60 Gallons of Gas as a Prep

This has proven to be one of the best investments I've made in the way of preps. It's a simple system that I first got turned onto by Jack Spirko.

Step one: Buy a good quality shelf system.

Each month moving forward on payday buy a 5 gallon gas can, fill it with gas, mark the month with letters and numbers on each can. After 12 months take the can filled up on payday the month you started, put it in your car, tractor, lawn mower, generator, molotov cocktails etc. Refill the can and repeat each month moving forward.

When you have a power outage, you won't be scrambling to keep your generator full and freezer cold.

If you want to see what you can do with that 60 gallons of gas take a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8a7YDTTd28

Thoughts on Propane Tractors

So, I had the question posed tonight about my thoughts on Liquid Propane tractors from a "doomsday prepper" standpoint. For the record, I'm not much for the whole doomsday prepper movement. Self-reliance I'm all about, but trying to prepare for ever worst case scenario will leave you alienated, overwhelmed, and broke. I'm firmly in the modern survivalist camp that Jack Spirko has done much to define this way: doing things help you thrive if times get tough, or even if they don't. 

But I digress. For LP to make sense you already need to have one or more large LP tanks (500+ gallons) on your farm. You also have to be willing to not have all the horse power that you would get from the same model tractor in either gas or diesel. On the plus side LP is the cleanest burning fuel out there, and your engine will most likely last longer than the same gas or diesel model. 

Gas made the most sense to me, as I keep at least 60 gallons of gas on hand. My tractor doesn't see real frequent use, so gas makes more sense than diesel based on ease of starting after sitting for long stretches. LP is also easy starting due to how clean it is. Parts availability would be the next thing I'd think about for any tractor. Does the local NAPA carry all your parts or are you limited to 1-3 online retailers. 

In the event of mass disruptions of fuel to most of America, we'll have bigger things to worry about than how long you can get your tractor to run for. :-) As a wise man once said, after 3 days without food the thin veneer of civilization starts to peel off pretty quick.

Heating the House; Two is One - One is None

Providence protects children and idiots. I know because I've been both. -Mark Twain-

My wife enjoys being warm in the winter. Make that Africa hot, she's happiest when the house is above 75 and pushing 80. She's easy on the thermostat during the summer, so the least I can do is make her happy during our brief winter here in Texas.

The selection of pellet stoves in Texas is not what you have up North, to say the least. So after much research I found a model that worked for us from Tractor Supply, it was delivered to the front door back in September and sat collecting dust waiting for a free weekend to be installed.

As luck would have it FreezePocalypse 2016 found the daytime high on the Snow Compound at 77 followed by a nighttime high of 24. 53 degree drop in a matter of hours. The house came with a heater in the master bath and a very small propane fireplace that is great for knocking the chill off of 45 degree nights, but can't keep up when it's in the teens or 20's outside.

As with most of my projects this one was motivated by sheer panic. To quote Twain again, "If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done." Fueled by the impending Freezemageddon, I started measuring once and cutting twice. Through sheer luck of the height of the pallet and floor protector, the hole for the 3 inch pipe ended up in the only section of the wall that it could have gone through, again it's better to be lucky than good.

It's going to be in the teens tonight, and the pellet stove, while rated to heat 2200 square feet is doing a fair job of keeping the house relatively toasty. There's no way the propane stove would have the main living area at 76 degrees.

The project was pretty straight forward, order the insulated pipe, high temperature silicone, and for the first time in my life I had every tool needed in my possession and didn't have to go into town. I finally feel like an adult.

The Case for Small Government

My friends on the left have spent the last eight years basking in charisma of President Obama, oblivious to the folks on the right who came to view him with fear and loathing. My friends on the right did much the same thing during the Presidency of George Bush, not able to understand the disdain the Americans on the left felt for Bush. It's interesting to watch the same feelings of doom and abhorrence fill the left again with the impending inauguration of President Trump.

