Well folks, here we are again. It’s been a beautiful week here in Tennessee with plenty of sun, however, according to the local weather forecast rain is on the way. I love the rain but not the grass mowing that comes after that last drop falls to the ground and the sun pops back out from behind the clouds. Growth rate looks like three or more inches in only a couple of hours after a rain.
As you all know I recently had trouble with my tiller but thankfully got it fixed and this week I managed to finally get my garden area tilled up and ready to plant. Next year I’m going to go with raised beds instead of row planting though because it’s less work once set up and in my experience more productive.
Another thing that I’ve been working on and plan to release next Saturday is my new product “The Bulletproof Survivor – Homesteading and Prepping for Troubled Times and Beyond”
The Bullet Proof Survivor is a complete prepping, homesteading, and survival library all on one awesome CD. It is an anthology of the best hand-picked articles from my old blog site TheSurvivalistBlog.net.
Plus the CD has hundreds of bonus articles, reports, and books to complete your prepping/survival/homesteading library – mostly in PDF for easy printing for personal use. Again, look for it to be officially released next Saturday!
However, if you want to preorder your copy at the special discount price of only $37 (normal price will be $47 starting Saturday) then you can do that now via the button below.
Well, folks, that’s it for me this week. What about you… what were your homesteading and preps for the week?
I was lucky to find 14 qt and 1 half gallon used mason jars cheap. Also hit a good clearance sale and bought ODS some good T and cotton shirts for summer. I wanted other storage food items but sales have been few and far between lately, mostly just ‘featured’ items.
Our chest colds are very slowly clearing up and we have to limit how much work we do so we don’t exhaust ourselves and bring on bad coughing spells. Many friends and acquaintances suffered with it.
We got lots of rain this week that washed away the last of the snow and I was finally able to start clearing garden rubbish like dead stalks, excess leaves, etc. Friday we had very strong winds buffeting everything and shook still more branches from trees. The spring lion really roared.
Gloria – I ended up with Bronchitis this year and have used more than I’ve needed it in years. I also had to take a round of steroids but it worked. May you and yours heal quickly.
It does feel like bronchitis, which I’ve had before, and I’m trying to stay away from prescription drugs if possible. But if it persists, I might have to go that route. I’m hoping the now warmer weather will help.
Gloria,
I don’t know your age and it really doesn’t matter. However, don’t let this thing linger. The year before retiring, I carrying around a dose of bronchitis all year. All I could do was cough and wheeze. I may have had a mild fever. I just felt like a truck had run over me. I’d go to the pharmacy and pick up OTC drugs or sometimes, just try to tough it out. I retired the first time sometime in September, 2011. I was on a project in the Southeast. I got home my wife took one look at me and made an appointment with the doctor. I went that day. The doctor immediately put me in the hospital in what they called the “pre-CU’ unit. I was put on IV antibiotics and fluids for the first 3 days of the stay. Seems my bronchitis had advanced to a good case of pneumonia, and somehow along the line, they found I had idiopathic thrombocytopenia, ITP. That is a blood disorder where you spleen destroys the platelets. All this because I tried to tough it out and stay on the job.
Bottom line, take care of yourself. You only have one life and it belongs to your family.
That is some of the best advice I have seen. As we age, there is less margin for error and we do not fight these things off the way we did at younger ages. It is not a good idea to allow them to linger and perhaps cause worse problems.
I can attest to that. I’ve never been one to get sick or have it hang around. I’m 60 and I had bronchitis and it took two weeks to get better. I still feel like it is lingering. I go for my yearly physical next week so I can discuss with the doctor than.
