Michael Janzen

I was doing a little research on long term food storage and found a couple good resources. The first is this very detailed resource on survival-center.com which catalogs many different types of food that are good for this kind of disaster preparedness. The other is a blog called the Bear Ridge Project. The blogger, Big Bear, explains a simple approach to food prep on a tight budget.

Don’t worry… I’m not an off-roader. But after reading about ATVs and homesteading in Mother Earth News it occurred to me that an electric ATV could be very handy for heavy chores, mowing, and even plowing small fields. I know that sounds crazy but many ATVs can pull small trailers and tools like mowers. If all you had was electricity (solar, wind, or even grid) your ATV could serve as a battery backup most of the time and a useful tool when needed. This is all theoretical of course. Here are a few I’ve found:

• Barefoot Motors (Ashland, Oregon)
• EVS – ATV (Ellicottville, NY)
• RTEV (Winnsboro, SC) – more like a golf cart

It sounds like a green house or an indoor grow set-up is required in most parts of the world to grow coffee. But it also looks like growing your own coffee plants is definitely doable, just not easy. Read about how to grow coffee plants at Sweet Maria’s.

Grow Coffee Plants at Home

I just ran across this incredible little list of edible items and when they are in season. This would be very useful to any freegan for sure, or a great knowledge prep for hard times. There are 12 PDF files to download, one for each month of the year.  Foraging Guide

A chicken tractor is a simple portable chicken coop designed to easily move your feathered egg laying friends around the yard while keeping them safe and sound from predators and visits to your not so understanding neighbors. Here’s an instructable on how to build a simple chicken tractor. I first learned of it on Make.

Chicken Tractor Instructable

I’ve been on the lookout for a good alcohol stove and I think I found it this morning on pathlesspedaled.com. It’s super lightweight and even has an optional wind screen. The stove is a Clickstand. You may also want to get a burner to go with the stove. Total package looks about $50.

I just stumbled on this from a reader’s private website. This page is not private… but a very cool collection of solar cookers and plans. Solar cooking is a great way to use the sun for free to cook food.

Solar Cooker Plans

I spotted an ad in the back of an issue of Mother Earth News for a Granberg chainsaw lumber mill. It looks like a great way to turn fallen logs into lumber. I suspect what you don’t see in the video is that it would take a long time to cut up the log and you’d be spending some time now and then sharpening your chain… but it still seems like this would be a very useful (and relatively low cost) tool to have especially if you wanted to build a small or tiny house on a tight budget.

I just ran across this very funny joke video about a product everyone needs to survive doomsday. It’s a sturdy and comfortable suit that protects you from mother nature.

SurvivaBall

SurvivaBall Commercial from Blight the Clown on Vimeo.

While watching a video on Rowdy Kittens I learned of this little bike bag company in Seattle that makes handmade bike bags. It’s an excellent example of how real people can find their own economic freedom through doing what they enjoy in spite of a tough economy. Really inspiring story and great bags!

Swift Industries