Here's the libertarian argument for making government smaller, in an effective Republic the ability of any person that occupies the Oval Office to affect the average American should be almost impossible. The smaller government is, the less reach it has into American homes, wallets, and psyches, the safer everyone feels. The arguments that folks on the left made about Bush being a warmonger, and spendthrift were quickly forgotten once President Obama came into office. 8 years later, we're still dropping warheads on foreheads in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, added Syria, along with a hundred other little wars that no one that lives in a city of significance cares about, because their kids aren't there. Name the last anti-war protest you saw against President Obama, the man won a Nobel Peace Prize for heck's sake.

The national debt doubled again, and while the right spent the last 8 years moaning about the out of control spending, Republicans are currently putting together spending plans that would make FDR blush. In my humble opinion either common sense will win out or we'll continue to play screw your neighbor into bankruptcy (best case) or civil war (worst case). Only time will tell, but the joy of my little compound is doing our utmost to become self reliant and remove ourselves as best we can from the pendulum swings of national politics.

Testosterone is a Heckuva Drug

In the pictures above and below are all the earthly remains of my two Ideal 236 roosters. Testosterone will allow you to grow big and strong. Testosterone will give you the hubris to fight the established cock of the walk and challenge him for mates. Testosterone will give you the confidence to explore, face danger, and expand your empire. It will also make you feel bullet proof, which outside of Luke Cage, none of us are. 

I was hoping that one of the two roosters would survive into adulthood to help meet our goal of a self sustaining flock. Alas, 'tis not to be. They survived almost 4 months free ranging in Texas, that in itself is no easy feat. If only they'd believed me when I told them everything in Texas is trying to kill you. 

The Case for Paddocks

Winter in Texas is so much easier than what I had grown used to in Idaho. That said, things do slow down here with the lack of sunlight and cooler days. Last year I went through 10 round bales of hay with 5 head of cattle, this year we've doubled the herd to 10, but since 4 of them are calves I only bought 18 rounds to try and make it through the winter.

In the interim I'll run the cattle through each paddock for 1-2 days, versus the week or so they cattle get to spend there during the growing months. It's not a real supplement, since the grass is only 6-8 inches tall, but based on their reaction they enjoy the change of pace from hay, and I'm sure there are nutrients available in fresh grass lacking in the baled hay.

Depending on how hard the next two months of winter are I might be able to cycle the cattle through twice. My focus is on taking care of the soil in the paddocks and the main pasture. The main pasture will get turned in to paddocks soon, if the time affords itself.

How We Built Our Hog Pen

We went as barebones and cheap as we could with our pig pen. We bought the hog panels at Tractor Supply for $21 each, we had 4 T Posts on hand that I placed in the center of the 4 panels (on the outside of the panels). I connected the panels to the posts with a roll of heavy gauge wire that had been left behind by the previous owner, by simply tying solid square knots in three places, low, center, and high. The panels themselves were connected with both the wire, in the same three places, and then I also bought some cheap securable carabiners from Amazon that gave me the ability to securely join the panels on the ends, and allow me one corner to not use wire and be able to get in and out easily.

I made the mistake of using a half of a boiler as a feeder. It was heavy enough that for the first several months they couldn't move it, but looking back we were lucky that they didn't cut themselves on it. Next time we'll use a half of a 55 gallon plastic barrel. The water dish was the heavy flexible type and worked well.

Our next foray into hogs will be with grazing hogs, either kunekune or Guinea Hogs that graze. We have a ton of extra grass, might as well make it into bacon. I've got to do more research into the kunekune, what little I read today said they can be run in orchards as they won't gnaw on trees. We'll see.

Don't Tell Me Your Plans, Show Me Your Results

When I was coaching men I heard all the things they were going to do. Rarely did their visions of grandeur match up to the reality. It seemed the ones who told you least about what they were going to do were the ones who accomplished the most.

In my old age I've come to realize that I can't affect much outside of my family and maybe 20 friends. That's it. That's all I can try to help, save, change, influence, call it what you want. All I can do is take care of my family and do my best to plan for them to be taken care of them.

