America’s food supply is in danger, and not just from Monsanto and GMO crops. The declining number of farmers in the United States has paved the way for more imports of consumables from China. A recent congressional hearing about the increasing amount of food being shipped from China revealed that only 2 percent of such products actually undergo safety testing. Although there was rare bi-partisan support over the potential health risks posed by the lax oversight, the only action the governing body took was to plan another meeting on the matter later this year. Between
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Survivalists and preppers alike know how having a properly stocked pantry and surviving perilous times go hand in hand. Regardless of your reason for preparedness, every prepared home has a well-stocked food pantry. For generations, storing food has long been an important factor in preparing families for survival. Throughout history, there can always be found
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So you’re in a bad situation. You’re in the middle of nowhere; you don’t have much food and very little water. Maybe it’s the desert, maybe it’s a mountain or a forest. Either way, survival skills may change with your environment, but the basics stay the same. First, what do you have? If you’re lucky, you have a bottle of water, a power bar, your keys, a belt, and the clothes on your back. In reality, what you have is more than you think. Everything in survival can have a purpose, so save everything, from
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Prepping food plans commonly call for the token beans, rice, canned goods, and dried food products you can purchase online and at the grocery store.  However, one thing that might be overlooked is a fat source to use in baked goods and for general cooking.  Many fats and oils have the tendency to go rancid,
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In our last episode, we sung the praises of the old-fashioned wood-heating stove. But this was not because of its ability to keep a home comfy and warm, but rather because of how easily it can be adapted for use as a cooking stove. Cooking with wood really is good, and a regulation wood stove can help keep an off-the-grid family’s stomachs full and satisfied throughout the course of a long cold winter. However, while it certainly is possible to do some serious cooking on a wood-burning heat stove, there is actually a much better
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You’ve probably heard the arguments for organic produce and food versus inorganic varieties, but what about organic fertilizers? Walk down a garden center aisle and you’re faced with a dizzying array of choices when it comes to fertilizers. Sometimes, choosing the right one can be downright impossible. Here’s the low-down on organic versus inorganic fertilizers. First, both supply nutrition to plants, primarily in the form of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Synthetic fertilizers are usually made using petroleum products, which makes them less environmentally friendly. In fact, excessive runoff from synthetic fertilizers after storms can actually
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Whether you have your own herb garden, a generous friend who will share their herbs with you, wildcraft as a hobby or way of life, or are a member of a CSA and get a hefty share of certain herbs you aren’t sure what to do with, you may have wondered what on earth people
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Way back in 1951, country music legend Hank Williams released the classic song “Hey Good Lookin’,”which asked the following important musical questions: “Hey good lookin’, what ya got cookin’?” and “How ‘bout cookin’ something up with me?” We don’t know how the object of Hank’s romantic affections responded to these queries, but here’s what we can say for sure – if Hank Williams had owned his own wood-cooking stove, or even just a plain old wood stove for heating, he could have prepared a full-course home-cooked meal that would have impressed her to no end.
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The most important piece of survival equipment you can own is your house. If you’re serious about prepping, you will need to think of your house as a survival machine. That is, you should choose and equip a residence that is set up to maximize your family’s chances of survival. This doesn’t mean you need a fortress or a place with a bomb shelter in the basement. Instead, it means that you need a residence where you and your family can live for a long time without any outside help—or at least minimal outside help.
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As a vegetable gardener, you know that the quality of your soil can make or break your harvest. Vegetables need loose, light, fertile soil that holds water well without becoming sodden. Few gardeners are blessed with this soil, known as loam, occurring naturally in their garden. But with patience and a little help, you can slowly build loam soil. The regular addition of organic matter, found in manure and compost, is one of the best ways to make that ideal garden soil. But which manures are best? All livestock manures improve soil texture and drainage,
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