The Prepared Household

Health or Being Physcially Prepared

2012-01-25T23:29:00.002-05:00

Our health is important and being physically prepared or as fit as possible is extremely important. Others rely on us and we need to do everything we can to not only be there for them, but to not be a burden. I realize that there comes a time in ones life when despite all they do, they are just not as fit as they once were and rely on others. There's no shame in that. However, I am not as physically fit as I could be and I plan to change that.

I have struggled with health issues recently, and one of them being diabetes. Diabetes is not easily controlled and the medications can be expensive. While I have stocked up on my necessary medicines (always a prepper), I know that there may come a time when I can't get it. Insulin is very expensive, not to mention you need a syringe to inject it. So, I need to decrease my dependence on insulin, and hopefully remove it all together. I don't know if it is possible, but I am going to try.

So hubby and I decided to start walking every day and for the last three days we have walked approximately a mile.

My blood glucose was 368 (normal is 70-100) at 9:00 a.m. this morning. I took my meds, ate breakfast and we began our walk around 10:00 a.m. It took us two hours and we had a great time. We made videos and worked around in the yard. I started feeling like my blood glucose levels were dropping, so around 1:00 I checked it again. It was 86! Exercise can do wonders for your glucose levels!

Since, I hate to waste time and I get bored so easily, we decided to multi-task on our walks. Make a game out of it. Watch this video for details:

So, we are going to walk daily, pick up aluminum cans and scrap metal to make a few pennies, while we clean up the environment a little. Also, we are learning the native plants that grow beside the road. Can you identify these plants?

Believe it or not, while walking and keeping yourself entertained, you can find useful objects like reels, coal and golf balls. LOL. See the video below.

So get out there and make a little bit of money, have fun and exercise. Hubby says we are losing a few pounds while we find a few pounds (of cans and metal that is.) Enjoy yourself and happy prepping!

New Years Resolution Versus Goals

2012-01-07T01:00:00.000-05:00

I don't like making New Years Resolutions. They are by their very nature made to be broken. I want to set goals. Goals can be achieved! I have many goals this year and I make mini goals to achieve those larger goals.

Photo courtesy of integracore.com

So, what are my goals you may ask? I want to live a more self-sufficient life on this planet. I don't want to be dependent on anyone for my next meal or my next breath for that matter.

So the steps:

1. Become healthy and strong;
2. Garden;
3. Use less electricity;
a. grow accustom to cooler temps in winter and warmer temps in summer;
b. line dry clothes
c. weatherize and use various strategies to help keep home warm in winter and cooler in summer
4. Use less. Period.
5. Make my own
a. Pizza dough, foods, detergent, furniture, clothes, quilts, soap, cream of chicken soup, soup base, butter, etc.
6. Perfect a bartering system locally.
7. Soooooo much more!

Are all these goals attainable right now? No, but some of them are. I can’t make butter, I don’t have a cow or goats. But I might be able to trade for some. I am sure there are many things I can learn to do. But I need someone to teach me.

So, our path to self-sufficiency has been a struggle and we have been on this journey for nearly three years now. We have had some successes and some miserable fails! But we have learned lessons. I know that there are those out there that have learned lessons too and we can learn from each other.

So whether your goal is total self-sufficiency, a homestead or just getting prepared for life’s storms this is the place to be. I believe that being prepared involves self sufficiency. For years, our fore fathers were self-sufficient and supplied their own needs. Granted, I can’t grow a pineapple here, but there will be sacrifices and we all know it. I believe we are headed toward disaster and we better prepare ourselves for it now.

Since we are all on different levels of preparedness and we are all in different financial situations, I hope to cover things that are affordable to everyone. I love to learn how to do things for myself, but I am often discouraged when people talk about things that above my means. I want to include everyone I can.
Share your tricks:
1. How you save money to buy preps or other things you need?
2. What are your short cuts?
3. Where do you get items cheap?

Don’t be shy! Share! If you want to share something, but don’t want to post it yourself, let me know and I will post it without your information attached. This is how we learn, from each other.

Happy Prepping!

Alternate Cooking Methods

2011-09-19T08:17:00.001-04:00

One of my readers said one of the things that stands in the way of them being fully prepared is alternate methods of cooking. I have to say, I really am not prepared in that area, except for my backyard grill and a lighter. Granted we have grill gas and wood, so we could get by.

But one thing that always bothered me about cooking outside in a dire "poo hit the fan" situation was depicted on an episode of "Dark Angel". Dark Angel was a television series where an electromagnetic pulse weapon was used in the atmosphere over the United States. One episode told the story of a family who was prepared for such emergencies. They had a generator that kept their power going after "the pulse" had turned a nearby town into darkened chaos. The townspeople thought that the prepared family had somehow done this to them because they still had power and attacked the family, killing them and burning their home.

Of course, I know this is Hollywood, but have you ever heard the expression, "life imitating art"? We are talking of mob mentality here. So, if I am prepared and start cooking my food outside and others don't have means or food, that could leave me and my family vulnerable. What might I be getting at? Well, two things. One, discretion in preparedness and two, pre-cooked food.

So, while we want to help others learn to be more self-sustaining, we need to be discreet and not publish what we have all over the Internet and TV.

Also, after a stint of ice storms that took out our electricity and we lost a lot of food in a huge freezer, we decided we didn't want to rely on electricity to preserve our food. And, if we pre-cook our food, we can just open a jar and eat it cold in a real "poo hit the fan situation". Not the most ideal, but definitely doable. So, we learned to preserve meat by canning.

Let me say that you need to follow ALL safety precautions and check with your local extension office for the correct way to can food in your area. Here is a video my husband and I did on canning ground beef. Remember, do not do this at home unless you contact your extension office for the proper procedures. Canning meat can be deadly if done improperly. In fact, your local extension agent may not recommend canning ground beef, but you can use the same method for canning beef chunks or roast. BE SURE TO FOLLOW YOUR AGENT'S INSTRUCTIONS OR YOU CAN END UP POISONED.

We also did a series on home butchered and canned chicken. You can view it on my channel here.

The extension office recommends that you heat the canned jar contents for 15 minutes after you open them and before you consume them. In a normal situation, you would do so. I am speaking of using this in times when you don't have an alternate method of cooking.

My friend, Marianna Bailey has uploaded a wonderful document to her Facebook page about alternate means of cooking. I don't think anyone can access the page unless they are part of the group, so I will post her document here. It is vital information and I thank Marianna for sharing it. She has a great group called "Prepare with Me". I love it. You should join it.

Here is the document, if you can access it: Cooking Without Electric. If not, I have posted it below, in it's entirety. It is more information than I have ever seen compiled on the subject.

COOKING WITHOUT ELECTRICITY HANDOUT: (also see Fuel Handout)

From: www.YourFamilyArk.org

Kylene Jones said there are a few basic principles that apply to cooking without electricity.

• Conserve fuel so you don't need a lot

• Plan to be able to cook indoors and out, in the home or evacuated, in cold and hot weather

• Remember, any flame can produce carbon monoxide — the cooking area must be well ventilated

Different emergencies will require different things.

Kylene Jones said she likes canned heat for basic cooking because it lights easily, burns hot and she can simply take away a can to lower the cooking temperature.

She said Coleman fuel or white gas is very effective but also very dangerous and must be stored out of the house.

Kerosene must be used with great caution but requires very little oxygen.

Propane has an indefinite shelf life but homeowners may only keep up to five of the 20-lb. containers. If the propane leaks, it lingers and will explode at a spark or flame.

Butane stoves are lightweight but won't work well in cold weather.

Charcoal briquettes are easy to use and inexpensive but should never be burned indoors.

Observe Fire Safety Rules (from Survivalinsight.com)

• Do not bring a gas grill or stove inside, as this can cause toxic fumes and vapors to build up in your home, and is also a fire hazard.

• Do not build a fire or light a grill close to your home or garage.

• Leave plenty of space so sparks don’t fly off and ignite something you want to keep.

• If you cook on a wood stove, keep small children clear of it at all times.

• Never use gasoline to start a wood or charcoal fire; it can explode and burn anyone nearby severely.

(the following info. taken from government site: www.fpl.fs.fed.us)

There are 91,200 BTUs in a gallon of propane - times a 4 gallon bottle = 364,800 BTUs in a 20 lb tank. Take 364,800 and divide it by your burner’s BTU rating to figure how many hours you can run your burner on High. If you turn the burners down, you can extend that time a bit. Normally you won't be cooking with it on full heat.

Under normal usage, one can (16.4 oz. Coleman Propane Cylinder) will burn about one hour. When using the one burner “Perfect Flow Stove” from Coleman, which attaches to the top of the cylinder, one can will last 2 hours on high or 4.5 hours on low. This type of stove works well for heating small pans of food or water only. Heavier pans must be hooked up to a larger camping stove or a single burner stove that rests on a flat surface.

Charcoal goes on sale for the best prices of the year around Memorial Day and Labor Day. The last two years sales prices have been about $4 per bag (16 lbs - 20 lbs). Kingsford Original Brand (not matchlight) burn hotter, longer.

http://www.papadutch.home.comcast.net/
http://www.dutchovendude.com/

More Great Websites for Cooking without Electricity and MORE:

http://www.yourfamilyark.org/
http://www.simplyprepared.com/
http://www.peaceofpreparedness.com/
http://www.iwillprepare.com/

For Recipes and Other Preparedness:

http://www.peacethroughpreparation.blogspot.com/
http://www.foodstoragepreparation.blogspot.com/
http://www.foodstoragemadeeasy.com/

Alternatives to Electric Appliances: (list from: YourFamilyArk.org)
(Google or search the above website for specifics on these)

Alcohol Stoves
Apples Box Oven
Camp Stoves (liquid fuel)
Canned Heat
Dutch Oven
Hay Box
Kerosene Stoves
MRE Heaters
Paperbox Oven
Portable Grill
Pressure Cooker
Propane Stoves
Solar Ovens
Thermos Cooking
Volcano Stove
Wood Cook Stoves

For Volcano Stoves: http://www.volcanogrills.com/

-Use 3 different kinds of fuel
-Use less fuel
-Compact and outside of stove stays cool to the touch

For Rocket Stoves printed picture instructions: http://www.iwillprepare.com/

-Search Rocket Stove in a #10 Can

Rocket Stove Videos: www.YouTube.com/user/LDSPrepper

-Search “Best Rocket Stove Design Ever”
-Over 100 Preparedness Videos posted by our own Bro. Gillmore

Alternative Cooking Methods

Dutch Oven Cooking: Cooking techniques such as roasting, baking simmering, stewing, frying, boiling, steaming, and many others are easily done on the campfire with only a single utensil, the dutch oven. Think of the possibilities, delicious fresh baked bread that will rise up and lift the lid, cobblers made from berries picked fresh at the campsite, incredible deep-dish pizzas, stews, quiches that melt in your mouth, Cornish game hens roasted to perfection, and imagine a chocolate cake a foot in diameter. These and many, many more are very possible and sometimes easier than they are at home. With very few exceptions, I have been able to duplicate my home recipes on the campfire using the dutch oven. Check out this website for a complete book about Dutch Oven cooking, with recipes included: http://usscouts.org/cooking/cook_05.asp

Rocket Stove: Why? – Rocket Stoves are:

Fuel Efficient: Because they direct all the heat energy (from the flames) upward, most of the heat actually goes into heating the food, rather than being radiated outward (like most campfires). Instruction for a rocket stove: http://www.iwillprepare.com/index_files/
Rocket_Stove_In_A_Number_10_Can. Here's a variation: http://everythingunderthesunblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/rocket-stove.html

Here's another one: http://www.speedreading4kids.com/rocket.pdf

Volcano Stove: Volcano II Collapsible Stove. You will love the versatility of this stove. The Volcano II Collapsible Stove works great with many different methods of cooking and three different fuels. Use this collapsible stove for your cookouts, camping, or emergency cooking.

• Tri-fuel Stove: The Volcano II Collapsible Stove uses Charcoal, Wood, or Propane*. Changes easily between each of the fuel sources.

• Versatile Cooking Options: Grill right on the stove, or use a skillet, griddle, pot, or wok. Also great for 10-12” Dutch ovens!

• Patented Heat Chamber: Cook a meal with as few as 12 briquettes. 15-20 lb bags of charcoal can be enough for 1 hot meal a day for a year (we recommend storing the charcoal in sealed plastic buckets to protect from moisture). • Double Wall Construction: The Volcano II Collapsible Stove minimizes heat transfer. Much safer for small children.

• Collapsible: Collapses to only 5.5” tall for easy storage. Comes with a storage bag.

*Propane attachment included in combo or sold separately. Works only with 20 lb tanks. http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_CK%20S595_A_name_E_Volcano%20II%20Collapsible%20Stove%20with%20Propane%20Attachment

Solar Ovens: Solar cooking requires only your oven and a sunny day. Brightness of the day, and not outside air temperature is the most important factor. Solar cooking entails a few basic principles; reflection, concentration, the green house effect and absorption. Solar ovens have properly arranged reflective inner walls to direct and concentrate the sun's energy on the dark pot or dark bottom tray. A clear covering lets in solar heat, but prevents most of it from escaping, producing a green house effect. You know how hot the inside of your car gets in the summer sun, your black pot is similar to the dark upholstery that gets too hot to touch by the process of heat absorption.

http://solarovens.org/ Sun Sport Solar Oven http://www.sunoven.com/cart/index.php?ain_page=products_all Sun Ovens Want to make your own solar oven: http://solarcooking.org/plans/

Butane Stove: Another usable fuel for cooking... Can be used inside in a well vented area.
www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Butane-Burner-Stove-Free/dp/B000BVC4NY

Wonder Box: http://ourldsfamily.com/wonderbox/ or http://www.iwillprepare.com/index_files/Wonder_Box.htm

Fuel: Insta-Fire is a safe, simple, and versatile new fire starting product. It has water-repellent properties, a fiffteen minute burn time and a thirty year shelf life. Use it to light campfires, prepare charcoal briquettes, or as a safe and reliable fuel source for cooking or heating in emergency situations. http://www.instafire.com/home.htm

Fired Up: Similar to Insta-Fire but at a different price. Comes in two sizes... http://beprepared.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_CL%20S095_A_name_E_Fired%20Up!%E2%84%A2%20Emergency%20Fuel%20&%20Firestarter%20IN-A-BUCKET%20-%2013%20lbs

Magnesium Fire Starter: In survival situations, you'll want this simple, compact magnesium fire starter with you at all times to get a fire going even in damp weather. The magnesium fire starter is a small block of magnesium that is waterproof and fireproof in its solid form. Scrape some shavings and then strike the firesteel built into the starter to ignite the shavings. The fire generated is extremely hot and will ignite even damp kindling. Compact size – fits in a pocket - Comes with a striker -

Built-in fire steel for sparking. Harbor Tools has the best price... http://www.harborfreight.com/magnesium-firestarter-66560.html

END OF DOCUMENT

Well, my Prepared Household, that should get you started on alternative methods of cooking. All links are live, just click on them to access the page.

What do you have in your storage for alternative methods of cooking? Have you tried or tested them? What works for you? Please share.

Make Your Own Cleaning Supplies

2011-09-12T13:45:00.000-04:00

I attended a workshop this past weekend that taught us the art of making lye soap and laundry detergent at home for pennies. There are many times where we can make our own cleaning supplies and save money. These processes are also green. So our children and the Earth will thank us too.

Making Lye Soap

The biggest problem with making lye soap is finding the lye to make it with. Other than that, the process seemed relatively straight forward and easy. Just be sure to wear protective clothing. Here are the instructions for making lye soap:

Jennifer's Lard Soap

1 4lb bucket of lard

8.4 oz lye

20 oz water

2 oz of fragrance oil (optional)

Vinegar (This is precautionary. Should you get the lye on you at any point, simply use the vinegar to neutralize the burn.)

You will need a scale, pans, measuring cups, stick blender, plastic stirring spoons, two thermometers, molds, goggles, apron, gloves and white vinegar. Use these items only in your soap making and should never be used in cooking again. Be sure to wear long sleeves, pants, apron, goggles and gloves. You should have a healthy respect for this process as you can get burned. Lye is extremely caustic. Carefully pour your lye into your water. NEVER, let me repeat that, NEVER pour water in the lye. You will get a volcanic eruption. This is dangerous.) If possible, do this mixing outside. The fumes are unpleasant and not safe to breathe. As you add the lye to the water, stir constantly until the water clears. At this point, you can take the temperature and it will be extremely hot.

Measure the lard and add it to a pot. Place on direct heat and melt on low. Prepare any molds you may have. Jennifer uses Pringles potato chip cans. Lay newspapers on the counter. Check the temps of the lye and lard. Sometimes you can cool the lye faster by placing the container in a tub of ice water. When both the lard and the lye are 110 degrees, using your gloves and goggles, slowly pour the lye into the lard while you stir with a plastic spoon. When it has been completely added, begin using the stick blender to stir.

(I have to add that at this point, we can smell the soap. It has a naturally good "soap" smell. I don't know how, as it is lard and lye, but it smells like a plain soap being mixed. The end result has a good clean smell too. I wish I could let you smell it.)

