Unplugging from a world of chaos
Those that know me personally know that the only thing I’m more passionate about than homesteading and prepping is music. Music has always been a big part of who I am, whether it is listening or playing an instrument. And I’m very picky about my music. It has to be real and emotional. No pop music really does that for me. Music is emotional, not a product to be manufactured and marketed to the masses like the latest smart phone or kitchen appliance. Needless to say I stumble on some unique artists, like Corb Lund. He’s a fellow from way up north in Alberta.
I’ve been a fan of his for years now, probably since his debut album. Most of his music is catchy with sarcastic, witty lyrics. Songs about getting trucks stuck in the mud or the problems with owning cows speak to the country boy in me. I love a smart ass, and Corb Lund never disappoints. His latest album came out a couple of years ago. The opening track made my jaw drop. It’s not often a musician talks about prepping or social collapse. He nailed the mindset perfectly with his lyrics on “Gettin’ Down on the Mountain”.
The song makes use of the word “shit” so if you are easily offended or have little ears nearby, you’ve been warned.
When the oil stops, everything stops, nothin’ left in the fountain
Nobody wants paper money, son, so you just as well stop countin’
Can you break the horse, can you light the fire?
What’s that, I beg your pardon?
You’d best start thinkin’ where your food comes from and I hope you tend a good garden
Gettin’ down on the mountain, gettin’ down on the mountain
Don’t wanna be around when the shit goes down
I’ll be gettin’ down on the mountain, goin’ to ground on the mountain
When the trucks don’t run, the bread won’t come, have a hard time findin’ petrol
Water ain’t runnin’ in the city no more, do you hold any precious metal?
Can you gut the fish, can you read the sky?
What’s that about overcrowdin’?
You ever seen a man who’s kids ain’t ate for seventeen days and countin’?
There ain’t no heat and the power’s gone out, it’s kerosene lamps and candles
The roads are blocked, it’s all gridlocked, you got a shortwave handle?
Can you track the deer, can you dig the well?
I couldn’t quite hear your answer
I think I see a rip in the social fabric, Brother can you pass the ammo?
I think I see a rip in the social fabric, Brother can you spare some ammo?
I had planned on writing a series of articles on potential threats and their chances of becoming a serious issue. Current events pushed this one to the top of the list. The United States has its first case of Ebola in history. This sounds very frightening, and there is a lot of talk about it right now.
Yes, Ebola has made it here. Yes, it is a concern. NO, you should not start to panic. This eventuality has already been planned for by the CDC. Even small, rural hospitals have received information from the CDC relating to identifying potential infections and proper isolation of patients. The chances of Ebola becoming widespread in the U.S. are small.
Ebola is a very lethal virus, with a mortality rate ranging from 25% to 90%. However, it can only be spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of someone infected. It is also believed at this time that a patient is not contagious until symptoms present. This makes it considerably less likely to become a major pandemic like most respiratory illnesses such as Influenza.
I look at comments on news articles and posts by friends on Facebook and realize that we are on the verge of a major pandemic of PANIC. Panic is always counterproductive. When people panic they do dumb things. Dumb things in real emergency can become disasters. Getting into a state of panic is easy for most people, but with a little bit of information, it can usually be overcome. At the end of the article, you’ll find several links to very reputable sources containing information to better understand this disease and how it relates to you.
For weeks I’ve been watching events in Africa. What concerns me more are the events here. People were already starting to freak out. Now we have a case here. Expect this freakout to go into overdrive. This case of Ebola is 40 miles from me. It’s here where I and millions of others live. I fully expect to see our hospital ERs overrun with people freaking out because they have a runny nose or a low grade fever. This is going to stress the staff of the hospitals. They will have to triage people that have a 0% chance of contacting this one infected person. That makes it harder for them to help those that really need it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see people going to the ER like this all over the country. It’s just the way people panic.
A lot of preppers I know are jumping on the panic bandwagon. “What do we do?” “How do we prepare?” “Is it time to self quarantine?” are a few things I’ve already seen. Some of these are logical questions, some are fear driven. We all make poor decisions when we make them in fear. The first thing to do is take stock of the situation. This can’t be done in a panic. Here’s what we know…
A patient contracted Ebola on a trip to west Africa. They brought it home to Dallas. When they started showing symptoms, they went to the hospital. The hospital recognized this as a potential infection and properly isolated the patient. Tests came back positive. The CDC is now involved.
