37 Flowers That Attract Hummingbirds To Keep In Your Homestead

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Mutual Assistance Group Planning – Part 2, by Survivormann99

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)

Post-SHTF, a survival group will be dealing with issues that are certainly more important than occasional potholes. What happens if individuals within the group begin dragging their feet and refuse to help with group projects or refuse to spend time on security and common defense? From a pure expediency perspective, what can actually be done about people in a group who don’t help with projects or participate in security and defense efforts? Should a group sit idly by and allow a gang of marauders to loot the recalcitrant member’s home nestled in the center of the MAG? That simply won’t work.

It is likely that refugees will be coming from outside the community and that they will try to join. If so, what will the requirements be? Who will make the final determination of whether or not they will be allowed admission? If there are leaders who will be making these decisions, will these leaders be elected? Or will they simply be those individuals with “the most toys” and the greatest assets on which others depend?

If these leaders will be elected, who will determine the eligibility of members to vote? Will the electorate include the original resident property owners only? Will it include every adult living in the group? If so, will this include even the newest arrivals who brought only what their vehicles could carry, or perhaps only what they could carry on their backs? If factions begin to develop, what conflicts might arise between a flood of “newbies” and the original members?

After society has fallen apart, assume that wherever this survival group is located, among the group’s members their adult sons and daughters, or their brothers and sister who were living elsewhere, straggle in after a tortuous and dangerous journey from great distances. Are they automatically entitled to join the group? If the answer is, “Obviously, yes,” then what about their spouses and children? If the answer is, again, “Obviously, yes,” then what about their son-in-law or daughter-in-law’s parents, siblings, etc.? Where does it stop?

What would be happening with all of this would be a micro-level example of “chain migration,” an immigration issue that exists in our country today. For every immigrant admitted, seven more will try to immigrate because families “should be allowed to stay together.” The question becomes, “Who will feed them and with what assets? Their own? The group’s?

As a point of reference, see: Amazing Photographs of Prospectors Carrying Supplies Ascending the Chilkoot Pass.

As an example of the problem here with less than fully-prepared group members, and with new arrivals after the calamity has begun, take a look at those photographs. It shows a long line of miners during the Alaskan Gold Rush carrying huge packs while climbing a snow-covered mountain. These men were on the Chilkoot Trail that began in Skagway, Alaska. They were headed to the Klondike gold fields. Canadian Mounties waited…

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Problem pests and how to control them

Problem pests

Most of us like to keep our homes warm and cosy, so they’re comfy to live in. But it’s not just us humans that enjoy the comfort of our homes. There’s a whole range of pests that do too. Modern homes are lovely and warm and full of natural fibres and foodstuffs. This makes them the perfect habitat for pests. 

So, it’s more than likely you’ll need to deal with the odd insect or rodent from time to time. But what should we be aware of? What pests commonly invade homes and how to you stop them taking over? Let’s take a look at common problem pests and how you control them.

Fleas and bed bugs

Blood-sucking pests are not only unpleasant to have in your house but they can be very hard to spot. Plus, they’re often difficult to get rid of once they’ve made themselves at home. Two common blood-suckers are fleas and bed bugs.

You might think that fleas are only problematic if you own a cat or dog, but fleas have a sneaky habit of getting everywhere. A previous tenant could have brought them into your home, as eggs can lay dormant for some time. Or rodents may be bringing them in. But as fleas don’t lay eggs on animals but in gardens and on furnishings, you may get fleas without animals being present. But you’ll know when they are present, as they can be seen hopping around. And you’re likely to feel itchy or see bites on your limbs. 

If you do have pets, get them treated and keep their bedding clean. Be thorough with your vacuuming, paying close attention to carpets and sofa cushions. If you think it’s more than a rogue flea, you can buy powders and sprays to kill them or hire a pest control company to treat your home with insecticide.

Bed bugs are often thought of as a Victorian problem, but they’ve made a bit of a resurgence of late. This is largely down to our love of travel. As we move about, these bugs tend to hitchhike with us. As the name suggests, these critters hide in the crevices of your bed. However, they’re small and very hard to spot. The giveaway is usually the bites you’re left with. Bed bugs spread easily, so it’s very important to call out a pest control company to deal with them properly. 

Moths

Moths have long been wreaking havoc in our homes. They can destroy both clothes and carpets with ease. Carpet moths and clothes moths love natural fibres including wool. The moths lay their eggs in these fibres, giving the larvae something to chow down on when they hatch. 

