I came across this quote in the February Ensign by Elder George Q. Cannon:
"The Saints should always remember that God sees not as man sees; that he does not willingly afflict his children, and that if he requires them to endure present privation and trial, it is that they may escape greater tribulations which would otherwise inevitably overtake them. If He deprives them of any present blessing, it is that he may bestow upon them greater and more glorious ones by-and-by."
Remember that when you may be feeling deprived now of a blessing or ease, it's that Heavenly Father has something much better for you in store. What comfort that brings to me today. I hope it does the same for you.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Honey Supplies
I found these three sites that offer honey.
Southfork Vineyard is located south of Ogallala. I haven't been able to find out if they sell honey in bulk.
Republican Valley Apiaries is located southeast of Grand Island. The gentleman I talked to said he has 5lb jars of honey for sale for 10.00. The drums would be available in August-September. To ship the jars would not be too costly, but to ship the drums would be.
Beeyond the Hive is located in Ft. Collins, Co. They ship 5 lb. bottles in cases of 6, and they have some some as well.
Southfork Vineyard is located south of Ogallala. I haven't been able to find out if they sell honey in bulk.
Republican Valley Apiaries is located southeast of Grand Island. The gentleman I talked to said he has 5lb jars of honey for sale for 10.00. The drums would be available in August-September. To ship the jars would not be too costly, but to ship the drums would be.
Beeyond the Hive is located in Ft. Collins, Co. They ship 5 lb. bottles in cases of 6, and they have some some as well.
Honey's Medicinal Value
Honey has been around for centuries. While we might normally think of honey as a sweetener for food, it also has some medicinal purposes as well.
Medicinal Value of Honey
Arthritis
Slow massage of honey paste made of one part of honey with two parts of lukewarm water and a
small teaspoon of cinnamon powder, on the affected area of the body, recedes the pain within a
minute or two.
Even chronic arthritis can be cured by consumption of one cup of hot water with two spoons of
honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder by arthritis patients in the morning and night
everyday.
Hair loss
Those suffering from hair loss or baldness, may apply a paste of hot olive oil, one tablespoon of
honey, one teaspoon of cinnamon powder before bath and keep it for approx. 15 min. and then wash
the hair.
Bladder infections
Drinking two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm
water destroys the germs of the bladder.
Toothache
Application of a paste of one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey on the
aching tooth be done 3 times a day cures the toothache within a few days.
Cholesterol
Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, if given to a cholesterol patient, reduces the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10% within 2
hours.If this mixture taken 3 times a day any chronic cholesterol is cured. Pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.
Colds
Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4
teaspoon cinnamon powder daily for 3 days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold and
clear the sinuses.
Infertility
Yunani and Ayurvedic have been using honey for years in medicine to strengthen the semen of men.
If impotent men regularly take two tablespoon of honey before sleeping, their problem will be
solved. Women who cannot conceive may take a pinch of cinnamon powder in half teaspoon of honey and apply it on the gums frequently throughout the day, so that it slowly mixes with the saliva and enters the body.
Upset stomach
Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and clears stomach ulcers from the root. It
is revealed that if honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.
Heart diseases
A paste of honey and cinnamon powder applied on bread or chapati instead of jelly and jam and
eaten regularly for breakfast reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heartbeat.
Immune system
Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body
from bacteria and viral attacks.
Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of
honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral diseases.
Indigestion
Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves acidity and
digests the heaviest of meals.
Longevity
Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly arrests the ravages of old age.
Mixture of 4 spoons of honey, 1 spoon of cinnamon powder and 3 cups of water and boil to make
like tea when drunk 1/4 cup, 3 to 4 times a day keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age.
Pimples
Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste applied on the pimples
before sleeping and washing it next morning with warm water, if done daily for two weeks, removes
pimples from the root.
Skin Infections
Eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections are cured by applying honey and cinnamon powder
in equal parts on the affected parts.
Weight loss
Honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one-cup water if taken daily, in the morning 1/2 hour before
breakfast on an empty stomach and at night before sleeping, reduces the weight of even the most
obese person.
Cancer
Patients suffering from advanced cancer of stomach and bones should take, on a daily basis, one
tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month 3 times a day.
Fatigue
Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is very helpful and makes the person alert and flexible.
It also increases the vitality of body if half tablespoon of honey taken in one glass of water and
sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3.00 p.m.
when the vitality of the body starts decreasing.
Bad breath
The morning gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water keeps the
breath fresh throughout the day.
Digestive system
Honey is said to improve food assimilation and to be useful for chronic and infective intestinal
problems such as constipation, duodenal ulcers and liver disturbances.
Respiratory system
In temperate climates and places with considerable temperature fluctuations, honey is a well-known
remedy for colds and mouth, throat or bronchial irritations and infections. The benefits, apart from antibacterial effects, are assumed to relate to the soothing and relaxing effect of fructose.
Skin and wound healing
Honey is used in moisturizing and nourishing cosmetic creams, but also in pharmaceutical
preparations applied directly on open wounds and burns. If applied immediately, honey reduces
blistering of burns and speeds regeneration of new tissue
It helps against infections, promotes tissue regeneration, and reduces scarring also in its pure,
unprocessed form.
A cream, applied three times per day and prepared from equal parts of honey, rye flour and olive oil, has been successfully used on many sores and open wounds.
Eye disorders
Honey reduces and cures eye cataracts, cures conjunctivitis and various afflictions of the cornea if applied directly into the eye.
Medicinal Value of Honey
Arthritis
Slow massage of honey paste made of one part of honey with two parts of lukewarm water and a
small teaspoon of cinnamon powder, on the affected area of the body, recedes the pain within a
minute or two.
Even chronic arthritis can be cured by consumption of one cup of hot water with two spoons of
honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder by arthritis patients in the morning and night
everyday.
Hair loss
Those suffering from hair loss or baldness, may apply a paste of hot olive oil, one tablespoon of
honey, one teaspoon of cinnamon powder before bath and keep it for approx. 15 min. and then wash
the hair.
Bladder infections
Drinking two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm
water destroys the germs of the bladder.
Toothache
Application of a paste of one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey on the
aching tooth be done 3 times a day cures the toothache within a few days.
Cholesterol
Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, if given to a cholesterol patient, reduces the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10% within 2
hours.If this mixture taken 3 times a day any chronic cholesterol is cured. Pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.
Colds
Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4
teaspoon cinnamon powder daily for 3 days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold and
clear the sinuses.
Infertility
Yunani and Ayurvedic have been using honey for years in medicine to strengthen the semen of men.
If impotent men regularly take two tablespoon of honey before sleeping, their problem will be
solved. Women who cannot conceive may take a pinch of cinnamon powder in half teaspoon of honey and apply it on the gums frequently throughout the day, so that it slowly mixes with the saliva and enters the body.
Upset stomach
Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and clears stomach ulcers from the root. It
is revealed that if honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.
Heart diseases
A paste of honey and cinnamon powder applied on bread or chapati instead of jelly and jam and
eaten regularly for breakfast reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heartbeat.
Immune system
Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body
from bacteria and viral attacks.
Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of
honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral diseases.
Indigestion
Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves acidity and
digests the heaviest of meals.
Longevity
Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly arrests the ravages of old age.
Mixture of 4 spoons of honey, 1 spoon of cinnamon powder and 3 cups of water and boil to make
like tea when drunk 1/4 cup, 3 to 4 times a day keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age.
Pimples
Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste applied on the pimples
before sleeping and washing it next morning with warm water, if done daily for two weeks, removes
pimples from the root.
Skin Infections
Eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections are cured by applying honey and cinnamon powder
in equal parts on the affected parts.
Weight loss
Honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one-cup water if taken daily, in the morning 1/2 hour before
breakfast on an empty stomach and at night before sleeping, reduces the weight of even the most
obese person.
Cancer
Patients suffering from advanced cancer of stomach and bones should take, on a daily basis, one
tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month 3 times a day.
Fatigue
Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is very helpful and makes the person alert and flexible.
It also increases the vitality of body if half tablespoon of honey taken in one glass of water and
sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3.00 p.m.
when the vitality of the body starts decreasing.
Bad breath
The morning gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water keeps the
breath fresh throughout the day.
Digestive system
Honey is said to improve food assimilation and to be useful for chronic and infective intestinal
problems such as constipation, duodenal ulcers and liver disturbances.
Respiratory system
In temperate climates and places with considerable temperature fluctuations, honey is a well-known
remedy for colds and mouth, throat or bronchial irritations and infections. The benefits, apart from antibacterial effects, are assumed to relate to the soothing and relaxing effect of fructose.
Skin and wound healing
Honey is used in moisturizing and nourishing cosmetic creams, but also in pharmaceutical
preparations applied directly on open wounds and burns. If applied immediately, honey reduces
blistering of burns and speeds regeneration of new tissue
It helps against infections, promotes tissue regeneration, and reduces scarring also in its pure,
unprocessed form.
A cream, applied three times per day and prepared from equal parts of honey, rye flour and olive oil, has been successfully used on many sores and open wounds.
Eye disorders
Honey reduces and cures eye cataracts, cures conjunctivitis and various afflictions of the cornea if applied directly into the eye.
Sanitation: Toilet Paper and Waste Disposal
By Paula Kravfordt
If you have food to eat, you have a sanitation issue, from personal cleanliness to food preparation. This is the most critical area of concern especially if we were in a disaster type situation. If your family gets sick from poor cleanliness habits, it won’t matter how much food you have stored.
"After awhile, even gold can lose its luster. But there is no luxury in war quite like toilet paper. Its surplus value is greater than gold's." (Sorry I can’t find the author of this truism!" After the info I present to you, I think you will agree with this assessment!)
Toilet paper is a recent luxury, so what did all our ancestors use???
- corn cobs soaked in a rain barrel
- mussel shells
- a "gompf stick" that was kept in a container by the privy, but this was late period
- Irish and Scandinavian ancients used moss
- Romans washed up with water
- both linen and wool cloth scraps have been found in ancient privies, scraps from old clothing
- discarded locks of sheep's wool, which would make sense from skirting fleeces
- hay-balls
- straw
- smooth rocks
- sailors used the ends of frayed anchor ropes On Frontier House, they said settlers in the 1800's each used their own rag and washed it after.
A little about the corn cobs - Old privies had a hole in the side wall to dispose of the corn cob and this was called a "corn hole." Now you know where the expression ("corn holed") comes from. To prepare the cob, you take two dried corn cobs, and rub them together so as to make a nice soft frayed surface. Then you use it and dispose of the cob through the corn hole after wards. Those were plowed under since there was such a small percentage of offensive material in them.
When I was a little girl my grandmother lived in Mud Lake, Idaho. They didn’t get plumbing until the late 70's. They had an outhouse with the prior year volume of Sears Catalog. It was made at the time of the same paper that phone books are made of. The idea was to take a page and smash and rub it in your hands to soften it up. It was your choice how long you were in the potty to soften it up to your personal liking.
What do people use now who do not use TP?
The Europeans have had this down for a while, they are called Bidet's.
