Author: timothyfrench15

Hello, my name is Timothy French. I’m a blogger, writer, and author of Every Yard Is A Grave. A Post-Apocalyptic Novella.

Disasters are no big deal

Hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, and other disasters have a positive side to them. The disaster part is mostly due to our refusal to live with instead of against nature.
Animals know how to do this and handle disasters better than we do. For example, whenever hurricanes hit the outer banks of North Carolina. The wild horses living there move to higher ground and take cover in the local vegetation and rarely suffer any losses.

Birds have a variety of strategies for dealing with massive storms as well. They either leave the area or fly in to the center, surrounded on all sides by its mighty winds.

When a massive tsunami hit the India Point Calimere wildlife sanctuary in December of 2004. The local flamingos ditched their habitats in search of higher ground before the disaster hit, saving themselves in the process.

In 2009, scientists discovered that the creatures in a pond they were working at disappeared and were vexed. Three days later, the nearby town experienced a 5.9 magnitude earthquake. Apparently, the toads could sense it was coming and hopped off to safer ground.

Insects have a survival strategy too. When ants get flooded out, they cling together to form a living life raft.

Humans are the only species that tries to defeat the forces of nature, but in the end, we just look like fools.

How long will a can of food last

How long will a can of food last?

The USDA will tell you high-acid canned foods, like tomatoes and citrus fruits will keep for up to 1½ years, and low-acid canned foods like vegetables, meat, and fish will last for up to 5 years.

But the truth is they can last much longer if stored properly and are free of any damage such as dents or bulging.

Canned foods are sterile, so they do not host bacteria, but eventually, the taste and texture of the food will deteriorate.

Case in point, a 40‐yr old can of sweet corn found aboard the sunken U.S.S. Monitor, was opened in 1974 and the nutrient content of the canned corn compared favorably with reported values, except for lower amounts of ascorbic acid. Meaning you could eat it. 

Now that will not be the case for all can foods, but the point is they will last a very long time. The best way to tell if a can is bad is by looking for bulging, which would indicate the food inside is terrible. If no damage is seen, you should open it and inspect the food yourself.

I don’t recommend keeping your can food longer than five years, but if push comes to shove during the apocalypse and you find some old cans, don’t pass them by. There is a good chance they’re still edible.

Note – “Use-By” or “Best Buy” labels on foods are for consumers as a directive of the date by which the product should be eaten for the best quality, not because the item will make you sick if eaten after that date. However, after that date, product quality is likely to go down.

The “Sell-By” labels are for retailers and inform them of the date by which a product should be sold or removed from their shelves. This does not mean the product is unsafe to consume after that date.

Learn about clouds from the National Weather Service

Have you ever looked at a cloud and saw a face or an animal. I think most of us have, but clouds are more than their shapes.

Clouds can grow very tall or appear flat as a pancake. They are typically white in color but also appear in different shades of grey or in brilliant yellow, orange, or red. They can weigh tens of millions of tons yet float in the atmosphere.

Clouds can be harbingers of good weather or bad. Their absence can be a good thing after a flooding rain or bad during a drought.

They provide relief from the heat of direct sunlight but also act as a blanket to warm the earth.

Clouds help water the earth by providing precipitation but can hinder driving by reducing visibility.

They come in infinite shapes and sizes.

Clouds can be carried along by winds of up to 150 mph or can remain stationary while the wind passes through them.

They can form behind high flying aircraft or can dissipate as a plane flies through them. Clouds are not confined to earth but are found on other planets as well.

What are clouds? They are “the visible aggregate of minute particles of water and/or ice.” They form when water vapor condenses.

There is a lot to learn about clouds, but taking the time to do it will be time well spent.

Become “Cloudwise” by learning about clouds and how they form with this free course from the National Weather Service.

The Carrico sisters survival was no miracle

The Carrico sisters’ 44-hour survival in the wilderness was no miracle; they were well trained by their parents and 4-H Club.

The two girls became lost last Friday after following a deer trail from their home.

After realizing they were lost, the girls used their survival skills and chose to take shelter under a tree and drank water from huckleberry leaves.

They used their mental skills as well and remained calm. Huddling together for warmth, they told stories to one another to pass the time away.

Two firefighters found them Sunday by using their own set of skills and tracked them to their shelter location.

The girl’s parents are heroes too. They prepared the girls for a situation like this, and it paid off. The kids themselves said they learned a lot from camping with their parents.

Have you trained your kids to survive?

4‑H is a Community for all Kids

4-H kids learning is based on their interests and guided by adult mentors. They develop their own pathway and elect from a broad menu of local 4‑H programs.

