May 17th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2011/06/07/u-n-agreement-should-have-all-gun-owners-up-in-arms/

May 17th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2011/06/07/u-n-agreement-should-have-all-gun-owners-up-in-arms/

May 15th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://m.networkworld.com/community/blog/sopa-supporters-meet-secret-strangle-internet-freedom-online-speech?mm_ref=http%3A%2F%2Fm.digg.com%2Fnews%2Ftechnology%2Fsopa_supporters_meet_in_secret_to_strangle_internet_freedom_online_speech

May 15th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/05/fighting-family-farms-better-food-supply/

May 15th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/maria-rodale/start-your-own-modern-hom_b_1517574.html

May 15th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://www.popularmechanics.com/_mobile/technology/how-to/tips/build-your-own-electromagnetic-interference-detector-8831727

May 9th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://m.usatoday.com/article/news/690001

May 4th, 2012 by Mike Keene

Standard Podcast [ 31:36 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (231)

Todays show is about the changes I see as I drive around. The fact that the simple changes like more gardens being put in and more people with chickens in their back yards are tell tell signs of much larger changes. They tells that more and more people are waking up and taking responsibility for the food that is going on their table. This maybe do to the fact that want better food then you can buy at the store or it may be a way of saving money. Ether way its a good thing and we need to help this fledgling homesteaders on their way down the path they have set out on.

build, building relationships, community, food, gardens, help, homestead, livstock, new gardeners, share

May 4th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/obama-signs-executive-order-declaring-international-law-for-the-united-states/14439

May 2nd, 2012 by Mike Keene

episode-24-who ever said cheaters never prosper is full of shit [ 1:26 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (108)

Simple facts that are true that we don’t like or over look.

*Cheaters prosper

*G-I-Joe said knowing is half the battle and he was right

*work smarter not harder

*everything in the world is valued in hours.

*the less time we spend doing things we have to do the more we can spend doing things we want to do

*The true definition to being prosperous is being able to do what we want when we want.

labor, save, time, work

May 2nd, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://www.motherearthnews.com/energy-matters/84-mph-wood-gas-truck-zb0z11zroc.aspx

May 1st, 2012 by Mike Keene

episode-23-what makes a homestead Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (97)

Today we take a look at what makes a homestead. How you dont have to own that 40acre peace of land to have a homestead. The main thing we need to be doing is working to improve out home and make it more productive for us by providing for us and our family.

May 1st, 2012 by Mike Keene

quick cheap and easy chicken feeder. All you need it a 6″ pvc cap and some 4″ pvc pipe. Cut a notch out of the bottom of the pipe then screw the cap on. There you go. I lose less feed to these when compared to store bought feeders.

April 28th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/24/the-path-to-americas-third-world-status/

Very good read

big government

April 27th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2012/04/26/enlist-dow-agent-orange-corn_n_1456129.html?fb_action_ids=10150776022008630&fb_action_types=news.reads&fb_source=other_multiline

April 26th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/26/amid-nationwide-outcry-labor-dept-withdraws-farm-child-labor-rule/

Man this makes me happy to hear they have backed off on this. We must keep our eyes open because you never know when they might try to slip it or something worse in on us.

farmers, homestead, money, news

April 25th, 2012 by Mike Keene

Standard Podcast [ 9:48 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (111)

Our small time farmers and ranchers are under attack. They are coming from every direction. Big agg. spend more money with lobbyist in one year then most small time farmers make in 10 years. Support your local farmers and ranchers. Send Big agg a message that we will not stand for this.  Call or email your congressman and senator. Let them know that you do not want this law passed. Spread the word and get others to do the same.

http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/25/rural-kids-parents-angry-about-labor-dept-rule-banning-farm-chores/

attacks, big agg, farmers, homestead, laws, livstock, locally grown, news, poultry, vote

April 25th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/04/21/living-green-how-to-make-ourselves-our-families-and-our-planet-healthier-on/

April 25th, 2012 by Mike Keene

You think people dont want gmo’s in the food they eat. I would say that as more people become aware to the harmful side effects  of gmo crops we will see a stronger push to get rid of them

http://m.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/monsanto-props-up-weak-gm-crop-price/story-e6frg8y6-1226335724205

April 24th, 2012 by Mike Keene

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Well it is once again Tuesday that mean it is newsday. Today’s main topic is the actions of the Michigan  DNR, Its pretty simple folks. If they are allowed to follow trough there actions then there is no telling where these types of actions will stop. Make no mistake this is big ag at work.

