To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year. We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those –or excerpts thereof — in the Odds ‘n Sods Column or in the Snippets column. Let’s keep busy and be ready!
Jim Reports:
We’ve been enjoying some great weather, with plenty of sunshine and occasional rain showers. Our pastures are really thriving.
This past week, I hauled nine quad-trailer loads of composted manure. Most of that went to a new 5? x40? garden bed on the shady side of our greenhouse, where Avalanche Lily is now planting more berries and herbs.
Avalanche Lily Reports:
Dear Readers,
Gorgeous warm bluebird skies weather early in the week with heavy rain showers at the end of the week.
I worked very hard in the greenhouse finished reorganizing it and planted more basil, cilantro, and parsley.
Jim and I created another garden bed outside of the Main gardens and planted strawberries, cucumbers, and herbs. I am also creating a rock garden with wild edibles and medicinal herbs. I continue to study medicinal herb books this week. I am devouring these books. They are keeping me off of the computer these days.
UPDATE ON FRIDAY NIGHT: Last week, Samuel Thayer — the author of several edible wild plant books — contacted me and asked if I would like a copy of his new “Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants” for Eastern and Central North America. I wrote back and said that I was very interested. Jim picked it up at the post office on Friday afternoon. When Jim returned home, he opened the mail and placed the book on our bed. The first moment that I saw it, I dropped everything I was doing and pounced on it. I have already been studying it for two hours. Wow, wow, wow! It is a gorgeous book. It is so comprehensive! The photos of the plants are excellent quality, the best I’ve ever seen in any plant book, and there are several photos of each plant showing, leaves, shapes, and flowers, and fruit! It has maps of a plant’s range in the USA and in Canada. Even though the guide focuses on eastern and central USA the maps show full ranges if a plant occurs west of the Rocky Mountains, etc. It is the BEST edible wild plant guide that I have ever seen! I highly and seriously recommend it to all of our readers! It is totally worth the cover price of $32.95. Our readers can buy directly from Samuel Thayer through his website at Foragers Harvest. I will write a more comprehensive review this coming week.
I worked on the extension gardens. Jim helped me remove the black row cover that has been on a 15? x 50? section of it for two years. I whacked down thistles that grew up between the edges of the row cover with a hand scythe. Our mechanical weed whacker and lawn mower are both currently down for repairs. I really enjoy using the hand scythes. It is hard work, but it is quiet, a good workout, and does the job well enough.
Jim rototilled the bed after it was weed-whacked.
Our sheep were shorn recently. They look like new animals, so cute. They also are noticeably happier to have all that wool off them. Jim and I, also dosed them with Ivermectin this week.
I finished cleaning tack and reorganizing the tack room. I just need to vacuum its floor and wash a shelving unit on its door. I did not work the horses this week. But I will get back at that, next week. Horsey friend is planning a visit with us, soon.
Our contiguous neighbors have returned from out-of-state for the foreseeable future. We are so excited and happy to have them back for a long time. We are very like-minded and we enjoy their company very much. Miss Violet and I joined them for a paddle in the river one evening this week. It was a gorgeous paddle! Our sunsets and sunrises have been spectacular, lately. I love this weather!
I cared for a number of these neighbor’s hens during this past winter. Their birds were happily returned to them this week.
This week so far from the incubator we have had a sizable hatching of chicks. I’m so happy. The hens that are still on the “forced brooding” are doing well. I had to retire another hen this week. I caught her eating another’s eggs during a recess when I left them for a few minutes, and then a day later she was caught eating her own eggs. I gave her remaining eggs to another hen. Very shortly most of these hens of this generation will be butchered. I will have to keep this generation completely separate from my new upcoming chicks so as not to teach them bad practices.
WHO announced on June 5, 2023: Digital Medical Certifications are coming. You won’t be able to buy or sell or travel without it. See Revelation chapters 13 and 14.
May you all have a very blessed and safe week.
– Avalanche Lily, Rawles
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As always, please share and send e-mails of your own successes and hard-earned wisdom and we will post them in the “Snippets” column this coming week. We want to hear from you.
