This book was a really fun read for me. It is Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life by Neil Strauss. When I picked it up and read some of the chapter titles like “How to Protect Yourself from Inflation, Hackers, and Celine Dion” or “Surviving Snipers, Dirty Bombs, and Salad Bars” I expected a funny book that would be “light” on useful information. But come on those titles are hilarious…I had to read it. I am glad I did.

Neil Strauss is a writer and author. He has written for Rolling Stone and for the New York Times on many occasions. In the late 90s he started to become disullusioned with the US and in 2004 after Bush was re-elected…I think he went a little nuts. Yeah…I know the feeling. Strauss decided that the US may be on a collision course with disaster and he wanted an escape plan. If and when TSHTF (look it up if you don’t know what it means) he wanted a way to get the heck out of dodge and be able to survive in the aftermath of anything that came whether it be terrorism, chemical warfare, or complete economic collapse.

What began is the journey he outlines in this book which was well… awesome! He had one heck of an adventure and went from being a spoiled big city guy who lived on take out food to being what he describes as a REAL man… one that could take care of himself and survive in situations that most people nowadays would not be able to. Pretty much ALL the skills he acquired were brand new to him and very scary for him to pursue. It made for one great ride though, for him and for the reader of this book. Although a small warning is in order. The prologue was a little gruesome and since I had formed no attachment to the book I almost quit reading. Luckily before it got too bad it stopped so that the majority of the book could then explain how he had gotten to the point he had in the prologue. People who are sensitive to “hunting” details are warned. 

He did soooo much in his journey to being a survivalist but here are some of the major things:

He went through gun training and got concealed and open carry permits.

He learned to ride a motorcycle and bought a military grade bike.

He went through intensive survival training and learned to survive in the woods for any length of time with only the clothes on his back.

He went through urban evasion training, learning how to pick locks, hot wire cars, break padlocks open, get out of virtually any restraint including handcuffs, and create caches with survival supplies and disguises.

He learned to hunt and fish.

He learned to grow his own food and raise and breed livestock.

He learned to track animals and humans over virtually any terrain.

He obtained citizenship and a home in another country. He also opened up an overseas bank account.

He took FEMA courses and joined the California Emergency Mobile Patrol unit AND became a licensed EMT.

That only covers a portion of it too. The book basically follows him on this long journey and he shares with the readers his fears and his failures. It is also full of many hilarious yet scary moments, such as when he disguises himself as a woman to evade bounty hunters and nearly get his behind kicked by thugs who didn’t take kindly to finding a cross dresser in the men’s bathroom. Or when he has to get out of handcuffs and the trunk of a car. Yet it also has sad moments such as when he is called to the scene of that horrible train on train crash last year in California.

It is also full of extremely interesting and/or useful information. The survival information was useful of course and the info about citizenship in other countries was interesting. I thought US immigration was tough but I think many other countries have us beat.

If you want a fun and clever weekend read this is a good one. And if you want to learn more about survivalism and having an “escape” plan then this might be your how-to guide.

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One of the foremost things that attracted me to green and eco conscious living was the direct correlation to self sufficiency and personal responsibility. Going green is largely about taking control of your spending, your habits, your wastefulness, and YOUR contribution to the pollution of our planet. To live a more eco conscious life and reduce your impact on the planet I think you need to develop your skills set. We need some mad green skills.

This is good news in my mind as I am and will always be a student of life. Learning new things is one of my greatest passions and I loved college more than anyone should I think. I still often think about going back to college to pursue my interests. Classes of any sort whether they be at a college or at my local community center make me stand up and take notice. I LOVE to learn! My hubby and I both enjoy “how-to” books and own a many of them. We subscribe to magazines that discuss self sufficiency and homesteading. We are very interested in expanding on our existing skills all the time and with the economy the way it is and the planet in the condition that it is…I think this is important. Instead of the skills to pay the bills maybe we need the skills to avoid paying the bills. Aka the more self sufficient we are the less likely we will need to rely on other people and services to get by. How can we reduce our consumption and rely more on the sweat of our own backs to get by?

In Mother Earth News this month they shared a survey they did of farmers and over 60% of the farmers they interviewed felt they were in a better position than other people in the country to rough it through economic hardship. Why is that? Cause they have skills.

The Path to Freedom urban homestead was started by a man who was outraged by the the fact that our food producers were using genetically modified seeds (GMOs). He decided to stop buying and converted his small city lot into a homestead where they now grow over 350 varieties of edible plants and they harvest over 6000 pounds of food each year. This family’s story is an amazing example of developing and using your skills. This family of four adults now lives and works at home.

