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Episode-925- Listener Calls for 6-19-12

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Join Me Today as I Answer Your eMails

Join Me Today as I Answer Your Calls to 866-65-THINK

Today I take your calls on paleo eating, MSB tech help, radiation, alpine gardens, getting a job, the medical profession, real estate, retirement, gun buy backs, chickens, pandemic, and more.

Remember to be on a show like this one just pick up your phone and call 866-65-THINK. The best way to improve your chances of being on the air is ask your question or make your point up front, then provide details.

Also please do your best to call from a quite area with a good connection and speak up so you can be well heard. I can’t put all calls on the air but I do my best to get most of them on.

Join Me Today As I Respond to Your Calls On…

  • Getting kids on board with paleo eating
  • Tech help with the Zip Files in the MSB
  • Should you avoid moving to the west coast due to Fukushima
  • Welding as a trade
  • Growing food at 8,200 feet of elevation
  • A listener talks about getting a job with an aggressive approach
  • Understanding the Pandemic threat and mediation there of
  • Thoughts on a medical education
  • Is it okay to sell useless guns to a government gun buy back program
  • Thoughts on different varieties of “Miracle Grow” fertilizer
  • Rubber mulch, good, bad or meh
  • Thoughts on planning a military retirement and real estate purchase
  • Does a fertile chicken egg taste different then an infertile one
  • Retrofitting permaculture zone design where permanent placements were already made

Resources for today’s show…

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 and you might hear yourself on the air.

Comments

Episode-925- Listener Calls for 6-19-12 — 47 Comments

  1. Thanks for the extra tip on my question. The yellowing of the leaves is my exact problem. I think I put too much peat in my soil, ergo nitrogen deficiency. I was not aware of Miracle-Gro’s organic line. I use blood and bone meal, but ran out that day. It was the powder I was referring to. I think it was 24-8-16; The general purpose stuff. I am looking to use maybe alfalfa meal or some other adjunct. Bone meal is getting ridiculously expensive now. I paid $40 for 8kg of powder last year.

  2. I also do the wander at the nurseries around the first week of July looking for neglected plants, just waiting to be thrown out, it kills me, and I feel like I’m at the humane society and feel the need to rescue them all. Alas I ramble…

  3. Paleo for Kids: yes, just do it, any mutiny will be short lived. “Everday Paleo” is a good book on this issue. A couple of those recipes are now mainstays at our house.

    My kids (2 and 4) are more apt to eat veggies that we’ve harvested together and that I eat right in front of them. We also sometimes give the kids home-made paleo treats (like coconut ice cream or gluten-free cookies), which seems to fill the social/mental void of otherwise avoiding the processed crap. I agree with Sally Fallon that kids should share treats with family, at home, not only at birthday parties elsewhere.

  4. About kids and paleo:

    My family eats paleo most of the time. The kids eat some non-paleo foods at school/daycare ( e.g. cheerios) and my wife and I haven’t taken a militant stance on that, but at home we pretty much eat a paleo style diet.

    It’s really a non-issue. It’s hard for me to imagine at this point why one would even think about it being weird..

    I have two daughters, 2.5 and 1. They eat all types of foods. The older one will walk right to the garden and pick a carrot or what she calls a “hot carrot” (radish) out of the ground. Last night we had flank steak and asparagus and they both ate well. Imagine the 1 year old chewing on asparagus (she only has 7 teeth).

    I keep having people tell me “wait until she’s XX age, she’ll quit eating” or “all my kid will eat is macaroni”. Funny thing, the 2 yr old STILL hasn’t learned to cook macaroni for herself or purchase pretzels or whatever.

    For junk food: There are a few candies we give them a bit of. Some organic type stuff, fruit leather, etc. At (and after) Halloween or Easter we don’t let them go nuts, but they get some of their candy. I prefer to stay away from anything with HFCS. If you are going to have sugar then have some sugar. I like ice cream and I feel the milk/sugar is probably about the best “sweet” option other than good chocolate.

    Mostly though, we just eat normal foods. It’s really not a big deal. It’s like a normal diet sans chemical sweetners, twinkies/cookies/cakes (or only seldom), pretzels, chips, etc.

    And they genuinely like for snacks: Apples, bananas, oranges, yogurt, cheese, etc. Again really not that odd..just normal food without the crap.

