Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Aquaponics with Ken Jensen; Episode 41: Season 2 ep 6, Without Land Chapter 6


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Sara F. Hathaway
Sara F. Hathaway is the author of the The Changing Earth Series: Day After Disaster and Without Land. She also hosts The Changing Earth Podcast which blends her fictional stories with educational survival tips. Sara grew up in the country where she developed a profound interest in the natural world around her. After graduating with honors from The California State University of Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, she launched into a career in business management. In her fictional novels her research and experience with survival techniques and forgotten life-sustaining methods of the generations past come to the forefront in a action packed adventures. She has used her background in business management to pave new roads for fictional authors to follow and she delights in helping other achieve the same success. She currently lives with her husband and two sons in California where she is at work on the sequel to her first two novels. For more information and a free copy of “The Go-Bag Essentials” featuring everything you need to have to leave your home in a disaster visit: www.authorsarafhathaway.com
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Friday, April 22, 2016

Tips for Planting Your Garden Using Companion Planting

Companion planting is a concept used in permaculture. The principle is this, in the wild no plants grow in beds of just one type of plant. There are always other types of plants growing with them. Most of the time it is a symbiotic relationship. They grow together because they help one another accomplish a certain growth advantage, whether that be helping to repair the soil, provide nutrients or provide bug control.

As my families permaculture journey continues we knew that this would be a concept that we would want to apply this year. Last year, during the drought here in California, we planted in rows. The weeds grew tall and once picked the plants baked in the dry soil. We also were very efficient at creating a bug oasis given that everything else around our garden was dead. Don't get me wrong we harvested all we needed for the year but we were unable to provide the assistance that we normally do for other families.

So this year we are learning and applying some of the permaculture principles to our garden in hopes of getting a better yield, having healthier plants and making our job easier because less weeds will be growing. That's right more yield and less weeds! Who could ask for more?

In this blog I am going to show you the setup that we have chosen to fit our needs. We have our own tastes and we grow the maximum amount of items that we know we can easily preserve for the year. I am sure you may want to delete some items and add some others in their stead.

Here is what our garden plot looks like and what we have planned:

This image is just one of our many gardens on our property but it is our main annual producer. We have raised beds at an alternate location on the property. I have carrots producing seeds there now. The seeds will be resown into that bed. I also have volunteer tomato (and cucumber) plants that pop up there and are good producers. That being said, we are only going to add basil, lettuce and thyme to this bed and let the annual seeds that volunteer grow up big. Research has shown that tomatoes and carrots grow well together (and they sure did last year). Plus, I found out that lettuce grows well with both of these and basil not only improves the flavor of these plants but it is also a great pest deterrent.

Moving into the main garden, my family loves corn, fresh and canned. We are increasing our corn production in a big way this year. Last year my squash and cucumbers were torched by the sun and didn't produce well at this site. Upon researching these companion plants I found out that squash and cucumbers both grow well with corn. The corn will provide them shade and a place to climb without hurting the corn plants. In the past though, I have noticed that when you plant cucumbers and squash together sometimes you end up with a weird high-breed. To avoid this, we are going to separate the two with bush beans which also enjoy growing with the corn. The corn will still be planted in rows with the ground plants staggered in between them. Having these low growing plants in between the corn will greatly reduce the amount of weeds growing in between the corn plants.

The areas marked as green rectangles will not be planted as rows but rather as a random conglomeration of vegetable plants, herbs, and marigolds (which help keep bugs away). You may notice that many of the squares contain tomato plants. We love tomatoes as well, both fresh and canned. We can chili sauce, stewed tomatoes for tomato based meals and whole tomatoes to use whenever.  While I was researching permaculture I came across the idea of spreading out your tomato plants rather than planting them in a row. This way if you get tomato worms (which we do every year) they can't just crawl down your row of tomatoes, eating as they go.

