Friday, February 27, 2009

Seeds Seeds Seeds!

As everyone who reads this already knows, non gmo open pollinated seeds are very very important to your prepping, and are worth there weight in gold (or will be). At our little piece of heaven we use a method called bio intensive, or as I like to call it, the “cram all that stuff in there” method.
Usually we pick thru the 40+ seed catalogs that we get delivered, and come up with a list of what we need want that year. We have our favorites but we like to try a bunch of different things.
This year I happened across a website selling open pollinated seed bundles, I figured they would be similar to a lot of places out there. But this place was different right from the jump. They had an amazing collection of seeds, everything you could want plus more. They also carry seeds for herbs as well. I am a huge fan of customer service. I don’t feel like anyone owes me anything but the level of customer service that you receive defiantly dictates the kind of company that you are dealing with. The web site was very easy to get around and the few questions that I had, were answered right away with a quick email. The follow up emails that I sent them were all answered right away and they were a huge help in getting the information I wanted and needed.
Now the price… WOW I couldn’t believe what they were charging for such an amazing variety of plants. I would have figured I would have to pay twice the price, but nope they were wicked cheap. Almost to the point that I felt I may be stealing them.
Well the ground is still covered in 2 feet of snow so I haven’t had the opportunity to plant any of it yet but if the past is anything to go on I’m sure they will be great. I’ll keep updates throughout the year on here to let everyone know how things are turning out, as far as germination rates and such.

Oh and just in case anyone was wondering I didn’t receive any payment or free stuff from them. I try to make it a point to let everyone I can know when people or companies treat me right as well as wrong.


Please go check them out
http://backyardheirloomseeds.net/default.aspx

p.s. if you do order, tell them Kirk sent you!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Stages

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, as everyone has, about the fate of the world and our country. It seems everyday something new has popped up that really gets my goat. It’s too much really, for any one person to deal with. So I have decided to move on to a new stage “acceptance”. The other stages won’t help either so I have decided to skip them as well. From now on I will try to give my take on the news when something huge happens but the rest of the time I will fill everyone in on what can be done to prepare as we all know “the end is near”. There are so many blogs that do an amazing job reporting what we all need to know so I will let them continue on with that and get back to what I started this fore in the first place.
So, if it helps here are the stages of grief. I feel they also apply to what everyone is going thru.

The stages are:

Denial
Example - "I feel fine."; "This can't be happening, not to me!"

Anger:
Example - "Why me? It's not fair!" "How can this happen, I hate this world!"

Bargaining:
Example - "Just let me live to see my children graduate."; "I'll do anything, can't you stretch it out? A few more years." I will give my life savings if..."'

Depression:
Example - "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"; "I'm going to die . . . What's the point?"

Acceptance:
Example - "It's going to be okay."; "I can't fight it, I may as well prepare for it."

So Happy Prepping

Tomorrow I’m going to talk about seeds as we just got ours and wow am I impressed!

I may be crazy or I may be right, but either way I’m prepared!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Article 10

Finally I’m back! We just took the kids on a “vacation” (don’t get me started on that). Now its time to get back to work and back to preppin. I have a couple things on my mind today but this is the most pressing and I have been waiting for two days to get it out of my head, Resolution 6 in my home state of New Hampshire. I was very happy to find that it was introduced and equally as upset when I found out it was killed. It was the first good thing that we had done in a very long time and we threw it away to suckle at the tit of mother DC! Bullshit! So in an effort to better educate myself I have started to memorize the US Constitution and the New Hampshire constitution. That’s when I cam across this little tidbit that I find truly pleasing.

Article 10. Right of Revolution
Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security, of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.”

APARENTLY OUR FORFATHERS HAD THE FORSIGHT TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE WHEN OUR CURRENT GOVERNMENT ONLY WANTS THERE OWN.

And from what I can find Kentucky Tennessee and North Carolina all have similar articles in there respective constitutions. It’s high time our Government upholds its constitution or sooner or later the people will.

Well I may be crazy or I may be right be either way I’m Prepared!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Pants !

