Thread: BASIC LIST / SUGGESTED ITEMS FOR LONG TERM SURVIVAL

13 Year Old Develops Breakthrough Solar Technology




A Child Studies A Tree

A junior High School kid has invented a way of collecting sunlight for solar power that mimics the way leaves on trees do it!

Aiden Dwyer studied the pattern of the branches and discovered that they all follow a Fibonacci formula! This type of innovation is called Biomimicry -- looking to nature's examples for the most efficient way to accomplish a task.

Instead of thinking of solar panels as large flat things that must be installed on a roof, he had the idea to make a tree shaped collection of smaller panels, following the Fibonacci formula for an oak tree.

His invention may just liberate solar technology completely, bringing it down from the roof and into any kind of urban space, making solar power modular and portable.

Hoorah for the young scientist!

--Bibi Farber

This video was produced by Pop Tech.

Innovations 13 Year Old Develops Breakthrough Solar Technology

Homestead Survival

Aromatherapy Essential Oil Reference Chart- Super nice PDF - gives you the properties of and the uses for each oil.

The Homestead Survival: Aromatherapy Essential Oil Reference Chart- Super nice PDF - gives you the properties of and the uses for each oil.


100% Pure & Natural Therapeutic Grade Essential Oil- 7) Synergy Blends and 7) Top Oils= 14/ 10 ml (Eucalyptus, Cinnamon Bark, Lemon, Lavender, Peppermint, Sweet Orange, Rosemary, Meditation, Renew, Aphrodisiac, Stress Relief, Relaxation, Breathe Easy and Sensation)

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

A Simple Guide for Buying and Carrying a Self-Defense Handgun PDF

http://www.keepandbeararms.com/Puckett/firstgun.pdf


The Homestead Survival: A Simple Guide for Buying and Carrying a Self-Defense Handgun PDF

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Halloween Cupcake Decorating Tips & Method

Ok, the website just shared the picture but did not tell how they made them.

But with everyone's creativeness I better we could figure it out.
Please share your thoughts on tips of how you think they were made.

My thoughts: Pumpkin cupcakes: add pumpkin shaped candy to the top and add green frosting leaves

Ghost Cupcakes: Black sprinkle with rolled out white fondant and shaped.

Eyeball Cupcake: White fondant rolled out and cut into a circle, add black food coloring to fondant and roll and and cut into a circle, squeeze out red frosting squiggly lines.

Grave Tombstone Cupcake - I think the dirt is crumbed up Oreo cookies but the grave tombstone is stumping me how to make.

Spider Web Cupcake: White frosting, brown frosting is shape of web and topped off with a plastic spider.

The Homestead Survival: Halloween Cupcake Decorating Tips & Method

August 9, 2012
How I Healed My Son’s Skin Infection (Without Antibiotics)


This is a tale of how a mom can take charge of her family's health.

It isn't necessarily meant to read like a "how-to" (although you may find what I share useful), nor is it meant to make some sort of definitive statement about doctors and home remedies and antibiotics (although some may read that into it).

Rather, it is meant to be a descriptive story of one situation where I used a simple remedy to deal with a health concern that supposedly required medication.
Here's the story

For a little while, I had noticed some small bumps on the back of my son's leg. They were unlike anything I had seen before, but didn't seem particularly alarming. As a couple of them grew slightly, I began to be mildly concerned. Baffled, I wondered if they were similar to a pimple or even a manifestation of some sort of inward toxicity, because my son is particularly sensitive to toxins and doesn't handle them well. I tried looking on the internet to figure it out, but finally realized that I just had no idea and it was time to see a doctor when one became infected.

The doctor diagnosed the little bumps as something fairly benign, a type of wart-like virus common to children (passed around in swimming pools, on towels or soft toys, etc.) that is known as "mollescum contagium". He also confirmed that the redness and pain he was experiencing around one bump was a deep infection-- you could feel that it was a bit hard under the skin, which the doctor said was a pocket filling with infected pus.

The doctor recommended a round of oral antibiotics (which I wanted to avoid if at all possible, as they have very negative effects on digestion and gut flora). When I specifically asked about topical treatment instead, he told me that it was too deep to treat topically.

Oh, really?

Doctors everywhere, please don't tell me things like that. I take it as a direct challenge. I set out to prove him wrong as soon as I got home.

