When the term “Urban Survival” is discussed, thoughts of MREs stacked to the ceiling, closets filled with cases of bottled water, tons of dried beans and rice piled up in every corner of the house – those kinds of thoughts come to mind. The fact is, there is more to urban survival then just stockpiling food and water. There are several factors that should be considered, such as food production, water, money, disease and infection control.
A small home garden can produce a lot of food. When people get into gardening, they often have so much food they are having to give it away. Home gardens can supply a typical family with a food source if a disaster were to strike.
Most urbanites depend on city water as their only source of fresh water. This is also a weakness in the plans of a survivalist. Alternative water sources should be found and plans should be in place on how to use those sources of water. Examples of this include – lakes, streams, ponds, swimming pools, rain collection, rain water run off, ditches, canals,,,, only to name a few. If water from these sources is to be used, there most be a plan in place on how to purify the water to make it safe for human consumption. It does no good to drink the water, only for it to be full of bacteria and viruses.
The depression is just around the corner, are you and your family ready? The news reporters are trying not to use the word “depression”, probably out of fear of the panic that will follow.
The banking system, along with the US State and Federal governments have been the number one cause of this problem.
The banks started writing flexible mortgage rate loans – knowing that people would not be able to pay the notes. But for some reason the people just played along with the scams. Untold millions of families have lost their homes and driven into bankruptcy because of the greed of bankers. The blame can not be placed solely on the bankers – the people HAVE to take part of the blame.
The State and Federal government have allowed millions of US jobs to be shipped over seas. This is only at the benefit of the companies that are using cheap labor. Since millions of people are out of work, less money is spent, in turn less tax dollars are brought in.
There is nothing “free” about “free trade” – someone pays the price.
The State and Federal government has also continued to take care of millions of illegal immigrants. Untold millions of dollars are spent on the health and welfare of trespassers, when we can not even take care of our own.
A few weeks ago news was coming out of California that the sate was going to be hit with a money shortage. The first thing that came to mind was – “how much money could be saved by taking the illegals off the social services programs?” An illegal immigrant has no right to anything, expect to be arrested and sent back home.
Every 3 months Exxon reports record profits, and then the people wonder why gas and food is so expensive.
Human stupidity and greed have prevailed, and as a result, the depression is right around the corner.
Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) are an effective portable food solution. One meal is more then enough food for an average adult – who usually has some left overs. The outer pouch is tough and durable.
According to that article, 97% of Texas is in a drought. Some people might be saying “so what?” Well, there is a lot to be worried about. Texas is the 2nd largest agricultural state in the nation. Everything from beef to zucchini is grown in Texas. That means, if Texas has a bad drought, and crops fail, the price of food goes up nation wide – maybe even on a global scale.
With so many people out of work, high food prices is the one thing we do not need right now.
The concern should not only on on Texas, but other states and nations. If the crops from one state fails, the markets will have some degree of flexibility. But, if crops fail in several states, or, if the crops fail in several nations fail across the world, things could get bad.
This is the kind of stuff that can cause panic buying. Whether there is actually a food shortage or not, really does not really matter. There will be people out there that go into a buying frenzy at the slightest mention of “shortage”. The panic buying, coupled with a slight food shortage can equal a moderate to large major food shortage.
If your concerned about the future price of food, consider planting a home garden.
On a personal note, I am not too worried about the food supply, I am more worried about the panic buying like what happened in the summer of 2008. Some large discount stores had to limit the amount of beans and rice that people could buy. Mainly because of people buying 100 – 200 pounds of rice at a time. There was a small shortage that turned into a moderate shortage and nation wide panic – partially due to crop failure and partially due to panic buying on a massive scale.
While driving around East Texas, it looks like more fields are being plowed this year, as compared to 2008. Hopefully more families will be planting a garden this year.
From the time a child starts school they are trained in civil obedience. The teachers tell the children to “sit down and shut up!” – “No Talking!” – “This is the way it is” – “Do not question authority”,,, and the list goes on and on. This is also true with political education.
Instead of teaching “real government”, schools teach the children that there is a 2 party political system. That the children must vote for one of the two major parties.
When the children are trained from an early age to “obey” – something is wrong.
Independent thought is discouraged and frowned upon.
Children are taught to “obey” and not question authority.
There is several words that describe blind obedience, – brain washing and slavery are the first two that come to mind.
So, you teachers out there, why dont you “teach” our children. Teach them to “think” instead of to “obey”.