Others use a damp cloth, then wash the cloth. Use a diaper pail or something until a washing load is ready. By the way, half diapers are great - damper on end, wipe, and use the dry half to dry. (Make sure not to use those cloths to wash your face) Some cultures use their left hand, their right hand is for eating. Other’s use leaves, (be watchful for poison ivy!)
Reading about all of this has given me a greater appreciation of toilet paper! I don’t know how many people are going to be willing to share their TP!
How much Toilet Paper do I need to store?
It has been suggested that each person needs a roll per week. The best brand of TP I have found so far to be the best value is Scott. I try every week that I go shopping to buy a big package of it. It is bulky and cumbersome to store, but after the research I have done, that is ok!
Babies and Diapers
Since most people use disposable diapers, many do not have cloth diapers in storage. If disposables were not available, you would need cloth diapers, pins and plastic pants. You need to make note of how many diapers your baby goes through each day. You need at least 3 days worth of diapers. You also need to have 2-3 pairs of plastic pants per day and at least 4 sets of pins. I don’t like to mention store names, but Wal Mart is the only store that carries these things regularly.) You also need to make sure you have a rash cream for your baby, you need 20 oz for every year of age your child is that is in diapers.
Baby Wipe Recipe
1 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon lotion, 1 tablespoon baby wash. Mix well. Put soft paper towels that have been cut in half in air tight container and cover with liquid.
Waste Disposal (It shows how blessed we are that we really don’t know how to deal with this subject and turn our noses up at it.)
What would happen to our world if the toilets no longer flushed? Few things can spread disease faster, attract more flies, vermin and rodents than the improper storage of human waste. It has been speculated that some of the deadly diseases of the Middle Ages in Europe were spread mainly by the inadequate sewage systems of the time. Failure to properly dispose of human waste can lead to epidemics such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, nausea and diarrhea.
This is a very brief outline of these things.
So how do we deal with this waste?
Toilet - No running water: We could still use our potties if there weren’t any broken sewer lines. The water uses the gravity system. You would need to use grey water to flush the toilets. They would have to be flushed less often to save on water use.
Toilet - Can not flush: Place a one gallon bucket inside the empty toilet and a plastic bag inside the bucket. When the toilet is used, tie up the bag and dispose of. You will need to bury it, if garbage services are not available. Buckets - This is the easiest thing for an indoor waste disposal system if the toilets couldn’t be used. Put a heavy duty trash bag inside a 5 gallon bucket as a liner. You will need a bucket for urine and a bucket for excrement. After each use add a little dirt, kitty liter, or sawdust. When they are full pour out the urine in a location far from your water source. Use a shovel to dig a hole and bury the excrement. You can even add a comfortable toilet seat to the bucket. A family of four will fill this in about 4 days.
Portable Toilet - Portable toilets are available in the camping section of your local retail store and are miniature versions of a porta potty. They hold a reservoir of water that flushes the waste into a storage container. (Keep in mind you would have to empty this often. When we were at girls camp we had 40 people and we filled 2 full size porta potties in 4 days.)
The Outhouse - This is very efficient and low cost. Find a place away from your water source, dig a hole, place a protective covering around it, fit with a seat with a hole in it. and it is ready to go. This is one that you don’t have to worry about sanitation and moving waste from in the house. Make sure that everyone washes their hands after. (Also make sure the door has something on it: a leather strap split to go over a nail or whatever to keep little children from wandering in and falling in the hole.) (Lime can be used but must be used with caution to keep the smell down.)
What if I Run Out of TP - You can use a cake pan that has a sealed cover on it. Put several layers from magazines, newsppers, telephone books etc. Add a little water to the paper and seal it up. It softens the paper and moistens it just a bit so there isn't the irritation that too rough of paper can create.
Other ideas - duplicate what has been done in the past.
PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF DISEASE
It is vitally important to wash your hands after using the bathroom, particularly if there are water shortages. If you have to use outside facilities like an outhouse you might want to hang a water bag filled with water with bleach in it to rinse your hands after going potty.
Other suggested items to be stored in this are would be:
Antibacterial soaps
Baby wipes
Bar soap (Be sure to store the antibacterial bar soap)
Liquid soap with pump
The families who did our little experiment of going 72 hours without electricity and running water, learned a lot about this area. We all used our potties to flush but we used stored water to wash with.
The comments included:
We did not have enough water to properly wash our hands
We did not have the right kind of supplies to properly wash our hands
We did not have enough hand towels. We went through a lot more of the smaller towels than we do normally. I need to add more hand towels or plan to rip up my big ones which would lead to a shortage there.
We found we needed more rags.
If you have food to eat, you have a sanitation issue, from personal cleanliness to food preparation. This is the most critical area of concern especially if we were in a disaster type situation. If your family gets sick from poor cleanliness habits, it won’t matter how much food you have stored.
"After awhile, even gold can lose its luster. But there is no luxury in war quite like toilet paper. Its surplus value is greater than gold's." (Sorry I can’t find the author of this truism!" After the info I present to you, I think you will agree with this assessment!)
Toilet paper is a recent luxury, so what did all our ancestors use???
- corn cobs soaked in a rain barrel
- mussel shells
- a "gompf stick" that was kept in a container by the privy, but this was late period
- Irish and Scandinavian ancients used moss
- Romans washed up with water
- both linen and wool cloth scraps have been found in ancient privies, scraps from old clothing
- discarded locks of sheep's wool, which would make sense from skirting fleeces
- hay-balls
- straw
- smooth rocks
- sailors used the ends of frayed anchor ropes On Frontier House, they said settlers in the 1800's each used their own rag and washed it after.
A little about the corn cobs - Old privies had a hole in the side wall to dispose of the corn cob and this was called a "corn hole." Now you know where the expression ("corn holed") comes from. To prepare the cob, you take two dried corn cobs, and rub them together so as to make a nice soft frayed surface. Then you use it and dispose of the cob through the corn hole after wards. Those were plowed under since there was such a small percentage of offensive material in them.
When I was a little girl my grandmother lived in Mud Lake, Idaho. They didn’t get plumbing until the late 70's. They had an outhouse with the prior year volume of Sears Catalog. It was made at the time of the same paper that phone books are made of. The idea was to take a page and smash and rub it in your hands to soften it up. It was your choice how long you were in the potty to soften it up to your personal liking.
What do people use now who do not use TP?
The Europeans have had this down for a while, they are called Bidet's.
Others use a damp cloth, then wash the cloth. Use a diaper pail or something until a washing load is ready. By the way, half diapers are great - damper on end, wipe, and use the dry half to dry. (Make sure not to use those cloths to wash your face) Some cultures use their left hand, their right hand is for eating. Other’s use leaves, (be watchful for poison ivy!)
Reading about all of this has given me a greater appreciation of toilet paper! I don’t know how many people are going to be willing to share their TP!
How much Toilet Paper do I need to store?
It has been suggested that each person needs a roll per week. The best brand of TP I have found so far to be the best value is Scott. I try every week that I go shopping to buy a big package of it. It is bulky and cumbersome to store, but after the research I have done, that is ok!
Babies and Diapers
Since most people use disposable diapers, many do not have cloth diapers in storage. If disposables were not available, you would need cloth diapers, pins and plastic pants. You need to make note of how many diapers your baby goes through each day. You need at least 3 days worth of diapers. You also need to have 2-3 pairs of plastic pants per day and at least 4 sets of pins. I don’t like to mention store names, but Wal Mart is the only store that carries these things regularly.) You also need to make sure you have a rash cream for your baby, you need 20 oz for every year of age your child is that is in diapers.
Baby Wipe Recipe
1 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon lotion, 1 tablespoon baby wash. Mix well. Put soft paper towels that have been cut in half in air tight container and cover with liquid.
Waste Disposal (It shows how blessed we are that we really don’t know how to deal with this subject and turn our noses up at it.)
What would happen to our world if the toilets no longer flushed? Few things can spread disease faster, attract more flies, vermin and rodents than the improper storage of human waste. It has been speculated that some of the deadly diseases of the Middle Ages in Europe were spread mainly by the inadequate sewage systems of the time. Failure to properly dispose of human waste can lead to epidemics such as typhoid, cholera, dysentery, nausea and diarrhea.
This is a very brief outline of these things.
So how do we deal with this waste?
Toilet - No running water: We could still use our potties if there weren’t any broken sewer lines. The water uses the gravity system. You would need to use grey water to flush the toilets. They would have to be flushed less often to save on water use.
Toilet - Can not flush: Place a one gallon bucket inside the empty toilet and a plastic bag inside the bucket. When the toilet is used, tie up the bag and dispose of. You will need to bury it, if garbage services are not available. Buckets - This is the easiest thing for an indoor waste disposal system if the toilets couldn’t be used. Put a heavy duty trash bag inside a 5 gallon bucket as a liner. You will need a bucket for urine and a bucket for excrement. After each use add a little dirt, kitty liter, or sawdust. When they are full pour out the urine in a location far from your water source. Use a shovel to dig a hole and bury the excrement. You can even add a comfortable toilet seat to the bucket. A family of four will fill this in about 4 days.
Portable Toilet - Portable toilets are available in the camping section of your local retail store and are miniature versions of a porta potty. They hold a reservoir of water that flushes the waste into a storage container. (Keep in mind you would have to empty this often. When we were at girls camp we had 40 people and we filled 2 full size porta potties in 4 days.)
The Outhouse - This is very efficient and low cost. Find a place away from your water source, dig a hole, place a protective covering around it, fit with a seat with a hole in it. and it is ready to go. This is one that you don’t have to worry about sanitation and moving waste from in the house. Make sure that everyone washes their hands after. (Also make sure the door has something on it: a leather strap split to go over a nail or whatever to keep little children from wandering in and falling in the hole.) (Lime can be used but must be used with caution to keep the smell down.)
What if I Run Out of TP - You can use a cake pan that has a sealed cover on it. Put several layers from magazines, newsppers, telephone books etc. Add a little water to the paper and seal it up. It softens the paper and moistens it just a bit so there isn't the irritation that too rough of paper can create.
Other ideas - duplicate what has been done in the past.
PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF DISEASE
It is vitally important to wash your hands after using the bathroom, particularly if there are water shortages. If you have to use outside facilities like an outhouse you might want to hang a water bag filled with water with bleach in it to rinse your hands after going potty.
Other suggested items to be stored in this are would be:
Antibacterial soaps
Baby wipes
Bar soap (Be sure to store the antibacterial bar soap)
Liquid soap with pump
The families who did our little experiment of going 72 hours without electricity and running water, learned a lot about this area. We all used our potties to flush but we used stored water to wash with.
The comments included:
We did not have enough water to properly wash our hands
We did not have the right kind of supplies to properly wash our hands
We did not have enough hand towels. We went through a lot more of the smaller towels than we do normally. I need to add more hand towels or plan to rip up my big ones which would lead to a shortage there.
We found we needed more rags.
Homemade Cleaners
These are basic cleaners you can use for hundreds of tasks.
Basic Cleaner:
Concentrated Dish Soap is great for dishes, floors, walls, stains on clothes, oil or grease spills, etc. Warm soapy water is the basic cleaner for almost everything.
