This weeks preps check-in

QuietH3art said:

Brent, you won't have any berries left, you won't have a garden left. Pigs root out everything. When my sow and her litter escaped into the woods, it was easy to track where they went. They destroyed everything in their path.
Genetics is the same in all creatures. In dog breeding, everyone always stressed to me that I could breed father to daughter but not mother to son. And I could breed half-siblings together as long as they have the same father but not the same mother. I had to know why and I'll tell you why. There are 2 major types of DNA. Genomic/Nuclear and Mitochondrial. When the sperm impregnates the egg, the egg destroys the mitochondrial DNA in the sperm. Offspring are more closely genetically related to their mothers than their fathers.
So the simple answer is no, the piglets should not be bred together.

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I figured as much. I'm pretty careful with my rabbits not mixing too. I know it happens in nature, but I am sure the odds of health problems increases. As far as food goes, I don't think it would affect the safety for us, just the animals.

Brent S said:

I figured as much. I'm pretty careful with my rabbits not mixing too. I know it happens in nature, but I am sure the odds of health problems increases. As far as food goes, I don't think it would affect the safety for us, just the animals.

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The reality is this: If there are no genetic defects in the bloodline, you can breed brother/sister, mother/son, father/daughter and no genetic defects will occur. However, most defects are caused by recessive genes, which means they can be carriers without expressing the defect. If the 2 rabbits/pigs/humans involved come from the same parent that carries a recessive gene for defect, there's a strong chance they both carry it. If they both carry it, they will produce defective offspring - I can't remember the statistics, but I think it's 50%. Statistics are based on a full value of 100, though, so you might get a litter of 10 where none show defect or a litter of 10 where all show the defect. You are almost as likely to have genetic defects link up among unrelated mates.
Having a broad gene pool to choose from is supposedly the better choice, however, if you have a lot of females and only one male and that male carries a genetic defect, that is really bad. Moreso if you breed daughters back to him.

Even with the hotwire, if you do not have something buried, they will dig under the fence, so I guess your answer is no. . . the hotwire along the fence will not be enough to keep them in. When we started out, we made certain that the sow and boar were from different bloodlines. When we decide which male to keep, he gets cut. That way he will grow bigger and faster. (The boys always outgrow the females) They can and will breed to each other if givin a chance, that is why we sell them still young.

Danil54grl said:

Even with the hotwire, if you do not have something buried, they will dig under the fence, so I guess your answer is no. . . the hotwire along the fence will not be enough to keep them in. When we started out, we made certain that the sow and boar were from different bloodlines. When we decide which male to keep, he gets cut. That way he will grow bigger and faster. (The boys always outgrow the females) They can and will breed to each other if givin a chance, that is why we sell them still young.

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Yeah, it was hard to keep me away from girls when I was young too!

im getting okra alright..but the tomatoes are slow to ripen.

jimLE said:

im getting okra alright..but the tomatoes are slow to ripen.


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I've gotten about twenty quarts of tomatoes canned so far, and will keep going until the last vine dies. I'm just now getting lots of okra. My corn shaded the plants and they were slow to start, but now I tilled under the corn and they are thriving. I just tilled the outside garden, and will plant the fall stuff soon. I'm going to put in beets, sweet peas, carrots, kale, broccoli, radish, and spinach. I just ordered an electric cultivator for the greenhouse from amazon. I used the gas powered tiller in there before and tried to kill myself before, even with the fan on and the window and door open. I'm hoping it arrives before this weekend is over so I can replant in there too.

jimLE said:

im getting okra alright..but the tomatoes are slow to ripen.


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By the way, what do you do with your okra? I froze some in vacuum bags, and have fried a lot with potatoes. I still have several jars of pickeled hot okra left from last year so I'm not canning any of this years crop. I only have one row of them but am getting more than I can keep up with.

Just bought a few goodies to add to the preps. Waterbottle from Kleen Kanteen, a waterbottle bag (I will do a product review on each) and a few odds and ends. Another 100 out of the wallet to the Amazon Gods.

Today i got 2 50ft and 2 100ft 550 para cord...one of each will go in with camping gear...a tote for my camping gear...

Silent Bob said:

Just bought a few goodies to add to the preps. Waterbottle from Kleen Kanteen, a waterbottle bag (I will do a product review on each) and a few odds and ends. Another 100 out of the wallet to the Amazon Gods.

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Yeah, amazon gets most of my spare change as well.

I got my fall garden tilled, planted and fertilized with rabbit manure. I planted kale, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, and cabbage. I hope to till the greenhouse and plant it this coming weekend. Oh, and I did one really important thing, after all life isn't all about work. I made this seasons first apple pie, with heavy cream and cinnamon. It's cooling right now, I'll let you know how it turned out shortly.

