Special Add On’s for the Coming Fall Workshop

Posted on September 21, 2017 by Modern Survival| 4 Comments

If you are coming to the TSP Nine Mile Farm Workshop from Nov. 8-12 there are some awesome add ons available I wanted to make you aware of.

First – Patrick Roehrman is doing a build a knife with Patrick workshop.  In this workshop you will work with Patrick during times between our regular sessions to build a truly custom knife.  A knife you would normally pay say 500 dollars just to buy.  But in this special workshop you will learn how to build knives like this and end up with one you built along with Patrick for only 400 dollars.

Full Details on This Workshop
Can be Found Here

Second – Nicole Sauce will be doing a class on Word Press site development for all students.  She will also be announcing a special guided workshop allowing you to develop and fully deploy their own sites.  This will cover site development and deployment with options on hosting, graphic design and much more.   This course will be done via webinar and will begin about a week after the workshop at Nine Mile Farm end.  This will be a great opportunity to take all the ideas and things you learn at our workshop and launch it into an actual business.

Full Detail Options and Pricing for
Nicole’s Add On Course are Here

Third – Nick Ferguson is offering a drawing for a  “Consulting Session With Nick Ferguson”.  Basically anybody interested in winning the slot will need to follow his Distance Consulting instructions page at

www.homegrownliberty.com/consulting

They will need to shoot a video tour video of their property, fill out the questionnaire, and either mail that to Nick prior to the event, or bring it with them.

The students here at Nine Mile Farm will watch the video of one lucky winner, and do a sit down quick consultation with Q&A. All attendees get a 40% discount on a distance consulting session with Nick after the event is finished if booked before the event is over. ($175 check, money order, paypal – $150 if paying cash. he will also accept silver at spot price)

Additionally Nick will also be doing a class on making herbal salves which will include a breakout Class Session hands on class 30-45 minutes.  The cost of this add on is $25, with a limit of 20 attendees.  Those who take part in this add on will leave with 2 Jars of the famous “Ferguson First Aid Salve” Plus some of Nick’s own comfrey crowns and seed packets to plant and grow every herb used in the salve recipe.

The value of the seeds and cuttings alone is about $20 – Jars of salve worth $15   Total class valued at $35 with a cost of only $25.

Anybody interested in the first aid salve class can bring cash. First come first served – Email nick@homegrownliberty.com with “Salve Class” in the subject line to reserve your spot.

If you  have any additional questions on Nick’s consulting or the salve class, please email him with “TSP Workshop 2017” as the subject line at nick@homegrownliberty.com

Fourth – Not really an add on but John Pugliano wants to hear from you.  John  is presenting on building wealth and lifestyle businesses.  He’s soliciting your feedback as to what questions or topics you’d like covered relating to wealth & starting a business.  Contact him at:  podcast@wealthsteading.com

 

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How it Feels When there is a Gas Shortage and You are a Prepper!

Posted on September 21, 2017 by Modern Survival| Leave a comment

This is not worthy of a full Item of the day post but it made my day.  The people on my “NextDoor.com” page are still going ape shit about how the small gas station at the end of the road is “price gouging” even though this issue has been over for two weeks or more.  Anyway, saw this shirt on Facebook and turns out it is a real thing, hope it makes your day as much at it made mine!

For what it is worth the evil small business down the road had the nerve to raise the price of gas about 50 cents a gallon, and had gas at least available though the entire “shortage” while all the large stations in town had the pumps taped off and empty.

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Episode-42- TSP Rewind – From Home to Homestead

Posted on September 21, 2017 by Modern Survival| Leave a comment
Episode-42- TSP Rewind - From Home to Homestead [ 41:46 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

rewindToday is an episode of TSP Rewind, commercial free versions of past podcast episodes.

Today’s episode was originally, Episode-20- From Home to Homestead and was originally published on July 22nd, 2008.

The following are the original show notes from that episode.

Today in America despite the mortgage meltdown and other economic problems more people then ever own their own homes. The problem though is we have gone from a nation of Homesteaders to a nation of debt laden home owners, ownership is not even the correct term. Mortgage has turned into long term rental for many. In today’s show we discuss…

  • How to turn your home from a consumer to producer
  • How buying regional can lead to more independence
  • Elimination of debt as part of homesteading
  • The best crops to begin gardening with
  • How growing food can lead to freedom
  • How a mortgage was NOT part of the original homesteading process
  • Making your home provide for you vs. you having to provide for your home
  • How solar and green energy can help you be more independent
  • The salmonella scare and genetically altered plants are yet another reason to “grow your own”
  • How the Internet is helping us all reconnect and inspire each other
  • The “smaller home concept” and even how to adapt it to a large home
  • Tossing a bit of politics in, does the media favor Obama? What do you think?

