Honey Beekeeping part one

One of my favorite sites is TheSurvivalistBlog.net.  This guy has a great number of followers who share a wealth of information that is amazingly useful.  Some is far beyond what I will ever use.  Some is perfect for people like me - the Granny prepper who is just doing the best I can for my age and expectations.  M.D. Creekmore had been gracious enough to allow me to share some of post from his site and this is one that I believe is just super.  It is actually a series and I will post them just as they were posted before.

I wonder at times why adults are so fearful of bees.  I understand why a child who has been stung or watched another child's reaction to the sting may over react in the presence of these little flying creatures.  I also understand why an adult who has a serious allergy to the bee sting would want to avoid contact.  But, a majority of adults should be glad that bees are around our homes and doing what they do best.  Pollinate our plants and then make that wonderful substance called honey.  Honey is by far, to me, the most amazing naturally made product that exist.

So, let me share the first of this series, by guest blogger Petticoat Prepper.

 

“Honey Beekeeping (Oh Lord, part one)” plus 2 more

 

A while back MD said he needed posts from all of us to help keep things moving along. My thought of offering to write about honeybees was encouraged and so get out your salt shaker and bear with me. Beekeeping is an inexhaustible subject. I haven’t a clue how many parts there will be to this but I know it can get very overwhelming and I’ll try to keep the parts shorter rather than longer. First let me say, I am no expert. I have been keeping bees for the past year. It’s been fun, frustrating, interesting and challenging. I’ll share what I’ve done and hopefully those interested will find a bit of help. Just keep in mind; it’s rather like herding cats. I am setting up to add 3 more hives to my backyard this year. I just placed my order for two more starter kits as I have one empty which I got for a swarm that left before I got back with it and then I’ve the original one (bees are still there). Once I have all of them set up I will have 4. The maximum number allowed by my city is 5. By law, if I have 5 or more I am required to register them with the State Agriculture Department. I don’t care to have the government in my back yard so I’m stopping at 4. The fee is very small and they check for diseases to help keep all the honeybees healthy. I am prohibited from selling any of the bees, honey, etc. as that would make them ‘live stock’ and I’m not zoned for live stock…gotta love ‘em! I would strongly suggest you look for a local beekeeping club to join. I would also suggest getting a decent book. My club suggests Beekeeping for Dummies. There are lots of YouTube videos that are very helpful and tons of web sites too. The first thing you need to understand is that it’s December 30, 2012 as I write this and that means you’re almost behind if you want to get going this coming year. Even if you don’t have a hive set up and clothes; get your bees ordered. You have no idea how hard it is to get them if you wait. My bees will come in April but I have to order them now. Bees come in 3 pound boxes. Yes, that’s 3 pounds of bees and one mated queen shipped with a can of food. 3 pounds of bees will be about 11,000 bees. Yes, 11,000 that’s a lot of bees and you’re going to let them out of that box! My bees are Italian; they are yellow brown in color with dark bands. They are gentle, produce a good amount of comb and large brood which results in quick colony growth. They winter over a large amount of bees so they need a good amount of food storage. Italian bees are the most popular followed by Carniolan. Ok, you’ve ordered your bees and now you need to start looking at a home for the ‘girls’ and a place to put them. There are a several options for homes but I’m only talking about mine. I use the Langstroth method named after the ‘Father of Modern Beekeeping’. I order my supplies from Ruhl bee supply as they are about 45 minutes from me. You can see their products at Ruhl Bee Supply depending on where you live you may want to order closer to home. I order their PNW starter kit assembled. I have no desire right now to put this stuff together and I pay them the extra $50 figuring it’s worth the loss of frustration. Plus I don’t have to make a second ‘oh crap!’ trip to get something I broke. This gives me everything I need to get the girls going. I also get a second medium super (terms are coming up hang in there), a queen excluder, mouse guard, and plastic feeder. Terminology on hive parts: ‘Super’ this is the box sections. ‘Deep Super’ this is where the girls live or stock pile food. ‘Medium Super or Shallow Super’ is where they make YOUR