You can see two of the molluscum in this picture, with the one on the right clearly infected

How I treated the infection

I chose to treat it with a poultice of raw honey, activated charcoal and a few drops of tea tree oil.

Why I chose my particular arsenal of ingredients from my natural medicine cabinet:

• Activated charcoal powder. It draws out toxins extremely well and can eliminate harmful bacteria as well. This video that I watched last year came to mind as I considered whether I would use charcoal and how I would do it.
• Raw honey. I needed something to make the charcoal into a paste with (otherwise it was just a powdery mess), and I chose raw honey because it also has antibacterial qualities and has been known to help heal other types of infections.
• Tea tree essential oil. For its antiseptic and antiviral qualities. I had also found a helpful blog post sharing how one women (and many others in the comments) had used tea tree oil for treating mollescum contagium.

This mixture was a bit goopy and gross looking, and he didn't love the feel of it on his skin, but then again, he didn't like having a painful infection either. I made it clear that I knew he didn't like it, but I really wanted to help the owie on his skin, and he consented, because I guess the owie felt worse than the goopy poultice.



At first, I used gauze pads so that I could cover a larger area, because the infection was spread out beyond the initial site where it began (it was about an inch in diameter). Gradually, I switched over to bandaids, once the infected area started to shrink.

Within a day or two, I could see that it was slightly less red and inflamed looking.

Within a few more days, it was definitely smaller in size, and the hard area under the skin was also much smaller. It wasn't causing as much pain anymore (though it was still somewhat painful).
The second week, it continued to decrease in pain, redness and size. At this point, I wasn't being quite as on-the-ball with the poultices. I began changing them less often and I moved to just a band-aid with a bit of the mixture, and occasionally, just with a herbal healing salve instead of the black sticky mess that the charcoal made.

We definitely missed a few days days, and sometimes he took the bandaids or poultice off because they were bugging him (although he was a very good sport overall).

At the 2-3 week point, it looked as though the infection was entirely gone and just a small mark remained where it had been. Now, at the 4 week mark, you can't even tell he had it at all. The skin looks completely healed. (And I'm sorry I don't have a picture to show you- I forgot to take one until today and found my camera battery dead).
What I am (and am not) saying in this post

I can already hear some of the comments, so I'm going to address them proactively:

1. I am not saying that we should avoid doctors or that their suggestions should necessarily be ignored. There are times when conventional medical treatment is the right course of action, but I think it can be helpful to ask ourselves some good questions before making a decision for either natural OR conventional treatment. As a matter of fact, I thoroughly appreciated the quick and accurate diagnosis the doctor provided, which I had not been able to figure out on my own.

2. Antibiotics are not the enemy. They are overused, abused, and are causing problems as a result of reckless prescription. Much of the time, infections could be treated more naturally or simply be allowed to run their course for a full recovery in a similar period of time. And yet sometimes, antibiotics are invaluable and even life-saving. I'm not opposed to antibiotics. I'm grateful to live in a time and place when they are available for us when we need them. But that's the key word... need.

3. Home remedies can, and often do, work as well or better than many prescription/allopathic medications. They're not something to mess around with, though, particularly if you're not sure what you're doing. I've been studying alternative health and natural remedies for years, and as a result, I feel comfortable treating many of our family's ailments. It's worth noting, though, that before I took this infection on, I had it diagnosed so that I knew clearly what I was dealing with.

My husband and I also had a conversation where we agreed that if it didn't show signs of improving within a couple of days (we set a specific date) then we would reconsider filling the prescription for the antibiotics.
Do you have a story of healing with a home remedy? I hope you'll share it.

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A CERTIFIED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL OF ANY KIND AND AM NOT QUALIFIED TO GIVE YOU MEDICAL ADVICE. MY GOAL IS TO HELP TO EDUCATE AND INSPIRE YOU TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN FAMILY'S HEALTH AND MAKE INFORMED CHOICES OF YOUR OWN, NOT TO CONSULT YOU ON MEDICAL TREATMENT. ADDITIONALLY, THIS POST DOES INCLUDE SOME AFFILIATE LINKS. I ONLY RECOMMEND PRODUCTS THAT OUR FAMILY WOULD PURCHASE AND USE OURSELVES.

How I Healed My Son’s Skin Infection (Without Antibiotics)

From the Kitchen to the Garden, by G.T.

Let's just say I have a fair amount of time on my hands and not a whole lot of money.

