Russian Meteor! INCOMING !!!!! Duck and Cover!!!!!!

Every prepper's dream and nightmare is when it actual happens. Just yesterday an asteroid passed very near the earth. As expected it missed by 17000 miles. Very close to a hit by any cosmic standard.

Then suddenly to our astonishment A meteor slams into Russia! UNEXPECTED!!! Complete surprise!!!

A sudden bright flash across the Ural mountains. A loud boom then a huge shock wave!!! Windows are blown out, roofs collapse, over a thousand injured.



It was estimated the meteor was about the size of a school bus. When it exploded about 15 miles above the earth it created a shock wave about 20 times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima Japan at the end of the second world war. Lucky for the Russians because it was so high in the sky the air absorbed much of the impact. Had it been nearer the earth when it exploded there would have been much greater damage.

With the end of the cold war no one is being taught what to do if there is an explosion. I grew up learning DUCK and COVER.

What is duck and cover?

First. If you see a bright flash of light turn away from the light.
Second. Duck, get down low.
Third. Take cover get under something.
Last. If possible get underground or to the center of a building.







If you are outside get as low as you are able. Get behind a stone or mason wall or in a ditch.

In Russia yesterday when there was a bright flash in the sky many people went to the window to have a look. As they gazed up at the trail of smoke in the sky they heard a loud boom. This was the sonic boom caused by the meteor coming into the atmosphere. Then followed the shock wave. Most people did not see it coming as they looked out the window. When it hit the buildings they were in it shattered the windows. Hundreds were hit and injured by flying glass and other debris.

If you suspect any kind of explosion move away from any windows. They may shatter and can cause sever injury.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kvHl5Qcnzc

Russia is not the only place to have this happen. In Nevada near Las Vegas a factory exploded. Much the same thing happened there. Hundreds of people were struck with broken glass and debris. The shock wave was so strong it knocked cars off the road.

So remember! If you see a bright flash in the sky. Duck and Cover! Wait to see if there is a shock wave. Give it plenty of time before you get up. When you do get up do not go to the window to look out. Go to a door on the side of the building away from the point of the bright flash of light.

Fortunately the Russian meteor was not as devastating as it could have been. It is a warning for what can happen, a sneak preview of what can and someday may happen.

Plant all the garden all season!

Getting ready to Plant your garden. Here's the challenge! Never let any spot in your garden go fallow. It is not as daunting as you may think. It can be a fun to see how much each part of your garden can produce.

Plan 1, plant something that will take all season to produce food. or that will produce food for a long time. This would be planting something like peppers, tomatoes, egg plant, squash or pole beans. Each of the plants will sprout, grow, bloom and make fruit for a full season. Be sure to choose varieties that continue to bloom until frost or that produce till frost.

This will keep you in fresh produce for the full time of the harvest. You may however get a bit tired of always having the same things to eat.

Plan 2, planting and harvest cycle. This one is the most fun. It also adds variety to your diet.  This will take some planning and experimenting. I am going to give you a head start by telling you a few things you can do.

Cycle A. As soon as you can break the ground in the spring plant you favorite pea. I like Green Arrow pea. The peas are cool weather crops and can take some moderate freezing. In my aria I plant peas in the end of February, they come up and grow in March and April depending on the year. I have fresh peas from the end of April till about the second week of June when the temperature gets too hot for the pea blossoms. Then I clean all the pods off my peas, till or spade the vines into the ground. The nitrogen form the peas will Make your soil fertile for your next crop. Plant corn in the same place. I choose a early corn that takes 90 to 100 days to mature. This gives me fresh corn or pop corn in September. when the corn is over I pull the stalks out and add a little compost then plant the same place with smaller sections of radishes, beats and several varieties of lettuce. I use them all in salads until they freeze. If I cover them at night I frequently have fresh salad until mid November.

