The post How to Make Your Own Seed Starting Mix and Start Seedlings appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>Gardening season is nearly upon us! While those of us in the colder zones are merely sorting seeds and preparing spaces indoors, gardeners in the warmer regions are already starting their seedlings.
New gardeners may be feeling overwhelmed by all of the seed-starting mixes out there, while veteran gardeners may have tried just about everything on the shelf to no avail. So what do we do?
In this article, I’ll discuss the various methods used to start your own seedlings, as well as how to make your own mix.
First of all, why go to the bother when we can just run to the garden center and buy everything we need? Well, if money isn’t an issue or if you’re a very new gardener, buying stuff isn’t a bad option. I’ve always taught my new gardeners to keep it simple during the first couple of years as they learn the rhythm of the garden. Learning how to think like a gardener is no small thing if you’ve never done it before, so buying commercial mixes and seedlings can lessen complicating factors.
That’s the expensive route, however.
Last year I ended up paying $85 for seedlings because my starts were too runted and diseased to use. It was an excellent investment, however, paying off in food more than 10x my investment. So buying is a viable way to go.
Starting your own seedlings, however, is much cheaper, plus you get to choose your exact desired varieties. Garden centers will have varieties that grow well in your area, but if you want to try anything a bit more exotic, they can’t help you. Also, if you’re making an emergency run, as I did, you get to pick from what they have left. Starting your own means, you get to pick what you want.
Most commercial seed starting mixes are a mixture of sphagnum moss, perlite, fertilizer, and a wetting agent. Organic mixes are often fortified with things like worm castings as well as kelp, alfalfa, and feather meals. Some even add mycorrhiza! Bonus, right?
While I’ve had good results with Miracle-Gro Seed Starting Mix, the Espoma organic mix that I purchased last year was the cause of my emergency run to the garden center. My plants were runted and diseased and wholly unusable. While runts will often grow once in good soil, diseased runts aren’t worth my time or yours. Others have had good experiences with Espoma, so it’s possible that my problem was a bad batch. That happens with commercial mixes.
Another popular method for seed starting is the Jiffy pellet. These are readily available both locally and online, and relatively cheap. They’re an open wall, net container, and medium all in one that’s shipped as a highly compressed disc. What one does is soak the disc overnight. The disc will expand, and the seed is planted in the medium. Jiffy also makes pots that are allegedly biodegradable. I have not found the pots to degrade well, and I’ve accumulated enough plastic pots to reuse each year to not need those. I’ve had more success with Jiffy pellets by planting them in seed starting mix once the seedling has its first cotyledon leaves.
So how about making your own seed starting mix? The qualities of a good mix are:
Common recipes for your own seed starting mix are 1 part drainage material, 2 parts water retention material, 2 parts fine-grained compost, and 1/2 part nutrition material. Some basic measuring tools include yogurt cups and ice cream buckets, depending upon how much you plan to make. A sieve to break up chunks is a good idea, and don’t forget the container to keep it all in! Store your mix in a container with a good lid.
More in-depth recipes can be found here and here.
Here are some tips for starting your own seeds.
Be sure not to plant your seeds too deeply, or they won’t sprout. Keep in mind that there’s only so much food in the seed (termed endosperm for the science geeks out there), and the plant must reach the light in order to make more food for growth. So, whatever method you use, don’t plant too deeply. Your seed packet will give planting depth.
Heat mats are good. They’re very cheap and will help the seeds germinate quickly, and are almost a must in colder climates. I’ll start my frost-sensitive stuff like tomatoes and peppers anywhere from mid-March to April 1, when it’s still in the 20s F outside. Even inside, plants don’t like that cold. Heat mats also help seeds germinate.
Something I prefer in order to be sure I’m planting good seed is to germinate in a wet paper towel, then plant. I wet a paper towel, put some seed between the layers along with an identifying marker (I use popsicle sticks), wrap in plastic and put on a heat mat. I also have many flat plastic food containers that I’ve saved for this purpose, although a ziplock bag will also work. Cleanliness is good.
Using city compost is free, but there’s no way to know what’s in it. I send my diseased plants to the city compost pile, which may or may not be hot enough to kill undesirables. I’ve seen it do really well and really poorly, as my Master Gardener project used it. Be aware.
Speaking of sterilization, it isn’t a bad idea to pasteurize your own mix. I haven’t found the oven method to work well, but putting my mushroom mix in an old pillow case and sterilizing on the stove for 1 hour did. Unsterilized mix also thwarted my hydroponics operation, as you can read here.
Remember: these mixes aren’t meant to grow plants over the long term. They’re meant to help develop good root systems so the plants will grow quickly once in contact with good soil. So don’t try to grow anything in a seed starting mix over the long term. Seedlings are usually transplanted at about 8 weeks, including hardening time.
Speaking of hardening, it’s absolutely vital that your seedlings are hardened out before transplanting! Otherwise, they’ll die. Plants grown indoors must be acclimated to direct sun, wind, and rain exposure. This is done by putting them out for increasing amounts of time over the course of 1-2 weeks. I start with 1 hour in direct sun, perhaps for 2 days, then double the exposure time every couple of days until they’re happy out overnight. A collapsible greenhouse can help, especially if nighttime temperatures are still in the 40s. These can be purchased cheaply or made from a bit of plastic and some PVC. Cold frames can also help.
When making your own mix you’ll be working with very finely-grained particles that fly in the slightest breeze and are easily inhaled. Wearing a mask and working in a well-ventilated area are both good ideas. Gloves aren’t a bad thing either, especially if you’re working with peat moss and coco coir. These are slightly acidic and your hands will notice. Trust me: there isn’t enough hand lotion on the planet! Wear gloves.
Lastly, if you get seeds anywhere other than commercially, then giving them the hot water treatment isn’t a bad idea. Read about that here.
So that’s it in a nutshell! Starting your own seedlings is very cost-effective, and you get to try new stuff that may not be available locally. Making your own seed starting mix has its benefits as well and isn’t difficult at all to do.
Do you start your own seeds? What about making your own potting mix? Have you ever had terrible luck with a commercial mix? Share your tips and experiences in the comments section!
Amy Allen is a professional bookworm and student of Life, the Universe, and Everything. She’s also a Master Gardener with a BS in biology, and has been growing food on her small urban lot since 2010.
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]]>The post Haiti, Third World Violence, and the SHTF appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>News about the situation in Haiti keeps circulating and making waves among the international community. It’ll soon be replaced by another issue of the moment, but it’s everywhere now, and even celebrities and artists are rushing to show support for the “wonderful Haiti,” praising the disgraced country’s enchantments.
Daisy’s report on the explosion of violence on the Caribbean island had commenters expressing their views as well, with many mentioning worries that something similar can happen in the US. She and Selco returned to the topic last week, posing a couple of rather pertinent questions at the end to stimulate the debate:
“Do you use the situation in Haiti as a possible example of how bad the SHTF could really get? Or do you have a bunch of reasons why you believe you are different or somehow exempt from such things?”
My intention in writing a post to answer that is not to create a polemic, much less antagonize. It is just to provide a different point of view and why I think it matters for those who want to stay prepared for this specific type of SHTF.
To answer Daisy’s first question –
As well as the Balkans, Lebanon, Argentina, WW2, or any other war or disaster. We take these and other historical events and analyze how far humans can go to create and survive SHTFs. Even though we’re doomed to repeat history, we can and do learn a lot from it individually.
However, I am of the opinion that something like that cannot and will not happen in the US, Europe, or other First World Nations. Not in the foreseeable future, if ever. Not even in less prominent and developed countries like mine (Brazil), Mexico, or Argentina. In other words, I see Haiti, Ecuador, or the Balkans as the exception.
That leads straight to the second question, and to me, it’s more a matter of probability than exemption. To be clear, I believe no one’s exempt from anything, so the Haitization or Balkanization of the US is possible, only highly unlikely.
Some stuff happens to X but not Y, and that applies to people as well to different nations and locations. Before getting into the why that is, let’s review some accepted facts:
However, while thin, this “veneer of civilization” (the system) is stronger and more resilient than we think.
That’s particularly true in more advanced and wealthier (i.e., First World) nations, but as I said, also in ones a few stages below in development. Countries with solid traditions in democracy, robust institutions, and stronger educational and technological foundations go into crisis, shake, and tremble. They may even go to war, but they don’t fall as easily into anarchy.
