Author: R. Ann Parris

Before we get started, I want to say that I’m a huge fan of permanent and raised garden beds. They don’t need any exaggerations to be an incredible gardening method, but sometimes that’s exactly what we run into. People start touting the benefits of raised garden beds and end up airing overeager and possibly even unwitting exaggerations. There are actually only a couple of benefits specific to raised garden beds, even versus till systems. Reduced soil care & maintenance – It applies to any permanent bed: Less area is being as actively worked than a full plot even if we’re essentially…

Square foot gardening can be an excellent way to produce a lot of food in a compact space. Added benefits come from the common Square foot gardening trend of cobbling different plants together – essentially companion planting and increasing diversity – and creating permanent beds we won’t be stepping on and compacting. We can get those benefits even if we don’t lay things out exactly like the typical square foot gardening guide, to include using sub-irrigated planters and much smaller containers, or tweaking the widths and lengths of our beds. There are, however, some aspects of square foot gardening that…

It’s rare that we see raw land healthy and ready to plant our survival gardens. Usually, we’re going to have to give it a helping hand. Healthy soil can mean the difference between a garden that produces in abundance and one that barely gives you a return for your efforts. If we’re already planting, chances are, we already know we’re going to have to continue maintaining our garden soil if we want it to continue producing for us. Here’s a double handful of prepper-friendly ways we can offset the produce we’re taking out of our gardens and orchards in numerous…

If you have a squash bug (SB) or squash vine borer (SVB) problem, it can be a big problem. Some areas have even greater trouble due to increased season length and mild winters. Despite SB’s greater versatility, I hate SVB even more. It’s utterly devastating, and requires much more attention ahead of time, because once the plant wilts, it’s pretty much too late. Even if you’re not growing yet and don’t have any problems, push through this one anyway, just in case. You’ll need the fixes and preventatives on hand ahead of time. Recognize the Enemy SVB is a moth…

There are all kinds of ways windshield reflectors and space blankets can make life easier and increase our capabilities as preppers, both everyday and during emergencies. Some of the camping and car uses are the most well known, but they don’t get applied in our homes and backyards much. What we’re doing with them affects just how much quality we need, and thus what we might expect to spend. We also have other options such as regular ol’ aluminum foil and the option of snagging aluminum bubble insulation. Mylar Sheets I should say up front that while I have a…

Editor’s Note: As we prepare to celebrate our Republics 243rd birthday what could be more appropriate than a third installment of R. Ann Parris’s Minuteman series? From the most localized and lowest-level threats like rioting and looting, to major upsets that see individuals band together to usurp a larger, well-organized threat, how we deploy and for how long in what types of environments affect the skills most useful for us. That includes the survivalist skills we see listed so often. They’re great to have, but as with learning them for general preparedness, what gets top billing for our time and…

Many aspects of the Modern Minuteman toolbox apply to preparedness in general, however personal and small-scale or widespread and earth shaking our pet disasters may be. As with overall preparedness, our exact situation and our expectations of disaster scenarios affects what we prioritize for our finite time and attention. Last time, I concentrated on an “early/now” frame for prioritizing a handful of commonly recommended skills. This time, I’m actually taking the “at all” perspective, be it amped-up community watches, riot control, or some NWO-EROL situation we’re gearing up to oppose. As always, opposing opinions are welcome. The more perspectives available,…

Editor’s Note: To answer your question, Yes! After moving this post into WordPress for publication I did have to go find some good pasta for lunch. Pasta and noodles go way beyond spaghetti in red sauce. It’s one of the most versatile ingredients we can maintain in our storage. Happily, it’s also an inexpensive carb option for most of us. Pasta and noodles also store for years in their original packaging with just a bug and moisture barrier, requiring little or no extra steps or materials for packing. Because pasta is viable for low-fuel methods from rocket stoves to sun-based…

Whatever our primary shooting type and needs, there are a few things we can do to make sure we’re a little more ready when we pull the trigger on a real, live target.  This time around, it’s looking at low-light considerations and options. This focuses mostly on defensive shooting. It can readily be applied to both LTL defense, though, and to training for paramilitary engagements. I Don’t Need No Light Yes, you do. Particularly for home and property defense. One, yes, there is typically ambient light. However, it is not always sufficient for locating something that’s not moving or that…

If our accuracy has plateaued or backslid, we may have picked up one of several finger habits. Two we can check for are resigning pacing to our fingers – versus eyes and brains – and the reset portion of our trigger pull. There are some self-check tests we can run for either, and drills that can help restore or engrain better control. Some of those drills also have benefit for moving-target and stimulus-reaction training, solo or with a partner. *Disclaimer now: While some of the following images display legitimate problems (particularly grip/finger placement issues), others may have just been caught…

