CRICKETS MAY BE JUST THE TICKET IN A SURVIVAL SITUATION

Crickets can be found in shallow burrows beneath stone or dirt or in tufts of plant material. They are more active at night when the males can be heard calling to attract females for breeding. While most varieties are found in forests and grasslands, crickets can also be found in marshes and seashores as well as caves and trees.

AS A THERMOMETER
You can use the sound of a cricket as a thermometer. If you are in a temperate area that is not hotter than 100º F or cooler than 55º F, then you can tell the temperature by counting the number of cricket chirps you hear in 15 seconds. Add 40 to the number of chirps you hear. The result is the temperature in Fahrenheit. If you wish to know the temperature in Celsius, determine the number of chirps you hear in 25 seconds, divide that number by 3 and then add 4.

AS A LURE
Crickets can be used as live bait to secure a satisfying meal of fresh fish. Cricket fishing is most effective in small lakes and within 15 feet of shore.

Once you’ve located a cricket and secured your hook to the fishing line, bait your hook with the live cricket. Hold the cricket firmly between your thumb and fingers while you insert the hook held in your other hand. Some instruct that the barb of the hook should be inserted into the thorax behind the cricket’s head, pressed through the length of the cricket's body and exited via the rear end just under the tail. However, experienced cricket-bait fishermen tell me that they prefer to insert the barb into the rear, just under the tail and thread it through the length of the body, exiting through the thorax, near the head. This method keeps fish from sucking the cricket off of the hook, robbing you of your meal AND your bait.


If you locate an empty can, it can be converted into a makeshift reel. Toss your baited hook into the water, making sure to keep a firm hold on the free end of the line. Reel in your line by wrapping it around the can. Repeat until you have your fish.

AS A FOOD SOURCE
Compared to cattle raised for food, a cricket can reproduce nearly 20 times faster. Within 3 to 4 weeks, a female can lay over a thousand eggs. Crickets can thrive using a fraction of the space and food required to produce an equivalent amount of consumable meat from other livestock. When compared to meat production by chickens and pigs, crickets were twice as efficient. They are able to provide meat at four times the rate of sheep, and six times the rate of cattle when allowances are made for carcass trim and dressing.

Crickets as a food source can offer a significant source of many nutrients and protein. Nutritionally, 100 grams of cricket meat is 21% protein, 6% fat and 3% carbohydrates along with 21 mg of calcium. Per gram of dry weight, cricket meat provides 63 to 122 mg of fatty acid which includes linoleic acid and a-linolenic acid as well as copper, iron and magnesium. This is produced while they consume table scraps.

CRICKET ROUND-UP
The Paiute people used to harvest crickets by digging a series of large trenches. These were covered with dry straw. Large numbers of crickets would be herded into the trenches. The straw was then set aflame, roasting the crickets alive. The women would then gather bushels of the cooked bugs and take them home to grind into protein-rich flour for bread.

RAISE YOUR OWN
One way to ensure a ready supply of crickets that have not been exposed to chemical sprays is to raise your own. Keep them in an aquarium with a couple of inches of soil on the bottom. Place egg cartons inside for roosts. Moistened cotton balls will provide them with water. Leave grated bits of vegetable and grain scraps for them to eat, making sure they have a ready supply of fresh foods. Every few days, mist the soil lightly. Make sure the lid is tight-fitting and secure as crickets are known for their ability to escape their confines and will attempt to do so whenever the lid is opened.

PREPARATION
Take the desired quantity live crickets and place them into a colander or other container with drain holes. Cover the container quickly with a piece of wire screening or cheesecloth to keep the insects from escaping. Rinse them thoroughly by running water over them. Dry them by shaking the colander until the water no longer drips. Place the crickets in a sealed container and place this in the freezer for about 15 minutes. This will be long enough to kill them, but not long enough to freeze them. Remove them from the freezer and rinse them again. Cricket's heads, hind legs, and wing cases can be removed according to personal preference. The legs will tend to get stuck in the teeth and could be painful to swallow. The crickets can then be eaten raw, roasted, or dehydrated to be incorporated into your favorite recipes.