I wish I cud lick bronchitis in only 2 weeks! Day 43 – but, then, I also am asthmatic, so… have
Oren ,
I agree and I personally think it’s a guy thing. I see too many guys who somehow can’t be bothered going to the doctor or think they can tough it out. I was having my annual visit to my ophthalmologist a few weeks ago and he was amazed that my condition has persisted for15 years and I was still being treated. My first bout of this was from a piece of plaque that came loose from my carotid artery and ended up causing a stroke to one of my eyes by cutting off the blood flow. This was back in 2000 and the other eye was affected in 2003. My doc told me that they now have statistics on this type of retinal arterial occlusion (blockage) and that many people, who have them, die within 5 years. In my case, I had high cholesterol and heart disease and was being treated for those conditions prior to the event; but, often, an event to the eye like I had is the first sign of a problem, and it may have already advanced too far to be adequately treated.
My point to all of this is that we have medical knowledge and treatments that can benefit us all, and prescription medications and procedures are part of that mix. While it’s nice to know alternative means of treatment, like using herbals, those should IMHO be kept for emergencies where modern treatment is not available, which would be primarily in emergencies.
I recently saw a statistic that hypochondriacs live longer than their non hypochondriac counterparts, and that was attributed to seeing a doctor often enough to catch disease processes in the early stages.
As we get older, that routine well check to the doctor (required under Medicare) can be a life saver and life extender.
I have been sicker with this cold than I was with the flu… took shots and meds, but it lingered on and on, now I am so better, I was afraid I was getting Pneumonia. coughing spells and very congested, never had a cold like this, It too remined me of bronchitis .
If you have a diffuser put peppermint oil, or frankinsence and Myrrh in the diffuser and run those. I alterate these and it keeps our chests clear in spite of allergies to all the pollens and junk in the air..
I’m just getting over bronchitis – day 43. The older we get, the harder it becomes to overcome!
LTD,
I used to get bronchitis at least twice a year while I was smoking. I quit in 1992 and have had bronchitis maybe twice since then. However, when I get it, it’s a doozy. Luckily, I haven’t had it in almost ten years.
I got the flu in January and pneumonia quickly followed. I was down for six weeks. Luckily this was over Christmas break. I had no choice but to see the doctor. I had a temperature of 103.7. I was incoherent and couldn’t sleep because of the coughing. Fortunately, one of dh’s good friends is a GP. He got me in quickly and put me on some very strong drugs.
I just started a couple of raised beds last year, and I like them.
This Week:
I know it’s just a symbolic gesture, but my county in Illinois has been declared a sanctuary city for firearms. DH made the comment that he feels like it’s the start of a new civil war.
A friend’s 21 year old daughter just downloaded a music app and got quite a shock. Four hours of her private conversations were recorded. (Ordering at a chain restaurant, talking to her dad, etc.) She’s totally creeped out and realizes that nothing is really private now.
-Added to the stockpile: condiments, spices, bread flour, canned vegetables, rice,
-Goats: Disbudded all four kids. Banded two of the bucklings and left the other intact. He looks like he’ll make a good buck.
-Chickens: Lots of the eggs I donated to classrooms are hatching! The teacher across the hall is giving the chicks to me since I gave her the eggs. I’m still trying to decide how many to take. A coworker will take some too.
-Homestead: It looks like we’ve fixed the leak. Pond is quickly filling up. Planted two peach trees, another apple tree, and three blueberry bushes.
-Garden: Planted beets, radishes, carrots, green beans, corn, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, potatoes, herbs,
-Information: Lots of reading about gardening, beekeeping, and goats.
-Health: LASIK is a 100% success! I’m seeing wonderfully well.
-Skills: This was my first time disbudding a goat.
Be prepared. Stay safe. He’s in charge.
On the disbudding, keep an eye out for what are called scurs. This happens when not quite all the horn bud is equally cauterized, and a small section of horn tries to grow back. It can curl and dig into the goats skull, over time. Just an FYI. Good job though. Many people cringe when they hear the kid hollering when they get disbudded, and chicken out, and don’t do it anymore. I have a scar on the side of my head that says I should have done my kids when I had the chance. Fortunately he didn’t hit my eye.