We may debate the fact that Western institutions and values are discredited, being challenged, or under attack and the impact that process has on the pillars of modern civilization and the dynamics of society. Fine, but we cannot argue history so while all that spells “crisis”, it has happened many times before and doesn’t necessarily mean order and law will crumble in these places.
Things like social unrest, political instability, corruption, huge debts, and glitches in finance and the economy have been par for most of history. The older generations may have forgotten, and the newer ones are unaccustomed to that, so the whole Fourth Turning thing looks and feels like the end of times. But that’s just the normal state of the world. We’re living at the peak of civilization, and it keeps moving forward despite setbacks.
The idea that the status quo is strong and flexible may challenge some accepted notions, but history proves it.
I’ve said it before: the state has tremendous power, even in less functional countries. It takes a lot to challenge that power in any meaningful way and even more to bring it down.
What happened in Haiti and Ecuador is inconceivable in the US, UK or Europe because the conditions aren’t there. Residents of these places will never see warlords and gangs threatening the government, breaking into prisons and freeing thousands of inmates, barbecuing their enemies in the streets, or terrorizing the population at large. There will be issues with mass immigration, the economy, crime, and social unrest, but not a total collapse of authority and order.
It would take something really big, most likely of natural order (a huge CME or something), to create these conditions. In that case, yes things could deteriorate fast and hard but that’s not what I’m talking about. And even in that case, it could, not necessarily would.
An SHTF like Haiti is less a matter of exceptionalism and more about precedent and vocation.
I’m not an expert, but something of that nature and magnitude has never happened to a superpower in modern times, so history seems to prove that theory. It’s hard to imagine it can happen now just “because it can happen anywhere.” Some things do, others don’t: widespread barbarism and cannibalism aren’t exactly exceptional in Haiti, but they are almost everywhere else, even during tough times, and that makes a big difference, too.
I’ve already argued why I don’t see a civil war 2 in the US anytime soon. Some people get mad at me for saying that, but it’s my opinion, and I did my best to base it on arguments, point by point. There’s nothing black and white about these matters, so I’ll admit that a civil war is more likely to occur in the US than a Haiti-style SHTF.
The same logic applies to the possibility of war breaking out in Europe: it’s not exceptional, in fact it’s happened countless times in a not-so-distant past so objectively the conditions are present.
Another example: political coups were common in Latin America (I was born in the thick of a military regime lasting from 1964 to 1985 in Brazil). It’s 2024, and former president Bolsonaro may go to jail for allegedly plotting a coup after last year’s elections. I won’t go into detail because the whole thing – the plot and the investigation – is a circus. Just mentioning it, but that’s the point: flirting with this kind of crap is part of Latin American culture. Determinism aside, that explains a lot of why we’re seeing that kind of crap surface again. However, things never even came close to bad here as they get in Haiti.
As Daisy noted, crap is always hitting the fan somewhere. Democracy, education, culture, economy, institutions, and society are at different stages in countries worldwide. Naturally, some places will see dictatorships, others hyperinflation, others wars or coups, and so on. That’s how the world works.
Many expressed their horror and disgust with the news that cannibalism had become widespread in Haiti as it fell into chaos. Others questioned the veracity of these reports. Cannibalism is a social taboo and a constant topic in preparedness and survivalism, so what’s happening?
First of all, many of the videos circulating are old or fake. But some are real, meaning it’s happening, which shouldn’t come as a shock considering the history, the tribalistic nature, the primitive culture, and the current development stage of Haitian society.
Second, the gangs ruling Haiti have a lot in common with the cartels and criminal factions that exist in most of Latin America. Hence, gut-wrenching brutality and violence dispensed by gangs, criminal factions, and cartels to their enemies. Barbecuing and feasting on the corpses of your enemies is just one such case. I’m sure some of you have seen worse and know what I’m talking about.
Anyway, mutilation and exhibition of the enemy’s violated corpse are used to send a message, humiliate and inflict fear on the opponents and shock society. Barbaric practices have been common since the dawn of time and persist to this day in places where violence is the norm – Haiti, but also Third World favelas, prisons, and disputed territories. It clearly isn’t the norm in the First World.
Not so much. I’m not saying a large influx of immigrants (legal or illegal) over a relatively short time won’t impact the standard of living and bring deep and broad changes to any society because it will. Even more so to already overburdened, overstretched, and highly indebted nations, which is the case in most, if not all, Western countries right now.
That’s happening now.
But these are also the countries with the best infrastructure and the strongest institutions. So again, this wave can damage and weaken any country, even a superpower. Though this process will make the First World more like the Third, it’s unlikely to cause it to collapse entirely, and that’s a big difference.
Open borders, moral decay, economic and financial crashes, government and institutional corruption and inefficiency, organized crime (I’ll be talking about this in an upcoming article): these are in my opinion the most severe threats to First World nations, particularly the US and Europe. The consequences will directly impact the citizens.
But Haiti? I can’t see how.
This post may seem like a Third Worldization vs. Balkanization debate, but it’s not. It could be more like Third Worldization + Balkanization, as the two are closely related—more so than most people think anyway.
Admittedly, I see Thirdworldization as a more prominent issue, not only because that’s the kind of SHTF I’ve been through for half of my life and see now happening here and everywhere else, but mostly due to the fact that it’s a forerunner of other full-scale SHTFs caused by humans.
It’s also cyclical and widespread. No nation or population is immune to becoming poorer and more dysfunctional. I defend some may be exempt from other types of SHTFs – to be clear, by probability, not exceptionalism, divine mandate, or something. Crap can hit the fan anywhere, sure, it’s just more frequent and the consequences more severe in some places than in others due to a series of factors.
That’s not to say everything will be fine in the First World, but again, that’s life on planet Earth, and we’ll survive. Unless you live in a real, actual sih*thole, Haiti is a sad but distant reality, so relax and enjoy that privilege. Keep praying, helping your family and others around you, following the events and trends, studying history, and preparing accordingly.
So, what are your thoughts about all this? It’s a fascinating discussion, and we’d love to hear your opinion. Just how bad would a SHTF in America become? Would we see pockets of Haiti-level violence? Would it be widespread? Would it be nearly impossible?
Let’s discuss it in the comments section.
Fabian Ommar is a 50-year-old middle-class worker living in São Paulo, Brazil. Far from being the super-tactical or highly trained military survivor type, he is the average joe who since his youth has been involved with self-reliance and outdoor activities and the practical side of balancing life between a big city and rural/wilderness settings. Since the 2008 world economic crisis, he has been training and helping others in his area to become better prepared for the “constant, slow-burning SHTF” of living in a 3rd world country.
Fabian’s ebook, Street Survivalism: A Practical Training Guide To Life In The City , is a practical training method for common city dwellers based on the lifestyle of the homeless (real-life survivors) to be more psychologically, mentally, and physically prepared to deal with the harsh reality of the streets during normal or difficult times. He’s also the author of The Ultimate Survival Gear Handbook.
You can follow Fabian on Instagram @stoicsurvivor
The post Haiti, Third World Violence, and the SHTF appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>The post The FDA Stops Its War on Ivermectin. Here’s How You Can Get Your Supply. appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>Starting in 2021, the FDA mounted a misinformation campaign about ivermectin, an inexpensive, Nobel Prize-winning medication that showed promising signs in the early treatment of COVID-19.
While the death toll from this campaign is difficult to calculate, the impact was far-reaching. The campaign was used as fuel to terminate the employment of doctors who understood the science behind ivermectin, as well as justification for pharmacies to cease filling ivermectin prescriptions when people needed the medication most.
This war on Ivermectin touched us here at the OP as well. An article we published about a peer-reviewed report, Jagged Little Pill: How Many Lives Could Have Been Saved If We’d ACTUALLY “Followed the Science?” was targeted as ‘disinformation’ and used to downgrade our ranking with advertisers, costing us untold revenue.
It was used to discredit everyone who even dared to mention it. Users or those who wondered if it might be viable were treated with mockery and defamation. Famously, Joe Rogan took it when he came down with Covid and recovered remarkably quickly, only to be scorned endlessly online for using “horse paste.”
In 2022, doctors filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the agencies’ unlawful attempts to block the use of ivermectin for treatment of COVID-19.
“We’re suing the FDA for lying to the public about ivermectin,” said Dr. Bowden, a plaintiff in the case.
The complaint directly cites US laws, including the provision that the FDA “may not interfere with the authority of a health care provider to prescribe or administer any legally marked device to a patient for any condition or disease within a legitimate health care practitioner-patient relationship.”