Don’t forget to sign up for our listener appreciation contest and comment, suggest and let me know what you want to hear more about.

Links and Resources for this Podcast

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Episode-2089- Mike Centex on Hurricane Harvey and CAC Teams

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Modern Survival| 8 Comments
Episode-2089- Mike Centex on Hurricane Harvey and CAC Teams [ 1:38:51 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mike is a PermaEthos founder and MSB member, a past presenter at TSP workshops and more recently a new Citizens Assisting Citizens team member when he found himself at ground zero of Hurricane Harvey in Houston, TX.

Upon hearing the “Get Out, Get Out, Get Out” warnings from Jack Spirko, Mike, knowing he was based in a high elevation, flood free area, set up the first CAC Team safe haven/FOB in Houston the Day Harvey made landfall. He and his entire family spent the next 10 days coordinating CAC Team efforts to direct rescuers, donations and supplies, safely, to the accessible locations in need around Houston and the Beaumont/Port Arthur area. Having lived in the area a lifetime, his knowledge of the area and roadways was extremely beneficial to CAC Team responders coming in from out of state.

With the assistance of Steven Harris and the entire CAC team nationwide, Mike and his family housed CAC responders, maintained constant contact on current needs and impacted areas, personally accompanied delivery of over 5,000 pounds of donated supplies to Houston area evacuation shelters.

Mike monitored flooding and road conditions around the Beaumont impacted area and he helped the CAC Team to guide additional tons of supplies to CAC responders on the ground in and around the flooded areas of Beaumont. At the same time, Mike’s Wife and children assembled 100’s of emergency hygiene and disaster cleanup kits on their dining room table, that were immediately distributed to flood victims in the Humble/Kingwood area of Houston.

Mike Video Chronicled the events from the day before landfall through the aftermath on his YouTube channel “Mike Centex Life”. Mike journaled extensively during the disaster and has learned many valuable lessons on how best to respond, communicate, and manage internal and external operations in the middle of an ongoing disaster area.

He also shows how clear communications with those coming into a disaster area can make the difference between delivering the supplies needed by victims and not showing up from a multi-state commute with prom dresses and winter coats for victims of a summer hurricane.

As Mike Tyson is famous for quoting, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”.

When you unwittingly find yourself at ground zero of a disaster, you’re going to take some serious punching and plans will fall apart everyday. Mike’s current mission goal is to teach preparedness minded people on how to duck as many of those punches as possible, while in the operating in the eye of the disaster.

Resources for today’s show…

Sponsors of the Day

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

Join the MSB Today

Join the MSB Today

Want Every Episode of TSP Ever Produced?

Remember in addition to discounts to over 40 vendors who supply stuff you are likely buying anyway, tons of free ebooks and video content, MSB Members also get every edition of The Survival Podcast ever produced in convenient zip files in blocks of 24. More info on the MSB can be found here.

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RedYetiWare Kitchen Shears – Item of the Day

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Modern Survival| 9 Comments

sheers

Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.

Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is one of my favorite kitchen tools, RedYetiWare Kitchen Shears.  I kid you not that I went though almost a half dozen different shears to find the ultimate pair.  What I believe I have found is once again the best value to price ratio.

In this case though it is balanced to the value side, as these are better quality than items costing 2-4 times more.  Frankly I don’t even understand how an item this good sells for only 12.75.  They only have 8 reviews on Amazon but 100% are 5 stars.

There are a few things I require of shears if they are to be used in my kitchen.  They are power, quality steel, micro serrated and you must be able to take them apart.  Oh and as they must be able to come apart, they should also stay the hell together when being used.

