Extopian

While we have a veritable cornucopia of toxins lining the isles of our stores, the “nuclear solution” is not always warranted or healthy. For nearly every single one of nature’s opportunists that choose to invade our homes and gardens, nature has also provided a solution or defense. Selecting a milder but alternative, effective response can improve the air, water and soil quality of our environment for ourselves, our children and other, bystander species. The following is a list of some tried and tested solutions you may want to use in your home and garden. Your mileage may vary so feel free to innovate and share your experiences if you stumble upon an improvement.

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Any of us who’ve thought much about emergency preparedness realize that one of the most critical items to store is water. Without sufficient water to see you through an emergency that lasts more than a few days, you and your family are at great risk. You simply can’t live without water. Fourteen gallons of water per person is the suggested amount to store for a two-week emergency situation. This amount is enough for subsistence purposes only: two quarts for drinking and two quarts for cleaning and bathing purposes a day. When you consider that a person normally uses in excess of 140 gallons of water per day for drinking, bathing, laundry, dishes, watering lawns, etc., this isn’t a lot of water. If you have the room to store more you will want to do so.

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No one wants to be the harbinger of bad news and no one wants to constantly hear a pessimist predict dire things for the future. However, if history repeats itself, as it usually does, sooner or later we Americans are going to be in for a bad economic slump. Take a close look at what is happening to some of the prosperous countries around the globe. Those of us who can remember the Great Depression hope the slump won’t be anything like that.

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In the past I’ve grown hybrid vegetables, mostly the varieties that have been developed to produce early yields. Because of this, I was able to grow things like sweet corn in northern climates. However, from a practical point of view I am dead set against them if you intend to incorporate them into a “self-reliant” gardening plan. While these hybrids can taste good, I’ve found that most have been developed for commercial traits such as ease of shipping, holding saleable color and flavor for long periods, and for ensuring the simultaneous ripening of entire fields of a vegetable to facilitate mechanical harvesting.

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Fireplaces and wood stoves are more efficient with each new decade. Heatilators, inserts, blowers, and a host of heating bells and whistles have rekindled the desirability of wood heat. Today, the key for enjoyment of that wood heat is in discovering many hot firewood resources that balance best with the checkbook.

Department of Energy figures reveal that the average cost of delivered cordwood nearly doubled in the last 10 years. By contrast, in that same period, the cost of utilities in most of the nation stabilized. The stark difference in cost between firewood and utilities combined to create the greatest decline of wood heating in history.

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Looking for a way to combine sufficiency with efficiency? The most efficient animal on the place is the goat. It is scoffed at by skeptics, eyed by the curious, and well-loved by those who know. Countless people already know the benefits of goat milk, but in case you haven’t heard, the milk from goats contains considerable smaller fat globules, making it easier to digest than milk from a cow. The curd is much softer and smaller, and vitamin A appears in pure form, as contrasted with carotene found in cow’s milk.

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