The Zombie Apocalypse Day

*Sorry about the highlight -There was an error and I couldn't figure out how to remove it*

It was a terrible event yesterday.  I was caught tragically unprepared.
Several times I had planned to make an emergency preparedness kit to keep outside, but "never got around to it."
Ok, so maybe there weren't really any zombies, but it was still a really tough day.
Just shortly after 10:00 am, while heading out to water the seedlings in my mini-greenhouse, I accidentally locked myself out of the house.  My husband and I had been out of town for the weekend, so Tom had put our spare key inside the house.  My heart sank. My bare feet immediately cried out for comfort.  I had also been wearing thin clothes for lounging around the house and I had only had a small breakfast, not the kind to last all day.
So, it was quickly decided that it was going to be a day to get all my "outside chores" done.   ...but barefoot???
I went to work first braiding some old grass to make shoe soles that I could tie on my feet. Although I often go barefoot around the yard, I did not feel they were tough enough to last all day. Then I remembered some holy socks my husband kept in the generator shed to use as rags.  I decided to use two socks per foot, and wrap them with tape. Later, I found duct tape in the tool shed and replaced the "tuck tape" with "duct tape."  Much much better!  My feet stayed comfy and dry and warm all day.

My "duct tape" shoes

I watered some plants, picked up rocks out of the garden, scraped old chicken poop off the  roosts to get it ready for new chickens, raked rocks off the lawn area, and started forming the garden beds.  (Recently, the garden was prepared by adding 5 truckloads of cattle manure, plowing it, then discing it, then running a cultivator over it to break up more clumps).
It wasn't a day without food.  There are wild edibles that are already growing. Occasionally, I grabbed a handful of dandelion greens or cow parsnip greens to munch.  It was only for 1 day, so that was fine.
By about Noon, I realized that it was getting really cold and was going to rain, so I returned to the tool shed to find 2 tarps. I grabbed the hatchet and set out for the woods where I found a fallen birch tree.  I removed all the limbs and dragged it to our clothes line pole where I propped up one end at a decent height for a tent.  Then I folded one tarp over and stuffed it with grass mulch that had been covering my Rhubarb and Chives bed.  It made a nice comfy place to rest.  Then I tied the second tarp over using twine I had found in the chicken coop.  Really, it was a very nice tent.  Using more rags in a plastic grocery bag, I had a pillow.
Thankfully, I had my garden pitcher, and a faucet for drinkable water.  Throughout the day, I drank 3 1/2 quarts of water.  It was only around 50 to 55 degrees most of the day until evening.  When it got cold, and rained, I simply retreated to the tent and took a nap.
It was a very long day, until Tom returned from work (a long day for him) at 7:15 pm.
In reality, if it had been more of an emergency, I could have broken a window and gone inside, but I decided to tough it out and learn from the experience.  Alternatively, if it were much colder, I could have hung out in the generator shed where it stays warmer, but it is really loud in there.

All this got me thinking. I needed to be better prepared.  I needed to have an emergency kit to keep outside.  I started filling one this morning with items already around the house.

So far, it contains:
1 pair warm gloves, 1 pair work gloves, 1 warm hat, matches, a flint fire starter, 2 washcloths, a notebook and pencil, paracord, Ibuprofen and Excedrin, canned salmon and canned tuna, 1 cup quinoa, a leatherman knife/tool set, cotton balls smeared with petroleum jelly, an emergency blanket, a warm fleece, 100 yds dental floss (can be used for cordage), a roll of duct tape, band-aids, and electrolyte powder (enough for 30 quarts of water).
There's much that can be added, but its a good start. (need to get a can opener soon).

So, ask yourself, ...are you prepared for a zombie apocalypse?

Stinging Nettles, young

Rhubarb

A plentiful supply of wild Nettles

The daylight hours are growing longer.  It seems to be getting light by 5 am, and remains light until about 10:30 pm.  I'm sure this is a great help for the seedlings.  They were doing great in the mini-greenhouse most nights, but there was one early morning that the frost dipped a bit too low.  It killed most of my seedlings, but I think that was also because I had not watered them that day. They had seemed to be doing better with watering only every other day, except when the severe cold came unexpectedly.

The bears have arrived out of hibernation.  We have seen several Black Bears nearby, with one that came into our front yard.  That was the evening that we learned the sound of Grizz's very serious bark.  It was quite alarming.  We have also continued to see many Elk on our back hills on a regular basis.

Grizz, half growed up.  *sniff*

 Have a great week!

DIY Paper Seedling Pots, and Chaga!

Hello Friends!
These past 2 months have been crazy busy.  I am sorry that I have not been able to update this blog recently.  Hunters began arriving mid February and the last of them left mid March.  During that time, I have been busy cleaning and cooking and trying to keep progressing forward with my home business start-up as well.  The hunters were here to hunt wolves, but Tom was not guiding the hunts this time, as he was kept busy with some special projects at his workplace.  However, we did hire an assistant guide, who stayed here as well.