So what kind of skills can save you money and help you reduce your environmental footprint at the same time? Here are some of the front runners in my mind:

Grow Your Own: I think it is incredibly important that people learn to grow their own food. Our conventional food growers use pesticides, genetically modified seeds, and all sorts of chemical nasties on the food they grow. We can opt to reduce the amount we buy and therefore reduce support to such industries. It is also entirely possible to grow all your own food if you want to. All it takes is hard work and the dedication to build new skills. Grow in your front and backyard, patios, decks, balconies, window sills, etc. Join a community garden if you have absolutely no place to grow. Start a freedom garden movement in your community.

Sew Your Own: Sewing is a lost art and one we need to revive. In this day and age of slave labor and cheap Wal-Mart clothes and goods it is easy to decide that sewing your own is too costly. But sewing your own clothing, bedding, bags and totes,  home decor, toys, etc. is just to rewarding and empowering to ignore. And you can pick up very low cost fabric at yards sales and estate sales all to often as well. I have often bought entire bolts of fabric (40-100 yards) direct from the manufacturing companies so that I can keep costs down on sewing projects. Get good at sewing and you also have a marketable skill. I made good money selling hand sewn goods online for several years. I still love to buy hand sewn items from other moms and do so all the time.

Make Your Own: Why not try to make your own bread, soaps, candles, cleaning supplies, etc? Cook your own food and make your own dog/cat food. How much of the “stuff” you buy can you make yourself? Not only can this save money it is really rewarding to be able to make your own stuff and not have to shop for it. Right now I am reading the Outlander series and in a nutshell the heroine decides twice to to go back in time and live in 18th century Scotland where she and her family have to grow their own food or starve, make their own candles in a week long process and harvest the beeswax themselves, make their own clothes, build their own shelters, and set their own broken bones. It is a really fascinating read and every time I catch myself wondering why on earth she would CHOOSE to live that way I am reminded just how strong and self reliant this character is…yet you will NOT find a sub heading here called “Set Your Own”. Please don’t try to set your own broken bones.

Entertain Your Own: The biggest budget killer for my family is entertainment. I grew up in an affluent family that traveled a lot and generally just spoiled me. If I wanted something, I got it. Hubs and I ended up passing on a lot of that to our own kids and now we are back peddling. If we don’t watch it the kids will talk us into a bunch of worthless toys and we will spend a $100 a week on DVDs and movie theatre tickets. This past year I let my son choose an an out of state destination for his birthday and he chose Pittsburgh, PA. We could handle that request. This year he wants to go to Paris! We had to put an end to the destination birthday thing.  Now we invest in season passes to educational places like the zoo and the Science Museum. We buy second hand books and do a lot of reading.  We do crafting and painting. I encourage the kids to put on plays for us (last week they re-enacted Star Wars). They listen to audio books. We search out our community for free or low cost events. We create fun outdoor play areas at home and we take them hiking and camping. Sometimes in lieu of traveling to warmer places in the winter we get a cheap local motel room with an indoor pool and let the kids spend the whole weekend in the pool. We are doing this in February in fact. There are so many low to no cost entertainment ideas out there. Check out my TV Free site for ideas. It is a skill for many to get creative and entertain themselves.

Build Your Own – This is my hubby’s favorite learning area. He reads DIY books on building and carpentry with abandon. By developing building skills you can do home renovations yourself, you can build raised beds for your garden, build furniture, etc. The possibilities are endless. My hubby and I both want to pursue education and training in sustainable energy and building systems. We want to learn how to install solar panels and grey water collection systems.

Reuse Your Own- It is both frugal and green to reuse everything as much as you can. You can use egg shells, old rain boots,  and milk jugs in the garden. Old wool sweaters and t-shirts can be turned into cloth diapers and covers. Torn clothing can be used to make rag rugs. Glass jars can be turned into candle holders and vases. One of the greatest cost savings opportunities available is to use and reuse what you already have.

What green skills do YOU want to pursue?

Spring has somewhat sprung here in central Ohio. There is a light dusting of snow on the ground as I write this but the sun is shining and the birds are singing. Yesterday a beautiful Cardinal was sitting in an evergreen tree right outside my bedroom window. I also have some rather ugly plastic flower arrangements hanging on my back porch that were there when we moved in. I don’t have a heart to remove them though because every spring a few finch families build nests in them. I have seen a lot of nesting activity this week.

I believe I am rethinking my thought that fall is the best season. I just didn’t appreciate spring until I lived in an area with harsh and dreary winters. I am ready for spring and for planting season. My dining room is overrun with seedlings just waiting to make their debut outdoors so I have gardening on the brain.

I am not the only one because the local gardening centers and nurseries are getting new life too. I saw a gal drop a huge chunk of change on gardening stuff the other day and it got me thinking about how gardening doesn’t have to be expensive. Here are a few ideas for frugal gardeners:

1. Grow Your Own Plants from Seed – Seeds are cheaper than nursery grown seedlings so growing your own will save you some green. Local seed exchange programs and community gardens might also provide you with free seeds.