Prepared Grammy, always enjoy your posts you live the life for sure. And that you remain in the land of my birth *Aurora Il* is additionally amazing, before we moved this direction many many years ago our neighbors in Il, had full auto firearms “legally” and NO ONE had an issue with it
No one in the southern part of the state minds, but Cook County seems to think more control will solve the problem. After all, it’s such a success with them. :/
Prepared Grammy ,
What does this mean? People with firearms are immune from the law or no firearms allowed? Just wondering, since the term as used here could mean nearly anything.
It’s possible to have privacy; but, you have to understand the technology well enough to ensure it. I have several encryption tools that I can use to communicate with others via voice or email that can do that; but, to simply assume anything is private is rather naïve.
My county believes in Second Amendment rights. We are not agreeing to any restrictions the state may impose.
Prepared Grammy,
Good for you. Our large cities have what is known as home rule; but, that was overridden by our CHL law, meaning that CHL cannot be restricted by any lesser jurisdictions who try to override a general law. Several municipalities took their cases clear to the Ohio Supreme Court and lost.
I watched the president’s speech on TV to the NRA National Convention in Dallas and that speech I suspect is making a lot of the leftists even queasier.
They then had his speech to a business roundtable in Cleveland, where local residents and businesses got to speak their minds. More than a few mentioned to the president that he should tel Nancy Pelosi that the hundreds of extra dollars per paycheck and the thousands of dollars in bonuses are not “crumbs”.
Prepared Grammy; Just my opinion, but Chicago seems to think IT is the state. It has been the bastion of socialism/Marzism/communism since Capone days. I was so glad to get out of northern IL.
Izzy,
You’re right.
MD,
I want to pre-order the CD. How do I do that?
I took it temporarily. It will be officially released this coming Saturday and can be ordered then.
Thanks.
Just a few things this week – ordered and received the following:
– graviola leaves (for storage)
– “Turn This Book into a Beehive” for Mason Bees
– Curtains for our bedroom
We also ordered some Christmas gifts for the daughters that will arrive in a few days. I tend to pick up smaller items throughout the year.
Garden is finally ready for planting today before the possibility of rain arrives this evening. This is three weeks later than normal for us.
That’s about all for the week. Prayers for all, especially those in need.
I was late in planting my garden too. It’s been wet here, and I didn’t get everything planted before even more rain. Oh, well. I’ll finish when it dries up again.
Hi, PG! Hope you have an awesome day!
Thank you. I’m hoping to check a few things off of my To-Do list.
First it was too cold. Then it was too wet. It’s finally been dry for a week.
It has been a good week. Should be recieving my 20 gallon water distilling system soon… in addition everything is in bloom which is a good sign in southern az, planting has begun on late spring items and hoping for a better year growing-
Chickens are laying gangbusters and one is brooding which means possibility of more layers.
Hey, Jesse! Do u grow prickly pear cactus? I’m sure u know it’s a food source – but did u know it’s also an important natural medicine? Did u know u can sell it? I see it on ebay.
I have a small one growing in a container, as the AL Shoals is supposed to be too cold to grow prickly pear cactus.
So, where did I get mine? From a lady growing it, not far away. She has a HUGE plant w/lots of “babies” growing outdoors where it should not. And it survives winter here!
Livingthedream, I dont grow them they are wild and grow very very large, I do harvest regularly… several hundred pounds a year without touching the vast majority- I will try and put some pictures of patches in this area.
Livingthedream, I would hesitate to transplant it- I have no doubt that most cacti in arizona could in fact with minor babying for first year grow anywhere. They are downright hardy – and while we do not get months of cold, a few days/weeks of sub zero often hit and the cacti are still solid!
