Survival Forum SHTF Survivalist Blog

Raised bed cucumbers squash and lettuce

Kevin — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:45:43 +0000

Example of a raised bed garden with cucumbers, squash, lettuce, squash and zucchini. I would like to thank Awakeaware1016 over at the forum for post posting this video and thread. My suggestions The green onions, lettuce and cucumbers are ok to plant together - all of them have a high nitrogen requirement. Looks like you will run out of room with the squash. Allow at least 2 - 3 feet on each side of the squash plants for growth. With the right soil and fertilizer, those squash plants are going to get pretty big. Squash needs a well balanced fertilizer, such as 13-13-13. The raised bed is nice. What I suggest, next year build a raised bed based on fertilizer requirements. Lettuce, onions and cucumbers go in one bed - all of them can use high nitrogen fertilizer, such as 21-0-0 or something like 16-6-12. Tomatoes, squash and zucchini would go in the second bed - all of them use a balanced fertilizer, such as a slow release mature and something like 13-13-13. Just about anything with large leafs is going to need more nitrogen then say tomatoes. Keep this in mind when you plant your garden, lets take 13-13-13 as an example. first 13 - nitrogen, promotes stalk and leaf production, such as corn, greens and spinach second 13 - phosphate, promotes root production, such as potatoes third 13 - potash, promotes pod production, such as peas, beans, squash. Cucumbers require nitrogen to prevent them from getting a pointy end. Looks like your project is off to a good start and keep up the good work. Post your comments in this forum thread - My victory garden and first YouTube video 2012

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The government should subsidize daycare

Kevin — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:30:43 +0000

If the government truly wanted to help the middle class, why not subsidize daycare? I know families that are forced to make a decision, the mom stay at home with the children, or pay just about everything she makes to daycare. My step daughter was working for a local doctors office. When she added everything up, just about every penny she made was going to daycare. What incentive do people in that situation have to stay in the work force? I hate to say this, but when the mother stops working, their income level drops so that the family could draw food stamps. With 2 children, my step daughter was right at the border of drawing food stamps. Should the government subsidize daycare and let people work, or subsidize food stamps and let people stay home?

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Beware the conspiracy theory trap

Kevin — Wed, 16 May 2012 02:16:36 +0000

Conspiracy theories are like a disease, once they a foothold, they spread like wildfire. Unlike a virus, people have a choice whether they want to be infected with a conspiracy theory. In the 1990s conspiracy theories spread like wildfire. But the gubberment supplied plenty of fuel for those fires. We had NAFTA, GATT, Waco an Ruby Ridge to help fan the flames of conspiracy theories. When bill clinton did a flip flop on NAFTA, a lot of people saw that as a sign that big business had bought the U.S. government. Here we are 18 years after NAFTA was signed, and not much has changed. Big business still owns the U.S. government, the banks still get bailed out and wall street still gets bailed out from time to time. As long as the 2 major parties stay in control, nothing is ever going to change, so there is no use in worrying about it. Do not spend time worrying about things you can not change. You can not change the way people vote, so there is no use in hoping for real change. Has anything in government changed in the past 20+ years? We still have free trade, china still has favored trade status, we still have millions of illegal immigrants, we still anchor babies, drugs are still a problem. What has government done in the past 25 years that was different then in the past 50 years? In the 1950s, 60s, 70s and early 1980s we were fighting the communist. In the 1990s, 2000s and now the 2010s we are fighting terrorist.

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I want the 1980s back

Kevin — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:18:35 +0000

Screw the 2000s and the 2010s, I want the 1980s back. In the 1980s we had real music, the women were skinny, people could afford to buy a home, and life seemed good. It seems that ever since George Bush jr took office and the 9/11 attacks, things started going downhill. Comparing the 1980s to 2012, I have to ask myself, what the hell happened? Banks are pushing flexible mortgage rates, then jacking the rates up so high that people can not afford to buy a home. The U.S. has entered into another Vietnam conflict. Here we are 11 years after the attacks on the Twin towers in 2001, and we still have troops in the middle east. On top of this decade long war, we are looking at attacking Iran? What the hell is going on here? Can't we just have peace? There was once a time when people were afraid to attack the U.S. These days, it seems everyone is ready to take a pot shot at us. We need a real president, a president with some balls to get the job done. I want the 1980s back, when men were men, women were women and terrorist were afraid to come out of their holes.

