we referred to genetic manipulation just by simple methods such as cross pollination or selective seed gathering. Now its a whole different ball game in a world where they can splice genes under a microscope and cause them to create different chemicals. In fact as much as we know, we still don't know what happens exactly each time genes are "spliced" as you get a slightly different result. The idea of an exact method or perfect clone doesn't really exist, but it makes for good movies, or bad depending on what your view point is.

In the meantime, some people of wisdom decided that maybe its a good idea to carry on this method of saving naturally grown seeds. Just in case those others do not quite work out. We learned that with the monoculture that created the potato famine in Ireland. So I feel it is an important skill for many to know and understand seed saving and not leave it to just some organization or company, but rather a people skill. As important as knowing how to bandage a cut; we need to think about heirloom seeds as being just as important as the antique table in the dining room or the old clock.

I start my presentation with a NY Seed saving project on Long Island. They wish to educate more people about the need for saving seed. Just so you can get an idea of what its all about.
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ABOUT THE LONG ISLAND SEED PROJECT

Long Island Seed Project's mission is to educate and inform the public about seed production issues and learn about how you can help in decentralizing seed production by creating your own garden and farm adapted varieties.

We are grateful to the Public Seed Initiative funded by USDA for it's leadership and inspiration and to the follow-up Organic Seed Partnership, locally administered by New York NOFA (Northeast Organic Farmers Association). In a world with increasing restrictions to access of germplasm because of what we believe are unfounded regulations both in the United States and abroad, plant patenting laws and "white lists", the OSP is a refreshing program that has breeders working with small farmers to produce better farm adapted varieties. Flanders Bay Farm which is host to the Long Island Seed Project is pleased to be a participant farm in that partnership.

We applaud the public and private sector plant breeders and seed savers all around the world who continue to allow access to their seeds so that sustainable varieties can continue to be grown and developed to benefit and serve the needs of the small farmer and gardener.

Long Island Seed Project was formed primarily as an outgrowth of the participation of our Flanders Bay Farm in the Organic Seed Partnership sponsored by NOFA-NY which promoted farm-based plant breeding to develop varieties bred especially suited to organic culture and ecological agriculture systems. NOFA-NY organized two breeding workshops (2006 and 2007) at Flanders Bay Farm which brought together vegetable breeders Michael Glos and George Moriarty from Cornell University, Jim Myers from Oregon State University and Brian Connelly from the University of Connecticut to help teach breeding techniques and inspire Long Island farmers.

Long Island Seed Project focuses on the issues involving seed breeding and the access to sustainable varieties that growers can maintain by traditional seed saving. The project helps to distribute potentially useful "unfinished" vegetable varieties and "gene pools" from the Project's Seed Bank to farmer breeders and hobby breeders sometimes referred to as "back-yard breeders".

Long Island Seed assists backyard breeders in developing their own regionally adapted varieties by sharing seed saving experiences and providing information through the internet site: www.liseed.org.

Through this web site, the distribution of seeds of potentially valuable genetic material to it's members and the local projects we are involved in, it is our hope that we can help make your "growing" experience more rewarding, enjoyable and sustainable.

Last updated: Dec. 2008

Bryan Connelly, Michael Glos and Ken Ettlinger demonstrate hand pollination techniques at the 2006 Organic Seed Partnership Workshop at Flanders Bay Farm sponsered by NOFA-NY.
2006 Workshop Photos
2007 Workshop Photos

Welcome to the Long Island Seed Project!

Long Island Seed Project is a volunteer organization working to produce farm-bred seed ecologically on Eastern Long Island as part of a network of breeders, farmers and gardeners. Our focus is on seeds of interest to the organic gardener, small farmer, seed saver and "backyard breeder".

Through this web site and the various local projects that we participate in, it is our hope that we can keep you informed and help to make your "growing" experience more rewarding, enjoyable and sustainable. Our web site; we hope, will provide you with seeds as well as useful information on vegetable breeding and seed saving and allow us to share with you some of the on-going projects that we are involved in. Although the focus of our work is developing and propagating suitable varieties for Long Island, we invite others to make inquiries.

Ken Ettlinger
Long Island Seed Project
Flanders' Bay Farm, NY

http://www.liseed.org/