Weekend Coming Up Replant Your Garden!

The Fun Survival Stuff Is Here! 

Gardening March 2013 - Lemons & Raspberries

Before The New Planting -
Container Garden  - March 20 2013
Image: M Burgess

I said when I started this blog that there is fun stuff to do when you are doing survival planning and one of those activities is gardening. 

My prepper planning includes two resident rodents, Guinea Pigs so I insist on having access to fresh home grown vegetables for them and for me. I live in Las Vegas so the gardening can get a little tricky here, but it is simple to set up.

How I Do Container Gardening In Las Vegas

I have a small porch but still manage to keep some lovely growing things in pots there. With the weekend coming up it is a great time to put in or replant a garden if you have not already done so.

In our fair city the weather for Las Vegas is finally beautiful and just right for gardening projects. Summer knocks most plants for a loop with the heat but it is early enough to get some plants going and set before the heat comes down.

I was driving home today intent on doing something entirely different when I just had to drop by the plant place! Well, I did need some new green peppers! I love having things in the garden that I and my Guinea Pigs can eat! Nothing beats a fresh tomato or anything home grown!

My container garden barely survived below freezing temperatures. I was really surprised several of the plants lived through this cold snap.  A strawberry, a rosemary plant, 2 lavender plants, and a few onions made it through. My two year old lemon tree is still hanging in there. I wish like heck I had more room and more time. I would be found for sure in a section of my garden somewhere up to planting and tending some tasty goodies!

Lemon Tree Blossoms - March 20 2013
Image: M Burgess

Lemon Tree In A Pot?


My lemon tree is in full bud and bloom and if the wind doesn't knock all the buds off of it again I should have a nice crop of lemons. These flowers are very fragrant and they are fun for the bees and butterflies to visit. There visits mean the flowers are pollenated and will bear fruit. In fact their are tiny lemons on it as we speak.. er rather read.

The pollen count is high right now. On St. Patrick's Day in Las Vegas we generally get the first dusting of flower pollen everywhere so my allergies are kicking up at this time as well. Funny how all that yellow green dust comes in to welcome the Irish holiday!

 Ah, it's ok. The sneezing means I don't have to bundle up anymore. Spring is definitely here!

New Plants For Veggie Garden 2013
Image: M Burgess

A New Addition To The Garden

I added a new plant to test out this year. I have wanted to see if anything besides strawberries could be grown in a small scale garden so I purchased a raspberry plant. If it does well I am sure to have blossoms with in a couple of weeks.


I also bought these sets of starter plants:

Armenian Cucumbers- Banana Peppers - Green Peppers - Yellow Crook Neck Squash - Tomato - Raspberry - Sweet Pod Peas - And a marigold plant.


    I just have to have a little color!

Marigolds
Image: M Burgess

Tried And True Vegetable Plants For Container Gardening

These plants are already tried and true container garden items for my experience as a small area gardener. I have successfully grown all of these over the past few years and I like the way they look when the plant fills out, the fruits and veggies they produce, and the general comfort they give me.

Potting Soil & Spade
Image: M Burgess

New To Container Gardening?
After you have set in your plants there is very little effort you need to take care of them. Watering when needed and tending to their pruning and picking is about all you need to do to keep up with them. The fertilizer will come out next week. It's a bit of a shock to them to be transplanted so I want to let them settle before I give em a boost of nutrients. Try to fertilize LIGHTLY every 6 weeks or so. Heavy fertilizer will burn them so go easy on it.

If you are replanting in containers you do need to add fresh soil every year and update the soil as it is drained out the bottom of the containers. I removed most of the leftover soil from the last season and replaced it for the new plantings and for the existing survivors.

Raspberry In A Pot
Image: M Burgess

Preparedness Garden For The Family
All of the foods in this garden are part of my family diet plan and survival preparedness efforts. My family at this time include me and 2 guinea pigs. If the we ever have to rely on a garden for food substances I want to make sure this garden is in full growth mode as my piggies are used to having fresh foods. You really can't store foods for pets like these. You have to grow them!

More about gardening and guinea pigs are in this article:
My Guinea Pigs Favorite Foods
You will see some images from my garden last year and photos of my ill fated Sweet Red Pepper plants....

I will update you with new pictures soon and I hope when you drop in you could share what you do for your garden and ...

Hey, do you know what I should expect from that new raspberry plant?