Vinegar and Baking Soda:
Mix these together for clearing drains and cutting through grease. Chase with boiling water.
Vinegar alone:
Use to remove limescale, cleaning windows (mix with water and a little bit of rubbing alcohol), getting rid of pet urine on carpet and also deters pets from returning to same spot.
Washing Soda:
Use for your dishwasher if you don't have dishwasher soap, in your laundry to boost cleaning power, use to cut grease.
Basic Cleaner:
Concentrated Dish Soap is great for dishes, floors, walls, stains on clothes, oil or grease spills, etc. Warm soapy water is the basic cleaner for almost everything.
Vinegar and Baking Soda:
Mix these together for clearing drains and cutting through grease. Chase with boiling water.
Vinegar alone:
Use to remove limescale, cleaning windows (mix with water and a little bit of rubbing alcohol), getting rid of pet urine on carpet and also deters pets from returning to same spot.
Washing Soda:
Use for your dishwasher if you don't have dishwasher soap, in your laundry to boost cleaning power, use to cut grease.
All About Soap
By Paula Kvarfordt
During any type of disaster one of the biggest challenges is cleanliness. Disease and sickness are spread because of lack of ability to wash hands and dispose of garbage and waste.
It is so important to keep our hands clean, have the ability to wash clothing and keep our area of living clean from refuse, waste and garbage.
Soap is a great item to add to your storage. It is a great morale booster and is one of the top 10 things on barter lists. It is also one of the top 10 things to disappear in a disaster.
There are soaps for different purposes:
Hand Soap
Shampoo
Dish Soap
Laundry Soap
Cleaners for your house
HAND SOAP:
When you purchase hand soap, make sure you buy the antibacterial soap.
Your supplies need to include one bar of soap per person per month.
Before you use your bars of soap, let them dry out to last longer.
When you get down to slivers of soap left. Put them in a nylon sock, tie the end shut and you will have the best hand, foot, elbow and etc scrubber!
DISH SOAP:
You need the basics to keep your dishes clean, such as dish soap, dish cloths, dish towels, a drainer, SOS pads, and scrubbers.
You need enough dish cloths to trade them everyday. Dish clothes and sponges harbor all kinds of things that will make you sick. I read a report that said many people who think they have the flu often, in reality are having small cases of food poisoning from the dish clothes they do their dishes with. They leave them out and use them for several days. What would happen if you left bits and pieces of food out and they were dampish then you ate them after several days. Wash your cloths at the end of each day!
If you do not have hot water, you will need some type of pot that can heat water over a fire. No your kitchen pots unless they are specifically designed for fire will not work. Direct fire heating is much hotter than your stove.
If you can’t use your sink you will need two dish pan’s, one for rinsing and one for washing.
As for amounts for dish soap. You will use more than you do if you currently use a dishwasher.
Wash your dishes for one day. All of them, make note of how much dish soap you use and times that by 30. The general rule is you need one small bottle of dish soap per month per person. If you are cooking with a fire, you will use more dish soap than you do now cooking with your stove.
LAUNDRY SOAP:
We wash our clothes a lot. In a crisis they could be washed less often. You will need supplies to wash your clothing by hand if we didn’t have electricity. Generations past used rocks then washboards. You will need a big tub to wash in and something else to rinse in. The fine things such as undies and garments are the easiest to wash. Using a plunger works much like a washing machine does....you would need to enlist several people to do this, because it takes a lot of muscles!
Soap–get antibacterial
Washboard
Plunger
Laundry Soap (homemade or commercial)
Clorox
If you have a baby you will need some type of diaper pail once your disposables run out.
CLEANERS FOR YOUR HOUSE:
Look at the items you use to clean your home with. Every month add a few of these to your storage. Look to see what cleaners can do several jobs so you don’t have to store as many supplies. You will also need rags, buckets etc.
Another thing to have a back up of is a good broom. If you can’t vacuum your home, you would have to sweep your carpets.
Keeping clean with limited water in a crisis
Heat water in a large kettle on cook stove
Take out what water is needed for dishes and to keep counters clean for the day
Reserve one cup of water for brushing teeth
Reserve another quart for each person to wash their hands through the day.
Water that is used for rinse water for the dishes can be used to bath children and wash faces. Any extra used to flush potties.
Water that has been used to wash dishes can be used to mop floors or saved to flush the potty if you are able to use it.
You can also purify it to water plants and gardens.
Before mopping the floor use some spic and span to cut the grease
Add a dash of Clorox to bucket before flushing the toilet.
During any type of disaster one of the biggest challenges is cleanliness. Disease and sickness are spread because of lack of ability to wash hands and dispose of garbage and waste.
It is so important to keep our hands clean, have the ability to wash clothing and keep our area of living clean from refuse, waste and garbage.
Soap is a great item to add to your storage. It is a great morale booster and is one of the top 10 things on barter lists. It is also one of the top 10 things to disappear in a disaster.
There are soaps for different purposes:
Hand Soap
Shampoo
Dish Soap
Laundry Soap
Cleaners for your house
HAND SOAP:
When you purchase hand soap, make sure you buy the antibacterial soap.
Your supplies need to include one bar of soap per person per month.
Before you use your bars of soap, let them dry out to last longer.
When you get down to slivers of soap left. Put them in a nylon sock, tie the end shut and you will have the best hand, foot, elbow and etc scrubber!
DISH SOAP:
You need the basics to keep your dishes clean, such as dish soap, dish cloths, dish towels, a drainer, SOS pads, and scrubbers.
You need enough dish cloths to trade them everyday. Dish clothes and sponges harbor all kinds of things that will make you sick. I read a report that said many people who think they have the flu often, in reality are having small cases of food poisoning from the dish clothes they do their dishes with. They leave them out and use them for several days. What would happen if you left bits and pieces of food out and they were dampish then you ate them after several days. Wash your cloths at the end of each day!
If you do not have hot water, you will need some type of pot that can heat water over a fire. No your kitchen pots unless they are specifically designed for fire will not work. Direct fire heating is much hotter than your stove.
If you can’t use your sink you will need two dish pan’s, one for rinsing and one for washing.
As for amounts for dish soap. You will use more than you do if you currently use a dishwasher.
Wash your dishes for one day. All of them, make note of how much dish soap you use and times that by 30. The general rule is you need one small bottle of dish soap per month per person. If you are cooking with a fire, you will use more dish soap than you do now cooking with your stove.
LAUNDRY SOAP:
We wash our clothes a lot. In a crisis they could be washed less often. You will need supplies to wash your clothing by hand if we didn’t have electricity. Generations past used rocks then washboards. You will need a big tub to wash in and something else to rinse in. The fine things such as undies and garments are the easiest to wash. Using a plunger works much like a washing machine does....you would need to enlist several people to do this, because it takes a lot of muscles!
Soap–get antibacterial
Washboard
Plunger
Laundry Soap (homemade or commercial)
Clorox
If you have a baby you will need some type of diaper pail once your disposables run out.
CLEANERS FOR YOUR HOUSE:
Look at the items you use to clean your home with. Every month add a few of these to your storage. Look to see what cleaners can do several jobs so you don’t have to store as many supplies. You will also need rags, buckets etc.
Another thing to have a back up of is a good broom. If you can’t vacuum your home, you would have to sweep your carpets.
Keeping clean with limited water in a crisis
Heat water in a large kettle on cook stove
Take out what water is needed for dishes and to keep counters clean for the day
Reserve one cup of water for brushing teeth
Reserve another quart for each person to wash their hands through the day.
Water that is used for rinse water for the dishes can be used to bath children and wash faces. Any extra used to flush potties.
Water that has been used to wash dishes can be used to mop floors or saved to flush the potty if you are able to use it.
You can also purify it to water plants and gardens.
Before mopping the floor use some spic and span to cut the grease
Add a dash of Clorox to bucket before flushing the toilet.
Homemade Laundry Soap
I have made this and used it. This is the recipe I used, although you can find other recipes online as well. This recipe is from Shiloah Baker:
5 gallon bucket
2 bars of Ivory soap, grated
1 gallon hot water
3/4 cup borax
1 cup washing soda (Arm and hammer)
2 gallons water
1 tsp. fragrance oil OR 15 drops of essential oil (I suggest Lemon or orange)
Mix 5 cups of water with grated ivory soap into a large pot and melt on medium high heat. Once melted, mix in last two soaps then the last of the water and fragrance. Makes a gel like solution. Use 1/2 cup per load. This cost me around $5 for 3 gallons of laundry soap compared to $9 for a small box of our favorite laundry detergent that will only last 2 weeks.
I have read other reports that say they have used it in HE machines and had no problem.
If you feel your clothes are dingy or not getting clean enough, I've read to use Oxyclean with it for an extra boost.
You can use 1 cup per load, instead of 1/2 cup to get the clothes cleaner, or double the amounts of borax and washing soda when you make a batch.
Other soap you can use is Zote or Fels Naptha.
Vinegar is a natural fabric softener and brightener.
Washing Soda is not baking soda. I have not been able to find it at Walmart, or any other stores here in Western Nebraska. You can order some from online, or get a good friend to bring you some when they come to visit.
If you don't want to give up your fabric softener sheets, you can recycle them easily. Save your sheets, place in a jar and add some liquid fabric softener to the jar. Pull a sheet out when you are ready for your next dryer load. Recycle them back into the jar when you are done.
5 gallon bucket
2 bars of Ivory soap, grated
1 gallon hot water
3/4 cup borax
1 cup washing soda (Arm and hammer)
2 gallons water
1 tsp. fragrance oil OR 15 drops of essential oil (I suggest Lemon or orange)
Mix 5 cups of water with grated ivory soap into a large pot and melt on medium high heat. Once melted, mix in last two soaps then the last of the water and fragrance. Makes a gel like solution. Use 1/2 cup per load. This cost me around $5 for 3 gallons of laundry soap compared to $9 for a small box of our favorite laundry detergent that will only last 2 weeks.
I have read other reports that say they have used it in HE machines and had no problem.
If you feel your clothes are dingy or not getting clean enough, I've read to use Oxyclean with it for an extra boost.
You can use 1 cup per load, instead of 1/2 cup to get the clothes cleaner, or double the amounts of borax and washing soda when you make a batch.
Other soap you can use is Zote or Fels Naptha.
Vinegar is a natural fabric softener and brightener.
Washing Soda is not baking soda. I have not been able to find it at Walmart, or any other stores here in Western Nebraska. You can order some from online, or get a good friend to bring you some when they come to visit.
If you don't want to give up your fabric softener sheets, you can recycle them easily. Save your sheets, place in a jar and add some liquid fabric softener to the jar. Pull a sheet out when you are ready for your next dryer load. Recycle them back into the jar when you are done.
The Army's Greatest Invention: P-38 and P-51
These are small can openers. They can fit on your key chains, on backpack zippers, in a junk drawer for use if your hand held can opener breaks or you have no electricity.
These two sites sell them:
http://www.georgia-outfitters.com/page52.shtml#p38
http://www.dogtagsrus.com/p-51%20can%20opener%20history%20information.htm
Since Georgia Outfitters sells them in bulk, you might want to go in as a group to order a box.