I know of some places people have brought it into Zone 7 a-b. It grows well here..does well in spite of cool winters. My Great Aunt had a bunch and she was trying to thin it out…used a tractor to move large sections of it… just ended up moving it… LOL
As was said above pretty week in Tn. but rain is here for a few days. Had a “weed” come up in my garden that looked interesting this year so I just left it alone . It bloomed this week and I said ok now I know what you are . Camomile! I am bad about letting seeds be . Which is why you see clovers , rocks , jimpsom , lambs quarters and wood so real all over the place.
Planted okra and readied a bed for beans this week .
Spent yesterday morning harvesting cat brier to serve at a 0430034 meeting this afternoon . That is it for me this week.
Wood so real? Wood Sorrell?Jimpson? Jimsonweed, aka, “Devil’s Snare”? too funny!
I have all kinds of weeds in my yard and the hubby mostly doesn’t spray in the back yard or near anything edible. I picked dandelions this year and want to try cleavers eventually. One thing at a time. I have other projects on my plate for now.
U have all kinds of food & natural medicine growing in ur yard! ??
Fixit,
“I am bad about letting seeds be.” LOL I have squash looking plants coming up in my flower garden and I am not sure what they are–watermelon, yellow squash, zucchini squash or spaghetti squash. I dumped out my compost in this area. So they could be anything. The plants look really healthy.
The anthology will be an amazing addition plus the books to any library! Solid!
Jesse Mathewson
Thank you. Already have many pre-orders…
Good Morning Pack / homesteaders!
Been very busy the last few weeks trying to get the homestead ready for spring. We actually had a snow “storm” last week and then it was 60* so it’s really been messing with any schedule we planed (LOL planned schedule with Mother nature Right?). We did FINALLY get our land turned over for planting 30 acres of corn, it’s the first turn over and 2 more will be coming but so far behind. Have started seeds in pots and more to go just feel like I’m running against the wind and not getting anywhere. Made soap, cleaned up garbage from winter storms, moved and stacked 90% of the wood that was seasoning (we went threw 16 face cord of wood the most EVER for a winter!), pigs processed and in the freezers, planted 75 pine tree saplings and 25 more to go, fertilized all the fruit and nut trees with organic fertilizer and have 16 fruit bushes to plant but will do that this week as I have found a spot on our land that cannot be seen from any neighbors (Opsec you know 😉 ). DH has been talking to some people who have 55 hives and they are going to help him get setup with his own pair of hives and help him through everything he needs to know on bee keeping. I’ve decided not to get goats this spring as I just don’t have the time and since I won’t have children at home starting in the fall (HUGE HELPERS) I won’t have the time to dedicate to them and that is not fair to the goats. I have a lot of projects to start and finish up and that is what I’ll be doing this summer THEN hopefully I will be doing goats as my time will be better. We finally received our tax appraisal and they dropped us 20,000 dollars and correctly figured our AG discount so we should see our tax bill go down which will mean less money payout to our mortgage company for escrow YES!!!
Puupies have discovered a wood chuck on the property and are determined to get it. They make a bee line for the area everytime I let them out and they stay there and they go from 1 hole to the other trying to dig it out – looks like the “baby JZ” has the hunter/killer instinct after all LOL.
DH has done several repairs on the vehicles and we are now looking for another vehicle for DD as she will be commuting to school now as she no longer will be dorming. She figured it out and even with paying rent, driving and eating at home she’ll save herself 10,000 a yr and she won’t have to do any loans so YEA!! Still working 2 jobs so between the jobs and homesteading been too busy to even be online.
Hope all is well with the “pack” and blessings / prayers to our people in Camo and Blue! PEACE
JD,
Same here with no adding to the already full plate of things to get done this year. I have to get rid of stuff, get rid of my storage units, and get all my preps organized. So…. not planting anything this year. If I want to can anything, I will just buy it. I am too disorganized and need to get organized so I know what I have and what I still need.
My friend and I will be having a yard sale in June, so hoping to get rid of a lot of stuff at that time, and hopefully a little more before then using FB MP.
Might make some raised beds for hoops after seeing the class on year round gardening this weekend.