We have had some very warm weather here, and I have noticed that the populations of chickadees have been steadily increasing.  But then, just when I was getting excited again about the hope of Spring, we suddenly received a load of 12-14" of snowfall overnight.  That was just a few days ago, and it has been quite chilly ever since.

My seeds have been started!!!  The chill in the air has not suppressed my gardening plans.  A week ago, I spent an afternoon rolling recycled newspaper and paper grocery bags to make hand-made pots for starting my seedlings.  Then I filled the little pots and planted the first seedlings, Shasta Daisies, and placed the pots in our boiler room to germinate.  The room stays a nice 85 degree F temperature.  Today, I found that there are a few seedlings that have already begun sprouting.  It is still a little more than 10 weeks before the last expected Spring frost. Tonight I will finish assembling our mini-greenhouse to keep our seedlings warm and happy until they can be transplanted.  This is the first time I have used DIY paper pots, but I already highly recommend them.  The paper is biodegradable, and can be transplanted directly into the garden, without disturbing your seedling's roots. This also avoids senseless cheap plastic waste. One week later, my paper pots are holding up as well as when they were first made.

PAPER SEEDLING POTS:
For you do-it-yourselfers out there, first select a jar or can from your pantry that has the same diameter as you would like to have the completed paper pot.  (Mine are 2.5" pots and 3 3/4" pots).  Just roll the jar up in the recycled paper at the desired height until it is 2-4 thicknesses (depending on strength of the paper used), leaving enough loose end at the bottom to fold over (as you would wrap a present), and tape with masking tape to secure.  Then slide the jar out and fill your new paper pot with moistened seedling starter soil up to 3/4 full.

Chaga!  My great foraging find!
Now, what would this natural living blog be without sharing with you as I learn about wild foraging? A few weeks ago I went foraging for Chaga Mushrooms.  Chaga,  Inonotus obliquus, also known as Birch Fungus, is found here in our surrounding woods.  It was not difficult to find and I was able to quickly collect a suitable amount for my needs.  I never collect more than 10% at most of any herb in a given area when foraging to preserve the herb/plant's productivity.  Also, I only collect plants, including mushrooms, if the specimen can be positively identified.  Chaga Mushroom is quite different than what one would normally think of as a mushroom.  Chaga is a hard crusty parasitical growth found primarily on Birch trees, though I have seen it here also on some Poplar trees. For the greatest healing properties, it should be collected only from Birch trees.   Here is some information to share with you that I found on youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0z4Y8_Nc-0 
This is not the best resource, but it does have some good information.
The first two pictures show it growing on Birch trees, while the last is the specimen I collected.

 

Yogurt in a Crockpot

Hello all!  Time has been flying by fast for me.  Though I keep planning to write much more often here, I find myself keeping busy starting my business instead.   Not much has been changing around here otherwise.  We have had much snow and Spring is so far away so I will not be getting out to do much foraging for a while.  Soon I will post about some winter foraging that I have been doing.

Grizz has continued growing to be a wonderful dog. Now at 6 months old, he is a big 55 lbs of bouncing puppy joy.  Grizz just had his first snowmobile ride.  It will be good to train him to stay comfortably on a snowmobile or quad for when we take long trail trips.

I love making homemade yogurt, and found a method that uses a crockpot to heat the milk, and then turned off to cool for a bit before adding the yogurt culture.  Then, the crockpot just rests for hours while the yogurt culture works its wonders.

Homemade yogurt is a beneficial probiotic for healthy digestion, though there are many controversies involving its use in the regular diet.  I recommend using only organic, raw, grass-fed milk from local farmers, but its difficult to obtain raw.  There are many varieties available including Greek-style which has a higher protein content.  Yogurt the only dairy product that I regularly consume.  Pasteurized milk irritates my stomach, though raw feels just fine to me.   The yogurt culture I purchase currently is an organic pasteurized Greek-style.   I flavor my yogurt portions (usually with fruit and maple syrup or honey) only just before I eat it, but I also love to include yogurt in a smoothie for breakfast made with apple, oatmeal, honey and yogurt.  I also add it to soups instead of cream, or use it to make a delicious tangy cream cheese!  Do not use any yogurt culture that contains pectin.  I choose unflavored, but I have successfully used a vanilla flavored yogurt as the culture.

There are several methods of making yogurt easily found online, (or your local library), but here is the instructions I use to make it in a crock-pot:

Makes 1/2 gallon yogurt.

1.  Pour 1/2 gallon milk into a crock-pot with ceramic interior.
2.  Heat milk until thermometer reaches 175 degrees F.
3.  Meanwhile, let 1 cup yogurt set out to warm to room temperature.
4.  When crock-pot has heated to 175 degrees, unplug the crock-pot and allow it to cool until 115 degrees.  You may occasionally stir it to prevent a top-skin forming.
5.  Stir in 1 cup organic yogurt culture.
6.  Wrap the unplugged crock-pot with bath-sized towels, and let set undisturbed for 10 hours.  The resulting yogurt should be thick and delicious.

Store in the refrigerator and use as desired, saving 1 cup to use as a culture for your next batch of homemade natural goodness.  Enjoy!

Here's some more interesting and useful info on yogurt:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=124