I have friends that span the gamut politically, as I'm sure everyone does. I find the wailing and gnashing of teeth about the only person elected to nationwide office just as useless this time as the last two time the current President was elected. The day to day effect of the Obama administration on my life was almost negligible, as I'm sure President's Trump will be. Do I feel less threatened by the upcoming Trump administration? Yes, but government, at it's core, is political power exercised at the end of a gun.

The F-You vote that was Trump will be fun to watch, that I can't dispute, but how much it's going to change my life I just don't know. It looks to be a reprieve, a few years to continue to finish getting out of debt, pay off the house, install solar, the ponds dug, a well put in, and the food production ramped up enough to feed us and have a bit to sell and give away.

I hope your family is striving each day to be more independent, more self reliant, and more loving to one another.

Everyday Carry - Kershaw Westin 3460

I've been looking for a replacement for my Benchmade Infidel that I lost when I rolled my Civic, after hitting a horse. All things considered, I still came out ahead in that deal. 

Aside from stabbing ISIS in the face, quickly, easily, and repeatedly, the Infidel wasn't much for practicality. Cool? Absolutely. Practical? Not so much.

I've rotated through a really big Gerber Tanto blade, it was too big. I went back an older, shorter and smaller Kershaw, but it was just too small. I was living with the big Gerber, but I watched a few minutes of a Nutnfancy review and took a flier on the Westin. It came sharp as all get out, though the one side being textured black plastic and the other side metal is odd.

It showed up in the mail about a week ago, and for me it's the most "right" knife I've owned. It feels right in the hand, the blade size is right for me, and the length, both opened and closed is exactly right for me. I really like how it opens with just a bit of pressure on the back of the knife. If you're looking for a good size knife, ruggedly built, take a long look at this knife.

Prepping the Spring Garden Beds

You thought your job was crappy....

Part of homesteading for me has been simply returning to natural rhythms. The farm revolves around the seasons, not arbitrary dates on the calendar. I put down grass seed after a rain, not on a certain day. There's a lot of work, there's always 10 projects that I'd like to have done, but the beauty of the farm is things can also wait. 

On Veteran's Day I had to work in the morning, but took the afternoon to go pick-up a load of compost. The joy of finally finding a compost supplier is beyond words! Compost, loads of really high quality compost, are what have really been missing the last two years in the garden. Due to the recent rains, I only brought home about half of what I could have, I didn't want to get stuck! A full trailer will grace the trees next February, if not sooner.

Saturday we spent down in Waco watching the Baylor Women's Volleyball team dominate West Virginia, followed by dinner with some great friends at Catfish Plantation over in Waxahachie. It was amazing, if you ever get close, you have to eat there. Split a cajun plate with someone you love.

This also meant that the compost didn't get touched. Strangely enough it was still waiting for me.

Sunday morning I finished cleaning out the grass clippings that I'd used as deep litter bedding in the chicken coops. I put it on top of cardboard (the theory being that it'll help kill the grass underneath, yet break down by next spring). I spent the rest of Sunday, with the trusty scoop shovel pictured above, putting down about six inches of horse manure on top of the 3 inches or so of chicken manure composted with grass clippings and nitrogen rich feathers. 

We're going to double the size of the garden space for next year, and I'm hoping that the addition of the compost will help increase our yields. I'm also really excited for the asparagus beds. Next year marks the third year they've been in, and will also mark our first harvest.

It was well after dark before I finished, but I'm sure I'll post the final product along with my vermiculture experiment soon. 

Putting Your Free Range Chickens to Work

Cow Patty

So the basis of Permaculture is minimizing inputs, and maximizing outputs, while improving the earth, and giving a reasonable . Joel Salatin routinely says that his egg laying tractors and broiler chicken tractors following his cattle grazing are there to spread cattle manure, add chicken manure, and lightly turn the soil, the eggs and meat are just a bonus.

Chickens at Work on a Patty

It's just been the last couple of weeks that the Ideal 236 layers have really started to go to work on the cow patties, but it's been a revelation. The cow patties within a couple hundred feet of the barn have all been reduced to the photo below.

