Monthly Archives: December 2015

Episode-1700- The Christmas Special for 2015 [ 25:49 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Most of today’s show is a recreation of 2008’s Christmas special. Today we pause and take a moment to reflect on Christmas and how it has become the Holiday we celebrate today. Many American’s have no idea just how Christmas became unique here in America, the role it played in bringing our nation together after two wars of independence and the civil war.

Christmas is special and a time to pause and reflect. Christmas is indeed a special time of year, today I will cover many aspects of it that may make this Christmas just a bit more special. There is also a full text transcription on of the non commercial portion of today’s show in the show notes below.

Tune in today to hear about…

• Christmas was banned in England at one time and even parts of America
• Early Americans didn’t really celebrate Christmas, (congress was in session on Dec 25th, 1789)
• In the early 1800s Christmas was a rowdy holiday spurred by class conflict, turmoil and unemployment
• In 1819, best-selling author Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon bringing us many “ancient customs”, he simply invented
• Leading up to the Civil War, Christmas was a “southern holiday” and Thanksgiving a “northern holiday”
• How Christmas and Thanksgiving together helped to heal a young America
• Today is a time to pause, reflect and just be, prepping, planning and stress will all wait patiently for you
• Different ending music for today’s show! The most beautiful version of Oh Holly Night I have ever heard, just pause, listen and realize what really matters while it plays.

Resources for today’s show…

• Written Transcript of the Original Christmas Show (right click and save as for best results)
• Video I Made Using the Song By Martina McBride “O Holy Night” (song from the end of today’s show on Youtube)

Episode-1699- Looking back at 2015 Forward to 2016 [ 1:18:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

An acre that went from Brown to Green in 2015

Today is the last full regular show of 2015 so I though we would take a look at all that we did this year and our plans as we move into 2016.  In some ways 2015 seemed to roll faster than any year I remember.  In other ways some of the things we did seem like they were a very long time ago.

In many ways I feel there are way too many things that I didn’t get done yet that need doing.  On the other hand when I look at what we did get done this was definitely a #getshitdone year as we say on the Regenerative Agriculture Facebook Group.

Lets Take a Look at Just Some of What 2015 Brought not in Order…

• We launched The Duck Chronicles which became a YouTube Hit
• We grew our duck flock and egg business to a profitable concern
• We launched the PermaEthos Plant Propagation, Bee Intro and Soils Courses
• GenForward became a reality, currently in further development
• We ran a multiple events at Elisha’s Spring farm and planted thousands of trees
• We participated in a major install with Mark Shepard in Arkansas for Alcoa
• We crossed 1500 episodes, I crossed the 10,000 hour threshold at 1666
• I spoke at PV2 and had an incredible response from it
• We installed a ton of irrigation and have water on 75% of our property now
• We planted hundreds of trees, ran both small and big events
• We have our business plan for the tea business and 3 of 4 formulas worked out
• We tratored quail, developed cage proto types and now have a egg flock going
• We created a formal program for the Expert Council
• More than 10 new supporting vendors were added to the MSB
• We launched the Regenerative Agriculture Group on Facebook, it will hit 5,000 members in 2015
• We transformed our west pasture from brown to green and planted 150 trees there
• Thanks to Michael Jordan we now have hundreds of new cider/mead makers
• I got to eat, turkey, quail, ducks and fruit from my property
• Made my first ever batch of mead with EVERYTHING from my property
• I acted as minister in my son’s wedding and we have a grand baby on the way
• We installed a pond
• We installed wicking beds
• The duck area water problems are basically solved
• We have the TSP Business Directory pretty much ready to go
• Dana and Fox joined the team
• There were also some hard times

Looking to 2016

• Quail Aviary is designed and construction to begin next week
• Our tea business will be launched and help a lot of small producers
• A new webinar model is coming for Permaethos
• Full automation of most of my irrigation by spring
• New water garden system will be developed
• We will begin cultivation in earnest of ground nut, Jerusalem artichokes, comfrey
• We are going to establish a major under-story of Hanson’s cherry and mint this coming year
• We will be building a floating island
• Should be a pretty solid fruit harvest this year
• Electric fencing is being installed for the duck holding area
• I hope to start two new anarcho groups, Sovereign Scouts and the Grand Daddy’s Gun Club
• I am thinking about a version of Chip.in for leaves
• Who knows, I am just going to keep following the credo of #getshitdone

Resources for today’s show…

• Join the Members Brigade
• The Year 1699
• Join Our Forum
• Walking To Freedom
• TSP Gear
• PermaEthos.com
• AgriTrue.com
• GenForward
• JM Bullion – (sponsor of the day)
• Western Botanicals – (sponsor of the day)
• We Didn’t Start the Fire – Billy Joel

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.

Also remember we have an expert council that can answer you questions. If you have a question send it to jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com with TSPC Epert in the subject line. Ask your question in one to two sentences so it is clear then provide any additional details. Make sure to tell me what council member the question is for. You Meet the Expert Council at this Link.

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.

Episode-1694- Small Batch Mead, Cider and Fruit Wine Q&A [ 2:52:34 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

My Go To Bottling Solution for Small Batch Bottling. 32 oz, Growlers.

Today I am doing a follow up to Episode-1684- Making Dead Simple Ciders, Meads and Fruit Wines because I have been blown away by how many went out and gave it a shot.  I have also gotten a lot of questions about it.  I put out requests for questions on that episode and efforts so far and got a huge response, today I will attempt to answer most of those questions.