On Thursday, the court ruled against the FDA and mandated the removal of all previous social media posts that specifically addressed the use of ivermectin for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19. The posts have started to come down, including a popular one titled: “Should I take ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19? No.”
Dr. Peter McCullough, America’s leading cardiologist and outspoken critic of the healthcare system’s response to COVID, said in a recent interview that in waging its revolting “horse de-wormer” propaganda campaign against ivermectin, the FDA systematically harmed the American people and should be held criminally and civilly liable for its malfeasance.
Early treatment of respiratory illness like COVID with ivermectin is a critical tool in the medical arsenal. Dr. Peter McCullough explains:
“Early intervention at the first sign of illness is critical to avoid a hospital visit. I have always wished patients could keep critical medications like antibiotics and Ivermectin on-hand so they can act fast; a recommendation whose importance was underscored by the drug restrictions during COVID. This is now a dream come true from The Wellness Company.”
Escape the FDA propaganda and prepare ahead of time for illness with The Wellness Company’s Contagion Emergency Kits. Designed by elite doctors, including Dr. McCullough mentioned above, these prescription kits have emerged as a key piece of every household’s emergency preparedness plan, saving Americans thousands of dollars in unplanned hospital visits.
After the last debacle, I’ll always keep critical life-saving medications like Ivermectin on hand. It’s all about the money and new drugs that make billions of dollars for pharmaceutical companies. If those drugs have negative side effects or don’t work? *shrug* They made their money.
Be ready for the next emergency and sleep with peace of mind. The Wellness Company’s Contagion Emergency Kit is the gold standard in preparation. It contains four life-saving medications: Ivermectin, Z-pack, Hydroxychloroquine, and Budesonide.
The Contagion Emergency Kit also includes a nebulizer and guidebook to aid in the safe use of these life-saving medications.
This kit is prescription-only – you can’t find it in any store or pharmacy. Simply fill out a short questionnaire after purchase and a trusted Wellness Company doctor will confirm your suitability and issue your prescription Contagion Emergency Kit.
The Wellness Company and their doctors are medical professionals that you can trust. I’ve written about my experiences with them here.
SAVE 15% OFF A CONTAGION EMERGENCY KIT WITH CODE “FDA” AT CHECKOUT
What do you think about the FDA being forced to walk back all its insulting commentary about a medication that actually worked safely and effectively? Does this reduce your trust in America’s “official” scientific bodies? Do you think this will have an overall affect of causing people to think more deeply about official recommendations? What about those who were condemned for mentioning this medication?
Let’s discuss this in the comments section.
Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites. 1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2) The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.
Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.
The post The FDA Stops Its War on Ivermectin. Here’s How You Can Get Your Supply. appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>The post The OP Spring FUNDRAISER: Get the EPIC Prepper Printable Bundle appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>After being defunded by government censors, we can no longer rely on advertising revenue, so sometimes, I need to ask you, the readers, to help out. If you find value in what we publish and want to help, please consider making a donation and getting a valuable resource this weekend.
Printables are an awesome way to personalize your preps and get organized. Here’s what you’ll get!
Home Inventory Printable:
Hopefully, you never need this, but if your home ever falls victim to a disaster, a home inventory list will help you when it comes time to file an insurance claim. It’s a good idea to store this inventory in the cloud or away from the premises you are inventorying. Having an inventory ahead of time is far easier than trying to create one from memory.
We’ve made it easy with this 25-page inventory printable with prompts and guidance to help you remember everything.
Evacuation Checklist
Are you prepared to leave quickly in the event of an emergency? Will you have everything you need?
If you have time to throw a few things in the car, then this emergency evacuation checklist printable will help you to make sure you have everything you need if you have no choice but to leave home. There are tons of ways to use this list. Print it off and put it by the backdoor, laminate one for your bugout bag, make multiple copies and highlight each person’s packing responsibility. Make this work for YOU and YOUR household.
OTC Medication
Do you have the right medications on hand to manage minor illnesses and discomforts? Keep this OTC Medicine Checklist on hand with your supplies, and you’ll have a constant reminder of your essentials. This printable has all the basics for everything from wounds to allergies to pain to digestive upsets (and more!)
Pet Preparedness Checklist
Prepping for pets plays a big part in family preparedness, and with this handy checklist, you’ll be ready for anything. Get this adorable printable to ensure you don’t forget anything if you have to evacuate with Fido and Fluffy!
Prepper Stockpile Checklist
Get this adorable 8×10 printable with a prepper stockpile list to remind you of the things you need to put back. You can add this list to your preparedness binder, tape it up inside your pantry, or pop it in a frame for some vintage prepper-style decor.
Preparedness Binder Checklist
Are you organized and ready for an emergency? There is a lot of information you’ll need to have on hand in times of crisis. We can help you make sure you do with this 12-page emergency binder printable!
Tasty Spice Blends Printable
Do you love well-seasoned food but hate the price of expensive spice blends from the grocery store?
Make your own spice blends with these recipes! Get this cute printable to hang up in your kitchen and make Cajun seasoning, DIY seasoning salt, Italian seasoning, and much more. No outrageous or exotic ingredients are required!
BONUSES:
Get our Prepper’s Coloring Book Volume 1 (20 printables) and our guide, Be Better Prepared in 28 Days (56 pages of practical steps to get your prepped in no time AND on a budget!), absolutely FREE with your purchase!
You’ll get 42 pages of valuable printables, a 56-page PDF book, and 20 printable coloring pages for one super-low price! Grab yours today.
Your donation helps to keep The OP going! If you enjoy our content, please consider making a purchase today.
The post The OP Spring FUNDRAISER: Get the EPIC Prepper Printable Bundle appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>The post Dear Diary, It’s Me, Jessica: Part 6 appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>Dear Diary,
It’s me, Jessica.
The day after we went to the market, we started putting the windmill together. Mr. Miller was trying to ‘conserve’ the fuel, but it would take us nearly all day long to cut a three-foot wide log into four, three-foot high bases for the windmill’s four legs using a manual two-person log saw. Mr. Miller got out a large chainsaw and did the whole job in less than a half hour. He then fired up the tractor to lift the logs and put them in the place where Dad said to.
Diary, it sounded strange and yet comforting to hear the tractor run. Something from the distant past, yet familiar.
Dad measured the distances of the four bases six times, each time making a minor adjustment using a heavy, six-foot-long breaker bar.
Mr. Miller then used a smaller chainsaw to cut ‘rough’ notches into the base logs, where the windmill’s legs would slide into, and then be bolted down using heavy metal straps as some of the things Mr. Miller traded for. Dad used a mallet and wood chisel to finish out the notches using a scrap piece of wood of the same size as the windmill’s legs.
While Dad was working on the notches, the rest of us laid out the legs and nailed cross members to them.
Dad had finished the second notch when we stopped for lunch.
Mrs. Miller laid out lunch at the kitchen table: grilled cowboy ham steaks, potatoes, a slice of buttered bread and a glass of milk. Diary, it was fantastic. Even the grilled pork fat was good.
While I ate, I listened to Mr. Miller and Dad talk.
Mr. Miller said normally, it was about this time of year when he and the other farmers would place bulk orders of fuel for that season. Since the power went out, Mr. Miller conserved as much fuel as he could. He did not harvest as many crops last fall as he usually does. Just enough for their personal use and some to trade. Enough to get the livestock through the winter and the next season’s planting seed and let the rest to the ‘wildlife.’
With no outside ‘markets’ to sell to, he cut back milking the cows to once a day, culled part of the herd saved on hay and fuel. He still had about two-thirds of the fuel left in the tanks. With an ‘additive’ to keep the fuel from going bad, he could get what he had left for at least another season, maybe two. After that, things would get ‘interesting.’
They had the horses and Mr. Miller knows oxen can be used as beasts of burden. He figured he had broken and trained horses, but an ox? He shrugged his shoulders and said when the cows calved out this year, he would take a few bulls, castrate them into steers, and raise them by hand to make them more ‘docile.’ Then he would try to train them. One thing he had a problem with was things like a yoke, the tack to fit the oxen, and mainge a plow. Dad sat back and stared at the ceiling for a moment. He then looked at Mr. Miller and said he would look into that and not to worry. Mr. Miller smiled and thanked Dad.
Mr. Miller then talked about how he and other farmers in the area were discussing setting up a breeding program—a breeding program for not just dairy cows and cattle but everything from hogs to sheep to goats to rabbits, even working dogs, and who could train them.