Programs are available through local 4‑H clubs, 4‑H camps, in-school and after-school programs. With the support of adult mentors, youth select from a menu of hands-on project ideas to complete. 4‑H programs are available for children ages 8-18. 4‑H Cloverbud programs are available for children ages 5-7.

Is tornado ally shifting east

As I sit at my computer tonight and watch reports of tornadoes touching down along the southeast, I have to wonder if Harold Brooks and Victor Gensini might be on to something.

Their paper titled “Spatial trends in United States tornado frequency” has a lot of data that supports a shift of tornado ally toward the east with a decrease in the Plains. If this trend continues, states like Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky will see a lot more activity in the future.

I guess time will tell. Regardless we should all be prepared for tornado activity because they can touch down in any state if conditions are right.

A tornado forms when a mesocyclone lowers below a cloud base and begins to take in cool, moist air from the downdraft region of a storm. The convergence of warm air in the updraft and cool air causes a rotating wall cloud to form. Then an area of quickly descending air known as the rear flank downdraft (RFD) focuses the mesocyclone’s base, causing it to draw air from a smaller and smaller area on the ground. As the updraft intensifies, it creates an area of low pressure at the surface. This pulls the focused mesocyclone down, in the form of a visible condensation funnel. As the funnel descends, the RFD also reaches the ground, fanning outward and creating a gust front that can cause severe damage a considerable distance from the tornado. Usually, the funnel cloud begins causing damage on the ground (becoming a tornado) within a few minutes of the RFD reaching the ground.

What I learned from AT hiker videos

Today, a large number of people headed north following a trail 2189 miles long, with nothing but a backpack. They are called thru-hikers, and out of the thousands who attempt it, only one in four will be successful.

I am going to make my own Appalachian Trail attempt in a few years. So I have been watching a lot of AT hiker videos. And I have noticed a couple of things about thru-hikers in general.

First, those who finish the trail have one thing in common, mental strength. While physical strength is essential, the ability to persevere is paramount. 

While there will undoubtedly be beautiful days on the trail, many of them will not be so pleasant. Hikers will have to walk long distances on a daily bases regardless of cold, wind, snow, rain, mud, lighting, etc. and will take around five to seven months to finish the trail. Injuries, bugs, and mosquitoes will taunt them as well, making life so miserable many will quit.

But not the trail survivors, they will continue on

The trip from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Katahdin Mountain, the trail’s northern terminus, in Maine will be a journey of ups and downs. Compared to trails in higher elevation mountain ranges, many falsely assume the AT to be relatively flat. But it’s not, throughout the Appalachian Trail’s 2,189 miles, thru-hikers will gain and lose over 464,464 ft. or more than 89 miles. The equivalent of climbing up Mount Everest 16 times.

Second, while hikers may claim their love for the trail and wilderness, most will seek out the comfort of civilization whenever and wherever they can. If towns are nearby, many will hitch a ride in to eat at local restaurants and often stay overnight in hotels.

The truth of the hiker videos is this

Very few have what it takes to make it to Katahdin, and all, no matter how bad they want to be off-grid, can live without it. They will resupply from grocery stores, use the postal service to pick up new shoes ordered online from smartphones. A GPS will mark their progress, and some will use Garmin’s inReach satellite technology to text their loved ones when cell service is unavailable. There is even a campsite along the trail from which you can have a pizza delivered.

In conclusion, civilization has made us soft. And for those who think they can just pick up their bug-out-bag and head into the woods, I suggest they try and make a thru-hike first.

Microgreens are miniature greens, herbs, and other vegetables

Microgreens are a year-round source of vegetable greens, harvested after sprouting as shoots.

The edible young greens and grains are produced from various kinds of vegetables, herbs, or other plants. They range in size from 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 cm), including the stem and leaves. A microgreen has a single central stem that has been cut just above the soil line during harvesting. It has fully developed cotyledon leaves and usually has one pair of very small, partially developed true leaves. The average crop-time for most microgreens is 10–14 days from seeding to harvest.

Some popular types of microgreens include Arugula, Chives, Mizuna, Chard, Cabbage, Beets, Cilantro, Mint, Garden Cress, Sunflower, Kale, Parsley, Dill, Orach, Carrots, Celery, Basil, Chia, Mustard Greens, Fennel, Amaranth, Radish, and Watercress.

To grow

Fill a container with soil, making sure you don’t over-compress, and water lightly.

Scatter seeds over the surface.

Cover with a thin layer of soil and mist with water.

Place the container under a grow light or near the window.

Check daily and mist with water if needed.

Greens are usually ready to harvest in 2-4 weeks, depending on the type of seed used.

Below is an excellent video showing you how to do it.