Covid-19 prep thoughts

Garden growth

I did not start this garden with Covid in mind, however it sure could be handy in difficult times. Though hopefully by the time anything comes from the garden, this whole virus thing will have passed.

My garden of herbs and peas yesterday

Garden peas today... I put in a shameless plug for our friends at Buzzy's to show scale. But you can plainly see with the light switch on the wall that they have doubled in size overnight. Sunshine works. 

Garlic on left, carrots central and green onions on right

Carrots in the middle 2 rows are coming in very well. 

This grow from scraps thing works fantastic so far!!

Covid-19 Prepping thoughts

Given the number of people on our little island who work in Vancouver every day and given that Vancouver is a hotpot for Covid-19 we are actually beginning to talk about 'the when'... WHEN do you isolate yourself? 

No one really knows but with an approximated 2 week incubation and 'those who know' saying not to panic (always the first clue as 'they' are concerned with the stock market and panic does not bode well for the markets). I don't think it is panic worthy yet but I do think 'they' have lost control of it. 

Our BC 'keep them calm' Covid-19 spokeswoman was almost crying today in her daily briefing... so while its never good to panic and certainly not appropriate to beat each other up over toilet paper as is happening in some places around the globe (Australia as just 1 example) the time for isolation does seem to be nearing and every area is different. Our friends in Ottawa for example are showing no cases on the tracker I will link to below.. hence they have more time before prep becomes a consideration.

One thing we did do ages ago is we ordered a foraging book for our area. Who knows how long this could last, a few cans of stuff won't last long but especially here in this climate and really anywhere in summer - foraging is a great alternative. Save the canned food for fall/winter should they still be needed and forage as much as possible, away from other people. 

Our Berkey is a great water filter should we need it and we have solar on our rig but the rig is parked in the trees, so we won't likely have power if everything goes to hell and 'they' stop keeping things like water/power running - we will still have water, we know how to build a fire and the basic principles of building rocket stoves, etc.

We are not 'preppers' per se but do believe in being prepared in a survival situation (thank you Daddy) and so have always studied these types of informative videos/books, etc. I actually made things like re-useable toilet paper waaaay back (Brad called the 2008 collapse way before 2005 when we started dating) and we happen to have some of that stuff with us because you never know when you'll need it and since we were going bookdocking originally, I took it along.

While 'they' are telling us not to get the masks, think about how many people on the news you have seen treating the ill without a mask/goggles/gloves - None. Common sense will carry you far. 

RVers coming back from the US should hurry - I suggest. You don't want to get stuck down in the states without healthcare coverage and they are watching the borders especially Vancouver (Washington state is a hotpot) if you sniffle you could get stuck in Quarantine for weeks. 

Here is a link to a real-time Covid-19 tracker which will show your area in near real-time. 

Remember: nowadays, Everything comes from China! If China is down.... nothing is available and even if it is available -- if the local mailman is down...

Panic won't help anyone. Just be aware and think things through. If no one goes to work then no one is keeping the water pumping and the electrics on... what plans do you have then? What are your needs? Try to plan for 6 months... life saving medications, shelter, food, water, heat/cool.

Reality is, this could get very bad. OR they could get a grip on it yet. It could just fizzle out like has happened with pig flu, bird flu, sars, to name a few recent examples... keep in mind they do this fairly regularly... the world is ending -- oh never mind... its just a manipulation of the stock markets - usually.

Our government had $7million designated for Covid research and just increased it by $20million today so clearly they are expecting it to get worse.

Just be aware. Consider both the source (don't believe everything your told) and consequences (if what your told OR not told happens). 

The US has ordered 20 million masks for a population of 300 million + so just because they tell you they have them ordered to make you feel warm & fuzzy does not mean you will be deemed worthy of getting one and -- they are single use as once the seal is broken from your face - with an airbourne virus, that mask is now contaminated, do not put it back on... Now how many masks do you think Trump alone will require if this goes on for any length of time... and the US Gov't alone is vast, there just aren't enough masks to go around for 'those running the show' - hence, they tell the 'disposable population' not to get them. 

Unfortunate, but that's just the way it works. 

Back to: use common sense and consider everything.