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CAUTION
Whatever your method, care should be taken when harvesting crickets for food. Don’t collect insects near residential areas as they may have been contaminated by herbicides or insecticides.

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Below Ray Mears demonstrates using a can as a fishing reel.
It's towards the end of this short video:

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GERMINATION FOR THE NEXT GENERATION

Genesis 1:29

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Healthy plants and animals have been designed to reproduce after their own kind. As gardening practices developed, seeds were saved from the previous season for planting the following season. Farmers would select seeds from the plants that fared the best in their environment.

In recent history, major US corporations have been formed which retail seeds to farmers. This has been a beneficial relationship as it saved the farmer labor hours and allowed him to try new varieties of crops. The corporations were able to devote their resources exclusively to seed collection, storage and retail.

Scientific developments have made it possible to alter seeds in order to increase their profitability. Some of these newer methods have had dire consequences for farmers, food quality, and the consuming public. In the name of protecting standards, this new technology could create a world-wide dependency on seed corporations. This would be accomplished by retailing seeds that have been engineered to produce for one season and then yield seeds that are either sterile or very unpredictable in their ability to reproduce.

Three popular methods currently used to accomplish this include hybrid plants, genetically modified (GM) seeds and Terminator Technology.

Hybrid plants can produce food and seeds, but their seeds don't produce after their own kind because the plants are a cross of two different varieties. Genetically modified (GM) seeds are designed to produce plants resistant to chemical poisons and sprays. This enables farmers to use more chemicals during the growing season which has a damaging effect on the soil and the microbial and micronutrient content available to the plants. Terminator Technology is a type of genetic modification that insures a seed will only produce plants for one season, rendering subsequent seeds sterile.

Individuals can act to help insure that a fertile source of seeds remain available to the general public by starting their own seed banks. You don’t have to be a farmer to harvest and store seeds for future use. When purchasing seeds, look for catalogs that state they do not retail GM seeds. Purchase only heirloom seeds, as these are unaltered. Look for fruits, vegetables, grains and various herbs that you would use for seasoning, spice and/or medicinal purposes.

Seeds harvested from flowers, fruits, vegetables and herbs can be placed onto waxed or parchment paper to air dry at room temperature. Use a marker to label the paper, so you won't forget the date and the variety. When dry, move the seeds to a labeled paper envelope. This can be kept in a glass jar in your refrigerator for long term storage. If you have dark, cool, dry area, seeds are generally known to store well in such an environment. For grass and grain seeds that would be broadcast over a large area, you may want to make some seed balls for convenience in storage and later planting.

But why store seeds if you don’t plan to grow them?

Currently, there is a bill before Congress (H.R. 875) that threatens to so regulate sources of food that it has the potential to put a stop to roadside stands, backyard gardens and organic farming practices. Whether this will become law and how it will be enforced remains to be seen. Yet, it may be wise to begin saving seeds now, while the practice is still unregulated.

Consider harvesting and storing seeds that you may not be interested in growing. Do your research and label the seeds with both their botanical and common names. There are internet sites devoted to trading seeds. You may be able to get the seeds you want for free by trading your unwanted surplus.

Without heirloom seed companies, these seeds could cease to exist. In the current economic and political climate, this is a possibility. Individuals that enjoy the freedom of growing their own foods -- or even purchasing foods grown without chemicals -- would do well to take the time to secure their source of heirloom seeds.

No Greater Joy Magazine is a bi-monthly publication that featuring articles on simple living and strengthening family ties. Visit Mike and Debi Pearls’ web site at www.NoGreaterJoy.org to get your free subscription today.