Preparedness For Your Pets - Continued

Lynn Kaatz Tin Metal Sign : Golden Memories - Amazon

With our family pets it is important to make a preparedness plan that includes them. 

Readiness for a dog will be marginally different than the preparedness we would plan for our family cat. 

I understand there are many of you that will bring your animals with you in the event of a disaster in your area. This is excellent advice IF you have a secure location to go TO. Your shelter is already set up for your animals. 

Many people are not as fortunate. In the event you decide at the last minute to go to a shelter and intend to bring your canine or feline baby with you - know that they will not be welcome, no matter how much you love them! When this may be the conditions of your bug out, planning ahead with some reasonable ideas will prevent a heartbreaking and unsafe situation for your family critter and yourselves.

Think ahead for your animal. Know what they may have to deal with in the event you have to leave them home and plan well for their safety and well being. In a question I posed to two separate Facebook Groups, I asked what people were planning for their pets in the event of an emergency. There were several very helpful pieces of advice in these conversations.

What I learned from them will undoubtedly help all of us pet owners in emergency situations.

I will detail other animals later. I am addressing standard house pets at this time.

Kindness Two Cute Kittens Art Print Poster - Amazon

When a large storm rolls through or a noisy situation is in play I can't tell you how many dogs, cats, and other beloved animals will bust loose and try to get away. The noise and the energy is scary to them and they go into the flight mode. Know your animals will do this. Keeping them safely where you know where they are and being prepared for them is the kindest thing you can offer them. There are too many homeless animals after the wake of severe disasters.

Let's start with what to do in a minor situation. 

We can count that as a power outage or a situation where we can remain at home. This situation is simple. Make sure you have adequate food and water for your animals and your family. Ideally we should stock and store about 3 to 6 months of food or more if we want to remain on a preparedness level within our home for just in case. These preparedness measures are for anything not just storms or nature disasters, it can be for the event of something impacting our finances. Prepping their foods into our food storage list reduces an additional stress item from our crisis. Pack a minimum of 2 weeks into your storage areas for your pets required nutritional needs. Plan for their water, also. Add the same amount of h2o they would drink in a few days time depending on the size of the animal.

Medium level disasters would be a fire or a flooding of our home. In this case, a packed emergency kit ready to go for our animals and each of our family members that will tend our needs temporarily until we are able to find a temporary home and assess the damage to our property. IF this is the case, finding a hotel or a friend that is pet friendly with us is a good thing to seek out BEFORE an event of this kind strikes. Maybe we can set up a tent or a shelter in the yard at the home. If this is the case the animal can stay with us.

Worst case scenarios would be an earthquake, fire, or a hurricane totally leveling our home. What if it is a total civil unrest situation and we are caught up in it? We are now in a bug out situation and if we are to travel with our animals we must make sure they can come with us safely. A travel cage and leashes are needed for our dogs and for our cat, too. If you have a rodent or some other exotic pet, a travel box that is secured for their comfort and vented is required. The worst thing we can do is leave an innocent animal to fend for themselves.

Packing a 72 hour kit for a dog or cat

1 gallon of water (depending on size of animal. A couple of small water bottles would be good for a cat.)

Large Ziplock Bag(s) With dry food for 3 days

3 Large cans of food

Can opener

Blanket

Towel

Washcloth

Water dish

Food Dish

Travel Crate

Leash / safety harness

Medicines (if needed)

Pet Vitamins (needed for the stress of evacuation!)

Pet First Aid Kit

If you have a more exotic family pet, make sure you can take them with you safely! We mean to bring them gently along with us, not damage them by the exit. Always consider their needs and put some thought into what they are going to need to travel with you in the even of emergency.

What pets would you have to prepare for?

Can you add to this list of preparedness items for an animal?

Thank you for visiting! Please, sign the guestbook and let me know you were here! Have a great day!

Work Schedules & Employment Preparedness

When life's daily work schedule and responsibilities get a bit overwhelming it is a really good idea to start an "Employment Preparedness" list. 

This is a daily schedule of things you MUST do in order to get out the door on time and to be certain you have what you need to get through the day. It is also a list of things you need to use on a regular basis to keep on your tight, busy schedule.

This is a fact of life for me in the beginning of the year with the job I do. Our convention season hits and I have no life! When I am doing a 10 to 12 hour and more shift for 7 days in a row (or more!) I need a regular routine and an idea of what I have at hand so I can get through this period of the year in a healthy state of mind and body.

My daily list?

