The Survival Weekly Dispatch - Volume 11, Issue 8
Spring is coming....
Hey everyone, thanks for checking out the newsletter this week. The weather has continued its roller-coaster ride. The temps have bounced back and forth from low 20s to mid-50s. I’m not complaining, mind you, as I’d much rather deal with rain than snow, all thing considered. But given that it’s still only February, I’m not discounting the idea of seeing at least one more good snowfall.
Last week, I led a Prepping 101 class at a local library. The turnout was amazing. We’d been expecting about 30 attendees and we ended up with well over 50 by the time class started. It was a fun time and the library has asked me to return for another class later this year. We’re looking at dates in September, in honor of National Preparedness Month.
Friday afternoon, I found myself in the unenviable position of having to write four full articles that were due that night. Got ‘em all done well before midnight. Why did I have to write that many articles in an evening? Because I sometimes procrastinate. Why do I procrastinate? Because I have the ability to write four full articles in a single evening. I will learn nothing from this, I assure you, LOL.
* * *
Prepper Tip – Guerilla gardening refers to growing crops in locations or using methods that keep them relatively hidden from casual observers. For example, rather than an actual garden plot in the backyard, growing tomatoes in a couple of large planters on your patio. Or perhaps making use of the vacant lot down the street and planting asparagus where it won’t be noticed.
A couple of comments posted in a group I occasionally visit online brought up a related topic, that being to pay attention to not just where you’re planting but what you’re planting. If you are concerned about having your crops eventually discovered by someone and thus being stolen from you, give thought as to what you can grow in your area that won’t be obvious as food plants.
Potatoes are a great example. A potato plant looks like a whole bunch of nothing above ground, while all the goodies are hidden from view. Just a few potato plants can grow a mess of food. Try different varieties, too, and see what grows best in your area. Personally, I like Yukon Golds, especially for making mashed taters.
Sweet potatoes are another great choice. They are loaded with nutrients, such as beta-carotene, and taste pretty good, too. In fact, most of the in-ground veggies are great options, including carrots, turnips, and radishes. Garlic has tremendous medicinal properties and is ridiculously easy to grow. It isn’t a quick crop, though, so you do need to plan ahead. Most gardeners plant garlic in the fall for a harvest the following year.
The idea here is to plant things that most folks won’t recognize as being food plants. Let’s face it, even the most hardcore city dweller can probably recognize a corn stalk, right? If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you could walk right by carrots growing just off the trail and never even notice them.
Give thought to how you can disguise your crops, too. For example, plant some flowers in the same container as you’re growing potatoes. The average person, hell even many experienced gardeners, aren’t going to give that a second look. If you’re careful about placement and camouflage, you might be able to get away with pole beans and other climbers. Plant them so they’ll grow up the side of a fence where you are also growing a decorative creeping vine.
Keep in mind that almost anything will look like food if it is planted in a garden bed in nice, even rows. Any ghetto rat will just assume that stuff is good to eat, whether they have a clue what it is or not. Edible landscaping allows you to increase the amount of food you can grow while also keeping it rather low key. Salad greens are a great choice in this regard. Many people won’t even recognize romaine lettuce growing alongside some flowers in a front or back bed alongside the house.
As you plan your gardens for next year, think about how you might go about disguising some of your food crops, just in case that becomes important at some point down the road. Incidentally, while I would never encourage one to break the law or commit other wrongdoings, many of these tips could work to the benefit of someone trying to get around rules and covenants in an area ruled by a homeowner’s association. Just sayin’….
* * *
I know many of you have seen me mention this a few times, but we’re adding new subscribers here every week.
There’s a FREE class coming up called Disaster Preparedness and Survival: A Guide for Individuals, Families, and Communities. It be held March 23-24, 2024, in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. I believe the class will run roughly 8:00am-4:00pm on Saturday, and 8:00am-Noon on Sunday, but that’s not been confirmed yet. Here’s the description:
This course is designed to prepare individuals who may be directly affected by a disaster help themselves, their family and other community members. Participants will learn how to develop a family preparedness plan, practice self-rescue, perform search and light rescue techniques, and understand the recovery process.
I plan to attend this class myself. The location will be at the Portage County Annex Building, at 1462 Strongs Avenue, Stevens Point, WI 54481. I’m told that the class will run roughly 8AM-4PM the first day and 8AM-Noon the second day.
Registration is required. Scroll through to find the Stevens Point session and follow the instructions to register. The title for the class online is slightly different -- When Disaster Strikes: Prepare, Act, Survive – but I’m told it will be changed to reflect what I posted above.
You will need to sign up for a FEMA SID (Student ID). You’ll be prompted to do so during the registration process.
