Welcome to this week’s Survival Buzz with an update on my own preps and announcements from the Backdoor Survival blog.
As much as I hate to admit it, I tend to have senior moments and forget what I have done during the course of the week. This week, however, I had a constant reminder of a last Sunday’s project that involved putting together an “Earth Tower”. You might be wondering, what is an Earth Tower.
I will be writing about the Earth Tower more down the road but essentially, it is a 4 foot tower garden on wheels that is designed to produce an abundant bounty of vegetables, herbs, berries, and flowers in only two square feet. Shelly and I spent a few hours putting it together than filling in with an organic potting soil.
Therein lies the problem. I did the mixing and filling of the soil-less potting mix. There was really nothing wrong with mix and it was OMNI approved but after going through all of the effort, I was unhappy with the amount of bark it contained. It looked more like mulch that potting mix. Yuck.
So out it went and somehow, during the ordeal, a spider or two or three paid a visit and I ended up with over a dozen bites. These became large welts and itched like crazy! I was able to calm them down with some lavender essential oil layered with my DIY Miracle Salve and that took away the itch. Now, almost a week later, the welts are fading. Thankfully.
My project for this weekend is to start all over with a different mix combined with some vermiculite to lighten it up. In addition, since it is too late to get any sort of crop going with seeds, I will pick up some starts in town and hope to heck it is not too late to get something going.
Other than that, this week I continued to sort my first aid supplies into portable kits housed in individual ammo cans. I am finding that ammo cans work perfectly; they are tall enough to hold bottles of antiseptic and alcohol yet have plenty of space for bandages, masks, and other supplies. I like the idea of multiple kits serving different purposes. So far I have started a Home Kit, Vehicle Kit, Trauma Kit, and Pandemic Kit.
That about covers it for me this week. Now for some announcements.
Backdoor Survival Mail Bag
Last month, the following comment came in from Pat and after responding online, I thought the rest of you might be interested as well.
Gaye, I am concerned that the thread thru the replies at least hint that everyone is prepping for a natural bad storm like some experience most winters, or others face in the spring tornado season.
Over the years I have read your work I have felt you are preparing for a fare more serious and long term event. I don’t know if the story of the orchestra continued to play while the titanic sank is true, but it seems we may be doing something similar, will you please comment.
Here is my response.
To be perfectly honest, I feel that I am personally well-prepped for an act of nature. The consequences of an earthquake or tsunami or extended power outage in my area may not be pleasant, but I feel that I can handle the stress and put my mental and physical preps on autopilot if something like that were to happen.
You are correct that I prep for a much more devastating and universal disruptive event. The global economy is quite fragile and some time, somewhere, we just might be blind sighted by a cyber-attack including a man-made EMP or terrorist event. Am I am prepped for that? Not really.
Yes, I can live off grid, but like many, I have become so dependent upon technology as a way of life that I cannot begin to fathom the consequences.
Doing the best we can is all we can do. Heck, given my age, something like this may not happen in my lifetime. I can only hope that through my work, the younger generations will get wise to the ways of the world, and prepare themselves for the possibility if not probability, that sometime within the next 20 years, life as we know it will change.
Does anyone else care to comment? I would be interested in your thoughts.
Current Giveaways
Here are this week’s giveaways.
How To Get Ready for Hurricane Season + AquaPod Giveaway
Prepper Book Festival 8: Game Changer by Chris Bostic + Giveaway
With all giveaways, winners are notified by email and have 48 hours to claim their prize or an alternate will be selected. Once selected, the names of winners are also displayed in the Rafflecopter on the original giveaway article. This usually happens on the Friday following the end of the giveaway.
Replay Now Available: Sun Oven Webinar
For those of you that missed it, a replay of the Sun Oven Solar Cooking webinar held last week is now available for watching at your convenience. Here is a link:
Backdoor Survival Sun Oven Webinar – Replay
In this webinar you will learn everything you need to know about using a solar oven, and the Sun Oven in particular. Here are some of the topics covered:
- How to harness the power of the sun to cook and dehydrate food, purify water, and be better prepared for emergencies
- How a Sun Oven can help you never worry about burning dinner again
- How to use a SUN OVEN to naturally dehydrate fruits and vegetables
- How to reduce your utility bills while learning how to cook during hard times when normal fuel sources will be in short supply
At the very end of the presentation, there is a special discount offer on the Sun Oven using discount code BackdoorWebinar. Be sure to watch for it. You can view the details of this special promotion by clicking here.
Essential Oils: Deal of the Week
Spark Naturals in bringing back the “Items of the Week” Promotions. I, for one, am happy to see that! Here are this week’s specials.
SPARK NATURALS ITEMS OF THE WEEK
Enjoy an extra 10% off sale prices when you use code BACKDOORSURVIVAL at checkout.
Other Announcements
This week I am thrilled to announce two new website sponsors.