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Chicken coop update May 14 2012

Kevin — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:42:06 +0000

As part of our long term preps, my wife and I decided to get some chickens and build a chicken coop. We bought our first chicks on February 25. Over the next week and a half we ended up with 13 chicks. Instead of trying to stockpile #10 cans of freeze dried eggs, why not have a supply of fresh eggs? Nutrition wise, fresh eggs are a lot better then freeze dried eggs loaded with sodium. On the weekend of March 17 the first half of the chicken coop was built. On the weekend of April 7 the second half of the chicken coop was built. The chickens are starting to get cramped in their coop and area below the coop, so its time to build a run. The run will provide a the chickens with room to get our from under the coop. Bill of material

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Survivalism as a Lifestyle

Kevin — Sun, 13 May 2012 02:43:17 +0000

Being a survivalist means that survivalism is incorporated in every facet of my life. Whether its hunting, camping, gardening, cooking,,,, I try to relate how those activities would tie in with a long term SHTF / TEOTWAWKI survival situation. On the other hand, how do I know survivalism is not just some type of obsessive compulsive disorder? If you obsess over something, is it some kind of disorder or mental illness? Are people that obsess over making money mentally ill? Are people that obsess over their car mentally ill? Are people that obsess over work mentally ill? Lets take that work example and talk about it for a minute. If being obsessed with work is a sign of mental illness, then most of the U.S. population has sick mind. Well, everyone besides the welfare parasites that is. From the time the U.S. was founded, generation after generation has worked its fingers to the bone. Workers built the rail roads, they built the cities, they built the steel mills, they built the ships, and all with a type of self gratification that they were "working" and providing for their families. Ever hear the term "workaholic"? These are the people that would rather spend time at work then with their families, these are the people that have committed their lives to working, these are the people how have committed their lives to something besides themselves.

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Human innovation after a collapse

Kevin — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:49:56 +0000

If there is something about humans that has ensured the survival of the human race, it has to be our level of creativity and our level of innovation. If a man (or woman) has an axe, they can cut trees to build a home. that axe allows them to clear land for crops or livestock which will help ensure a steady supply of food. If a man has a pole line and hook, they will catch fish. Give a man some seeds and he will grow a garden. What makes today so much different then 1348 For those of you that do not know what happened in 1348, that is when the Black Death (bubonic plague) entered Europe. Possibly as many as 1/3 of the entire population of Europe died between 1348 - 1350. Humans have harnessed science. Not that we fully understand science, but at least we have some kind of working grasp. We have vaccines, antibiotics, medical care, hospitals and trained medical professionals. One thing that has not changed, is human greed. When the Swine Flu was first reported in Mexico, the president of the U.S. refused to close the borders. Closing the borders would cost companies too much money. When a new disease develops, we can expect the government and big business to put profits ahead of public safety. Human greed knows no limits.

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The value of hard work

Kevin — Thu, 10 May 2012 02:32:24 +0000

Over the past few months I have been harping on thieves and welfare leaches. Maybe its time for a change of pace? Maybe we should talk about the value of hard work. One thing is for sure, neither welfare parasites and thieves understand what its like to do a hard days work. If are drawing social benefits because you faked a disability, or are too lazy to work, you need to click off this site because this article is going to be over your head. Describing hard work to a welfare parasite, is like describing what its like to be a brick to a twinkie. A work crew says "we are going to build a way with bricks". Mud says "do what? You are going to build a wall with what? There is no way I can build that wall." Thats right mud, you are not going to build a wall. Well, you can build an adobe wall out of mud bricks. but building an adobe wall takes a lot of work. As we all know, welfare parasites do not like to work. Workers = bricks Mud = welfare parasites* *Not that mud is really a welfare parasites. Mud stinks, its running, and it can be nasty; kinda like what welfare leeches are like. Back to the story.

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How things can change over time

Kevin — Tue, 08 May 2012 23:29:37 +0000

There was once a time when we had to get up from our chair, or off the couch, walk over to the TV and turn the channel knob by hand. If you were lucky, the antenna picked up 4 or 5 channels. For most people, we only had 3 channels to choose from. Today, we have satellite provided TV with hundreds of channels. There was once a time if you wanted something to eat, you had to cook it. No microwaves, no TV dinners, now 3 minute meals. If you wanted chicken, you went into the chicken yard, got a chicken, whacked its head off with a hatchet, plucked, cleaned and then cooked the chicken. Over the past 40 years, what has happened to our society Men are no longer men. If we talk about manly things, we are told we are not sensitive enough. Women are no longer women. Whatever happened to women keeping themselves slim and trim, so that she stayed attractive to her husband? Whatever happened to women breastfeeding the new baby. What has happened to our society that we can not send the kids do the street to play without adult supervision. Barely a day goes by that news does not talk about a child being kidnapped, raped and murdered. What is wrong with people these days?

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How to build a window for a chicken coop

Kevin — Tue, 08 May 2012 01:44:42 +0000

When I first started looking at building my chicken coop, the first thing I did was go out on the net and look for pictures. There are all kinds of examples out there, but I needed to go cheap. Cheap as in building the window out of scrap material. I see no reason to buy a window, when one can be made from left over scraps from building the coop. Besides ventilation, the screened in vent windows allow the chickens to be viewed without opening the doors. At ni time, if you want to check on the chickens, walk up to the coop, look in through the screened in windows to check on the chickens. In the following article I will try to describe how to install a screened in window for a chicken coop. If some steps are left out, I apologize. But hopefully this article can give you the general idea.

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