Fertilizer and Soil Amendments 

It seems that each day the range of the layers increases a bit. We're doing our best to minimize predator pressure, and though I'm sure we'll lose some to hawks and feral dogs, I think that we've finally got things figured out to be sustainable moving forward. Right now the 27 chickens we hve on site are being fed roughly 3 pounds a feed per week, in a mix of cracked grain/corn at night to encourage them all to come to the coop daily, and a bit of the feed that I had left over from the FrankenChickens.

All in all I'm really excited about the layers coming online in early February for the eggs, but I'm also trying to find a couple of broody bantams to raise replacement chickens moving forward. The tractored chickens next spring will continue to help spread the manure and improve the soil on the homestead.

Every Day Carry - CamelBak Backpack

I was issued this pack back in 2006. It sat, more or less, unused until I retired from coaching in 2010. I started riding my bike 8 miles each way to work and it became a fixture in my life. As my Go Bag, First Aid Kit, Suitcase, Get Home Bag, Lunch Box, Mobile Office, and Hydration Solution it did it all for me.

I logged over 750 miles walking/hiking in Rhode Island according to my GPS App, all with at least 25 pounds in the bag. It has held it's shape, the stitching looks new on the entire pack, and nothing has failed on the pack, snaps, buckles, or zippers.

To give you an idea of the usable space while I was in Rhode Island I carried a large water proof Plano 1412 Shallow hard case inside it, with a change of clothes, mole skin, suture kit, aluminum splint, duct tape, Katakyn Filtration kit, and some fire starting materials. There are the Maxpedition Fatty and Pocket kit bags in there. Another Waterproof Hard Case from Outdoor Products that has my serious first aid supplies in it. A pair of Vibram 5 finger shoes. A hammock with bug net, 50 feet of 550 cord, and three carabiners. There are always a half dozen cliff bars in there as well. I do my best to cycle through those, but every once in a while I'll come across a really old one to gag down.

Do I have too much redundancy in the pack? Absolutely, but here is my reasoning. I am used to carrying a heavy pack (minus water) if I ever have to rely on that bag to get me home it gives me three options. Cache things I deem unnecessary at the time (either in place or along the way, share with friends going a different direction, barter along the way.

Pros and cons to the pack itself. Pros, bullet proof construction, MOLLE straps all over it that aren't noticeable until you're inside 10 feet. Great use of space. The hip belt does a great job of taking weight off your shoulders. Big plus, the Hydration Pouch is insulated well enough that if you fill the bladder with ice it keeps your water cold for a full 12-15 miles of walking on warm days.

Cons: The shoulder straps could be a lot more ergonomic. A few more interior pockets would make it easier to keep organized.

I was recently issued an Urban Assault Pack from CamelBak that replaced the old MULE. I'll have a review up on it soon.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to ask questions or comment.

Every Day Carry - Maglite 3 D Cell Flashlight

Most mornings when I feed, it's still dark outside, and from mid-November until early spring most nights it's dark by the time I get to the barn. I carry the 300 Blackout a lot, but with the addition of the hogs and the FrankenChickens I went back to a Glock and a big flashlight, the Maglite 3 D cell LED. 

I bought this light back in mid-May of 2016 and changed the batteries the last week of October after using it at least twice a day 5 days a week over that 5 month period. Battery efficiency, check. It has an aimable beam that goes from flood to spot. It's water proof, and if need be you could brain several would be prowlers and keep on working.

Yes, it's $23, but for something you're going to use daily for years, it's cheap. Don't hesitate, pick one up today!

Calf Number 2

Calf number 1, AKA Sir Loin, showed up on a Monday morning two weeks ago with little warning and zero work from us. Calf number 2, AKA Meatloaf, was much the same way, Arial's udder was super full on Friday night, and Andrea told me she was going to calve the next day. As is frequently the case, she was right.