  6. Lost in the mix was a caller’s endorsement of the neti-pot for allergies. I still use my “Neil-Med” squirt bottle in the shower, even though avoiding wheat has drastically reduced my hay fever. For the solution I use 8oz warm water, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda. Squirt it in one nostril, it comes out the other and I’m nice and clear all day.

    • I use the “Neil-Med” bottle as well and it has greatly decreased my allergies and especially hay fever. I 2nd your endorsement.

    • That goofy little neti-pot radically changed my life for the better. I would lay down and cry without it! Can’t recommend it enough. Cutting grain however has also relieved the inflammation from my sinus area as well. I’m also drinking some gluten free beer now which helps as well (Red Bridge & Two Brother: Prairie Path).

    • I third it and my husband fourths it. Those squirt bottles have helped us out big time with reducing allergies.

  7. I too am at 8600′ in Colorado. It’s not just the cold but the hail, animals and sun (my rhubarb bolts as soon as it comes out of the ground). I think if you are able to, the green house would be the way to go. Otherwise we might just have to grow things that exist in the wild (although I even have trouble growing dandelions!). Don’t give up hope and keep plugging along!

  8. I thought the idea for the gun trade in was AWESOME!!! If the caller doesn’t have his own blog or wants to share elsewhere, I would be honored to let him put it on mine.

    • me too.. you can relabel/blog/tweet it as the ‘Gun Upgrade Program’.. wouldn’t take very long before those programs would be defunded.

  9. Thanks for the information how in iTunes can change mp3-files so they show up in podcast directory for my iPod. I had no idea how to do that before.

    I can also recommend the software mp3tag to create id3 tags with the title, track, artist and album (The Survival Podcast) before the podcast episode gets uploaded.
    http://mp3tag.de/en/

  10. Here’s the further advice I’d give. I live at 5262 feet, and I have friends who grow at 7500 feet, both of us are in Colorado. I know all about wind and low rainfall. I’m not sure if soil moisture is short or long for you. If it’s short, I strongly recommend wood chip based mulch, it will help to lower pH… as will coffee grounds (yay Starbucks!). This is just about essential to granitic soil. You will, of course, want to be building humus as much as you can. If your moisture is better… count your blessings and strongly study the earthworks aspect of permaculture. My friend at 7500 feet does employ permaculture at her place. WIND is a huge issue for most of Colorado unless you’re in the lee of a hill in a very lucky spot. Look at cold framing, mulching (wood chips, again, blow the least), greenhouses, fencing (yes, seriously, fence the garden in). Jack had decent advice for the cold aspect of things. If you’re in a short-moisture situation, it’s okay to water in the evening– you’re too dry for mold and mildew. I do this, it increases the number of hours of low moisture stress before the day hits again. Don’t do this if your locale is more humid, but if you regularly see single-digit humidity, go for it.

    • I am at around 5280 (of course) in Aurora, and am able to keep spinach and other greens in my coldframes through the entire fall-winter-spring. Many bolt once the heat really kicks in, but I’m wondering if coldframes may at least extend the season greatly even at higher altitudes. I would love to connect with other CO gardeners (especially at altitude) and exchange info.

      • In most places, cold frames will give you an extra 4 to 6 weeks of growing season. Just keep the snow off the glass, and maybe put some dark rocks towards the back to store heat.

  11. swales and ponds as firebreaks? intentional ‘swamp’ perimeter to property?

    • I’d be more worried about flying sparks than fire moving across the land. I’ve seen places where a forest fire jumped 1000 feet across a lake (a 45,000 acre fire that took out my grandparent’s home). The areas that survived the fire were better hydrated. Putting/keeping water in the landscape using swales will do far more for fire protection than an easily jumped pond. That being said, the last thing you want is runway of dry grass leading to any structures you care about.

  12. For the gentleman who is thinking of going into medicine….have you considered becoming a paramedic? The training period is fairly quick and it is superior knowledge. I was one back in the early 80s. My nephew is a paramedic/fire fighter and is now Captain of his station. He lives a very comfortable life. It’s not the “high” dollar you may be seeking but it’s good money, good benefits and good pensions. And if the times get rough, you will be able to help a lot of people. My training has come in handy many times.

    • Hi, thanks for the thoughts on being a paramedic rather than an MD. I have considered this carefully, in fact, I got my EMT a year ago in anticipation of the career change. For background, I’m a CPA after having switched from pre-med to accounting in college (mostly to get a job, so I could marry my now lovely wife of 3 years). But I can’t stand the job, and have so much passion for medicine. I’ve put off this decision for years to further consider whether this is the right choice and to do more research.