Stir the soap until it traces. At first, your soap will look like a think pudding, As you stir, it will thicken. Be sure to continue to stir, but rest your stick blender motor so it will cool and not burn up. When the mixture looks creamy and mixed together and just starts to lightly trace, you can add fragrances and additives such as honey or oatmeal. Continue to stir. If you just want plain soap, continue to stir until you see the drizzled soap stay on top the mixture for a few seconds before folding in. This is tracing. It is now time to pour into the molds. Jennifer pours it into three Pringles cans. This recipe makes two completely full and one partial. Place the cans in an area where they will not be disturbed for at least 24 hours. Wrap them with old towels. This is a necessary step for the soap making process. Your molds will get very hot due to the chemical reaction that is taking place. This chemical reaction is called saponification and it is turning the lye and lard into soap.

After 24 hours check on your soap. If it is very soft, let it set for another day or so. When it is ready, remove it from the molds. If you use pringles cans, you can just peel the can off carefully, so as not to damage the soap. Let it sit another day and then cut into bars. Put the cut bars of soap on a cooling rack or lined shelf. It needs to cure. At this point, the lye content is only 90%, but will need to cure for 4 - 6 weeks for the last 10% to evaporate. You need to turn the soap halfway through the drying process-probably at about 2 - 4 weeks, or it will discolor.

Jennifer's Lard Soap. Feels so creamy and smells so good.

Jennifer sells her lye soap. If anyone is interested in purchasing, please let me know and I will get you her contact information.

Make Your Own Laundry Soap

Photo courtesy of 20MuleTeamLaundry.com

Liquid recipe

1 small bucket with a lid (2 - 5 gallon buckets will work)

1/3 bar of Fels Naptha Soap or 1 bar of Ivory soap

1/2 Cup Borax powder

1/2 Cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

2 gallons water

Grate the soap and put it in a saucepan. Add 6 cups of water and heat until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until dissolved. Remove from the heat and pour 4 cups of hot water into the bucket. Now add the soap mixture and stir. Add another gallon of water plus six cups into the bucket with the soap mixture and stir. Let the soap sit overnight and it will gel. Use 1/2 cup per wash load for a normal wash.

Just remember that this will have the consistency of egg drop soup. It is also low sudsing, so you won't see a lot of suds. But don't worry, it is the ingredients that cleans the clothes, not the suds.

Jennifer told us that she adds Purex 2 color safe bleach when washing dirty work clothes to boost the cleaning power. It is only $1.97 a box at the big box stores, which is cheaper than Clorox 2.

So how do the numbers add up? Is it really cheaper to make your own? Jennifer says it is. Here, the cost of making the above recipe is .68 cents or about .02 cents per load. Two gallons will give you enough to wash 64 loads. Liquid Tide 64 load is $12.47 or .19 per load. Gain 63 load is $11.97 or .18 cents per load.

Powdered recipe

Rebecca, who knows the chemical processes in these ingredients, showed us a powdered version.

1 bar of Ivory soap or 1/3 bar Fels Naptha

1 Cup Borax powder

1 Cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

Finely grate the soap. Add the borax and washing soda. Mix in a canister with a lid and use approximately a teaspoon per load. Double that amount for hard or iron water.

Photo courtesy of WhiteHouseFoods.com

Other cleaning

Use vinegar as a fabric softener. It will take away those off smells and soften your clothes.

Use baking soda and vinegar for your drains. Put baking soda in all your drains and toilet. Add white vinegar. Follow with boiling hot water to clean out your drains. I haven't tried this yet, but plan to soon.

There are tons of other recipes for making your own cleaning products. What do you use to clean? What are your secrets? Please share.

Remembering 911

2011-09-11T20:22:00.001-04:00

September 11, 2001 is a day that will forever live in my memory. As the song echoes in my mind asking the question “Have you forgotten, how it felt that day?” I say a resounding "No!" I will never forget.

Surreal images flicker in my mind of the first plane that hit the tower. And then, when the second plane hit the second tower, I awoke from the naive place I had always lived to the truth of the world we live in. I was at home sick that day. So, I saw the images live on TV. Shocked, I watched as a woman from another country danced, shouted and praised those cowardly, evil deeds and subsequently my perception of the world and the people in it, was forever changed. I realized I did not live in a world that was safe and secure, but one that held dark secrets. Before that time, I had no idea how hated I was because I was an American. And it would take years before I realized the true implications.

Our President declared "War on Terrorism". A few short years later, he declared war on Iraq. My first thoughts had been to just leave Iraq alone. We should take care of things at home. I still believe things need addressed at home. But there is an indelible image engraved in my mind as I watched footage of a war-torn Iraq. A man running down the debris littered street suddenly turned to the camera and waved. In broken English he gleefully shouted “Thank you Mr. Bush.” And then turned and ran away. Again, I was awakened…if but just a little more.

I won’t pretend that I am the most politically correct or most politically minded person on the planet, probably the farthest from it. However, I realized that day that our brothers and sisters in this world who are citizens of Iraq and other countries needed a hero too. Someone to save them from the tyranny and evil that gripped their world. How lucky we are to call America home. We have so many freedoms; even the freedom to complain about and ridicule our leaders without fear of any real repercussions.

Our world has drastically changed since that time. Gas prices have more than trippled. Food prices are so high, some are going without food. More and more people are losing their homes and becoming "homeless". We have greater need to prepare today than we have ever. I feel an urgency to prepare for life's storms now! But in a calm and orderly manner.

So, let's honor our lost, our heroes and our Country. God Bless America!

If you get the chance to do so, please enter your comments below. Share with me your thoughts on 911 and our lives since then.

Creative Food Storage...Storage

2011-09-11T18:42:00.008-04:00

Okay, I admit it. I have pantry envy. You go online and google food storage or pantry, you will see image after image of neatly placed rows of foods on shelves. So many ideas, it makes one envious and wish they had that organized and fully stocked food and emergency supplies storage. Wouldn't it be "the bomb" if we could grab one of those hand held shopping baskets and "shop" for items in our own basement to stock the kitchen pantry. Like photos on Google Images, I wish I had a basement grocery store, with aisle after aisle of foods, water and other emergency supplies. Ahhhh.

Photo courtesy of Robin's Roost

Okaaaayyy. Back to reality. And the reality of it is that to some of us, one of the obstacles in the path of food storage is space. No place to store food or other emergency items. Do you feel like you are a prime candidate for an episode of Hoarders? Is every room in your house crowded with bags, boxes and piles of food towering over you to the point that you wonder if one day it will all implode and you will be lost in the debris?

Have no fear, I have a few suggestions. Not having had time to take actual photos, I checked the Internet for photos to illustrate my points.

Photo courtesy of Walmart.com

I purchased a set of bed risers from Walmart. (But you can find them anywhere.) It lifts up the bed about six inches and gives you room for storage underneath. Some food storage items have a long shelf life. Simply tuck them under the bed and be sure to record what you have under there in your food storage inventory book with expiration dates. That way, you will know what is there and when it expires.

Photo courtesy of A Matter of Preparedness

In my Internet search, I ran across a great blog called A Matter of Preparedness. She has a couple of entries on storage in small places, as well as other preparedness ideas. In her entry, she says that she stores 104 #10 cans under a queen size bed. You could get more under a king size, but you would require a couple of extra risers. Please visit her site and enjoy.

Another idea in creative food storage storage is to utilize underneath coffee tables, end tables, sewing machines, etc. Store your boxes under the tables and drape a coordinating cloth over it. There you have it, easily disguised storage. Another cool blog, Prepared NOT Scared goes one step further to create an entire nightstand table out of food storage. See the image below and read about it here.

Photo courtesy of Prepared NOT Scared

One of my favorite ideas on water storage is a Youtube video from LowBuckPrepper where he displays his wall of water.

Using 2-liter bottles as storage is simple. As you empty one, fill it up with water and stack it on the wall. You should store at least one gallon of water per person per day. Two 2-liter bottles is approximately equal to one gallon. If my calculations are correct, that is twenty-eight bottles per person for two weeks. LowBuckPrepper has enough water stored for nearly four people for two weeks. Storing it against a wall, makes it a lot easier than stacking boxes. I think this idea is ingenious.

Here is another great idea. A self-rotating can rack that doubles as a buffet-style table behind your couch.

Be sure to check out this great blog with lots of great ideas: http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/01/26/small-spaces-storage-solutions-results/.

I once stored things behind the curve of a sectional couch. There was a ton of room between the wall and the couch.

Now, get your creative juices stirring and see where you can reclaim precious space to store the items you need. Under or behind a couch? What are your creative food storage storage solutions? Share!

Bug Out Vehicle - Our Pop-Up Camper

2011-08-31T09:46:00.001-04:00

Preparedness Bascis - Bug Out Vehicle

One of my readers suggested using a camper to evacuate in an emergency. This is something that we have considered and we uploaded this video on our Youtube channel a couple of months ago. This is our bug out camper.

We have used it to camp and would suggest that if anyone plans to use a camper for a bug out vehicle that you camp in it so you can be familiar with it, how it works, how to set it up and what you will need. A test run will let you know if this is the route you want to go.

I will tell you that a pop up is a bit of hard work to put up, so this option, while compact, may not be the best option. So, research and choose your camper wisely. We have had this one for ten years and the older we get, the more difficult it becomes to set up. However, it still suits us fine.

Please share your thoughts, suggestions and experiences.

For more videos, visit my Youtube channel here.

Thanks Red Rock for your idea.

What is your Preparedness Achilles Heel?

2011-08-30T19:35:00.002-04:00

Tornadoes this summer, hurricane up the east coast, a 5.9 earthquake in Virginia felt all the way to NYC, Boston and Ohio, along with one in Colorado & a 6.9 quake in Peru! Record unemployment, rising cost of living...I don't know about you, but I have this overwhelming need to prepare. But what for? So...tell me, what are your concerns?

Despite years of preparing for this or that, I know we all have an "Achilles Heel" or a fatal weakness in our preparations. You know, that little niggle of doubt in the back of your head that something may not be the way you need it, or...just the direct avoidance of something because you don't know how you are going to do it.

What is your deep, dark, terrible secret that makes you want to cover your face or scream? Okay, maybe I am being a bit dramatic...or maybe not.

You are not alone, almost everyone has one or two areas that they need to address. Don't procrastinate any longer. Now is the time to face those issues head on!

So, let's talk about it. Air it out. Figure out how we are going to make it right and be prepared. I don't know about you, but I have this overwhelming desire to get as prepared as I possibly can, as soon as I possibly can. No, I am not prepared as I should be. Remember, the name (Prepared Household) is a goal, not a state of being. Let's work on it together.

So, for the next couple of weeks or months, we will cover the basics of preparedness. Maybe it's things you already know and can contribute to or maybe it will be something you never thought of. Somebody throw out there a topic for us to begin with and we will get started!

What is your Preparedness Achilles Heel?

Swap & Barter

2011-06-29T23:02:00.002-04:00

There have been so many things going on at the Prepared Household and before I tell you about the swap and barter we had, let me update you.

The garden isn't doing as well this year. The potatoes have all died out. We aren't sure why, but they have been sent for autopsy through the extension service, so we should know soon.

The beans are next on the hit list with the Mexican Bean Beetles eating their way through them. We are out of the good poison we used last year, so the demise of the beans is imminent.

Due to excessive rain and moisture, the tomatoes have the blight. I had to pull up three plants that were just suffering in the muck and gave the rest of them drastic clippings to remove the diseased leaves. Now they will be susceptible to the sun scald, so I plan on placing a cloth or sheet over them to shield them from the sun as fruit develops. I am so saddened by the state of my garden. The weeds are thriving though. I have been updating on my Youtube channel, so please feel free to check out the vids!

http://www.youtube.com/user/PreparedHousehold?feature=mhee

SWAP & BARTER:

So...tonight, the Prepared Household hosted a Swap & Barter at my church. We placed our items on the table and placed bids on items others brought. It was great fun and we got to bring home something different from what we brought.

We placed our items on the tables.

We began to place our bids.

Then the bartering began!

I was very happy with what I came home with!

The swap was a complete success. It wasn't awkward and we all had a great time. We are planning a "Trading Days" in the fall where we will have a "soupbean supper" and do a lot more bartering on a larger scale! Exactly the outcome I had hoped for.

Watch this Youtube video and I hope you can start something similar in your community.

Velveeta Cheesy Skillets House Party

2011-06-06T09:05:00.002-04:00

Well...as you all know, I believe in saving money. Saving money helps us be better prepared for life and situations that arise. Having been in the unemployment line for some time now, I look for ways to stretch my money. So I signed up for House Party at houseparty.com. I was told that I would be receiving the following for my party.

•VELVEETA CHEESY SKILLETS product

•$5 Wal-Mart Gift Card

•Memo Boards

•Tote Bags

•$1.00 off coupons

Now who wouldn't want to receive free product and coupons to share with friends. We all have parties on occasion and what better way to save money and share with friends and family. This is just a win for anyone.

So, the party is June 18th and that happens to be the weekend of my family reunion. So not only do I get this free stuff, but I get to share it with my family. And besides, who doesn't love Velveeta?

So, go to houseparty.com and sign up for a party. They have canning parties too. I can't wait to have mine because I know it will be so much fun. Enjoy your day!

The Prepared Household in Your Inbox

2011-05-30T19:38:00.001-04:00

Be sure to sign-up for updates. Just enter your email address in the Feedburner link and have The Prepared Household come to you.

This summer will be updates on the homestead and how the rabbits, chickens and garden are doing. But it will also be about getting prepared and staying prepared in this ever changing world we live in. If you like to live green, well...this blog is for you. This is my journey from the corporate world (so to speak) to the homestead and you are welcome along for the ride.

I have worked my entire adult life and this is the first time I am really having joy in my journey. So, subscribe and get updates right in your inbox! Happiness and joy in the journey.

Melanie

Bale Gardening Experiment

2011-05-28T00:18:00.000-04:00

Well...I passed my master gardener's exam yesterday and I very excited about that. It doesn't mean I am an expert by any means, I am just still learning about gardening and how it works on my journey to self-sufficiency. Will I ever get there? Probably not. But I am on that journey late in life, so just doing my small part to live a greener, healthier life will make me happy.

Another Master Gardener, Sheila, and I are doing an experiment in conjunction with the local extension office. We are experimenting with Straw Bale Gardening.

If you have bales that have already sat out in the weather and have become partially rotten, you don't have to do anything but plant. However, we began with green bales that had to go through a ten day preparation phase before planting. According to the instructions, we soaked the bales twice a day for three days. Of course, the rain has helped us out with this. Days 4-6 we added 1/2 cup of ammonium nitrate and soaked that in once a day. Days 7-9 we reduced that amount to 1/4 cup of ammonium nitrate soaked in once a day. Then on day 10 we added a cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer.

Day 11 is planting day. So on day 11 we planted all six bales. Bale one: we planted two (2) Watermelon Beefsteak, bale two we planted two (2) Early Girls, bale three we planted two (2) Prudence's Purple Tomato, bale four and five had four (4) each of Diva Cucumbers (two to a pod) and bale six we planted three (3) Mixed Jewel Peppers.

I look forward to the experiment and learning how these will do. The bales can be placed virtually any sunny spot, a deck, patio or driveway. Ours are on a sidewalk. I think for a wet Spring like we have had, these bales would be wonderful because they drain well. However, if we have a dry summer, this may be an issue. I wonder if the heat from the sidewalk and pavement will cause added problems with drying out? I may move one or two to the grassy area next to the sidewalk to do a side by side comparison.

When we opened up the bales to plant, the inside was moist and hot. I think the plants will enjoy the heat and will do well. And because the bales were moist, there may not be an issue with drying out too much.

I think this method will be ideal for a small space, especially if we have another wet spring. The only drawback we noted was the waste of water. I would not start these in green bales, I would start them in bales that have already sat out in the rain and rotted. It was a waste of a lot of water. Also, the mildew smell is a little strong.

So I will continue to care for these straw bales and we will see how it goes. I will keep you updated.

WonderMill Review

2011-05-17T20:20:00.002-04:00

Country Boy and I had the pleasure of using and reviewing a WonderMill today. We give it a four (4) thumbs up. Two from CB and two from me. We loved it. Please check out the videos for a full review.

We had a lot of fun grinding our own flour and meal and baking our own cornbread. (Even if our cornbread was a bit of a fail, because we didn't know how.) We will continue practicing and baking healthy things for our family.

We recommend you get one of your own: http://thewondermill.com/.

Some thoughts on the recent storms and rain

2011-05-03T15:09:00.000-04:00

My heart goes out to the people who were hit by the tornadoes last week. My hero hubby and son and possibly myself will be travelling to Alabama next week to help with the clean up effort. I am proud of my husband and son. They have huge hearts and are so willing to serve the Lord by serving others.

"Matthew 25:40...Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

We need to continue to prepare for life's storms. A tornado outbreak like the one we recently experienced here in the South is nearly impossible to prepare for. The massive earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc., just keep getting worse and more close to home every day.

I recently stumbled across a blog called Unusual Kentucky . It is an eclectic mix of all things Kentucky. Specifically, the most recent post on May 2, 2011 is most noteworthy. Apparently, officials in Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky wish to blow Bird's Point Levee on the Mississippi River to take pressure off the land area. This action being taken has forced an evacuation of Cairo, Illinois and will submerge acres of farmland. Why is this happening? I will quote from the Unusual Kentucky blog: "Monday, May 2, 2011...Two "sand boils" have erupted in nearby Cairo, Illinois, and they're enormous. Workers trying to control these spontaneous volcano-like eruptions of sand and water from deep under the Earth's surface are saying it's the biggest sand boil breakout they've ever seen. The sand boils are a sign of immense water pressure, and fear is that Missouri's aging and weak levee will not be able to stand this pressure much longer before collapsing.