You may see the moths flying around. Or they may be clinging to your curtains, hanging out between your clothes or hiding under the sofa. But the eggs and larvae are harder to spot. Usually the first sign of a problem is when you find holes in your carpets or clothes. There are chemical,…

Snakes Alive! Get To Know Common Farm Serpents

My son Jaeson and I were out a couple of mornings ago, doing the daily farm chores. While I checked and reset our live traps, Jaeson went to fill the chicken and duck waterers. Suddenly, I heard a startled “Oh!” Looking up, I saw Jaeson, waterer in hand, standing statue-still and staring at the ground. 

“What is it?” I called out.

“There’s a snake here,” he told me.

“Is it a garter snake?” I asked, assuming it was one of the little yard snakes common to our farm. 

Jaeson didn’t take his gaze off the ground. “Noooooo … it’s a big fat snake and it’s reared its head up at me and is really mad.”

I immediately stopped what I was doing and dashed across the grass to the run fence and peeked in. Sure enough, a dark snake with a white underbelly was reared up, cobra style, about half a foot off the ground, continually flicking its tongue at Jaeson, who stood perhaps three feet away.

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“I didn’t even see it was a snake,” Jaeson told me. “I thought someone had left the garden hose in here.” 

I walked down the fence line to come even with the snake and gasped. It was at least another two feet longer, thicker than a garden hose, and its tail was upright and vibrating swiftly back and forth in a blur. Rattler, I thought. The coloration didn’t match our state’s sole rattlesnake, the shy Massasauga, but that tail convinced me Jaeson was in peril.

I had him slowly back away. The snake remained in its defensive posture. 

Once he was clear, we discussed our immediate options. With the snake just two feet from the coop’s pop door, we decided against releasing the birds, since we’d have to approach the angry serpent.

We decided to save this coop for the last/ I stood guard and watched the snake while Jaeson dealt with the other henhouses. Just as he returned, the snake took off at incredible speed, heading for the front of the run.

We dashed out of the way and lost total track of where he went, which resulted in us standing still and craning our necks every which way for a few minutes until Jaeson spotted him … under the duck shelter where the feed bowl was. 

Of course.

Jaeson let the ducks out, and fortunately they headed straight for their pool. This gave us the opportunity to fill their waterer and put it back in place. Our slithery friend, however, was not moving from the shade of the shelter.

Using a spare fence post, I retrieved the food bowl, which Jaeson filled. “Now what?” he asked. The ducks weren’t particularly smart. They wouldn’t know to look for their food in another part of the run. In addition, we were expecting rain and didn’t want the food to get ruined by the expected precipitation.

I finally made the decision to put the bowl back…

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17 Elderflower Liqueur Recipes And Cocktails For Spring And Summer

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How to Start Homesteading on a Budget

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How to Start Prepping on a Budget: Become a Prepper With No Money

Prepping Budget How to make every Dollar count

You can’t put a price on the security of your family… but you can put a price on all of the prepping supplies you need to get secure!

Getting started with prepping can seem expensive. And I’m not going to lie; you will have to shell out some cash to prepare for disasters.

But there is no reason that prepping has to be expensive.

Here’s how to prep on a budget so every dollar counts.

Start with a Prepping List

Don’t buy any prepping supplies or gear until you’ve made a complete list of everything you need. Otherwise, you will buy duplicates of some items (like that prepper I know with 10 lbs of dried tomatoes but no grains) and missing important items.

All of the prepping supplies can be broken down into categories:

Break Your List Down by Priority

Now that you’ve got your prepping supplies list, you must identify the core items you need. Identify the things you need for your Bug Out Bag (see a list here).

These are the items you should get ASAP. Then work your way up to a 30 day supply. You can then focus on long-term prepper supplies, like food buckets.

Set Your Prepping Budget

If you want to make every single dollar count to the maximum, you’ve got to set a prepping budget.

You might think, “But I don’t have a prepping budget!” EVERYONE has a prepping budget.

If you have no money to spend, your prepping budget is zero. Zero is still a budget (yes, you can still prep with zero dollars to spare).

  • If you have a sizeable prepping budget: Resist the urge to rush out and buy a lot of fancy gear and pricy security systems. Identify the core items you need and get these first. Do your research and invest in quality.
  • If you have a small prepping budget: Divide your list into expensive and cheap items. Buy some cheap items every week. Set aside a certain amount of money each week to buy pricier items.
  • If you have zero in your prepping budget: Learn how to make your own supplies from cheap and recycled items. Read more about DIY survival projects.

Tips for Stretching Your Prepping Budget

Again, I need to emphasize that the most important thing you can do when prepping on a budget is prep with a plan. 

If you don’t have a plan of what items to buy, you will spend too much money on certain items or waste money when you throw things away.

Here are some tips for how to prep on a budget.

Rotate Your Stockpile

Let’s say you’ve built up a year’s supply of non-perishable foods like canned soups and pasta. Well, even “non-perishable” foods go bad!

Throwing away food is the same as throwing away money!