At this point, the CDC is going to be putting its full effort into this case. They will most likely locate anyone that could have had contact with this patient after becoming symptomatic. There will be teams to determine if these people need to be isolated. It may seem like an impossible task, but these teams will be professional and well trained. Containing any potential outbreak is what they do. At this point, the CDC is even saying that people on the flight with the patient are not thought to be at any risk.
At this point, that is pretty much all we know. We have one case, and some people that will need to be monitored. This DOES NOT mean there is an Ebola outbreak in Texas. This is an isolated case for right now. Of course, it is worth keeping a close eye on the situation, but it should not cause you to disrupt your normal life.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/30/health/ebola-us/index.html
http://www.doomandbloom.net/ebola-the-next-great-pandemic/
There has been a major change in the procedure for canning in Mason jars. I’ve been pondering hard on why I’m having too many jars not seal when canning lately. I’m very careful with my process, so I’ve been very upset to have jars not seal. As it turns out, there was a change in process that wasn’t widely publicized.
I’ve always trusted my grandmother as the expert on all things canning. I’ve followed her recipes and advice to the letter. The same thing goes for my mom. These ladies have me on experience by decades. I’d be a fool not to listen. This new change has taken us all by surprise. I guess we learn to adapt and overcome!
This change involves the lids we use on our jars. For 100 years, the process has included simmering the lids in a saucepan of hot water on the stove. We do this to sterilize the lids, and until recently, to soften the rubber so the lid would seal. This is now WRONG! 100 years of tradition is gone now. If you simmer new lids, there is a decent chance they will not seal. I’ve experienced this a lot lately. I’ve had a ton of jars not seal while following the process I grew up with.
After all the failures, and researching online to get the new information, we’ve just been washing the lids with warm water and putting them on jars. We’ve processed a couple dozen jars this weekend and have had no seal failures. This is a big change, since we’ve had a lot of failures to seal this summer. I was really getting concerned about my abilities to can. I’m happy to report, it wasn’t anything I was doing wrong, just a change I wasn’t aware of.
I wish the lid manufacturers would have made a better attempt to inform us of the change, but at least I know now and can pass the information along. If you are having issues with lids not sealing, stop simmering. We have, and it has made all the difference.
It is rare that I post two articles in the same day, but I thought this was worth sharing immediately. If I can spare one of my readers the hassle I’ve been experiencing with canning and having failures, then I will feel a lot better.
Here are a couple of links explaining the change.
http://www.freshpreserving.com/tools/waterbath-canning
http://livinghomegrown.com/2014/08/changes-in-canning-lid-procedures.html
At the end of every summer, the state of New Mexico shares its bounty with the rest of the world. The famous Hatch Green Chile is in season! During this season, all the stores in Texas offer these peppers for a great price. Usually they can be had for less than a dollar a pound. Since it is a short window on Hatch season, a lot of us like to stock up for the year. There are several ways to preserve them for year-round use.
The most popular methods are freezing, drying, and canning. For our yearly stockpile, we bought a 25 pound case, so we have a lot of peppers to work with. More than half will be frozen, which is a lot more work than it sounds like. The rest will end up getting dried. Drying these peppers will use the same process I covered a few weeks ago, so I won’t go into any detail.
Before peppers can be frozen, it helps to remove the skin. Most peppers have a very tough skin that will not come off the flesh of the pepper without some help. This is where the roasting comes in. Once the peppers are roasted, the skins will slip off. At this point, the peppers go into small freezer bags and into the freezer. Be sure to use small, serving size bags because once thawed, the peppers will only last a week or two in the refrigerator.
I planned on roasting the whole batch over hardwood coals in the fire pit. It works well but was very time consuming. It also involves working directly over an open fire in August in Texas. Needless to say, it was hot work. To roast these peppers, pierce each pepper with a fork several times. Put them over the heat until the skin blisters. Once it is blistered completely, remove from heat and place them in freezer bag or a bowl covered with a towel to allow them to “sweat”. Once they are cool the skins should slip off.
