What Have You Done Recently To Improve Your Chances Of Survival?

WOW!!!!!!!!

You've outdone what my paternal grandmother used to put back! She was a workaholic and came from horrible poverty. And you've put back the super-nutritious stuff. All you need is to put back grain seeds you like and when in need, grind the flower, make the biscuits and apply the jam or jelly. Do you make jellies and jams from these berries? That's what my grandma did.

 

All I've done is get the garden started. My plants aren't growing like I'd have wanted. They are healthy. It's been dry and hot hereabouts, so I've been watering like crazy. Still, ...

Found my favorite canned baked beans on sale. Bought a bunch. Same with bread'n'butter pickles. Man, do I love pickles.

I grow my own citronella to keep the mosquitoes away.

 

For the last six monthsI have been converting a 12m coach into a motorhome!
Nearly done, just little things now!
Taking it for a run this weekend to a medieval festival!

 

This year I've started learning all of the ins and outs of taking care of a vineyard. My grandfather has been tending to his vineyard for decades now, and being that I've been living with him in our rural home, he's been teaching me not only how to take care of the grapes but how to care for fruit bearing trees as well. Everything from pruning, to breeding hybrids, to caring for them with minimal pesticides.

While he's been teaching me that, my grandmother has been teaching me all of her secrets to keeping a luscious, healthy garden that can feed you all year round. Our elders are an invaluable wealth of knowledge and I'm so lucky to have people like my grandparents mentoring me in the traditional ways.

 

I am about to start growing some tomatoes. I saw some plants I want to add. Being as I am here in the South it isn't really too late to plant them. I will expect to be having tomatoes well into the Fall. I may be putting my house on the market, but having tomatoes available will appeal to those who like to garden defintiely.

 

I started my very own herbal garden. I wanted to for ages but I was a bit too lazy. I had extra space next to my ordinary garden and I finally rolled up my sleeves and got to work! It is now all set and I can begin planting whatever I want. I already made a list (I even posted it in one of my threads a while ago). I had to check and make sure which herbs can be close to each other and so on. My mother helped me with some advice

Other than that, I have also been reading a lot about making homemade jam! I want to give it a try and see what comes out but I am scared of messing it up, haha. They all say that it is easy though.

 

We have a large garden since ages, but this year I planted more and not just vegetables and fruits, but herbals too! It's amazing to see my products, yesterday I had my first tomato. I don't know yet how to extend this garden more, but I want to do it from year to year. It's a lot of work but the results are worth it.

 

I have stopped all vices and sinful indulgences especially drinking and smoking and made a resolution to fast whenever, wherever and however I can. Additionally, I have made a point of saving a percentage of every cash that fall into my hands for the rainy day.

 

Wow.. that is all i can say.... Wow... @Keith H. Question about you solar powered laudry how may panels you've used for that?

 

It was one of my new year's resolutions to cut out excess and unnecessary purchases from my shopping list and save more money. So this is something I have done this year on surviving skills. Learn to live with less. It has not been an easy task but I'm getting there. I have learnt how to simplify the way I buy things, clothing items especially. I made a list of ALL the clothes I have, in what colour so I don't buy something similar. And also since joining this forum, there are so many skills I have discovered that I want to learn to prepare me for a survival situation. From self-defence methods to getting food and water in a SHTF situation.

 

Haha! You gave me a nice chuckle. As for me, I have started growing my own vegetables? I started by watching Youtube videos and planting leaves in water while they grow so I can get more lettuce. I want to try to plant some tomatoes for salads and spaghetti. I don't know what else. Hmm.. Now I want to buy a bunch of blueberries.

 

Thanks for sharing...

 

I recently begin saving. I know it will make my life easier in the future or in case if an emergency happened. Money cannot buy everything of course but it can buy the basic necessities in my life to make my life living easier.

 

This year we doubled our garden area. Doubled our chicken & duck flock. Tripled our munitions. Quadrupled freezer space.

 

Lately, I have intensified my workouts in the gym to have greater resistance to inhospitable places (after all, I never know when I'll be in some of them, right? ), also to improve my breathing (and so far, the results has been very good ).

 

I just recently installed an app which allows me make calls even when there is no reception in my area. I have also just enrolled in a gym class, i found out recently that i get tired pretty quickly when ever i run so i need to improve my stay power and cover more distance.

 

Various small arms. Long arms. Selected carefully for maximum compatibility & readily available parts & cart's during or after an event

 

Cooking is in my top list. I have to learn how to cook better in such situation. During jobless days, I used to have bread for the cooking quickly. I also made use of the soup packets which I used for quick cooking. But now I am a bit in comfortable position. I have to learn to cook some routine stuff. I also want to learn how to do the woodwork. I am hoping that it may help with something in future.

 

Ok, so I didn't dig a well today, but I revived an abandoned well on my property. The original 2 inch well did not have enough flow to support a large irrigation system so a 4 inch well was drilled to replace it.
The 2 inch well was in perfect working order pulling about 4 gallons per minute. I wanted to restore this well as the first step in my DIY hand pump project. When the power goes out I can simply attach my rig & pump away.
I uncapped the well head & lowered a garden hose down under pressure to flush the pipe & get a measurement of the well depth ( 65+/- feet) then attached a half HP Jet pump. I could not get it to prime. Kept pulling air but no water.
I realized that when the well had been abandoned, the knuckle head well guy did not plug the original pump feed line. Had to dig down 4 feet to reach the Tee & capped it. Restarted the jet pump & sure enough, 4 GPM of water gushed forth. Ran it for an hour to clear any silt & the water is pristine.

 

I'm feeling accomplished.
We added 3 goats to our homestead & a utility ATV to work our mini farm.
Constructed a 24x24 pen & shelter out of free pallets. Only purchased a gate & some metal roof material. Very inexpensive project.