Once you surpass the 30 day food stockpile, you will need to develop a…

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Ways To Make Money While Homesteading | Homesteading Simple Self Sufficient Off-The-Grid

7&&void 0!==arguments[7]?arguments[7]:window,c=this;this.name=e,this.funcName=i,this.parameters=null===n?null:p(n)?n:[n],this.isBlock=o,this.blockedBy=s,this.deleteWhenComplete=r,this.isError=!1,this.isComplete=!1,this.isInitialized=!1,this.proceedIfError=a,this.fWindow=l,this.isTimeDelay=!1,this.process=function(){f(“… func = “+e),c.isInitialized=!0,c.isComplete=!0,f(“… func.apply: “+e);var i=c.funcName.split(“.”),n=null,o=this.fWindow||window;i.length>3||(n=3===i.length?o[i[0]][i[1]][i[2]]:2===i.length?o[i[0]][i[1]]:o[c.funcName]),null!=n&&n.apply(null,this.parameters),!0===c.deleteWhenComplete&&delete t[e],!0===c.isBlock&&(f(“—– F’D: “+c.name),u())}},l=function(e,i,t,n,o,s,r){var a=arguments.length>7&&void 0!==arguments[7]?arguments[7]:window,l=this;this.name=e,this.path=i,this.async=o,this.defer=s,this.isBlock=t,this.blockedBy=n,this.isInitialized=!1,this.isError=!1,this.isComplete=!1,this.proceedIfError=r,this.fWindow=a,this.isTimeDelay=!1,this.isPath=function(e){return”/”===e[0]&&”/”!==e[1]},this.getSrc=function(e){return void 0!==window.__ezScriptHost&&this.isPath(e)?window.__ezScriptHost+e:e},this.process=function(){l.isInitialized=!0,f(“… file = “+e);var i=this.fWindow?this.fWindow.document:document,t=i.createElement(“script”);t.src=this.getSrc(this.path),!0===o?t.async=!0:!0===s&&(t.defer=!0),t.onerror=function(){f(“—– ERR’D: “+l.name),l.isError=!0,!0===l.isBlock&&u()},t.onreadystatechange=t.onload=function(){var e=t.readyState;f(“—– F’D: “+l.name),e&&!/loaded|complete/.test(e)||(l.isComplete=!0,!0===l.isBlock&&u())},i.getElementsByTagName(“head”)[0].appendChild(t)}},c=function(e,i){this.name=e,this.path=””,this.async=!1,this.defer=!1,this.isBlock=!1,this.blockedBy=[],this.isInitialized=!0,this.isError=!1,this.isComplete=i,this.proceedIfError=!1,this.isTimeDelay=!1,this.process=function(){}};function d(e){!0!==h(e)&&0!=r&&e.process()}function h(e){if(!0===e.isTimeDelay&&!1===n)return f(e.name+” blocked = TIME DELAY!”),!0;if(p(e.blockedBy))for(var i=0;i200||(f(“let’s go”),m(o),m(s))}function m(e){for(var i in e)if(!1!==e.hasOwnProperty(i)){var t=e[i];!0===t.isComplete||h(t)||!0===t.isInitialized||!0===t.isError?!0===t.isError?f(t.name+”: error”):!0===t.isComplete?f(t.name+”: complete already”):!0===t.isInitialized&&f(t.name+”: initialized already”):t.process()}}function p(e){return”[object Array]”==Object.prototype.toString.call(e)}return window.addEventListener(“load”,(function(){setTimeout((function(){n=!0,f(“TDELAY —–“),u()}),5e3)}),!1),{addFile:function(e,i,n,r,a,c,h,f,u){var m=new l(e,i,n,r,a,c,h,u);!0===f?o[e]=m:s[e]=m,t[e]=m,d(m)},addDelayFile:function(e,i){var n=new l(e,i,!1,[],!1,!1,!0);n.isTimeDelay=!0,f(e+” … FILE! TDELAY”),s[e]=n,t[e]=n,d(n)},addFunc:function(e,n,r,l,c,h,f,u,m,p){!0===h&&(e=e+”_”+i++);var y=new a(e,n,r,l,c,f,u,p);!0===m?o[e]=y:s[e]=y,t[e]=y,d(y)},addDelayFunc:function(e,i,n){var o=new a(e,i,n,!1,[],!0,!0);o.isTimeDelay=!0,f(e+” … FUNCTION! TDELAY”),s[e]=o,t[e]=o,d(o)},items:t,processAll:u,setallowLoad:function(e){r=e},markLoaded:function(e){if(e&&0!==e.length){if(e in t){var i=t[e];!0===i.isComplete?f(i.name+” “+e+”: error loaded duplicate”):(i.isComplete=!0,i.isInitialized=!0)}else t[e]=new c(e,!0);f(“markLoaded dummyfile: “+t[e].name)}},logWhatsBlocked:function(){for(var e in t)!1!==t.hasOwnProperty(e)&&h(t[e])}}}();__ez.evt.add=function(e,t,n){e.addEventListener?e.addEventListener(t,n,!1):e.attachEvent?e.attachEvent(“on”+t,n):e[“on”+t]=n()},__ez.evt.remove=function(e,t,n){e.removeEventListener?e.removeEventListener(t,n,!1):e.detachEvent?e.detachEvent(“on”+t,n):delete e[“on”+t]};__ez.script.add=function(e){var t=document.createElement(“script”);t.src=e,t.async=!0,t.type=”text/javascript”,document.getElementsByTagName(“head”)[0].appendChild(t)};__ez.dot={};!function(){var e;__ez.vep=(e=[],{Add:function(i,t){__ez.dot.isDefined(i)&&__ez.dot.isValid(t)&&e.push({type:”video”,video_impression_id:i,domain_id:__ez.dot.getDID(),t_epoch:__ez.dot.getEpoch(0),data:__ez.dot.dataToStr(t)})},Fire:function(){if(void 0===document.visibilityState||”prerender”!==document.visibilityState){if(__ez.dot.isDefined(e)&&e.length>0)for(;e.length>0;){var i=5;i>e.length&&(i=e.length);var t=e.splice(0,i),o=__ez.dot.getURL(“/detroitchicago/grapefruit.gif”)+”?orig=”+(!0===__ez.template.isOrig?1:0)+”&v=”+btoa(JSON.stringify(t));__ez.dot.Fire(o)}e=[]}}})}();]]> [] Ways To Make Money While Homesteading | Homesteading Simple Self Sufficient Off-The-Grid | Homesteading.com tallest) { tallest = thisHeight; } }); group.height(tallest); } equalHeight($(“.dg-grid-shortcode .dg_grid-shortcode-col”)); $(window).resize(function() { equalHeight($(“.dg-grid-shortcode .dg_grid-shortcode-col”)); }); }); ]]>