I just found this to start your day off right. 121 ways to know if you're a survivalist - humorous, and yet, oddly reassuring:

http://thesurvivalmom.com/you-might-be-a-survivalist-if/

Your dog has more Emergency Rations than 95% of the U.S. population.

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That one cracked me up.

Your fence posts double as range markers

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Who's doesn't?

You’ve ever considered buying an above-ground pool for water storage purposes

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Damn, thought I was the only one. Don't tell the wife, she thinks it will be for fun!

About a month ago (wasn't able to post, my bad), I got 3 x 3100mah powerbanks, 1 5" USB fan, an Ambient Weather Crank Radio, more AA and AAA batts, a SolarForce Z2 flashlight. Got from a friend, a second hand single LED China-made flashlight

Getting a small portable solar power kit soon.

Brent S said:

I got my fall garden tilled, planted and fertilized with rabbit manure. I planted kale, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, and cabbage. I hope to till the greenhouse and plant it this coming weekend. Oh, and I did one really important thing, after all life isn't all about work. I made this seasons first apple pie, with heavy cream and cinnamon. It's cooling right now, I'll let you know how it turned out shortly.View attachment 3419

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By the way the pie was amazing! I used 1 cup of sugar, 3 tblspoons flour, 1 cup of heavy cream and pre made wallmart pie crust, a little cinniman, and of course apples! I will never make a pie without the cream again, it gave a richer flavor than anything I've ever tasted. Yeah, I know this isn't really prepping stuff, but I did grow the apples at least!

QuietH3art said:

I just found this to start your day off right. 121 ways to know if you're a survivalist - humorous, and yet, oddly reassuring:

http://thesurvivalmom.com/you-might-be-a-survivalist-if/

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those are great! I printed the list and haven't even had time to read all yet, yes I was goofing off at work. I love the new avatar, nothing can put a broken heart back together than the love of a good dog!

the group of 4 tomatoes,i saved the seeds from them.the other tomatoes,are for my mom.the seeds on the blue towel are the seeds from the 4 tomatoes,and 1 other tomato as well..the okra laying loss,im letting them dry for the seeds.the okra in the 1 gallon zip lock bag..zip bag is some where around 3/4 full..and yes they'll be fried...

Brent S said:

those are great! I printed the list and haven't even had time to read all yet, yes I was goofing off at work. I love the new avatar, nothing can put a broken heart back together than the love of a good dog!

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The new dog is actually not new. Faith (Teufelshund Semper Fidelis) was born here 5 years ago. When she was 2 years old, I gave her to another breeder. I had to drive to Maryland and back Monday to get her and her last 3 puppies. The breeder didn't want her anymore because she's done breeding. Yes, I called her a very colorful word.
I was not and am still not prepared for keeping a 140 lb dog and after being without Great Danes for months and babysitting small to medium sized dogs during that time - Faith is huge. She takes up more than half of my king size bed.
But, I feel safe here again with a Great Dane in residence so we're going to make this work. This dog has had 4 litters of puppies. The 3 I brought back with her are for sale. She'll not be bred again. And I am confident that she will protect me.
When I was preparing for my trip to get her Monday, everything we've talked about here influenced me into putting together a quick GHB to carry with me. The trip was 400 miles one way and it kept flashing through my mind that I'd have to get through DC if SHTF while I was up there. Not a pleasant thought. It would have been "normal" for me not to think of carrying a bag on a quick turnaround trip like this. Normally when I travel, I carry my own food and drink so I don't have to stop and I carry an overnight bag because I normally won't drive so many hours straight. Fortunately all of my organizing when I first moved back here allowed me to throw together a GHB in less than 5 minutes. When I got home, I didn't unpack the bag. It will sit right where it's at as a BOB now.
And for prepping, this week, I've picked a ton of green beans that will be canned tomorrow. I planted my indoor medicinal herbs garden 4 days ago. Most of those plants are supposed to have a 10 day germination period but 4 of them are already popped out of the soil and seeking the sun. Today is cheese and butter making day (again). I have multiple pounds of shredded mozzarella cheese and butter in the freezer and I haven't ordered cultures yet to make aged cheese. So, today I'm making the mozzarella into bite-sized balls, rolling them in Italian bread crumbs and will freeze them for quickie appetizers. I'll have a whole lot of canned tomato sauce soon as my beefsteak tomatoes have about 20 tomatoes started on each of my 30 plants, so I'm definitely making some of that into marinara sauce.
This afternoon I'll pick the last of my corn for freezing and if I have time, I'll dig up some of my carrots for canning tomorrow, too. It's been cool here the last couple of days and we're expecting a lot of rain coming our way so tomorrow should be a good day for running the pressure canner all day.
Enough procrastinating... time to get to work!