I do want to lead off with something to put everything here into context though.  These quick simple small batches, especially the dump and pitch ciders are more like cooking a steak on the grill on a Wednesday night than say, making a fabulous full length roasted tenderloin, topped with onion and pepper oil along with an accompaniment fit for a Mongolian warlord!  I’ll have to tell you guys how to do that some day.

The point is in one of those models you are just feeding yourself a damn good meal, you paid a fair price for a decent cut of meat, you grill it, done and you enjoy it that way.  In the other you just dropped 200 bucks on one of the finest cuts of meat known to man.  You are going to spend a lot more time and effort to make sure your meal comes out in a beyond blow your mind way.

These are simple quick ciders and wines, they serve two purposes…

• One – Daily drinkers, something to kick back on the porch with, enjoy the evening, or drink with buddies in the garage watching a game.  Just like making burgers or steaks on the grill.

• Two – as ways to tweak a recipe, select a yeast, etc. before making a larger batch.  Or to find an awesome recipe for yes, that very high end product.  They key is with the same volume of ingredients that I could make a 5 gallon full run with I can make 5 test batches, in the very bottles they come in.

What this means is that making ciders and meads like this can either lead to full on bad ass to the bone home vinting, mead and cider making.  Or a path to really easy and fast daily drinkers, either bottled or kegged.  Or just be a fun way to make and enjoy a few batches a year.  It is all up to you.  Just understand that is the angle my answers come from today.

I have been brewing beers, ciders, fruit wines, meads and blends there of since 1994, so that is 21 years.  I have even produced a few award winning beers in my time.

I rank my experience as a brewer at a 8 of 10, mainly only because I have never done full mash.  Cider I would rank as a 8 as well, mainly because I have never worked up to proper blending or real cider apples, something very hard to even get today.  I would also give myself an 8 as a mead maker, only because I have seen what a 10 is and that isn’t it.

The point of all this isn’t I am awesome, it is more that this level of making ciders, wines and meads doesn’t qualify to me anyway for some of the higher levels of concern as producing the very best you are capable does.   Again think of it as grilling steaks or good burgers or say chicken, vs. cooking a full on gourmet blow you away meal for a dinner party.

Final note on real wines, as in made from pressed grapes that are grown for the purpose of making wine, I would rate myself perhaps a 4!  I know what to do, but it doesn’t interest me so I don’t do it, never have done it, have no real plans to do it.  Hence all the little tricks and adjustments you learn by actually doing this stuff, I have no experience with in the “proper” world of wine.

Join Me Today As I Answer Questions Like…

• Can you use frozen juice concentrate for cider
• What sugar to use for carbonation
• Can you use bread yeast, if so what happens
• What if fermentation never begins
• What effect does cold crashing have on bottle carboniation
• What about methanol – DON’T even worry about it
• How long is too long in a primary fermenter
• What is involved with racking off or fruit
• Is there such a thing as medicinal ciders and meads
• Flavoring ciders etc with extracts at bottling/kegging time
• Making a ginger beer or ginger cider
• Why is my fermentation bubbly but not foamy
• The good apple debate about fresh pressed juice and why it is over hyped
• Making wine from store bought grape juice
• What about store bought honey
• Why I hate back sweetening but why you should not care
• What is the difference between beer, wine, cider and mead
• Can you make an alcohol free mead
• How do you know when a fermentation is done
• Why some recipes call for raisins and what they do
• What is the difference between priming sugar and table sugar
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of staged fermentation
• What are some of my favorite yeasts for dry higher gravity cider
• How big should a balloon get during fermentation
• Where to get products like racking canes and yeast
• Why are my bottles not carbonating

Resources for today’s show…

• Join the Members Brigade
• The Year 1694
• Join Our Forum
• Walking To Freedom
• TSP Gear
• PermaEthos.com
• AgriTrue.com
• GenForward
• JM Bullion – (sponsor of the day)
• Harvest Eating – (sponsor of the day)
• Gold Info Graphic I Mentioned
• Joe’s Ancient Orange Mead
• Results of Juice, Yeast and Sugar Experiments
• Alcohol By Brad Paisley
• Full Sized Racking Cane for Large Batches
• Mini Racking Cane – Very Nice for One Gallon Batches
• Bottling Wand – Don’t skimp out on one of these, buy two – two is one – one is none
• Number Two Drilled Stopper Pre Drilled  – You can use these to start yeast in a beer bottle, or drill a hole in a cap of a bottle of apple juice and shove it in and afix an airlock to make it into a fermenter.  You can’t find these on Amazon.
• Number 6.5 Rubber Stopper – These fit standard glass one gallon jugs
• Twin Bubble Airlock – Looks cool but can be a bit noisy
• Three Piece Airlock – Less Fun to Watch but Quiet
• Big Mouth Bubbler – What I now use for full sized batches
• 5 and 6.5 Gallon Carboys – Buy online only if you have to shipping is a killer.

Bob Wells Plant of the Week – L.S.U. PURPLE FIG – The LSU Purple fig is adaptable from zone 7 to zone 9. It is very reliable, prolific producer of early to late delicious figs.

One of the best figs to come along for some time. Very acclimated to the fluctuating weather of the South. Very sweet, does not require a pollinator and best to pick a few days after the fruit turns purple.

Bob Wells Nursery specializes in edible landscape plants and trees including: Fruit Trees, Berry Plants, Vine Fruit, Nut Trees, as well as the hard to find Specialty Trees. Find this plant and more at BobWellsNursery.com

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.

Also remember we have an expert council that can answer you questions. If you have a question send it to jack at thesurvivalpodcast.com with TSPC Epert in the subject line. Ask your question in one to two sentences so it is clear then provide any additional details. Make sure to tell me what council member the question is for. You Meet the Expert Council at this Link.

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.