honey. ‘Frames’ this is the wood or plastic part that hangs from the super and to which foundations are attached. ‘Foundations’ this is a flat plastic or beeswax form that is held in place on the frames. They are stamped with a honey comb pattern and the girls will draw comb on this. ‘Draw Comb’ this is where the girls make wax honeycomb. ‘Queen Excluder’ a plastic grate that keeps the queen from reaching the medium supers so you don’t get brood in the honey. ‘Brood’ baby bees. ‘Entrance reducer’ a small board with notched section. This gives a new hive a smaller area to defend. ‘Plastic Feeder’ this is a small flat dish if you will that a canning jar of syrup fits into to feed the girls. Ok, the kit will/should have: 1 screened bottom board with sloped front (don’t get the solid flat ones) 1 entrance reducer 2 deep supers 20 frames (10 each super) 20 foundations 1 medium super 10 frames 10 foundations 1 inner cover 1 telescoping or English garden cover I also get cinder blocks from the lumber yard for the hive to sit on. I want them off the ground to help keep them dry. I want them up so any invading animals will have to stand on its back legs thus exposing their tender tummy’s to painful stings. When you site the hive you want dappled shade. The sun will wake them so you want them to get some but you also want to protect from the heat of the day. A wind break is important too as is a water source. I’m on a creek so the girls have plenty of water and the shade from my fruit trees helps keep them cool when we get hot. A 5 gallon food grade bucket with a line of holes drilled a couple inches from the top and filled with water and a couple inches of packing peanuts will work fine if you don’t have water within half a mile. Peanuts give the girls something to stand on so they don’t drown and the holes let rain water drain out so you don’t lose the peanuts. Wet bees are sick and unhappy bees. Take care to adjust the blocks or pallets so the hives lean forward a bit to help drain out any moisture. In the valley here we get lots of rain so I worry about drainage a bunch. The last I’m covering for this part is clothing and hand tools. Look through the style and types of beekeeping clothing and pick out what appeals to you. I bought a one piece pull over jacket with hat and veil. I like it as there is no zipper opening for a bee to find. The ‘hat’ part slides around a bit and I’m sewing a ribbon inside to tie under my chin to see if it will be still on my head. I find a bandana helps to keep my long hair contained and sweat out of my eyes while working the bees. I added painter’s coveralls for my pants. It’s a disposable one and I found it hot to work in during the heat of summer. I like it because the pant cuffs have elastic and I wear them outside my boots. I may look for just pants. I bought bee gloves with mesh at the wrist to help cool me off. The thing to think about when trying on the official outfit is being able to bend and stretch. AND how many openings are there?  Bees will search you while you work and I for one do not want one inside with me! Tools: Get a good hive tool. Don’t scrimp here you use this for just about everything. A smoker and fuel is a must. Learn to keep the smoker going. You want cool smoke for the girls never hot. A bee brush is nice. I used a small fresh branch with leaves before I got my brush and it worked fine, but I like the brush. A frame holder is great to have. This hangs on the side of the super and you remove the first frame and place it there while you work your hive. This gives you a bit of space to move the remaining frames forward. A frame grip is one of those things you think is stupid to have until later in the season when you’re trying to pull up a frame filled with pounds of honey and bees. Trust me you never want to drop a frame of bees. This stupid little tool is a must! In part two, I’ll explain how to get bees from box A into box B. Hopefully, this part wasn’t too long!

How To Start A Camp Fire

Here's a post that I am borrowing from TheSurvivalistBlog.net.  They have the greatest stuff from guest writers and just some of it is the type of info that I like to share.  Since their site is for the serious survivalist, some of the post are more than I can wrap my head around.  Where as others are perfect.  Just like this story about how to start a fire.  A task that any survivalist need to be capable of.

So, weather it is for fun during a camping trip or is necessary because of some terrible life situations, here's a story by Patsi.

You need a few items before you begin – an existing fire pit, lighter, some newspaper, logs, and a magazine to fan the fire with. Once you have gathered these items you can begin, the earlier the better because when night comes it is very dark and you definitely want a fire blazing by this time.
 