Cycle B. Some crops can be planted in a continuous rotation. I use this method for root crops like beats, carrots and radishes that I use frequently in smaller amounts. I like to plant mini plots, I will plant 8 to 10 carrots, beats and radishes in 4 to 8 very small rows. about 1 foot long.  I like the young and fresh small roots for fresh eating. As I use a row each week I replant it. That way all the crop is not ripe at the same time. If I find I'm running out of them too fast I increase the number I plant each time.

It is a lot of fun to plan your cycle. Start by finding out the number of days without frost where you live. Then pick a cool weather crop to start with in the spring. Look at the number of days it takes it to grow.  Plan for a week or two of harvest,  If you subtract the number of days it took to grow and harvest the first crop from the number of days without a freeze you will know how many days you have left for the growing season. Now pick a warm weather crop to plant in the same place that will produce a crop before freezing. If there are still at least 60 days left for harvest you may want to pick a third crop to finish the season with. Third crops are most often cool weather crops.

So go out and plan your garden Pick some long producers for your plan 1 and create a crop cycle for plan 2.

Be sure to use heirloom seeds so you can save them and replant the same things next year.

Plan your fruit cycle.

I love to plan the garden in winter. It gives me a chance to think of the warm green days of summer. I have to replace 2 trees this year. One of the trees I planted last year was so badly damaged by deer that I need to replace it. The second tree apparently was not suited to life at my home. So I have to replace them.

I choose my trees, bushes, and vines by when they bloom and when the fruit is ripe. In my very small orchard I have trees that come ripe over nearly all the summer.

I have over the years added plants into the landscape that provide food at different times. One of the first fruits is strawberries. I have a small bed set aside for the strawberries. This often my first fruit each year. A second early fruiting bush is the honey berry, They are similar to blueberries in taste and are ripe about the same time as strawberries. My next fruit produced is apricots. They come on the end of June into July on my tree. The fruit of my Manchurian apricot stays on the tree for nearly a month. After the apricots come the nectarines then Green grapes,  currents, peaches, Red grapes, plumbs, pears, concord grapes, josta berries, and apples. I also have a run of nuts with the almonds starting in July followed by filberts and walnuts latter in the fall. As the trees have matured the amount of fruit and nuts has increased. Now I have fruit to preserve at the peak of flavor. The canned fruit most years will last me until the next years new crop. Often I have more than a years worth of fruit. So I have been able to build a supply of more than a years of fruit that is ready to eat. This has saved me a lot of money. Over the last year I have kept track of what I have not had to buy. I saved nearly $1200.00 with my home production.

If you have space in your yard start your own fruit cycle. If you take out non productive plants replace them with plants that will provide you with a source of food.

Before you start do your home work. Know when your first and last average frost date is. Choose trees that bloom after the last average frost and produce fruit before the first frost each year. When looking for trees and bushes to plant check how long it takes for it to produce fruit. You can pick early trees like apricots to start your cycle, a nectarine,  followed by a pear then a apple. This can start your home production of food by trees.

It will take about 3 years to get your first real crop from your trees. Each crop will increase in size as the tree matures. Most trees are very productive by the time they are 5 years old. Some people do not want to wait so long for fruit. I advise you to plant some trees and some bushes. raspberry, strawberry, honey berry, Golgi berry  blue berry. or grapes. Most of the bush and vine plants produce fruit much sooner. If you plant some trees and some berries you can have fresh fruit each year till your trees produce and much more fruit when they are all mature.

It you grow your own food you will not have any worries about where it came from. What chemicals are on it. How sanitary were the growing conditions were. If it has been tampered with by a terrorist.

Take less drugs.

How often do we take medications?  Have a head ache pop some pain killers. Need to sleep pop a sleep aid. Have a cold lots of choices for treatment over the counter. A bit plugged up there is something to move things along. For most day to day medical needs there seems to be an endless array of over the counter medications.  Do you reach for the extra strength because you have extra need or because you think you need more than regular strength.

Most people take some kind of over the counter medications from time to time. Some people take them frequently.

How do you decide how much to take? one pill, two, three, four? A lot of people check the directions on the bottle. This is a very good place to start. Some very common instruction for adults are take one pill every so many hours or to take 2 pills every so often.