I wear jeans almost exclusively, and I with everything I do from working outside to playing with my kiddos I have a hard time keeping them from getting ripped in the knees or pockets or someplace else. (I blame most of this on cheap labor and cost cutting on materials but that’s a different post) Last night I was out looking for a new pair as I had just shredded my last good “work” jeans.
Clothes are the only thing that we as a family “waste” money on, getting a new one instead of patching up the old ones and making due like we do with everything else we own and use. It kept running thru my head and wile I was in the store, Dam this is expensive they are just pants and then my top just blew. Like it does a lot. I put the pants back and made the decision to just start patching up my old jeans instead of making rags and shorts out of them. So off to the fabric store I went to get some suitable patches, and wow the price on cloth is ridiculous! Even for the odds and ends that I needed it was more than I though was a fair price.
So I said to myself “Self, how can I get free or cheap cloth, to make patches with?” That’s when I hit upon this answer, thanks to my grandfather, whom recently passed away. My grandfather used to get the longest pant he could buy and roll the bottoms up and hem them in place. (For reasons no one knows)
When you go to the store to buy a pair of pants, most people typically look for the waist and leg sizes that fit them. Not anymore with me, and this is why. Within a certain size range all the pants cost the same amount. So if your inseam is 30 and you buy 30 inseam pants your paying the same as the guy who buys 36 inseam pants yet he gets 6 inches more material. If you get pants that are as long in the leg that you can find, roll up the leg and hem them. That way, when you get a hole in the knee or seat of them you can use that extra material from the leg to patch them up! It may be cheap, but every penny counts at my house.
It falls in to the same philosophy in my mind, of take everything they are willing to give away. I do it with everything else from old windows on the side of the road to ketchup packets and the fast food restaurant to toppings on my sandwich from the sub shop to the pens at the auto body shop. My family thinks I’m wicked cheap and a little weird (as do most people) but you know what…… We haven’t bought ketchup and mustard in months, and I made 6 cold boxes out of windows I found free on the side of the road! So now I will start taking that extra 6 inches of material with my pants too. Lol. If someone is giving it away for free, take it, you’ll find a use for it, or someone you know may need one. Does anyone else do this or am I now a “lone ranger of cheapness”.
I may be crazy or I may be right but at least I’m prepared!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Freedom for money

WTF! Ok some of you may not agree with me on this but I see this as a huge failure of my state government. We are supposed to be the live free or die state! why does my government feel the need to protect me from myself? The only purpose of a seatbelt law is to generate revenue for the government. Our state is in a pinch just like everyone else but we don’t need to cow down to Washington for a couple dollars. It doesn’t protect anyone from anything! I wear my seat belt because I feel that it is safer to do so! This is an invasion of my privacy. This is BS! What’s next, are they going to come check that my aspirin bottles are child proof? That I have outlet covers in my sockets? I give you my word that if this passes and I receive a ticket for it, to jail I will go before I pay that.

Here is a link to an article about it.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/election/812

Friday, February 20, 2009

Ok quick post today just to pas on what happened to me this morning then tomorrow I’ll get back to business. This morning as I pulled out onto the road in front of my house I hit an icy patch, and my 2 wheel drive truck wouldn’t move, at all. I just sat there spinning wheels. I glanced up just in time to see a truck come around the corner going at least double the speed limit. And I couldn’t move. In reaction I yelled to my girls to hold on and threw my hand across them to pin them best I could in their seats. I tried to brace for the impact, wile watching in the rearview mirror as the truck speed closer. The other truck slammed on his brakes causing him to go into a sideways slide straight at my truck. Then suddenly, as he was only 20 feet or so from impact his front wheels caught, spinning him back straight and into the far lane. He flew past my truck and in front of me then spun in the opposite direction and slid to a halt sideways in the road again about 200 feet in front of me. We both hollered to make sure the other was alright, and other than the both of us needing a change of pants we were. I don’t know how that happened; I thought for sure I was in serious trouble, but some how he managed to spin around my truck like a running back twisting off a tackle. Both of us ending up untouched, I don’t think I could do it again if I tried. (Nor do I think I want to try)

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Keep It Simple Survival: Uncle Bruce

Keep It Simple Survival: Uncle Bruce

My Response

Today over on Mayberrys blog Keep it Simple Survival there is an excellent post and below is my comment to that post i figured it warranted a post on my site just in case you didn't see it. please go check it out and read his post. I'll be back tomorrow
My Response
It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid war; but if it shall actually take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it.
-Thomas Jefferson-
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
-Thomas Jefferson-

Semper Fi, although I have not seen the horrors in combat, I have served my country and have been in horrific situations, I’ve had to look down the sights at another human being I have held my friend in his last dying moments as he pleads for help, it is not fun nor romantic as Hollywood makes it out to be. It is not something that anyone should wish upon themselves or anyone else but, I will not remain silent as my country is stolen from me! I will not remain silent and let future generations handle the problems we have created! I will not remain silent as the country I once swore to protect is attacked from within! I wish for a peaceable return to an America I was raised to believe was my inheritance, but I will be prepared to do what is right and necessary when the time comes, if it does, so that my children and future generations don’t have to! It is what our forefathers fought for and so will I if necessary!