These two sites sell them:
http://www.georgia-outfitters.com/page52.shtml#p38
http://www.dogtagsrus.com/p-51%20can%20opener%20history%20information.htm
Since Georgia Outfitters sells them in bulk, you might want to go in as a group to order a box.
Common Homeopathic Remedies for Diseases
I'm posting this list here for you to print off and store with a homeopathic kit should you have one. If you are new to homeopathic medicine, remedies are often abbreviated. The books list the abbreviations with the name of the remedy. Dosages for taking homeopathic remedies are usually standard for every remedy.
These are the rules you need to remember:
Do not let the remedy touch anything. If you drop a pellet on a table, do not ingest it. Proper administration is to pour 3-5 pellets into the lid and dump them into your mouth, being careful not to let saliva get into the lid.
Most remedies act almost immediately.
Nux Vomica will usually clear any remedies taken previously. Mint can too, such as brushing your teeth with toothpaste.
Do not eat or drink anything within 15 minutes of taking a remedy. Milk will also alter the effectiveness, so avoid milk for about 15 minutes before or after taking a remedy.
The following is a list of diseases that usually occur when vaccines are not available or in unfavorable conditions:
Anthrax: acon, apis, arn, echin, lach, led
Appendicitis: ars, bry, echin, lach, nux.v, rhus.t.
Bubonic Plague: anthrae, ars, ign, lach, naja, rhus.t
Cerebral meningitis: apis, gels, echin, ipec, zinc m.
Chicken pox: acon, bry, dulc, led, rhus.t., var
Cholera:
Infant: apis, bell, bry, ipec
Morbus: ars, ipec, camph, acon
Chorea (St. Vitus Dance:associated with rheumatic fever): agar, arg.n., ars, ign
Diptheria: apis, ars, echin, lac.c, lach, led, naja, rhus.t.
Dysentery: acon, apis, arn, ars, ipec, puls, rhus.t., xanth
Gangrene: calend, cepa, arn, apis, echin, euphorb
Hip joint Disease: acon, calc.c, calc.p
Infantile paralysis: acon, gels, nux.v., plumb,m, rhus.t
Leprosy: ars, lach, sep
Malaria: apis, arn, ars, bry, echin, eup.perf, eup.purp, gels, ign
Measles (Rubeola): acon, bell, bry, gels, puls, gels
Meningitis:
Spinal: bell, bry
Tubercular: apis, bry
Mumps: acon, dulc, puls, rhus.t., calend
Pellagra: ars, gels, ign, puls
Peritonitis (inflamation of the lining of the stomach): acon, apis, bry, lach, rhus.t., sang.m.
Ptomaine (Food) poisoning: ars, camph, carbo.v., cepa
Purpura hemorrhagic (symptom of toxins in body: bleeding under the skin): arn, ars, crot, ham, lach, phos
Scarlet fever: acon, apis, ars, bry, echin, gels, rhus.t.
Septicemia: acon, arn. cham, puls, rhus.t
Sleeping Sickness: apis, gels, indol, naja, nux.m, rhut t.
Smallpox: var, acon, apis, bapt, bry, rhus.t., cauth, camph
Tetanus: acon, arn, calend, hyper, ipec, led
Tobacco abuse: ign, tab, ipec, plant
Trismus (Lock jaw): acon, hyper, ign
Typhoid Fever: apis, arn, ars, bry, bapt, lach, lyc, nux.m
Typhus: apis, ars, bapt, camph,kreos, rhus.t.
Vertigo: apis, acon, arn, arg.n, bry, puls
Vomiting: acon, bry, dros, ipec, kveos, puls
Whooping cough: acon, bry, chel, dros, dule, ipec, puls
Yellow Fever: arg.n., acon, apris, bry, ipec, plumb, sab, lach
Rubella: rhus.t
Impetigo: dulc, rhus.t., thuya, cheld.m.
*I'm not suggesting these be used instead of medical treatment, but to be used with modern medicine, or to be used if modern medicine is not available. I have been using homeopathy for 5 years with very good results, however, I am not a homeopath, or doctor. My highest recommendation is to get a book for yourself to study.
These are the rules you need to remember:
Do not let the remedy touch anything. If you drop a pellet on a table, do not ingest it. Proper administration is to pour 3-5 pellets into the lid and dump them into your mouth, being careful not to let saliva get into the lid.
Most remedies act almost immediately.
Nux Vomica will usually clear any remedies taken previously. Mint can too, such as brushing your teeth with toothpaste.
Do not eat or drink anything within 15 minutes of taking a remedy. Milk will also alter the effectiveness, so avoid milk for about 15 minutes before or after taking a remedy.
The following is a list of diseases that usually occur when vaccines are not available or in unfavorable conditions:
Anthrax: acon, apis, arn, echin, lach, led
Appendicitis: ars, bry, echin, lach, nux.v, rhus.t.
Bubonic Plague: anthrae, ars, ign, lach, naja, rhus.t
Cerebral meningitis: apis, gels, echin, ipec, zinc m.
Chicken pox: acon, bry, dulc, led, rhus.t., var
Cholera:
Infant: apis, bell, bry, ipec
Morbus: ars, ipec, camph, acon
Chorea (St. Vitus Dance:associated with rheumatic fever): agar, arg.n., ars, ign
Diptheria: apis, ars, echin, lac.c, lach, led, naja, rhus.t.
Dysentery: acon, apis, arn, ars, ipec, puls, rhus.t., xanth
Gangrene: calend, cepa, arn, apis, echin, euphorb
Hip joint Disease: acon, calc.c, calc.p
Infantile paralysis: acon, gels, nux.v., plumb,m, rhus.t
Leprosy: ars, lach, sep
Malaria: apis, arn, ars, bry, echin, eup.perf, eup.purp, gels, ign
Measles (Rubeola): acon, bell, bry, gels, puls, gels
Meningitis:
Spinal: bell, bry
Tubercular: apis, bry
Mumps: acon, dulc, puls, rhus.t., calend
Pellagra: ars, gels, ign, puls
Peritonitis (inflamation of the lining of the stomach): acon, apis, bry, lach, rhus.t., sang.m.
Ptomaine (Food) poisoning: ars, camph, carbo.v., cepa
Purpura hemorrhagic (symptom of toxins in body: bleeding under the skin): arn, ars, crot, ham, lach, phos
Scarlet fever: acon, apis, ars, bry, echin, gels, rhus.t.
Septicemia: acon, arn. cham, puls, rhus.t
Sleeping Sickness: apis, gels, indol, naja, nux.m, rhut t.
Smallpox: var, acon, apis, bapt, bry, rhus.t., cauth, camph
Tetanus: acon, arn, calend, hyper, ipec, led
Tobacco abuse: ign, tab, ipec, plant
Trismus (Lock jaw): acon, hyper, ign
Typhoid Fever: apis, arn, ars, bry, bapt, lach, lyc, nux.m
Typhus: apis, ars, bapt, camph,kreos, rhus.t.
Vertigo: apis, acon, arn, arg.n, bry, puls
Vomiting: acon, bry, dros, ipec, kveos, puls
Whooping cough: acon, bry, chel, dros, dule, ipec, puls
Yellow Fever: arg.n., acon, apris, bry, ipec, plumb, sab, lach
Rubella: rhus.t
Impetigo: dulc, rhus.t., thuya, cheld.m.
*I'm not suggesting these be used instead of medical treatment, but to be used with modern medicine, or to be used if modern medicine is not available. I have been using homeopathy for 5 years with very good results, however, I am not a homeopath, or doctor. My highest recommendation is to get a book for yourself to study.
Homeopathy
Homeopathy Medicine is Homeopathy is a gentle, holistic system of healing, suitable for everyone, young and old. Homeopathy focuses on you as an individual, concentrating on treating your specific physical and emotional symptoms, to give long lasting benefits.
The therapy is based on the theory of treating “like with like”. Homeopathic remedies are diluted natural substances that if given to a healthy person, would produce the symptoms the medicine is prescribed for. In the assessment of you, the patient, homeopaths will take into account the range of physical, emotional and lifestyle factors in order to prescribe the right medicine(s).
Homeopathy has been used in the UK for over two hundred years, but has an honourable tradition dating back to ancient Greece. It was Samuel Hahnemann, a brilliant doctor working in 1796 who developed the scientific and philosophical foundations of this gentler way of healing. These scientific principles form the basis of successful homeopathic practice today.
Homeopathy is safe, will not interfere with prescription medications, and can be given to newborns to centurions.
Two sites that offer remedies and more information are:
www.homeopathy-soh.org
www.homeopathyworks.com
Homeopathyworks offeres a 100 Most Common Remedies kit, which has most remedies that would be needed for pretty much any ailment. These can be used for childbirth. They can be used for pets. It comes in a red box that looks like an ammo box. For hundreds of years, this has been the standard storage receptacle. It is best to buy a "materia medica" book for homeopathy so that you have more detailed information for diagnostic purposes.
Some recommended books are:(Found on Amazon.com)
Homeopathy: An A to Z Home Handbook
Homeopathic Medicine for Children and Infants
Homeopathy for Pregnancy, Birth, and Your Baby's First Year
The Complete Homeopathy Handbook:Safe and Effective Ways to Treat Fevers, Coughs, Colds and Sore Throats, Childhood Ailments, Flu, Food Poisoning, and a Wide Range of Everyday Complaints.
The therapy is based on the theory of treating “like with like”. Homeopathic remedies are diluted natural substances that if given to a healthy person, would produce the symptoms the medicine is prescribed for. In the assessment of you, the patient, homeopaths will take into account the range of physical, emotional and lifestyle factors in order to prescribe the right medicine(s).
Homeopathy has been used in the UK for over two hundred years, but has an honourable tradition dating back to ancient Greece. It was Samuel Hahnemann, a brilliant doctor working in 1796 who developed the scientific and philosophical foundations of this gentler way of healing. These scientific principles form the basis of successful homeopathic practice today.
Homeopathy is safe, will not interfere with prescription medications, and can be given to newborns to centurions.
Two sites that offer remedies and more information are:
www.homeopathy-soh.org
www.homeopathyworks.com
Homeopathyworks offeres a 100 Most Common Remedies kit, which has most remedies that would be needed for pretty much any ailment. These can be used for childbirth. They can be used for pets. It comes in a red box that looks like an ammo box. For hundreds of years, this has been the standard storage receptacle. It is best to buy a "materia medica" book for homeopathy so that you have more detailed information for diagnostic purposes.
Some recommended books are:(Found on Amazon.com)
Homeopathy: An A to Z Home Handbook
Homeopathic Medicine for Children and Infants
Homeopathy for Pregnancy, Birth, and Your Baby's First Year
The Complete Homeopathy Handbook:Safe and Effective Ways to Treat Fevers, Coughs, Colds and Sore Throats, Childhood Ailments, Flu, Food Poisoning, and a Wide Range of Everyday Complaints.
