Sad Story

This was the saddest story to me. I have read many stories about people choking and then being saved by someone who did the Heimlich manuever on them.

The adult in charge of this child should have known some basics of safety. There is a
rule and I wonder how many parents know this: Don't feed small children grapes, hot dog pieces or peanuts. These are the most choke-able foods for little kids.
Think about the grape. It is round and smooth and even when you try to bite it, it can slip away from your teeth. It find its way down a child's throat very easily. You always cut grapes in half for a child. If you don't have a knife, just bite off half and then give the child one half and you eat the other.
I feel so so sad for this family that lost its toddler. I thought the heimlich was common knowledge with everyone. Doing it on a child might be different for an adult, though. I have never personally done the heimlich on anyone who was really choking. My husband has done it several times on me, though.
I hear you can do it on yourself, too, if no one is near.
This story should motivate us all to learn the Heimlich Maneuver.

Hesperia toddler chokes to death on grape
By Melissa Pinion-Whitt
Created: 09/11/2009 11:38:06 AM PDT

A 2-year-old Hesperia boy riding in a vehicle with a family member died after choking on a grape Wednesday.
San Bernardino County coroner's officials said Savino Lopez was sitting in a vehicle that was being driven on Bear Valley Road at 12:10 p.m. The child began to choke on a large grape.
The driver pulled into a parking lot and called 9-1-1. A San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy arrived and began to help the child until paramedics came to the scene and removed the grape.
The boy was taken to Desert Valley Hospital where he died shortly after arrival.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_13316465?source=most_emailed

October 2009 Popluar Mechanics Mag.

This issue is on the newstand now. 10% off at Winco.It has lots of basic information for beginners and I learned some new thing, too! Will share later....

Deep Bed Gardening Yields

This article (I referenced it at the end.)amazed me. I am thinking: could my husband and, if we invested the right amount of time and effort, actually grow enough vegetables for a year???? That would be quite a project! Especially when you consider that this year, we planted 12 tomato plants and only 2 of them really produced anything of merit. We have alot to learn about gardening in the high desert!

As it sounds, this method involves a deeply dug garden bed. The preparation is more labor intensive but the yields much greater…up to 4 times that of a conventional bed. Deep bed gardening aka the Chinese method or the French intensive method has been around for hundreds of years used in various countries by farmers that lived just outside of the city on small expensive land and needed high yielding crops.

A deep bed is essentially a double dug bed which is exactly what it sounds like. The bed is dug in trenches about the depth of a spade and the soil at the bottom of the trench is then loosened to the depth of a pitch fork- each trench being “dug” twice. The soil from the first trench is set aside and each trench dug is filled with the soil of the previous trench. The last trench is filled with the soil of the first. Compost, manure, or peet would be added along the way. Suggestions are either to layer it on top of the soil before you begin digging, or layer it into the trenches as you go.

The size of the bed is determined by what is comfortable for the gardener. The most important rule of deep bed gardening is to never compact your soil which means never ever walk on it. Take this into consideration when planning your bed size. Make paths if needed or keep your bed small enough that you can comfortably garden from the perimeter.

Deep bed gardening has been very successful for many years because it allows the roots of the plant to grow down rather than sideways. This frees up space in the garden and your plants can have much closer neighbors. It is recommended that generally plants can be spaced 4 times closer and in triangular or diamond patterns rather than the traditional row. The goal is to space the plants out so when mature the leaves just barely touch their neighbors. This will create an environment that conserves moisture in hot dry climates. There is no consensus on whether to double dig each year or if forking through the soil is sufficient.

Studies have shown a consistant 4x higher yield than a conventional garden. The US department of agricultural stats claims the average adult eats roughly 320 lbs of vegetables each year. A 100 square foot double dug garden bed can produce between 200 and 400 lbs yearly.

http://www.self-sufficient-home.com/206-deep-bed-gardening-double-digging.html#more-206

Honeyville Farms

(Joan took these pictures yesterday at the new Honeyville Farms Retail Store.)

Yesterday, my husband and I came across this place by accident. We had been at a shoe store nearby (this is Rancho Cucamonga)and were driving along and we saw the store front. I had heard of this company before and was curious. So we stopped. We had some delicious samples of their products...some slushies, some hot chocolates, some freeze dried pineapple and corn, to name a few. They have a wonderful collection of food storage books for sale that I wish I had more time to look at. They have lots of different flavors of TVP. I was amazed at the great selection of freeze dried fruits in #10 cans. They have all kinds of grains in 50 pound sacks. I could go on and on, but will keep it short for now. They are having a Grand Opening on October 1...BUT THEY ARE OPEN NOW! (They call it a soft opening...they opened this past week.)

Honeyville Farms
9175 Miliken Ave.
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
(909) 243-1050

Hours Mon. thru Friday: 9am until 6pm
Sat.: 9 am until 5 pm Closed Sunday

AGAIN, they are open now..so you may want to check it out before the grand opening.

