Sensible Preppers

December was cold and snowy - seems like all we did was plow, shovel and stay home. January and most of February were mild, light jacket weather, and most of that snow disappeared into the ground leaving behind a treacherous coating of ice. And now (Feb. 18), here we are, once again buried in snow. Nevertheless, the warm weather days, along with the imminent arrival of March and ever lengthening daylight hours, made my mind wander toward gardening. This year I plan to have a much smaller garden, mostly for fresh eating and root crops that store without processing. Why? Reason one, I’m slowing down, an effect of living on the planet for 8 decades. Reason two, I’ve taken stock of the canned goods in my cellar. It’s full! Additions of most not required. There’s not much point in doing all that work just to throw it in the compost later.

How old is too old for home canned foods? I found a good on-line article that answers that question, and consequently reaffirms my beliefs on the subject.

(Canning 101: How Long do Home Canned Foods Really Last? January 28, 2015, updated on July 23, 2025, by Marisa McClellan.) Home canned foods are best tasting in the first year, but continue to be good to eat many years more. Those of you who have bought into the idea of tossing foods on their “best before date” will likely cringe when they read this, but I’m still here and I’ve been eating my own home canned foods for 50 years with this motto - if it’s sealed, not moldy or discolored and smells good, well it’s good! Having said that I still draw the line at about 5 or 6 years and tend to go through my stock of canned goods every year to root out any ancient jars hiding in dark corners. One thing I read in the above article that makes good sense, bringing to mind some of my less than tasty or soggy pickles - “sometimes people try new recipes and then determine later on that they just don’t like them (not every recipe is for every person). If you made something and you just don’t like it, either give those jars away to someone who will appreciate it or dump the jars. There’s no reason to torture yourself with something you just don’t like.”

Then there’s the frozen veggies. According to Google University, frozen vegetables are safe to eat indefinitely if kept frozen, but quality begins to decline after about one year (freezer burn, tougher texture, flavor loss). Having limited freezer space I only freeze peas (better flavor) so, for me, no culling required.

Gardeners who preserve their vegetables are a bit like small time preppers. They may not be as extreme as those who fear imminent war or worldwide economic collapse, build bunkers and store massive amounts of dried beans, grains, ammunition etc., but still, we tend to put up enough vegetables to last several years. If you live a fair distance from a reasonable sized town being prepared only makes sense. You have to stock up, after all there’s no store just around the corner to provide you with that missing recipe ingredient. I usually keep a second one of nearly everything that won’t spoil. You never know what may lie ahead. Today’s cockeyed weather is affecting all kinds of crops. Our economy is being manipulated by tariffs. We may find ourselves paying astronomical prices for some things, others we may not be able to obtain at all. So I’ll keep on being prepared. This year though I’m going to grow less of many and none of some. I’m thinking a full row of flowers would be beautiful down the center of my garden. The bees would love it!

North of 54

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February 18, 2026

Out Beyond the Corn

Out Beyond the Corn

We get information in many different ways - through reading, formal schooling, lectures, mentorship, parents and friends, digital media, observation, practice, internships, apprenticeships, trying and failing and trying again.

When we were kids in school we occasionally got to go on field trips - to see for ourselves some place our teachers hoped would educate us in a more direct manner than books or films. These excursions were not easy to arrange. Parental permission, transportation, guides, instructors, chaperones and financing were all required. But field trips were a great break from the same old classroom routine and helped to broaden our horizons.

Mass media tells us that much of our world is in turmoil - disastrous weather, disastrous politics, failing economies, racial and religious tensions, genocides, drug wars - the list goes on. We all seem to have an opinion on the what’s, where’s and why’s of world happenings and we hold these opinions dearly, not budging when we run into someone who doesn’t see things our way. Most of us form our opinions while sitting comfortably at home in our bubble, watching TV or scrolling through the net. We passively observe life and assume we’re fairly well informed. Are we? Television portrays the American Dream as being everyone’s normal. Our social media feed provides us with sites and ads that fuel our desires and beliefs. Online games, TV shows and movies desensitize us to violence. News programs fill us with sensational broadcasts strewn with prejudicial words that colour our feelings - totalitarian regime instead of government, terrorist instead of protestor, illegal immigrant, left wing extremist, merciless crackdown, state controlled media, etc… Unbiased investigative journalism has taken a hit in the 21st century. 

An old friend of mine once told me that she loves it out here in our neck of the woods and really hopes that one day her children will choose to stay here. But, she said, I want them to go out beyond the corn, to have the opportunity to see what’s out there, to make their choice from a place of knowledge. Though not often practical, it would be nice if we could all go on field trips, beyond our normal, beyond our biases and beliefs, and discover our world from direct experience. 