Diary, it was then when the importance of long-term thinking hit me.
I helped Mrs. Miller clear the table while she sent Olive and Daisy to fetch two buckets of water each to wash dishes. Mrs. Miller washed, I dried. We were doing ‘small’ talk when she suddenly said that I had become an impressive young lady.
Diary, I blushed and said something off-hand like, “I don’t know about that!”
Mrs. Miller stopped washing, plate in hand, and said with a smile,
“Oh, I do. And so do a lot of other people. You are a lot stronger and more confident than when you first came here.”
We had just finished the first set of legs when the dogs began to bark. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked down the road when we heard the sound of horse hooves. Everyone ran to where their rifles were, I was the first to mine being the closest. I shouldered my rifle and was about to bring it to bear as the riders came up the drive when Mr. Miller shouted,
“Easy there, Rambo! It’s okay! That is my sister Janet, her husband Justin, and their kids, David and Charlotte!”
I lowered the rifle muzzle toward the ground, but kept it in the pocket of my shoulder, just like Jack taught me.
“Easy there is right, Miss Rambo,” Janet said to me with a broad smile as she rode past.
Justin touched his leather-gloved hand to the brim of cowboy hat and greeted me simply,
“Good afternoon, Miss Rambo.”
David and Charlotte were young, maybe twelve or thirteen, both wearing cowboy hats like their parents, rode past saying nothing. They had two very large horses tethered to their horses, behind each of them. They looked like those big horses in the beer commercials during the ‘big’ game. All the horses were loaded down with saddle bags, packs and other things.
Janet dismounted from her horse and ran to Mr. Miller, giving him a big hug. Mr. Miller held her tight and then broke the hug and said,
“We have been so worried about you, Justin, and the kids.”
“It is a long story, but we are here. Finally.”
Mr. Miller told Billy, Daisy, Olive, and me to take the horses into the barn, remove their tack and baggage, rub them down, feed and water them, and then return to the house and sit down at the kitchen table to hear their story.
Diary, who is ‘Rambo?’
Here’s what they told us.
Justin and Janet lived on a small forty-acre ranch backing up to a state park outside a large town. The furthest edge of the sub-burbs was about twenty miles as the crow ‘flies,’ but with the hills, the twisting two lane county road, mostly up hill, added another ten miles. At a higher elevation, they would get snow while the town would get rain. They were pretty isolated with the closest neighbors about a half mile in one direction, to mile down the road in the other.
They always kept small livestock, and gardens. They had the horses which the kids competed in hunter-jumper. Hunting was part of their tradition.
They did not have any problems after the power went out. Until about five days after the polar vortex.
Justin guided one of the big Percherons out of the barn and into the corral when the big horse got the smell of something he did not like and began to pull back. Then in the woodline, the sound of something moving through the brush. Justin turned the horse around, and led it back into a stall in the barn. He secured the barn door and walked quickly to the house. He heard more movement in the woods. Whoever it was, did not care about making that much noise or did not know how to move in the woods quietly. There were more than a few of them, too.
Justin walked quickly back to the house, called Janet and the kids to hallway closet where the gun safe was hidden in the back. As he handed out their rifles and extra magazines, he calmly explained there were people in the woodline on the one side of the house. If they had bad intentions, it would happen quickly. He instructed them they were to aim, shoot, and move on to the next target. Not to hesitate. Use the range markers in the yard and the ones he had painted on the trees at the edge of the woodline for accuracy. If they looked like they wore military uniforms or wore body armor, aim for their belt line. Pull the furniture back from the windows and use them as rests. He told Janet he would be outside, behind the wood pile, to keep them from getting behind them and away from the barn. Janet and the kids opened the front of the house windows and set themselves up on the furniture with their rifles like Justin told them.
Kneeling behind the wood pile, Justin could now see shadowy movements in the treeline. Then someone let out something he guessed was supposed to be a battle cry but sounded more like an old truck with a loose belt. Several others in the woodline responded weakly.
Then they charged.
There were dozens of them. Some with rifles, shooting as they ran, others with handguns, and a few with shovels, pick axes, and baseball bats. Justin, Janet, and the kids returned fire, dropping the attackers, but they still kept coming on. Justin began to feel a sense of panic at the possibility of being overwhelmed and began shooting faster. A few of them, mostly those with gardening or sporting goods for weapons, seeing their comrades falling in numbers, turned and ran back for the woodline. Then, three of them with ‘Molotov’ cocktails came running toward the house. Justin got one when he felt the bolt lock back on an empty magazine. Either Janet or the kids got the second. Justin had just finished slapping a fresh magazine into his rifle when he looked up to see the third man launch his cocktails into the air. Everything seemed to stop as everyone watched it’s trajectory. It landed squarely on the garage roof with the sound of shattering glass. The roof was on fire.
Their attackers began cheering. The Molotov man, arms raised in the air, gave a victory yell.
Justin shot him in the throat.
Thinking the battle was over and over, the remaining attackers turned back toward the woodline to wait for the fire out. Justin, Janet, and the kids continued to shoot them, dropping another half dozen.
Diary, a few months ago, I don’t know how I would have felt about that. Now, after having to save Daddy, I think I would have done the same thing, knowing that if I didn’t, they would come back.
Justin ran back into the house told Janet he was going to use home field advantage to attack them, they would not be expecting it. Save what they could and get it into the barn. He gave her a quick kiss and was out the back door.
Janet called the kids to her. She explained the house was on fire and they only had minutes.
She told David to grab all the canned and dried goods he could out of the pantry and put them in the backyard – no condiments. Then, the firearms and ammo, and the camping gear in the basement.
Charlotte was to go to each bed room and toss all their clothing out the windows—whole drawers—and then all the winter jackets, rain gear, and riding gear.
Janet took up the same position Justin did behind the wood pile to watch for any attackers. She stole a glance upwards to see thick, black, oily smoke rising into the air. There was not much of a breeze to feed the fire, but it still was spreading across the garage and into the trusses.
All at once it seemed to take forever for the kids to get the stuff out and yet too fast as the fire to spread to the main house.
Charlotte announced she was ‘done.’ Janet looked over to see piles of dresser drawers and clothing piled up outside of the bedroom windows. Janet said, good, and pulled the clothing away from the house.
A few moments later David said he got as much as he could of the camping gear, but smoke was now in the main house.
They stopped what they were doing when they heard a gunshot in the distance. Then another one. A long pause, then another. There was no return fire. Janet made a decision and told the kids to start gathering everything and take it to the barn. She would help but looked over her shoulder to the woods and hoped Justin was okay.
When Justin returned nearly an hour later, the entire house was on fire. The panic he briefly felt was gone when he saw the one barn door open. When he walked in, Janet and the kids ran over to hug him. He reassured them he was fine. When asked what happened he just said he caught up to some of them and left it at that.
Janet and the kids were organizing and taking inventory of what they had saved from the fire. While they finished, Justin took a reusable grocery bag to see what he could take off the dead on their lawn.
As he gathered up handguns and rifles, he noted most of those with handguns only had the magazine in the gun. No other additional magazines. Those with rifles only had two or three extra magazines.
One of the men with body armor Justin shot, was on his side. Justin aimed for the man’s belt line, had to lead a bit as the man was running, when the shot took him on the inside of his leg where the thigh met the groin. The exit wound was an explosive mess nearly blowing the entire leg off. Justin was using premium hunting ammunition for white-tailed deer. The man must have bled out in minutes. After taking the rifle and the two magazines off the dead man, he noticed the smell over the smoke. It was the smell of something rotting. It was too soon and still too cool for decomposition to have set in that fast. Using a stick to not touch the body, he opened the mouth. The stench was worse. The man’s teeth were rotting. A few were missing. Justin check half a dozen other bodies. They were the same. Their clothing also hung off them very loosely. A few had leather belts with new holes made from a nail or something of the like to keep their pants from falling off.
If it were not for the earrings he would not of known the body was of a girl, perhaps a young woman, it was hard to tell. He used the stick to remove her dirty, pink knit winter hat with the pom-pom. Patches of her hair were missing. He dropped the stick and walked at a fast pace for the barn.
When he entered, Janet asked if he was okay. He gave a smile and set the bag of handguns and magazines down and dumped the rifles on the floor. They had finished organizing and an inventory of the supplies. Justin looked around at the amount of canned and dry goods. David said he was sorry. He grabbed peanut butter. He did not think it was a ‘condiment.’ Justin could not help but laugh and said it was okay.