This is an in-person class. Attending virtually is not an option at this time. This might be a great opportunity to network with others, as well as learn some new things.
* * *
Book announcement – I’ve inked a deal with my publisher to do a revised edition of COUNTDOWN TO PREPAREDNESS. It will be published sometime next year. The book is nearly ten years old (yeah, I had a hard time believing that myself), so we figure it’s time to bring the content current. I have some ideas on how to change things up a bit with it, too.
If you’ve read it and have any feedback you’d like to share about the content, please feel free to reach out to me. I’m looking forward to revisiting this one, as it was a lot of fun to put together.
* * *
I always like to see what others pack for trips into the field. Here’s a great article from Matt Williams on that very subject.
* * *
Supplier Spotlight – Nature Reliance School
Nature Reliance is headed up by Craig Caudill, with lots of partnership from his wife Jennifer Caudill. It is primarily a school, though they offer a line of products as well. Their classes often center on four primary elements.
Mindset – the most important aspect of outdoors safety and survival.
Skills – the specifics of things like navigation and fire making.
Tactics – how to improve your skills as well as utilize them in various less ideal scenarios.
Gear – the stuff of survival.
Their approach to education is perhaps best summed up by their oft-repeated motto: “Come on, join in, let’s learn together.”
Nature Reliance offers a range of classes that cover numerous outdoors skills, including (but not limited to):
Tracking
Edible and medicinal plants
Land navigation
Fire building
Water purification
Wilderness first aid
Craig and the Nature Reliance instructor cadre have worked with civilians, law enforcement agencies, and government agencies and they’ve earned a reputation for excellence.
By the way, Craig isn’t just an instructor. He’s also written several great books, all of which can be found on Amazon.
On the store side, they have several great products. I’m particularly fond of the T-shirts and hoodies and own multiples of both, though I do still need to get the Heavyweight Full Zip Hooded Sweatshirt. The Shemanese is one of the knives Craig has designed and it is all sorts of awesome.
If you’re looking for quality outdoor education, I highly recommend Nature Reliance. Find them here.
* * *
We decided to visit our son at college this past weekend and do our weekly hike while we were there. Just off campus there is a large nature preserve with several trails.
Survival Tip – Three Basic Prepper Habits
What seems like a couple of lifetimes ago, I spent several years working retail loss prevention management. The company I worked for was big on promoting all sorts of motivational programs for the leadership positions. To put it another way, books like Gung Ho by Ken Blanchard and Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson were treated like religious texts. I can’t recall which book it was that talked about it, but there was one that was all about making new habits and it said in very definitive terms that it takes 21 days to create a new habit.
Turns out, that’s a load of garbage, which isn’t surprising. The length of time needed to form a new habit is very subjective, depending upon the individual as well as the specific goal being sought. I’ve seen a few sources indicate that the average is around 66 days.
I tell you all of that to tell you this. Forming and keeping habits is a great way to stay on track when you have goals. There are several prepper-related habits you can pursue, and I’d like to focus on just a few of them here.
Fuel in Vehicles
Get into the habit of filling your tank any time if falls below half. If an emergency happens, whether we’re talking about evacuation or just needing to run to a hospital, you don’t want to get into the car and realize it’s on Empty and you’ll need to stop at a gas station along the way. Want to know what’s fun? Having that happen when your wife is in labor. Ask me how I know….
Carry Cash
Get into the habit of always having cash on your person when you leave the house. I’m not talking about hundreds of dollars, but have enough to at least get a half tank of gas and some food. It isn’t all that uncommon to find that a store or gas station is experiencing a problem with their computers and can only take cash.
Footwear Near the Bed
I was never a slippers kind of guy in my younger days. I just went barefoot at home and donned shoes or boots if I had to go somewhere. Once we had kids, that changed pretty quickly. Step on just one LEGO and you’ll understand. However, the larger issue at work here is that if you’re woken in the middle of the night due to a smoke detector or perhaps a tornado siren, you don’t want to have to scramble around trying to find shoes to slip on. Keep some type of footwear in the same spot every night near the bed.
None of these are truly life-altering or mind-blowing, I know. But I’m speaking from experience when I say that they’re all important and will make life easier in a crisis.
Prepper Survival Guide and Backwoods Survival Guide
For those new to my little corner of the Internet, I am the Editor in Chief for both Prepper Survival Guide and Backwoods Survival Guide magazines. Here are the covers for the current issues that are available in stores right now.
You can find them just about anywhere magazines are sold, including:
Walmart
Sam's Club
Costco
Publix
Walgreens
Rite Aid
CVS
Tractor Supply
Fleet Farm
Barnes & Noble
Subscriptions to both titles are available here.
Questions, Comments, Complaints, Concerns?
I am always just an email away - jim@survivalweekly.com.