Month: January 2022 (Page 2 of 2)

Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash (Cucurbita pepo) is a type of winter squash. Could this be the ultimate prepper crop to grow. There are just so many ways of cooking this plant as well as being frost and pest resistant. Spaghetti Squash contains folic acid, potassium, vitamin A and beta carotene.

I was put onto spaghetti Squash after a phone conversation with a heirloom nursery that I had sent several of my articles to for a second opinion before I opened my blog, but didnt have the chance to either try growing or even knew where to purchase a squash from to try tasting it.

Where Im currently located the squash is available at several stores and also the mate where Im camping in is backyard grows it periodically. Ive now tried it several times using several different methods of cooking and all I can say is Ill be growing lots of it. Bake eggs in it for a breakfast dish to stuffing with mince for a traditional style spaghetti dish. i believe it well worth checking out to use in conjunction with other three sister crops.

11 Companion Plants to Grow with Zucchini

Zucchini is one of the three sister vegetables (beans, corn, and squash) meaning that they all grow well together. When planting zucchini and other squash, keep in mind that they are “heavy feeders” and require more nutrients than most plants. Examples of good companion plants to grow well with zucchini plants include:

Beans. Beans fix nitrogen levels in soil to balance the pH level.

Borage. Borage is a flower that not only attracts beneficial insects like bees, but can deter pest worms from your zucchini.

Dill. Dill is an herb that repels pests like cucumber beetles and flea beetles by attracting beneficial insects.

Garlic. Garlic possesses strong sulfur compounds, which repels pests like aphids.

Marigolds. Marigolds attract pests, like mosquitos, whiteflies, aphids, squash bugs, and squash vine borers. Plant marigolds away from your zucchini crop to help ensure these pests don’t damage your plants.

Mint. The aroma of different mint plants (including hyssop and sage) will repel grazing animals like deer.

Nasturtiums. Nasturtiums are pretty flowers that attract aphids. While this may seem counterintuitive, many gardeners plant nasturtiums a short distance away from their vegetable garden to attract aphids away from their crops.

Oregano. Aromatic herbs like oregano and marjoram repel pest like cabbage moths.

Peas. Like beans, peas add nitrogen to soil, which balances its pH level.

Phacelia. Phacelia are flowers that promote good pollination in squash vegetables and attract pollinators.

Rosemary. Like oregano, rosemary is an aromatic herb that can repel earworms.

3 Plants to Avoid Growing With Squash

Potato: Potatoes, like zucchini, are heavy feeders, meaning they monopolize the absorption of nutrients in soil. Avoid planting these next to zucchini as they’ll impact the growth of your squash.

Fennel: Fennel attracts beneficial insects, but they are not suitable as a companion plant for almost every vegetable, as they will impede the growth of other plants.

Pumpkin. Though pumpkins are in the same family as zucchini, they can negatively affect growth due to cross-pollination.

https://www.australianseed.com/shop/item/squash-vegetable-spaghetti-heirloom

https://www.growveg.com.au/guides/growing-and-cooking-spaghetti-squash/

https://www.theseedcollection.com.au/Squash-Vegetable-Spaghetti

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/spaghetti-squash-growing-problems-73838.html

The 3 Basics

Ive been asked if I can do a talk to a mens group on beginner bushcraft methods and I thought the basic three may be a good place to start for people that have never tried or have been interested in bushcraft as a good primer. The basic three being shelter, Fire and Water. I have written about setting up a tarp before under I believe part 4 of knots, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to write about water purification methods in Australia.

Water Filtration

The 5 Water Contaminants. There are 5 contaminants that pollute water that you need to know about in order to make your water safe to drink.

Turbidity – is the measure of relative clarity of a liquid. Cloudy, hazy or muddy suspended particulate matter such as sand mud, silt or other decomposing organic material must be removed first through filtering for all water purification methods to be able to work. Even if there are no pathogenic (disease causing) organisms in the water, turbid water can still irritate your stomach.

Parasites – are microscopic organisms that live on or in another host organism. They can be either single cell organisms such as protozoa and cysts or multicellular organisms such as worms.

Protozoa are parasitic or free-living organisms that are able to multiply in humans and other animals causing disease. Eg. Cryptosporidium and Giardia.