How to Harvest & Dry Seeds -- powered by eHow.com

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Cool Storage

Electricity seems to be a necessity for food storage. When a power outage occurs, ice becomes a precious commodity. Yet many families live without these modern conveniences. Without electricity, evaporative cooling can provide crucial cool storage.

Evaporative cooling occurs when a liquid evaporates into the surrounding air. Objects in contact with the liquid become cooler as the heat surrounding the liquid change water into vapor and wick it away. The hotter the surrounding air is, the faster the water evaporates and the greater the cooling effect. If temperatures are more temperate, there will be less of a cooling effect.

You can feel this effect when you step out of the bathtub or become wet on a hot day. Waterfalls, lakes, rivers and oceans are other places where this difference in temperature exists.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporative_cooling#Evaporative_cooling]
[http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/heating_cooling/evaporative.html]

WHAT'S HAPPENING DURING EVAPORATIVE COOLING?

"This happens because the temperature and the vapor pressure of the water and the air attempt to equalize. Liquid water molecules become gas in the dry air, a process that uses energy to change the physical state. Heat moves from the higher temperature of the air to the lower temperature of the water. As a result, the air is cooler. Eventually the air becomes saturated, unable to hold more water, and evaporation ceases."
[http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/heating_cooling/evaporative.html]

Rural homemakers may not have explained it in those terms, but principles of evaporative cooling have been used for generations to keep perishable foods cooler.

BUTTER BELL
A simple household item that employs this technology is the butter bell. In very warm climates, keeping butter at room temperature would result in a butter puddle. The butter bell is a piece of crockery, the size of a large coffee mug, that places a layer of water around the butter, keeping it at a cooler temperature as the water evaporates through the ceramic surface. This results in a spreadable pat of butter without the use of artificial refrigeration.

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DID YOU KNOW? Butter that is made from raw milk does not go rancid when stored at room temperature. Rancidity is a phenomenon that occurs in milk and milk products made from homogenized and pasteurized milk. Modern dairy processing strips milk of natural qualities that prevent rancidity.
[http://www.webexhibits.org/butter/off.html]

In contrast, raw milk and raw milk products will sour as they age and are still useful in cooking long after they begin to taste sour.

The difference is apparent when an animal is offered raw milk which has soured versus processed milk which has gone rancid. The rancid product has a non-food (chemical) odor and will be rejected.

"Indeed, naturally soured milk and cream are highly useful items. In fact, it can be argued that the soured versions are even more healthful than the "fresh from the cow variety" due to the higher level of enzymes and friendly bacteria present. Pasteurization destroys these naturally occurring enzymes and probiotics, which explains why processed milk goes rancid and does not sour."
[http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/maximize_rawmilk.html]

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Click on the video below to see Wardeh Harmon with GNOWFGLINS demonstrate how to use a butter bell.

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A CANVAS WATER BUCKET?
Used by military and backwoodsmen, canvas bags provide a way to get a cool drink without carrying cumbersome buckets and canteens. If you have a properly made bag, it WILL hold water. When the bag is saturated, the canvas fibers swell and make the container watertight. The warm air surrounding the bag wicks water vapor through the canvass, keeping the drinking water relatively cool.

SIMPLE GENIUS
Zeer Pot image from: http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2004/september/refrigeration.htm
Nigeria's climate is relentlessly hot and dry. Without refrigeration, it is nearly impossible to keep food from spoiling.

Mohammed Bah Abba knew that cool storage could provide many opportunities for people in Nigeria: perishable items could be kept fresh longer, waste would be reduced, and profits for struggling farmers could increase.

Other cooling technologies were cost-prohibitive for villagers. Mohammed Bah Abba decided to use evaporative cooling, utilizing available materials, to create a low-cost solution. He designed a pot-in-pot cooling system, called Zeer pots.

Zeer pots are two unglazed clay bowls. The smaller bowl nests inside the larger. Between the two bowls, wet sand is packed. A heavy wet cloth is placed over the lid of the inner bowl, resting on the wet sand. This 'refrigerator' is placed in a shady spot, on a rack that allows air to circulate around the sides and under the outer bowl. The porous ceramic allows the water to be wicked through the pot and evaporate from the wet sand. This creates a lower temperature inside the inner pot.