Take the newspaper and wad up the sheets, remembering to have the lighter nearby. Once you have balled up the sheets of news paper light the ends and set the lit papers into the fire pit. If the fire dies out it is probably because you used more than two sheets of paper to make the wads. Unroll the wads and re-roll using only one paper per ball. Now light it again. Grab the kindling. Did I forget to mention kindling? Okay, go into the woods, behind your tent, and find a couple of arm full of dried leaves. Bring the leaves back to the fire pit and, once again, light the newspaper balls. As the newspaper starts to burn add the leaves. No, not all at once, now you have to restart the fire again.

Pull the newspaper out from under the leaves and relight. If the wads of paper happen to be nothing more than ash tear out pages of the magazine and use those, balling up only one at a time. Now take a walk to the car to see if there are any matches under the seat because by now your lighter is probably out of fluid. You can never find matches when you need them so take a hike down to the camp store. This serves two purposes: 1) you can purchase a lighter and matches and 2) you get to walk the cramps out of your legs that you acquired while squatting in front of the fire pit.

Upon arriving back at your campsite you may notice that you have forgotten to lock up your food in the car while you were gone and the raccoons found the chips and candy bars. This is not such a bad thing; you can use them for kindling as well as the leaves. Not the raccoons, the wrappers! Light the crumpled magazine pages and then slowly add the leaves. Once you get the leaves going you are able to race back behind the tents to get the twigs I forgot to tell you to bring back when you grabbed the leaves. Hopefully the leaves are still burning; now add the twigs one at a time. Since you no longer have a magazine blow on the flame to get a larger fire burning. Now you may take this time to curse out loud since you just blew hot ash into you face. Once the fire has started you may add logs.

The fire is starting to die out but don’t worry just reach in and grab a stick to stir the fire with. Calm down, it is only a slight burn, go stick your fingers in your cooler with ice. Oops, I forgot about the raccoons, they knocked the cooler over. Just stick your fingers in your mouth for now and it will feel better, not to mention muffle the scream. By now, all of your paper and kindling has probably burned up and you still do not have a fire. Did I mention to you how fast night comes in the woods?

Search your car and see if you can find any napkins, McDonald bags, or old maps in the glove box. Okay, if you have to use the map then use it. You can always stop at a gas station and get directions from the attendant to get back home. Tear the map into small strips and set them on top of the dry, and I stress, dry leaves. Be very careful when choosing the leaves because the woods have a tendency to get damp in the evening.

Also while gathering the leaves remember to get more twigs and slightly larger branches. Here we go, light the map strips and sparingly add the leaves, so far so good. Now, add some small twigs, good, now the branches. Uh-ho, they must still be been green. Move your head away from the smoke while fanning it frantically with your hands. If that isn’t working close your eyes and blow on the fire. Try lighting a whole pack of matches and throwing those in there too.
Grab the flashlight out of the tent and walk back to the store. Purchase more matches and some candy, to hold over your growling stomach, until you are able to cook your dinner. On the way out grab some lighter fluid. Upon arriving back at camp you notice that you can’t see more than four feet in front of you, do not worry, there hasn’t been any bear sightings for three months. Pile half of your logs in the fire pit and soak them with the lighter fluid that you purchased from the store. Let it set for a couple of minutes and then add some more. Light a pack of matches and throw them on top of the logs. Take the fluid and squirt some more into the fire while tossing in the candy and chip wrappers. Add a can of beans.

Congratulations, you are officially a fire starter.

National Preparedness Month part 5

      Guest post writer Amaury M, did this great bit on The SurvivalistBlog.net. This story is about the Blue Hill UL Stove.  There are many similar products on the market to choose from, so check some out.  The important fact is, you need to own a couple of these items to be truly prepared.  And this is another example of how inexpensive it is to get some of the basics.

Here's from Amaury M -

 The Blue Hill UL Stove is a stainless steel stove top ring that is designed primarily to be attached to the top of a Sterno can and when combined, turns the pairing into a readily available, lightweight and inexpensive cooking kit. It’s very well designed, versatile, and works well in field or home conditions. The design is similar in concept to the Swiss M1 gel fuel stove found in military surplus circles of late.
 
