Destiny Survival

Archive for July, 2008

            You probably know this already because it’s been such a big deal in the news, but it looks like tomatoes are pretty much off the hook as far as the Salmonella problem is concerned.  My heart goes out to those tomato growers whose crops rotted away or were bulldozed altogether.  The tomato industry may lose up to $250 million from all of this.

One headline the other day read, “FDA finds salmonella strain in jalapeno pepper“.  It’s the same Salmonella bacteria that’s made 1,251 people sick with this outbreak over the past few months, but the government still doesn’t know the exact source, and they’re hoping to narrow down just exactly where the peppers came from.  Those Salmonella could have gotten into the food chain any number of ways, such as at the farm or the plant where they were processed.  The FDA is warning not to eat fresh jalapeno peppers or fresh salsa made from them.

            The government may be doing all they know how to solve this whole mess, but my husband, Survival Sam, still thinks there’s something funny going on.  He says the Salmonella outbreak could be some kind of bioterrorism attack.  I don’t know about that because there really are ways for Salmonella to get into tomato plants, but I agree with him when he says an attack on our food supply might produce the same results and keep the government chasing it all down for a long time.  Well, enough on all that.

            All of this brings up the point I’ve made before.  Wash those vegetables you bring home to eat.  You can’t be too careful these days with what you buy at the grocery store.  That’s one big reason so many people are buying from farmer’s markets and growing their own gardens.  I’m all for it!  Apparently all of the food safety precautions the government has in place aren’t enough, so be careful for the sake of your own survival.

            I was going to let Survival Sally post the latest information on Salmonella tomatoes and peppers, but what follows may have a more long term impact on your survival plans.

Word is out that Mountain House may not be able to supply #10 cans of food items for weeks or months, maybe not for all of next year.  Apparently the military or military contractors have been buying storage food in large quantities.  Is this related to a possible attack on Iran or engagement in some other hot spot?  Perhaps it’s anybody’s guess.

The point is, it’s getting harder to obtain storge food for you and your family.  Here’s an important notice from Nitro-Pak’s home page.

All Mountain House #10 can freeze-dried foods & units are going up August 1, 2008 by as much as 15%. HURRY, Order NOW and Save!

Please note 07/22/08 Update:

Current processing time for most non-can food orders is currently taking 2-4 business days to ship. Orders with #10 canned foods or units are taking approx. 2 to 4 weeks to ship due to EXTREMELY high customer demand, food production shortages and market volatility. Thanks for your understanding and patience!

Harry Weyandt, President

            As Nitro-Pak also points out, each of us must be prepared to withstand whatever crisis comes our way with a supply of long storing food reserves and other survival supplies.  Be ready to make it on your own for 2-4 weeks.  A six month or year’s supply would be even better.  When you see that big event on the 6:00 news, the time to prepare is over.  As Nitro-Pak puts it, it’s like trying to buy fire insurance when the house is on fire.

            Click on the logo below and order your supply of long term storage food from Nitro-Pak today.  You can probably feel it for yourself—time is running out!

            Sunday at church the pastor talked a little about sowing and reaping, and he made the point that we reap more than we’ve sown.  To illustrate, he told about some of his family’s experiences this year as first time gardeners.  It seems they planted lots of zucchini seeds and have an overabundance of plants, each with their overabundance of zukes.  They’ve had zucchini bread, cupcakes, and fried and baked zucchini.  He offered bags of zucchini to anyone in the church if they would simply talk to his wife about it.

            We’re each bound to make mistakes as gardeners, whether new or experienced, and we live and learn.  A few years ago I grew more cucumbers than my wife cared for.  This year I’ve had a wonderful crop of green beans, much of which I’ve put into the freezer.  Frankly, I’d rather err on the side of having too much of anything than too little.  It is food after all and shouldn’t be allowed to go to waste.  So an overabundance is a good mistake and a blessing in my opinion.

            If you’re one of those new gardeners engaged in survival gardening this season, and you’ve got too much of something, get a copy of the famous Ball Blue Book.  It’s the resource you need when it comes to know how and what to preserve.  The table of contents includes the following items:

Learning About Canning

Acid Foods

Soft Spreads

Pickled Foods

Low-Acid Foods

Special Diet

Something Extra

Freezing

Dehydration

The Problem Solver

Appendix

Glossary

Index

The Ball Blue Book is your basic guide to canning, freezing, drying, pickling and making soft spreads with dozens of recipes, all packed into 120 pages.  If your survival gardening is producing the abundance it’s supposed to, you need this book right now.  It’s inexpensive and available from Lehman’s.  Click on their logo and type this number in the search box on their page: 021400.  The next page will show a picture of The Ball Blue Book.  Click on it for more info and to order.

            Lehman’s also has a canning kit for beginners, and Survival Sally wrote a post you can click here to read.

            We are living in a momentous time.  Some are saying even the Great Depression of the 1930’s doesn’t compare to what we’re heading into.  If you’ve paid attention to the news at all, you know the media can no longer avoid mentioning that megabanks and giant corporations are struggling or going under.  Some people are selling prized family heirlooms to pay bills and buy gasoline.  Many can’t afford utility services.  Others are losing their homes.