About halfway through, some friends showed up to help. They were born and raised in the Mesilla Valley in New Mexico. We were quickly onto a different method. We built the fire up to really increase the heat and procured a large pot. In this pot, we poured enough vegetable oil to completely cover a few peppers. Once this oil was hot, we started tossing peppers in and letting them blister. As they finished, they were laid out on cardboard to drain. This process took 2 or 3 minutes compared to the 15 to 20 minutes it took over the fire.
There is a method that uses an oven to roast the peppers, but we decided against it. It works well but makes the house smell of chile peppers and can turn the air in the kitchen into pepper spray. Even with 3 peppers in the oven, the odor was strong. We will continue to do all of our roasting outside.
A few things I discovered that will help out… When handling peppers, don’t touch your eyes or face (or private parts!). You can wear gloves to help out with this. When working over a fire, the longer your tongs, the better. I lost some hair on my hands turning peppers. The friends from New Mexico said that a gas or charcoal grill works very well.
Photo courtesy of Sarah’s Musical Kitchen.
Last year, when the Self Reliance Expo visited north Texas, I assisted Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy of Doom and Bloom Survival Medicine with their booth. They teach classes during the Expo and have to close their booth if they can’t find someone to cover during these class times. I was honored to help some good friends out. Despite my protests, Nurse Amy insisted I take one of her kits home. In fact, she let me know that she had my address and would mail to to me if I didn’t take it right then.
The kit I was sent home with is called the Mini Deluxe Trauma Bag. It’s a lot more Deluxe than it is Mini! It’s a very comprehensive kit that can cover everything from minor scrapes and cuts up to serious traumatic injuries. Nurse Amy hand packs every kit they offer with the experience gained from a career in medicine. There are a ton of items in this kit, but each is placed where it needs to be for fast, easy access. When there is a medical issue, the last thing you want is to search for the product you need to treat it. That’s what really separates this kit from any competitor. Everything is easily accessible and prioritized by an expert in trauma medicine.
I’ve generally found that the best product reviews come from actually using a product. Luckily, I haven’t had to use this product too often. With that said, it has been used. With two little girls, it’s always handy to have Band-Aids on hand, even if it is for a placebo. But there are those times when I go overboard and need to test a medical product on myself. Most recently I used a mandolin slicer to remove a good portion of my fingertip. Elevation and applying pressure wasn’t stopping the blood flow anywhere fast enough. And I really hate making a mess by bleeding all over everything. Enter the Trauma Bag. Included in the hemorrhage control part were several options to stop bleeding quickly. I selected Cayenne pepper powder (primarily because the commercial anti-coagulants are expensive to restock in the kit!). Viola, bleeding under control!
Most kits you can buy off the shelf would not include a natural remedy like this. Another benefit to a kit from Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy. These kits are designed for practical use, and if a natural method works well, it is given a spot in the kit. Overall, these kits are the best bang for your buck because the are packed by medical experts instead of the marketing department at Johnson & Johnson.
Rather than reinvent the wheel and post everything in this kit and other kits available, I’ll just link over to the Doom and Bloom page where you can see contents, read more about them, and even see videos.
Here’s a link to the Mini Deluxe Trauma Bag.
Here’s a link to the Doom and Bloom Survival Medicine website.
Be sure to stop by and show some love to some great folks that provide a wealth of information to our community.
As promised, I finally attempted a batch of homemade lye soap. I had plans for an informative how-to article. Those hopes have been dashed for the time being. Here’s how to NOT make soap…
The first problem I encountered was not a lack of information available, but there is too much information online about soapmaking. And a lot of it seems to conflict. The only standards are the amount of lye to use per weight of specific fats. That’s the crucial part. I used the Hot Process in a crockpot. In theory, this allows for a soap that can be used immediately rather than curing for weeks. Sounds cool, right?
Before I get into the failure, I’ll give some basic information on soap. Soap is made by a process called Saponification. This involves properly mixing a caustic (lye) with a fat (lard). The lye is pretty constant across recipes. The fat can be any animal fat or plant oil. During the Saponification process, the lye and fats interact chemically to produce a product called soap. Very specific amounts of lye are used to ensure a complete reaction so we don’t have a soap that is still caustic. Nothing like a nice chemical burn in the shower to start the day!