http://vbs20.com/bakers/?page_id=1141

http://vbs20.com/bakers/

economic news
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-20/alabama-supreme-court-says-municipalities-can-file-bankruptcy

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/desperate-us-cities-counties-file-bankruptcy/story?id=14464314

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17295461

dnr, farmers, fence, feral, food, hogs, homestead, homesteading, livstock, pigs, preparing, prepp, wild

April 24th, 2012 by Mike Keene

great blog post on easy container gardening.

http://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/5-self-watering-planters-easy-vegetable-gardening.html

food, gardens

April 22nd, 2012 by Mike Keene

Well I have been having trouble with some of the chickens getting in the raised beds. They where eating the lettuce. They pulled some tomato plants completely out of the ground and a couple of six packs I had setting around that hadn’t been planted yet. I decided to give the contech cro101 scarecrow motion activated sprinkler a try. I have to say the sprinkler head that cam on it was pure junk.  Instead of sending it back I decided to fix it. I went to wall-mart and spent a couple of bucks on a spike style sprinkler. Came back home screwed the head off the scarecrow and installed the head off the spike sprinkler. Problem salved. Thing works great now. On a side note its funny as all get out to watch someone who don’t know walk into its line of fire.

April 19th, 2012 by Mike Keene

Episode-20-growing your own food [ 32:53 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (160)

There is no excuse for not growing some of your own food.  Any one can do it does not mater where you live. Even if it is just a couple of plants in gallon pots or hanging baskets.

*You can rent a tiller you do not have to buy you. A small tiller is great to work in between the rows.

*Buy good quality garden tools. A good hoe is a must and make sure you get one that is long enough for you. I like a six foot hoe. I am not that tall at 5’11″ but a six foot hoe saves my back.

*Compost and wood mulch is your best friends.

*Keep it simple and start small. Do not overwhelm your self the first year.

*grow stuff you like to eat. Better yet grow something you LOVE to eat.

speaking of which here is the peppers I was telling you about. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhut_Jolokia_chili_pepper cant wait to harvest some of these peppers.

food, gardens, homestead

April 18th, 2012 by Mike Keene

Standard Podcast [ 42:27 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (112)

Today we go over a basic list for preparedness for you and your family.

*cash is king, you need at least $1000.00 cash more if you can but start with what ever you can and work your way up to at least $1000.00

* silver or gold is needed by everyone and should make up about 10% of your assets.  Silver is cheaper and easier for most people to buy.

http://www.coinflation.com/

*you need at least 3 WEEKS of food. This is a must basic start. You need to be working towards 3 MONTHS of food, With a end result being a years worth.

*Water 3 weeks worth for every single person in your house hold plus a little extra. Its cheap. You also need some way to clean, filter , sanitize collected water.

*Produce at least some of you own food NOW. Do it now so you can get the hang of it and have a basic grasp of how it all works before you need to rely on it. Have a seed bank. Buy open pollinated seeds and save your own seeds.

*self and home defense. Have a way to protect what you have and you love ones. See http://backtobasicspodcast.com/episode-18-fire-arms/

coming collapse, economic collapse, food, gardens, gold, money, preparing, prepp, self defenses, silver, survival, surviving

April 17th, 2012 by Mike Keene

First of all this is a very interesting read. The words are in an easy to read bold text which makes it easier to read when your about half blind like me. It is very educational on everything from soil, vegetation, to chickens. There are many tips and ideas shared on ways to save money. Quite honestly it is a must read for anyone wanting to get in to small-scale “mini” farming. It teaches you about soil, from fertilizers to pesticides. I was impressed with the listing of pest and the break down on what plants and flowers to help bring in the good insects. What insects will hill th bad pest. I loved the parts on raised gardens, we have a few around our homestead, they are easy to maintain and the ideas in this book I find very helpful with them. I found the chapter on chickens very educating. The author Brett L. Markham touches on every aspect from nesting to harvesting for meat. He tells you proper technique for cleaning eggs that I honestly wasn’t aware of. He shares a machine that he built to help pluck chickens and gave a very easy directions on the proper way to slaughter and handle the chickens during and after harvest. I found this book increasingly hard to put down. This only got worse when I can to the chapters on canning and ways to keep produce longer. And to top it off there are some great recipes in there as well. All in All this is a great book and I highly recommend it for any one wanting to homestead and get into small-scale farming.

book, canning, chickens, farming, mini farming, reivew, seeds, self-sufficiency

April 17th, 2012 by Mike Keene

episode-18-fire arms [ 51:20 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (121)