Lets go to the take 2 tablets instructions for an adult. An adult is someone over 18 years old. Now think of the adults you know. I have an adult daughter who is just over 100 pounds, I am over 200 pounds and I have a co-worker who is over 300 pounds. Is 2 tablets the same for each of us? I do not think so. Think of a cup of water. If you put a tablespoon of sugar in a cup of water it will taste sweet. The same amount of sugar in a 2 cups is not nearly as sweet and in 3 cups much less sweet. The same thing applies to how big you are. The bigger you are the less drug you have per pound. Do not think that means the drugs are not effective. If 2 pain killers take away the pain of a 300 pound person and a 100 pound person is some one taking too much? It could be they each are.

So what do you do? You may consider taking less medications. Its not dangerous to take the lower dose of an over the counter medication. For example if the adult dose of an over the counter medication you take for a head ache is 2 pills, try only one next time. See if one will do the job. You can always take the second pill if after 30 min you still have the pain. Start with the lower dose to see if it is effective. You may be surprised by the results you get from lowering your dose. Same effect less medication.


Never take more medication than is recommended by the maker.

Every time you take a chemical into your body it reacts with your body. Every over the counter medication has a list of warnings. Some may damage your liver,  kidneys, lungs, stomach or cause changes in your mental status. If you lower the dose you lower the toxic side effects. Why take a greater risk for the same outcome.

If you lower your medication use you will same money. Over the counter medications are not cheep. Why take more then you need.

I have found that for me on average the lower listed dose works very well for the over the counter medications I take. I do not need extra strength, regular strength lower dose hits the mark.

If the medication is ordered by a medical professional take it only as it is ordered.

Always seek medical help for symptoms of side effects. If symptoms continue seek medical attention.

Pick up some food storage.

Dooms day preppers. 

There are a lot of groups who are planning for various dooms day events. They are afraid the end of the world as we know it is near.  As a result they are making preparations to live through the bad times. They fear the eruptions of the Yellow Stone Caldera, Astroid impacts war and financial collapse from poor government. The fear is this will lead to a melt down of the social system we live in.  Chances of this happening is not very great.

I’m not very worried about a sudden collapse of society. It could happen, but it is not as likely as more personal problems. Loss of a job, sickness or death of a primary bread winner or other personal losses. This is what we need to be ready for. If we are ready for the personal losses we will be ready for any major catastrophe that may also occur. 

Food Storage.

For many years the church has advised its members to have food storage. This is a good hedge against shortages and personal troubles. It is financially prudent. Having a supply of food on hand gives you the option to purchase food or not each time you may want to go shopping. If you have food stored you can wait for the better deals, sales and bargains. This can save hundreds of dollars each year. Buying food in bulk saves money and gives you stability.

I like to break food storage into 3 parts. 

Part 1 is hard storage. 

part 2 is moderate storage.

Part 3 is soft storage.

Hard storage.

Hard storage is the storing of things that last for many years or even decades. Most often this means storing grain. I have made bread that was very good with wheat that was over 40 years old.

The first choice for hard storage is wheat. Many people do not know how to use whole wheat. But they know it is the best for storage. So we all store it. 

Wheat is an excellent food. It has much of the protein and nutrients we need to live. However all wheat is not the same. There are 2 main categories of wheat  Hard and soft. Hard wheats are higher in gluten and protein and are the best for making bread. Soft wheats are lower in gluten and used for pastries, cakes, biscuits and crackers. For the most part for home use they are pretty much interchangeable. There are also sub categories of red and white. Red wheats have a stronger flavor than the white. 

I am often asked how much wheat should I store? You should store 150 pounds of wheat for an adult for each year of storage. This will come to about 0.4 pounds per day. Children under 8 years should have 75 pounds for a year. Remember children grow so plan for their future if you are able. 

Be sure you can prepare your food. If you store wheat you need to be able to use it. Wheat can be ground, popped or cracked. It is not very easy to eat whole. If you plan to store wheat it is a very good idea to have a wheat grinder. Flour is more useful than popped or cracked wheat. 