Meatloaf presented both legs, and then his head about 2:00 PM on Saturday, Andrea and Sophia left to go work the school Fall-fest, and by 2:30 Meatloaf was on the ground. By 3:00 he was walking and nursing. If only they could all be this easy! His belt is almost identical to his father's along with this curly coat. With the late summer we're having, I'm not sure he's going to need that thick of a coat.

Arial is a tremendous mother cow. She's attentive, protective, and nurturing of her calves. She produces a ton of milk, and if I had a squeeze chute, I'd be very tempted to buy a bottle calf and see if I could get her to adopt him. Everything they say about Dexter's being great mothers has been proven true by this cow.

Every Day Carry - Leatherman Surge

Leatherman with Bit Kit and Extension

I picked up the Leatherman Surge before my deployment to Kuwait in early 2013. I didn't know how I'd feel about it since it was so much bigger than The Gerber Multi-Tool I was issued almost a decade prior for my first all expense trip to an equally exotic locale.

I went to Kuwait this time thinking I was going to be the Comm Guy for the Delaware and Texas Air Guard (I filled a slot for Delaware). Much like my last trip to the desert this one wasn't exactly as advertised... I ended up being a jack of all trades this trip. Was there a lot of computer work, yes, but I was also the building custodian, cell phone guy, bird predation Alpha team member with SMSgt B (best gig ever, BTW), Plaque Maker, and the First Shirt's Officially Designated plow horse. I had a blast this deployment. Part of it was the fact that no one was trying to kill me, and the other part of it was my attitude was ask me and I'll say yes! Weird what age and perspective will do for you.

At my going away dinner the Colonel described me as the Chewbacca of the Squadron, didn't say much but could fix anything. Computers, plumbing, raining death from above on pigeons, metal work, scrounging semi-truck wheels for the Shirt to turn into a bitching barbecue pit. So what does any of this have to do with the Leatherman?

I used the heck out of that Leatherman, the extension, and the bit drivers. Need your reading glasses tightened Chief, I'm your Huckleberry. Need to tear apart a computer so that you can prove to a Lt. Col. that there aren't scorpions in their computer stealing their reports? Check. Adjust water flow to a sink whose Hadji handle has broken off, Sure.

This piece of kit has been used every day, and it's on my belt at work and home. The bit kit gives you Torq bits, flat heads, Phillips, Robertson, and Pozi bit heads. The extension gives you a screw driver without having to get the Leatherman clear of the case, and combined with the Leatherman slot allows you a ton of torque on whatever you're working on. ***Update I've switched to this pouch and couldn't be happier with it, worth your money for this Leatherman.

The Leatherman itself has been a workhorse. The finish has held up to a lot of hard use and remains tight to this day. Can't recommend this piece of kit enough. Are they cheap? No, but short of carrying a full on tool kit around with you everywhere, you can't be anymore prepared.

Unabashedly Pro-American Ideal and Anti-Statist

The idea that is America, isn't dead, though it may look as though it's been through a couple of biker bar room brawls. The hope of being able to chart my own course, make the most of the talents I have, and make a living by bettering the life of others may not be unique to the American experience, but it has managed to weave it's way through the American mythos.

Having lived in both L.A., Portlandia minor, and Rhode Island I've seen first hand how much contempt is held for the folks who live in flyover country. Rednecks, white trash, Deplorables, call them what you will, I think more of those Deplorables just want to be left alone. If folks in Portland don't want to have plastic bags in their stores, so be it. If folks in L.A. want to mandate only Prius, Leafs, and Teslas be sold in their town, good for them. If folks in the North East want to disarm so that each and every large city eventually becomes a hybrid cross of Chicago and Detroit, knock yourselves out. Just don't think for a minute that the folks here in Flyover Country are going to go along any longer.

Contrary to popular opinion, we can read, and do so voraciously just of books different than the Cloud People on both coasts. We read Plato, Aristotle, Hemingway, Joyce, and Dumas believing that the classics still matter. We make things, we fix things, we change our own oil, and shoot our own food. If you don't we simply don't care, run your life, but understand we're done being micromanaged by do gooders who couldn't survive a week without chai tea and vegan restuarants.  