The Herb Garden
http://www.backyardgardener.com/herb/
The Herb Garden
The herbs I have grown are listed below with instructions for growing them. Perhaps inexperienced gardeners as well as those who have not yet had the pleasure of growing these interesting plants will give some thought to starting a small herb garden. Even a small plot 4 by 6 feet will grow all a small family would need. If not grown for use in cooking, herbs are worth growing for pleasant aromatic foliage and some of them for the beauty of the flowers as well. Herbs can be used fresh for garnish in salads and to perk up the flavors of bland vegetables or to add flavor to meats and stews in which case one needs only to nip off a few leaves when wanted.
To dry herbs for winter use cut off tops of the leafy varieties in midsummer and wash them off with cold water. Hang them up just long enough for the drops of water to evaporate, then tie the stems together and place in a paper bag with stem ends at the opening and close the bag with a rubber band. Use a paper clip as a hook through the band and place the other hooked end over your line where you are going to hang the herbs to dry, indoors. After 2 or 3 weeks remove from paper bags, crumble the leaves and place on a shallow pan and dry out in the oven with the setting at "warm" or at least not over 100 degrees. Some herb enthusiasts dry them by spreading them out on trays or sheets of hardware cloth covered with cheese cloth and place in a dry area. To dry seed heads allow them to grow until seeds are mature and ready to drop from the plant. Cut seed heads on a very dry day and spread on clean paper (not newspaper). It is better to keep them in the sun the first day as little insects, which may have been secreted in the heads, will leave as the seeds dry out. Store herbs in glass jars or other airtight containers in a cool place.
HERBS TO GROW FROM SEED
BASIL, SWEET (Ocimum basilicum) Both green and 'Dark Opal' basil are attractive plants for the garden. I prefer to plant the seed where it is to grow directly to -the garden in mid-May. Germination usually occurs in 7 to 10 days. Basil is not difficult to transplant. Grows to 18 inches; space 12 inches between plants. 'Dark Opal' has beautiful deep red foliage and lovely pink flowers and is excellent to use along a walk or as a solid bed for decoration in the garden. Basil is very good to use to flavor tomato juice and tomato pastes.
BORAGE (Borago officinalis) This has pinkish blossoms which turn blue like the perennial pulmonaria. It is an annual and should be planted directly to the garden in early May in the North. Growing to 2 feet it should be spaced 10 inches apart. Germinates in 7 -to 10 days. Resents transplanting except when quite small. It is excellent used in tossed salad to add a most elusive flavor.
CHERVIL (Anthriscus cerefolium) Although this plant will germinate in the fall and live over the winter I would advise the inexperienced gardener to grow it as an annual, sowing the seed to the garden in mid-May (in this area). Grows to 2 feet and should be spaced 8 inches apart. Grows quickly and is mature in 6 weeks. Resents transplanting. Fresh leaves can be frozen in small packets after washing carefully. Excellent to flavor egg dishes.
CHIVES (Allium scboenoprasum) This is a perennial plant growing from bulblets. They are really very easy to grow from seed. Mine, started under the fluorescent lights as well as in the greenhouse in the spring germinated in 10 days. The tiny little plants look like fragile spears of grass. When transplanted they wilt slightly. Even during a continued drought they grow very well. Mature plants grow to 12, inches; space 6 inches apart. They are very hardy even in cold locations. Flowers are pretty enough so that chives can be grown as a border or in the rock garden. Fine in salads, egg dishes and sauces of all kinds. Potted up, chives will grow on a sunny windowsill in winter.
DILL (Anethum graveolens) This is an easily grown annual with feathery foliage. Blossoms are tiny and pale yellow. Grows to 21/2 feet in my garden and germinates in 7 to 10 days planted at the same time as tender vegetables. Resents transplanting. May be spaced as close as 4 inches apart. Self-sows readily. Fine for use in pickling and to flavor meats.
LAVENDER (Lavandula). I have had excellent success with germinating seeds of lavender giving a four-week pre-chilling period in the coldframe before bringing into the greenhouse with germination in 14 days. This year sown under the lights the seeds germinated in 15 days with no pre-chilling period. This is a hardy perennial with gray foliage and spikes of fragrant lavender flowers, which when dried are used to perfume the linen chest and for sachets. Dry easily when hung free in a dry garage or attic.
MARJORAM, SWEET (Majorana hortensis) This is a perennial in frost-free sections of the South but is grown as a hardy annual in the North. Sow seed indoors with germination in 7 to 10 days. Grows to 12 inches; space 6 inches apart. Plants may be potted up and grown in the greenhouse or sunny window over -the winter. Adds a delicate flavor to lamb, fish, salads and soups.
MINT (Mentha spicata) This mint is very easy to grow. It is a hardy perennial and spreads by root stolons. Sown indoors seed germinates in 10 to 15 days. It grows to 2 feet and is rather sprawling, in habit. Space 12 inches apart. Is at its best in good rich soil. Fine to use for mint jelly and in mint juleps, lemonade and other fruit drinks.
SAGE (Saivia officinalis) This is a hardy perennial in our location and is often grown in gardens for its pretty foliage and spikes of bluish flowers. Seed sown indoors germinates in 14 days. Grows to 2 feet and should be spaced 12 inches apart. Can be sown outdoors in May with germination in 21 to 30 days. Fine herb for dressings for chicken, turkey, pork and for flavoring sausages.
SAVORY, SUMMER (Satureja bortensis) This is an easily grown annual being best planted in mid-May in our location directly to the garden where it is to grow with germination in 7 to 10 days. Grows to 12 inches tall; space 5 or 6 inches apart. Good to flavor fish dishes, beans and soups.
SESAME (Sesamum orientale) This herb has whitish colored leaves and pretty pink flowers. Needs warmth for germination and should not be planted into the garden until -the soil and air are very warm; about 70 degrees. This would be in late May in our location. Germination will take place in 3 to 7 days. Although they grow 21/2 to 3 feet they need but 9 or 10 inches between plants as they do not branch. Seeds are used to flavor breads, crackers and cookies.
THYME (Thymus vulgaris) This is a hardy perennial being of somewhat shrubby growth. Leaves are cut for drying before the blossoms are open. It is easily grown from seed sown indoors with germination in 21 to 30 days. Grows slowly when young. Grows to 12. inches; space 8 inches apart. It needs rich soil. Thyme is used for flavoring soups and poultry dressing.
The Herb Garden
The herbs I have grown are listed below with instructions for growing them. Perhaps inexperienced gardeners as well as those who have not yet had the pleasure of growing these interesting plants will give some thought to starting a small herb garden. Even a small plot 4 by 6 feet will grow all a small family would need. If not grown for use in cooking, herbs are worth growing for pleasant aromatic foliage and some of them for the beauty of the flowers as well. Herbs can be used fresh for garnish in salads and to perk up the flavors of bland vegetables or to add flavor to meats and stews in which case one needs only to nip off a few leaves when wanted.
To dry herbs for winter use cut off tops of the leafy varieties in midsummer and wash them off with cold water. Hang them up just long enough for the drops of water to evaporate, then tie the stems together and place in a paper bag with stem ends at the opening and close the bag with a rubber band. Use a paper clip as a hook through the band and place the other hooked end over your line where you are going to hang the herbs to dry, indoors. After 2 or 3 weeks remove from paper bags, crumble the leaves and place on a shallow pan and dry out in the oven with the setting at "warm" or at least not over 100 degrees. Some herb enthusiasts dry them by spreading them out on trays or sheets of hardware cloth covered with cheese cloth and place in a dry area. To dry seed heads allow them to grow until seeds are mature and ready to drop from the plant. Cut seed heads on a very dry day and spread on clean paper (not newspaper). It is better to keep them in the sun the first day as little insects, which may have been secreted in the heads, will leave as the seeds dry out. Store herbs in glass jars or other airtight containers in a cool place.
HERBS TO GROW FROM SEED
BASIL, SWEET (Ocimum basilicum) Both green and 'Dark Opal' basil are attractive plants for the garden. I prefer to plant the seed where it is to grow directly to -the garden in mid-May. Germination usually occurs in 7 to 10 days. Basil is not difficult to transplant. Grows to 18 inches; space 12 inches between plants. 'Dark Opal' has beautiful deep red foliage and lovely pink flowers and is excellent to use along a walk or as a solid bed for decoration in the garden. Basil is very good to use to flavor tomato juice and tomato pastes.
BORAGE (Borago officinalis) This has pinkish blossoms which turn blue like the perennial pulmonaria. It is an annual and should be planted directly to the garden in early May in the North. Growing to 2 feet it should be spaced 10 inches apart. Germinates in 7 -to 10 days. Resents transplanting except when quite small. It is excellent used in tossed salad to add a most elusive flavor.
CHERVIL (Anthriscus cerefolium) Although this plant will germinate in the fall and live over the winter I would advise the inexperienced gardener to grow it as an annual, sowing the seed to the garden in mid-May (in this area). Grows to 2 feet and should be spaced 8 inches apart. Grows quickly and is mature in 6 weeks. Resents transplanting. Fresh leaves can be frozen in small packets after washing carefully. Excellent to flavor egg dishes.
CHIVES (Allium scboenoprasum) This is a perennial plant growing from bulblets. They are really very easy to grow from seed. Mine, started under the fluorescent lights as well as in the greenhouse in the spring germinated in 10 days. The tiny little plants look like fragile spears of grass. When transplanted they wilt slightly. Even during a continued drought they grow very well. Mature plants grow to 12, inches; space 6 inches apart. They are very hardy even in cold locations. Flowers are pretty enough so that chives can be grown as a border or in the rock garden. Fine in salads, egg dishes and sauces of all kinds. Potted up, chives will grow on a sunny windowsill in winter.
DILL (Anethum graveolens) This is an easily grown annual with feathery foliage. Blossoms are tiny and pale yellow. Grows to 21/2 feet in my garden and germinates in 7 to 10 days planted at the same time as tender vegetables. Resents transplanting. May be spaced as close as 4 inches apart. Self-sows readily. Fine for use in pickling and to flavor meats.
LAVENDER (Lavandula). I have had excellent success with germinating seeds of lavender giving a four-week pre-chilling period in the coldframe before bringing into the greenhouse with germination in 14 days. This year sown under the lights the seeds germinated in 15 days with no pre-chilling period. This is a hardy perennial with gray foliage and spikes of fragrant lavender flowers, which when dried are used to perfume the linen chest and for sachets. Dry easily when hung free in a dry garage or attic.
MARJORAM, SWEET (Majorana hortensis) This is a perennial in frost-free sections of the South but is grown as a hardy annual in the North. Sow seed indoors with germination in 7 to 10 days. Grows to 12 inches; space 6 inches apart. Plants may be potted up and grown in the greenhouse or sunny window over -the winter. Adds a delicate flavor to lamb, fish, salads and soups.
MINT (Mentha spicata) This mint is very easy to grow. It is a hardy perennial and spreads by root stolons. Sown indoors seed germinates in 10 to 15 days. It grows to 2 feet and is rather sprawling, in habit. Space 12 inches apart. Is at its best in good rich soil. Fine to use for mint jelly and in mint juleps, lemonade and other fruit drinks.