Additionally, sinkholes are popping up everywhere, even in the middle of city streets. The ground is quickly reaching the disaster point of soil liquefaction." I hope you will read the rest of the blog yourself.

Here are the definitions of a sand boil according to Google.

•Sand boils occur when water under pressure wells up through a bed of sand. The water looks like it is "boiling" up from the bed of sand, hence the name. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_boil.

•Sand and water that come out onto the ground surface during an earthquake as a result of liquefaction at shallow depth. www.sciencemaster.com/physical/item/earthquake_glossary.php.

•The removal or ejection of soil due to seepage. www.grow.arizona.edu/Grow--Glossary.php.

It is becoming quite obvious that the Earth is becoming unstable around the New Madrid Fault line. Check out this map of the Latest Quakes in Southeast. You will notice a collection around the borders where Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky and Arkansas meet or are close to each other. I am not a fear monger, but we need to be aware that an emergency could be in our backyard in an instant. Be prepared. Here are some guidelines from FEMA to help you prepare for an earthquake: http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/eq_before.shtm.

And, how to prepare for tornadoes? http://www.fema.gov/hazard/tornado/to_before.shtm.

If you want to help our brothers and sisters in Alabama, reach out and help. Check out this Youtube Channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/EastCoastPrepper. He having a yard sale and donating all the proceeds to the effort. Others are doing different things. Do your part. Do what you can do. We are all in this together and we can make it through it...together.

Oooops! Maple Valley Farms Review Mistake

2011-04-11T17:29:00.001-04:00

While checking out a site called Maple Valley Farms, I must have gotten carried away and clicked on a link. I was admiring this beautiful bed and breakfast with "Ethan Allen furnishings", that I thought was Maple Valley Farms, I must have made a horrible mistake. Being the human being I am and capable of many mistakes, I reviewed this luxurious country bed and breakfast that I thought was Maple Valley Farms. My apologies to Maple Valley Farms. I don't even know if they have a bed and breakfast. (I will have to continue to follow them to find out.)

In my mistake, I may have insulted Maple Valley Farms and how hard they have worked to get to where they are, and that was not my intention.

I still think the REAL Maple Valley Farms is beautiful. The photos I looked at today show a beautiful, homey and cozy place. Not the place I was looking at before at all and I apologize for my mistake. I still love it and feel like it is a dream place. Forty acres of farm, animals, fruits and vegetables. From the canning jar glasses (use them myself to drink from) to the wood cook stove (my dream one day). I love it! My review doesn't change.

I love the idea of going off grid. I have a dream of going off grid myself. I was born and raised in the country, not the city. However, I am woman enough to admit my mistakes and beg Maple Valley Farm's pardon. *BLUSH*

For those who would like to laugh at my mistake, please feel free to click on this link. Many thanks to KXJ for helping me see the error of my ways.

Recycling - Reusing Pallets

2011-04-02T22:09:00.000-04:00

A local siding company has a unique pallet that we recycle and use to make garden boxes and rabbit tractors and cages. Please watch the video above for our uses.

I wonder what other uses we could have for these pallets. I would love to figure out how to build a chicken coop from them.

Japan

2011-03-15T13:36:00.001-04:00

My heart truly goes out to the people of Japan. I can't imagine the horror of being there right now and I feel helpless. New reports are coming in of 140,000 nearby residents are being told to seal themselves in for protection from the radiation. I hope these human beings had forethought to prepare for such a situation. Even if there were time to go to the store to purchase necessary supplies such as duct tape, plastic, food, water, medicines, etc., would there even be enough for 140,000 people?

It sounds so calous to say let's use this as a learning experience when so much human suffering is taking place; but let's not let these people suffer in vain. Learn from someone else's bad experience. Be prepared. How many times have we warned our children, but they had to learn for themselves. Or how many times as youth did we learn our lessons the hard way. I don't think I will ever look upon this world with the eyes of the innocent again. I have awakened and I hope you will too.

Don't be a victim, be a survivor. "Organize yourselves...prepare every needful thing."

http://www.fema.gov/

I don't know what else to say...but our hearts are with you our Japanese brothers and sisters.

Off Grid Living at Maple Valley Farms

2011-03-07T09:35:00.001-05:00

I ran across a blog the other day called Maple Valley Farms. Click here to see their site. Beautiful website, beautiful home. Ethen Allen furnishings, luxurious bed and breakfast. A dream really. I have enjoyed what I have read and watched on their Youtube channel.

I think that being able to collaborate and learn from each other makes it easier for all of us, so I hope you will check them out. Although purchasing a 40 acre farm with high-end furnishings and going off grid would be impossible for most of us who want the lifestyle, there are lessons we can still learn.

I am not a wealthy person and this set-up is a dream that I would never be able to afford. I think that most of us are trying to homestead while pinching pennies. I know I am. Making ends meet and still being able to do a little at a time is what it is about for me. I am thankful that Maple Valley Farms is allowing us to peek inside the dream. I look forward to following them and learning from them.

Right now, Maple Valley Farms is having a giveaway sponsored by Lehman's. Lehman's gave them some tattler lids to review and some to give away on their website. Tattler lids are reusable and from what I have read, they seem to do the job. So, go check out this dream place and enter to win some tattler lids.

Spring is in the Air at the Homestead

2011-03-07T02:17:00.006-05:00

With a week or two of beautiful 60 degree weather, it certainly makes one feel hopeful that Spring is on the way. We have had our share of snow this past year and even had a white Christmas, which I am thankful for. Hopefully all the cold snow has nourished the ground with moisture and killed a lot of the pests we see in the garden.

I decided to grow a sunflower patch beside the house where it gets lots of morning sun. Since we don't directly eat the sunflowers, we added lots of organic rabbit poo to fertilize the soil. Country Boy tilled it in (above).

Main Garden

We also plowed up the main garden and I planted my pea patch. Nothing is coming up in the pea patch yet, so I have already purchased more seed and plan to replant when the rain lets up and the ground is dry enough. If plowed too soon after a rain, the only thing that will get it back into shape is the freezing of winter. So plowing too soon will only ruin the soil until next year and I don't want to take that chance.

My pea patch

In a portion of the yard, nothing, not even grass grows. So I decided to utilize that area as well. A local siding business gives away the pallets that once contained the siding. The pallets are untreated rough lumber, rectangular and are hollow. I am using these to make small beds in the area were nothing grows.

Poor Soil Area

Pallets with Hollow Bottoms

I am going to fill the boxes with a thick layer of newspaper to kill out anything growing. (Nothing grows there, so that won't be a problem anyway.) Next we will add soil level to the top of the box. I plan to plant an asparagus bed, carrots, artichoke, lettuce, and radishes in these beds. I will update the blog with photos when I get this done.

Also, we are finally getting eggs. These are our first eggs. We get about four a day now.

We have some new female rabbits or does. We now have eight does and five of them are expecting. We will be up to our ears in bunnies before long. We are working on a "rabbit tractor" and I will update the blog with photos about it as well.

That's about all that is going on here on Little Lily Acre Farm. Hope you all are having an early Spring.

Grinding Rabbit Meat

2011-02-23T15:37:00.006-05:00

We got our Nesco Professional Food Grinder and we got it at a great price. With ground beef over $2 a pound, we plan on grinding chicken, turkey, pork and rabbit! Please check out the video below for our operation and review of the meat grinder.

Go here to watch our Grinding Rabbit Meat video.

I will tell you that we are very happy with our grinder. It is very sturdy and has a huge 5 lb hopper. It ground the meat effortlessly, although it was a bit noisy. We are very pleased with it and think anyone would be.

We had rabbit burgers this afternoon. We treat our rabbits with love and kindness, which is more than we can say for animal meat that you find in the market. It is very low cost. We feed our rabbits rabbit food and will be putting them on the ground to eat grasses with their food. But the rabbits are helping to pay for themselves. We have sold two litters and it helps to buy the feed. And, what we don't sell, we process for free food.

Also, as I stated in the video, CSN Stores gave us a gift certificate off one of their products for this review. We could have purchased something cheaper and got it for free, but we got this for nearly half off. I couldn't be happier. Contact CSN Stores and see if they would like for you to review a product on your blog. Couldn't hurt and it certainly helps you to get things for your homestead.

Product Review Preview - CSN Stores

2011-02-14T10:53:00.000-05:00

I have been invited by CSN stores to review one of their products. If you haven't ever visited one of their online stores, they have wide variety of items, from swing sets to green houses and so much more.

I'll be back to do a review of the product that I have selected from them. Be sure to keep an eye out for it!

Preparedness Radio Network, Blogtv and Youtube

2011-02-11T23:48:00.000-05:00

Lately, I have been trying to soak up all the information I can. I have discovered three sources of information on the Internet. Youtube, Preparedness Radio Network on Blogtalkradio and Blogtv.

Youtube is the oldest of the three. And if you are a visual learner, like me, this is a great resource. I have found that I can go to Youtube and search for almost anything and learn something on the subject. Of course, the information is only as good as the informant. You can run across some weird things there, but there is good information to be found. My washer was not working properly and I searched for a video and was able to keep it going.

Check out my channel for a couple of videos. More to come when the weather breaks.

http://www.youtube.com/user/PreparedHousehold?feature=mhum Also, check out my subscribers, they have a lot of good info to get you started.

Another good resource is the Preparedness Radio Network on Blogtalkradio. Show after show of information to help you prepare, homestead, etc. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/doctorprepper

I have listened to shows on gardening, food storage...you name it. I highly recommend it.

If you sign up to be notified or "follow" the shows, you will receive an email. Click on the link and listen live. There is a live chat room where you can chat with like-minded people. You can ask the show host questions and receive answers. You can also listen to previous shows. I have a widget on my blog to the left and you can click on it and listen while you read. A good source of information.

A new kid on the block is Blogtv. It is hard to search for preppers or homesteaders, you just have to know about them. I have started having shows on Tuesday nights at 8 pm eastern. http://www.blogtv.com/People/PreparedHousehold . Subscribe and you will emailed when a show starts. We have talked about personal disasters and gardening so far. Another good channel is http://www.blogtv.com/People/americangamefowl

So, come join the fun. You can learn and collaborate with like minded individuals.

So, as always...be prepared.

Wild Edibles - Rabbit (Hoppy) Burgers pt. 2

2010-09-25T00:02:00.000-04:00

Wild Edibles - Rabbit (Hoppy) Burgers pt. 1

2010-09-25T00:01:00.000-04:00

County Sues Farmer, Cites Too Many Crops

2010-09-14T00:13:00.001-04:00

Can you believe it? Read the article below:

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/24979774/detail.html

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- DeKalb County is suing a local farmer for growing too many vegetables, but he said he will fight the charges in the ongoing battle neighbors call “Cabbagegate.”

Fig trees, broccoli and cabbages are among the many greens that line the soil on Steve Miller’s more than two acres in Clarkston, who said he has spent fifteen years growing crops to give away and sell at local farmers markets.

“It's a way of life, like it's something in my blood,” said Miller. In January, Dekalb County code enforcement officers began ticketing him for growing too many crops for the zoning and having unpermitted employees on site. Miller stopped growing vegetables this summer and the charges were put on hold as he got the property rezoned.

Two weeks after approval, however, his attorney said the county began prosecuting the old charges, saying he was technically in violation before the rezoning.“It should go away. I think it borders on harassment,” said Miller’s attorney Doug Dillard. Miller faces nearly $5,000 in fines, but he said he plans to fight those citations in recorders court later this month.A county spokesperson said officials can’t discuss the matter while it is in court, but neighbors were quick to come to his defense.“When he moved here and I found out what he was doing I said, ‘Steve, you’re the best thing that ever happened to Cimarron Drive. And I still say that,” said neighbor Britt Fayssoux.

Dehydrating

2010-09-05T14:07:00.000-04:00

This is my favorite website about dehydrating. Lots of educational videos and great recipes. ehydrate2store.com

Fears grow over global food supply

2010-09-04T17:36:00.001-04:00

What in the *world* is going on? Russia has placed an additional 12-month ban on the export of grain, making the ban a total of 18 months, or until December 2011. As you may have heard, Russia, world's 4th largest grain exporter, suffered drought and wild fires that destroyed their wheat crops. After news of the ban extension, riots broke out in the African nation of Mozambique due to the increase in food prices. Their were over 400 citizens injured in the riots that killed 8 adults and 2 children and caused $3.3 million dollars worth of damage.

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced Saturday it will hold a special meeting in Rome on September 24th to find ways to ease the price fluctuation affecting grain markets

Here are a few places to read about this issue:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/08/15/russia.grain.ban/index.html?iref=allsearch

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5f6f94ac-b6bc-11df-b3dd-00144feabdc0.html

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/09/04/un.food/index.html?iref=allsearch

I would suggest to those in my prepared household to keep a well-stocked pantry. Wheat affects us more than you realize. It is not only in bread, but in many things. Be prepared.

Solar Dehydrating Fruits and Vegetables

2010-09-02T20:57:00.005-04:00

I love dehydrating foods. There is nothing better than a freshly sliced, dehydrated yellow tomato, sprinkled with sea salt. Yummy! And if you like the taste of basil, sprinkle a little on your tomatoes as you are dehydrating them. The smell in your kitchen will be heavenly.

The only problem I have with my dehydrator is that it is too small and it uses so much energy to operate. The plan is to reduce my carbon footprint isn't it? (Not to mention the high cost of electricity.)

Then I stumbled on this:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/preserving-tomatoes-and-apples-with-a-homemade-solar-food-dryer-2.aspx

Photo courtesy of solarfooddryer.com

I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me sooner that I could make a solar dehydrator.

My granny and mother used one for years. Although, theirs was made of a bed sheet and sometimes the back window of the car. I can still remember the dried green beans and apples.

So...I am going to make a "solar dryer". I think I will do some research on it and see if you could make a dehydrator and cooker combo. Maybe it could be used to cook meals when you are not dehydrating. A dual purpose baby.

If anyone has experience with one of these or a solar cooker, please give me your input.

I use an easier method of preparing the apples than the method mentioned in the article. I wash and rinse the apples well and slice them down the middle. I take a melon baller and remove the seed pocket on both sides of the apple. Then I slice them on a "meat" slicer. Spray with lemon juice and dehydrate. You don't waste the fiber in the peels. The slices are thin, so the peel is fine. Granny Smith apples are great this way, it enhances the tart flavor.

I prepare tomatoes very similar. I wash them and slice on the same "meat" slicer. The tomatoes get more intense and sweet with drying and these are better than potato chips. The yellow tomatoes are better than the red tomatoes dehydrated, in my opinion.

The Prepared Household's First Ever Contest

2010-08-17T00:25:00.001-04:00

September is National Preparedness Month. So, we are going to kick it off with a our first ever, Prepared Household contest! With the gardening almost over, it is time to have some fun. From now until September 30th, you can enter in one of these ways.

Leave contest entry comments here please.
1. Share with us your best preparedness tips.

2. Blog about us. Share with your fans The Prepared Household. Let them know about this contest. Leave a comment here and let us know you did that. Share the link to your blog.

3. Share The Prepared Household with your Facebook friends. Leave a comment here and let us know you did it. Share the link back.

4. Tell us what topics you like to hear about, and what topics you think don't pertain to The Prepared Household.

5. Twitter about us. Leave a comment here to let us know you did that and share the link back.

6. Tell me what was your favorite blog post and why it was your favorite.

7. Help this page grow. Have your friends join and tell us who referred them for another entry for you. They can turn around and refer others to be entered into the contest. Share with as many people as you wish.

8. Share your blog.

So get to entering. Let's have fun. Check back on October 1, 2010 for the winner. Be sure to leave all comments on the Facebook page only so they will get counted. Contest entry here. Thanks for being a member of The Prepared Household.

Survival Seeds

2010-07-22T10:58:00.000-04:00

What prepared household would be complete without seeds. I have a friend who buys her seeds a year in advance so that she always has seeds for this year and for the year to come. I have online friends who save seeds from plants last year. I believe it would be a good practice to save seeds. You never know what might happen to cause you to not be able to obtain seeds and seeds are the basis of human life after all.

Kendra with New Life on a Homestead is hosting a survival seed giveaway. Contests are always fun, so go on over and learn about survival seeds and join the contest. Have fun.

http://newlifeonahomestead.com/2010/07/survival-seed-pack-giveaway/

Please welcome my guest blogger, Anne Marie of Survival Homesteading

2010-07-21T01:11:00.003-04:00

While I have been so busy in the garden this summer, and busy putting things up in the kitchen, I wanted to still keep my Prepared Household prepared. So, please give a Prepared Household welcome to Anne Marie of Survival Homesteading. Anne Marie is very knowledgeable in survival skills and homesteading, so I will turn it over to Anne Marie.

Thanks MJ. Today's timely topic is food storage. I know in the past that MJ of Prepared Household has blogged about how important it is to have a fully stocked pantry. Who can afford a fully stocked pantry? Where in the world do you store all that stuff? Let me show you a couple of photos of my fully stocked pantry.