• Wake 2 hours before time to clock in
• (I Should meditate and do some spiritual reading in the first 1/2 hour awake)
• Do Breakfast
• Feed my pets
• Shower - Dress - Grooming
• Pack My Lunch
• Leave For Work within 1/2 hour of start time.

Preparedness can be applied to many areas of our lives and not just disaster planning. By preparing we are not only saving time and money, but we are saving a little piece of mind along the way. This is what frugal living is! Saving time and money and not just being a spend thrift! Create lists of things you need to function daily and fill that list. This should be a small portion of your food and goods storage. Survival isn't all about emergency items. By doing this you can create a less stressful life pattern.

Now, in order to keep up this work schedule I need to stock up on my household needs. Having a back up of products like a bottle or two of shampoo and other household goods enables me to glide through this time period. I am too tired to think about going shopping and I don't need to hassle of being out of something I need just to get ready for work. What I need to do focus on at this time is doing my job, get enough rest, and make sure I have plenty of nutritional items to help me have the energy to keep up this grueling schedule. Without a routine, I am flustered and my day is sideways. I can't be a good employee this way.

Stocking up on the goods I need are easy in the off months. I simply buy a couple of extra things to put away.  If you want to boost the storage on them and have the space, plan on adding a box of items per person for their use.

This is what I try to keep on hand at all times. When the stock is down to one item then I do add it to a shopping list. I keep these together in a file box in my linen closet.

Bathroom And Bath Items:
The following is a list of goods for one person. It should last about 90 days or so.

• Shampoo: 3 bottles
• Conditioner: 3 bottles
• Hairspray: 2 cans
• Bar Soap: 6 cakes
• Liquid Body Soap: 2 bottles
• Toothpaste: 2 tubes
• Toilet Paper: 30 rolls

Cleansers and other cleaning items can be backed up with just one of each of the products you use. They aren't an essential part of your daily routine.

Busy Times 

Fast Meals

My kitchen has to be able to support a good, healthy, and quick diet. If I am eating poorly, my energy suffers and my attitude gets cranky. With the right nutritional support, as we have discussed in previous blog posts, I can maintain this schedule as long as I can also rest in between shifts.

My breakfast is simple. I grab cold cereal or a bowl of oatmeal and make a cup of Pero. Pero is a chickory beverage like decaf. I would drink coffee but I am allergic to caffeine! And that makes things really tough for trying to keep up the energy for this schedule! I take a multi vitamin for the energy and essential minerals I need in the morning as I rush off to work. I bring a package with me that has extras in it in case I am feeling a little off after about 6 hours and I will take another vitamin. They do not always absorb completely in your system so I don't think there is any harm in taking an extra one. I tried cutting them in half but they get stuck in my throat and cause me a bit of heart burn. I don't need any hassles like that during my day right now!

Lunch is two sandwiches if I am not too short on time to make one to take with me. One sandwich is meat and cheese and the other a peanut butter and jelly. With me driving almost constantly I need them cut in quarters so I can eat them quickly. This is not a good diet but it keeps me fed and rolling! I add a few snacks and try to bring fresh fruit with me. Bananas are a must and an occasional apple. Dinner? I stop and get it or have things in the cupboard or freezer that can be heated up in 10 minutes or less. Any more time than that and I would rather go to bed without supper. (Not Good)

Prep Your Pets!

Stock Their Foods

I have a couple of guinea pigs I need to feed in the morning and evening so they are part of the list of things to do daily. I do not ever want them to go hungry. I promised to give them a good life and being prepared for them too is part of that. My lunch is prepared shortly after I feed the piggies and out the door I go! The only shopping I do at this time is for fresh fruits and veggies. We, my guinea piggies and I need a fresh base of salads and goodies to eat daily. I do store away their dry foods and the timothy hay they consume. An extra bag of their bedding is also part of their storage. They eat an 8 pound bag of pellet foods per week so I try to keep an extra bag of that on hand. It would be great to have room for bigger bags but this works for now. Ideally our garden would produce the things we need in fresh foods but in winter that is not possible.

Another area of my life has been prepared by stocking up on undergarments and socks. I have enough of both to go a full 6 weeks without having to do a load of laundry. The only thing I have to do is toss a suit in the dry cleaners and I am set for the week. I couple the things I need for waking in the morning in the bath and get myself some much needed rest.

So, I am just rambling here at the end but I want to know what things are important for you to keep up a hectic pace? Feel free to share them here! Thanks for reading about my hectic schedule!