Add to that a curious mind with a bit of a preparedness mindset and you get someone who likes to experiment with produce and gardening. I wanted to share some of my experiences with growing plants straight out of my kitchen, often from produce bought at the grocery store that was meant to be eaten but didn't make it to the table, or had the seeds removed first.

If you've seen some of the propaganda out these days on our food supply, you might, like me, have become fearful about what we are feeding our children.
I saw videos about potatoes that will not grow being sold in the grocery stores and I have heard stories about the seeds in our produce somehow becoming inactive. I wanted to see for myself if the food that I feed my family is that horrific and unnatural that it cannot reproduce or grow anymore itself. I'm not saying whether the food is bad or good, obviously it would be best if we could all grow our own food supply in a healthy, sustainable manner but that's an entirely different topic. I am saying that some of the propaganda is just that, or that my produce bought at my local, inexpensive chain style grocery store is possibly not as processed, or treated as some of the other stuff that was used in the tests that I have seen or heard about. To be clear, these are my tests and results, I won't compare them with any others except for my own previous growing experience because there are just too many variables. The hope here is that you might try some of these ideas and see for yourself what might work and what won't.

You might be asking yourself "Why is this relevant?" Well, in our dependant society we just don't know what could disrupt the fragile food supply, when it could happen or for how long. Access to fresh, viable seeds might be an issue for you when it all goes down. Not only that, availability could also be an issue, last spring I had to go to four different stores looking for seed potatoes and onions. I wondered if I couldn't find them in time, would it be that important to simply not plant those particular items? Of course, it would be not a huge issue to just buy them when I need them for now when all things are just a drive or click away, but I wanted to know if there was a way to make do without. as

Some of you might find this material interesting, some might find it educational, many of you will undoubtedly get a good laugh at my level of inexperience. That's okay, but in TEOTWAWKI there might be a whole lot of people trying to do what I am attempting to do now. In all fairness I am not a master gardener, or a soil expert, I just have an interest in gardening and seed saving.

I believe that many people would actually be less practiced and less educated (if you can believe it) then me if the food supply ran dry and we had to rely on farming.
I am certain that there are many variables and my experiments likely will not produce the same results for someone else, somewhere else, or even for myself in the same situation next year. Just a few of the many variables might include the type of produce purchased, the brand name, the growing area, the soil composition and light and water requirements for growing or for what the produce was grown in or around.

The point is to try for yourself if you have the time, space or the curiosity.

To start, I used grocery store fruit and vegetables. Everything was purchased at a regular inexpensive chain type grocery store. I used regular produce, inexpensive and not labeled organic or pesticide free with exception of the strawberries which I bought on sale that were labeled organic.
When I say that I dried the seeds, all I did was scoop them out, and lay them somewhere to dry for at least two weeks occasionally turning or shaking them. With the squash, pumpkin and melon, I rinsed the seeds off first then dried them for at least three weeks before placing them in storage. My method of storing them is to put them in an unbleached envelope labeled by type of seed and the date, and catalogued in a file system, stored in a cool and dark place.
Garlic- I left the whole garlic heads in the fridge and when I didn't use them, they eventually began to sprout. I generally prefer to overwinter my garlic but I planted the cloves in the spring anyhow. I harvested them in late August and the result was not as good as my usual crop. They were smaller with smaller cloves but they did grow and produce. Perhaps if I had been able to plant them in the fall as I usually do, they would have been the same size as my usual garlic harvest.
Watermelon- Watermelon seeds are becoming harder and harder to find in store bought fruit. I was lucky enough to find two seeds that I planted directly into the garden without drying them. Unfortunately there was no growth.

Pumpkin- I bought a pumpkin last year and dried the seeds. This summer I planted them and did get some growth. Most of the seeds did sprout and began to grow but none made it long enough to produce any larger leaves, flowers or pumpkins. I probably would have done better if I sprouted the seeds indoors and planted them earlier.

Tomato- I bought some larger tomatoes but one or two of them didn't make it to the table. I sliced them open and scooped out the seeds to dry. In the spring I planted them and was very pleased to see them growing. Unfortunately my tomato harvest was not a large one this year probably because I just didn't plant enough of them. The plants did produce a good quality of tomato, resulting in about six or seven tomatoes per plant.

