1) A Review of Some Past Newsletter Articles...
a) Modern Homesteading Movement Principles
b) Peak Oil
c) Muscle Power
d) Frugality
e) Food Storage and Savings
2) Do-it-yourself Doctoring?
3) Reader Feedback: Savings, Critters, Hard-boiled Eggs, Rooster Spurs
1) A Review of Some Past Newsletter Articles...
A newbie to the Modern Homesteading Movement Newsletter asked what she'd missed. Well...
a) Modern Homesteading Movement Principles
There was the article on the basic principles of the Modern Homesteading Movement:
http://www.carlaemery.com/homesteading.htm
b) Peak Oil
And then the Chronology of Fossil Fuel Depletion:
http://www.carlaemery.com/fossil-fuel.htm,
www.peakoil.com
Kenneth S. Deffeyes wrote: "The controversy over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a side issue. The problem we need to face is the impending world oil shortage." He now predicts the oil peak will happen late in 2005 or in 2006.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/25/opinion/25deffeyes.html?th&emc=th
James Howard Kunstler wrote: "The term 'global oil-production peak' means that a turning point will come when the world produces the most oil it will ever produce in a given year; after that, yearly production will inexorably decline. It is usually represented graphically in a bell curve. The peak is the top of the curve, the halfway point of the world's all-time total endowment, meaning half the world's oil will be left. That seems like a lot of oil, and it is, but there's a big catch: It's the half that is much more difficult to extract, far more costly to get, of much poorer quality and located mostly in places where the people hate us. A substantial amount of it will never be extracted." The Long Emergency, 2005, by James Howard Kunstler, and reprinted with permission of the publisher, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/_/id/7203633?pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=single7&rnd=1112066222010&has-player=false
c) Muscle Power
Then came the article on Muscle Power: http://www.carlaemery.com/muscle-power.htm
We've talked about the principles of radical gardening. This way of gardening uses every source of manure or compost possible. http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html It uses a spade or trowel and lots of that muscle power instead of a rototiller. Gardening without a machine you don't have to do rows for weeding. That means you can put EVERY square foot of your yard to work growing food! We've talked about the value of homestead animals, especially chickens, and about the desirability of raising the food your animals eat. The manure from the animals then feeds the plants that provide the food for the animals who provide the food for the plants. Cheaper food, and healthier.
d) Frugality
And we've talked about the importance of a frugal, no-debt lifestyle. Four important monetary tsunamis are now gathering momentum, all poised to hit your pocketbook. 1) The Federal Deficit is huge and growing, especially because of entitlement programs. 2) The level of personal debt of Americans is both a private and a national problem. Over 50% of Americans are in credit card trouble. Most Americans also owe huge property mortgages, many of which are financed by Chinese money so those interest payments are going overseas. 3) There is an accumulating imbalance of payments because we buy so much more from Asia, especially China, than Asia buys from America.
"America's chronic, enormous trade deficit is the inevitable result of 15 years of (North American Free Trade Agreement)-like trade agreements with low-income countries," argued Alan Tonelson, a research fellow at the Washington-based U.S. Business and Industry Council.
4) Increasing competition for a shrinking world supply of oil is likely to cause higher prices for gas, and everything with a petro component in its pricing. (Rumor in the Texas oil patch now says that a barrel of oil may cost as much as $80 by the end of 2005. That would translate to a gas price of $5 per gallon.)
The logical outcome when these four tsunamis hit would be falling stock prices, rising commodity prices, lower employment rates and lower wages, and rising interest rates. The best way to defend yourself against all these coming risks is to get out of debt, and squirrel away some cash savings. If you have debt with a flexible interest rate, unload it NOW.
A Coming Real Estate Crash?
"Real estate-crazed Americans have started behaving in ways that eerily recall the stock market obsession of the late 1990's."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/25/business/25boom.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1112062376-bj1jMhZedQCxWSetuPhHkA
e) Food Storage and Savings
Most recently, we looked at the possibility of a volcanic eruption in your lifetime. Basic food storage for people and livestock, plus a cache of cold-weather clothing, sleeping bags, and a simple wood burner that could cope with one or more years without a summer, would be a good idea. If you live in harm's way, in the path of ashfall from Mt. Rainier or Yellowstone Park (the world's largest volcano), then it makes sense to have the cash for an evacuation at hand, plus a plan to relocate to a secure and welcoming location. Fortunately, with modern science, we'll have reasonable advance notice if an eruption should be imminent.
2) Do-it-yourself Doctoring?