If this nation wants real political change its going to require 2 things:
1. Real freedom of the press
2. An educated voting populace.
Children that are taught to “sit down, shut up and obey” can not think for themselves when they grow up. If people can not think for themselves, they turn into Obama Zombies.
Survivalism can be defined as utilizing available resources to achieve a desired goal. Whether this is a lake, pond, garden, hunting, fishing or anything else – the goal is to get through a situation with the least amount of effort.
Resources such as lakes and ponds can be a good source of water and food. Its important that a survivalist have knowledge of “where” these resources are at before a disaster strikes.
These days people are not only worried about this house note, or their electric bill, they are also worried about something much more basic – and that is food. There is hardly anything that grieves a mothers heart more, then to open a kitchen cabinet, and it be empty.
An economic report from February 2009 said that around 700,000 – 800,000 people lost their jobs in that one month. Less people have jobs, so less bills get paid. But the one thing that must be bought is food. But what if someone told you that you do not have to buy food? That you can grow your own.
Its true. Regardless of what people have been told for the past 30, 40 or 50 years, food does not come from a grocery store – it comes from the ground. At first I did not believe it. I honestly thought that the grocery stores used some kind of magic to make the food appear out of thin air.
We have been enslaved to the grocery store for decades. People have paid others to do their work for them. Its time to break those chains.
Three weeks after the power has gone out, and all of the batteries are dead, survivalist will be glad that they invested into some kind of hand crack flashlight – also called a dynamo powered flashlight. Whether its a type of lantern, or flashlight, it does not matter, these things are good to have around.
Hand crank lantern
The basic principle of a hand crank lantern is that it does not need batteries. Even though these devices say they do not “require batteries”, they have a couple of AA rechargeable batteries to store the charge. A few cranks of the handle is enough to charge the batteries for for several minutes of light.
Some of these flashlights / lanterns have a built in radio. However, with the radio on, the batteries can go dead rather quickly. Most of these types of combo units (lanterns with built in radios) have very limited range and may not be able to pick up even near by radio stations. So do not consider these as a primary radio.
Watch the people on the street – watch them, and see how many cover their mouth when they cough. The simple act of putting your hand, tissue or a cloth over your mouth when coughing can help prevent the spread of certain diseases.
Examples:
Whooping Cough
The Flu
Tuberculosis
During an evacuation, and large groups of people are living in a shelter, communicable diseases can spread quickly. It is important that every person do their part to ensure the health and safety of those around them. One person that is staying in a shelter, and has Tuberculosis, has the potential of infecting dozens and maybe even hundreds of other people. After the shelter is closed and those people return home, they also bring their new infection with them, thus helping to spread the disease.
As the local stores get their garden seeds in, its time to take an inventory as to what is need, what is not needed and what needs to be replaced. Seed stocks should include the types of food that the family will eat. And, most important, the types of seeds that will grow in a certain geographical area.
The bags that the seeds are stored in should be marked with the type of seed and the date when the seeds were bought. The date is very important so that the seed stocks can be rotated out every 2 – 3 years.
Examples of different types of seeds and plants:
Potatoes – are usually planted from cuttings from a mature potato. When the “eyes” start to sprout on the potato, take a knife, cut a good section of the potato off (along with the eye). Types of potatoes like red skin or Irish are high producers.
Squash and Zucchini – are both members of the melon family. Are disease and pest resistant, high producers, can be eaten raw and are full of nutrients. Use a balanced fertilizer, such as 13-13-13.
If the seeds are to be saved from the Squash and Zucchini plants, keep the two species planted separate and away from each other. Bees can cross pollinate between Squash and Zucchini plants, meaning the harvested seeds have a good chance of being a hybrid. The harvested seeds might produce, but the seeds from those plants might be sterile. If place is limited, and there is a certain chance of cross pollination, do not plant the Squash and Zucchini at the same time. But instead, plant Squash on season, and Zucchini the next season.
Squash and Zucchini leaves have little “hairs” on them. This makes the leaves unpleasant for animals (such as deer) that try to eat them.
Radishes – Are fast growers, usually only taking 30 days to mature from the time the seed is planted. The entire Radish can be eaten. The tops can be eaten like a salad, the root ball can be eaten raw or boiled. Use a balanced fertilizer, such as 13-13-13. The seeds are usually very small, so they do not take up very much room. Radishes should be considered the friend of every survivalist.
