Sunless, Rainless...Indoor Farming Yields Plenty.

(image courtesy of yahoo news)
One of the thoughts I commonly have during gardening is "Why am I bothering with all this? Its not going to be a LARGE source of food for my family." So, I reassure myself that every little bit helps.

As the economy tanks and hyperinflation creeps inevitably closer, it is important to keep my eye on the ball. The game I must win is keeping expenses as low as possible in order to maximize any and all monies coming into my house. Gardening is one way to cut expenses.

I have three seperate gardens growing in my backyard. I have plans to put a few citrus trees in the SW corner but aside from that, I'm getting a little low on space. I live in a cookie cutter neighborhood with neighbors five feet from my block fence on either side.

I was given a little renewed hope towards increasing my growing capacity after reading an article today titled "Future Farm: a sunless, rainless room indoors." It seems a team of Dutch bioengineers have been experimenting for more than a decade with this "indoor farming" concept and claim to be able to produce more food with less resources (including NO sunlight).

Using LED lighting in specific colors, manipulated day cycle of less than 24 hours, and one-fourth the water used in traditional farming, the team was able to grow a variety of plants three times faster than a greenhouse environment.

It appears growing plants without sunlight isn't a new idea. NASA grew plants under LED lights on the space station MIR and in our space shuttle in the 1990's.

Well, its all news to me and I've got a 350 sq foot "game room" that we added on to our house a few years ago that's not being used much these days. I wonder where I put those christmas tree LED lights...

INDOOR GROWING SUPPLIES
Curious about growing without sunlight? These are a good place to start:

• LED Grow Light — mimics sunlight for indoor plant growth.
• Indoor Hydroponic Growing System — great for small-space, soil-free gardening.

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Survival Mindset Surfaces at Disneyland

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It is interesting how perspectives can change as life moves along. It has been less than two years since I started learning about preparedness and survival. I've been somewhat of an empath long before attaining my bachelors degree in psychology but the barrage of people and varying circumstances this past weekend at Disneyland brought out a heightened sense of survivalism in my mind. Things I probably wouldn't have thought about had I not been studying preparedness and survivalism.

It started on the road trip to California. Some 200 miles west of Phoenix, we stopped for gas. I found myself waiting at a gas pump which could not reach my tank due to the limited length of the pump rope, the long length of my suburban, and the fact that the jackass in front of me pumping gas was too self-absorbed to pull-through to the farthest pump allowing someone to successfully follow behind him.

After securing my gas, I entered the gas station. Typical interstate gas station hustling with passersby. One lady, I noticed however, was only looking at the floor as she walked up and down the isles. She caught my puzzled look and asked if I had seen any car keys on the floor. Long story short, her keys were misplaced. Outside the store, frantically searching her car, was the woman's 30-something daughter (I'm guessing) and three toddlers.

Without going into all the details, turns out the keys were in the daughter's purse the entire time. My brain played out the survival lesson: always have spare keys. I thought to myself "What if that'd been me, with lost keys, 200 miles from home, and a suburban full of family?" I rationalized that with my wife's set of keys, we have a backup...if we are traveling together AND we don't lock BOTH of them in the car (six kids, it can happen).

So to be more prepared, I will put a hide-a-key box somewhere under the vehicle. It should be placed somewhere that isn't easily detected or jarred loose and checked frequently. Alternatives include a credit-card key for wallets, AAA membership for lock-outs, and checking with my car insurance company for lock-out coverage.

Next came parking in a stacked parking garage (on the third level) in order to get to our hotel room on the 9th floor. My survival brain quickly conjured up an earthquake scenario (have you seen how many small earthquakes Cali is having daily?) I'm pretty much screwed on this one. If the suburban gets pancaked in the garage, or the hotel for that matter, I have NO backup to that. I tried to focus on other things. Survival lesson: you can't control or prepare for everything.

Lastly, I'll briefly mention being somewhere underground on the Indiana Jones ride when the announcement could barely be heard that the ride was stopped for an indefinite period of time. I stood in that narrow stairwell with my daughters (age 12, 10 and 5) wondering what I would do if the power went out (thanks to the flickering, dimly lit lamps overhead). My darn droid battery was hovering around 5%, as usual. So much for the flashlight app. One daughter had her phone and it was low battery as well. I have no doubts I could have navigated back out of that underground catacomb but not without a light source. My backup source (to my cell phone flash light app) would be my LED lit house key. After that would be my very dimly lit wrist watch light. I have used both to navigate my house in the middle of the night to avoid stepping on Barbie dolls and hair clips (again, six daughters.) Perhaps a mini mag lite on my keychain wouldn't hurt.

Gone are the days of just walking blindly around Disneyland without a care in the world. Survival favors the prepared and this is one dad dedicated to family survival.

What do YOU carry when you go to a publicly crowded place like Disneyland?

Staying Prepared Even on Vacation

Noticing a survival mindset kick in at a place like Disneyland is a good sign that the habit has really stuck. A compact travel first aid kit fits easily in a park bag without weighing anyone down, and a portable phone power bank keeps everyone reachable through a long day away from an outlet. Preparedness does not take a day off just because you are on vacation.

Welcome to the Silver Liberation Army

We've got to stand up and fight somehow. This in ONE of the easiest ways to do it. Go out and get yourself some physical silver. I didn't start until October 2010. Silver was $18 per ounce and I was a little nervous buying something online that I knew nothing about. I can happily report that I received three purchases of silver from Gainsville Coins with no problems or delays and the price of silver is now hovering around $40 per ounce.



