You will notice that title of this episode ends in “low cost” vs. “cheap”. As a marketer there is a rule, if you can eliminate a word do it, but that won’t work here. Cheap sets the wrong tone for what we will discuss today, we are talking about protecting your life, your property and the lives of those you love, one doesn’t go “cheap” with such things.
Today may seem like a basic beginners show but I will bet even the seasoned prepper will gain something and if nothing else will be better able to help others get started. Prepping doesn’t have to be complex or expensive, what it must be is specific to a set of goals, today we talk about simple ways to make that happen.
People say drain the swamp. They tried that at Stuyvesant Plaza. π Now every rain storm, US 20 floods near Stuyvesant Plaza. π Protect wetlands, don’t drain them.
As the pandemic presses on, city dwellers are turning to camping as a safe, socially distant alternative to typical travel, with online booking tools Campspot, Tentrr and Hipcamp all reporting upticks in usage. But newbies are quickly discovering there’s a lot more to sleeping outside than s’mores and sing-alongs.
Monarch population numbers have fallen by 90οΏ½percentοΏ½in less than 20 years. This year’s population was the second lowest since careful surveys began two decades ago. The critical driver of monarch decline is the loss of larval host plants in their main breeding habitat, the Midwestern Corn Belt. Monarchs lay eggs exclusively on plants in the milkweed family, the only food their larvae will eat.
Monarch butterflies have long coexisted with agriculture, but the proliferation of herbicide-resistant GE crops is threatening that balance. Monsanto’s glyphosate-resistant Roundup Ready corn and soybeans have radically altered farming practices, sharply increasing the extent, frequency and intensity of glyphosate use on farm land. Glyphosate—one of the very few herbicides that kills common milkweed—was little used two decades ago, but has become by far the most heavily used herbicide in America thanks to GE Roundup Ready crops. As a result, corn and soybean fields in the Corn Belt have lost 99οΏ½percentοΏ½of their milkweed since just 1999.
Milkweed is a perennial that often bears blossoms and fruit at the same time. The plant may be 0.5-1.0 meters high. Greenish-white flowers are borne in umbrella-like clusters. Leaves may be narrow or broad. Leaves or other above-ground parts of the plant are poisonous. They contain several glucosidic substances called cardenolides that are toxic. Milkweed may cause losses at any time, but it is most dangerous during the active growing season.
Several species of milkweed are poisonous to range animals. Labriform milkweed (Asclepias labriformis) is the most toxic. Other species in order of toxicity include western whorled milkweed (A.subverticillata), woollypod milkweed (A. eriocarpa), and Mexican whorled milkweed (A. fascicularis).
Milkweed poisoning occurs frequently in sheep and cattle and occasionally in horses. Most livestock losses are a result of hungry animals being concentrated around milkweed-infested corrals, bed grounds, and driveways. Poisoning also may occur if animals are fed hay containing large amounts of milkweed.
The primary toxic principle, galitoxin, is of the resinoid class. Galitoxin is found in all vegetative parts of the plant. In addition, a group of toxicants known as cardenolides may be responsible for digitalis-like signs that cause or contribute to death. In general, it appears that the broad-leaved species produce cardiotoxic and GI effects while the narrow-leaved species are more commonly neurotoxic. Dosages of whorled milkweed as low as 0.1 % - 0.5% of the animal's body weight may cause toxicosis and, possibly, death. Cattle, sheep and horses are most susceptible. Toxicity is not lost when the plant is dried. Therefore, contaminated hay is potentially toxic.