 

Ive intensified my workouts with heavier weights and trying to hold a better focus. I eat more fat and protein also wich helps.
I have done 8-12 reps on weights but now I do 3-5 with about as much weight as possible. Im in the gym for 20-30 minutes now, it takes longer getting changed and showered.

I state working out as a necessary prep. As fundamental as having food and water, or are you counting on shtf to be sitting around with a pint and a bag of crisps watching survival shows?

 

My boyfriend and I just moved into this house at the beginning of spring. So with money and time a factor, we havent been able to do too much.

I found a deal on a few solar panels and managed to grow an amazing garden this summer. Now Im overwintering our pepper plants and several tomato plants and have some fresh beans starting in the basement with the other stuff. If everything works out we may have knocked our grocery bill in half by what Ive grown and will contine to grow thanks to the solar panels.

 

I've been helping my wife expand her homesteading passion. Our bird flock, chicks & ducks, are easily producing 2 dozen eggs per day. We're setting up to breed the flock. Our 3 goats should become 5 by spring as we are expecting kids. Planning a more practical rabbit runs so they can breed. Collecting old windows for a green house project. As soon as the garden closes out we will bury it in new compost & tarp the entire plot so it can cook thru the winter. As a winter project, we will build a meal worm farm to use as an off grid sustainable protein source for the birds.

 

Good health & best wishes to you My Brother.

 

Today I managed to clear the brush and start the construction of my family's bug out location. I want to make throw over ghillie suits and keep them out at the spot.

 

Put back canned goods using veggies that came from our garden. Too, put back rice and beans with oxygen absorber packs. Checked sight-ins on rifles. Bought more fireplace cooking equipment which I'm gonna use this winter. Got a heavy cast-iron grill that fits into fireplace, so gonna have grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, gonna make a huge pot of stew over fire logs, just like my ancestors did. Maybe see how big a cornpone I can bake. Beans, cornpone, and stew -- Laud, Laud, praise be for Your bounty.

 

Hmmmm...Keith...

You got me to thinking..

I need to start up my four generators and do an Op check on them....have them run a load for about half an hour..

I have a 7500 watt...and a 4000 watt...four stroke. I also have two 1200 watt two strokes.

I've not run them in some time and need to so do and get the arthritis out of them....hook up a drop light or fan to them as a sort of electrical load.

I've learned it is not good to put up machines like that for long periods of time and not run it. Still ..I do not keep gasoline in the tanks until I am ready to run them. Between times I drain the tanks...and starve the carburetors by shutting the valve while they are running.

I don't think this 10% alcohol is good for a machine long term and certainly not sitting idle for a long time.

I've done the same for my lawn mowers...installed a cut off valve which I use and then when storing them ..cut the valve off and let it run until the carburetors starves for gas.

Thanks for reminding me,
Watcherchris

 

We got a large load of free heavy duty solid oak pallets. We built a second goat pen & have plans for a hog pen.

 

This is exactly what my fireplace looks like:

https://www.northlineexpress.com/me...36e95/n/l/nle5mm_mc_30_00_fireplace-crane.jpg



I got us one of these Lodge grills and it fits into the fireplace, no problem.

 

Grandmother kept clothing irons -- and I DO mean solid iron irons. Those biscuits are making me hungry. I still have glass family kerosene lanterns from back at the turn of the century (1900). The glass is THICK. They couldn't have this glass breaking and spilling kerosene.

In the fall season, my mother's side of the family used to have gatherings up on Roan Mountain, NC. Most were from the hollers adjacent. Could see the Roan Bald when hunting with cousins. When there is a chill in the air and you are swallowed by passing clouds (over 6000 ft.), the body's hunger factor can hit maximum. Then there's the camp fires and corn pone and beens a boiling and streaked-meat frying ...
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Skillet_cornbread_(cropped).jpg

 

mountain rhododendrons
https://www.google.com/search?q=roa...Wrl-AKHZASAdIQpwUIHg&biw=1154&bih=598&dpr=1.5

Grandfather Mountain Highland Games
https://www.google.com/search?biw=1...7k1j0i30k1.0.adM4ok9DVEw#imgrc=iQW9D7Lav4g4WM:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/396668679672548278/

http://1y6lkv1zn4yh14cyy41ycdbd.wpe...content/uploads/2014/04/HIGHLAND-GAMES-10.jpg

https://grandfather.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/BridgeAerial.jpg

 

Look Keith, you done gotta cousin in the Southern Appalachians
https://ub.fitness/61st-annual-grandfather-mountain-highland-games-gathering-of-the-clans-2017

 

I have been practicing making survival tools (saws and spears) out of common items I found around my house. I figured the more I make these tools, I will be more proficient when it comes to a survival situation.

 

Try making metal tools/weapons patterned after the metal tools made by Native Americans.

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1.....4.0.0....0.4NEOllYAyZU#imgrc=XA1_65ioCiiwZM:

https://www.pinterest.com/larrymartin471/native-american-war-club-tomahawk/

Never use tape. Always use leather for bindings. And always use tree sap glue if required.

Nicest pipe I ever owned was made by an FBI (full blooded Indian). See a sign in S.Appalachia that displays FBI and inside, you ain't gonna find any feds. These folk want you to know that before the FBI, there were the FBI -- the real FBI.

 

Now that we're in cold weather, lots of men here have beards. Men will cut their beards or trim them way back, get the hair off their necks, for the hot summer, then when the frosts come and hunting seasons open, stop shaving altogether. Bad part, especially for the women, is that the men will stop using deodorant because deer can smell that miles away. Stores here carry aroma-free soaps and deodorants/anti-antiperspirants, thank God. By Christmas, there are plenty of Santa Clauses.