That’s where it all went wrong for me. I was using a recipe that I was a chart for an amount of lye for different fats. It was not. It was a recipe that actually called for all the fats listed. My fault. I didn’t follow the recipe, and ended up way short on the weight of fats needed for soap. Apparently it is difficult to adjust a recipe in the middle of the process.
I measured out my lye (4.4 ounces by weight) and my lard (6.4 ounces by weight). Any soapmakers reading this are shaking their heads at me right now. I got the lard in the crockpot and melted it. While it was melting, I dissolved the lye in 12 ounces of water. Once it was dissolved, I mixed it with this woefully small amount of fat. After stirring like crazy to mix it, I realized there wasn’t nearly enough ingredients for the volume I was expecting. I re-read the recipe and realized my mistake. At this point, there is a chemical reaction going on.
In a rush, I calculated how much more lard I needed to add for the amount of lye, another 26 ounces or so. I should have used 2 pounds of lard at the beginning. This lard gets added, but it takes a while to melt. I don’t know the mechanisms involved, but it severely disrupted the process. Probably like trying to add 2 cups of flour to a half baked cake.
After stirring for an hour, it never did thicken up like it was supposed to. I went ahead and accepted defeat and turned the crockpot off and went to bed. I awoke to find the process did work to a point. The crockpot was full of a hard soap-like substance. I tested it by sticking a small piece to my tongue. Believe it or not, it’s an accepted way to test for caustics. It tasted like a 9 volt battery. Still caustic.
I decided to go for broke and I turned the heat back on to re-melt this failure. After 4 hours and adding enough water to get it thinned out enough to mold, I placed it in disposable bread pan molds lined with wax paper. It looks like lumpy mashed potatoes in a bread pan. And it is still caustic. The Saponification process will continue, but it will be more like the Cold Process where it will have to cure for weeks before I can test it and see if it works.
While I was washing the residue out of the crockpot, it did lather up and form bubbles. Technically this goopy mess is soap, just not anything I planned on. Now I’ll wait and see how it turns out.
I’ll be giving this another go in the next few days and try to get it right. I’m still holding out hope that I can write a how-to article. And I really want some homemade lye soap on the homestead! Stay tuned, and remember to always follow directions!
This year my pepper plants aren’t doing well. I’m not sure if it was the weird spring weather that stayed cold longer than normal or something I’m doing wrong. Whatever it is, the plants are stunted. They look healthy, but small. I’ve managed to harvest a couple of Jalapenos and a handful of small Cayenne peppers.
Luckily, my dad’s pepper plants are doing great this season, so he sent me home with a ton of peppers this weekend. I ended up with a dining room table full of Jalapeno, Cayenne, and Banana peppers. Now it’s time to move to get them preserved before they can go bad.
Dehydrating is the easiest way of preserving peppers, but it limits their uses later. They can be used for cooking or as a seasoning, but not really enjoyed by themselves. I always like to keep a good stock on hand for uses in chili and stew recipes, so several pounds of this batch are getting dried. Dehydrating peppers is a pretty simple and straightforward process.
Peppers have a pretty tough skin that seals moisture in, so each pepper needs to be pierced or sliced so they can dry evenly. For thin peppers like the Cayennes I make a slit along the length of each pepper. For thicker peppers like the Jalapenos, I simply slice them in half along the length. Once all the peppers are sliced, they get loaded on the trays of the dehydrator. Unless you have a very well ventilated spot inside, I recommend running the dehydrator outside. As peppers heat up and start to dry, they turn the area around them into a pepper spray gas chamber. Usually in 10 to 12 hours, everything is dried out well and ready to store. I use Mason jars to keep them moisture free. That allows them to keep for years.
Some basic tips for dehydrating:
1. Thin items dry much faster than thick pieces.
2. Peppers, onions, and other foods can put off very strong odors while drying.
3. If you dehydrate outside, make sure the dehydrator is protected from animals and birds.
4. Some items can impart their flavor to others if dehydrated at the same time. Don’t dry onions or peppers with your apple chips!