Today we take a look at choosing a new fire arm from a pistol to a center fire rifle. I lay out the best order to buy them in a and why I feel its the best order. Dispel a few myths about brands. I go over the most important aspects of choosing a gun that’s fits you best. Remember to stop by the face book page. Hit the like button and share the podcast with your friends.  you can also follow me on twitter at backtobasicspod they wouldn’t let me have enough letters to have backtobasicspodcast.

cc, center fire, fire arms, gun range, guns, home defence, pistol, rifle, self defence, shot gun, training

April 13th, 2012 by Mike Keene

eppisode-17-repurpose reuse and save money [ 24:02 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (167)

First things first. I messed up. In the podcast I said it was episode 16 while it is quite obvious its episode 17.

Now todays episode is all about ways to reuse things around the homestead and save some green. There is way more then one use for most things we have around the house. I go over just a few but there is tons more. I would love to hear about some of the ways you reuse an repurpose things to save money. I said I was going to post up some more photos of the chicken tractor but I did not get a chance to take the pics before it got dark. I will get some up tomorrow. Don’t forget that there will be a video coming out soon showing you how I made my free egg incubator.

April 11th, 2012 by Mike Keene

episode-16-lets talk abput the news [ 27:05 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (134)

Well its Wednesday once again. Today we take a look at some things that have been in the news. We talk about how they might affect us. Things we can do to minimize their effect on us.

3rd party, country, eathquakes, economic collapse, economy, election, freedom, gardens, health care, I.R.S, independent, libertarian, oboma care, preparing, president, shooting, survival, surviving, tax, vote

April 11th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/technology/story.html?id=6440309

April 10th, 2012 by Mike Keene

episode-15-stop and smell the roses [ 16:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (116)

Today’s episode is all about out need to slow down and relax. I know most of us tend to push our self’s always trying to get things done. It’s hard to make our self stop and relax but a lot of the time that is just what we need to do. Back off from all the homesteading and prepping and take time to enjoy what all the hard work is for. When we come back recharged  you can get so much more done with so much less effort it will shock you.

April 9th, 2012 by Mike Keene

episode-14-my view on the state of the union [ 33:12 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (140)

Today’s episode I honestly recorded last week on two different days. I then rerecorded those days episodes and did something different for those days. I didn’t really want to do an episode that was so down on the world and America and where we as a country stand. But as you can see or hear I have now done it. I just couldn’t get away from what was eating on me. So now I have shared with you my thoughts on where we are in this whole screwed up economic mess. I know this show is a bit deep and a tad on the doom and gloom side of things but I hope it stress the need to not only start growing some of your on food but storing what you grow and eat.

coming collapse, country, debt, economic collapse, economy, money, one world economy, preparing, prepp, survival

April 5th, 2012 by Mike Keene

Standard Podcast [ 34:56 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Today we discuss several forms of live stock from cows to pigs. I go over ways to increase the amount of livestock you keep on the same amount of land.

http://intensivegrazing.tamu.edu/benefits.htm

http://uwstudentweb.uwyo.edu/R/Rwalke11/

chicken tractor, chickens, cows, fence, food, goats, high density paddock ration, homestead, intensive grazing, livstock, pasture, pigs, poultry, sheep

April 3rd, 2012 by Mike Keene

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Well folks its Tuesday again and that means its newsday again. Today we talk about a few items that have been in the news over the last few weeks. One of my favorite things we go over is the fact that there has been a large increase in backyard gardens. I think this is a great thing even  if the reason behind it might not be so great. Like I said in the podcast I am going to link to the untrainedhousewife’s blog post on no dig gardens. I really fill it just shows you that you can have a fresh produce even if you live on rock with no dirt at all.

http://www.untrainedhousewife.com/how-to-start-a-no-dig-vegetable-garden#comment-36610

food, gardens, gun controle, guns, news, no dig, poultry

April 3rd, 2012 by Mike Keene

I found 500 low-carb recipes by Dana Carpender to be very educational and to be put together very well. It is informative with helpful tips that are easy to follow. It introduces you to new seasonings that you normally wouldn’t consider using. The author is easy to understand and really down to earth. She tells how much protein and carbs are in each meal, and things you can add or replace to make it even healthier. None of the recipes are hard to follow. I feel this is a excellent book for anyone want to get into the low carb life style or expand there recipe base.

book review low-carb

April 3rd, 2012 by Mike Keene

Standard Podcast [ 24:10 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (92)

Today we talk about some good uses for technology on the homestead. I list a few great apps that I use and love. I also cover some things that could be very useful around the homestead that you just could not have had 5 years ago. Technology is advancing faster and faster and you can ether adapt and embrace it or get left behind.