All the weapons and ammunition were there.
Justin was looking over the camping gear when he spied the GPS. It was only a few years old, but looked toy like compared to the newest ones on the market before the power went out. It used either rechargeable batteries or double As. He picked it up and pressed the power button. Despite not been used in over a year, it powered up. There was no signal, but it still had all the maps loaded. Justin pressed a few buttons when a plan began to ‘formulate’ in his mind.
Dad politely interrupted Justin, announcing we had to go as it was getting late and we needed to get home for dinner.
Diary, I did not realize it, but I was on the edge of my seat! I wanted to hear more, the heck with dinner!
1stMarineJarHead is not only a former Marine, but also a former EMT-B, Wilderness EMT (courtesy of NOLS), and volunteer firefighter.
He currently resides in the great white (i.e. snowy) Northeast with his wife and dogs. He raises chickens, rabbits, goats, occasionally hogs, cows and sometimes ducks. He grows various veggies and has a weird fondness for rutabagas. He enjoys reading, writing, cooking from scratch, making charcuterie, target shooting, and is currently expanding his woodworking skills.
The post Dear Diary, It’s Me, Jessica: Part 6 appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>The post Providing Emotional Support to Children During Economic Hardships appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>Please note I am not a specialist in children’s psychology. I’m just a single dad who was gifted with an incredibly loving, warm family.
Maybe we were sometimes scraping here and there but managed to make it decently, all things considered, in the 40 years since I was a child. Being the owner of a fully paid home and a couple of land patches for future development, added to a CNC machine and basic tools for woodworking is a remarkable achievement for our nation’s standards.
My son has been through a full-blown economic collapse. Here’s how I handled it.
Make no mistake: economic hardship does have a significant impact on our children’s emotional well-being. I believe this is a feeling we all share.
In times of economic hardship, children and teenagers often bear the brunt of the struggle. The impact of an economic crisis can be particularly overwhelming for families living in poverty, as they face constant financial stress and uncertainty. Children who live in these conditions are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems. They may also have difficulty sleeping, concentrating, and learning. I have seen this for a while on my kid, and we are working on it. I still remember how bad I felt sometimes back in the day.
Financial struggle can have a profound effect on the emotional well-being of children. It’s important to acknowledge that their experiences may differ depending on their age and developmental stage. Younger children may not fully comprehend the complexities of the scenario; but can still sense the tension and stress within the family, and my kid went through some bitter experiences at a very young age, even though we tried to protect him as much as we could (you may want to read about that in this article). Teenagers, on the other hand, may be more aware of the economic challenges and may feel a greater sense of responsibility or worry about their future. How they react to that, it’s another issue.
Here’s how I’ve handled it.
It is important to talk to your children about the economic situation in a way that is age-appropriate and very honest. We have always been good at communicating with each other our ideas since he was a small child. This was a process that took countless ice cream trips on my bike to his favorite cafeteria, donuts, home pizza making with his mom, cooking videos, and many, many nights reading him stories although he was quite the reader by age 4 and a half, like myself. Let them know that you are aware of the challenges that they are facing and that you are there to support them, no matter what. He knows I am doing my best to keep him fed and pay for his school.
It’s paramount to understand this: they are going to become anxious. We can’t avoid that 100%. But we certainly can mitigate that feeling.
It is a good moment, though, to make children notice that avoiding some vices is a good practice; spending money on alcohol, for instance, when they don’t have too much to eat is something we don’t want our grown children doing.
Recognizing the signs of emotional distress in our children is vital for providing timely support. Every child may respond differently to economic hardship, and, according to my research and a years-long observation as a single dad, there are common indicators that everyone should be aware of. Changes in behavior, such as withdrawal from activities, difficulty concentrating, changes in appetite or sleep patterns, and increased irritability or aggression, all of them indicate something is not good.
Increased anxiety, excessive worry, or frequent tearfulness. They may express fear about the financial situation within the family, or exhibit regressive behaviors like bedwetting or clinginess. It is crucial to pay attention to these signs and address them promptly to prevent long-term emotional consequences.
Children need to feel like they can talk to their parents about their worries and fears. Be a patient and understanding listener, and avoid judging or criticizing them. Mine sometimes get pushy, but it is not easy at this age to understand how deep all of the branches of our industry sank under this crushing regime. He gets stressed, but I always try to keep the same more or less relaxed, patient mood that made me navigate the 2020 waters and beyond. The fear of not having enough food, shelter, or other basic needs can cause significant distress and impact a child’s emotional well-being.
By learning skills (I’m considering seriously teaching him to weld and use an angle grinder, as those seem to be the only work instruments he won’t break so easily) and reassuring the child this is not going to happen we can remove a great deal of the concerns. My parents are (still!) a great support. I usually dealt with my stuff the best I could; but modern parenting is different, it seems. I have come to accept it, but at the same time, I remind him constantly not to be a snowflake, and to man up if he wants to find a great girl someday who admires the fine man he is destined to be. I have never dismissed or minimized his feelings: I know this can undermine his perception and sense of security and trust. I listen to him, and after that, hug him and make some hot chocolate. We both always feel better after that.
Teach your children healthy coping skills, such as relaxation techniques, exercise, and spending time with loved ones. These skills can help them to manage stress and anxiety. Exercising is especially important.
We usually walk or jog together. In Lima, we used to go to a nearby park, as the fair weather is much better for jogging. So we stretch, warm up, and practice some Muay Thai in the air, in dry runs, at low speed. It is quality time that he will remember. The same as us baking bread together for the family. Use your sense of humor. I’m not advising you to take things lightly, but using some not-so-good events to generate laughs is a skill that will be a wonderful source of good, warm memories later on time.
And THIS is something I can grant. Imagine you’re cooking dinner. “Jee. All right, Junior…I have good news and bad news” -Jr: “What are the good ones?” -Dad: “I burned a LOT of calories today” -Jr: “Cool, and the bad ones?” -Dad: “It was the pizza for dinner”.
Watching the kids stare at you is priceless. (Smile)
It is crucial to maintain a positive attitude, even during difficult times. Let your children know that you believe in them and that you are hopeful for the future.
Let’s use a personal example. When we were in Lima, Peru, we experimented: dried some meat under the scorching summer sun (this is more detailed on my Patreon page). He loved it! When he was with his mother, they mostly ate eggs, rice, beans, chicken, fish, and vegetables; however, I’m a different kind of mammal. I need beef, eat vegetables too, but lots of fruits, cheese, yogurt, milk, and oatmeal. And I know he does need beef, also. Then, once one of my temp contracts finally ended, he was with me at home. I found it odd that he didn’t ask for anything special like going to eat outside. After a few questions, he told me that he knew I didn’t have too much money those days, and could not ask too much. So I took out the bag with all the dried meat I had prepared, almost a kilo, and his look was incredible. So I simply told him “That’s why one has to be prepared, kiddo. Stockpile in the good times and you will have always something to eat”. We made arepas with that jerky, some pasta, sandwiches…real feast. He will remember that for life, and will never forget his dad was a provider.
If your child gives signals of difficulties in coping with economic hardship, you may want to seek professional help. A therapist can provide them with additional support and guidance. They do not know how to face many things in life, and shouldn’t be too concerned about the domestic economy if they can´t do anything yet. The feeling of impotence can be overwhelming for them. I know because my kid insinuated he would love to have the power to change things. Now he knows sometimes it’s not possible. But he knows he won’t be alone and that we will take care of him. And it is wonderful to see he has ditched most of those concerns.
This bonding process between my kid and I has been so delightful, that I can say I am enjoying fatherhood very much. Too bad it was only one, as the crisis and our unsolved problems led to the dissolution of the relationship between me and his mom.
Not that I regret it. Sometimes you can’t fix things.
Why is this necessary?
Because the good memories will take us through hard times. Using your sense of humor helps a lot. Our people laugh at everything including themselves. Maybe a little bit too much, but it seems to be working to avoid so much pressure and discouragement from building up the economic troubles.
During tough times, providing emotional support can go a long way in shaping a child’s future. Just be nice to them, and make sure to tell them how much you love and will take care of them until your last breath.
Thanks for reading!
And I look forward to hearing your comments!
Stay safe, and keep tuned.
Have you ever had to discuss economic hardship with your children? Do you have any advice? Any stories to share?