SAGE (Saivia officinalis) This is a hardy perennial in our location and is often grown in gardens for its pretty foliage and spikes of bluish flowers. Seed sown indoors germinates in 14 days. Grows to 2 feet and should be spaced 12 inches apart. Can be sown outdoors in May with germination in 21 to 30 days. Fine herb for dressings for chicken, turkey, pork and for flavoring sausages.
SAVORY, SUMMER (Satureja bortensis) This is an easily grown annual being best planted in mid-May in our location directly to the garden where it is to grow with germination in 7 to 10 days. Grows to 12 inches tall; space 5 or 6 inches apart. Good to flavor fish dishes, beans and soups.
SESAME (Sesamum orientale) This herb has whitish colored leaves and pretty pink flowers. Needs warmth for germination and should not be planted into the garden until -the soil and air are very warm; about 70 degrees. This would be in late May in our location. Germination will take place in 3 to 7 days. Although they grow 21/2 to 3 feet they need but 9 or 10 inches between plants as they do not branch. Seeds are used to flavor breads, crackers and cookies.
THYME (Thymus vulgaris) This is a hardy perennial being of somewhat shrubby growth. Leaves are cut for drying before the blossoms are open. It is easily grown from seed sown indoors with germination in 21 to 30 days. Grows slowly when young. Grows to 12. inches; space 8 inches apart. It needs rich soil. Thyme is used for flavoring soups and poultry dressing.
Dry Cream Soup Mix
By Paula Kvarfordt
Dry Cream soup Mix
2 cups powdered nonfat milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
4 packages chicken broth mix (granules)
2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Combine and store in an airtight container. Use 1/3 cup of mix to 1 1/4 cup of water. For extra thick, use only 1 cup of water. Makes 3.5 cups
Dry Cream soup Mix
2 cups powdered nonfat milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
4 packages chicken broth mix (granules)
2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Combine and store in an airtight container. Use 1/3 cup of mix to 1 1/4 cup of water. For extra thick, use only 1 cup of water. Makes 3.5 cups
Dried Onion Soup Mix
By Paula Kvarfordt
Dried Onion Soup Mix
3/4 cup Instant Onion Flakes
1/3 cup Beef broth instant granules
4 teaspoons Onion powder
1/4 teaspoon Celery seed
1/4 teaspoon Sugar
Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container. 5 Tbsp. = 1.25 oz or 1 package of soup. Mix may also be stored in homemade foil pouches in amounts desired for later use, and then store foil pouches inside a larger airtight container.
Note: Sugar may be omitted for diets which require little or no sugar.
This recipe may be used in place of ‘Lipton' brand Onion Soup Mix for any recipe calling for Onion Soup Mix. This is great for making dips, by adding 5 Tbsp. Soup Mix to 2 cups Sour Cream, or for great seasoning in hamburger patties & meatloaf, by adding 5 Tbsp. per pound of lean ground beef.
Dried Onion Soup Mix
3/4 cup Instant Onion Flakes
1/3 cup Beef broth instant granules
4 teaspoons Onion powder
1/4 teaspoon Celery seed
1/4 teaspoon Sugar
Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container. 5 Tbsp. = 1.25 oz or 1 package of soup. Mix may also be stored in homemade foil pouches in amounts desired for later use, and then store foil pouches inside a larger airtight container.
Note: Sugar may be omitted for diets which require little or no sugar.
This recipe may be used in place of ‘Lipton' brand Onion Soup Mix for any recipe calling for Onion Soup Mix. This is great for making dips, by adding 5 Tbsp. Soup Mix to 2 cups Sour Cream, or for great seasoning in hamburger patties & meatloaf, by adding 5 Tbsp. per pound of lean ground beef.
Seasonings and Spices: Not Just for Flavor
Seasonings and Spices
During WWII spices were one of the greatest luxuries for the people in Europe to have. They would do about anything to have some things to change the flavor of the limited food they had.
From the research I have done during World War 2 one of the greatest challenges in eating was the people would loose there appetite simply because everything tasted the same.
Salt was the #1 thing they desired, followed closely by the onions/seasonings and spices. These like sugar were some of the greatest morale boosters they had. Seasonings help make the meal tastier and most important, more normal.
Include seasonings appropriate for the meals you choose to store, (next e-mail will be about this.) Remember that really spicy foods up the need for fluids.
If you are planning on beans in your storage, remember they are a very bland food. Cultures which use beans as a mainstay are big on seasonings, and all of us should follow their example. Bay leaves, cumin, chili powder, garlic, onions (garlic powder/onion powder, or dried flakes), Italian seasonings (e.g. oregano), as well as maple syrup and sugar and tomato sauce can be used to flavor beans.
Pioneers used these for medicinal help, some of these include:
When you are sick a ginger bath helps rid your body of toxins and you feel better over night.
Nutmeg helps with diarreha
Cloves with a toothache
Onions for earaches and sprains
Ceyenne for bleeding
Mustard for croup and colds
Garlic for immoune system and more
Parsely for kidneys
During WWII spices were one of the greatest luxuries for the people in Europe to have. They would do about anything to have some things to change the flavor of the limited food they had.
From the research I have done during World War 2 one of the greatest challenges in eating was the people would loose there appetite simply because everything tasted the same.
Salt was the #1 thing they desired, followed closely by the onions/seasonings and spices. These like sugar were some of the greatest morale boosters they had. Seasonings help make the meal tastier and most important, more normal.
Include seasonings appropriate for the meals you choose to store, (next e-mail will be about this.) Remember that really spicy foods up the need for fluids.
If you are planning on beans in your storage, remember they are a very bland food. Cultures which use beans as a mainstay are big on seasonings, and all of us should follow their example. Bay leaves, cumin, chili powder, garlic, onions (garlic powder/onion powder, or dried flakes), Italian seasonings (e.g. oregano), as well as maple syrup and sugar and tomato sauce can be used to flavor beans.
Pioneers used these for medicinal help, some of these include:
When you are sick a ginger bath helps rid your body of toxins and you feel better over night.
Nutmeg helps with diarreha
Cloves with a toothache
Onions for earaches and sprains
Ceyenne for bleeding
Mustard for croup and colds
Garlic for immoune system and more
Parsely for kidneys
"The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live it":Growing Wheat
By John Seymour
On page 152 he says
Hard and Soft Wheat
"hard wheat grows only in fairly hot and dry climates, although there are some varieties that are fairly hard even if grown in colder climates. It is much beloved because it makes a spongy bread, full of holes. It holds more water than soft wheat, and a sack of it therefore makes more break. In temperate
climates, soft wheat grows more readily and makes magnificent bread: a dense bread, perhaps, not full of huge holes, not half water and wind, but bread such as medieval battles were won on.
Sowing
" Wheat grows best on heavy loam or even clay soil. You can grow it on light land, and you will get good-quality grain but a poor yield. It will also grow on very rich land, but it must have land in very good condition. In temperate climates, wheat-and it will be one of the varieties called winter
wheat-is often sown in the fall. Winter wheat grows quite fast in the fall, in the summer warmed soil, then lied dormant throughout the winter, to shoot up quickly in the spring and make an early crop. In the northern United States and Canada, where the winter is too severe, spring wheat is grown, and this is planted in the spring. It needs a good hot summer to ripen it, and will come to harvest much later than winter wheat. If you can grow winter wheat do so. You will get a heavier crop and an earlier harvest.
"I prefer to put winter wheat in very earl:even early in September, because it gets off to a quick start, beats the crows more effectively, and makes plenty of growth before the frosts set in. Frost may destroy the very young wheat by dislodging the soil around its roots. If the early sown wheat is then 'winter proud', as farmers say, meaning too long, graze it off with sheep/ Graze it off either in November or in February or March. This will do sheep good, and will also cause the wheat to tiller (put out several shoots), giving you a heavier crop. You can sow winter wheat in October and sometimes even in November. The later you sow winter wheat, the more seed you should use. "Spring wheat should be sown as early as you can get the land ready and you feel the soil is warm enough. I would not say before the beginning of March, although some sow in February. The earlier you sow, the more you will lose to crows, but the earlier you sow the better, wheat needs a long growing season.
"Wheat needs a fairly coarse seed bed--that is it is better to have the soil in small clods rather than fine powder. For fall-sown the seed bed should be even coarser than for spring sown. This is so that the clods will deflect the winter rain and prevent the seed from being washed out and the land becoming
chocolate pudding.
"So plow, if you have to plow, shallowly, and then do not work your land down too fine. In other words, do not cultivate or harrow it too much. Aim at a field of clods about as big as a small child's fist. If you are planting wheat after old grassland, plow carefully so as to invert the sod as completely as
you can, and then do not bring it up again. Disc the surface, if you have discs, or harrow it with a spring-tined harrow, or an ordinary harrow if you haven't got that. But do not harrow too much. Then drill or sow into that. The earlier you can plow the land before you put in the wheat, the better so as
to give the land a chance to settle.
"You can either drill wheat, at a rate of about three bushels of seed to the acre, or else broadcast it at about four bushels to the acre. Whichever way you do it, it is a good thing to harrow it after seeding and also to roll it-that is, if you don't think the rolling will break down the clods too much. If it is wet, don't roll it. Discing is quite good after broadcasting seed, but only do it once: if you do it twice, you will bring up the seed again."
Care of Growing Crop
"You can harrow wheat quite hard when it has started to come up but is not more than six inches tall. After you have harrowed it may look as if you have runied it, but you haven't. You will have killed several weeds but not the wheat, and the harrowing does good by opening up the surface of the ground. If frosts look as if they have lifted the surface of the ground in the early spring, you can roll, preferably with a ring roller, but only if the ground is pretty dry.
"Jethro Tull invented a seed drill and developed "horse hoe husbandry". His idea was to drill wheat and other cereals in rows 12 inches apart, and then keep the horse hoe going up and down between the rows. Very good results were achieved. The practice has been discontinued because developments in husbandry have enabled the farmer to clean his land, meaning free it from weeds more thoroughly. It is therefore not so necessary to weed the wheat. in any case good crop of what that "gets away" quickly will smother most weeds on reasonably clean land."
On page 152 he says
Hard and Soft Wheat
"hard wheat grows only in fairly hot and dry climates, although there are some varieties that are fairly hard even if grown in colder climates. It is much beloved because it makes a spongy bread, full of holes. It holds more water than soft wheat, and a sack of it therefore makes more break. In temperate
climates, soft wheat grows more readily and makes magnificent bread: a dense bread, perhaps, not full of huge holes, not half water and wind, but bread such as medieval battles were won on.
Sowing
" Wheat grows best on heavy loam or even clay soil. You can grow it on light land, and you will get good-quality grain but a poor yield. It will also grow on very rich land, but it must have land in very good condition. In temperate climates, wheat-and it will be one of the varieties called winter
wheat-is often sown in the fall. Winter wheat grows quite fast in the fall, in the summer warmed soil, then lied dormant throughout the winter, to shoot up quickly in the spring and make an early crop. In the northern United States and Canada, where the winter is too severe, spring wheat is grown, and this is planted in the spring. It needs a good hot summer to ripen it, and will come to harvest much later than winter wheat. If you can grow winter wheat do so. You will get a heavier crop and an earlier harvest.