Fear not, you’re not going to see cutesy flowers, beer floats, or kiddie obstacle courses. Pool noodles have way more practical things to offer, whether we’re re-purposing a Star Wars party’s light sabers, scraps from assembling lightweight and challenging shooting targets, or buying fresh. They’re handy enough, it’s worth keeping an eye out for end-of-summer salvage or even hitting a Dollar Tree to keep a few on hand – and nice and neat, if we can source one of my all-time salvages, the humble and versatile shipping pallet or DVD rack. While cruising through, keep alternative resources of the same…

As if preparedness alone didn’t have enough to learn and do, along with the modern minuteman movement comes additional taskers. I’m going to cover a handful of the common ones we see on lists when the topic comes up, but from a slightly different perspective. I’m hitting not the skill, the how-to, or the skill’s subsets to consider, but how competitive they are for our valuable time and resources. (Which means, I’m writing it understanding that there is going to be “bah” and “but” and kickback. Kick away. Multiple perspectives benefit everyone.) Remember, we’re answering whether it’s yes-no-maybe right now,…

For many preppers, static square ranges are the only opportunity to put rounds through the barrel. They do have some limitations, and they can be pricey, but we can make a few tweaks here and there to both cut costs and make our time on them more effective. Basic Supplies Depending on firearm, shooting purpose, and range, what we need to carry changes a little. If we have a dedicated range bag (can be a lunchbox, laptop bag, backpack, whatever), a lot of the supplies can just live there. Most of us will want something to fasten targets. Staples work…

Static square ranges and competitions are commonly the only firearm practice available to preppers. Sometimes, those square ranges and competitions – and even classes – actively or accidentally build dangerous mindsets, habits, and complacency. Knowing it, we can amend our maintenance and practice to get the most out of our gear, time and gunpowder and be more ready for real-world needs. Home Range Eventually we have to burn some gunpowder, but the majority of skills can be developed and refined without it. We’re actually best served if at least some of our training time is devoted to the places we’re…

Starting, expanding and maintaining a garden can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. From developing and increasing soil tilth and fertility to what we grow in and the tools we use, there are plenty of ways to save money. Some of them are handy for saving time, too. Free Fertilizers Leaf mold and compost can be done in any sized yard, just about, even without turning to keyhole gardens, worm towers, or tumbling bins that speed the process and keep it compact. Mow over leaves or rake them up whole, stick them in a bag, and in 3-15…

Being able to produce food with minimal wear on the body has a number of advantages. One, it can keep more people gardening, allowing them to be producers within the family and group, not just babysitters and consumers, whether it’s age, injury or illness, now or something that develops later or during a crisis. Avoiding those injuries by eliminating some of the wear and tear is another major benefit. Many of the strategies also help save time, along with reducing the effort and exhaustion of producing. In times when stress is high and chores are piling up, that, too, has…

I should say rarely, not never. And some I do see, I just don’t see them pointed out often in articles – or shared verbally. Since we’re in times when so many people are learning, are planning their first “roughing it” camping or packing trips, and so many seem to plan for either an extended bug-out or an I’m Never Coming Home trip to the woods, I figured I’d hit a few of those. Some oddball stuff is up front, and then we hit rain gear. #1 Mostest-Importantest: Pack like it will be raining. That means a fly cover, tarp,…

MRE’s enjoy unending popularity within prepper folds, although sometimes the issues – weight, waste, size, and expense – lead us to looking for alternatives. Palatability is another common kicker for many, and the lack of fiber also gets some attention. Happily, we have plenty of options for DIY alternatives. “Ready to Eat” = Water Weight There’s a pro-con balance to everything. MRE’s are designed to sustain highly active 18-25-year-olds, so they’re typically jam-packed with calories. They’re also designed with some points like a variety of options and pocket-snacks in mind. They’re heavy because almost all of those options are ready…

The desire to be more self-reliant tends to strike all preppers here and there, regardless of location. While some aspects of self-reliance are hugely limited, others can be accomplished even in very small backyards. Some even apply to patios and balconies. Luffa makes for an excellent self-reliance crop, whether we want to reduce reliance on commercial products and throw-away disposables, or just enjoy the “I made that” feeling. Luffa Gourds We typically see luffa, loofah, loufa, or whatever exactly we want to call it in bath and beauty sections of stores. Their usefulness goes beyond scrubbing our bodies, though. We…

Some of us are restricted entirely to small spaces, and some of us have either clay, rock, or sandy soils that are easier to avoid than to mitigate. Some of us keep container gardens going for convenience, enjoyment, and mitigating seasonal threats from pests to cold, high winds or thunderstorms to dry conditions, even when we have some elbow room and decent starting soil. On a windowsill or a bookcase, up on a balcony or down on a patio, and even out in the yard or lining our driveway, there are some practices that can make our container gardens more…