Bacteria – much smaller than parasites, bacteria are single celled organisms found almost everywhere on earth (in the soil, water, in the air or in the tissues of plants and animals). Some bacteria cause disease while others don’t. The ones that do, produce a wide range of infections, some of which are potentially lethal. Eg. Typhoid Fever

Viruses – a virus is a sub-microscopic infectious agent (not a cell) that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Still smaller than bacteria, viruses infect all types of life forms including animals, plants and other microorganisms. Eg Hepatitis A, Polio, travellers diarrhoea and viruses in the water from poor sanitation.

Chemical Pollutants – pesticides and heavy metals from man-made polluting sources such as mining and agriculture.

Ive been tending to try and rely less and less on complicated methods and tools for bushcraft, how ever they do sometimes have their place. Such as Summer in Australia prevents fires from being used to boil water. Also the time and fuel required to heat water if in a hurry such as hiking long distance..

Complete kit

For most of the year I have now been using a Brown bag in links below to pre filer water to remove any particles of organic material prior to boiling and in much of Australia unless there is a sewage leak or farm animals or pesticides up stream this is all that is required. I use either a 48oz nesting cup being slightly longer than a standard sized cup. They take a little longer to bring to the boil but hold much more., or a bush pot. Depending on which sized knapsack I have at the time.

Grayl and Brown bag

If Im moving around constantly I also carry a Grayl Filter in one of the three current models. The ultra light for light weight hiking or GHB and the larger version for bushcraft camping, that I also use for cooking when not carrying dehydraded food. I place pictures below of my cooking set up which I put together myself rather than purchasing the complete system to not only tweak it to how I like it but I already had many of the parts.

bottle, insulated cup and 48oz cup

Ive gone through several water filters and the problems I had were ceramic filters which were my favorite became clogged due to the tannins and suspended matter in the streams or many of the pump filters only did small amounts of water before the filers required being replaced. Being mainly aimed at hikers. I also cant sit at a stream pumping a filter for long.

bottle, cup and mug together

So the three filters Id recommend are firstly the grayl for ease of use, these are perfect for a bug out bag or GHB where you dont want to stop for long or start a fire and wait for water to cool.

Additional cooking Implements, knife, long spoon for cooking, spork, lighter, fish spreader for hanging pots and chop sticks

The other two are the Sawyer mini that Id hook up the same as the Life straw in a hanging system to use gravity to run the water through the filter rather than using a mechanical pump but this is more for when yourve made camp.

Grayl press

https://www.survivalsuppliesaustralia.com.au/Grayl-UltraPress-Purifier?b7=z1

Sawyer mini

https://www.survivalsuppliesaustralia.com.au/Sawyer-Mini-Water-Filters?b7=z1

Life straw

https://www.survivalsuppliesaustralia.com.au/Lifestraw-Mission-Water-Filter-5L?b7=z1

Brown Bag

https://www.survivalsuppliesaustralia.com.au/Browns-Personal-Water-Filter-Bag?b7=z1

48oz Nesting cup

https://www.survivalsuppliesaustralia.com.au/Pathfinder-SS-48oz-Nesting-Cup-n-Lid?b7=z1

Bottle Cooking kit

https://www.survivalsuppliesaustralia.com.au/Pathfinder-Bottle-Cooking-Kit-32oz-with-Coyote-GEN3-Bottle-Bag?b7=z1

Stainless steel Bush Pot

https://www.survivalsuppliesaustralia.com.au/Pathfinder-Stainless-Bush-Pot-and-Lid-64oz?b7=z1

The 5 Contamements from :

https://bushcraftsurvivalaustralia.com.au/water-acquisition-and-purification/

Larch Tree ID (Larix)

On the ever present look out for Northern Hemisphere tress to try and identify. I have traveled through three states in the last six months and have finally come across a Larch tree of all places where Im currently camped. Which is funny as Im trying to sell my caravan and build an off-road unit and am living out of my swag in a mates backyard and the Larch tree is directly over my head.

It confused me for a little while until I saw the needle structure. I had never seen a larch tree in person before. Goes to show you need to compare the cones, bark and needles to properly identify a tree that is unfamiliar to you.

https://www.coniferousforest.com/plants-trees/larch

Horace kephart

I had this book many years ago and must have lost it in a break in. Its not like me to give away bushcraft books. Ive been more of a Nessmuk fan over the years but there arent too many writers from 100 years ago. So I thought it was a good time to replace my old copy and reread it. Ive gradually developed an appreciation for Kepharts writings. Maybe I should have grabbed the 2 part book version this one is well over 2 inches thick..

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