What Foods Can Be Canned in a Water Bath?

Most people understand that not all foods can be processed using the water bath method, but many don’t know exactly which foods can be preserved this way. While water bath canning can only be used to preserve highly acidic or acidulated foods, its abilities extend far beyond simple jams and jellies.

Low-acid foods are not acidic enough to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria, so foods that are processed using a water bath must have a pH level of 4.6 or lower. There are occasions where adding citric acid, lemon juice, or vinegar is necessary to facilitate this process.  

If you’re new to canning, review our full instructional guide to learn more about water bath canning. Otherwise, try adding some of these home-canned foods to your food storage. 

1. Conserves

Conserves usually include two or more fruits and frequently contain raisins and/or nuts. Examples include peach-pineapple-orange conserves or fig conserves with walnuts. They have a thick, chunky texture and are traditionally eaten with meats and cheeses. 

2. Fruit Butters

Fruit butters are made from fruit pulp and are cooked down slowly with sugar until thickened to a spreadable consistency. Fruit butters normally contain less sugar than other preserves and often include the addition of herbs and spices for added flavor.

3. Jams

Jam is made from crushed or chopped fruits and sugar that are cooked to a smooth consistency. Some jams have enough natural pectin, but others require the addition of acid or pectin. Berries usually make the best jams.

4. Jellies

Jellies are made by cooking fruits and extracting their juices. These fruit juices are then mixed with the perfect proportions of sugar, pectin, or acid to give them a firm shape. When jelly is cut, it quivers but holds its shape. 

5. Marmalades

Marmalades are typically made with citrus fruits and usually contain soft, thin pieces of fruit or citrus peel evenly suspended in a transparent jelly. It’s most often eaten with breakfast breads like toast, biscuits, or scones.  

6. Preserves

Similar to jams, preserves are made with large or whole pieces of fruit and are cooked in such a way that the fruit retains its texture and shape. Usually, a bright, translucent syrup surrounds the fruit, giving it a good consistency for spreading. 

7. Fresh Fruits

Wild blackberry bushWild blackberry bush

Fresh fruits can be raw packed or hot packed and then submerged in hot syrup. Some fruits need to be treated to prevent darkening. This can be done with a solution of one gallon of water mixed with two tablespoons each of salt and vinegar, or a commercial ascorbic acid. 

Sugar is not necessary when canning whole fruits, but it does improve the appearance and flavor and keeps your fruit firm. Recipes for light, medium, and heavy syrups are readily available and easy to find. 

These are the most common fruits used in…

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The Surprising Benefits Of A Clean Home | Homesteading Simple Self Sufficient Off-The-Grid

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