If you don't like guns, don't buy one, but until Chicago gets rid of gun violence, until San Francisco solves its homeless problems, until Flint figures out how to produce clean water, and until NYC can conquer rats don't think we'll listen when you tell us how to live. We've read Alinsky, and the more the Cloud People try to control us, the more we'll resist in ways you're powerless against. The Founders understood that the moment you lose the Consent of the Governed you have lost. We're closer to that point than any of the Cloud People can see, and more and more of us are withdrawing that consent each day.

Thoughts on the Presidential Election

If you don't have pictures, it didn't happen. So here's my call on this fall's election.

Clinton wins more than 300 electoral votes, but will have no mandate due to the Wikileaks treasure trove of questionable decisions she's made. She'll present and have confirmed very anti-Second Amendment judges, yet doesn't understand the "Deplorables" that live in Rural areas will no more disarm peaceably than their great grandfathers stopped drinking/manufacturing/selling moonshine during Prohibition. If all Deplorables are to be made criminals they'll begin to act as such and treat law enforcement as the enemy.

I think the House stays firmly in Republican hands, while the Senate is a toss up, but anything less than 60 Senators for either side can be kept in gridlock. Drug prohibition will be knocked down in California which will finally mark the beginning of the end of the War on Drugs. Where will all that energy have to be turned to keep law enforcement employed and engaged? My guess is a War on Guns, that will not have the effects that D.C. planned.

Seeing the "Ferguson Effect" on policing, that has been only exacerbated by the murders in Dallas and Baton Rouge, I can only imagine what would happen if the Deplorables feel attacked and marginalized in the same manner as their poor brethren in the inner cities have been for so long, I hope I'm wrong.

To paraphrase my guy Jack Spirko about Self-Reliance, it's for making a better life, if times get tough or even if they don't. Regardless of who is living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in January 2017 our plan for the farm won't change much. We'll continue to our quest to be debt free and more self reliant each year.

Same, Same. But Different

We cut the cord for satellite TV a few months ago. I spent a week TDY and had a TV in my room, and thought I'd enjoy watching ESPN again. I love sports, and spent almost 20 years of my life either playing a sport or coaching, but the politicization of sport is crazy to me because sport, at it's foundation is a meritocracy.

My wife and I were talking last night about a the amount of grief high school coaches put up with (Andrea played 4 years of college basketball, and was a varsity coach after that for a while). In 8 seasons I attended or watched well over 1,000 high school games. I may have seen 120 kids that could start at the JuCo level or NAIA level or higher. The rest of those kids? I hope they were learning lessons of how to COMPETE, because that's what life is.

You're going to compete for a mate, for a job, for advancement, for your kids attention and respect. Every day you have to put on your boots and charge once more into the fray. You're not owed a single thing, but if you work your guts out each day. encourage those on your team/tribe/family to keep going you'll be amazed at what can happen.

How do we compete with ourselves though? By trying to be a better version, if not the best version of ourselves. Set goals for each week, month, and year of things you want to get done. They can be projects around the house, the yard, working out learning how to change your oil, etc. A big to do list. Leave it up, as you check those things off a sense of accomplishment in getting stuff done will start to be a habit.

How does getting rid of $70 a month in TV bills equate to this post. It's a habit, paying for something that we didn't really need that we broke. A few months later I don't miss it and wonder why we didn't do it sooner. The house is more peaceful. I'm reading more, I'm doing more around the house. In self reliance, everything comes back to how we spend our time.

So You Want Independence?

"The greatest act of rebellion in America today is growing a garden."  I can't remember who said it, or where I first heard it, but the further I get away from the first time I read it, the more it rings true.

If you just looked at the meager 45 or so posts I have up, you'd never know that I spend the last 8 years getting ready for this homestead. I failed spectacularly more times than I can count, but each one was on a small scale, and each time I walked away a little smarter.

Google Fu is your friend. Learn how to use a search engine effectively. If you're writing articles to help folks learn how to label them to be able to help the biggest number of people possible.

