Preparedness: Stocking Stuffers

Solstice is coming and with it the dilemma of what to stuff stockings with. I hate buying flimsy, crappy toys that will fall apart or useless junk that will just become trash in a few weeks. My kids LOVE survival stuff so I've put together a list of possible stocking stuffers. Many of these items have been requested by my kids at one time or another.

Para Cord Survival Bracelet
These come in a variety and colors and sizes. Each inch of bracelet roughly equals 1 foot of para cord.

Even funner are the Para Cord Bracelet/Compass Combo.
You lose a bit of the cord but the compass could be handy, especially on a daily basis with my kids going out into the woods which meander all around.

Full tang hunting knife with fire starter
The reviews on this particular knife and some of the others recommend wrapping your own para cord on the handle.

Survival Snare Kit
Has instructions on using snares and 2 different sized snares. I most likely would buy one then create my own kits based off this one as they are about $17 with shipping.

Fishing Survival Kit
Possibly another kit I would buy 1 of then create copies of. It gets expensive buying for 5 kids!

Leatherman Multitool (there are many styles and price ranges available)

or

11 function credit card tool

Pro-Knot Card Sets by John Sherry. They have 3 to choose from: 

Ka-Bar Hobo Utensil Set - my 15 year old is in love with this thing!

Will you be stuffing prepping/survival items into your kids' stockings this year? What sort of survival/prepping goodies will you give them?

IDC: Week 26

By popular demand, the Independence Days Challenge is back! Every Friday from February - September we are challenged to work on our skill set. Anyone can join in!

****Still no rain and reports coming in are bad. The local feed store has closed - local farmers are selling off their livestock or putting them down because supposedly the animals are dying off from too much nitrogen in their feed from the lack of rain? Both beef and pork.****

The categories and my responses:

Plant something: A lot of us were trained to think of planting as done once a year, but if you start seeds, do season extension and succession plant, you’ll get much, much more out of your garden, so I try and plant something every day from February into September.

Plant something:

-

Harvest something: Everything counts – from the milk and eggs you get from your animals to the first dandelions from your yard to 50 bushels of tomatoes – it all counts.

Harvest something: 

Eggs

Milk

Potatoes

Weeds to feed to the goats and sheep

Basil

Calendula flowers

Preserve something: Again, I find preserving is most productive if I try and do a little every day that there is anything, from the first dried raspberry leaves and jarred rhubarb to the last squashes at the end of the season.

Preserve something:

-Drying Calendula flowers, Basil

Waste not: Reducing food waste, composting everything or feeding it to animals, reducing your use of disposables and creation of garbage, reusing things that would otherwise go to waste, making sure your preserved and stored foods are kept in good shape – all of these count.

Waste Not: 

-Fed chickens, dog and cats scraps; composted unfeedable scraps

-free range grazing the sheep and tethering the goats

-using weeds to mulch plants as I weed & to feed to goats, sheep and chickens

Want Not: Adding to your food storage or stash of goods for emergencies, building up resources that will be useful in the long term.

Want Not:

-48 bags scratch grains = 6 month supply

-3 large round bales of hay (plus another 60 square bales around in storage) = 1 winter's supply
-bought shorts, shirts, pants at thrift shop for kids
-bought a shirt for me that i'll be bleaching and dyeing with walnut hulls soon

Eat the Food: Making full and good use of what you have, making sure that you are getting everything you can from your food, trying new recipes and new cooking ideas, eating out of your storage!

Eat the Food: 

-eating eggs and milk

-potatoes

-food from farmer's market: free range chicken and beef, okra, green beans, onions, tomatoes, zucchini, watermelon, eggplant, kale, peppers

Build community food systems: What have you done to help other people have better food access or to make your local food system more resilient?

Build Community Food Systems: 

-offering milk and eggs to my community

-bartering with friends at market: eggs and soap for produce

-teaching kids about herbs

-taught class about medicinal and edible weeds to kids at The Nature Institute

And a new one: Skill up:  What did you learn this week that will help you in the future – could be as simple as fixing the faucet or as hard as building a shed, as simple as a new way of keeping records or as complicated as making shoes.  Whatever you are learning, you get a merit badge for it – this is important stuff.

Skill Up: 

-

IDC: Week 25

By popular demand, the Independence Days Challenge is back! Every Friday from February - September we are challenged to work on our skill set. Anyone can join in!

****There hasn't been a whole lot to update due to the drought and heat. Everything I've planted has pretty much fried in the heat even with daily watering and mulching. We are fearful that with failed crops, animal feed is going to sky rocket so our focus has been with stocking animal feed.****

The categories and my responses:

Plant something: A lot of us were trained to think of planting as done once a year, but if you start seeds, do season extension and succession plant, you’ll get much, much more out of your garden, so I try and plant something every day from February into September.

Plant something:

-Several attempts in the past 5 weeks, most have died: Holy basil, Balloon Flower, Pasque flower, Oriental poppies, Lady's Mantle, Eggplant, Cotton, Peppers, Broccoli, Cabbage, Leeks

Harvest something: Everything counts – from the milk and eggs you get from your animals to the first dandelions from your yard to 50 bushels of tomatoes – it all counts.

Harvest something: 

Eggs

Milk

Potatoes

Weeds to feed to the goats and sheep

Preserve something: Again, I find preserving is most productive if I try and do a little every day that there is anything, from the first dried raspberry leaves and jarred rhubarb to the last squashes at the end of the season.

Preserve something:

-Drying Calendula flowers, Basil, Velvet Leaf

Waste not: Reducing food waste, composting everything or feeding it to animals, reducing your use of disposables and creation of garbage, reusing things that would otherwise go to waste, making sure your preserved and stored foods are kept in good shape – all of these count.

Waste Not: 

-Fed chickens, dog and cats scraps; composted unfeedable scraps

-free range grazing the sheep and tethering the goats

-using weeds to mulch plants as I weed & to feed to goats, sheep and chickens

Want Not: Adding to your food storage or stash of goods for emergencies, building up resources that will be useful in the long term.

Want Not:

-17 bags chicken feed (on sale for $8.99/bag) = 3 month supply

-Revamped First Aid kit

Eat the Food: Making full and good use of what you have, making sure that you are getting everything you can from your food, trying new recipes and new cooking ideas, eating out of your storage!

Eat the Food: 

-eating eggs and milk

-potatoes

-food from farmer's market: free range chicken and beef, okra, green beans, onions, tomatoes, zucchini, watermelon, eggplant, kale

Build community food systems: What have you done to help other people have better food access or to make your local food system more resilient?

Build Community Food Systems: 

-offering milk and eggs to my community

-bartering with friends at market: eggs and soap for produce

-teaching kids about herbs

And a new one: Skill up:  What did you learn this week that will help you in the future – could be as simple as fixing the faucet or as hard as building a shed, as simple as a new way of keeping records or as complicated as making shoes.  Whatever you are learning, you get a merit badge for it – this is important stuff.

Skill Up: 

-teaching the 7 year old how to clean, candle and carton eggs for sale

-teaching kids about herbs