The ring fits inside the lip created on the top of seven ounce can of Sterno. It has three detents that easily supports a canteen cup, mess kit, or other medium-sized cooking ware be it improvised or commercial. The ring’s design helps keep the cooking surface closer to the heat source and allows for good air flow to feed the flame. When not in use, the ring slides over the Sterno can for ease of storage and takes up no extra space. Now that this is available, it merits taking a second look at using Sterno fuel for recreational outdoor activities, as a backup to a primary stove, or in preparedness for emergency situations. I can make it heat up whatever I need between nine and fifteen minutes (sea level). A true boil takes a lot longer, but is not impossible. Using Sterno is not meant to be the only option, it’s just meant to be functional one for certain situations.

For those that are not fond of using Sterno, this stove top ring can be used with any appropriately sized can that has a lip area at the opening. For example, a large cat food or Frito-lay cheese dip can work really well. By placing denatured alcohol in it, you can create an improvised alcohol stove. The stove ring fits over these cans the same way as with the Sterno can for ease of storage and transport. Add some paper hole punch sized openings around the top of the can and it makes the alcohol work even better.

I understand that there are many other alternatives to Sterno (whether DIY or commercial) that work better and give off far more heat. Still, I find Sterno hard to beat in terms of price, availability, or ease of use. For example, I recently bought four cans of Sterno for fifty cents a piece of a clearance shelf at my local grocery store. On clearance or not, since each seven ounce can burns for about two hours, it isn’t a bad deal to have around in a pinch.

Using Sterno has many positive points. Though it does take longer and the heat output is lower, it still gets the job done. Sterno doesn’t smell bad, can be used indoors, and its gel form makes it harder to spill. To improve boil times all you have to do is add a pinch of salt to your water and fashion some type of lid for your pot. It’s also sold just about anywhere. To make it happen, you just pop the lid, light it, and start cooking. Many other stoves can be finicky or harder to light. Right now, I use mine to help make a cup of Joe or hot chocolate when I go fishing or am otherwise out and about outdoors.
As a first responder, my experiences in Florida with four back to back hurricanes during a five-week period in 2004, taught me the hard way that being prepared is better than being miserable. The Blue Hill UL Stove may not be fancy, but it’s like any other piece of equipment; the one you have with you works better than the one you left at home. You can take a look at it yourself by looking up Blue Hill UL Stove on You Tube. The man behind product is Shawn and goes by houseoffire72.

     Great info shared here by Amaury M. .  Do your own research, check out some other items that are similar and get a simple cooking stove in your emergency kit.

Suggestions to research -

 Rothco Single Burner Folding Stove
 
  
Stove In A Can - Portable Outdoor Camp / Cooking Kit

 

 Sterno Single Burner Folding Stove - 50012

 

National Preparedness Month part 4

     Again, in honor of National Preparedness Month, I am sharing a post from a blog connection guest writer.  I don't always agree with everything that the guest write but I would not share these post if I did not think that there were people out there who would benefit from these words of wisdom.

     "Survivor Dan" wrote this article for The Survivalist Blog not net site.   Take the time to read it through.  Even if some of the suggestions are not for you, there may be just a little something there that could help you if a crisis occurred.