Let’s discuss it in the comments.
Jose is an upper middle class professional. He is a former worker of the oil state company with a Bachelor’s degree from one of the best national Universities. He has an old but in good shape SUV, a good 150 square meters house in a nice neighborhood, in a small but (formerly) prosperous city with two middle size malls. Jose is a prepper and shares his eyewitness accounts and survival stories from the collapse of his beloved Venezuela. Jose and his younger kid are currently back in Venezuela, after the intention of setting up a new life in another country didn’t go well. The SARSCOV2 re-shaped the labor market and South American economy so he decided to give it a try to homestead in the mountains, and make a living as best as possible. But this time in his own land, and surrounded by family, friends and acquaintances, with all the gear and equipment collected, as the initial plan was.
Follow Jose on YouTube and gain access to his exclusive content on Patreon. Donations: paypal.me/JoseM151.
The post Providing Emotional Support to Children During Economic Hardships appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>The post Selco: If You Want to See the Future SHTF, Look at Haiti appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>It would be a cool thing for all preppers to have some kind of insight into what a real collapse would look like in their case. Like some kind of window where they can look through and see the collapse happening but they are still in safe place. Seeing a future SHTF today.
Only if that could be possible, right?
Well, guess what? It is possible. The SHTF is happening all the time (in real time) somewhere, in some city or country, for one or another reason—sometimes war, other times corruption, or bad weather. We are living in a time where we CAN see that and LEARN from it.
Well, for the usual reasons: we do not think it is relevant, we think people there are (somehow) different from us, or even some think people “there” (wherever there is) deserve that.
And my favorite, of course, is “It can not happen here.”
I do not want to discuss the reasons above, but I really want to tell you that it is good to learn from other folks’ SHTF experiences. It is much better than to wait for your own and be surprised.
Haiti’s situation is a perfect example of how bad things can go in some future SHTF, and to what depth.
It is a textbook example of what a prolonged collapse looks like, how it starts with one event and deteriorates more over a period of time (it can be the opposite, too).
It does support some of the basic SHTF theories that I wrote about, and it is also very similar to SHTF I went through in some (main) characteristics, so check Haiti’s situation’s main characteristic: there is no real vacuum in the rule of law.
No matter how bad the situation is, there will always be groups, larger or smaller, that represent “power” or “law” in parts of the country or even parts of the city.
That “law” can be the absolute joke of real law prior to SHTF, but that group will try to impose their “law” and rules through the oppressions and hard punishment for not obeying their rules, as well as taxing people under their rule for protection.
You can call them gangs, militias, or even government. Names are not important. When the SHTF, someone will try to rule you, OR you will try (with your group of people) to rule over your, let’s say, region, with your rules, laws, taxation, and whatnot.
Real Mad Mad Max lawlessness is rare. Some kind of chaotic organization will be there.
Your world will usually become smaller.
In the absence of normal (pre-event) law and order, your world might become your city, or even your part of the city, where your community is, where you know settings, and where you feel safe. Urban survival is staying small and staying protected within your network or joining some network if you are alone.
If not you might be joined (let’s say enlisted) into some group by force.
Old terms like police might still be in use, but the police force might become actually just a group of people who are well trained and equipped from before. That does not mean they are going to stick to the law from before. Watch for that.
They are still people who have families. If the law and system fall apart, they are armed and trained people. Some of them can and will simply work for whoever pays the best.
The situation is very fluid, and you need constantly to have (updated) info.
One day, this faction or militia is at war with that, and tomorrow, it is in alliance with others and whatnot.
Today this part of the city is safe. Tomorrow is not.
You are nobody without correct and accurate information. Without it, you will not be able to stay safe, move safely to finish a task, or find food or other resources.
It is changing all the time, and you need to be involved in a network of people in order to have that accurate information about who is who today.
If your place becomes attacked and you are not able to defend it, you are leaving your place, and that’s it. A whole bunch of people are not in their homes because it is not safe to stay there, or they would be killed if they stay there,
They stayed mobile and moved to a safe place.
You can call them whatever name you like – refugee or whatever – but they survived. So be ready to be mobile in order to survive.
Real dangers are not only gangs or being killed by them. People are dying because the system of delivering goods is broken. They are not only dying from bullets in the quick way but also dying slowly from poor nutrition, lack of hygiene, and absence of proper medical care.
Violence is not the only danger when SHTF.
Again, I know you’re going to say some reasons why your situation in the future SHTF can not be like in Haiti: your political system is better, your government takes care of people, or simply you believe people are more reasonable in your country.
Sit down for a moment and think about how many times you said something like “it can not happen here” in the last ten years, and yet it happened “here” and it happened to you.
The world is changing, and it is changing in a bad way.
Whatever you think or say, just go and research the situation in Haiti, check how things are happening there, and see what people are doing to survive.
It may be a smart investment of time for the future SHTF that could be coming to you.
Do you use the situation in Haiti as a possible example for how bad the SHTF could really get? Or do you have a bunch of reasons why you believe you are different or somehow exempt from such things?
Let’s discuss it in the comments section.
Selco survived the Balkan war of the 90s in a city under siege, without electricity, running water, or food distribution.
In his online works, he gives an inside view of the reality of survival under the harshest conditions. He reviews what works and what doesn’t, tells you the hard lessons he learned, and shares how he prepares today.
He never stopped learning about survival and preparedness since the war. Regardless of what happens, chances are you will never experience extreme situations as Selco did. But you have the chance to learn from him and how he faced death for months.
Real survival is not romantic or idealistic. It is brutal, hard, and unfair. Let Selco take you into that world.
The post Selco: If You Want to See the Future SHTF, Look at Haiti appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>The post These 220+ Bank Branches Have Closed SO FAR in 2024 appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>It’s not a great sign if your bank is closing branches all over the country. And that’s the case for many banks in the United States in 2024, in particular Bank of America, US Bank, and Citizens, which have had the most closures thus far. In all, 222 bank branches have closed in the first two months of the year, and if it keeps up at this rate, we’ll be looking at the closure of around 1300 branches.
If you’re wondering why the branches are closing, the answer, of course, is money. With each branch closure, they save on salaries and overhead. There are no employees to pay, no rent is owed, and no utility bills are racked up.
It’s been estimated that Bank of America’s 41 branch closures saved them over $100 million.
I think it’s also a worrisome sign that these changes have needed to occur. We’ve talked often on this website about the looming failure of our American economy, and this seems to be a signal that things aren’t as great as President Biden wants us to believe. I’m personally a strong believer in putting my savings into gold and silver at this point because I simply no longer feel that the dollar is a viable unit of savings. If you’re interested in learning more about how to do this, you can call my friends at ITM Trading absolutely free and discuss it with them. There’s no pressure at all – it’s merely educational – and I think you owe it to yourself to learn how to protect your savings in the months ahead.
Of course, as with most economic crises, folks with less money are hit harder and hit first. According to a report on CNBC, these branch closures are causing “banking deserts.” This is sort of like food deserts, where there aren’t enough sources of healthful whole food in an area, but for financial services.
The ramifications of banks suddenly disappearing from communities aren’t surface-level either — affected residents now have to drive farther to make a simple deposit or withdraw cash, which takes more time, for example.
The consolidation of bank branches is also creating “banking deserts,” when communities are without access to a bank or credit union within 10 miles. Several studies have shown these communities are more likely to use non-traditional and high-fee lending options such as payday loans and check-cashing services, which increases financial inequities and ends up widening the wealth gap.
I also foresee future closures causing problems for people who live in more remote areas if the trend continues.
Interestingly, the list I have came from Great Britain News. I was not able to find a similar list of branches in the American media. (I’m sure that’s just fine. Nothing to see here, right?)
Bank of America
Bank of Brenham NA
College Station, Texas – 3030 University Drive East
Capital One
Citibank
Citizens Bank
Community Bank, N.A.
Farmers’ NB of Canfield
Fifth Third Bank
First National Bank
First Republic
Fulton Bank
Huntington
KeyBank
Landmark National Bank
Overland Park, Kansas – 8101 West 135th Street
Legacy National Bank
Centerton, Arkansas – 192 East Centerton Boulevard
Pikes Peak National Bank
Fountain, Colorado – 6615 Camden Boulevard
PNC Bank
Santander
TD Bank
Terrabank National Bank
Trustco
US Bank
Wells Fargo
Woodforest National Bank
Note that many bank branches in the UK are also closing, so this is not just an American economy problem. It’s a much larger issue.