First of all, I stock my freezer sparingly, because I know that when the storms hit and my power goes out, it might not be in the winter when my food can stay frozen. But if my local grocery has a clearance on orange juice that is about to go bad, buy it up and throw it in the freezer. You can get 1/2 gallons of milk or juice for as low as .25 cents this way. At Easter and Christmas, you will find hams and turkeys on sale cheap. What doesn't get put in jars, gets put in the freezer. The bag with the white things in it is onions. Don't ever let an onion go bad. Chop it up and put it in the freezer for later use. Freezers can be a great way to store food if you don't rely on it only.

As you can see by this freezer, we buy meats when they go on sale or clearance. Great way to get good prices on meat. Also, the corn was grown on the homestead this year and we have one other freezer full of it. Under the corn are bags of strawberries we purchased cheaply and froze to eat or make jams with this coming winter. When the house is cold, that is the perfect time to make jams. You warm the house up with your efforts, instead of overloading your air conditioner this summer.

Before prices got so high at the grocery store, we stocked up on can foods. I purchased these when they were .39 cents a can. According to "Kendra and New Life on a Homestead", these are now .59 cents a can. Always stock up on the cheaper canned veggies like corn, peas and green beans. Not only can they feed you, but they are full of water and can supply some of your water needs.

The bottles of All detergent that you see, were purchased for .99 cents a bottle. A local store had them $2.99 each and there were coupons for $2.00 off a bottle. I would love to have had tons more of those. A great deal. The lamp oil shown, I purchased for our oil lamps, two bottles at a time. At a local hardware store, they were priced $12.00, at Walmart, $3.97 and by the end of the season, they had clearanced them to $2.00 a bottle. The sleeping bag is a zero degree weather bag, that will keep you warm. These were about 1/3rd the price they normally are and were clearanced even cheaper ($19).

Just stocking up when things are on sale will help build your supply. The large #10 cans are from the LDS Home Cannery Center. You can check with members of the LDS or Mormon church about where a cannery is near you. They will allow you to go in and purchase and can food for yourself. You don't have to be a member of the LDS church. They sell basics such as flour, sugar, wheat, oats, macaroni, spaghetti, beans and other things, in bulk, most of the time cheaper than you buy in the store.

Here are my bulk items in plastic buckets. They are sealed to keep rodents out.

I also store home canned goods that I grew in my garden, in my storage room.

So, now that you have taken a tour of my pantry, let me assure you that we do eat. So, this food is on a rotational basis. You buy your food a little at a time, here and there. When ketchup is on sale buy 10 bottles. When eggs are on sale, buy 10 dozen. When peanut butter is on sale...you get the idea. If it is only to pick up one extra item each grocery trip and designate it as "food storage", just begin. You have heard the old saying, "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time."

Where to store it? Convert a bedroom, store it under your bed, stash it in corners under tables, in closets, just do what you do. Get creative. You can do it and it is important, so get prepared. Thanks for having me at the Prepared Household. Come over to see my blog sometime: http://survivalhomesteading.wordpress.com/ and be sure to check out my Facebook page:

Sand Plum Jelly

2010-07-20T18:02:00.000-04:00

Nine jars of plum jelly to go on the shelves. All we had to do was pick them up off the ground. Too bad we didn't get to them sooner, could have had a lot more. This was from about twenty small plums about the size of a quarter. And it is yummy!

Garden Update-2

2010-07-19T19:23:00.000-04:00

The potato patch is doing nicely. Old wives tale says that if the tops are doing well, then the roots are not. This photo is from a couple of weeks ago and the tops are beginning to lay over and die. An indication that the potatoes are ready. We dug a bit in row number four and were finding only about one large potato and one small potato per plant. Row number three had a few extra, but if we get a potato per plant, I suppose that will be a lot of potatoes from our four rows. There are around six rows showing in the above photo, two of which belong to my brother.

The potatoes we dug were very large, some were bigger than my fist and some were small. We plan on making a cellar type storage bin by digging a hole and placing a garbage can in it and layering the potatoes with hay. I hope it works well. The small ones, we will probably just can.

Hope you enjoy the photos. I will update more later. I can't wait to share the salsa/tomato photos with you. I am afraid we are eating the salsa as soon as it comes out of the canners. Tell you more later.

Garden Update-Beans

2010-07-17T21:03:00.000-04:00

We have been working really hard trying to get a good harvest and I am fairly pleased. It has been a lot of hard work, but it is paying off. Here are some photos.

This is a view of the Indian Corn, onions, beans, tomatoes and cabbage. We grew eleven varieties of beans: White Half Runner, Pink Half Runner, Christmas Lima, Gold Rush Yellow Wax, Yard Long, Missouri Wonder, Scarlet Runners, one I can't remember the name, Greasy Beans, Tenderettes, and Roma II, two varieties of corn, a couple different tomatoes. My favorite bean is still the white Half-Runner, but we wanted to experiment and several people had shared their beans with me.

The first planting is finished, with the exception of the Limas, the Missouri Wonders and the bean I don't recall the name of. We planted a second crop about a week ago and with the rains, they are already well on their way. The second planting is another round of White Half Runners, Greasy Beans, Tenderettes and Roma II.

I decided with all the work of white half runners, I will grow me some to eat and can, but not a lot, because my family doesn't like beans too well. We will plant a string less, bush variety to cut down on the work. It was an all day job to pick, string, break and then can the beans.

Also, we liked Gold Rush Yellow Wax beans. They had a taste that was as good as the White Half Runner, and we got a bushel out of a five foot row. They are string less and pretty in the jars. Here is a photo of some of green beans in the jars with a jar of the Gold Rush in front. Aren't they pretty?

These were the oddest bean in the garden. I was given a small bag of seeds and it was very prolific. I got a bushel and a half of these beans, but because I knew nothing about them, they had mostly dried up before I realized it. (I was waiting for them to get a yard long. LOL) They seemed to be a bush bean with some runners. The beans grew on top of the plant like spiders. The pods were long and dark. Someone told me these were yard longs, but photos of yard longs online were actually about a yard long. These only got to be about 8 inches long. The blossoms came out one day and were a beautiful blue and wilted after that. The plant smelled very sweet and it was constantly buzzing with flies, bugs and moths. I don't know what they are, and they didn't really appeal to me either. I may not know what I missed. This was the most unusual bean in my garden.

The most beautiful blooms in the garden was on the Scarlet Runner Bean. It's beautiful red blossoms attracted a lot of attention. I probably should say too much attention, as I didn't get to eat the first bean. I don't know if someone picked them, they didn't make (although I found five hidden, hanging at the bottom) or animals got them. Any way it went-I didn't get to try them. Probably just as well, the beans that did make had fuzzy pods and didn't appeal to me either.

We are really enjoying the fruits of our labors and I will update about the other good things from the garden tomorrow.

The Importance of Discretion in Preparedness

2010-07-08T10:29:00.000-04:00

I watched a couple of Youtube videos last night. It was a three part series from "The Twilight Zone". The Twilight Zone was filmed back in 1959 while our country was first developing nuclear bombs. It was an age of innocence really. Rod Sterling, the show's creator stretched the bounds of the human mind at that time. But the show, "The Shelter", is probably pretty true to what would happen and what has happened in true emergencies.

The show opens with several couples celebrating Doc's birthday at his home. They toast Doc and tell him how much they hold him in regard. They tease him about the noise he made while creating his "shelter". These couples have been friends for years. Suddenly, the party is interrupted by an announcement telling people to go home and prepare, unidentified objects are heading toward the USA and they think it is bombs.

The remaining 20 minutes or so of the show, show the uglier, deeper side of human beings with faced with the possibility of death. Where friends will turn on you. Watch these three clips at Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ei7Gr-0uNU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTdDfegVBC0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLNMZjUf0wk&feature=related

Discretion in your preparedness efforts could be vital to your survival. In an emergency, others could take what you have so carefully prepared. So, my prepared household, go about your daily lives and prepare for the worst, but don't share specifics with even close friends, unless you are preparing for them as well.

Preparedness Pro the Ultimate in Preparedness Wisdom

2010-06-15T17:57:00.001-04:00

I know I have talked about the Preparedness Pro before, but I wanted to mention them again. While we are out in the garden (doing our preparedness efforts) and feeding the animals (again-preparedness), and the Prepared Household is empty, I wanted you all to stay informed. And now I have some incentive. Preparedness Pro is having a contest right now. So if you will go to this link: http://www.preparednesspro.com/ and sign up on their RSS feed or Facebook page and comment telling them that the Prepared Household sent you and I get entered for a prize. You can turn around and blog about it and send others and be entered for a prize when they join the site. There are a few other ways you can enter, so please do. Not only is Kellene Bishop very knowledgeable, I have known her to be right on the pulse of what is going on today in preparedness.

So hop on over to the Preparedness Pro and hopefully we can both win some prizes. Even if you don't win anything, you can be absolutely sure you will learn a lot about preparedness. Good luck in all your efforts.

An herbal first aid kit ~ Introducing "Prepare with Me"

2010-06-10T19:25:00.000-04:00

Sorry I have been outside a lot lately and the Prepared Household is a bit empty these days. I thought I would invite a good friend of mine (a preparedness guru in Georgia) to be a guest blogger. She graceously gave me permission to share her knowledge from her blog any time.

One of the skills she possesses that I envy is that she is VERY knowledgeable in herbs (among many other things). She recently spoke about an herbal first aid kit and I thought that was very interesting. I asked her about it and here is her "Alternative First Aid" response. So please give a warm Prepared Household welcome to a website with wisdom:

http://preparewithme.blogspot.com/2010/06/alternative-first-aid.html.

Our Very First Peas from the Garden

2010-05-29T23:20:00.000-04:00

My husband picked peas from the garden today. Our very first ones ever. He picked two rows and we still have about a row and a half. There was 13 pounds of peas. This is what was left over after he cooked us a big, delicious pot of them.

Since we have so many left over and we still have more to pick, we decided to put them up, but we don't know how. Does anyone have any advice? I don't want to waste the shell as it is thick and delicious, but the Cooperative Extension Service for our state recommends freezing if you want to keep the shell. If you want to can, you need to shell them out. Anyone have any experience with this?

We also had a few sprigs of broccoli in the Community Garden, probably less than a half of a pound. We will be trying them out with some cheese soon. Sounds yummy. I can't wait until some beans come in and we can have tomatoes, cucumbers, new potatoes...my mouth is watering. I can hardly wait until the garden starts coming in fully.

Happy Memorial Weekend everyone...be safe and have fun.

Can Someone Help Me Identify These Plants???

2010-05-20T23:49:00.000-04:00

Last fall, I planted some things in a raised bed that basically went to seed. I also traded some seeds with different people and one thing I got was Chinese Cabbage. I planted a few seedlings and then transplanted them in the raised bed. I checked the raised bed and found these little guys that were about the size of a golf ball. Thinking it was the Chinese cabbage, I transplanted them to the garden and they shot up. The largest is the size of a basket ball. There are four of them and a large one (pictured above) and a small one (about the size of a cantaloupe) have gone to seed. (See the yellow blooms.)

So, I am confused as to what these are? If it is the Chinese Cabbage, they are biennial and I shouldn't be seeing seeds or flowers this year??? I am new at gardening. Can someone help me identify these and give me advice on growing and using them.

Thanks so much.

New Additions to the Farm & Garden Update

2010-05-20T21:38:00.000-04:00

I wanted to introduce you to the newest additions to our little farm. My personal favorite is our new rooster, Dumplins. I have been told not to name anything you plan on eating, so I decided to name him what he will be...chicken and dumplins. Sorry to any horrified readers, but this is not a "hobby" farm, it will be a working one.

Isn't he beautiful though. He was dropped of at my husband's brother's house. He had no use for him, so he gave him to us. He has his own cage all by himself, well had his cage all by himself. I discovered one of the Mr. Roos in the community cage ailing. He was being trampled by the others, so I put him in a smaller cage and placed it in with Dumplins.

So now Mr. Roo and Dumplins are sharing a cage...sort of. Dumplins was most disturbed when I first put Mr. Roo in, but Mr. Roo was not disturbed at all. He was intent on eating, which I think is a good sign. I hope he pulls through it. I think the general cage is overcrowded and we are working on a permanent house and a temporary lot. The chicks just grew so fast.

This is the Black Astralorpe in the community pen, with a Rhode Island Red or a Buff Orphington in the back. I can't tell the difference. My sick little Mr. Roo is in the front of the picture laying down.

This is the Buff Orphingtons or Rhode Island Reds. We have 6 Rhode Island Reds and 3 Buff Orphingtons.

This is Carrots. She is a female and will be one of the mothers we will breed. She will not be dinner. We will be getting another doe soon, when we have the chicken house done. The other doe is already named. I will call her Peas. So we will have Peas and Carrots. Ok, I know I am silly, but I am really enjoying my little urban farm.

This is my baby, Daize. Doesn't she look so sweet. She constantly hangs by my side when I am working in the yard, except when I am in the garden. She knows better than to follow me in the garden. Although, I have found evidence of her being there when I am not around.

This is Sweet Pea, running past the push mower. This was the best photo I could get of her as she was running around and wouldn't stop long enough for me to snap a photo. Sweet Pea is an older dog, and very aggressive to other animals and strangers. I think it is fear and she is jealous, but she is very sweet and loving with the family.

So, this is most of the family. I took some photos of the garden. I will upload them tomorrow.

Confinement - Day 2

2010-05-20T09:41:00.001-04:00

Of course, it would have to be a beautiful sunny day and I am cooped up here on the couch just itching to get out and get my cucumber patch planted. But no...I had to push myself and so I am confined to the sick bed. So, I will make use of this and bring everyone in the Prepared Household up to date.

If you are local, Wal-Mart has their oil for lamps on sale $2.00 a bottle, normally $3.97. The same exact bottle is $11.99 at the Tru Value, so that makes this a great deal. Check your local Wal-mart for this deal.

Sav-U-More has chicken breast on sale this weekend for .79/lb and the 24oz Hunts Ketchup is .69 each.

So, that clears up the business portion. I know this is a blog about preparedness, and I firmly believe that being self-sufficient and sustainable goes hand in hand with preparedness. However, I realize that not everyone is of the same mindset. Therefore, I split my blog and those things that pertain to self-sufficiency and sustainability, i.e., my farming, I have been blogging about here: http://therealfarmtown.blogspot.com/. So feel free to check out that part of my blogging there and this blog will stay more in line with general preparedness.

So, go out and enjoy the sunshine and think of me while you play in the dirt.

Sharpen Your Saw

2010-05-19T23:39:00.001-04:00

There once were two woodcutters, working side by side in the forest. One was busily cutting trees, stacking them, cutting trees and stacking them working as fast and as furious as he could so that he could get the job done quickly. The faster he worked, the more frustrated he became. Every time he looked over at his companion across the meadow, he was sitting under the tree in the shade.

"How does he expect to get his work done when all he is doing is sitting under the shade tree!" The woodcutter would shake his head in anger and get back to the work at hand. At the end of the day, the woodcutter had put in a hard day's work. He had chopped down twenty huge trees. He had nearly accomplished the goals he set out to do, but he was utterly and totally exhausted.

He turned to his companion who had just joined him and angrily spat, "Well, you don't look like you are tired at all. Every time I looked at you, you were lazily sitting under the shade tree. How many trees did you manage to chop down?"

His companion answered, "I chopped down thirty huge trees. I surpassed my goal of twenty-five."

The woodcutter was flabbergasted. "How did you manage to do that!?" He exclaimed.

His companion replied, "Those times you saw me lazily resting in the shade, I was sharpening my saw."

So...what does it mean to sharpen your saw? I'll give you a personal example. For the last several weeks, we at the prepared household have been preparing to be sustainable, at least to some degree. We have been gardening, preparing animal houses, cleaning, cooking, etc., etc., etc. But I haven't taken much time to rest and take care of myself, except to sneak in an extra nap on Sunday afternoons after church.

My allergies started to act up about two weeks ago, so I began taking something to suppress the symptoms. I awoke this morning feeling terrible, but as you know, when you are an adult you press forward and do what you have to do. Right? Wrong! I began to have difficulty breathing with any type of exercise. Even walking. If I would sit down, I was ok. However, stubborn me, I kept on. Eventually, I was having a hard time breathing, even while sitting, to the point of almost passing out. Ok, it was time to head to the ER, because my doctor's office didn't even want to see me.

After a battery of tests (and the doctor mentioning a possible blood clot to the lung) it was determined that I had a simple case of bronchitis gone rogue. In other words, I had treated my symptoms, which I had thought were allergies, but the bronchitis was getting worse in my lungs. So, now I am on complete bed rest because walking around causes breathing issues. I am on antibiotics and lots of fluids. I had pushed myself this morning instead of resting, or even sitting here blogging, and I needed to stay out of the rain yesterday.

It is very important to sharpen your saw. Take time out to rest your body and do something fun. Also, sharpen the tools you use, whether it is your brain, a hoe, a saw, or whatever. The simple act of renewal for your body is as important as for the tools you use. You will get more done and have less downtime.

So, you may be hearing more from me this week. My prepared family, please, sharpen your saws. Enjoy the sunshine this week.

Oh, and by the way, please leave any comments in English and I would be happy to share them.

The Misadventures of Mr. Roo

2010-05-16T22:43:00.000-04:00

Mr. Roo is what I fondly call the three White Leghorn Roosters we have. I can't tell them apart, so they are simply Mr. Roo. Anyway, we have a beautiful white large breed dog, Daize, that we have been told is a bulldog. She is going on two years old. I have had her since she was a pup.