5. Check your food every couple of hours. You can’t really over dry most items, but no sense in running a dehydrator longer than needed.
I got clever and wrote a couple of articles ahead of time and set them to publish at later times in WordPress. I figured it would give me some time away from the computer for work, family, and homestead responsibilities. As it turns out, I’m not one for automation. I screwed up on some setting so nothing has posted in weeks. Live and learn!!!
Very soon I will have articles up about dehydrating peppers and canning tomatoes. A friend from work and I are going to jumping on the vermiculture bandwagon, so there will be info posted as we learn that.
On the puppy front, we’ve had some problems with Maevis. For those following along, she is now a touch over 4 months old. Over the weekend of the 4th of July, we had to take her to the animal ER at 10pm. She was very disoriented and wobbly. I was horrified that she ate some toxin or poison. After $370 and several early morning hours, the vet thinks she aspirated vomit and caused lung inflammation. Two weeks later, she presented the same symptoms, only much worse. She actually fell off the bed and couldn’t get back up. She would yelp if anyone touched her. Back we go!!
This round at the animal ER was a late night ordeal on a work night. And it cost another $330. This time the diagnosis was a little more firm. We opted for the Distemper test just to rule it out, but the vet was very confident in the problem being Meningitis. Apparently, the lung problem was an infection that decided to go nasty on us. After a few days, Maevis is starting to act like a puppy again. We’re doing a ton of pills twice a day. Two antibiotics, a steroid, and pain medication. It’s been a long, expensive road, but I think we’ll have a healthy puppy again.
Plantain (the weed, not the small banana) has been used for centuries as a medicinal herb. Native Americans and Europeans have used it to treat a variety of medical issues including skin wounds, insect and spider bites, snake bites, and indigestion. It is said to even help with acne and blood clotting. Overall, this prolific weed has some powerful medicinal uses. I’ve just recently discovered it, but I’m already impressed with it as a treatment for bug bites.
With all of this new information I have, I ran into a problem. As it gets hot here in Texas, the Plantain is starting to dry up and crumble away. I researched ways to preserve some of it. Dehydration is an option, but I’m certain a lot of the medicinal qualities would evaporate away. It looks like the best option to save the qualities I want is by making a tincture. Tinctures are liquid extracts, usually made with ethanol. I just happened to have a stash of moonshine at a pretty serious concentration, probably close to 180 proof (90%). A bit of Google research turns up that tinctures are simple to make.
The basics are to add plant matter to the alcohol, let it sit a while, then strain the plant matter out with a filter or cheesecloth. The alcohol will absorb the herbal goodness.
Raw Plantain Leaves
Rinsed and Chopped Leaves
Leaves in a Pint Mason Jar
Adding the Alcohol
Leaves Steeping
The leaves will steep in the alcohol for a week or two to do its work. After this time, I will strain the plant matter out and save the liquid. This liquid is the tincture. This batch will net me around 9 or 10 ounces. Once it is done, I will put it in a dropper bottle and test it out on the numerous bug bites I receive here on the homestead. I’m really hoping it can offer some relief from all the chiggers that seem to find my legs delectable. Stay tuned for an update in a couple of weeks on the final product and the relief it might offer.
Maevis is now coming up on 11 weeks old. In the past few weeks, she’s started to lose the roly-poly fat puppy look. She’s gotten a lot taller, and all of it is legs. She’s also a lot more effective at chewing on everything. She chews on shoes, furniture, Sarah, Me, the kids, and Maddie the McNabb Shepherd. The puppy teeth are a trial, but at least she lets us sleep through the night now. House training is going ok considering her age. She alerts us when she needs to go outside, but we have exactly 2.3 seconds to open the door before she leaves a puddle in the entrance way. It usually takes me 4.7 seconds to get to the door.
Maevis is starting to learn a few commands. “Sit” and “Stay” are catching on quickly, so I’m starting to branch out and increase the vocabulary. She is learning quickly, but is still completely disinterested in the “Come” command unless she thinks there is something in it for her. She’s a very clever girl, but I think we are in for some stubborn attitude.
Sorry for the slightly blurry image. The puppy is in constant movement and has complete disregard for anyone wanting a good picture!
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Unplugging from a world of chaos
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