There are a few different ways we can look at this, but the thing that comes to mind to me is that if more people are forced into doing their banking transactions digitally, then the switch to CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) will be even more seamless. If our currency were to move to a digital one, network of control would be complete, as the government would be able to access absolutely every dime you spend, block expenditures, and much more. (You can read about it here.)
Is this definitely what’s going to happen? Well, I don’t have a crystal ball but it really seems like everything is pushing us this way. We’re rapidly moving into a world that values digital efficiency over the human touch, what with self-checkout at stores and ordering kiosks at restaurants. If we take away the human face of banking and replace it with a laptop or a phone screen, it’s just another step toward the technocracy, in my mind.
I can’t caution you strongly enough – the writing really is on the wall. If you’re planning to make a move to precious metals, you will need to do it soon. The prices of metals will go up dramatically when these changes begin to occur, and you’ll want to have yours before that price skyrockets. Here’s the place I recommend and trust.
We can say we refuse to participate in the CBDC system, but if your money is in the bank you will not have an option. There would be a lot of things you can’t do at all if you aren’t using CBDCs if that system comes into play. I don’t think we’ll be able to reasonably avoid all of it. I think the goal is to limit your use of it.
Step by step, we are marching toward a future that most of us do not want. We’re watching it happen in real-time. We have to do everything possible to make that future more difficult for the powers that be to force upon us.
Have you seen your bank affected by closures? Do you have to drive further for banking services or do things online that you’d prefer to do in person? What are your thoughts about the bank branch closures? Do you believe it’s a sign of more trouble to come?
Let’s discuss it in the comments section.
Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites. 1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2) The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.
Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.
The post These 220+ Bank Branches Have Closed SO FAR in 2024 appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>The post The Widow in the Woods: Part 4 appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>Lexie wasn’t feeling right. Her stomach was cramping, and she’d spent more time in the outhouse than she had in the garden. It appeared that she and Luke were taking turns in there because every time she wanted to go in, she saw him come out, pale and sweaty.
She wondered what that powder was Grace had put on her food. Had Grace poisoned her? Lexie was devastated. She thought that sweet little old lady was going to help her but now she was feeling violently ill.
Nobody can be trusted, she raged inwardly. Her eyes darkened to the color of blueberries as the filled up with tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. Nowhere is safe.
Grace emerged from the walled part of the garden, her apron pockets stuffed with a harvest of some sort, locking the gate behind her then disappearing into the little house
She soon returned to join Lexie, bringing with her some cool spring water in a mason jar. “I know you aren’t feeling well, and I’m sorry,” she said kindly. “Drink some water, and then I’ll explain what I did.”
Lexie scowled and shook her head. She wasn’t going to consume any more of Grace’s concoctions.
Grace nodded and took a drink of the water to prove it was fine. She then handed it to Lexie, who was eyeing it covetously. As Lexie sipped the water, Grace whispered to her, “I understand why you don’t trust me right now. I can’t have only one of them being sick from my food. I promise you will feel better soon. I have a plan.”
Lexie wanted to trust the woman but then another spasm wracked her belly. She felt horrible as she hurried back to the outhouse, hoping it was vacant.
…
Grace watched as the slender girl rushed away.
She felt terrible. But if her plan was to work, it couldn’t be obvious. It couldn’t be only the Hills who got sick, and it couldn’t be all of them. She knew if she wasn’t careful, Christopher would execute her without hesitation. And if that happened, Lexie would be on her own again. Her survival was tantamount to the girl’s freedom.
She had dosed two plates of breakfast with an unflavored laxative powder to get the ball rolling, so to speak. The moisture of the fluffy eggs easily masked the powder, and the parmesan cheese dusted on top disguised any residual powder. If two people, one of them Lexie, were ill, she could get something else into them to “nurse them back to health.” If things went according to her plan, only Lexie would recover from this particular bout of gastrointestinal distress.
Her husband had told her about how they had been taught in the Army if they found themselves outnumbered, they were to separate the enemy. Then, the goal had been to pick them off quietly, individually, for as long as possible. The fewer threats you engaged with at one time, the better your chances would be.
Grace wasn’t in the Army, but she was certainly surrounded by enemies. She took comfort in thinking of what her husband would have advised.
When Lexie returned to the garden, she wordlessly picked up the jar of water that was sitting on a smooth-topped stump which served Grace as a table. Lexie downed the entire thing in two swallows.
“Come with me,” Grace said. “You need to lay down.”
Lexie glared, mutiny in her eyes. She refused to move immediately, then finally gave in. She really did want to lay down.
Grace had turned the small, screened porch on the side of her house into a delightful room. The two cozy sofas out there were comfy enough for sleeping on during a hot night and would work splendidly to isolate her patients from everyone else.
Once she had Lexie established on a faded floral sofa, she brought out a steaming cup. Lexie eyed it suspiciously. “It’s only peppermint and chamomile,” Grace informed her. “It will make you feel better, I promise. Do you want me to take a drink of it first?”
Lexie nodded and Grace took a drink of the concoction in the dainty porcelain cup. “See? It’s perfectly safe.”
With a sigh of resignation, Lexie took a tiny sip of tea. It tasted good—fresh and minty with a hint of something that tasted almost like apple. Before long, the cup was empty, and Lexie felt drowsy. She was worn out from all the trips to the bathroom.
She was drifting off as Grace left the screened in porch.
…
When Luke emerged from the outhouse for the fifth time, Grace was waiting for him.
“Are you feeling unwell?” she asked, pasting a look of concern on her face. “Perhaps it’s the richness of the food if you aren’t used to that kind of meal.”
Luke didn’t deem to respond, simply glaring pointedly so Grace would take the hint and move out of the way.
Stubbornly, she ignored his hint. “Could I make you some tea? Lexie is also feeling poorly, but she’s had herbal tea, and it seemed to help. If you’d come and lay down in the porch room, I can look after the two of you more easily.”
“Fine,” Luke replied in a peevish voice. “You’d better hope nobody else gets sick around here, old lady.”
Grace ignored his tone and led him to the screened porch, waving her arm toward the vacant sofa. She went off to the kitchen to make some tea.
After confirming she was alone in the kitchen, she surreptitiously added more of the laxative powder to the boiling water and stirred it vigorously before dropping in a tea ball filled with chamomile and mint. It was true that the chamomile and mint worked at cross-purposes with the laxative, but she’d added a potent amount of the eliminatory and was confident that Luke’s bowels would continue to be in an uproar. He had to appear to be ill before he succumbed – he couldn’t just die suddenly, or the suspicion would be on Grace.
She drizzled some honey into the tea and carried it out to him. “Drink up,” she instructed. She gestured to the sleeping girl for added encouragement. “Lexie felt better almost immediately.”
Luke blew on the tea and took a suspicious sip. It tasted good, Grace knew, and without further hesitation, he drank it down quickly.
She returned to the kitchen with his empty cup. She passed the others in the dining room, engrossed in some kind of card game.
She made some drinks from an instant iced tea mix she had on hand. There was no ice, but the drink was sweet and refreshing nonetheless. She quietly brought them to the three. They ignored her and continued with their game, so she returned to the kitchen without a word. Why bother making conversation when it could just trip her up, she thought. You can’t say the wrong thing when you say nothing at all.
Back in the kitchen, Grace got out her black mortar and pestle. The items she had harvested from the walled part of the garden needed to be processed. She pulled from her pockets a handful of glistening red berries, a dozen black ones, and some stevia leaves for sweetness and added them all to the bowl.
She mashed them up vigorously with the mortar and pestle, then transferred them to a one-pint mason jar. She covered the herbs with vodka, then rinsed out the bowl of her mortar and pestle with a splash more of the liquor, scraping the sides with a spoon to incorporate as much of the herbal content as possible. She added that to the jar and added a piece of masking tape.
She paused, trying to think what to write. She doubted that any of them read Latin, so on the tape, she wrote “Solanacae” in her beautiful script. She put the jar in her sunniest windowsill to speed up the infusing process. She would have preferred a bit more time to let things sit for weeks, but her situation warranted more flexibility.
She scrubbed the mortar and pestle thoroughly and then left them soaking in a mixture of bleach and water. That project complete for the time being, Grace went to check on her other patient.
Grace noticed it the second she entered the room. The parlor where he lay seemed different. He had worsened quickly since the last time she had checked on him. Infection had taken hold.