"I prefer to put winter wheat in very earl:even early in September, because it gets off to a quick start, beats the crows more effectively, and makes plenty of growth before the frosts set in. Frost may destroy the very young wheat by dislodging the soil around its roots. If the early sown wheat is then 'winter proud', as farmers say, meaning too long, graze it off with sheep/ Graze it off either in November or in February or March. This will do sheep good, and will also cause the wheat to tiller (put out several shoots), giving you a heavier crop. You can sow winter wheat in October and sometimes even in November. The later you sow winter wheat, the more seed you should use. "Spring wheat should be sown as early as you can get the land ready and you feel the soil is warm enough. I would not say before the beginning of March, although some sow in February. The earlier you sow, the more you will lose to crows, but the earlier you sow the better, wheat needs a long growing season.
"Wheat needs a fairly coarse seed bed--that is it is better to have the soil in small clods rather than fine powder. For fall-sown the seed bed should be even coarser than for spring sown. This is so that the clods will deflect the winter rain and prevent the seed from being washed out and the land becoming
chocolate pudding.
"So plow, if you have to plow, shallowly, and then do not work your land down too fine. In other words, do not cultivate or harrow it too much. Aim at a field of clods about as big as a small child's fist. If you are planting wheat after old grassland, plow carefully so as to invert the sod as completely as
you can, and then do not bring it up again. Disc the surface, if you have discs, or harrow it with a spring-tined harrow, or an ordinary harrow if you haven't got that. But do not harrow too much. Then drill or sow into that. The earlier you can plow the land before you put in the wheat, the better so as
to give the land a chance to settle.
"You can either drill wheat, at a rate of about three bushels of seed to the acre, or else broadcast it at about four bushels to the acre. Whichever way you do it, it is a good thing to harrow it after seeding and also to roll it-that is, if you don't think the rolling will break down the clods too much. If it is wet, don't roll it. Discing is quite good after broadcasting seed, but only do it once: if you do it twice, you will bring up the seed again."
Care of Growing Crop
"You can harrow wheat quite hard when it has started to come up but is not more than six inches tall. After you have harrowed it may look as if you have runied it, but you haven't. You will have killed several weeds but not the wheat, and the harrowing does good by opening up the surface of the ground. If frosts look as if they have lifted the surface of the ground in the early spring, you can roll, preferably with a ring roller, but only if the ground is pretty dry.
"Jethro Tull invented a seed drill and developed "horse hoe husbandry". His idea was to drill wheat and other cereals in rows 12 inches apart, and then keep the horse hoe going up and down between the rows. Very good results were achieved. The practice has been discontinued because developments in husbandry have enabled the farmer to clean his land, meaning free it from weeds more thoroughly. It is therefore not so necessary to weed the wheat. in any case good crop of what that "gets away" quickly will smother most weeds on reasonably clean land."
Food Storage Calculator
Food storage calculator for 2 years, 1 year, 6 months, and 3 months:
(You will have to copy and paste the link into your address bar)
http://www.coolcontent.com/familyfun/FoodStorage.html
(You will have to copy and paste the link into your address bar)
http://www.coolcontent.com/familyfun/FoodStorage.html
How Beautiful to Live in These Times and Be Prepared
F. Enzio Busche, Ensign, Jun 1982, 16
With the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days there continues to unfold the plan of how the temporal affairs of this earth should be governed. With the gospel restoration, the Lord’s ways have been revealed to help mankind eventually build Zion. Thus, how beautiful is the revelation of the welfare plan, presently established in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a preparatory step toward living the law of consecration.
The magnitude of the idea of serving the many needs of people through Social Services, employment centers, and Deseret Industries causes me to rejoice. But what excites me more is the idea of having work projects and farms in order to produce goods for filling storehouses, for distributing commodities, and for giving work and service opportunities to the needy without any commercial or selfish interest.
Let me tell you why this has such personal meaning for me. With a European heritage and educational background, one readily develops a perspective of how in the last 250 years people have fought, struggled, and hoped for a just society that would overcome the destructiveness of slavery, poverty, and injustice so prevalent through the history of mankind. For example, the doctrines and philosophies of Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau, forerunners of the French Revolution, envisioned establishing a just society founded on their understanding of the principles of liberty, equality, and the brotherhood of man. Similarly, many other philosophers, teachers, poets, and dreamers, mainly from England and Germany, stirred up the minds and expectations of the people. Even Karl Marx, who was the intellectual offspring of Hegel and the constructing architect of communism, had as an initial vision the elimination of poverty and the establishment of a just and free society, developing restless expectations among many people of the world.
No man, however, will ever be able to achieve Zion unless he becomes an instrument in the hands of the Almighty; for only God can reveal the whole picture and process of attaining Zion. Through Joseph Smith this was again given to man, and with the restoration of the priesthood there have been revealed organizational details, necessary steps, and true principles upon which God’s Zion will be established.
To me, the Lord’s plan to bring peace and justice is overwhelming and stirs up hope in the hearts of righteous people throughout the world who hear of it. Evidence of this was just recently given again by a prominent European visitor who toured Salt Lake City’s Welfare Square with me. After learning of the dimensions of the Church’s welfare services today, he said with evidence of deep emotion, “I hope you know what you have. It seems to me that this is the only hope of mankind to master the future.”
Now that I have shared my feelings regarding the overall picture of the Lord’s revealed plan of welfare, let me approach one portion of the plan in which we as individuals are directly involved—the personal and family preparedness plan whereby we are to obtain a year’s supply of food and necessary supplies. May I share with you some experiences that I, along with millions of other Europeans, had in the days of devastation, total destruction, and starvation that became a reality for so many survivors of World War II. These experiences helped me to recognize and appreciate the basic necessities of life and to separate true needs from false wants. Since my conversion and because of my World War II experiences, I now have a deep appreciation for the revealed plan of a year’s supply for each member.
Frequently I am asked, “What were the most valuable items in the days of starvation in Germany?” The answer is difficult to believe, because some of the experiences we had seem to be totally illogical and contrary to human nature. The items of highest value were tobacco and alcohol, because people who live in fear and despair, who have not learned principles of self-control, tend to need in times of panic some drug to escape the dreadful awareness of reality. I have seen people give their last loaf of bread and their last meager supply of potatoes just to obtain a bottle of brandy. How fortunate we are as members of the Church that we learn to develop a feeling for the true values of life and the necessity of self-control, so that in times of need there will be no panic, but we will be prepared.
As for what we needed, the food item we relied on most was vegetable oil. With a bottle of vegetable oil, one could acquire nearly every other desirable item. It had such value that with a quart of vegetable oil one could probably trade for three bushels of apples or three hundred pounds of potatoes. Vegetable oil has a high calorie content, is easy to transport, and in cooking can give a tasty flavor to all kinds of food items that one would not normally consider as food—wild flowers, wild plants, and roots from shrubs and trees. For me and my family, a high-quality vegetable oil has the highest priority in our food storage, both in times of daily use and for emergency usage. When vegetable oil is well-packed and stored appropriately, it has a long storage life without the necessity of refrigeration. We found ours to be in very good condition after twenty years of storage, but circumstances may vary in different countries and with different supplies.
The second highest priority item for me and my family is grain in all its forms, preferably wheat and rye. When grain is well-packed and well-preserved, it too is easy to transport, easy to store, and will last for generations.
A third priority item is honey. Its value in daily usage is immeasurable. My family prefers honey rather than sugar because our experience supports some of the research findings regarding the preeminence of honey. Another reason I prefer honey is because during the starvation period in postwar Germany, honey could be traded for three times as much as sugar; its value was considered that much greater.
A fourth important food storage product is powdered milk.
These four basic items—oil, wheat, honey, and milk (or their equivalents in other cultures)—together with water, salt, and renewable basic foods such as potatoes and other vegetables, can satisfy nutritional requirements in times of emergency and also are valuable and usable in normal daily life.
You might ask, “What about the many other food items and desserts that play an important role in our eating habits?” I shall always treasure the great experience I had in those hard times, when I learned to appreciate food with the most balanced nutrients. When a person is very hungry, the taste of food will change for him. In times of emergency, the Lord seems to provide a way to help our bodies adapt. For instance, I remember well that when I was a child I did not like to eat bacon. I argued with my mother whenever she prepared potatoes fried with bacon instead of fried with vegetable oil or butter, not recognizing in my youth that sometimes this was the only way she could provide fat in our diet. Several years later when we were suffering from the severe food shortage, I remember that after days of being without food, the first edible item I could obtain, ironically, was a piece of bacon. I looked upon it as the best treasure I had ever achieved. I placed the pieces of the bacon between my teeth and my cheek and did not dare to chew it, simply because I wanted to savor and appreciate longer the wonderful taste of bacon. At that moment I could not understand how I could have ever disliked bacon.
In times of real hunger the human body seems to develop a natural craving for the things it needs most. An athlete who is preparing for a marathon has the same experience as he daily runs his ten miles in training. He will eventually develop a feeling for the real needs of his body; he will develop an appetite for the food that his body requires, and he will be repulsed by food items that do not add to his body’s strength. In times of affluence this instinct seems to diminish, and this is one of the reasons for much malnutrition in our modern world. It might also be of interest to know that there seemed to be much less sickness during those hard times. The rapid rise and frequency of heart disease, diseases of the vascular system, and diabetes began after the times of shortage in Germany. In spite of billions of dollars invested in medicines and hospitals for improving medical service, life expectancy rates in Germany are not rising—due, I think, to our modern poor eating habits.
When we think in terms of our own year’s supply of those foods and materials we use on a regular basis, we may feel that every family will have to store everything. This, of course, is not easy and seems to make storage difficult. However, let me offer this comforting idea based on past experience. We need to take into consideration that in difficult times, so long as there survives more than one family, there will be trading of valuable items. A free market will begin immediately to satisfy the needs of people, and items in greatest demand will set the price, bypassing the use of money. The ingeniousness of mankind becomes evident in times of need. When man is presented with a problem or challenge, if he is in a healthy spirit—which hopefully we are—he will find solutions that he never dreamed of. When a person has a good, healthy spirit, is able to adjust and is not afraid to use his imagination, he will find ways to survive.
There is a long way from the point of hunger to actual starvation, and there is much that one can do to stay alive in hard times, especially when one is mentally and physically prepared. A garden, even as small as a window box, is of great value, as is the skill to be able to plant and to grow things. Following the war, in addition to having a small garden, my family was able to obtain the milk we needed by keeping a milk sheep, which gave enough milk for our family for the greater part of the year. (I have not seen this species in America, but it was very common in Germany.) Besides milk, our sheep supplied us with wool to trade or to use for knitting items. During the spring of the year it would give birth to one or two lambs which could also be used for food or trade. Some of our neighbors had goats, but we preferred the sheep because of the wool and because sheep seemed easier to tolerate and to work with. They required very little extra care and were easy to satisfy. Also, all over the country, even the large cities, people began to keep rabbits in small pens, and children had the task of looking for grass, dandelions, and leaves in order to feed their rabbits. In addition, people kept hens, and chicken coops were prevalent in all places. Because grain was too valuable to feed to chickens, other sources of chicken feed had to be found. Children found ways of breeding worms, beetles, and flies to be used for this purpose. People also built small, wooden handcarts which could be used to transport items used for trading, which took place wherever people met.