So, in an attempt to keep my dog and my chickens, we had been letting the roosters roam free and keeping watch. After an hour, we became complacent and wasn't watching diligently. I petted Daize and praised her for not attacking Mr. Roo. I turned and went back to my weeding. Seconds latter, I heard Mr. Roo squawking and screaming from under the back deck and Daize was no where to be seen.

While yelling at Daize to stop, I ran to the deck and hesitantly peeked under. There was Daize with what appeared to be Mr. Roo under her paws. The squawking had ceased, so I feared the worst. Mr. Roo had gone to the big chicken coop in the sky and he wasn't even big enough to put in the cook pot yet.

My husband looked under the deck and my worst fears were unfounded. Mr. Roo had mysteriously disappeared without a trace and no noise as to his whereabouts. Was he dead? Had Daize packed him off somewhere? There was no blood on Daize's mouth.

Daize, having been thoroughly scolded, had tucked her tail and ran off to hide and would not come back. I attempted several times to get her to come to her kennel, but she refused. I was standing on the deck pointing at the kennel, trying to get Daize to obey when she stopped and looked at the corner of the house in the grass and then ran off again. I realized Mr. Roo must be there in the tall grass at the corner of the house. Sure enough, there he was, or at least his body was there. I could see no head, but I couldn't see any blood either. He wasn't moving, just deadly still. I couldn't bear to check, so I called my husband over and turned my back. I just knew Mr. Roo was headless.

However, to our amazement, Mr. Roo was unharmed, just hiding in the tall grass being perfectly still and silent. I was so relieved. We will continue to try to acclimate the animals to one another. Because if one of them has to go, unfortunately, it will be my baby Daize. That thought breaks my heart.

Sorry for the Empty House

2010-05-13T19:36:00.002-04:00

With gardening season upon us, it looks like the house will be empty somewhat. But don't jump ship, when things slow down in the garden, we will continue to talk about all things preparedness. I won't be this preoccupied for long, and I am still preparing and I hope you are too.

We are planning a preparedness fair for September 11th, in honor of those who died needlessly on that fateful day in 2001. So I will be sending updates and plans as we get them finalized. If you aren't local, find a preparedness fair near you to attend.

Welcome to The Real Farm Town

2010-05-13T19:06:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone. With spring out the door and summer on the way, things are beginning to look more like a mini farm around here. But before we go into that, let me tell you a little about my journey to this point.

Both my husband and I used to be employed. I have held a job almost continuously since my teens (for about 25 years now). Until the bottom fell out of the economy and I haven't worked in almost a year. My husband is facing the same problem, he having been out of work a year too. We decided that while we hunted for work, and since the economy looked so bad, that we would prepare ourselves for the worst and hope for the best.

We made plans to build a more self-sufficient life for ourselves and our children. So on a limited income and from blessings from the Lord and wonderful friends, we have slowly turned our 3/4 acre back yard into a mini barnyard.

This post will be about the first project we got involved in - Grow Appalachia. It is a new charity sponsored by Paul Mitchell co-owner and CEO, John Paul DeJoria. Read about it here: http://www.paulmitchell.com/whatsnew/pages/growappalachia.aspx.

It is a garden project, and each family has their own plot to take care of. We are provided with seeds, plants, and those things we need to take care of our garden. All we have to do is care for it and we will be blessed with the harvest.

According to the website, "Some of most pressing regional needs to be addressed by Grow Appalachia are:

Basic diet-related health concerns – obesity, diabetes, heart disease.

Limited availability of high-quality fresh produce.

Generational loss of knowledge of gardening, cooking, and food preservation skills.

Widespread economic dependency and lack of autonomy."

My husband and I both had sedentary jobs. We sat all day and worked. So, needless to say, we are obese with diabetes, high blood pressure and heart related issues. We have been working in our garden for a couple of months now and if it doesn't kill us (literally), it will be the best thing ever. We are getting regular, hard exercise by planting, plowing, hoeing, watering and caring for our plants. My husband has already lost some weight (that's a man for you) as we can tell it in his stomach, even though there's no difference on the scale. Muscle replacing fat, I am sure.

My diabetes is more advanced than my husbands, so in many ways I am a lot weaker. The high blood pressure medication I take masks the signs of low blood glucose, but it is the only thing that helps my tachycardia, so I continue to take it. However, I nearly passed out hilling the potatoes yesterday and we had to run get me something to eat to get my blood glucose levels stabilized. I thought I was going to have to go to the ER, but it finally straightened out. Today, I took ten units less insulin to compensate for being more active! This is great! Just working in the garden is beginning to affect the amount of insulin I need to use. Less insulin will mean less weight my body hangs on to, because being insulin dependent causes my body to hold on to fat more. (Like I really need that!)

So thank you John Paul DeJoria for your Grow Appalachia project. I hope you know what a difference you are already making in my life. Buy Paul Mitchell products and support Grow Appalachia.

More later. I can't wait to tell you about the chickens. Happy Farming.

International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day May 1, 2010

2010-04-25T21:50:00.005-04:00

According to Wikipedia, "Guerrilla gardening is political gardening, a form of direct action, primarily practiced by environmentalists. It is related to land rights, land reform, and permaculture. Activists take over ("squat") an abandoned piece of land which they do not own to grow crops or plants. Guerrilla gardeners believe in re-considering land ownership in order to reclaim land from perceived neglect or misuse and assign a new purpose to it.

Some guerrilla gardeners carry out their actions at night, in relative secrecy, to sow and tend a new vegetable patch or flower garden. Others work more openly, seeking to engage with members of the local community, as illustrated in the examples that follow. It has grown into a form of proactive activism or pro-activism."

I don't know about all that, I am not a political person, but I think it is a neat idea to grow things in neglected places. I certainly am non-confrontational, but why not pick a spot and plant a couple of sunflower seeds and tend them to maturity. Of course, you would need to find a spot where it will not get mowed down. Perhaps my local fire department?

In honor of the Fourth Annual International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day, I think I will plant some sunflower seeds in my community. I also want to plant a couple at my mother's grave. I think I will plant a few at the community garden and maybe even a few in my yard. (These aren't guerilla gardening, but why not.) These flowers will add beauty, as well as food for the bees.

The website is http://www.guerrillagardening.org/ggsunflower.html.

The website says to:

1. You will first need some seeds.
2. Leave home with water, seeds and a tool for digging.
3. Find a sunny patch of neglected, public earth.
4. Dig a small hole and drop in your seed, cover and water.
5. Return to keep weeds clear and to water.
6. You should get blooms by August.
7. Share your plans, planting and progress in the geurilla gardening community (http://guerrillagardening.org/community/index.php?topic=396.0).

Good luck and here's hoping we see tons of sunflowers, with lots of yummy seeds, this summer.

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T22:58:00.000-04:00

How did you celebrate Earth Day? Did you plant a tree? Did you begin recycling? Was a day without electricity? Or, did you purchase energy saving light bulbs or devices? I hope you did something in honor of Earth Day.

One of the first commandments God gave was to dress and keep the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:15 " And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." (No offense, but to those of you who don't believe in the Bible, just consider this a good quote from a great book.)

So, to celebrate Earth Day, I dug in the earth and it was great. My husband and I started about 7:30 a.m. weeding the garden and putting string up for our peas. I also planted some peppers and cucumbers, and transplanted some Chinese cabbage.

My brother gave me a large rabbit cage. We replaced the roof and it is in good condition. So I washed it up and we put the baby chicks in it today. The chicks enjoyed the fresh air and their new surroundings, but they are back cooped up in the wash tub tonight. When the nights get warmer, we will leave them in it at night.

So, Happy Earth Day, no matter how you celebrated it.

New Additions to the Prepared Household

2010-04-20T08:36:00.003-04:00

With my preparedness efforts focused on the easy fix right now, (gardening) I believe I neglected to introduce you to the newest members of the household, right here on the homestead, our new baby chicks.

For the past month, we have constantly heard the chirping of twelve little yellow puffs and one little black puff. I know that thirteen is an unlucky number to some, but hopefully lucky to us. We have six white leghorns, six reds and one black astralorp. My daughter wanted a black one.

When we first brought them home, our Jack Russell, Sweet Pea, wouldn't leave them alone. She crawled right in the box with them and began mothering them. It was really sweet to see her adopt them. She never had puppies and I believe she should have since she had a really strong mothering instinct when she saw the baby chicks. She would growl at our bull dog, Daize whenever she came near.

As the chicks are growing, we are learning they are pretty resilient, thankfully. Three of the White Leghorns are looking like they might be roosters, but the others don't. We shall soon see. The hens we will keep for eggs. I understand they lay well and will lay good for 2-3 years. After that, it will be in the food storage. The roosters, I am afraid, are doomed to the food storage from the start. Sorry little guys. This is tough for me, because I love animals and although I eat chicken, I didn't know them. However, I know that learning how to raise and care for chickens, as well as learning to prepare them for food is an important skill to acquire. There may be a day that I can't go to the grocery store and pick up a pack of chicken. I will need to know how to prepare a chicken for cooking. Hard fact of life.

Wow-What a Weekend

2010-04-11T23:27:00.004-04:00

Since Spring has sprung, I have been so busy taking workshops and going to lectures about sustainability, permaculture, going green, eating local, gardening, gardening, gardening...that I have literally dreamed about it three nights in a row. So much happened thi...s weekend, I don't know how to present it to you. Should I break it up in manageable pieces or just give ya the highlights. Well....here goes.

Friday morning, we planted in the community garden. It was great! I am so sore in so many places, I could barely sleep Friday night. (A welcome reprieve from the gardening dream trilogy.) But we accomplished so much, the pain and sleepless night was worth it. We have rows of potatoes, corn, beans, onions, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. Carrot and radish seeds are lying in beds, sprouting (hopefully) as I speak. The entire family joined in and we all had a great time. True is the saying that many hands make light the work. The kids (the boys and the girls) even double teamed on "hilling" the twelve rows of potatoes. Great going guys!

Saturday we attended a "Redbud Festival" that had added a Heritage and Folklife program this year. We heard lectures on permaculture, local food systems, heirloom seeds, going green, sheep and goats, and bees. The lecture (or rather discussion) I most enjoyed was Nancy Sleeth's Go Green, $ave Green. Nancy's message is powerful and I hope that one day you will be able to hear it in it's entirety. The message is that the earth is dying and we need to do all we can to replenish the earth and take care of it. For those of you who believe in the Bible, Nancy spoke of Genesis 1:28, "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it:..." You know I always combined that thought together with being fruitful and multiplying, but there is a separate sentence there that says to "replenish the earth and subdue it." So, we are to replenish the earth and take care of it.

Ironically, as we spoke of the things we could do to be better stewards of the earth, my thoughts drifted to the natural disasters that are happening every day of our lives. Scenes flashed through my mind of news reports of the tsunamis with the waves crashing over cars, buildings and people and washing them away. It almost reminds me of how a cow or horse will whip their tail, trying to get rid of the parasites and flies that are on their backs. I almost feel like we are parasites, sucking the life out of mother earth by our wasteful ways and she is fighting back, trying to rid herself of the infestation...one catastrophe at a time.

What are we leaving for our children and our future generations? We know there is a problem and we are the solution. Make a commitment today to change two bad habits right now.
1. Recycle, reuse, reduce.
2. Plant a garden, donate the excess to help feed the hungry:
http://www.ampleharvest.org or http://www.dinnergarden.org/
3. Plant a fruit or nut tree. Again, feed the hungry. Get your local city government to stop planting ornamental trees and start planting fruit and nut trees to feed the hungry or homeless.
4. Give one thing away to someone who needs it.
5. Wash your clothes in cold water.
6. Brush your teeth or shave with the water off. If you are reading this Nancy, thanks for that suggestion. I had repeatedly asked my husband to turn off the water as he shaves, but he wouldn't, until this workshop.
7. Put your clothes out to air dry instead of using a dryer. We have been doing this for almost a year now and have also saved significantly on our electric bill. And the clothes smell wonderful.
8. Crank your heat down in the winter or your air up in the summer. Only a few degrees will help. Or, you could try to acclimate yourself to no air in the summer. We cover our South facing windows with dark curtains or even blankets during the heat of the day. We circulate the cooler air from our North facing windows that have a porch overhang, to our South facing windows. We were able to tolerate last year without using the air. We did the same thing this winter, by utilizing the heat from our South facing windows and covering all windows with plastic and heavy blankets and all doors with blankets at night. It really made a huge difference and we felt all snuggled in.

I think one of the biggest impacts we made on our electric bill and our lives is the no electricity day we enjoy once a week. We designate a different day each week to not turn on the switches. We don't wash clothes that day, run the microwave or stove, no lights, no TV, no computer (yes, this is hard for me). We enjoy more time together, work in the garden, cook on the grill. Of course, we can't turn off the heat in the winter or the fridge or freezers, but when it gets dark, we use oil lamps or simply go to bed. It is kind of fun to push ourselves past our comfort zones once a week. Your kids will probably protest, because there won't be any video games, but they get used to it. You can play chess, Monopoly, cards, charades or whatever. It brings you closer.

Make a game out of it. Be careful when using live fire in your home though, it can be dangerous.

Nancy Sleeth's book is filled with wonderful suggestions on going green. I suggest you purchase a copy. It is great. http://www.gogreenthebook.com/ Also, check out their website: www.blessedearth.org.

Earth Day is April 22, make a commitment to change two things in your life that will reduce your carbon footprint and help mother earth.

I already wash my clothes in cold water and haven't used my dryer in almost a year, so I will try to:
1. I commit to taking more showers and less baths. (I love a hot bath, so this is a biggie for me.) This will save water and electricity.
2. I am going to try to buy my food locally as much as I possibly can.
3. I am going to go the extra mile here too. I am going to call my county and government officials and petition for more sidewalks so we can walk safely on our roads.
Saving money and having better health will improve my preparedness level.... See More
What are you going to do to reduce your carbon footprint or make better choices in your life?

Learn a new skill. Serve someone. Love your neighbor and yourself.

Welcome Kmart Shoppers

2010-04-05T09:15:00.000-04:00

I hope you all have been as busy as I have with my gardening efforts to improve my preparedness level. I will only get busier as summer approaches. But I wanted to share with you a couple of great deals from Kmart this week.

According to an email I received from Kmart this morning, they are doubling manufacturer coupons up to $1.00, meaning that they will give a total of $2.00 for a $1.00 coupon. There is a limit of 5 coupons per day per customer. Kmart has been using this promotion a lot in the past, but never in a store local to me, until now. See if your store is participating:

http://www.kmart.com/ue/home/See%20Details%20and%20Participating%20Stores%20Legal_2.pdf?lid=double_coupon&sid=iex20100407xk02008&eml=28880993&rioptype=KC&ruid=1000698

Kmart is at the top of the list for me this morning, because they also have a program called Smart Assist Savings Program. If you are unemployed, go online to http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/dap_10151_10101_DAP_Unemployment+Program?lid=sa_find_store&sid=iex20100407xk02008&eml=28880993&rioptype=KC&ruid=1000698, fill out the required information and they will email you a card to print. According to their website:
"20% Off Select Own-Brand Merchandise for Unemployed Customers

Kmart own-brands give you huge savings versus your favorite national brands every day...and now you'll get to increase those savings by an additional 20% off over 1,500 regular-priced grocery and drugstore items for up to six months!"

This is a great opportunity for those of you who are unemployed, to stock up your pantry with food, cleaning supplies, and health and beauty aids. Take advantage of it. You only have to show a picture ID and proof of your unemployment. I will be breaking mine in today. Happy Preparing.

Grow Appalachia

2010-04-02T10:32:00.000-04:00

We have really been busy working on preparedness this past couple of weeks. We are trying our hand at growing our own plants from seeds. We have had some successes and some failures. But we are learning.
We have become a part of a program called Grow Appalachia. This is a community garden project. Check your local areas and see if there are community gardens in which you can participate. We will be working on a garden for ourselves, to preserve and use. We will also be working on a community garden to give to others in the community who are less fortunate. It is a great concept. Our director is a wonderful man who works with many other programs to help others. He is the director of the Laurel County African American Heritage Center. Check out his site: http://www.africanamericanheritagecenter.com/
Although I am not from African American descent, I do love history.

http://www.berea.edu/appalachiancenter/growappalachia/default.asp

CampingSurvival.com Scout Fire Starter Challenge

2010-03-16T21:54:00.000-04:00

Sorry about the empty house these past couple of weeks. I have been recovering from surgery. I had hoped to post before now, but...it just didn't happen. Now we will get back to preparedness.

Campingsurvival.com has a great opportunity for anyone involved in scouts. If you are a scout leader or have a son in scouts, they are giving away a limited amount of various fire starters for your troop to test. All you have to do is go to their site and follow the simple challenge rules. http://www.campingsurvival.com/scoutchallenge.html.

Good luck!

Local Sale - Sav-A-Lot

2010-02-26T12:57:00.002-05:00

Local Sales - Sav-A-Lot has ground beef on sale .99/lb. This is a great deal. Check your local Sav-A-Lot and see if ground beef is on sale where you live. (Thanks Angie for pointing us to this deal.)

Homestead Blessings - The Art of ...