There was a mild scent in the air that she had smelled before. It was a strange odor, foul yet sickly sweet at the same time. A chill settled into the back of her neck, even though it was a warm day. She had never deliberately harmed a human being before and as a healer, it caused a sudden crushing wave of grief.
There was no time for it. She closed her eyes to gather herself, pushed that feeling aside, and went to check Rick’s vitals.
He was clammy, covered in a sticky sweat, and burning up. As she felt his forehead, she could feel him shivering. He opened his eyes to peer at Grace. “I d-d-don’t feel s-s-so good.”
“I know, you poor boy,” she replied kindly as she pulled down the blanket covering him to inspect his wound. “I’m worried that your gunshot wound is infected. You were out in the woods for quite some time with it before you arrived here.”
It was as she expected. The wound was crusted and encircled by a puffy red area. Gently, she laid her fingertips on the surrounding area and confirmed it was hot to the touch. Red streaks were beginning to appear around it. There was nothing else she needed to do except let nature take its course.
She pulled the covers over the trembling young man all the way up to his chin and patted him gently.
It had to be done, she reminded herself.
Grace picked up the basket with her needlepoint project to her rocking chair on the front porch. There, she rocked, and stitched, and waited.
The afternoon was sure to be eventful.
Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites. 1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2) The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.
Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.
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]]>The post State-Sanctioned Forced Disappearances in Venezuela appeared first on The Organic Prepper.
]]>Forced disappearances, a haunting phenomenon that has plagued societies throughout history, have become alarmingly prevalent in my country. This silent epidemic, often perpetuated by state authorities, has left numerous families in anguish, unsure of the final fate and whereabouts of their loved ones.
The State endorsement and sponsoring of such crimes generates a climate of terror and impunity that emboldens perpetrators and silences victims.
With a sharp pain in my heart, I will do my best to delve into the forced disappearances in Venezuela.
Sure, there is a very serious investigation underway that should shed light on the human rights violations that have taken place, but that will take a lot of time—time we don’t have anymore. Sadly, examining prominent cases and discussing government accountability and justice for victims is taking far too long.
I intend to manifest that the warm response of the international community and organizations fighting against forced disappearances is a poor initiative. I would like to underline the crucial role of the media in raising awareness. By doing so, we hope to bring attention to this grave issue and contribute to the ongoing efforts to end forced disappearances in Venezuela.
This is not a new phenomenon. You are preppers, and you should be aware that it can happen anywhere, anytime.
History is there to prove it.
If I had told you in 2017 that you were going to have Venezuelan thugs on small motorcycles pillaging and killing women in the U.S., would you have believed it?…and yet, it is happening.
The implementation of a Police State or Martial Law will bring along an unspeakable chain of events that are very difficult to predict, but based on historical events, it is very likely that the disappearances will be one of the elements that anyone prepping for such a scenario must consider.
To understand the gravity of forced disappearances in Venezuela, it is essential to examine the historical context in which they have occurred. Forced disappearances have been a recurring pattern in the country, dating back to the 1960s during the era of military dictatorships. During this time, political dissidents and activists were targeted by the state, leading to their arbitrary detention, torture, and subsequent disappearances. This dark chapter in Venezuelan history set a precedent for the normalization of such heinous acts, creating a culture of impunity that continues to persist today.
The Venezuelan State denies the existence of this practice despite the overwhelming evidence and the testimonies of victims and their families.
Victims’ families suffer a double torture: the uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones and the lack of justice.
Forced disappearances are not isolated incidents but part of a larger pattern of human rights violations in Venezuela. Over the past two decades, the country has experienced a remarkable erosion of democratic institutions, resulting in a climate of repression and impunity.
There is no such thing as separate powers.
The government’s crackdown on dissent, arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings, and torture have become all too common. Human rights defenders, journalists, and opposition figures are particularly vulnerable to forced disappearances as a means to silence dissent and instill fear within the population.
Tragically, there are numerous heart-wrenching cases of forced disappearances in Venezuela that highlight the extent of this epidemic. One such case is the one of Carlos Salazar, a retired engineer who was abducted on Feb. 5th, 2024, by supposedly state security forces.
This link picks up the date he disappeared and explains the abnormalities of his kidnapping.
He got some footage of one of the financial operators of Maduro’s regime, and he went to jail without giving him a chance. His family was looking for him all over the hospitals and morgues.
Finally, on Feb. 13th, they informed (non-officially) that he “had been detained.”
His only crime was to film the infamous Alex Saab, one of the lords linked to the looting of my country. He disappeared in Isla Margarita, reappearing after all this time in Caracas, in the jail El Helicoide.
There is another much more recent case: Lieutenant Ronald Ojeda, who was in Chile under the legal status of a political refugee under the protection of the Chilean government.
Ojeda was living in a city in Chile and supposedly was collecting funds for some NGOs inside the country’s borders. At 3 AM, a group of people already identified as conformed by Venezuelan agents posing as immigration officials wearing ballistic helmets and bulletproof vests, with Chilean identification on the gear went to his home and kidnapped him.
The captions of the CCTV are the only images left of L. Ojeda.
The real reason for this disappearance is very likely Ojeda Moreno’s former access to classified information that rendered him a liability.
Ojeda’s elimination is a very particular case: it violates Chilean sovereignty blatantly and nonchalantly. It is almost a fact that this was a concerted operation between both groups, indeed. The leftist Chilean president is part of the conspiracy because there are many former members of the armed forces of Venezuela in this country. Remember how violent the intervention of Venezuelan thugs sent by Nicolas back in 2019 was. They were sent there as shock troops against the right-wing government of President Piñera. There is no other explanation for such violent actions.
To finish, we have one of the most regrettable cases: Captain Anyelo Heredia.
Cap. Anyelo is a 38-year-old Venezuelan military officer who conspired to denounce gasoline and rubber trafficking in Táchira and was tortured and imprisoned in Ramo Verde prison on charges of treason. There he coincided with the opposition leader Leopoldo López. After two terrible years in the maximum security prison, Heredia staged an epic escape to Caracas, ending up months later in Bogotá. Sadly, he would be captured again later. Nowadays, he’s again captured and in a wheelchair, a product of the repeated tortures he suffered.
The reason for his imprisonment was that he messed with a much more powerful head of the Venezuelan Hydra controlling the fuel and tire trafficking: Christopher Figuera…who lives the good life peacefully in the U.S. as a “refugee,” after all the victims he left behind as the former chief of Intelligence within the Nicolas regime.
These three cases are just a glimpse into the countless stories of individuals who have disappeared without a trace, leaving their families in a perpetual state of anguish and uncertainty.
The international community, happily, has not turned a blind eye to the forced disappearances occurring in Venezuela. Human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have documented and condemned these violations in their reports.
Governments around the world, including the United States and the European Union, have imposed sanctions on Venezuelan officials responsible for human rights abuses. International tribunals and courts, such as the International Criminal Court (ICC), have also initiated investigations into these crimes.
One of the organizations protecting Venezuelans is the Venezuelan Program of Human Rights Education and Action (PROVEA). PROVEA has been at the forefront of documenting and denouncing human rights violations, including forced disappearances.
Accountability and justice for the victims of forced disappearances in Venezuela have been elusive. The government has consistently denied its involvement in these crimes, often resorting to a culture of impunity and the manipulation of the justice system. The lack of an independent judiciary and the erosion of democratic institutions have hindered the pursuit of justice. However, the ICC is already investigating and on a relentless path to justice.
Media plays a crucial role in raising awareness about forced disappearances in Venezuela, considering the limited freedom of expression within the country. Independent journalists and media outlets face numerous risks and threats while reporting on human rights violations. However, through their courageous reporting, they shed light on these disappearances, amplify the voices of victims’ families, and bring international attention to the issue. Social media platforms have also become invaluable tools for disseminating information and mobilizing support. Journalists and media organizations must be supported and protected to continue their vital work in exposing the truth and advocating for justice.
Governments must hold Venezuelan authorities accountable for their actions and impose targeted sanctions on human rights violators!
The international community must maintain its pressure on the Venezuelan State to cease this atrocious practice and bring justice to victims and their families. Only then can a future of peace and respect for human rights be built in Venezuela.
Does it surprise you that a government would do such a thing to its citizens? Do you know of any similar cases in the United States or your own country if you aren’t American? Would you expect similar actions here?
Share your thoughts in the comments section.
Daniela Gonzalez is a student of history at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas.
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