Busy doctors have less time now for patients than they used to. It's a good idea to educate yourself about your ailment. You can now order a variety of medical tests yourself online. Direct Laboratory Services, Inc. ( www.DirectLabs.com ) and HS Labs ( www.BloodWorksUSA.com ) offer blood profiles for $89 to $95. You can order some self-diagnostic tests at your local pharmacy: home pregnancy tests, ovulation predictor tests, tests for menopause, cholesterol, etc. Parents can buy an EarCheck Middle Ear Monitor for about $50 that uses sonar to check for fluid behind the eardrum (a possible symptom of ear infection). Parents can also purchase a QuickVue Strep Test (about $90), good for 25 tests. That way you can determine if it is a strep infection (probably will want to go to the doctor to get an antibiotic) or just a virus (probably no visit to doctor). You can buy a wide variety of medications over-the-counter, such as Thera-Flu, which contains an anti-viral medication.
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=16571
3) Reader Feedback: Savings, Critters, Hard-boiled Eggs
I know what you are saying, but I see those same people spending their last dime on fireworks or booze, or anything else that fancies their eyes or heart. I put 20% of every dime back so I don't have to worry about what should happen if I lost my job (Farming). I never buy something I don't need and control my wants to keep spending down. I like your newsletter, but I think only 3/4 of your message is right. That's why we live in America, so we can exchange Ideas, love one another and try to be open to each other's ideas. Thanks for the newsletter. Bob
Answer: Bob, I'd be the last person to claim that everything I say is "right." I do the best I can. You are a man of awesome self-discipline, an excellent example to the rest of us--including me!
Hi, my mom bought several of us kids your book, and we are loving it. We all do some of these things now. I live on a small farm in Nebraska and raise dairy goats, chickens and dogs. Have cats and horses too. My chickens are free range, and the only down sides are the chicks drowning in water buckets and the poop everywhere.
The pros are definitely the bug eating, and feeding themselves with the results of having great tasting meat and eggs. We are moving our goats to more pasture and home raised food this year, and less bought stuff. They also provide meat, milk for us and the dogs.
Shelene
Number (6) Hard boil eggs... As we sell our eggs our customers at first weren't happy not being able to hard boil eggs and peel.. So I searched on the internet and founds some great ideas... This is what we do now... After they are boiled I put them right in a bowl of ice water for at least half hour.. Then I let the eggs stay in it until the ice melts plus about half hour after that.. And tada they peel great.. So when it comes summer I put a little note to each carton of the eggs and directions for hard boil eggs and our customers are very happy with the results...
Brenda/Ray The C Farm Maine.
I am receiving your email newsletter and enjoying it. The recent chicken article was very disturbing, but I'm sure that it's really only the tip of the iceberg. I have a brother-in-law who has a dairy farm in Maine ... this means that he has to work 40+ hours a week off the farm as a carpenter in order to finance his dairying hobby, while his wife watches the three preschoolers and attempts to keep the cows happy. They are drowning in regulations and government garbage, the cows are mostly all mortgaged, and they don't even own a farm so they have to keep the landlord happy as well. It is very discouraging for a young man who only always wanted to be a dairy farmer since he was tiny.
I was wondering how to tell friends to subscribe to your email newsletter if they are interested? Do they just email to the address that the letter comes from and ask to be added to the list?
Mary Luce
Answer: Ah, "regulations and government garbage" -- that's another whole category of difficulty. Yes, tell your friends to just e-mail this address and ask to be put on the mailing list. Then, presto, it happens!
Dear Carla,
We would like to know the best way to remove the sharp spurs from our rooster. The rooster is nearly two years old, and he is getting more aggressive.
Thanks, Bill & Janelle Longest
Answer: Hi, Bill and Janelle. Over-long spurs can also be a problem to roosters in walking and they can hurt hens during breeding. Use a sharp sheep nail clippers. The spurs contain tiny capillaries that carry blood. Their tips are hard and dry and it will take some effort to cut them off. Cut off a little at a time. Quit before you get to the part with blood vessels. You can make the edges of the cut smooth using a coarse nail file. If an entire spur accidentally breaks off, it’Äôs going to bleed like crazy.
Personally, I don't cut off spurs. I don't allow children in my chicken yard. Roosters have been known to blind a child by spurring out an eyeball. Roosters have equipment (spurs) and instincts to protect their flock. I want them able to do their job. There is a long list of potential poultry predators around here. I include adult roosters in my flock both for their beauty and for their protectiveness.
Carla