2. Don’t buy peat pots when you can use your leftover toilet paper rolls, eggshells, or newspapers for free.

3. Instead of buying containers for container gardening why not recycle household stuff like old boots, buckets, baskets, metal tins, old toys, apple barrels, wheel barrels, broken plastic tubs, etc. A few years back (in Arizona) I took two old wheel barrels and stacked them on top of each other in my front yard and planted in them. The result was so gorgeous that a picture of it ended up in a small local newspaper.

4. Make your own pinwheels. I use pinwheels in my garden to detract critters and while they are not that expensive (usually only 1.00 a piece at the store) I can save $10.00 bucks or so and have a nice time crafting with my kids by making my own…and they aren’t plastic…which is a plus. I just love the look of pinwheels blowing around in the garden, it is lovely. Ribbon attached to a stake works good too.

5. Look for open bags of soil at your local gardening center and seedlings that are past their prime. You can usually get some steep discounts on those items. Ask the cashier if they can cut you a deal.

6. Re-purpose broken watering cans by using them as planters or by cutting off the spout and using them as refill containers for bird feeders.

7. Do you or any of your neighbors have fish tanks? When it comes time to clean the tanks use the water to give your plants a tonic they will love.

8. Use a plastic garbage can to collect rain water by putting it under a drainage pipe. Then just scoop out water as needed instead of reaching for the hose to water plants.

9. Use kitchen scraps to make your own compost and put banana peels under your roses to give them a potassium boost.

10. Cut down on fanciful flowers and plant some drought tolerant plants instead like one of my personal favorites, hens-and-chicks.

11. Grow food and you won’t to buy as much at the grocery store! You can even grow your beauty products.

12. Put old saucer or plates under your pots to collect water run-off.

13. Line your pots or containers with 6-8 sheets of newspaper to help them retain moisture so they won’t need to be watered as much.

14. When it rains scoop up your indoor plants and set them outside for a little while to get a drink.

15. Shop for gardening tools, containers, and lawn and patio furniture at yard sales,  garage sales, and barn sales.

Do you have any frugal gardener ideas to share? I would love to hear your ideas!

[tags]frugal, garden, food, recycle[/tags]

Spring is just around the corner and pretty soon we will start seeing the first of springs harvest. I can almost taste the fresh leafy greens. It is time to start planting seedlings for your garden. Or if you cannot garden or don’t have a desire to it is perhaps time to send in your CSA share money. This will be one of the first years I will not be joining a CSA because I will have my garden and I have one awesome farmer’s market about 2 minutes from my home. But it was hard to come to that decision because I absolutely LOVE the concept of a CSA and being a member of one.

What is a CSA? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture.

You may have heard of farm sharing programs or Community Supported Agriculture programs (CSAs) before. They are gaining popularity and getting a lot of media exposure in recent years for their ability to help bring real and local food back to the table every night and support local economies. They are instrumental in helping people to eat their meals from farm to plate.

All those small scale farmers in your area are at a serious disadvantage these days. They simply cannot compete with large agri farm operations that sell to major grocery markets. Small farmers usually have to sell to their neighbors, at roadside stands, and at farmer’s markets. They have had to work hard to find a loyal customer base and unlike large agribusiness operations, small farmers might find themselves out of business the very first time their crops are destroyed or fail to thrive. It is such a sad state of affairs. So….realizing that smaller farms serving the locals might soon be gone with the wind some of them have gotten creative and decided to extend an invitation to their local communities in the form of CSAs.

I am happy to see that many have answered that call.

So how does it work? CSAs work when the farmers sell a portion or a share of their harvest to their neighbors. For a seasonal fee they get a box of fresh farm fruits and veggies every week. I remember being giddy on delivery days each week…just waiting for my box of farm fresh goodies. The CSA that I belonged to in Arizona was run by a gal named Kelly and she included pertinent recipes every week so I was in culinary heaven each week. It was that first year that got me hooked on Kale…because I was swimming in it, LOL. Before that I had never even tried it so being a CSA member also exposes you to new and exciting foods. I did an interview with my local CSA farmer in Arizona at Desert Roots Farm if you want to read about it.

Here was Kelly’s definition of a CSA:

Community Supported Agriculture is a partnership of mutual commitment between a farm and a community of supporters which provides a direct link between the production and consumption of food. Supporters cover a farm’s yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season’s harvest. CSA members make a commitment to support the farm throughout the season, and assume the costs, risks and bounty of growing food along with the farmer or grower. Members help pay for seeds, fertilizer, water, equipment maintenance, labor, etc. In return, the farm provides, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal fresh produce throughout the growing season. Becoming a member creates a responsible relationship between people and the food they eat, the land on which it is grown and those who grow it.