Because of the low cost of materials, Mohammed has been able to sell his Zeer Pots for less than $1 per unit.
[http://www.techawards.org/laureates/stories/index.php?id=131]
Source of photo: http://www.goselfsufficient.co.uk/potinpot-refrigerator-zeer.html

STATIC COOLING SYSTEM
In India, a similar technology is employed using bricks to build a larger cool storage container. Static cooling systems are constructed in a shaded spot with a thatched lid covered with a damp cloth.

"Construction is fairly simple. First the floor is built from a single layer of bricks, then a cavity wall is constructed of brick around the outer edge of the floor with a gap of about 75mm (3") between the inner wall and outer wall. This cavity is then filled with sand. About 400 bricks are needed to build a chamber of the size shown in [the illustration] which has a capacity of about 100kg. . .

"After construction the walls, floor, sand in the cavity and cover are thoroughly saturated with water. Once the chamber is completely wet, a twice-daily sprinkling of water is enough to maintain the moisture and temperature of the chamber. A simple automated drip watering system can also be added as shown in [the illustration]."
[http://www.appropedia.org/Evaporative_Cooling_(original)]

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AN ADVENTURE IN LEARNING
Build your own Pot-In-Pot Cooler.
You will need:
* One small unglazed terracotta pot
* One larger unglazed terracotta pot (large enough to hold the smaller with space between)
* If the pots have drain holes, a rock (or piece of crockery) to stop the sand from falling out of the larger container
* Wet sand
* Saucer to fit over the top of the smaller pot
* Two glass jars (identical) with lids -- The jars must be small enough that one of them can fit inside the small pot.
* A damp cloth
* A Thermometer

Rinse the two pots free of any film or debris. Place your rock or piece of crockery over the hole in the bottom of the larger pot (if there is a hole). Add a layer of wet sand. Place the smaller pot inside the larger pot and tamp the sand beneath it down securely. Adjust the amount of sand so that the top of the small pot is raised even to the top of the larger pot when placed inside. Once this is done, add sand around the sides, pressing it down firmly with your fingers or a spoon until the space is filled with wet sand. If necessary, add more water to the sand.

Fill your two jars with the same amount of water and secure their lids. Place one jar inside your new cooler and place the cooler in a shaded area. Cover the small pot with the saucer for a lid. Place the damp cloth over the lid, allowing it to touch the wet sand. Place the second jar of water outside your cooler.

After about four hours, use a thermometer to record the temperature of the water in the outside jar. Compare this to the temperature of the water in the jar inside your cooler. Is there a difference? Do you think your cooler works better/worse when the air is warmer/cooler? Do you think that the level of humidity in the air affected your results?

Variations of this Project:
* Try this again with the cooler placed up on a brick or some sort of rack that allows air to flow beneath the cooler. Did this change your results?

* Try this same project using a galvanized tub and an enamel sauce pan with lid. Did this cooler work better/worse than the first? Which method would you prefer?

* Try this experiment with differently sized pots. Do you see a difference in the cooling effect when there is more/less room for wet sand between the two containers?

* Take two more identical glass jars with lids. Fill them with the same amount of water. Replace the lids. Around one jar, wrap a wet towel. Leave both jars in a warm place for a couple of hours. When you return, measure the temperature of the water in the wrapped jar versus the unwrapped jar. Was there a difference?

CAN YOU DO THIS?
Use some surplus bricks to build your own static cooling system. How well did your system work? What sorts of items do you think would be good to store in this system?

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This blog presents ideas and information designed to enrich the life of the reader. These articles are NO substitute for personalized professional care. The opinions and ideas expressed are fallible and that of the author. Readers are encouraged to be well-informed and draw their own conclusions.

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