      My concern in going the medic route is the economic collapse scenario- plenty of cities and municipalities are cutting these jobs even now. Then again, who knows what the socialists are going to do in the next six years during my training that would make the physician field just as rough. I’m also concerned over what would happen to my family if another disaster occurred while I was in school. There’s some long time horizons to be considered.

      If anyone would like to chime in on the subject- I’d appreciate the input.

      • Rob,
        I’m dk1138 on the forum.
        Among many other endeavors, I’m also a physician, a military officer, and a prepper.
        I’d be happy to talk to you. Please PM me. My wife told me about this episode. I’m a few behind, so I won’t comment until I’ve heard the episode, but I’m happy to help you out.
        David

  13. Jack, I especially appreciated the re-run on zoning. I didn’t quite get it before, but today, after listening, I went down to the chicken house about25 ft down a slight hill behind my house and realized what you meant about using both sides of the path. On the right are wild raspberry bushes where I eat breakfast on my way back from the chicken house each morning, but to the right, all that space now looks empty and wasted. Thanks for helping me see that. My next project will be to develop that space, and I have mapped out my other traffic patterns to the bees and greenhouse to work on , as well. High five!

  15. Jack,
    Thanks for the help today in my zoning question. I have 5 acres and it the house is set a permanent structure (concrete included) about 300 yrds away. I like the idea of extending the zone and i think i am going to try that. The com-poster is one the way already but i think i will move into worms and get the drip irrigation. Thanks for the help!

  16. Hi!
    I also live in Colorado (Rollinsville) and we are at just over 9000′ feet. This year I have had more success with my gardening efforts than ever.

    I am using containers (Rubbermaid style) on cheap casters I got from Harbor Freight. That way I am able to wheel them into the garage at night for protection from the critters, cold and the wind. If the forecast looks glim for the day they just stay in the garage (we have a good sized window I park everything under).

    So far great luck with greens, radish, cauliflower, broccoli, green onions. Bad luck with carrots.

    In addition I am having good luck with several blueberry and raspberry plants I got cheap (and babied :)). These are planted in the ground, not containerized.

    I actually have made several videos of my progress on my video blog and more to come. I would love to hook up with more Colorado folks on this subject! I am especially excited to try some of these Kiwi’s Jack has been mentioning! Anyhow if your interested in what I have done here is my starting post on the subject:

    http://newandlostcrafts.com/staged-container-gardening-at-high-altitude/

    Hope this helps!
    Willie

  17. Moving to Tacoma Wa? I think I would be more concerned about traffic and rainy cloudy days than Fukushima.

  18. The best fields to go into for Medicine are Emergency Medicine, Anesthesia, Dermatology, or Opthomology. Emergency Medicine and Anesthesia offer a great salarly with good potential for bonuses depending on the group you work for also it offers a pretty flexible work schedule and generous vactions/PTO.
    Derm and Optho are very difficult to get into however once your in it offers a tremdendous salary and lots of time off. Also little to no call time. Other then that Dentistry is the way to go. 4 years of Dental School and possibly a year or two of specialization( ie Cosmetics). With you also have a huge salary potential plus most Dentist I know work about 4 days a week.

  19. A friend told me that their ND told them not to eat eggs. If they did they should only eat farm fresh and only the fertile ones. Don’t know why that’s just what they were told. We eat fertile ones all the time I can’t tell the difference and have no problems.

    Also our rooster protects his ladies big time. He will take on any one or any thing he thinks will harm his ladies. He will round them up and herd them away from the lawn mower or any other dangers he sees. He will sit up on the lawn chair or fence watching out over his flock. If he sees a hawk or other bird he will round up the girls and get them to cover. He yells and they come running. The turkeys have even learned to listen to him.

    If one of the hens squawks for some reason he will go running to her rescue. He stands guard when they lay eggs. Don’t pick up one of his girls without talking to him first. For their afternoon nap he makes sure all the girls are settled in then sleeps right next to them kinda with one eye open. I have even watched him dig up bugs and worms then turn and give it to the hens. At feeding time he will let the hens eat first. Some times he wants to eat out of the bucket or my hand so the hens can have the feed off the ground or out of the dish. Homer is such a good boy I can give him that & maybe even a special snack or two.