Self-defense Ethics and Techniques when the SHTF

For most of my brother and sister preppers this will merely be preaching to the choir. But there are some new aspiring survivors or even veteran survivalist who may dismiss the need to learn or equip yourselves for self-defense out of pacifism or other philosophies.
Your interest is natural/man-made disaster survival techniques or lost-in-the-wilderness skills only. Absolutely no self-defense. Fine. I certainly would not malign you for being a peaceful and loving person. But the purpose of this article is to examine various aspects and ethics of self-defense during a crisis and reading it will cause you no psychic scarring but may offer some new insights.
Even as you simply go about the ordinary pursuits of your daily life others may choose to harm you and yours or you may become collateral damage during violence not directed purposefully at you.
Asa reserve deputy sheriff I have heard the same sad refrain many times, “I had nothing to do with those people and yet I got beaten/shot! It’s not fair!”. Or the denier. “Nothing has ever happened to me because I don’t look for trouble.” A roommate, who was a brilliant research scientist at Scripp’s Oceanagraphic, said that to me many years ago as his reason for being bemused at my active interest in training in and teaching the martial arts. Ironically, he was attacked and badly beaten while out on the town that very night!
Bad things can and do happen to good people no matter how low a profile you keep or how safe you think your workplace or neighborhood is. Additionally,these days we have a small but increasing possibility of being direct victims of an act of terrorism.
The widespread violence in our society is bad enough during ‘normal’ times but imagine how the sh*t-hits-the-fan (SHTF) when our society is rocked by a major natural disaster or widespread economic collapse.
I was at New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as part of a relief column of deputy sheriffs and saw the mayhem first hand. Social constraints break down as ordinarily law-abiding and non-violent people succumb to their baser instincts of fear, survival and self-centered motivation especially when there is an obvious absence of sufficient local law enforcement to keep order.This may involve forcibly taking your supplies and/or shelter, vehicle or even your life and the lives of those you need to protect. Something as seemingly insignificant as a single tarp, hammer or case of tuna fish may mean the difference between survival and death.
If you have the capability, it is your duty to retain such items for your own needs and the needs of your loved ones. If you lack the ability to defend yourself and what property is yours then you need to acquire that capability through training in self-defense, both armed and unarmed.
You do not have to become a kung fu fighting Jet Li or an M60 machine gun wielding Rambo. But you do need to acquire the mindset and the basic skills and equipment that are necessary to defend yourself successfully. In fact it has been my experience in law enforcement and as a self-defense instructor, that awareness, attitude, and quick action had more to do with a successful outcome for the defender than pure fighting skills. The accomplished martial artist oblivious to changing conditions was doomed. The expert gunfighter who hesitated….lost.
The awareness of an impending hostile event followed quickly by a plan of action put in motion as the dynamics of the situation warranted tended to carry the day. Especially when the defender was willing to use any and all force necessary to overcome his/her attackers.
Not long ago, one of my self-defense students told me that under no circumstances could she shoot someone even if they were threatening her with death. The use of lethal force was anathema to her gentle nature. I then asked her what she would do if she were armed with a gun and an axe wielding murderer broke in her home and told her that after he killed her he was going to murder her little grandchildren? Without hesitation she replied, ”I would empty the gun into him.But I would be very sad.” I was glad she immediately saw the right course of action regardless of any potential lingering guilt. You do what you have to do.So get your mindset ready to enable you to counter great violence with great violence. It is absolutely justifiable when unavoidable.