They say history repeats itself. It does seem like powerful and greedy people keep rising out of the muck to forcefully take control over those who exercise empathy and good will. Our leaders would do well to study history, an awareness of past grievances can be useful when trying to negotiate solutions to current conflicts. 

I am discombobulated trying to wade in the mire of half truths. Makes me want to disengage at a time when it’s probably important to engage. For now I plan to remain in my bubble awhile and bury my head in a novel. It states quite clearly in the first few pages - “This book is a work of fiction.” It’s not a real book though. It has no pages.

North of 54

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January 19, 2026

‘Tis the Season

‘Tis the Season

Winter more or less starts in November but bounces back into Autumn some days. Today (November 12) there’s a warm breeze melting the remaining bit of snow and it feels more like Spring. There’s no getting around it though, daylight is shrinking and longer nights are slowly dominating the skies. In no time the winter solstice will arrive and soon Christmas will be upon us with 2026 arriving almost by surprise.

I don’t often go out after dark so I miss seeing many of nature’s night sky paintings, but last night the northern lights domed the entire sky in colours so beautiful I stood out in our yard in awe. Another plus for living in the north. Before long the snow will come and stay, dropping a blanket of quietness and turning the landscape black, white, and grey - soft yet harsh. Winter can be lovely if you don’t have to go to battle with it, but it seems like things are bound to break down no matter how well prepared you think you are.

Winding down from the gardening season I find myself some days with no project to complete. It’s kind of nice after a busy summer and autumn to relax with not much to do before Christmas baking, shopping and ornament making begins to fill the days. Unable to sit and do nothing day after day though, I started thinking about soup, a winter comfort I like to have available when it’s chilly outside. I really like the idea of having a perpetual soup pot on the hearth but have a feeling modern cooking guides would frown on the practice. Canning soup is the next best thing. I usually make a giant pot on the kitchen wood stove (its continuous even heat works like a non-electric slow cooker) then I pressure can what’s left so we don’t have to eat it for 5 days straight. Today I made hamburger minestrone.

Wishing you a wonderful Yuletide filled with family's and friends, hearty soups, eggnog and Christmas cake, turkey and dressing, 

hot chocolate and cookies, and many gifts of love.

Leave It to Beavers

 Leaves It to Beavers

Beavers are semi-aquatic animals that have the reputation of being busy little critters (some would say a darn nuisance). Their big teeth never stop growing and would become quite a problem if not continually worn down by chipping away at trees. They build dams along waterways to create ponds, give them better access to their food sources, erect their homes safely away from predators, and store their winter food supply. 

Humans, however, don’t always appreciate their work. A beaver pond, especially one that hasn’t been long established, can look like a chaotic mess of giant pick-up sticks. It seems there’s no rhyme or reason for the direction of tree fall and the dammed up water sometimes floods roadways or gobbles up land a farmer would prefer to use for pasture or crops. But a beaver pond has an important place in nature. It provides habitat for numerous plant and animal species and plays a valuable role in wetland preservation. 

When we moved to Lone Pine our quarter section was heavily treed. There were a few acres in hay that had been maintained by the previous owner’s relatives, but pretty well all other remnants of human habitation were swallowed by the forest. We built our home on a small open piece of fairly level land where we dug up a few rotten boards indicating that it had once been occupied by a building of some sort. 

At that time you could barely see the beaver pond through the trees. We were very glad it existed though. For ten years it was our only source of water.

Eventually we jumped into the 20th century, dug a well and brought water and solar electricity into the house. We cleared a barn yard, made a lawn and garden, planted some apple trees and berries. Through the years the beaver pond went through many changes but has always been an asset, providing us with water for our livestock, our garden and our bees. In the past two years we’ve gotten all our firewood thanks to beaver activity. They not only fell trees for us, they removed all the branches and bark (while also destroying a few fence panels)!

Did we ever become overwhelmed by beaver activity? We did a time or two get someone to “thin the herd” (we may be at that point again after two beautiful trees dropped into our yard last week) and my husband tried his hand at stretching beaver skins. We tried some beaver meat but didn’t become fond of it. We have attempted to curb their zealousness by wrapping chicken wire around the trees we want to remain standing. I’m quite sure there wouldn’t be a single one left had we not done that. 

We have lived beside this beaver pond for over 50 years and enjoyed watching the progress of nature. We feel it is a privilege to live alongside this developing ecosystem with all it’s flora and fauna (beaver, muskrats, ducks, loons, geese, moose, an occasional swan, red winged blackbirds, water lilies, cattails, floating islands…). We consider our watershed and beaver pond to be a precious resource. As for management, we’ve mainly left it to the beavers.

North of 54

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October 19, 2025