Beginner or advanced shooter, incorporating dry fire in training can help us improve. There is the potential that we can damage our guns with excessive dry firing on empty chambers, though. Snap caps are inert rounds that remove the risks by providing a variety of soft-plexi or spring-buffered primers for the firing pin to strike. They allow us to practice actual trigger pull, as well as adding the realism of trigger pull to safed-gun practice. There are all kinds of benefits to that practice. For some, the reductions in time versus gathering range supplies, going somewhere (anywhere, backyard to driving),…

Balanced storage is important to ensure we really can weather life’s storms, great and small, personal or widespread. However, there are some things that make sense to stockpile in excess. They’re typically going to be things that we have zero or limited expectation of producing, or producing efficiently. That can be things that are out of reach due to climate. It can also be things that are unwieldy to process or require long growing and then processing time, or multiple space-sucking and sometimes financially draining investments to produce something that can be cheaply purchased and easily stored. Here I’m aiming…

Many of us consider our preps – from spare boots and cold-weather gear to our backup tools and alternatives for lighting and cooking, and most especially our pantries – to be a tangible form of insurance. They are, absolutely and without a doubt. However, we also need regular insurance. The type where we gamble so much per month/half against the likelihood of something bad happening, and a company somewhere pockets years of our quiet, peaceful existence until it’s time to wrangle over a payout. (I actually have a really lovely insurance agency that does not make me jump through hoops…

A lot of times, we get what we pay for. Sometimes, though, the best things in life are free … or very, very inexpensive. In the case of target practice, inexpensive and free targets offer not only a cost reduction, but actually provide better training. For most of these, we’ll need repetitions of a couple of supplies, starting with a backer and attachments, so… First Stop: Liquor Store They have boxes free for the asking. Other sources can be the cigarette cartons many gas stations get, or used boxes from moving companies. Flattened Amazon boxes and pasteboard boxes we’ve emptied…

Beyond individual and small-group home, property, and self-defense, we increasingly hear a call for citizens to stand up as modern minutemen. The term is relatively new, but the idea isn’t. Many preppers have always expected that at some point, they’ll either be joining a group or family, friends, and neighbors with the need to engage an enemy force of some kind. While some of those expectations come from fictional sources, there are some fairly recent precedents that make a compelling argument for the ability to band together. Images: Koreatown business owners on guard during the LA riots (L.A. Times); business…

There must be 101 ways we can use coat hangers, all over the house, yard, and vehicle. For preppers who can source them for free, they can be a particular goldmine. They’re something to keep an eye out for, both now and in any “later” circumstances. In many cases we can use them as-is, or pulled with just our hands. To get the most out of them, though, it doesn’t require anything special – just a pair of pliers, and sometimes some decent cutters. As-Is or Close To It Hangers can help us out all over with minimal hacks and…

There’s a number of things that get passed around about firearms, even among shooters, that bear some consideration. Some of them truly deserve their own articles, but meantime, here’s a few that I hear and see pretty regularly passed around on the range, in gun stores, on forums, and in articles and videos. Brandishing A Gun Scares Off Bad Guys I tend to brush off legalities of self-defense, because if I’m pulling a gun, it’s the potential of life or death anyway and I’m willing to face repercussions – as well as potential retribution attempts from the deceased’s family/friends/community. However,…

Sprouts can be a great solution for preppers at all levels, as well as our animals. They can be had and done in a million and one ways, eliminate some of the climate issues we face in both hot and cold environments, require little space and little time, and are packed with nutrients. They also have some nice morale benefits, providing fresh green foods and sometimes even a crunch during times not much else will grow. Wide Variety If you don’t like sprouts, give them a second try. Just trying one or a few and giving up on them is…

Dead of winter or height of summer, there are some relatively quick, easy, and commonly inexpensive projects we can tackle right in our own backyards to improve our self-reliance and test our preps. Train Prepper Pards For many of us, our animals are beloved family members. Animals can also be incredible helpmates, even basic livestock like poultry and rabbits. Having those animals trained to respond and accept handling increases their usefulness as well as our ability to get them out of dangerous situations. Both dogs and goats can be trained to wear packs and pull in harness. That can decrease…

Once we join this prepper culture, we start getting pushed toward heirloom seed stockpiles. There’s definitely value in heirloom and open pollinated. There’s also a reason we developed hybrids. They have some big benefits, see, especially for preppers in crunch time. There’s some considerations that can help us decide when those benefits outweigh heirlooms/OPs, when true-seed options are better, and when it really just doesn’t matter which we choose. *Also consider foreign domestic crops and wild edibles for challenging conditions. This is “don’t hate on hybrids – they’re wicked helpful” not “hybrids are the one and only way”. Quickie Snippets…