I started my journey after watching my 401k get halved in value. I, wrongly I might add, listened to "experts" who told me to leave my money put and "invest for the long haul". It was a valuable learning experience. I knew, in my bones, that something wasn't right in 2007, and by the spring of 2009 I was planting my first garden. Something I'd denigrated a previous girlfriend for wanting to do only a few years prior.

I had some moderate success that first year, thanks more to wonderful Idaho soil, and free irrigation water. I was hooked, and the more I grew the more I shared, the more I gave away the softer my heart became. That little garden fixed my soul as much as coaching wonderful girls at The College of Idaho.

From the garden I moved to fruit trees in 2010, then onto raspberries, strawberries, goose berries, currants, and a failed attempt at arctic kiwis. By the time the first fruit harvest really came on two years later, I had moved into a few chickens and ducks in the back yard, breaking several city ordinances at the time. My neighbors were kind and my closest neighbor said she liked to hear the ducks as it reminded her of home.

I learned about predators, and that if your wife, who's more or less blind without her contacts/glasses drops a skunk with one shot from a pellet gun in the middle of a dark night with no light, you'll never hear the end if you ever miss another shot. :-) Andrea is a fierce protector of her children, myself, and the animals in her charge.

If you dream of a homestead, you have to communicate not only the whys, but also the HOW it's going to work. Be gentle, be realistic, be honest, start with the piece of land you have now. and start showing that you really can produce things that feed your family that are of higher quality than what you could ever afford at Whole Foods.

Why Homestead?

I've been at this homesteading, self-reliance, modern survivalist thing now that I see a more people making a conscious decision to do the same.

As I've said before, this self-reliance thing is hard. It's early mornings, late nights, praying for rain, and praying for rain to stop. It's the heartbreak of losing animals, crops, and time invested in both, balanced by the joy of a newborn calf, frying up an egg still warm from recently being laid, and the juice of a tree ripened peach running down your chin.

For my friends that realize, somethings not right, many of them say they can just feel it. It's not that they know the total amount of American debt, or even what a derivative is, but they know somethings coming. I remember the feeling of going down more and more rabbit holes, realizing how precarious our situation was in 2008, but here I am 8 years later as testament to you that anyone can do this. Here's my attempt to help you on your way.

1. Breathe. It's going to be OK. Empires fall, Markets fail. As King Solomon said 3,000 years ago, there is nothing new under the sun.

2. Debt. It's a soul crushing burden. Here's the Dave Ramsey plan in a nutshell. Make a budget. Cut up your credit cards. Sell everything you have of value, Pay off the smallest to the largest of your remaining debt each month. Pay cash, on payday put it into envelopes for rent, gas, etc (or debit cards as cash is harder and harder to use). Get a second job. You aren't owed feeling good, spoiling yourself, pampering, etc. until you're doing it with your money and not the bank's at 24% interest.

3. Skills. Once these two things are handled I see so many men rush into the firearms world and blow a ton of money there.
   a. Learn to grow a garden, there are so many great resources out there to help you. Ask me if you want!
   b. Plant fruit trees, there's not better ROI on the planet than a healthy productive fruit tree. Think about it $25 investment, some vermiculture compost, and for the next 3 to 50 years you'll get hundreds of percent return in fresh fruit.
   c. Learn how to change your own oil. For less than $25 and 30 minutes of my time I keep full synthetic oil and a high mileage filter in my vehicles every 5000 miles. Your car will last longer, run better, and you'll get to know your vehicle.
    d. Preserving food. Learn how to can and dehydrate and your garden and fruit trees will start to save you money.
     e. Learn how to cook. It's a skill, find recipes you like and make them once a week until you understand them. After you're out of debt by a KitchenAid mixer and large high quality food processor. You can feed a family a high quality inexpensive meal and the more products that you produce the more self reliant you're becoming.

It's a marathon, not a sprint. Do all you can do today, sit down on the couch exhausted, love on your family, go to bed and do it again tomorrow. You'll feel like you're swimming in concrete for a while, but eventually you'll look back and realize how far you've come.