Hello all! Figured it was time for a “From the Desk….” post and catch everyone up on some happenings and share a few thoughts on the world today.
First and foremost, we continue to prepare. Every day, the headlines across all news media seem more outrageous than those of the previous day. With limited funds and time we do the best we can. I check out Facebook Marketplace on the regular and have found some great deals on things we could use for the property. I’m not a huge Facebook fan, but I try to take advantage of FB Marketplace. Food has been the main emphasis.
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We’ve been super busy on the property. We expanded our garden by approx 30%. So far, most everything is looking great. Strawberries are producing well, and the granddaughter devours them every time she comes over. A couple of new vegetables we are trying are spaghetti squash and a few variants of peppers. Canning some salsa is planned as well as some delicious spaghetti sauce.
We’ll be posting a homestead update over at TheMainePrepper.com very soon.
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The “Big, Beautiful Bill” got passed in Congress. I have extremely mixed thoughts on this. As far as I can tell. there are some excellent parts of the bill, and then a ton of bloated wasteful spending. This seems par for the course for government. I had hoped for something different. The anti-gun control measures that were originally included were removed. The RHINO’s in Congress continue to earn that nickname.
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We bought a shed several months ago. One of the main reasons was to have a place to store more supplies as the main cabin here is just short on space. It has been great. One thing Kass “demanded” was to keep all her holiday decorations in there – Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. It occupied a significant amount of space that could have been allocated to other essential supplies, such as food storage and daily or weekly necessities.
Well, I saw this giant tote at Home Depot that would be perfect to store a bunch of the holiday stuff, including our full-size Christmas tree. I bought the tote, and Kass packed it and away to the garage it went. With that free space opened in the shed I just put up some shelves and have begun to organize. With the uncertainty of the world today, I’m making a list of common daily/weekly items and making sure we have a year’s worth on hand. These shelves will be used for some of this.
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Recently, I had a long-time follower make a comparison of this website to another media entity called “Survival Dispatch.” There is no comparison. Survival Dispatch is a big-time multi-media organization backed with tons of money, along with an entire team of people running the show.
We are a simple blog trying to reach like-minded folks expressing concern for what is happening now in the world as well as what the future holds.
Yup – we have limitations. We do not make content full-time, nor do we have thousands of dollars monthly for advertising, social media marketing, and to pay content creators. Back just before 2016 preparedness became a big business. Numerous websites were bought by large media conglomerates, and things changed a lot. I came very close to just shutting things down, but, I enjoy it. I really do. We are a tiny fish in a world filled by corporate sharks that really could care less about preparedness….and you. They are in it for the money. We make nothing here and do it for the same reason I started back on May 29th, 2010 – my mother’s birthday – to connect with like-minded folks.
The comparison was disappointing, to say the least.
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I’m a big believer in raised beds and container gardening. We’ve grown all kinds of vegetables in buckets for years. I just built this:
I can see building a few more of these in the future and maybe a few different variants. Certainly helps the back not having to bend over….LOL.
Anyone else use something like this?
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Thought I’d share a picture of “Rosie” – our Bengal cat
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Stay safe all –
Rourke
Rourke, I’m disappointed in you, but fortunately we have MPG to keep you in line. Holiday decorations ARE essential supplies, and that’s a hill I will die on. lol
I checked out Survival Dispatch. Never heard of it before and am not impressed. I want sites like yours, with real people doing real things.
As far as the Big, Beautiful Bill, only time will tell. I’m sure it has both good and bad in it, because it’s still Congress after all. I am just tired of listening to my liberal governor complain about all the needy people who are going to be dropped from food stamps. For one, they’re not ejecting the disabled who can’t work. They’re also not turning their backs on children. Food prices are terrible, and we’re all struggling, but when you don’t have much money you learn to eat simply. I sat down tonight and did some calculations based on my local Walmart: For $2.50, you can feed up to 6 people with a pound of spaghetti and jarred sauce. For less than $4, you can make a pot of bean soup with a pound of dried beans and a chunk of real ham that will feed up to 8 people. Boxed mac & cheese runs .60-$1 a box. By itself, you might only want to feed 2 people, but you can double that by adding 2-4 chopped hotdogs ($2.50 for 10) and 1/3 bag of frozen mixed vegetables ($1/bag). Generic bread costs $1.50 for about 17 slices. If supper’s not filling enough, put some margarine or jelly on bread and add it to the menu. Hot, filling meals don’t have to be expensive, and cheap doesn’t mean it’s going to taste bad.
Thanks SingleMom – I chuckled about the holiday decorations. She certainly values her holiday and setting up decor for each one that rolls around. We had a lot of red, white, and blue for Independence Day. Regarding Survival Dispatch – that site and media company is certainly following a trend. Most people nowadays wants instant information, entertainment, and satisfaction. That usually means multi-media. I’m a one-person team when it comes to writing, videoing, editing, marketing, etc. I do what I can and want to do a lot more when it comes to video. Trying to get a routine and system in place that I can do it while working full time 40 hours a week and traveling another 12 or so.
You hit the nail on the head when it comes to the Big Beautiful Bill as well as these modern times. People are having to be very mindful of costs and there are some good options to eat full meals cheaply. Sounds like a good article!
I agree with you on the bill. I have been thinking of something like your bucket set up, I found when I planted in the ground a rooty growth grows and surrounds the plant and its like a sponge that absorbs all the water and the plant either dies or is so unhealthy the insects finish killing it. I brought samples of it to the county ag department and they have no idea what it is, but its localized to the areas in my neighborhood as others have the same problem. I bought a veggie pod to see if I would have the same problem and I didn’t.
JohnP – interesting problem you mentioned. Have not heard of that before. I really do like the 12 bucket garden planter. I was talking with Kass and mentioned we could even build smaller versions that only hold 3 buckets or whatever we want to fit in a specific area.
The NFA was allowed to stand in 1937 by the SCOTUS because it was a tax. The tax argument will be removed today when President Trump signs. The NFA will then become a national gun registry at which point it would be in violation of the law under the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act (FOPA), 1986 18 U.S.C. §926
This will be interesting! Need to file this lawsuit in the 5th circuit’s jurisdiction since they are gun friendly.
3rdMan – It’s going to be interesting to see how this all plays out.
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