You will also notice that herbs are included in every box. This is because many herbs can be very beneficial to your vegetables. Basil make the flavor of tomatoes and lettuce better. That's why it's going up to the upper bed. Parsley is beneficial for corn and tomatoes so we will plant it by our tomatoes in the beds. Oregano, thyme, marjoram, and tarragon are good to plant with all your vegetable plants so we are going to do a mix-up of these herbs throughout.  Dill needs to be kept away from carrots so it will not be in the upper bed but we can mix it freely in the main garden.

Starting with the box on the top left we will grow two tomato plants mixed with beets and garlic. Beets don't necessarily benefit either of these plants but we had space and beets is another item that we can heavily for the winter months. In the top right box we will grow two tomatoes, eggplant and spinach. Eggplant is beneficial to tomato plants and spinach is beneficial to the eggplants. The box in the middle on the left will have mostly just potatoes in it. Potatoes should not be planted by cucumbers, as cucumbers will cause blight in late potatoes. Basil is very beneficial to potatoes as it deters potato beetles and marigolds are also very efficient at deterring bugs from potatoes so these two plant types will be the main accompaniment in this bed.

In the middle right bed we will have two more tomatoes which grow well with peppers (type is not specified but we grow green, sweet peppers). Peppers also grow well with onions and basil but we will include other types of herbs as well. In the bottom left bed we will grow onions and more beets, which are a good accompaniment, with chard and dill. All of these plants are companions. The final bed on the bottom right will have more tomatoes and beets.

I hope I have given you some food for thought for growing your own garden. If you would like to see a full list of companion plants, the Mother Earth Website has a great guide that you can print out and plan you own companion garden full of the goodies your family loves to eat and preserve. 


Sara F. Hathaway
Sara F. Hathaway is the author of the The Changing Earth Series: Day After Disaster and Without Land. She also hosts The Changing Earth Podcast which blends her fictional stories with educational survival tips. Sara grew up in the country where she developed a profound interest in the natural world around her. After graduating with honors from The California State University of Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, she launched into a career in business management. In her fictional novels her research and experience with survival techniques and forgotten life-sustaining methods of the generations past come to the forefront in a action packed adventures. She has used her background in business management to pave new roads for fictional authors to follow and she delights in helping other achieve the same success. She currently lives with her husband and two sons in California where she is at work on the sequel to her first two novels. For more information and a free copy of “The Go-Bag Essentials” featuring everything you need to have to leave your home in a disaster visit: www.authorsarafhathaway.com
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Purchase Day After Disaster


 

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Threats of Overpopulation and You with L. Douglas Hogan, Episode 41, Without Land Chapter 5


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Sara F. Hathaway
Sara F. Hathaway is the author of the The Changing Earth Series: Day After Disaster and Without Land. She also hosts The Changing Earth Podcast which blends her fictional stories with educational survival tips. Sara grew up in the country where she developed a profound interest in the natural world around her. After graduating with honors from The California State University of Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, she launched into a career in business management. In her fictional novels her research and experience with survival techniques and forgotten life-sustaining methods of the generations past come to the forefront in a action packed adventures. She has used her background in business management to pave new roads for fictional authors to follow and she delights in helping other achieve the same success. She currently lives with her husband and two sons in California where she is at work on the sequel to her first two novels. For more information and a free copy of “The Go-Bag Essentials” featuring everything you need to have to leave your home in a disaster visit: www.authorsarafhathaway.com
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Purchase Day After Disaster


 

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

World War II Secrets to Live By with Gabriella Kovac, Episode 39: Without Land Chapter 4

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Sara F. Hathaway
Sara F. Hathaway is the author of the The Changing Earth Series: Day After Disaster and Without Land. She also hosts The Changing Earth Podcast which blends her fictional stories with educational survival tips. Sara grew up in the country where she developed a profound interest in the natural world around her. After graduating with honors from The California State University of Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, she launched into a career in business management. In her fictional novels her research and experience with survival techniques and forgotten life-sustaining methods of the generations past come to the forefront in a action packed adventures. She has used her background in business management to pave new roads for fictional authors to follow and she delights in helping other achieve the same success. She currently lives with her husband and two sons in California where she is at work on the sequel to her first two novels. For more information and a free copy of “The Go-Bag Essentials” featuring everything you need to have to leave your home in a disaster visit: www.authorsarafhathaway.com
Purchase Without Land
Purchase Day After Disaster