2010-02-19T15:10:00.001-05:00

I wanted to recommend a wonderful DVD set that I would love to own myself. http://www.homestead-blessings.com/. The series features a mother and her three daughters. There are several DVDs in the series:

The Art of Bread Making
The Art of Candle Making
The Art of Soap Making
The Art of Canning
The Art of Gardening
The Art of Herbs
The Art of Dairy Delights
The Art of Cooking

I just viewed The Art of Gardening and it is full of wonderful easy tips to make gardening easier-even a way to grow potatoes without dirt, right on top the ground. This is the best tip I have ever received. Our garden is clay. It is so bad, I have seen seeds push a clot of dirt up as they come up. I have amended the soil for years without too much success. It was strip mined at one time, we believe, so the top soil is buried deep below the surface. But with this wonderful tip, I will have potatoes this year!

Do yourself a favor, check with your library and see if they have these treasures. If they don't request that they purchase them. I did and that's why our library has them. Or, better yet, visit the West Ladies online and purchase your very own set!

What do you recommend to help heavy clay soil besides move? LOL...

2010 Re-Skilling/Food and Gardening Calendars are Now Free!

2010-02-17T21:23:00.001-05:00

Sustainable Berea has their calendars free of charge, you only pay shipping. Follow the link below to get your calendar. I ordered mine and they are full of tips and hints. I think you will be happy with your purchase.

http://sustainableberea.org/blog/upcoming-events/2010-re-skilling-calendars-for-sale

You can now follow The Prepared Household on Twitter

2010-02-16T18:55:00.002-05:00

You can now find us on Twitter. Just look for PreparedHouse and keep up to date. Happy Twittering!

What is a disaster?

2010-02-10T12:03:00.002-05:00

What is the first thing you think of when I say the word "DISASTER". Naturally, you will probably think of recent natural events such as Katrina, or the earthquakes in Haiti. Those were widespread and devastating occurrences. However, you may even think more locally, such as the recent "snowpocalypse" or "snowmageddon that has poured out over the Eastern United States that has left so many without power. Some cities have been without power and one North Carolina town was placed under curfew due to the snow. http://news.oldva.org/ (The small article is about halfway down the page.)

However, let's define disaster. Websters says that a disaster is "any event that overwhelms existing resources to deal with the event". That makes sense, and covers a lot of ground.

So, would unemployment be considered a disaster? Yes, unemployment is a personal disaster if you do not have the resources to deal with it. Then under the same definition, the sudden death of the breadwinner of the family could be a personal disaster. A devastating illness that depletes your bank account and throws you into bankruptcy. A snow storm that prevents you from going to the store for food and supplies or knocks out your heat and electricity. Anything in your life that is unplanned and unprepared for is a personal disaster.

Please do not rely on help to always show up. My husband is a volunteer firefighter. We had another snowstorm last night on top of ice. Around midnight, the call came. Fortunately, the call was just a fire alarm going off. Because, when my hubby went to start his 4-wheel drive truck, it was missing and chattering and he couldn't get out. We don't know why it suddenly decided not to work, but it did. As we listened to his fellow firefighters on the roads, we were glad the call turned out to be nothing. Both firetrucks ended up in the ditch because of terrible road conditions. Neither truck made it to the scene. Had it been a real fire or a real emergency, no one could have shown up.

Don't be dependent on others to help you out. It won't always happen. Especially in a personal emergency that isn't planned for.

Let's take the unemployment scenario for example. There are a lot of people unemployed today. No one wants to plan for unemployment, but it is an ugly happening - I should know, my husband lost his job last May and I followed in June. One thing that helps us is the unemployment insurance. But with the way our government is throwing money at this and that, (and Heaven only knows what else) I am not sure how long that will last and we know unemployment insurance is temporary...So, this IS my personal disaster.

However, Webster's definition of disaster is "any event that overwhelms existing resources to deal with the event". Fortunately, while I was working, I woke up one morning to the news screaming about food shortages and I demanded my husband to take me shopping for food. I purchased over $300 worth of canned foods. At that time, it filled the bed of our truck. (I would have purchased more, but my husband wouldn't let me.) Over the next couple of months, I also squirreled away shampoos, dish liquid, cleaners and anything I could get my hands on free or cheap with coupons. I knew my job would be ending, so I put back. Not as much as I should have, but I put back some.

Because of my putting back, we are using our unemployment to pay our bills and supplement the foods we have put up. If we didn't have this supply of food on hand, the story would be very different. Being partially prepared for this personal disaster has helped, but if only I had been diligent in my preparations, life would be soooooo much easier right now.

Sit down with your family and assess your preparedness levels. Think of every possible and plausible scenario that could go on in your life and set goals to prepare for them. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lao-tzu. Begin your journey to preparedness now. Take those small steps to prepare you and your loved ones in everything. There WILL come a day when you will be glad you did.

Local Community Garden Opportunity

2010-02-09T16:37:00.001-05:00

LOCALS ONLY (sorry)
Community Garden Opportunity
If you are interested in growing your own foods, a grant program is developing for this summer for a community garden in our area. Families needed. This is a community event. FREE, plus you get to keep the food you grow.
1. 10x500 plot to grow produce on; (possibility of more than one)
2. Plot will be plowed for you;
3. You plan what you want to grow and the plants and seeds will be provided;
4. Tools will be provided on a loaner program. If you complete the program successfully, you will be able to keep the tools;
5. If you grow excess you cannot use, the Farmer’s Market has made an agreement with the sponsor to allow those participating in the program to sell their produce at the market for free.
Also, if you have a son in Boy Scouts of America, there is a gardening merit badge. http://www.usscouts.org/usscouts/mb/mb055.asp
If interested, or you know someone who is interested, please REPLY TO THIS POST and I will contact you for further information. This is a wonderful opportunity. I hope a lot of families get involved.

If you are not local, please contact your local extension office to see if someone is sponsoring a community garden or organize one yourself. www.thepreparedhousehold.blogspot.com/

Gardening to Stop Hunger

2010-02-05T23:25:00.001-05:00

I recently stumbled across a great site, www.dinnergarden.org. Their purpose is to stop hunger by promoting gardening and they will send you free seeds to get you started. Just a few days ago I sent my email to them and they sent me some free seeds. I got mariana tomatoes, basil, grano onions, fenugreek, kale, spinach and mustard greens hybrid, mustard greens, hybrid red head cabbage, rocket herb, broccoli and dill. They sent them to me without cost, not even shipping charges.

Along with the seeds came business cards from ampleharvest.org and worldfoodgarden.org.

Ampleharvest.com is place to donate your excess produce. Their website says: "The AmpleHarvest.org campaign diminishes hunger in America by helping backyard gardeners share their excess garden produce with neighborhood food pantries." If you garden and you have extra, please look for pantries in your area that accept produce.

The other website, worldfoodgarden.org says that "Individuals empowering themselves and each other to grow small food gardens worldwide." It has planting times, how to's, garden books and much more.

So, grow your gardens and share your bounty with your local food pantry through ampleharvest.org.

www.ampleharvest.org

Local Events Tab

2010-02-05T13:03:00.003-05:00

Be sure to check out the events tab to the right of the blog for local events and classes that will help us to become more prepared and self-sufficient.

For those who are not local, check with your local extension office.

History Channel airs After Armageddon

2010-02-05T00:52:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlcYpgfI564&feature=relateThe History Channel recently aired After Armageddon. This is a good program to watch to help you prepare for emergencies. There are nine episodes on Youtube. I hope you watch them all and prepare yourselves mentally and physically, just in case.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlcYpgfI564&feature=related

Local Sales Ads - Aldi

2010-02-02T20:25:00.003-05:00

I am being a REAL chatty cat today, but I had to let you know about the great local deal at Aldi this week.

Broccoli .99 1lb pkg
Avocados .49 ea (I've been told these are great for the heart!)
Baby carrots .49 1lb pkg
Cauliflower .99 ea

I am trying to figure out how to use avocados besides in dip and on salads. Any ideas? I know you can freeze cauliflower and broccoli, but any more ideas? Thanks.

How to Engineer a Debt Free Life

2010-02-02T20:09:00.001-05:00

I faithfully follow a couple of blogs and one of them is Engineering a Debt Free Life. http://www.engineeradebtfreelife.com/

A big part of being prepared in today's economy is to save money and you will save money if you follow this blog. At Christmas, I was able to find a deal on photo Christmas cards because of EADFL. I got 50 photo Christmas card totally free from snapfish.com. No shipping! No kidding. The only thing my Christmas cards cost me this year was the postage.

Not long after, another site had a deal for a photobook loaded with my photos free. This "gift" is on my piano right now. EADFL advised me of more deals than I was able to take advantage of at the time. They are on top of all the great deals out there.

EADFL also helps you match up coupons with sales. Again, a great part of being prepared. I supposed that now that they know they have "preppers" visiting their site, they will probably be on the lookout for deals that anyone who wants to be prepared could use.

So, check out EADFL, they are on Facebook too and you won't regret it. You will find many deals that will help you save money, more than you can keep up with.

Garden Seed Shortages Predicted

2010-02-02T11:56:00.000-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35184731/ns/business-consumer_news/

According to MSNBC, we could be seeing seed shortages on the most popular garden foods. "Seeds for what's known as open-pollinated cucumbers seem to be most scarce, but carrots, snap peas and onions also could be in short supply."

So, if your plans include gardening, get your seeds as soon as you can, especially for those listed above.

Local Sales Ads - Sav-U-Mor Two Week Ad

2010-01-30T13:36:00.001-05:00

For the local readers, Sav-U-Mor has some great deals for the next two weeks (at least they are great in our area). Ad runs February 1 - February 14.

Martha White Flour - .99/bag (limit 1)
Pillsbury Cake Mix - .69/box (limit 3)
Chicken Drums or Thighs .89/lb
Idaho Potatoes 1.99/10lb (Limit 3)

Bone-In Split Chicken Breast .79/lb (Feb 4, 5, 6 only)

Good week to purchase chicken to can. I just used a jar of chicken breast last night. I added BBQ sauce and sliced some french bread to make BBQ sandwiches. We had salad on the side. It was easy and yummy. I saved the broth to make dumplings. I would love to have dumplings tonight, but I don't have a recipe. I normally use canned biscuits, but we are snowed in! Does anyone have a yummy tried and true "fat" dumpling recipe? Hot chicken and dumplings would be wonderful tonight!

That is a good price on the potatoes too. We have jars of canned potatoes that we add to soup, but we could purchase these to shred into hash browns and freeze. We tried drying them, but they turned gray and tasted terrible. Anyone have any success at drying potatotes? If so, how did you do it?

Of course, the cake mix would be great to make cake in a jar. We baked some cake in jars about a month ago and tried them a few days ago. They were still moist and tasted great. I will save one of those jars for long term just to try them out and see how long they will last. Looks like it's time to make some more!

I am trying to wean my family from white flour as whole wheat is healthier, but it is going to take a while. I think I have enough flour in the meantime.

I can't wait to see the Aldi ad, I am looking foward to when they put the blueberries and strawberries on sale. I think I have a few more months to wait for that. Happy preserving!

What areas in preparedness do you need help with?

2010-01-30T12:53:00.002-05:00

Help me make this page work for you? What interests you? What areas do you need help with? What would you like to see discussed here at the Prepared Household? My weakness right now is water storage.

Over the years, I have attempted to store water, but there has always been problems. I purchased some 5 gallon cans and they leaked. Had to replace water damaged walls and floor. No room indoors, exposure to extreme temps outside, one thing after another. I still don't have a perfect water storage system, but I am working on it. How have you solved your water storage issues?

Preparedness Challenge January 26, 2010

2010-01-26T11:10:00.000-05:00

How was your last week for prepping efforts? Here's a preparedness challenge, tell us what you are doing to prepare. This will give each of us ideas on what we can do to prepare.

Preparedness Challenge January 26, 2010
* Garden work:
* Preserve something:
* Work on food storage:
* Other preparedness tasks:
* Try a new recipe or a new variation:
* Financial preparedness:
* Work on local food systems:
* Learn something new:
* Serve someone:

Here are mine:

Preparedness Challenge January 26, 2010
* Garden work: Planning my garden. Ordering and trading seeds for the coming season.
* Preserve something: Canned items we picked up at the LDS Home Storage Center. Also put some items in buckets.
* Work on food storage: Went to the LDS Home Storage Center and picked up bulk items (at a cheaper price than I can get them at the grocery) for myself and members of my church.
* Other preparedness tasks: Dried, froze and preserved apples, pineapples and oranges I found on sale last week.
* Try a new recipe or a new variation: Tried a new pineapple chicken recipe. Really didn't care too much for it. Does anyone have a good tried and true recipe for pineapple chicken?
* Financial preparedness: Paying tithing and fast offerings. Going to donate to Haiti (We don't have much to work with, so this will be a small amount, but every little bit helps.) Since we don't have much to work with, there isn't any savings, but we only purchase with cash and don't use credit cards. I do have a few I could use, but choose not to get myself in more debt.
* Work on local food systems: Planning a garden and getting seeds is my work on local food systems.
* Learn something new: Learning to use a dehydrator.
* Serve someone: Went to the LDS Home Storage Center and picked up items for church members. Although it was hard work, we helped the members can their items. We worked all last week doing this. We only canned 13 cans of milk, 3 cans of candy and a can of home dehydrated apples and helped others can over 300 cans of items.
How was last week for your prepping efforts? Leave a comment or blog it and leave a link so we can all see how things went for you!

What are your emergency plans??

2010-01-20T00:38:00.004-05:00

With the recent disaster in Haiti, our minds have turned to the question, "What if?" We should all reflect upon the "What ifs?"

1. What if a disaster should strike?
2. What would I do?
3. What would my children do?
4. How will I locate my children at school?
5. Does my child's school have an emergency plan?
6. What will I do with my elderly father?
7. What about my daughter in college, the next town over?
8. What about my pets?

I think you get the idea. We need a plan. We need to know what we are going to do when the disaster occurs, or our chances of survival diminish. If we play the scenario out in our heads, practice with our families and plan for every contingency, survival is greater. We need to play games with our children, show them ways to survive, so that it's not a knee-jerk reaction, but a knowledge and skill that they already have. One we already have. Again, we just need to prepare.

So, devise a plan. Whether you are a family of one or a family of twenty, counsel together and make a plan.

1. Discuss the type of hazards that could affect your family. Know your home's vulnerability to disasters.

2. Locate a safe room or the safest areas in your home for any shelter in place. In certain circumstances the safest areas may not be your home but within your community.

3. Determine escape routes from your home and places to meet. Keep it close in case you your only means of transportation is walking. Practice disaster scenarios to give your family practice.

4. Have an out-of-state friend or family member as a family contact, so all your family members have a single point of contact. While some local communications may be haphazard, distant communications may not be.

5. Make a plan now for what to do with your pets if you need to evacuate. Keep extra food and water on hand for them too.

6. Post emergency telephone numbers by your phones and make sure your children know how and when to call 911. Practice it together on family night.

7. Check your insurance coverage - know what's covered. Flood damage is not usually covered by homeowners insurance.

8. Stock non-perishable emergency supplies and a 72 hour kit. Where possible, put 72 hour kits in your vehicles.

9. Use a NOAA weather radio. Remember to replace its battery every 6 months, as you do with your smoke detectors.

10. Take First Aid, CPR and disaster preparedness classes.

11. Know your child's school's disaster and emergency plans. Ask questions. Find out how the school will communicate with you during a crisis. If they have adequate food, water and other basic supplies for at least 72 hours? If they are prepared to shelter in place if need be? Is there a plan in place to take the students elsewhere if there is a need to get away? If so, where do they plan to take them? If there is an emergency, and the school is on "lock down" or shelter in place, will you be permitted to come to the school to pick up your child?

12. Have enough food, water and medication for each family member on hand to last for a while. I know everyone says 72 hours, but how long did it take for help to arrive with Katrina? What about Haiti? 72 hours is a good start, but you need to build on it.

13. Don't forget about the elderly or disabled. If you have family members with special needs, be sure to account for them in your preparations.

14. Keep your gas tank filled at all times.

These are just a few of the things you need to do to start an emergency plan. Check out FEMA's website: http://www.fema.gov/plan/index.shtm for more ideas on planning for emergencies.

If you have an emergency plan, share your plan with us. One of the best ways to develop a good emergency plan is to listen to and by lessons learned from other disasters. So share your plans and...be safe and be prepared.

Follow up on dehydrating...or the misadventures of the new dehydrating queen

2010-01-18T19:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I have been dehydrating and freezing pineapples, oranges and apples all week. Of course, my teenagers (and husband) seem to be packing it out the door faster than I can store it. I could use a "real" dehydrator, this one I bought at Wal-mart just can't keep up. Where can I get a good deal on a great dehydrator? Anyone?

Someone from my facebook page suggested I check out www.dehydrate2store.com. It is great, you really should check it out. Dehydrating is fun and easy and if I had a larger dehydrator, I would really be rockin!

Food Storage Frugal - Stock Up Items For This Week

2010-01-12T21:03:00.000-05:00

Just received my Aldi sales ad and noticed the fruit sale. I have heard from other sources in the news and from www.hotcouponworld.com that now is the time to stock up on a few things while the prices are still relatively low:

Apples. There is some concern that apple growers set the bar low on prices because the initial outlook for crop yields were going to be higher than anticipated, so new crop apples flew out the door at prices unseen of in ages. But then late fall weather caused some crop loses. (Heard that phrase anywhere lately?) So we are going to see apple prices creep back up to ensure there's product until the next harvest. If you can get apples under .70/lb then it's a good time to think about freezing, drying or canning apples.