It’s anybody’s guess as to what changes we could see to our present system of globalism and consumer indebtedness.  How well are we prepared to face what now seems unthinkable?  Could we see a total failure of the money system?  Will money be gone as we’ve come to know it?  If so, what new rules will we be living under?  Or will there be any rules at all?  How will we respond collectively?  How will you and your family survive the major changes coming upon us?  One thing is certain.  Things are different now, and it looks like there’s no turning back.

Economic upheaval is not without precedent in history.  Nearly 3,700 years ago in Egypt, famine brought about dramatic changes to the accustomed way of life.  A man named Joseph had been given ruling authority under the Pharaoh and proved to be a shrewd administrator in those troubled times.  He made sure everyone in Egypt had food, but at great cost to the people.

            Note the response of the Egyptians during the seven years of famine.  They used all their money to buy grain, which Joseph had purposefully set aside in anticipation of the famine.  When money was gone, they sold their livestock, land, and even sold themselves into slavery in exchange for food.  Joseph provided seed for planting new crops, and a system of taxation at the rate of 20% resulted.  According to an article I read years ago, experts say he chose a good number for the rate of taxation, since it provided adequate provision for government to function and is a rate which people today would find more tolerable than our present rates.  The grateful, submissive Egyptians survived, but things would never be the same.

            The Bible’s account of the lean years of famine in Egypt is found in Genesis 47:13-26 and is  reprinted below from the King James Version.  Read and thoughtfully consider what you would do to survive in such desperate times.

13. And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.

14. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.

15. And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth.

16. And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail.

17. And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.

18. When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands:

19. Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.

20. And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.

21. And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof.

22. Only the land of the priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands.

23. Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.

24. And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.

25. And they said, Thou hast saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.

26. And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except the land of the priests only, which became not Pharaoh’s.

            Here we are again with another session of Family Survival School with suggestions to get your family members involved in preparing for survival.  I hope you’ll try at least one of these activities with your family this weekend.  Ready?  Here we go!

Call a family meeting and set a number of survival goals to work on for one year.  If you like, set goals for a month first, then set goals for the next three months, and so on, until you think you can plan for a year.  The idea is to set goals you can reach.  Write up your goals on a big poster chart and put it in a visible location, such as in the kitchen or dining room.  Have each family member take responsibility for various goals.  You know best what little ones are capable of doing.  Be sure to post updates regularly on the chart.  For example, put a star by your child’s name each week she learns to tie a new knot.  Use your imagination.  Be creative and have fun with this!

Spend a day visiting a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen.  You don’t have to volunteer.  For now, just see how it works and who they serve.  Many of the people you will meet who are having a rough time of it may have survival knowledge to share from their life’s experiences.

You may recall in a previous session we talked about doing without electronic gadgets for the day or the weekend.  Now take things a step further and expand on that idea.  Make a list of everyday things you could do without.  Think of things we take for granted.  Then spend a day doing without them for practice.  Do this several different times.  For example, go a day without running water.  Consider where you’d get water and how you can best use what little you would have access to.  Keep the car in the garage and walk, bike, or take the bus or cab if you need to go somewhere.  Again, use your imagination and do your best to be resourceful.  Get used to the idea of being deprived and making do.  Remember, this is preparation for survival.  One day we may be forced to do without a number of things we think we just have to have.

            Well, that’s it.  This is our last session of Family Survival School for now.  Oh, that’s not the end of the tips you’ll see here on John’s blog, you can be sure of that, so keep checking in to see what’s new.  There might be another Family Survival School session later, but it is the end of this series.

As I said in an earlier post, there won’t be any quiz.  Do you think you got a passing grade?  Well, you’ll know soon enough.  Life puts us all through enough tests, doesn’t it?  And the way things are going these days with things changing so fast, we all may be tested in ways we hadn’t thought of.  So, be ready.  Like the slogan at the top of this page says, “Survival—It’s about living!”

Click here for Part 6.

            With all the gloomy news about the uncertain status of Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae and the associated ripple effects, I found a book you can really use.  It’s Living Well On Practically Nothing, Revised and Updated Edition.

This 200 page illustrated soft cover book is for people who truly need to live on a lot less money.  If you have been fired, demoted, widowed, bankrupted, or swindled — or you just want to quit your job and remain financially self–reliant, this book is for you.  It’s filled with hundreds of tips, secrets, and necessary skills for living well on little money.  Chapters include: How to save up to $37,000 a year; How to live on $12,000 a year; Some ways to live on NO money at all; Fix things and make them last; Protect your investments and make them grow, and much more.  From cover to cover, this book is stocked with proven methods for saving money on essentials like shelter, food, clothing, transportation, entertainment, and health care.

            To order this updated edition of Living Well on Practically Nothing, click on the picture of the book below.  The Amazon.com page featuring the book will appear, and you can order from there.

You’d pay a financial counselor many times more than the price of this book, so get a couple copies—one for a friend or family member who needs it, and one for yourself for the time when you may need to drastically cut corners yourself.