 

Monday, April 11, 2016

Wild Foraging - An Essential Survival Skill



Wild foraging may sound like a foreign concept to those of us from the western world accustomed to selecting from the very best produce available in the grocery store. However human being have survived for thousands of years employing this simple skill to naturally obtain food and medicine from plants that nature decided to grow. Humans helped Mother Nature along by planting certain food crops that have since become known as weeds and haven't been harvested in so long that Americans forgot they are a viable food source. It's true that wild foraging for food and medicine is a great way to ensure that you and your family are fed and healthy but there are also many psychological and entertainment values associated with this practice. Getting started in the wild foraging world is much easier than you might think. You can provide your own sense of security and fulfillment knowing you can provide food and medicine from the natural world around you.

There is a viable food source waiting for you right outside your door, you just have to know where to look. This food source does not require any planting, weeding or watering. Plus, if TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) were to come you can continue to eat from your natural world around you when others are lost wondering if something is edible or poisonous. A lot of the tasty edibles in nature we now identify as weeds and aggressively try to eradicate. For example, how many of us have cursed the dandelions growing in our green grass? While the grass looks pretty and is cool on our feet in the hot summers, the dandelions are much more useful to your dietary needs. All the parts of the dandelion are edible (as long has the neighborhood dog hasn't visited them). In addition to these weeds filling the space in our bellies, many plants from the same family will have a totally different flavor profile that will their own unique notes to any meal. For example, water cress and wild lettuce both come from the sedum family of plants but their flavors are very different.

Beyond being a great food source, wild foraging can also provide you with medicinal benefits that the western world is just beginning to tap the potential of. When you learn what plants are beneficial to different conditions a whole new way of healing is available to you. If TEOTWAWKI were to happen you can be confident knowing that there are remedies for ailments available to you without having to go to battle with your neighbors raiding the local CVS. Your reliance upon a pharmaceutical industry that destroys the natural buffers in plants to extract the healing elements and overload your body with that element often creating nasty side effects will be greatly reduced. In addition to reducing your need to rely upon an industry that seems more concerned about the bottom line of their company rather than the health of their clients, you will be providing an element to your health that is often overlooked: variety. Our diets consist of mostly the same ingredients combined in different ways, which provides us with a lot of the same vitamins.  What is the real difference between spaghetti and pizza? The way the flour is cooked? Your body naturally craves variety and a diet rich in wild foraged goodies can provide this palate and vitamin diversity.

Wild foraging is not just a food source or a medicinal cabinet, wild foraging is fun! When you walk through the woods, drive down the street or even stroll through a parking lot, the plants that created a wash of green will now be individual varieties, readily identifiable to the trained eye. Participating in wild foraging can be a welcome relief from life in a city. What a great excuse to head out into nature and enjoy yourself. But, wild foraging doesn't just happen in the country. There are many plants available to you in the city or suburbs. You just have to know what they are in order to enjoy their benefits. Kids delight in the fact that they are learning the different types of plants and which ones they can nibble on. As a parent you have to be highly vigilant and ensure that your child understands they need to ask you first before they eat anything! But, a nature walk with your child to identify plants is a great way to spend time together and it educates both of you at the same time!

Photo Album: Some photos of our last wild foraging adventure
Fun on the trail walking the dog.
Plantain a valuable plant found along the way.
Pineapple weed: a camomile substitute found along the way.