If you are not able to eat gluten, or want an easier grain to cook you may want to pick rice. 

White rice will store for many years. Brown rice tends to spoil because it has a higher water content. Rice is easy to prepare. 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water and boil. 

Pearled barley is also easy to store and prepare. You can boil it the same as you do rice.

Because white rice and pearled barley have been milled they do not have as much nutrition as unmilled grains.

Other grains have different storage life's and preparation be sure you know how to store them..

Moderate storage 

The moderate storage items are the canned and boxed goods that are bought from the store. They have an expiration or best used by date. Most of the time this date is 2 to 3 years in the future. 

When storing canned and boxed goods be sure to look at the expiration date at the time you buy them. Some retailers will place food on sale that is near the expiration date. Do not buy more of a product than you will use before the expiration date. 

The best way to determine how much canned goods you should have to buy. Is by the number of meals you will eat. If you have tuna sandwiches 2 times a week, you need to have enough tuna to make the sandwiches. If you use one can of tuna each time you will need 104 cans for one year. To determine how many meals are in a box or can check the serving size. You may be surprised at how small the serving size is. If you are use to eating a can of soup for a meal buy the amount  you eat. Many cans have 2 or more servings in them. 

The food that has passed the date may still be good but it tends to have less food value. Once the food is passed the expiration date it should only be used with caution. Leaking, swollen, or bulged cans are not safe to eat. To avoid loss of your food supply be sure to rotate what you buy. Use the old first and place new behind it. I have seen a lot of wasted storage because people bought food that they put away and never used or rotated.

 Moderate storage items should include all the things you and your family regularly eat. Do not buy things you do not use on a regular basis because they will eventually expire and spoil. Then you will have to put them in the garbage and it will have been a wast of money.

Soft storage is perishable food on hand.

 This is the food in your refrigerator, freezer and fresh bakery items. You should not have more than a week or so of these items. They are for consumption when they are fresh. Keeping them over time increases the risk of spoilage and increases the chance that harmful bacteria or mold may grow on them. This could make you sick and even cause death.

Renewable foods.

This is food you can produce on your own. It includes fruits, nuts, vegetables and any farm animals you may be able to keep. 

Having fruit and nut trees and a garden can provide additional food for your family. Fresh fruit and vegetables are more flavorful and  nutritious than that purchased in a store. Not having to buy fresh produce will significantly decrease your grocery bill.

Getting started with food storage:

The simplest way to start food storage is to buy a few extra meals with each shopping trip. They can be more expensive products like canned meats or they can be cheap things like Top Raman noodles 24 meals for $4:00. It is up to you to determine what fits into your budget. 

If you have extra money come in like a tax return or gifts you can buy additional storage items. If you save a little money out of each pay check you can wait for a sale and stock up when things are less expensive. 

Provident living.

The idea of provident living is to make your food storage, garden and shopping habits work for you.

First take stock of what you have. Count your meals and check how much grains you have. This will let you know how much more you may need to reach your food storage goal. A year supply is the most common goal. 

Next think of the meals you most often eat at your home. Then with your next shopping trip buy the things you generally eat. Be sure to pick up a few extra for storage. 

If you have wheat stored do not buy flour, you will want to grind some of the wheat into flour. This will help to rotate your food supply. 

Begin to add things into your families diet that are from your food storage. Have meals with rice, beans and canned goods from storage each week. Make pancakes,  bread and cookies from scratch. You will find the flavor is better and it will save you some cash if you make your own. 

Plant your garden with foods your family generally eats. Plan your garden so some produce is being produced throughout the growing season.  Plant some fruit trees or nut trees. 

Plant a variety of fruits if you have room. Choose trees so some of the fruit ripens throughout the summer and fall. Then do home canning so you can enjoy your produce all year. It may take a few years to get  your first crop, but the trees will produce for many years. The fresh foods will increase your nutrition. Not having to buy fresh food will save you money. 

The money you save by provident living can be used for other needs or to increase your food supply.

When you plan your meals you will begin to plan by not what you need to buy but by what you already have.