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. -Thomas Jefferson-

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Just a little bit about a couple things today. Wife and I were talking last night about our preps and what we are up to in general and we came to the realization we are just kind of bumbling thru everything with no set plan. We both know what we want to get done but we haven't sat down and put a plan together. That’s a big no-no with me so this week we will be getting together an actual list of preps and putting together a plan so we get things done in the preferred order instead of just oh oh lets do this next…. I’ll keep you posted about what we get done.
Now I purchased a couple rifles last week. Wife and I did a lot of talking about what we wanted as neither of us has hunted before and I am the only one with any actual face time with any weapons. I’m an expert marksman with an m-16 and I can (well I used to be able to) break down an m240G machine gun in under a min, but both of those are hard to find.
I needed a 22 or similar rifle to use around the farm to put down pigs sheep goats and anything else we end up with around here that needs eaten. The both of us wanted to get our hunting licenses this year as well so we would need a rifle that can be used for that propose as well. I already own a 30-30 Winchester that was my grandfathers hunting rifle. So something in the same caliber would limit the ammo purchases.
Now I’m sure that I will hear differently from people who know better than me as I am by no means a “gun guy”, but I think I found the perfect fit.
For my around the farm utility rifle I settled on a Rossi .223 breach loading varmint rifle. It only holds one round at a time but that’s all I will need as it will only be used for putting farm animals down and ridding my garden of squirrels and such. I was also lead to believe, please let me know if I’m wrong but .223 it the same as the NATO 5.56mm so if necessary I can use gov ammo……
For the other rifle I wanted something that I can use to take down deer and possible black bear if necessary (that’s a whole other story). Since I already own a Winchester lever action 30-30 I wanted something in the same caliber. Again I did a little research and settled on the marlin w336 30 caliber lever action rifle. I live in a very wooded area so shot of 200+ yards are very rare and from what I have read this is the rifle to have. And again I’m fairly certain that the .30 caliber is the same as the 7.62 NATO round so again the two most popular rounds of ammunition can be used in my rifles.
They are both utility rifles that can pack a punch if necessary, duel purpose is my goal for everything and I think I found the perfect match this time. ANY advice on these, the interchangeability of the rounds on these rifles or any other advice is greatly appreciated.
The other thing we decided was to revert the cellar back into a root cellar and put the stairs back in to the basement so we no longer have to go outside to get down there to get food.
Just remember you may be crazy or you may be right but either way be prepared

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Hens and Poo

I had an awful surprise last night as I went to gather the eggs from my ladies days work. Right there in the nest was one on my hens one of the two that are still producing in this cold weather dead. Sitting pretty on the nest like everything was ok. I reached under her to see if she was guarding some eggs she flopped over and I realized she had died! I am at a loss don't know what happened she’s not even a year old yet and they all seem as healthy as can be, it was later than usual and I’m in the middle of several big projects so I didn’t get a chance to open’er up to see what if anything I could determine. Oh well such is life I guess, it just hurts to lose a hen as they take a long time to replace. (Not that losing any of my animals doesn’t suck)

We are hoping to expand the laying flock this summer as we are getting more requests for eggs than we can manage to fill. When the hens were producing at full tilt they gave use a fresh dozen and a half everyday which more than paid there way on the farm. We are fortunate enough to be able to sell of the eggs we get at a lower cost than even the super market sells what they call eggs for, undercutting everyone and still turning a tidy profit. Not only do we help out our neighbors with a better product for a little less than they can get anyplace else I have found that it pays us back ten fold. Now if we can get people to stop showing up at 5:30 in the morning to get eggs we will be on the right track! LOL

I had a long talk with our neighbor the other day and found out he has been paying someone to come and pick up his composted manure! He has a horse and has been piling this black gold in the wood lot behind his house for the last 10 years and it has just been composing away then, and I don’t know why but he started paying some one to come and get it out so he can start over! Wow am I glad I had that chat. I let him on a little secret ANYONE WITH A GARDEN WOULD HAVE PAID HIM to come get it. So needless to say, I now have more manure than I can use in a year for my veggies, saved myself a couple hundred bucks on manure, and helped my neighbor out. I guess the point I’m trying to make is Know what you have, one mans crap is another mans treasure.