The prize we were after fiddle head ferns. Yum, yum!
Getting started with wild foraging is not as hard as you might think. However, you need to exercise extreme caution! There are many plants that have look alike species that are very poisonous. Before eating anything you need to make sure that you have that plant 110% identified without a doubt. I don't want to scare you off but you can't underestimate the importance of being careful, learning the plants, and starting very slow when you introduce a new type of plant to your diet. As always you should keep in mind any allergies that you have and listen carefully to your body.

When you get started wild foraging you need some good books to start with. I say books because the pictures in plant books are images of one plant at one time during one season. Plus, the authors are individuals as well and they might highlight different aspects of each plant. Plants are like humans and can have their own small variations, ever hear of a four leaf clover? This is a variation but it is still a clover. Plus, plants can look very different depending on the season and even the weather conditions. With multiple books you can cross reference the plant with many different sources and be sure that you have found the right one.

Books are wonderful but nothing beats a great instructor. As I mentioned books can be tough to use and phone apps (at least the ones I've tried) are even worse! A hands on instructor is priceless. Just an hour in nature with someone who is already trained will provide you with a plethora of viable options for harvesting. They already have their eyes educated to see the difference between the green and the individuals. They will be able to point out so many types of plants to you in just an hour that you will need a camera and a note pad to remember all the valuable information they can provide. Learning all these plants and their uses takes time and practice! You will need to return to an area over and over and test your skills.

When you start out wild foraging, learn the easily recognized plants first. Plants that most of us can identify already are things like dandelions, chickweed, clover, mint, blackberries and cattails. There are so many uses of just these plants! It will take time to learn recipes, harvesting techniques, medicinal values and physical uses (for example cattail leaves make great woven mats). Start exploring the easy plants to get your wild foraging juices flowing. Then you can move on to more difficult plants with the help of your books, your instructor and your curiosity.

Wild foraging provides a certain type of security and fulfillment when you know you can provide food and medicine for you and your family. It provides a viable food source that is readily available in all types of environments, whether you live in the city, suburbs or our in the country. The medicinal qualities of plants that are naturally available can literally save your life. Plus, the entertainment value that wild foraging provides and the bonding you can do with your loved ones while wild foraging are irreplaceable. Getting started is not as intimidating as it may seem so get out there and start experimenting with the food available outside your door today!

Sara F. Hathaway
Sara F. Hathaway is the author of the The Changing Earth Series: Day After Disaster and Without Land. She also hosts The Changing Earth Podcast which blends her fictional stories with educational survival tips. Sara grew up in the country where she developed a profound interest in the natural world around her. After graduating with honors from The California State University of Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, she launched into a career in business management. In her fictional novels her research and experience with survival techniques and forgotten life-sustaining methods of the generations past come to the forefront in a action packed adventures. She has used her background in business management to pave new roads for fictional authors to follow and she delights in helping other achieve the same success. She currently lives with her husband and two sons in California where she is at work on the sequel to her first two novels. For more information and a free copy of “The Go-Bag Essentials” featuring everything you need to have to leave your home in a disaster visit: www.authorsarafhathaway.com
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Purchase Day After Disaster


 

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

FEMA Camps and You with L. Douglas Hogan, Episode 38, Without Land Chapter 3

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Sara F. Hathaway
Sara F. Hathaway is the author of the The Changing Earth Series: Day After Disaster and Without Land. She also hosts The Changing Earth Podcast which blends her fictional stories with educational survival tips. Sara grew up in the country where she developed a profound interest in the natural world around her. After graduating with honors from The California State University of Sacramento with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, she launched into a career in business management. In her fictional novels her research and experience with survival techniques and forgotten life-sustaining methods of the generations past come to the forefront in a action packed adventures. She has used her background in business management to pave new roads for fictional authors to follow and she delights in helping other achieve the same success. She currently lives with her husband and two sons in California where she is at work on the sequel to her first two novels. For more information and a free copy of “The Go-Bag Essentials” featuring everything you need to have to leave your home in a disaster visit: www.authorsarafhathaway.com
Purchase Without Land
Purchase Day After Disaster