SILVER STORAGE & PROTECTION
If you pick up physical silver, here's how to keep it safe:

• Coin Storage Tubes — keeps coins organized and protected.
• Home Safe Box — for securely storing valuables at home.

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Hiking the Treasure Loop of the Lost Dutchman State Park

One of the benefits to living in the Valley of Arizona is the numerous hiking trails available all year. This past weekend provided the perfect weather for a 4.8 mile scenic hike in the nearby Lost Dutchman State Park.

Folklore of the Lost Dutchman's buried treasure and ancient volcanoes wove in and out of our conversations. The Treasure Loop Trail was dotted with various cactus and an occasional gecko. What began as an entertaining hike with our local Job's Daughters bethel, ended with all the Kentucky Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and cantaloupe we could stand.

During our mealtime conversation, I mentioned how much we love to make fresh juice from the citrus of our neighbors' trees. We've been blessed with grapefruit, lemon and oranges to our west and tangelos to our east. This subject prompted another dad on our hike to offer his mini orchard. Seems his front yard is overburdened with grapefruit and oranges. He asked if we'd like to stop by his place on the way home and fill our newly acquired Job's hike backpacks with citrus.

We are always happy to oblige in the acquisition of fresh fuits, veggies, and citrus! We bagged enough to make four containers of juice for our fridge and one to freeze. My fingers were a little pruned from so much juicing but the bounty was well worth the effort.

Appearantly the girls thought so too. The juice was gone in less than 48 hours.

HIKING & FRESH JUICE ESSENTIALS
Gear for your next family hike and for making the most of fresh citrus:

• Hiking Backpack — great for trail snacks and gathered goodies.
• Citrus Juicer — makes quick work of fresh citrus.

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Livestock Castration... A Dirty Job?

As I get more and more intersted in life on the farm, I search deeper and deeper into the "behind the scenes" workings, as it were. I was reading one of my daily favorite blogs called Rural Revolution detailing how Patrice and Don brought home their new Jersey heifer named Polly. In this blog Patrice noted her jealousy of a custom-made "squeeze chute."

Say what? Okay, now I have to research what all a "squeeze chute" can be used to perform. Somewhere between tagging the ears and tattooing, I start thinking of castration. Sure, I've heard of it and know what it means...but I never actually wondered how they actually DO it...until now.

So, like any good college educated dad, I went to youtube :-) First I learned how to castrate a bull calf from Penn State. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the testicles PULLED from the calf's pelvis BY HAND after a small incision allowed them to be exposed through the bottom of the scrotum. Yep. This woman just grabbed ahold of a testicle and pulled it off. She then instructed that you have to search around for the second testicle because it tends to retract after the first one gets pulled. Really? I think I would retract too!

So that's it. Pop! Pop! Rub a little betadine on there and galloping back into the field he goes. I should mention that the video does advocate a numbing agent if the animal is over 30 days old. Pshh. Numbing agent. Who needs that?

Youtube, being the ever suggestive tool that it is, offered me more links to more castrations. A very vocal calf being castrated, a hilarious snippet of the show Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe castrating a horse, and another Dirty Job episode where Mike learns how to castrate sheep...using his teeth (No, I'm not kidding).

All joking aside, its obvious that real life on the farm includes duties such as castration. You can either pay the local Veterinarian to do it or do it yourself. Personally, if my TEETH are involved, I'm calling a Vet.

BASIC LIVESTOCK CARE SUPPLIES
If you're getting into homesteading or small livestock, a few basics go a long way:

• Elastrator Bands — used for basic livestock care tasks.
• Betadine Antiseptic Solution — a farm first-aid staple.

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Bulletproof vest and leg holsters: Christmas Came Early!

A good friend of mine left a goody bag at work for me today. I was instructed to peruse the goods and pick out anything I wanted. It was left over supply from his personal stash. He is a policeman with all the guns and goodies any red blooded American could ever want.

So what better place to don my new bulletproof vest and leg holster than work? The belt was a wee tight but I'm sure that's due to my poofy scrubs...it is...right?

Thanks buddy. I can't wait to go to the range and play GI Ron.

Now I have to dig through my excess goodie bags and see what I can share with him. We've built a pretty nice barter system over the past year.

RANGE DAY ESSENTIALS
Heading to the range? Don't forget the basics:

• Shooting Ear Protection — protects your hearing at the range.
• Shooting Safety Glasses — keeps your eyes protected.

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Frugal Cook's Best Friend: 30 Ways to Cook Ramen Noodles

Most of my spare time and blog efforts lend themselves to ways I save money. I couldn't help but share this article on Ramen Hacks: 30+ Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Instant Noodles.

I can't remember the first time I had a Cup-O-Noodles or my first Ramen pack but I can tell you that I lived on them throughout college. I still enjoy my own quick but delicious recipe of Campbell's Consumme condensed soup and Ramen. Beware: my kids don't call it Fart Soup for nothing.

Don't forget to add plenty of these puppies to your food storage. I'm thinking they'll last through an atomic blast (and probably not taste any different).

FRUGAL FOOD STORAGE PICKS
Stock up on cheap, long-lasting staples:

• Ramen Noodles Bulk Pack — cheap and easy to stockpile.
• Food Storage Containers — keeps bulk food fresh and organized.

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