Ina ‘normal’ societal status I recommend you read an article about the Use of Force Continuum and follow its guidelines and consult your attorney. But when the SHTF or if TEOTWAWKI (the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it) scenario hasarrived…all bets are off. There are few restrictions on you, the defender, in such crises other than using your best judgment and your personal sense of morality and mercy.
Normally,you counter violence directed at you with a similar level of violence. They shove and push and you may shove and push back. They strike at you with close-fisted and feet and you can counter with a measure of the same. If they raise the level of violence to include weapons then you need to respond with weapons.
The question is, can you count on that 3 hour how-to-disarm self-defense class you took back in college or do you want to be in a gunfight armed only with a vase or a 6 iron or a firearm you really haven’t trained with? Take some ongoing self-defense classes. Acquire a firearm and get some training. Be willing to use it if unavoidable. Sometimes the mere presentation of a firearm defuses the situation. Remember the old adage: It is better to have a firearm and not need it than to need it and not have it.
The fastest way to gain an advantage in defending oneself from a violent attack is not the best in terms of civil and legal liability exposure. But it works and it is a simple concept which in the scarcity or absence of local law enforcement during prolonged periods of social unrest and/or a wide-spread services collapse should be utilized without hesitation. Lawyers will cringe at my suggestion. But experienced combat soldiers and LEOs (law enforcement officers) who have been in exigent circumstances like large-scale riots will agree:
“If a defender raises their level of force faster than their attacker and applies that greater level of force with speed and gusto, the odds are in their favor that they will likely prevail and suffer less injury.”
Use more force than your attacker. Use weapons to multiply your defensive capabilities.A weapon can be a key chain, flashlight, bat (not the furry kind), full bottle of water, clipboard, belt, pen, rock (the hard kind), a cane, an umbrella, ad infinitum and including design specific weapons such as a knife, pepper spray and gun.
I personally train students to fight with a weapon of some kind in both hands simultaneously* whenever possible. Empty handed self-defense has its place but one of the things that elevate us above the animals is our ability to create and use tools. What elevates you above your violent attacker may be the fact that you use all available weapons (in both hands) and keep adjusting to a higher level of force before they do.
“….fight with a weapon of some kind in both hands simultaneously*…”
Anticipate. If violence is unavoidable, strike first. Have plans for different defensive situations. Arrange a visible phalanx of your determined and armed companions. Pre-planning, a visible state of vigilance and defensive readiness and pre-emptive superior ground positioning may be enough to intimidate your attackers into seeking out easier prey.
Reduce your attacker(s) resolve and confidence by displaying
your obvious determination to resist and prevail.
And if necessary……with a capable vigorous defense.
The willingness to use great force without hesitation when warranted is not a normal instinct for the average Joe Schmoe. You must remember that those who would deprive you of your possessions and even lives will not be so encumbered by the basic social tenets of decency, non-violence and fair play. Frightened and desperate people often revert to the mentality of repeat, violent, strong arm robbers. They will strike suddenly and without warning. They will use any and all force to take what you have……even your life.
Striking preemptively or using much greater force than your assailant’s initial attack may seem rather unsportsmanlike, even immoral, but remember when the SHTF or TEOTWAWKI has arrived, you and your companions cannot afford to be injured as medical services may be scarce or even non-existent and your life saving supplies may be irreplaceable.
You can be a decent human being but don’t be a pacifist.
Do what you have to do to prevail…………be a survivor.
It is your right and your duty.
*Note: Because of the dangers posed by a sympathetic muscle contraction, I do not teach students to have a weapon in each hand when one or more of those weapons is a firearm. S.D.”