Carrot- I remembered an experiment from grade school science class when we cut off the tops of carrots and put them in water to grow. I tried to replicate that experiment with no good results.

Melon- I planted the seeds directly in the garden from a fruit bought at the store. The plants grew nicely and did finally begin to flower and produce fruit. There were a surprising amount of melons on each plant however they just didn't seem to have enough time to mature even in this years extended growing period. Next year I'll try starting them indoors early in pots that can be planted into the garden.
Potato- I bought a ten pound bag of potatoes and left a few in the dark to grow eyes. Once they did, I planted them in a pail in the hopes of creating a makeshift potato tower. Although they did try to grow, nothing much came of it. There were sprouts and leaves protruding through the soil but they soon wilted and died. I recently learned that potatoes like good drainage and the pail I used did not have holes drilled into the bottom which could certainly have contributed to my poor results. I think next year I'll try them in the garden.

Winter Squash- I just love squash. I planted the seeds in early spring and carefully tended to them. They sprouted and grew nicely for the most part with only one plant remaining small with no flowers and therefore no fruit. The others did well and the plants looked good but again, the squash seems premature and there is not enough time for them to mature. I never grew winter squash before so I have no comparison but each plant aside from the one that did not produce, gave one or two premature squash. This would be another one to be sure to plant early indoors in pots that can go directly into the garden.

Strawberry- I have never had any success with the 'grow your own' strawberry kits and I always wondered if there was another way of growing strawberries without buying any kits or seeds or plants. I bought some organic strawberries on sale and half of them were too ripe to eat. I planted them in early summer in a pot, whole, with the tops sticking out (this is when the experienced gardeners are likely shaking their heads). I took great care of them, making sure they had plenty of sun and just enough water. In the end all I got was a pot of dirt with some dried leaves sticking out.

Peppers- I tried four types of peppers this year, again all seeds from grocery store bought produce, and none had been labeled organic.
Bell Pepper- I sowed the seeds directly from the pepper without drying. The plants were ok looking, perhaps a little on the weak side compared to the seedlings I usually buy to plant. All of them did grow and did flower, most of them did produce nicely with good quality peppers averaging from one to four peppers on a single stalk.
Habanero Type- Sad story here, I dried the seeds, planted them directly in the garden in the summer and had no growth.
Cayenne- I dried the seeds from the store bought packet of peppers. There was growth and production but not as much as I'm used to growing from seedlings that were already started. The peppers were smaller and there were perhaps a few less then usual.
Jalapeno Type- I dried the seeds from store bought jalapeno style peppers and sowed them straight into the garden. The plants looked good and the production was good. I had never planted jalapeno peppers before so I do not have other experience to draw on, just that they produced a decent amount of about three peppers per stalk.

All in all, it was a good experience despite some of the less desirable results. Reviewing these results shows me that I do have a lot to learn but at least some were very successful. I will continue to try to grow free seeds from the produce I buy, not only does it give free, viable fresh seeds, but I can also learn along the way.
I did recently get my hands on some good books on saving seeds. Flipping through them shows that that seed saving is not as easy as one might think. Some variables include humidity, drying time and drying temperature. Some seeds require specific treatment before they are able to germinate, and most require a steady soil temperature to sprout. Some seeds also need to be a certain temperature before they will sprout, as in freezing. There is a lot to learn in the science and miracle of seed saving and food growing. With the time honored tradition of saving seeds you are giving yourself a cushion of security regardless of what the future holds.

It is my hope that my experiments with produce, seed saving and growing will inspire you to try your own. Good luck.
JWR Adds: Be advised that much of the produce found in grocery stores comes from hybridized seed stock. Saving those seeds will sometimes result in poor yields in subsequent generations. For long term survival, open-pollinated non-hybrid seed (often called heirloom seed) is recommended.


From the Kitchen to the Garden, by G.T. - SurvivalBlog.com

Making Lye

Making Lye « Wood Ridge Homestead in the Shenandoah Valley

Wood Ridge Homestead

Welcome to our homestead!

We are in Virginia's northern Shenandoah Valley.

Wood Ridge Homestead in the Shenandoah Valley

Spicy Smoked Yellow Tomato Sauce

Spicy Smoked Yellow Tomato Sauce « Wood Ridge Homestead in the Shenandoah Valley

Cooking With A Rocket Stove

Cooking With A Rocket Stove « Wood Ridge Homestead in the Shenandoah Valley