Here is a break down of each area of concern…

  • Power – I want something that will remove the back bone of a large chicken or duck without working hard, these do that brilliantly.
    .
  • Quality Steel – These are made of 2CR14 stainless steel.  This is not something a custom knife maker is going to use but for the application it is great steel.  I judge them on performance and so far they get an A+.  I have been using them a long time, they hold sharpness well, and 2CR14 seem to be a good quality steel for this level of tool.
    .
  • Micro Serration – One blade of these is a strait edge the other has micro serrations.  This is why they are good at cutting though bones, joints, cartridge.
    .
  • Take Apart – This is critical, if I am going to take apart raw chicken one day and cut salad vegetables the next, you must be able to 100% clean every part of it.  Take down shears are also easier to sharpen.  And critically these don’t accidentally come apart while using them, which I have seen very expensive shears do.

One great thing about the take apart feature, is that the part that retains the blades can be adjusted.  It simply has a small “acorn nut” on it, that can be loosened and reset then re-tightened.  I have never had to do this, but it is clear that you can.

They are also great for butchering quail.  Though I have gone to a new method I call “the dove hunter method” that requires no tools at all.  That said for those of you that butcher quail with shears, you will love the job these do.

Kitchen shears are a great tool, they are great for cutting herbs in the garden as well.  Here is the biggest endorsement I can give them, since I featured them in my “Pepper Kitchen Tools” episode, several hundred of you guys have purchased them, and none of you, not a single one has sent me a single complaint.

Once you get a good set of shears in your kitchen you will find they make a lot of tasks faster and quicker.  If you are in the market for some, check out, RedYetiWare Kitchen Shears and I promise you will not be disappointed.

Remember you can always find the TSP Amazon Item of the day by just going to TspAz.com and by shopping at TspAz.com anytime you shop on Amazon you help support TSP and the work we do here no matter what you buy.

P.S. – Yes these have a bottle opener and a fish scaler on them and it says they can crack nuts.  Don’t buy them for that, such things are best done with tools specifically designed for the task.  I really don’t like “all in one” tools because they never excel at all their tasks.  However, these excel at being shears, so that is what I recommend them for.

 

 

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Episode-2088- Lessons and Planning from the first 3/4s of 2017

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Modern Survival| 9 Comments
Episode-2088- Lessons and Planning from the first 3/4s of 2017 [ 1:23:49 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Timber Frame Pond – AKA “Miyagi Pond” is the Nine Mile Farm Home Run of 2017

Here are Nine Mile Farm we have pretty much settled into our selected systems on a lot of things at this point almost 5 years into the journey.  Our ducks run on a clock work like system, feeding, paddock shifting, egg collection, etc are all quite fine tuned at this point.

The trees require very little maintenance and most of our desired infrastructure is now installed.  Still we are constantly trying and testing out new things.  This year we have found some really great gems of knowledge and we have also come up with some quite refined plans for our future.

A lot of the new stuff is going to be built in winter, because here in north Texas that is the most pleasant time of year for construction work and out door projects.  Today I am going to do an old school sort of “chat with Jack” episode on what has worked well this year and where we are taking that knowledge to in the future.

Join Me Today to Discuss….

  • The aviary and aquaponics system has become a great asset in need of tweaking
  • The timber frame pond (Miyagi) is the most trouble free aquatic system I’ve built
  • Thai water spinach is an amazing and delicious plant
  • Peppers do fantastic at 60% shade here in Texas anyway
  • Tomato blight continues to be the bane of my existence
  • Elevated ponds and gardens are the way forward due to the ducks
  • Our in ground pond is pretty much a disaster, we may have to nuke it
  • Bluegill and other sunfish are about the most trouble free and economically viable protein here in Texas
  • Bullheads do not seem to be a good aquaponics option
  • A Steven Harris Battery Bank and a cooler make a great live well
  • Plans for this winter
    • Build a bigger, better Miyagi
    • Grow out koi for the Miyagi’s
    • Develop a large wicking bed system that is 100% duck proof
    • Design a planting plan for the new and old systems
    • Meat chicken run in 2018, no new ducks this time
    • Take another go at the orchard that failed
    • Duck Free Zones and an Outdoor Kitchen
    • Look to simplify systems and automate everything
  • Final thoughts

Resources for today’s show…

Sponsors of the Day

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

Join the MSB Today

Join the MSB Today

Want Every Episode of TSP Ever Produced?

Remember in addition to discounts to over 40 vendors who supply stuff you are likely buying anyway, tons of free ebooks and video content, MSB Members also get every edition of The Survival Podcast ever produced in convenient zip files in blocks of 24. More info on the MSB can be found here.

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Lodge 14″ Cast Iron Wok – Item of the Day

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Modern Survival| 6 Comments

Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.

Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is the Lodge 14″ Pre Seasoned Cast Iron Wok.  I have been in the market for a new wok for a while.  Our current wok is a huge wok with one of those “stick free surfaces”.  It works okay but it is really too big (like 20 inches) and it just doesn’t really hold heat the way I would like, so it is going off to Goodwill.

In my quest for the new Spirko wok I examined two main options, the first was carbon steel and the second cast iron.  Basically I came down to the conclusion that the chief advantage to carbon steel is it is lighter and better for “tossing” stir fry.  Where as the heavy cast iron does better with great heat distribution.  However, given it comes in at 11 lbs, you are going to be “stirring” that stir fry, not tossing it.

The other advantage to the thinner carbon steel is it heats up faster, where the cast iron wok will hold the heat longer.  In the end I sat down in my kitchen and asked myself, which one is more likely to be still being used and in better shape then the day I bought it, long after I am dead.  On that thought I considered my grandmother’s old cast iron griddle that my father still has.  It was her mother’s and it was one of the few things though brought to the US from the Ukraine in the 1890s.

Well, that was that!  So I started looking at brands and I looked at thinner cast iron woks that weighed a bit less, but the reviews were abysmal and some were not actually cast iron.  Once again I thought about my own kitchen, all the cast iron I own is either old school stuff like Griswold found at flea markets and antique malls and almost all the new stuff comes from Lodge.

I have a Lodge Dutch Oven, a Lodge Griddle and quite a few other Lodge items.  So I checked out the Lodge Wok and realized it was always going to be my choice in the end.  No matter how many other ones I looked at there was one that you knew exactly what you were going to get when  you ordered it.

Lodge has been making cast iron for over 100 years right here in America, of the current manufactures they are simply the best at it.  Now I do dearly love old school “milled” cast iron, which is why I am always sniffing around antique malls, frankly it is about the only reason Dorothy can drag me into one.  But in 45 years of living I have yet to see and old school milled cast iron wok.

Buying the Lodge was a solid choice and with all the stir frying we are doing since discovering new vegetables like Thai Water Spinach which is growing far faster than we can eat it all, it was time for a new wok.  The Lodge is simply fantastic, this thing gets screaming hot, it stays that way.  I power the burner up heavy to get it pre heated but after that a low flame keeps it cooking hot and fast the way wok cooking is supposed to be.

Frankly if I had a larger kitchen I would like have this wok and a hand hammered Japanese made carbon steel wok as well, but my kitchen is rather small and any time I buy a new pan, frankly an old one has to go.  And funny enough cast iron seems to be taking over my kitchen.

So if you are in the market for a wok, and want something your great grandchildren can be using long after you are gone, check out the Lodge 14″ Pre Seasoned Cast Iron Wok today.  There are not many things left in our modern world that you can buy for under 50 dollars and yet know they will outlast you and your children, this is one of them.

Remember you can always find the TSP Amazon Item of the day by just going to TspAz.com and by shopping at TspAz.com anytime you shop online you help support TSP and the work we do here no matter what you buy.

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Episode-2087- Listener Feedback for 9-18-17

Posted on September 18, 2017 by Modern Survival| 19 Comments
Episode-2087- Listener Feedback for 9-11-17 [ 1:32:29 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

jackspirkoToday on The Survival Podcast I take your questions on farming, fruit trees, community, guns, mint, bureaucracy and more.

Remember to be on a show like this one just pick up your phone and call 866-65-THINK.

Make sure if you submit content for a feedback show that you put something like “comment for jack”, “question for jack” or “article for jack” in the subject line to assure proper identification for my screening process.

Please understand I receive several hundred emails a day and can’t get them all on the air.

I also do put out a lot of information on Facebook from emails that I can’t fit on the program though so keep em coming.

Join Me Today As I Respond to Your Calls and Discuss…

  • An update on Grant Shultz and Versaland Farm
  • Thoughts on buying “left over” fruit trees
  • More zello community feedback
  • Thoughts on the “Police Model” 870
  • Getting rid of a patch of mint
  • What is Gun Genie and why should you care
  • On the passing of Jerry Pournelle and his Iron Law of Bureaucracy
  • Can governments really “crush cryptocurrency”
  • Another build a rifle challenge – the 600 dollar all in “mountain rifle”

Resources for today’s show…

Sponsors of the Day

Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.