Fortunately, Aldi has their apples (Gala, Granny Smith, Red and Golden Delicious for .99 per 3lb bag. That's .33 per lb.

Another item to stock up item is orange juice. With the crazy weather in Florida lately (reports of snow and freezing), orange and orange juice prices are likely to skyrocket while concentrate available to bottlers depletes.

Aldi has navel oranges for $1.29 per 4lb bag, pineapples .99 each, pears .99 for 28oz pkg, and grapefruits .25. At prices like these and knowing the possibility of rising prices, I plan on stocking up. Maybe I could peel the oranges and grapefruits and section them. Throw them in freezer bags and freeze. I wonder how these fruits would taste after freezing. Pears could be pear butter. Pineapples and apples could be dried.

Do you have any ideas about how I could preserve these stock up items?

Also, chicken continues to be the meat of choice for deal hunters. It is versatile, lean and right now, cheap at .79/lb at Sav-u-mor this weekend.

Dairy is going up. Milk is now up from $1.99 to $2.29 at Aldi. Eggs are $1.19. So those prices are on the way up again. Walgreens have their large eggs for .99, limit three dozen. That's the place to get your eggs this week.

Thanks to hotcouponworld for the info and our local stores for the sales. I hope you can find good deals near you.

Don't be fooled...food shortages for 2010

2010-01-11T19:51:00.002-05:00

Kellene Bishop, the Preparedness Pro, has a great blog and I read her faithfully. Today's post is on the food shortages that are being predicted for this year. I will post it below, but please subscribe to her site and follow her, she has a lot of good messages for today. Her post is below.

http://www.preparednesspro.com/blog/conspiracy-programming/

I’ve probably said this before, but one of my favorite bumper stickers of all time says “Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after me.”
I find that there is a dangerous and debilitating stigma in our international society. If a proposed theory has anything to do with the fact that a person or group of persons has actually conspired, plotted, and planned to bring about the demise of another person, then the proposal is discounted as audacious and mentally deficient. “Conspiracy!” they cry—as if calling something a conspiracy eliminates the validity of any proposed belief of supposition. Can I just ask a perfectly blunt question? Why is that? Why, when we have such an abundance of proven conspiracies is it considered a social and mental faux pas to propose that something is a conspiracy to do harm to others? I firmly believe that in doing so we are discounting the reality of danger. We are exposing ourselves as vulnerable as a fresh animal wound at night in the land of South Africa. We are playing into the designs of bloodthirsty predators as their willing prey. To be naïve of the scope and determination of conspiracies, we make ourselves far too vulnerable and dependent, thus negating the maximum effects of our preparedness efforts. Let me share with you why such a negative stigma against the reality of conspiracy is so illogical.
Al Qaida is an admitted conspiracy group. I doubt that most of us would dispute that. But can I just say that the reason why we don’t dispute it is because it’s socially and politically acceptable for us to view them as crafty conspirators? Whether you look into their conspiratorial designs on the surface or in depth, they make no secret of the fact that they have truly conspired to do irreparable harm to all Christian nations. Fortunately for us, the mainstream media feels that painting them as the bad guy is beneficial for their own designs of conspiracy and as such we are able to easily see them as “the bad guys.” As such, we are better able to swallow that they regularly engage in “conspiracy.” But what if the conspirators are those who we otherwise rely on or trust?

USDA--can we trust what they say? photo c/o www.fns.usda.gov

Now, let’s talk about the USDA. No upstanding American would portray them as conspirators, right? Oh, how I hope that we’re not really that naïve. The USDA told us for months and months that we could expect a bumper crop this year. (Bumper crop, as in at least a 20% excess of what we need.) The USDA continued to post such information on their official website even well after the abysmal destruction of crops such as corn and soy beans commenced. If you look hard for it, you will also find a report which concurs (finally) with the fact that as early as November of last year, the USDA granted special emergency fund approvals to various Midwestern and Eastern states due to “widespread crop damage.” Just so you know, “widespread crop damage” is defined by the USDA as at LEAST 30 percent damage to a particular group of crops. 30 percent damage to our corn, soybean, and even wheat crops. This, when we already have exported ALL of our wheat reserves from our nation. In spite of this, the “bumper crop prediction” still stands front and center on the USDA website.
So the question is, WHY would the USDA and the mainstream media not be forthright in bringing this information to its proper light? Let’s continue to explore this.
Are you aware of all of the food items which rely on corn, soy and wheat? If you ever eat out or if you ever purchase something prepackaged, then you have most likely ingested ALL of the above. Every cake mix, loaf of bread, syrup, peanut butter, pasta mix, etc. is affected by these ingredients in some way or another. As such, we can expect the kind of financial increase in such goods as we shortly experienced in wheat and rice in 2007. The problem is also that since wheat, corn and soybeans are affected, we can also expect the price of rice to go up, as demand for it as a substitution will rise as well. We are currently looking at rising fuel prices, a diminishing dollar, tanking residential and commercial markets and oh, by the way, your food bill is about to double or quadruple. Yup. We’re not hearing that. Why?

Impact on Wall Street--HUGE photo c/o www.diversityjobs.com

Well, to put it plainly, it’s because the Wall Street markets can’t handle a hit like that right now and if there is a run on the grocery stores of only a 20% increase, then such a run and panic would trigger a domino effect that would impact Wall Street. Regardless of what end Wall Street is at on such a panic, they would crash. Our administration can’t take the heat of such a crash right now. The USDA is a government run entity. Our wheat, rice, corn, and soy commodities are some of the main backbones of the Market right now.
Let’s put the 20% run on the grocery stores in perspective for a moment. When a coupon comes out for a particular product, that product is cleared off of the shelves within the first day by eager couponers, in spite of the store attempting to anticipate higher demand for the product. Just so you know, couponing accounts for only 14% of all sales in a grocery store. Whereas if you perpetuated the idea that there would be an astronomical increase in wheat, soy, or corn based products, that could also trigger a demand…not a coupon euphoria either. A bona fide panic demand. Even at only 14%, it would clear off of the shelves, and the panic would lead to a domino effect of most other products carried by the grocers as well. The domino effect of a panic on food would be just as fast to disrupt and destroy your way of life as a police car simply pulled over to the side of the highway—complete stand still.
The bottom line is that the prevalent antagonistic programming that so successfully skewers anyone who has the audacity to claim “conspiracy” is effective. Many normal persons have hung their head in shame and embarrassment simply for asking a simple question. But keep in mind that it’s counter-intuitive to believe that conspiracies aren’t rampant and real in our everyday world. Where there is virtue, there is selfishness. Where there is charity, there is thievery. We simply can’t believe in people who have beautiful motivations and not believe that there are also people who are motivated strictly by greed and control. Yes, I agree that conspiracy theories can be taken to the extreme. I’m just not sure we are fully aware of what that “extreme” is. After all, the private banking industry taking over our nation’s entire currency flow was pretty extreme if you ask me. Yet nearly a hundred years later, many still are in the dark about it, ashamed of being labeled as a crazy conspiracy theorist.

A smart move is to start paying attention to what goes on around you photo c/o www.usfirst.org

The point of me writing my article is to attempt to have more people shed the stigma of questioning what is going on around us so that they can see the real state of things–so they can be properly prepared. The use of the word “conspiracy” has been, by design, altered to portray a stigma of the mentally deranged, paranoid, or irresponsible. When in fact, the reality of those who would conspire to harm or destroy is truly abundant. I think that questioning and researching and verifying the research is one of the smartest things one can do to properly protect their family. I think newly discovering such conspirators is alarming, whereas understanding their presence and motives and planning on how I’m going to counter such plans gives me a great deal of peace.
As a parting, but somewhat disjointed comment, I just wanted to express the following. Forgive my somewhat ornery rant. What I don’t understand is this: why is it ok for the mainstream media to pummel us with a litany of meaningless murder, rape and robbery statistics, 95% incorrect weather predictions, the “five year anniversary of the floods in St. George”, Islamic New Year celebrations, and the latest string of lies and insincerity from political officials and yet they can’t share with us the kind of critical information that would actually HELP us to wake up and better prepare? I don’t really like being manipulated. And I loathe selfish panic control. Et tu?
Copyright 2010 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop. All rights reserved. You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to www.PreparednessPro.com & Kellene Bishop.

For your 2010 pantry-New Years Homestead Resolutions

2009-12-31T11:02:00.001-05:00

On the eve of a new year, I want to echo the words of a good teacher, Jon, who warns:

Plan on increased prices in 2010. Corporations who lost a LOT want to make it all back in a hurry.

Sugar will take a big jump in price in 2010 so when you catch it on sale, buy in quantity lots for the long haul. It won't go down, only up up and away. South American is cutting back on bagged sugar production and using it for fuel instead.

Look to growing a few sugar beets for your own supply, or if you have deep fertile soil, grow sugar cane and learn how to process it.

Better yet, get 10 or so honeybee hives and learn how to care for them. You'll have your own homegrown sweetener plus some to sell if you want to. And your own beeswax for salve and ointment making.

Learn how to grow and use beans instead of meats for your dinner table. For your health and for your purse.

Make a list this winter for every single thing you eat. Come spring, plant those things in your garden or in your slat house.

Learn how to preserve your garden bounty by canning, drying, pickling, smoking, freezing for your pantry shelves.

Learn something new to help your family, your homestead, and your friends by doing more your for yourself and buy less commercially.

If you must buy, buy local.

Let us all learn together how to become more self reliant by growing, canning, and baking our own and stay away from the grocery as much as humanly possible.

Wishing us each and every one the best start we've had to open a new year.

Preppers in Newsweek

2009-12-29T00:28:00.000-05:00

It looks like we are not alone any more. We "Preppers" are getting noticed. Newsweek has spolighted us in the article listed below. Read and share!

http://www.newsweek.com/id/228428

Food Storage Frugal - Local Stock Up Items For This Week

2009-12-28T20:33:00.000-05:00

Once again, Sav-u-mor, a local store, is having a great sale. This is a good time to stock up on a few items for your food storage.

Shurfine Chicken Noodle and Tomato Soup 3/.99 (Limit 6)
Martha White Flour .99/5lb (Limit 1)
Bone in pork sirloin chops .99/lb
Split chicken breast .99/lb
Bone in country style ribs .99/lb
Bone in loin end pork roast .99/lb
Dole's classic garden or cole slaw 12-14 oz .99 each
Value Time cheese slices 10 oz .79 each
Shurfine taco or chili seasoning mix .39 each

These are some great prices. Don't miss out on these deals.

2010 Re-skilling/Food and Gardening Calendars For Sale!

2009-12-27T20:56:00.001-05:00

I am excited about this. Sustainableberea.org is featuring a new 2010 re-skilling calendars for sale.
The new 2010 Sustainable Berea Calendars are here!

Price: $4/members; $5/non-members
Buy 10 or more: $2/each
School groups/churches: $1/each for fund-raising purposes
(min order of $25)

Sustainable Berea’s new 2010 Re-Skilling Calendars are here! This year the focus is on growing food.
It’s easy to eat better, be healthier, and save money simply by growing and consuming more of your own food. Not everyone is born a natural gardener, but the 2010 “Practical Skills for Growing Food” Calendar will get you started with the skills you need to turn both of your thumbs green, make your garden lush, and fill your plate with fresh, organic garden produce.
Topics on this full 12-month 2010 calendar include:

Creating your first garden
Vegetable seeds
Plant diseases and weeds
Insect pests and beneficial insects
Companion planting
Watering
Composting
Saving seed

The calendar grid includes vegetable-specific planting dates as well as reminders for other important gardening tasks.
With the 2010 Re-skilling Calendar on your wall, you will be a gardening champ in no time!

http://sustainableberea.org/featured/2010-re-skilling-calendars-for-sale

BTW, I am not making any money on these calendars, just passing along the information to my prepared household.

Join the discussion. What's your favorite preparedness tip?

2009-12-27T20:35:00.001-05:00

After Christmas Sales Stock Up

2009-12-26T20:57:00.001-05:00

I always love to hit the after holiday sales, especially the after Christmas sales. Getting those gift baskets for loved ones for next year, or just to stock up on cheap lotions, colognes, etc. But since my focus has been on preparedness, those colognes and lotions don't interest me any longer.

The after Christmas (or other holidays) sales are the best time to stock up on a good addition to your storage-candy. Chocolate the comfort food or peppermint, that helps a tummy ache. Candy is a good source of sugar and it can be stored long term.

I recently watched a video by Wendy Dewitt. She showed two mason jars she had vacuum sealed on the same date and filled with chocolate chips. On one jar the seal had leaked and she had a white powdery mess. In the other jar the chips looked perfectly normal. She shook the jar to show that it wasn't a gooey mess either. This jar of chocolate chips had been sealed for two years!

Here's how you do it. Add the candy to jars. I like to use wide mouth pint size jars.

Put on the lid...

then vacuum seal with the Foodsaver wide mouth jar attachment.

And it's sealed! Easy as that.

This could last for as long as I can manage to stay out of it!

Merry♪♫•¨•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•¨•♫♪ Christmas

2009-12-25T00:19:00.001-05:00

We Wish You a Merry♪♫•¨•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•¨•♫♪ Christmas♪♫•¨•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•¨•♫♪We Wish You a Merry ♪♫•¨•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•¨•♫♪Christmas ♥ ♥ ♥We Wish You A Merry ♪♫•¨•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•¨•♫♪Christmas ♪♫•¨•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•¨•♫♪...And A Happy New Year!♪♫•¨•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•¨•♫♪... ♥♥

Merry Christmas

2009-12-23T09:13:00.005-05:00

Twas the Night Before Christmas Storage

Twas the night before Christmas,
And all through the house,
The storage was low,
Not a crumb for a mouse.

The shelves were almost empty,
Oh, what a plight!
The wolf's at the door,
And no money in sight.

All the children were nestled,
To keep warm in their beds,
Hoping that before long,
Their tummies would be fed.

The prophet had counseled,
"Each one be prepared!"
We had procrastinated the day,
Why hadn't we cared?

Thankfully, twas just a dream.
But that didn't matter,
I jumped from my bed,
Making a terrible clatter.

Away to the pantry,
I flew like a flash,
Stumbling in the darkness,
Over the trash.

As I surveyed my storage,
With eyes all aglow,
The neat cans and bottles,
All in a row.

Filled my heart with contentment,
My eyes with a tear,
To think that we had food,
To last us all year.

This feeling of contentment,
And security too,
Is what we your friends,
Wish for you.

So put gifts of storage,
Under each Christmas tree,
Of those that you love,
Is our warmest plea.

Give honey, give sugar,
Give flour or wheat,
Give milk, give salt,
Give something to eat.

And you'll hear them exclaim,
Long after Christmas is here,
Thank you so much,
It will be a good year.

Author unknown

Be safe, be warm, but most of all "Be Prepared!"

Merry Christmas to all my Prepared Household!

Another Life Lesson...Don't Wait to Prepare

2009-12-21T23:55:00.004-05:00

We don't have cable or satellite TV. We usually go to the library to check out movies or watch them online, so we are pretty much disconnected from the world around us. Of course, we have our emergency NOAA SAME radio, internet and phones.

Around noon Friday a relative told me about "getting ready to be snowbound". So I checked www.weather.com and discovered that we were under a winter storm warning and a snow storm would begin in our area at 4 pm. We are fairly well stocked and won't go hungry for a while anyway, but we usually restock our perishables, milk and bread on Fridays. I told my husband we needed to get to the store before it the rush hit.

It was around 1 or 2 pm before we got out and the rain already had ice in it. We had a few errands to run; we had to restock our movies, etc. By the time we got to the grocery, it was already a madhouse. It may have been a combination of the threat of the storm, rush hour traffic (laugh...we live in a small town) and the beginning of Friday night traffic, but the roads were packed and the lines in the grocery were backed up.

To make matters worse, I have a slight case of enochlophobia or fear of crowds. I try to avoid places where there will be lots of people. I start to hyperventilate if I get stuck in 4th of July traffic. (In this small town...another laugh). So I try to avoid the "milk and bread" rush on snow forecast days and here I was in the middle of it.

I had just read "One Second After" by William R. Forstchen, a story of one man's struggles to save his family and his small North Carolina town after America loses a war, in one second, a war based upon an Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) weapon that will send America back to the Dark Ages. The scene at the store made me think. If people are so unprepared that they would panic over an impending snow storm, what would they do if life stopped like in the book? How different this crowd would be if there were no more trucks coming to bring break and milk...if there were no more shipments of food of any kind or medicines. I realized how vitally important it is to be prepared for life's storms so we aren't stuck in the middle of a panic stricken crowd.

Back to reality, I manage to struggle through the crowds and leave with my milk and bread in tow. By this time, it was icing in earnest and snowflakes the size of half dollars had begun to fall. I reflected that in a lot of ways, I am prepared and working on getting prepared in all things, but there are a lot of people who are not prepared and not close to being prepared. It was evident in all the people rushing in the store carrying babies, all the carts gone and people waiting for one as I left the store. All the carts filled with groceries hurriedly being shuffled to cars.

The snow fell all that night and into the day on Saturday in some areas. A beautiful snow a terrible snow. The newspaper reported that there were flakes as large as your hand falling in some areas. Eastern Kentucky was declared a state of emergency with 16 inches of snow and 107,000 homes left without power.