     Thanks to thesurvivalistblog.net for always being on top of everything you could want and need to survive if any disaster hits.

National Preparedness Month part 2

     A fellow blogger has a great site on being prepared.  Now I gotta warn you - his advise is not for everyone.  This guys is serious.  I don't know anything about him, but I do find a lot of useful information through him.  Even the stuff that I find extreme, has me thinking about how I can apply his concept to my life and my way of being prepared.

     He regularly has guest writers on his site.  I found this post to be especially interesting since it came from a woman's point of view and also because so much of it seems to be 'common sense'.  The later is something that many of us don't use often enough.

     So here is the info shared by Lynn on The Survivalist Blog dot net.

The Thrifty Prepper

Unfortunately, I am a lot newer to prepping than I would like to admit. That feeling in your gut that something just isn’t right has been there for a while before I finally listened. Now my family struggles to make up for lost time. I have become like a machine in the last years attempting to streamline and speed our progress to feeling like we at least are somewhat “set”. My husband asked me what I wanted for Mother’s Day and I told him an AK-47 was what I wanted the most.

 He delivered after selling, scrimping and saving. I was surprised and thrilled. I have gone from being someone who was nervous even having a loaded gun in the house, to someone who is very capable with my weapon. A bad experience with firearms in my late teens made me a little gun-shy (pun intended) even though I grew up in a family that would target practice once a week. Thank god for muscle memory.
I realize that I am far behind most of you as wisdom goes but can offer some information. I have rapidly been reading, watching and gathering as much knowledge as fast as possible. One thing that I have a gift for that may be of some use to readers are my skills with shopping. By utilizing coupons and watching sales, I have been able to rapidly build up a stockpile.
Why I realize many of us may be skittish when it comes to social media, I also know what an excellent tool it can be when it comes to saving money. On Facebook, I have liked sites such as The Frugal Family, Motherhood on a Dime and Thrifty Wifey and when the deals are posted, they scroll across my newsfeed. For instance, today I was able to score 6 -24 packs of Crayola Crayons for .29 each.
Less money on school supplies, stocking stuffers, birthday presents equals more money in the pocket for preps. Kroger’s this week has buy 10 save 5 this week. I will purchase 10 gallons of water for 4.90!
Take advantage of the programs that many drug stores offer. I used to just assume drug stores were to expense to shop at. CVS and Walgreens (the two main drug stores in my area) are like gold mines. They both offer reward programs with Extrabucks being at CVS and Register Rewards available at Walgreens. The websites I mention above are excellent sources that basically spell out which coupon is needed to get the deal you are after.
Sometimes a coupon is not even needed. For example, CVS and Walgreens both will offer contact solution for 8.99 with 8.99 EB or RR back. That equals free! You pay for the product and then upon check out are issued the 8.99 back to be used in the store. I haven’t bought contact solution in two years but have 5 boxes sitting in our pantry/store in the basement. Start looking around to find your favorite sites that fit your situation the best.
I have used coupons/store deals to build up three impressive first aid kits for virtually nothing. I even got the actual first aid kits for free by purchasing two Johnson and Johnson products (at a great discount + coupons). Study sales cycles and get a feel for when things will go on sale next. Walgreens frequently has baking soda and salt on sale for .59 each approximately one a month. Buy the limit and build your pantry up.
You can easily search “Sale Cycles” on the net and find when the most optimal time to buy any given item is. I am on a first name basis with the manager at several stores in my hometown. They help me out so much by pointing me to deals I may have missed and making sure I get a rain check for any items they may not have in stock. I am always polite and thankful and they appreciate it and in return they look out for me.
So get that Sunday Paper and pull those ads/coupons and sit down and make the deals work for you! There are also excellent coupon sites on the web where you can print out coupons as well. Couponmom.com and coupons.com are two of the best. Also, even Sam’s club has jumped in with the preppersJ. They now sell Auguson Farms products at great prices and allow us to build up our stores quickly. Less money on beans and more money on ammo is working out pretty well for us.
Amazon is another great asset. While of us may not have a “Kindle”, you can download the Kindle for PC free and those sites I mentioned above are always alerting me to free books. I have gotten books on how to make soap, can, garden, survival medicine, you name it! While I realize these tools would not be available in a grid down situation, I print or write out the most important information and put it together in a grab and go form.
I have a young daughter and she out grows shoes and clothes as fast as we guy them. Yard sales, Thrift stores and Goodwill are a godsend in these times. When I find something at a yard sale that is three sizes too big but in great shape for the right price, I snatch it up and put it a labeled bin with the size on the side. We have picked up a brand new camping cookware set at a yard sale for only 5.00! Our major scores have also been hand crank grinders, old-fashioned wash boards, iron skillets and camping gear.
We have been able to accelerate the rate of our prepping by utilizing these sales to gather things that we could never afford to pay full price for. Keep a list of things you are looking for and carry it with you. I almost believe it wills the item to you. Several times I have set out thinking, I hope I can find some shoes for our girl only to happen upon a yard sale with shoes in her size or one size bigger to get us through the school year that are in fantastic shape! I have happened upon a nice dehydrator in this same fashion as well as affordable second hand tools.
In part of my education, I follow my grandma and grandpa around as they can and garden and they patiently explain to me exactly what they are doing and why. I have also taken to watching documentaries that have changed and challenged me in ways I can’t even explain. If you have not already viewed the documentaries below, they are what shook me awake and I am in complete awe of what our great country is coming to.

• Zeitgeist: The Movie
• Independent Intervention
• Food, Inc.
• 911 In Plane Site
• Loose Change 9/11 An American Coup
• Ethos
• The End of America

Highly recommended and if you are a Netflix customer, free to watch.
We are working on a plan to acquire land and unfortunately, that is a slow process. My biggest fear is looking into my daughter’s eyes and not being able to help her. I know that is not something that needs to be explained to most parents. I learn daily from you all here on this blog and am so thankful for the valuable information that you all share. Thank you for reading.

     I gotta tell ya - Lynn has covered so much in such a small space!  I will have to track her down someday and get more writing for my blog.

     Now - I am off to follow some of her advise, starting with the Netflix shows.  That I can do while I work. Check back for more info coming soon and please share this site and all other info you find with your friends, neighbors and family.  This survival thing is a group effort.