Join the MSB Today

Join the MSB Today

Want Every Episode of TSP Ever Produced?

Remember in addition to discounts to over 40 vendors who supply stuff you are likely buying anyway, tons of free ebooks and video content, MSB Members also get every edition of The Survival Podcast ever produced in convenient zip files in blocks of 24. More info on the MSB can be found here.

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Porter-Cable 9-Inch Pruning Reciprocating Saw Blades – Item of the Day

Posted on September 18, 2017 by Modern Survival| 9 Comments

Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.

Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is the Porter-Cable 9-Inch Pruning Reciprocating Saw Blade.  I have always been a fan of using Reciprocating Saws (IE Sawzalls) as a tool for pruning trees or removing small trees where a chain saw would be over kill.  It is especially nice for small trees that you want to cut off flush to the ground.  They also make a less damaging cut when pruning large branches on fruit trees.

The big thing though is safety.  I have used chain saws since I was 12 years old and thank God I have never hurt myself with one.  I have seen quite a few injuries though and they are pretty awful.  One thing I realized is that these injuries almost never happen when felling large trees, or bucking trees.  Then tend to happen when people are doing work on small trees and small slash.

The rule is simple, TWO HANDS ON THE SAW AT ALL TIME THE CHAIN IS MOVING, the end, infinity.  But when working with bushy stuff sooner or later the temptation becomes too great, a hand comes off the saw and in time sooner or later flesh and bone meet moving chain.  My grandfathers words ring true,

Moving machines and tools have no sympathy, no conscious and no respect for human beings.  They don’t care if they are cutting wood and metal or flesh and bone.  You are the one with the brain so act like it!

In that spirit many years ago I thought, wow all this little bushy crap doesn’t really need a chain saw.  Took out my sawzall and instantly was a convert.  If it can be easily cut with a reciprocating saw that is what I use.  It is lighter, quieter and safer so why not.

Over the years I tried a lot of different blades, the blade in the video below is just a stock “wood blade”.  Most left something to be desired when cutting trees.  I found a few good “specialty blades”.  They were however expensive and the best one I ever found was the T-Rex Extreme but they went out of business.  Trying to make a company on one product is pretty tough!

So one day I decided to give these a whirl and to this day they are the best, highly available and affordable pruning blade I have found.  They end up costing about $3.70 a piece and you get a LOT of cutting out of a blade before you need to switch it out.  If you look at the tooth pattern it is clear why they work so well, it is very similar to a scaled down bow saw blade.

One of the best uses for this set up is one you don’t really think about until you need to do it.  You are digging a trench for say some irrigation pipe and you come across a root, a big root, one that is really hard to cut out with a shovel or a mattock.  Are you going to shove your chainsaw down into that dirt and rock mess?  Nope but two swift cuts from a sawzall and you just pop it out and move on.

So if you own a reciprocating saw, consider picking up a set of these.  Again I have tried a lot of different blades but bang for the buck I see Porter-Cable 9-Inch Pruning Reciprocating Saw Blades as the best you can get right now.

Remember you can always find the TSP Amazon Item of the day by just going to TspAz.com and by shopping at TspAz.com anytime you shop on Amazon you help support TSP and the work we do here no matter what you buy.

P.S. – If you are in the market for a reciprocating saw I truly do bleed yellow and black Dewalt blood.  This is the saw I would recommend, The Dewalt 20V MAX.  However it is a bare tool only at 107 meaning you need chargers and batteries so I only recommend it if like me you want to standardize on Dewalt.

I have to admit that the maker of these blades Porter-Cable makes damn decent tools and they have great pricing as well.  This set of a Porter-Cable Drill and Sawzall will give you a 20V Saw, a 20V Drill, a Battery and a Charger for about the same cost as the bare Dewalt saw.  Is the Dewalt a better tool?  Yes.  If I didn’t already own Dewalts and needed something for home owner level use, would I say it is that much better?  No.  Brand loyalty only goes so far.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note this video is old, really old, I have lost a lot of weight
and gained a lot of gray hairs since then.

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TSP Nov Workshop on Nine Mile Farm – Sold Out

Posted on September 16, 2017 by Modern Survival| Leave a comment

Once again our fall workshop sold out before it was available beyond the MSB.  If you would like to be put on a waiting list in case anyone cancels email me at jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com with TSPC Workshop in the subject line.

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