Minutemen Cabinets builds and sells hidden gun cabinets. Their cabinets look like furniture and come in various sizes and finishes.
Polar Pure water purification crystals are unique in that they kill viruses. Polar Pure is available on Amazon and has an indefinite shelf life. Plus shipping is free for everyone, not just prime members.
I encourage you to visit all of the website sponsors shown. It is fine companies such as this that keep Backdoor Survival 100% free for everyone!
The Final Word
We are having an incredible run of nice weather here in Western Washington. I am so motivated by my garden this year. I have six tomato plants in pots, plus snap peas, broccoli, and beets in the ground. My oregano is taking over its garden space so I plan to harvest some now to dry for later.
And for the Earth Tower? Tomorrow I will plant patio cucumbers, lettuce, and a handful of flowers. I do love the sunshine!
So what about you – what did you do to prep this week?
Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye
If you enjoyed this article, consider voting for me daily at Top Prepper Websites! In addition, SUBSCRIBE to email updates and receive a free, downloadable copy of my e-book The Emergency Food Buyer’s Guide.
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Bargain Bin: Below you will find a selection of items related to today’s article plus some other recent reader favorites. Some are best sellers and others are from the article Best Practices: The Every Day Carry Bag (EDC). A great article, in case you missed it.
Earth Tower Vertical Garden: 4-sided Wooden Planter on Wheels: So far I am impressed with my Earth Tower garden. Even when filled with potting soil, it was easy to move around on my porch. The real proof will be to see how my plants grow and thrive in my covered porch that only gets sun for 5 hours a day.<!--
NOW Foods Essential Oils: I use essential oils from Spark Naturals. For healing purposes, I feel they are superior. On the other hand, NOW Foods has decent essential oils at a budget price plus they can be purchased at Amazon.com. Here are a few to get you started: NOW Foods Rosemary Oil, NOW Foods Peppermint Oil, and Now Foods Lavender Oil.
Cobra Products 4-Way Sillcock Key: This 4-way sillcock key has a 1/4″ , 9/32″, 5/16″ and 11/32″ stem to service most sillcocks in common use. It is durable, easy to use and has an attractive finish. Used to open and close sillcocks or spigots and made of durable steel construction.
The Friendly Swede Magnesium Alloy Emergency Easy Grip Fire Starter (2 Pack): Fire starters are an essential piece of any survival/outdoor kit – waterproof, durable and easy to use as follows:
1. Scrape off black protective coating from fire starter rod
2. Prepare your tinder
3. Hold the striker at a 45° angle to the fire starter. Scrape striker hard and fast down the fire starter
4. Allow sparks to fall onto tinder
Dorcy Waterproof LED Flashlight with Carabineer Clip: This is a floating waterproof flashlight that provides 55-lumens of light output and a 31-meter beam distance. I am a big fan of Dorcy products so this one is definitely going in my shopping cart as well. Not that I need more flashlights! Wait – you can never have too many!!
FordEx Group 300lm Mini Cree Led Flashlight: FAVORITE! You know me and flashlights! At the time of this writing, this one I red is only $3.55 with free shipping. It is super mini sized, bright and waterproof. Plus, it uses a single, standard AA sized battery.
Maximal Power FC999 Universal Battery Charger: This nicely built charger will charge charge AA, AAA, C, D, N, 9V, Ni-MH, Ni-CD, and Alkaline batteries. It has an LED display so that when you first put a battery in the charging bay, you know whether it is viable for charging or simply bad and ready to go back to the recycle box.
Yes it really works, even under solar power. Read about in this article: How to Recharge Alkaline Batteries.
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Shop the Emergency Essentials Warehouse Sale
This is their biggest inventory clearance sale of the year with some fantastic bargains. You are not going to want to miss out on this one.
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Need something from Amazon (and who doesn’t)? I earn a small commission from purchases made when you begin your Amazon shopping experience here. You still get great Amazon service and the price is the same, no matter what.
Amazon has a feature called Shop Amazon – Most Wished For Items. This is an easy tool for finding products that people are ‘wishing” for and in this way you know what the top products are. All you need to do is select the category from the left hand side of the screen.
The Amazon Top Most Wished For and Best Selling Outdoor Items
Emergency Preparedness Items from Amazon.com
Shop Amazon Tactical – Great Selection of Optics, Knives, Cases, Equipment
Amazon Gift Cards
Help support Backdoor Survival. Purchases earn a small commission and for that I thank you!
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Are You Interested in Essential Oils?
The Spark Naturals Oil of the Month Club is the best value out there – all oils are 15ml bottles – shipped out to you once a month (on the same date you ordered the product). The price is $15.99 a month and includes shipping and tax. This is a great way to collect oils at a discounted price. Be sure to use the code BACKDOORSURVIVAL at checkout.
The Survival Buzz #172 by Gaye Levy first appeared on Backdoor Survival.
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