There are some other observations one could also make: The true nature of people becomes obvious in times of real need. Good people become better; they get close to one another; they learn to share and become united. The strength that develops out of unity of the many good people becomes a real survival factor. On the other hand, people who lack emotional stability become cruel and ruthless under trying circumstances; however, they do not seem to become an overbearing threat because of the closeness and unity of the majority of the people. Therefore, strangely enough, those who have survived hardships look back with fond memories to the awful period of pain and destruction because they recall the closeness that developed as they united themselves to survive by sharing whatever they had.
How blessed we are to be taught in these times of plenty that we might prepare for times of need without undue haste. Even more wonderful is the realization that we can prepare ourselves without fear because we know that God lives, that He knows and loves each one of us, and that He is giving us direction in these latter days through a living prophet.
God loves us so much that He allows us to come to Him at any time with our personal requests for help and direction—that our eyes will be opened and we will learn to live with wisdom and patience in times of austerity, that we might learn by the Lord’s influence to identify our real needs.
What a comfort it is to read His revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, “If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.” (D&C 38:30.)
The Lord wants us to be prepared.
With the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days there continues to unfold the plan of how the temporal affairs of this earth should be governed. With the gospel restoration, the Lord’s ways have been revealed to help mankind eventually build Zion. Thus, how beautiful is the revelation of the welfare plan, presently established in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a preparatory step toward living the law of consecration.
The magnitude of the idea of serving the many needs of people through Social Services, employment centers, and Deseret Industries causes me to rejoice. But what excites me more is the idea of having work projects and farms in order to produce goods for filling storehouses, for distributing commodities, and for giving work and service opportunities to the needy without any commercial or selfish interest.
Let me tell you why this has such personal meaning for me. With a European heritage and educational background, one readily develops a perspective of how in the last 250 years people have fought, struggled, and hoped for a just society that would overcome the destructiveness of slavery, poverty, and injustice so prevalent through the history of mankind. For example, the doctrines and philosophies of Voltaire and Jean Jacques Rousseau, forerunners of the French Revolution, envisioned establishing a just society founded on their understanding of the principles of liberty, equality, and the brotherhood of man. Similarly, many other philosophers, teachers, poets, and dreamers, mainly from England and Germany, stirred up the minds and expectations of the people. Even Karl Marx, who was the intellectual offspring of Hegel and the constructing architect of communism, had as an initial vision the elimination of poverty and the establishment of a just and free society, developing restless expectations among many people of the world.
No man, however, will ever be able to achieve Zion unless he becomes an instrument in the hands of the Almighty; for only God can reveal the whole picture and process of attaining Zion. Through Joseph Smith this was again given to man, and with the restoration of the priesthood there have been revealed organizational details, necessary steps, and true principles upon which God’s Zion will be established.
To me, the Lord’s plan to bring peace and justice is overwhelming and stirs up hope in the hearts of righteous people throughout the world who hear of it. Evidence of this was just recently given again by a prominent European visitor who toured Salt Lake City’s Welfare Square with me. After learning of the dimensions of the Church’s welfare services today, he said with evidence of deep emotion, “I hope you know what you have. It seems to me that this is the only hope of mankind to master the future.”
Now that I have shared my feelings regarding the overall picture of the Lord’s revealed plan of welfare, let me approach one portion of the plan in which we as individuals are directly involved—the personal and family preparedness plan whereby we are to obtain a year’s supply of food and necessary supplies. May I share with you some experiences that I, along with millions of other Europeans, had in the days of devastation, total destruction, and starvation that became a reality for so many survivors of World War II. These experiences helped me to recognize and appreciate the basic necessities of life and to separate true needs from false wants. Since my conversion and because of my World War II experiences, I now have a deep appreciation for the revealed plan of a year’s supply for each member.
Frequently I am asked, “What were the most valuable items in the days of starvation in Germany?” The answer is difficult to believe, because some of the experiences we had seem to be totally illogical and contrary to human nature. The items of highest value were tobacco and alcohol, because people who live in fear and despair, who have not learned principles of self-control, tend to need in times of panic some drug to escape the dreadful awareness of reality. I have seen people give their last loaf of bread and their last meager supply of potatoes just to obtain a bottle of brandy. How fortunate we are as members of the Church that we learn to develop a feeling for the true values of life and the necessity of self-control, so that in times of need there will be no panic, but we will be prepared.
As for what we needed, the food item we relied on most was vegetable oil. With a bottle of vegetable oil, one could acquire nearly every other desirable item. It had such value that with a quart of vegetable oil one could probably trade for three bushels of apples or three hundred pounds of potatoes. Vegetable oil has a high calorie content, is easy to transport, and in cooking can give a tasty flavor to all kinds of food items that one would not normally consider as food—wild flowers, wild plants, and roots from shrubs and trees. For me and my family, a high-quality vegetable oil has the highest priority in our food storage, both in times of daily use and for emergency usage. When vegetable oil is well-packed and stored appropriately, it has a long storage life without the necessity of refrigeration. We found ours to be in very good condition after twenty years of storage, but circumstances may vary in different countries and with different supplies.
The second highest priority item for me and my family is grain in all its forms, preferably wheat and rye. When grain is well-packed and well-preserved, it too is easy to transport, easy to store, and will last for generations.
A third priority item is honey. Its value in daily usage is immeasurable. My family prefers honey rather than sugar because our experience supports some of the research findings regarding the preeminence of honey. Another reason I prefer honey is because during the starvation period in postwar Germany, honey could be traded for three times as much as sugar; its value was considered that much greater.
A fourth important food storage product is powdered milk.
These four basic items—oil, wheat, honey, and milk (or their equivalents in other cultures)—together with water, salt, and renewable basic foods such as potatoes and other vegetables, can satisfy nutritional requirements in times of emergency and also are valuable and usable in normal daily life.
You might ask, “What about the many other food items and desserts that play an important role in our eating habits?” I shall always treasure the great experience I had in those hard times, when I learned to appreciate food with the most balanced nutrients. When a person is very hungry, the taste of food will change for him. In times of emergency, the Lord seems to provide a way to help our bodies adapt. For instance, I remember well that when I was a child I did not like to eat bacon. I argued with my mother whenever she prepared potatoes fried with bacon instead of fried with vegetable oil or butter, not recognizing in my youth that sometimes this was the only way she could provide fat in our diet. Several years later when we were suffering from the severe food shortage, I remember that after days of being without food, the first edible item I could obtain, ironically, was a piece of bacon. I looked upon it as the best treasure I had ever achieved. I placed the pieces of the bacon between my teeth and my cheek and did not dare to chew it, simply because I wanted to savor and appreciate longer the wonderful taste of bacon. At that moment I could not understand how I could have ever disliked bacon.
In times of real hunger the human body seems to develop a natural craving for the things it needs most. An athlete who is preparing for a marathon has the same experience as he daily runs his ten miles in training. He will eventually develop a feeling for the real needs of his body; he will develop an appetite for the food that his body requires, and he will be repulsed by food items that do not add to his body’s strength. In times of affluence this instinct seems to diminish, and this is one of the reasons for much malnutrition in our modern world. It might also be of interest to know that there seemed to be much less sickness during those hard times. The rapid rise and frequency of heart disease, diseases of the vascular system, and diabetes began after the times of shortage in Germany. In spite of billions of dollars invested in medicines and hospitals for improving medical service, life expectancy rates in Germany are not rising—due, I think, to our modern poor eating habits.
When we think in terms of our own year’s supply of those foods and materials we use on a regular basis, we may feel that every family will have to store everything. This, of course, is not easy and seems to make storage difficult. However, let me offer this comforting idea based on past experience. We need to take into consideration that in difficult times, so long as there survives more than one family, there will be trading of valuable items. A free market will begin immediately to satisfy the needs of people, and items in greatest demand will set the price, bypassing the use of money. The ingeniousness of mankind becomes evident in times of need. When man is presented with a problem or challenge, if he is in a healthy spirit—which hopefully we are—he will find solutions that he never dreamed of. When a person has a good, healthy spirit, is able to adjust and is not afraid to use his imagination, he will find ways to survive.
There is a long way from the point of hunger to actual starvation, and there is much that one can do to stay alive in hard times, especially when one is mentally and physically prepared. A garden, even as small as a window box, is of great value, as is the skill to be able to plant and to grow things. Following the war, in addition to having a small garden, my family was able to obtain the milk we needed by keeping a milk sheep, which gave enough milk for our family for the greater part of the year. (I have not seen this species in America, but it was very common in Germany.) Besides milk, our sheep supplied us with wool to trade or to use for knitting items. During the spring of the year it would give birth to one or two lambs which could also be used for food or trade. Some of our neighbors had goats, but we preferred the sheep because of the wool and because sheep seemed easier to tolerate and to work with. They required very little extra care and were easy to satisfy. Also, all over the country, even the large cities, people began to keep rabbits in small pens, and children had the task of looking for grass, dandelions, and leaves in order to feed their rabbits. In addition, people kept hens, and chicken coops were prevalent in all places. Because grain was too valuable to feed to chickens, other sources of chicken feed had to be found. Children found ways of breeding worms, beetles, and flies to be used for this purpose. People also built small, wooden handcarts which could be used to transport items used for trading, which took place wherever people met.
There are some other observations one could also make: The true nature of people becomes obvious in times of real need. Good people become better; they get close to one another; they learn to share and become united. The strength that develops out of unity of the many good people becomes a real survival factor. On the other hand, people who lack emotional stability become cruel and ruthless under trying circumstances; however, they do not seem to become an overbearing threat because of the closeness and unity of the majority of the people. Therefore, strangely enough, those who have survived hardships look back with fond memories to the awful period of pain and destruction because they recall the closeness that developed as they united themselves to survive by sharing whatever they had.
How blessed we are to be taught in these times of plenty that we might prepare for times of need without undue haste. Even more wonderful is the realization that we can prepare ourselves without fear because we know that God lives, that He knows and loves each one of us, and that He is giving us direction in these latter days through a living prophet.
God loves us so much that He allows us to come to Him at any time with our personal requests for help and direction—that our eyes will be opened and we will learn to live with wisdom and patience in times of austerity, that we might learn by the Lord’s influence to identify our real needs.
What a comfort it is to read His revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, “If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.” (D&C 38:30.)
The Lord wants us to be prepared.
Areas of Self Reliance
We should become self reliant in the following six areas:
1. Education and Literacy
2. Physical Health
3. Employment
4. Home Storage
5. Resource Management
6. Spiritual, Emotional and Social Strength
1. Education and Literacy
2. Physical Health
3. Employment
4. Home Storage
5. Resource Management
6. Spiritual, Emotional and Social Strength
Thursday, February 19, 2009
3 Day Blackout Menu
This is a menu from Recipezaar that includes hot meals made from your pantry and can be cooked over a grill, open fire or campstove. You may have to copy and paste the link into your address bar.
http://www.recipezaar.com/menu/19406
http://www.recipezaar.com/menu/19406
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