    • @Roundabouts, I have met and talked to about a dozen NDs and I have to say all except 2 of them were absolutely bat shit crazy. Take anything they say with a grain of salt.

      • Yes for sure! In my old line of work dealt with them often along with other CAM practitioners & MDs. Some were sure way way out there. With some found it best to just smile nod and back away slowly. Till you get to your car lol.

  20. KIDS ON PALEO:
    I look at it like this. I was raised in a Seventh Day Adventist home, as some of you might know or not, they are a christian religion that focuses on the old testament as well as the new. As a result, I was raised to think that pork, shellfish, and a few other things not so prevelant were bad for me. This really worked until I reached the age of 17 or 18 and started to learn that pork and shellfish weren’t really bad for me. But, to this day (I’m 33 now) I still have some natural hessitations. So, with Paleo, if you raise your kids to believe that wheat/potatoes/rice/pasta/sugar is bad for you, then they will grow up believing it. I also had no issues living that way as a kid. If I was at a house for dinner that had pork, I would eat a very small piece to be polite, and then eat the side dishes etc…. The difference is, when your kids get to be 17/18, they won’t go out there and find out that what you have taught them is untrue. Also, my parents joined the religion when my brother and sister were 9 and 12 years old, they had no problems adapting from what they told me, there were just other foods in the house, and not pork, shellfish etc…. However they changed quicker when they grew up.But as I said, we were taught something that could not be easily proven to be true.

  22. Regarding Fukushima,
    I live in California and I have 5 definitely mutated or fasciated vegetable plants and possibly 11 more (the 11 are Heritage tomatoes, not sure if facsiation is more common with these, trying to find out, but the other 5 are DEFINITELY mutated).
    I’ve been growing plants for my entire life and this is NOT normal. I’m not freaking out but I am preparing to leave and I certainly would not consider becoming pregnant, at least not until I had gotten out of here and detoxed for a while.
    Just my 2 cents.

  23. Jack, what was the name of the Miracle Grow you suggested in the show? I bought their organic blood meal fertilizer thinking it was what you had mentioned. However, when I got home and read the directions, it said nothing about mixing with water. It said to sprinkle directly on the soil.

    Thanks.

  24. Not scared. Only curious and fact seeking.
    And if we disagree on this topic it has no bearing on my tremendous respect for what you do, your website has been in my email signature for 3 years now and I tout your site whenever I get the chance : )

  26. Thanks for responding to my message about aggressive interviewing. I failed to mention that they were probing me for information. Something else I did was almost immediately take ownership of site and partner with them by using statements such as “our site” & “we”. I watched them closely on this to be sure they were receiving this positively and they were. Great feedback Jack! Thanks!

  27. Jack-

    Sometimes it is spooky how in sync our lives seem to be. My husband and I currently live in Michigan and thought we would be here for the next 30 years, but we recently got the chance to move back closer to family (we are currently 8 hours from them). My husband took a job at Caterpillar and they are relocating us back to Illinois. While the politics and restrictions on personal liberty are the worst in the country in Illinois, both his and my family all live there and it is where we grew up so we’ve decided that the pros outweigh the cons of moving back. Plus, we will NOT be living around Chicago…we will be living just south of central. The past few shows, this one and the one with Geoff are all exactly what we needed as we look for just the right property to practice permaculture, gardening and preparedness in general. Because we have been listening to your show for the past several years, we have been able to pay off all date, save our mortgage and we got such a great deal on the house we bought in Michigan that when we sell, no matter what we get we will be making money off of the house, we are able to make this move. My husband is taking less pay, and I will not be working at least for a few years when we move (we have a 1 year old and another on the way) and even then we will still be able to save money and make it comfortably off of his salary alone. Crazy how your shows seem to sync up perfectly with what is happening in our life. I will be writing this up a bit better and calling in for the 1000 episode this week. Thanks and God bless!

    • I’m in Iowa on the Illinois border. I would love to hook up with people in the general area so we can have like-minded connections close by.

      • Great! I will reach out to you when we are settled in. We are still in transition right now.

  28. Sounds like a plan…………and we all need one of those! Happy moving….hate moving. Just getting settled in my house. Everything is scattered. Didn’t have my bug-out bag ready for a really bad storm we had. Really dropped the ball there. So make SURE you keep your bug out bag packed and separate/easy to locate when you move. Don’t make the same mistake I did.

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