Steam Canner

At our July Preparedness Club Meeting, we learned about this wonderful piece of equipment!


This steamer is $56.95 (A September Special), which is a great price. $6.00 for shipping and handling.

From Emergency Essentials
see BePrepared.com

H1N1 Flu Prevention

I know you all have heard this before, but reminders always are good!
H1N1 Flu:

Good health habits help to minimize your chances of becoming ill from seasonal
and H1N1 flu. Some easy ways to protect yourself and your family:

* Get your seasonal flu shot.

* Cough or sneeze into your sleeve.

* Wash your hands often with soap and water,especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol based hand cleaners are also effective.

* Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs are spread this way.

* Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

* If you get sick with the flu, stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

* If you have a fever, stay home until you have not had a fever for at least 24 hours.

For more information go to: http://flu.nv.gov.

September's Theme and Your Assignment

H A P P Y S E P T E M B E R !
September is National Preparedness Month.

The theme for September is visible on this blogpost...and I will try to help us all by posting information, reoprts, stories, tips, helps... daily.

Here is your assignment:
Go to the 99 Cents Store or Dollar Store and get at least one bandana (they sell for a dollar at Walmart, too, I think)and one adult rain poncho.

If you have more money and a spouse, get 2 of each. If you can spare the money, get a bandana for each family member and a rain poncho for each(you can find actual rain coats with sleeves for a dollar, too, at the 99 cents store..you just have to dig.)
They have rain ponchos in children's size there, too.

Here are 2 little narratives regarding these 2 items.

BANDANAS KEPT US COOL

In 1995, our family of 7 children and 2 adults, set off in a blue Astrovan in the heat of July for a trip from Victorville, CA to central Wisconsin. We had no functioning air conditioner in this vehicle. But we had fun and did not die of heat exhuastion. Why? Well...we each had our bandana and our water bottles.
We kept our bandanas wet by using the water in the waterbottles...(even though that water was often warm )and rubbed these wet or damp bandanas on our skin: our faces, neck, arms, legs. If you roll a wet bandana up and place it around your neck, you have a nice, cooling collar.

If you don't have bandanas, hand towels work well, too. I suppose an extra piece of clothing would also work...a small T-shirt..hey, even a sock.
You can also pour water or sprinkle water on your clothes...that will kepp you cool. I wear a wet T-shirt in our house when I am home alone and do not want to use the air conditioner. The point is...use the principle of evaporation to keep you cool when it is very hot and you do not have air conditioning.

Back to the bandanas...if you have kids, let them each have their own color. These are good items for 72 hour kits. They can be used to stop bleeding. You can wave them to get rescuers attention...and I am sure there is a list somehwere entitled 101 Uses For A Bandana!


How A 99 Cent Rain Poncho Saved Us!

Here is the scene. It is June 26, 2009. It is raining. We are on Interstate Highway (I-15)heading south. We get a blow out...it is the left fromt wheal. We roll to a stop on a dangerous curve. We are on what is called "The Point of the Mountain" in Utah. Tons of fast traffic because it is close to 8 am and people are going to work.We don't have that much space on the side of the freeway. My husband is getting ready to change the tire. As he bends over to jack up the car and replace the tire, I notice his rear end (of his body) is jutting out into the freeway. Since it is rush hour, and cars are whizzing by at fast speeds and visibilty is poor becuase of the rain and we are on a curve, I am filled with terror.

This is what I do. I put on my bright yellow 99 cent rain coat and take a position on the side of the road about 10-15 yards from where my husband is working to change the tire. I stand there in the rain, with my arms out. So cars can see me (before they find themselves plowing into my husband). They whole time I am standing there, I am of course, praying. The tire gets changed, we drive cautiously to the Costco in Orem, Utah and buy an new tore (since the spare was a small old one) and continue our journey. I was truly grateful for our safety! I think the raincoat helped.

The Last 5 Months....

Hello everyone! Happy September! And wouldn't you know it, to re-motivate us (especially me, who has been quite negligent about this blog lately) SEPTEMBER has been designated as PREPAREDNESS MONTH. Pictures posted here are from the little calendar we gave out to the sisters in our ward in January as we began the new year. (We ran out of the cute little brick house themed magnetized calendars, but were giving out the little pages printed all on one sheet..they have been on our Relief Society table at times).

I was planning to have a nursery rhyme/fairy tale theme for each month but some months I just couldn't come up with one. And sometimes our Thursday night event (the last Thursday of the month)did not coordinate with the calendar theme. For example, the last Thursday of the month, our event featured Craig Collin and the topic of Ham Radios. I hope to have something on this blog about that in the near future. Thank you for putting up with my irregular postings this summer!~Joan

So...to review the last 5 months, I took pictures of those 5 calendar pages...you can hardly make some of them out, I am sure...so as soon as I get back from my second Colorado trip (where I am right now), I will type up the entire year for you all.