A Call for Articles

How do you eat an elephant? 

The answer is always the same:  One bite at a time. 

As most of you know, I didn’t start writing this blog with the intention of writing for years.  I honestly didn’t think I’d have material for more than a few months.  I was just putting my brain on some figurative paper for my children and like-minded friends.  I certainly wasn’t ever going to write a book, let alone a few of them.  I didn’t start off with any research, because the topics were ones I already knew.  I didn’t document sources.  I wasn’t going to write much.  It wasn’t going to take long.  It just evolved into what it is now. 

I’ve been eating that elephant for over six years now.  There’s still a lot of him left.

At the beginning of this year, I mentioned a few of my goals and some changes to the blog.  And I said that I would be running repeats during the summer so that I could focus on the garden and spend necessary time on my own prepping projects.  And yet…

The problem is, I really love writing this blog.  I love what I learn by doing so.

Hold that thought.

While there’s a lot of elephant left to eat, I need some time to digest and work on other projects.

As I have begun trying to build a more functional website (which is very slow going with my incredible technological impairments), I chat with family and get ideas.  And sometimes I am just blown away by their thoughts and wisdom.  I get the feeling I should talk with them more!

And then this morning I had the thought that perhaps, instead of running article repeats throughout the summer, I could invite readers to share their ideas, not just in the tedious-to-navigate comment section, but as stand-alone articles.  Ideally, they would be the kinds of articles this blog is known for—food and medical preparedness.  Maybe medicinal herbs that grow in other parts of the country?  I’ll probably never write about kudzu or jewelweed or how to prepare them, but you know, some people want to know.  Gardening hacks.  Amazing food storage recipes.  Has anyone figured out how to make amazing sour cream from powdered milk?  How to make homemade convenience foods.  Stuff you have experience with for the most part.  Maybe you’ve found a great free resource that we’ll want to know about.  Something you think should be covered here that I haven’t yet.  Or that you know how to do better.  (I won’t be offended.  Like I’ve said, I don’t have a lot of common sense and my family will often show me a better way to do something.) 

The writer of the best article each month will win a book of his/her choice.  Yeah, you might already have purchased it, but you could give a copy to a friend.  Or store it in another location. 

This isn’t SurvivalBlog; I don’t have Rawles’ advertising (I know some of you really miss those pop-ups) and support to offer big prizes.  In your favor, I also don’t have as many readers, so the competition will not be as stiff. 

So how about a few guidelines?

Articles should be around 500-750 words.  Please proofread.  I understand that errors get through; you see mine all the time.  Let’s just try to keep them to a minimum.  Provide sources—a link is fine (just be sure it is good!) or author, title, and page number.  Use your own pictures only when absolutely necessary.  ;)  No plagiarism—provide proper attribution.  No AI stuff.  Nothing that could be considered an advertisement.  Multiple submissions are acceptable; however, only one book will be awarded per person this summer.  (Unless only one person submits articles.  Then I guess that person could win all three.)  Oh, and this is only for the summer—June through August. Winners will be announced on the first day of the following month.  As IronTomFlint suggested in the comments below, include a general location if it is pertinent.  You are welcome to use a pseudonym or initials.

Thanks for letting me take a break from eating the elephant this summer.

Email articles (and any comments or questions) to the new PrepSchoolDaily@gmail.com.