*phone apps

*solar lights

*wireless video

*wireless audio alert motion detection

*murs-radio

http://www.gardenate.com/

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/medicinal-herbs-bible/id448848667?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.colakey.D078.herbs&hl=en

episode-10- embracing technology on the homestead

April 1st, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE82S0ZD20120329?irpc=932

Now why can’t America do this. We need to ban gmo foods and grains. I hope the ban stands and it sets a example that we can follow. I think it is short sided comericialism that drives people to support and use gmo seeds. Of coarse y’all know how I feel about gmo.

gmo corn monsanto

March 30th, 2012 by Mike Keene

Standard Podcast [ 24:37 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (77)

Today we talk about how important it is to continue to improve your self by striving to improve you general and specific knowledge and skill sets. There are more options to educate our self’s now then every before and no excuse to not do it.

March 30th, 2012 by Mike Keene

Sorry about the bad sound quality in some of the podcast. Today’s is one of the worst. I have figured out what was causing it and fixed it. If you notice at the end of the episode 9 that I recorded to day it gets much better I was using a external mic and that is what was causing it. By switching over the the internal mic the problem was solved. Again I am sorry about this but now that I know what the issue was you will not have to suffer the tiny sounding podcast any more.  Thank you for listening.

Mike

March 29th, 2012 by Mike Keene

episode-8- emergence bag aka 'bug out bag' [ 18:10 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (136)

The last part of the podcast was corrupt so I cut it off. I am sorry about this. It was mostly just me rapping things up. I would like to hear what you guys have in your bug out bags or what you would like to have that you don’t.

Today we talk about emergence bags all so known as bug out bags.I will go over a few things that you need to have a a few things that are nice to have. I have posted a link to the water purification tabs. One thing I forgot to say on the show is a weather radio.

bob, bug out bag, emergance bag, prepp

March 28th, 2012 by Mike Keene

Standard Podcast [ 21:13 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (125)

Today we talk about raising poultry, I hope I shared some insights that might help you along you way to raising some chickens of your own. It is one of the nicest thing I can do is set down and eat some fresh eggs. There is just no comparison to anything that you buy at the store.

chicken tractor, chickens, eggs, poultry

March 28th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://www.foodanddrinkdigital.com/production/gmo-labeling-petition-reaches-one-million-signatures

FDA, food, gmo

March 27th, 2012 by Mike Keene

Standard Podcast [ 24:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (102)

Today is Tuesday so we take a look at a couple of articles that are in the news. From pink slime to earthquakes and stuff in between we take a look at it.

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge/Surviving-pandemic-its-in-your-genes-26032012.htm

http://www.untrainedhousewife.com/how-to-start-a-no-dig-vegetable-garden#comment-36610

eathquakes, news, pandemic, pink slime, surviving

March 27th, 2012 by Mike Keene

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/peace-cereal-announces-non-gmo-project-verification-on-all-boxed-cereals-2012-03-27

PeaceCereal® Announces Non-GMO Project

EUGENE, Ore., Mar 27, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Peace Cereal, a leading all natural cereal brand in the US, recently received certification from the Non-GMO Project’s Product Verification Program. All 15 of its boxed cereal varieties were verified to be compliant with the Project’s rigorous standards.

This a great article that I am very happy to share with you. The more non-gmo foods and product’s that we can get the better.

March 25th, 2012 by Mike Keene

March 24th, 2012 by Mike Keene

episode-4-why I prep, why I have a homestead, and why I think its a good idea. [ 34:43 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (128)

In today’s episode I talk about conversation that happened at work this morning about doomsday preppers and the likes. I also tell why I have a homestead and why I prep. I cover why I think it’s a good idea. As you will tell a few times I get a bit heated about it. this is something I feel is very important. Choosing who you tell and who to not waste your time with.

March 22nd, 2012 by Mike Keene

In this episode we talk about getting all that lawn care equipment ready to go. We also go over some cost saving tips for around the house.

episode3-spring has sprung

March 22nd, 2012 by Mike Keene

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episode-2-it takes more then one to run a homestead. There could be times when you cant be there and if no one else knows how to handle things they can not get done. Also I touch on two news stories  I have seen floating around the web today. hope you enjoy

March 22nd, 2012 by Mike Keene

just a short introduction to myself and backtobasicspodcast. I hoped to outline my goals and ideas behind the show. Hopefully helping you live the life you want no mater what life brings your way.   epasode 1