As Kelly touched on, the farmers have more freedom, security, and flexibility when their costs and products are paid for up front. The consumer benefits by having continuous access to local and healthy foods that don’t have to cause planetary destruction on their way to you. The consumer also absorbs some of the risk involved in farm management because if the crops fail for whatever reason the farmer has already been paid and he or she will not be forced out of business. The consumer, although unhappy to see no food that season, is satisfied in supporting his local community and protecting his or her local food sources.

There are some CSAs that allow you to pay for your farm share or a portion of it in trade for labor. You might be put to work weeding, harvesting, packaging CSA boxes, or delivering the food. This arrangement keeps costs down for both the farmer and the consumer. In my area (Ohio) a whole share from May to October costs about $650 and that pays for a box of farm fresh goodies every week. You can also do a half share for a smaller family. In Arizona it was a bit more expensive.

You may also be able to find CSAs that raise livestock and thus offer shares of beef, raw milk, chicken, eggs etc. There was nothing like that in my area but I get fresh eggs from the local Amish farms and hoorah….I found a herdshare program nearby that offers a share in a dairy cow and I will be getting 2 gallons of raw, organic milk every week. For the first year the price works out to be $3.65 a gallon and every year thereafter it is $2.65 a gallon. I have to pinch myself that is such a steal….I was paying $8.00 a gallon in Arizona.

Other benefits of joining a CSA include the fact that the whole family starts eating healthy veggies and leafy greens more frequently. It also makes eating raw easier. Joining a CSA in your area might be one of the best things you can do to support your local economy and make a commitment to healthy eating.

So where do you find one? Try Local Harvest for a listing in your area. And if there aren’t any don’t worry, you might be able to do what I am doing which is take a blended approach with a little grow-your-own, farmer’s marketing, shopping with the Amish, pick-your-own day trips, and herd sharing. You would still be eating healthier, eating local, and supporting your community by keeping your dollars local.

Other important links:

Real Milk – To help you find raw milk, raw cheese, and herd share programs.

Pick Your Own – A farm directory where you can visit local farms and pick your own food.

Here is a video I did last summer of our berry picking adventure. Doesn’t it make you long for spring????!

[tags]CSA, community supported agriculture, local food, farms[/tags]

When I announced a giveaway for BabyGanics I had many commenters ask that I share some of my own personal cleaning recipes and methods. Well, I would be happy to do so. I actually LOVE cleaning. That sounds kind of strange but I really do enjoy it and I can’t use harsh cleaners and chemicals because I will break out in hives. Give me a bottle of Windex and I will be puffy, itchy, and gasping for air in a few minutes. It is NOT pretty.

So here is a run down of what I generally use to clean:

Furniture Polish - 1 cup olive oil, 1/2 lemon juice. Mix in a spray bottle and shake before every use. Spray on rag and then rub furniture.

Window Cleaner – Put 1/4 cup vinegar in a spray bottle along with several lemon peels and then fill to the top with water. Spray all surfaces and use a lint free rag to wipe off. Crumpled newspaper works well to wipe up after too.

Scented Soda Scrub – Mix several cups of baking soda with several drops of peppermint or Candy Cane blend essential oils. It smells heavenly and can be used as a deodorizer too. Often times I sprinkle it on carpet and then vacuum to make the whole house smell yummy. I use this along with my window cleaner to clean tubs and sinks.

Floor Cleaner- For floors I use a small amount of Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap diluted in water and a 1/2 cup vinegar. Plain vinegar and water works too. I use a broom and dustpan to sweep them first (no vacuum) and I wash them by putting two cloth rags on the floor and sliding around on them with my feet…no mops. It is a good workout. Just put on some music…The Hustle…and away we go.

Natural Dishwasher Soap Recipes – Follow that link to 2 homemade recipes I use.

Natural Carpet Cleaner Recipe- I also use soap nuts on occasion but I am using BabyGanics now. I have white carpet…these natural cleaners DO work.

I also use lemons to clean my garbage disposal, bleach cloth diapers in the sun, and boiled in enamel pots to remove stains. Also, because I have white Corian sinks (and counters) I will throw some cut up lemons in the sink and them seep in boiling water to remove stains…which I find that Corian is prone to get. They come right out.

For rags I use old towels cut into squares and I have some microfiber towels as well.

So…as you see my cleaning regimen is pretty simple and no fuss. I hope you enjoy trying some of these recipes in your home!

For additional info I really like the book Clean House, Clean Planet.

[tags]green cleaning, cleaning recipes, babyganics, soda scrub, window cleaner, natural[/tags]