Any ways just remember you may be crazy, or you may be right, either way be prepared!

Monday, February 16, 2009

What happened?
My alter ego works in retail sales and deals with people on a regular basis as does my better half. I deal with all types people everyday, and it has occurred to me that very few people of my generation take responsibility for anything anymore. Everyday I have people yelling at me for things that are by no means my fault. Most of the time it is because of something they have done, demanding that I fix there problems or else! And its not just at my job it’s rampant. Nay nay, it has become an epidemic.
I see people yelling at or down right being rude to waitresses or retail clerks or anyone in the service industry just because they are up set. Now I have problems from time to time just like everyone else, but I have learned that it doesn’t do any good to scream at the kid behind the counter because you dropped you cell phone in a puddle and weren’t smart enough to get insurance, or at the waiter because you wanted a steak medium and yours is medium rare!
Why can’t people treat each other with basic courtesy? Why do people feel the need to berate someone just because they can’t say anything back or do anything to stick up for themselves, without loosing there job! It’s not right, and I for one never put up with it. I have, on more than one occasion, wile shopping or sitting in a restaurant butted into someone’s space to let them know there behavior is wrong and uncalled for, to sick up for the person who can’t defend themselves. I figure if you’re going to behave like a child someone should set you straight like a child!
I am fortunate enough to work in a place that allows me to treat people the way they treat me. Throw a cell phone at me and I’ll throw it back (that has happened more than once), call me an asshole and I’ll tell you exactly how I feel about that comment. Treat me with respect and I’ll bend over backwards to help you.
It saddens me what we have sunk to as a people. I hope I’m not the only one. Ok enough ranting I just have to get the off my chest.

I may be crazy or I may be right, but at least I'm prepared!

Just a little about me. I figured I would give you a little background on me so you can get an idea of where I’m coming from. I’m from the generation y or is it x….? I’m not really sure what letter they are assigning to my sorry pathetic generation of “gatta have it now” “I deserve everything on a silver platter” people. I don’t count myself as one of them not by a long shot. But that’s another rant entirely.
I have a wonderful wife and two smart beautiful daughters. We live in a rural part of New Hampshire, not too far from a town and supplies but far enough to be peace quiet and give me space to prep. We live on a small 3 acre plot that supports almost all of our needs. We grow most of the fruits and vegetables that we eat as well as raising our own chicken’s turkey’s and pigs. Everything we do is deliberate here on our little farm, everything produces or it goes right down to the flowers we plant around our house and the pets we keep.
My family has always thought I was crazy, as I am working “backwards” in time according to them. I guess you’re supposed to just go buy things, instead of making them yourself or throw stuff away instead of fixing it, hmmmm oh well…. I have long believed that society has it stands now won’t be around forever, it can’t be, it just doesn’t make any sense to think that it would. I have never been a doom and gloom kind of guy or the end is near save yourself follower, but with recent events who knows…. I have just always wanted to be free from having to rely on other people for anything that I can do for myself (including my food). My wife has come around to my way of thinking about things, (slowly I’ll admit but come around she has) and said something to me that boosted my confidence and gave me the name for my blog. She said “Hun you’re either right or crazy, but either way we are prepared.” And that’s the way I look at things, I may be completely off my rocker and society will bounce back to its consumer driven, self centered self, or I’m right and everything we know and love today will be gone and changed so fast that most people won’t survive. But either way I’m prepared.
I hope you can take some things away from my little blog some information or at least a new idea or two. I’m writing this for me more than anything, so I have a way of sorting my thoughts. I will keep you up to date on what we are up to how we are prepping and what we are trying to do with our little piece of this earth.
P.s. I want you all to now I am no English major I’m just a guy so sorry if my grammar isn’t correct or it doesn’t flow properly or whatever problem you have with my blog, if you don’t like it don’t read it.

Just remember you may be crazy or you may be right but either way, be prepared!