The Monday Lexington Herald headline read "Power Outages to Last Past Christmas...Storm's Wake Leaves 87,000 in the Dark in Eastern Kentucky; Water also off for some." My husband's family lives in Eastern Kentucky and my husband's sister in law's power was off until today. Fortunately, Deb was somewhat prepared. She has a kerosene heater, fireplace and a generator so she was warm. But she didn't have water because the well pump is electric. Fortunately, she's not one of those poor souls who won't have power at Christmas.

I am glad that Deb was prepared, but other members of my husband's family may not be. We have tried to tell them for years to put up extra food, store water and have an alternative source of heat, but they won't listen. The last time we visited, I looked in my mother in law's cabinet and she barely had a dozen cans of food. Her fridge is bare and her freezer has mostly ice. She depends on her daughter, Jo, to bring her meals from next door, but I shudder to think of what might happen in a real emergency. She barely has enough blankets to go around when we visit. I am sure they don't have a kerosene heater.

Jo has a fireplace that just needs uncovered. We have tried to convince them to get it ready to use in an emergency, but they have the TV in front of it. I know they are not prepared and there is nothing I can do to change it. Jo told me that she was spending $500 on each of her three children at Christmas. She could take at least $1,000 of that to be better prepared and her kids would still have a great Christmas. Priorities, I guess. I just wish we could help them understand the need to be prepared.

I hope that this little life lesson will help them understand the need to be prepared. They are too far away for us to be able to help them in any real emergency. I will just continue to prepare for the worst and pray for the best.

Discretion in Preparedness via The Preparedness Pro

2009-12-18T21:17:00.000-05:00

My favorite preparedness blog once again reminded me of a vitally important preparedness measure. Discretion. I have copied her post below, along with the link so you can follow her as well.

http://www.preparednesspro.com/blog/discretion-in-preparedness/comment-page-1/#comment-11331
Discretion in Preparedness

Don’t you hate it in the movies when you have some intense scene and the person who is told to “keep quiet” or to “stay put” always disobeys that counsel and ends up getting the hero or heroine nearly killed? I think I hate it so much because it’s so accurate in its portrayal of real life.

Recently our area had a shocking murder of a professor of Brigham Young University. http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=9053434 Thieves meticulously broke into his home, slit his throat, and stole his guns that were specifically in his safe. They committed the crime while two other people were in the home—individuals who were not killed, but rather tied up. Police are just now confessing that the guns were the target of this violent home invasion. This brings many questions to mind (as well as much fodder for future articles) but the primary question is how did the thieves know that this professor had so many guns and how did they know where to obtain them? (Sorry, I just have to add, what is the use of having firearms in your home, if you’re not adept at using them to protect yourself too?)

First of all, you should consider that the use of a knife in a crime is typically one of familiarity. Strangers rarely use a knife on their victims. The FBI frequently calls the use of a knife in a crime as a crime of “intimacy.” It’s safe to say that these criminals knew the professor.

Secondly, it’s apparent that the professor, or perhaps his family members, was a bit too verbal in broadcasting his possessions. As a result, they painted a target on themselves. Think about this for a moment folks. The target was painted in a time of plenty. Imagine what it would have been like if this broadcasting of information was done during a time of chaos? The other two may have easily met the same fate as the professor as desperation is heightened in a crisis scenario. This is why I caution those who attend my classes as well as you, my dear readers, from doing anything prior to or during a crisis which will announce to the world that you’re prepared.
How To Survive the End of the World as We Know It

How To Survive the End of the World as We Know It

In James Wesley Rawles’ latest book “How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It” he specifically addresses the issue of discretion when discussing your own supplies of preparedness. Now think about that. This man is a renowned author and a regularly faithful blogger with thousands and thousands of readers. I assure you that though he shares valuable information with all of these individuals, there are probably only a dozen folks in the world who know what he’s truly made of in his preparedness efforts. I’ll be blunt with you. Such dissemination of this kind of information should not go out even to friends, family members, and especially to government officials. Keep it under your hat, folks. If you get asked by your local church what you have available, understand that it’s so that they know how best to help you and are prepared accordingly. But if you’re like me, you may just want to respond “No need to worry about us. We’ll be ok regardless” or something like that.

As I don’t make a secret of the fact that I’m a Utah Concealed Firearm Instructor, I am frequently asked by naïve individuals “Are you carrying right now?” “What are you carrying?” Etc. I realize that for the most part these questions are simply the result of a genuine curiosity. But there have been very rare circumstances in which I have actually shown anyone my “real” firearm and where I carry it. It’s just as rare that I will actually answer an inquiry as to whether or not I’m carrying a firearm at that moment. It’s called a “concealed” permit because it’s supposed to be concealed—visually as well as mentally, in my opinion. It’s very much for these same reasons that I haven’t been forthcoming in photos for you all of my preparedness supplies. I simply don’t want those, whether great or small, advertised all over the internet. It’s no one’s business what we have or don’t have. They need to be concerned with their own preparedness efforts, not those of a neighbor. In fact, when asked to view my supplies, the cautious side of me automatically thinks, “who does this person know that I don’t want to share this information with?” I can easily count the number of highly TRUSTED individuals who have even a partial knowledge of my personal preparedness efforts, whether it be water, ammo, or cheese.

Part of the danger in sharing with folks what you have on hand is the rampant sense of entitlement that is so prevalent in our society today. We cause the rich to pay the majority of taxes, we are taught that since the wealthy have they should give it to those who aren’t wealthy, etc. This is simply wrong. Generally speaking the “haves” are not villains. They are workers and planners. I’ve generally lived as a pauper several times in my life but that hasn’t stopped me from prioritizing and taking care of my own preparedness. Unfortunately, in a time of crisis, most folks won’t view your provisions as your own. That mean little entitlement gnat will get under their skin and they will thrust a false sense of charity and compassion upon you and take what they want. Sorry to have to state it so plainly, folks, but charity and compassion cannot be mandated. And when they are, they are of evil, not Christian in nature whatsoever. Anyway, my point being that the sense of entitlement is a screwy tool. It makes people believe the way they are behaving instead of behaving the way they believe. So be aware of this and defend yourself now from it by being discrete in your assertions of preparedness.

I frequently have folks telling me that when all heck breaks loose they will be coming to my house. Just as sincere as they are in their assertion, I retort with a reminder that I do have a firearm and am perfectly knowledgeable in how to defend myself. While that may sound a bit crass to some of you, I find it no more so than someone telling me (jokingly or not) that they are willing to absolve themselves of any of their own responsibility in being prepared and that they will be helping themselves to my efforts. Tit for tat, if you ask me.

If you are planning on sharing with others this otherwise confidential information, may I suggest that you back it up with a thorough system of tools and skills to be able to protect yourself and your home? As awful as that thought may be to some, you are not truly prepared until you have taken such preparation into consideration as well.

Self-Reliant Sisters

2009-12-15T22:16:00.000-05:00

I have subscribed to and been following a blog called Self-Reliant Sisters. http://selfreliantsisters.blogspot.com/

I have found them to have some great articles and I would like to re-post a recent article from their site:

Are You Prepared?

These are all articles from the Ensign's "Random Sampler" section. You may need to scroll down a bit to see the article mentioned.

"At one time or another, nearly every family will face accidents, illness, unemployment, or other emergencies that will require them to depend on the resources they have stored."

Past Random Sampler

• “Home Storage—How to Begin,”Ensign, Apr. 1986, 64–65.

• “Emergency Water Storage,”Ensign, Aug. 2006, 71.

• “Storing Fats and Oils,”Ensign, June 1999, 71–73.

• “Food Storage: Where and How,”Ensign, Aug. 1981, 54–55.

• “Food Storage for One Year,”Ensign, Mar. 2006, 70.

• “Protecting Your Food Storage,”Ensign, Jan. 2006, 70.

• “Spicing Up Your Food Storage,”Ensign, June 1990, 72.

• “Mmmmm! This Couldn’t Be Food Storage!”Ensign, Mar. 1990, 71.

• “Prepared for Today: Medical Supplies,”Ensign, July 1981, 54–55.

• “How Will Your Garden Grow?”Ensign, Mar. 1979, 66.

• “When Disaster Strikes,”Ensign, Aug. 1994, 71.

• “What’s in the Safe?”Ensign, Aug. 1988, 72–73.

• “Tips for Becoming Self-Reliant,”Ensign, Mar. 2000, 68–69.

• “Out of a Job?”Ensign, Feb. 2004, 73.

• “Emergency Savings the ‘Centsible’ Way,”Ensign, Feb. 1992, 65.

Additional Helps

The LDS Church has produced many helpful materials to assist with understanding and teaching important welfare principles. They include videos, pamphlets, books, and handbooks. A sample of available materials follows:

• All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Finances (04007), pamphlet (4 pages)

• All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Home Storage (04008), pamphlet (4 pages)

• Basic Self-Reliance (32293), handbook (152 pages)

• Essentials of Welfare (53045), video (six segments, 93 minutes)

• One for the Money (33293), pamphlet (12 pages)

• Providing in the Lord’s Way (32296), pamphlet in 16 languages (27 pages)

A complete list of available materials is posted on the Internet at www.providentliving.org. On the home page, bottom left, select “Helps for Church Leaders,” then “Find a Tool or Resource,” and then “Books, Videos, Pamphlets, and Forms” to access the listing of available materials. Copies of most of these materials can be ordered through the Church’s online distribution center at http://www.ldscatalog.com/.

Food Storage Frugal - Local Stock Up Items For This Week

2009-12-14T19:47:00.003-05:00

For those of you who follow me locally, Sav-U-Mor has the stock-up item of the week. White Lily Flour is $1.39 for a 5lb bag (limit 2). If you use white flour, this is a good time to stock the pantry. This is the cheapest I have seen it here in a while. You can purchase it in bulk from the Home Food Storage Center or Cannery for $10 a 25 lb bag. ($2.00/5 lb). So this is a good deal.

NOTE: ANOTHER GOOD DEAL ALERT:

CVS has this deal:

All Small & Mighty 3x or 2x laundry detergent $3.99. Use the $2/1 coupon from the 12/6 Sunday paper (or delivered via mail locally in some areas here). Final price $1.99. If CVS has low stock, you may can comp this at Wal-Mart and stock up on your laundry detergent at a great price!

This is Only a Test....Another Life Lesson

2009-12-11T01:44:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, the announcement came across the scanner that within thirty hours, all emergency personnel should expect high winds, up to sixty miles per hour, in the area. Since we had had a couple of days of rain, dispatcher said to expect downed trees and power lines due to the saturated ground.

The day dawned with ominous clouds in the sky giving way to sunshine. It was odd. The weather couldn't decide if it wanted to sunshine or cloud up. However, true to predictions, the day was blustery. It was hard to keep my laundry off the ground.

Of course, my firefighter husband was called out to a fire. A blue spruce pine had taken out the two top high tension lines and caught the tree on fire. He was gone for a couple of hours dealing with that.

Around 12:00 noon, the power went out at home, and according to reports, there were over 1,000 homes without power in our area. It wasn't a terribly cold day, and the warmth of the sun penetrated the back of the house, so we were okay as far as heat during the day. But we knew that once daylight was gone, temperatures would drop and we might be in for a cold night. Sure, we have our 0 degree sleeping bags, but I prefer a warm house.

To make matters worse, a cell tower went down in our area and our cell phones were useless. No electricity, no heat, no house phone, no cellphone. I knew somewhere in the house was a phone that you plug into the wall, but I couldn't find it.

We have a backup kerosene heater, but no fuel. However, we have a camper, that we actually lived in for a while when we were working temporarily away from home. The furnace is LP, but does require electricity for the blower. So, we loaded up all the spare gas jugs to get fuel for the generator we had just purchased this summer.

When we got to the pumps, all the regular gas was out. I don't know if there was a run on gas or what, but the only thing available was super unleaded and they were selling it at the regular unleaded price. I guess we got a deal on that. We filled our jugs and topped off the tank, grabbed some lunch meat and bread and headed back to "camp out" for the night.

Just prior to our leaving our neighborhood, we had seen a lot of electric company trucks, so we felt like when we got back, there would be electricity. Sure enough, houses and businesses that had been dark before, were now lit and open for business. But when we got to our subdivision, it was still dark. The houses around were lit up, so we were still hopeful. We would prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

When we got home, we could hear the hum of a generator in our neighborhood. It was comforting to know that at least one of my neighbors was prepared for such an emergency. His house was dark, so we assumed that he had already moved his family into his fifth wheel camper. My daughter was there at the house and she had our three oil lamps going full blast and a couple of candles. My husband began the preparations to set up the camper. He hooked up the generator, turned on the heat and left it going to warm the camper up a bit. Meanwhile, I stayed in the house and actually washed the dishes from earlier in the day by lamp light.

Just as my husband got everything ready, but before we could move out to the camper, the electricity came back on. My son was very disappointed, because he wanted to camp out. However, with school the next day, I talked him into staying inside and watching a video we had rented.

This life lesson helped us run a test on our preparedness measures. My husband and I discussed things through the day and realized what was lacking in our plans.

Sure, we can run the generator and go out in the camper and be toasty warm should the electricity go off again; but our food storage, which includes items in glass jars and water in jugs, may freeze and burst in the cold. Our house is well insulated, so it may be okay, but we need to perfect a plan that will allow us to stay in the house. We do have a wood stove, but we don't have it hooked up yet (finances) and we don't have wood. With a wood stove installed and wood to burn, we could stay warm in the house and keep our food from getting damaged.

If this had happened in the middle of the a cold night, it might have been a bad situation. What if it had happened in the middle of a bad snow storm? Sure, we have a truck with four-wheel drive, but why get out on bad roads. Be prepared. Be prepared. Be prepared.

We should have already had a plan in place that was workable. Our plan was not because we didn't have gas for the generator. Now, our generator is full and we have a small reserve of gas that we can use in our vehicles or in the generator, should another storm come and shut down our power. Getting power to our camper will allow us to cook food, stay warm and should we need to move it somewhere else, it is mobile.

Lessons learned: Have a workable winter emergency plan. Test it out to make sure it works. Have contingencies. Prepare every needful thing before you need it.

Life Lessons in Preparedness

2009-12-08T00:19:00.003-05:00

If we are not prepared for every situation, life tends to teach us those lessons. Saturday night, my husband, who is a volunteer firefighter, was called out to a house fire at 2:30 a.m. The dispatcher announced that there was possibly two people trapped and they had lost contact with the caller. As my husband rushed to help, he was hindered by the fact that the windshield on the truck was heavily frosted. He frantically dug around for something to clean the frost off with, but ultimately had to use his fingernails to scratch it off enough so he could see enough to safely drive.

This was a bad situation, and one of the most dire my husband has been called to so far. Luckily, the fire was put out before it got too bad and no one was harmed, but it taught me and my sweet husband a lesson. A lesson in being prepared. Since that night, he gathered the tools he needs to help him get out quick. The ice scrapers have been located and a piece of black plastic now covers his windshield. The next time he needs to get out to a fire quickly, he will be able to simply take off the black plastic and be on his way.

What can we learn from this lesson? If an emergency should occur in the middle of the night, are you prepared? Is your gas tank sufficiently filled? Would you have enough gas to take you where you need to go in an emergency? To the hospital? To safety? Do you have an ice scraper or something draped over your windshield so you can leave in a hurry if you need to? Do you have an emergency kit for your car? Emergency Essentials has a good article on emergency car kits. http://beprepared.com/article.asp?ai=28&bhcd2=1260249019 . Kentucky Preppers Network has a great article too. http://www.kentuckypreppersnetwork.com/2009/05/car-emergency-kit.html . A kit doesn't have to be expensive, it can be easily assembled from discount type stores and stashed in a back pack.

You never know when an emergency will happen. Keep your car ready to go at a moment's notice. Make sure the tank is filled with gas and keep an emergency kit in it. Keep your keys, wallet/purse, medicine and 72 hour kit close, so you can grab them in an emergency.

Be prepared in all things so you can sleep through life's storms.

~MJ

Food Storage Frugal - Stock Up Items

2009-12-02T09:28:00.001-05:00

Wherever you live, I hope you search your local sales ads to get more bang for your buck. Sales gurus are saying that this is going to be a good time to get groceries. I guess people are more focused on spending their money for Christmas gifts, therefore grocery sales may dwindle. So check your sales ads and find items you can add to your food storage.

Locally, Aldi is a great store and they have their navel oranges for $1.49 for a 4lb bag. Granted, this isn't something you can stock up on, but you can always make preserves and oranges are a good source of healthy food for your everyday diet. Grapefruits are .25 each. This is a welcome relief from the high prices we've seen.

Kroger has their peanut butter $1 a jar. Peanut butter is a good item to place in your storage, but remember to rotate as peanut butter tends to get a bad taste after the expiration date. The stock up item for this week would have to be the Kroger sugar. A 5 lb bag is $1.99. Around here, that is a good price. It is even lower than the home food storage center who has it at $2.64 a bag. Today is senior citizen's day at Kroger, so if seniors make purchases today, they will receive an addition 10% off their ticket.

Sav-u-mor, a local store, has spiral hams, chicken breast and pork chops at .99 lb. Good time to do some bulk meat purchasing and canning. Bleach is $1.19.

For those of you not local, just check your local ads. Find those few gems that are good stock up items and buy a few extra. We can build our food storage a little at time.

Bluegrass Moms - Lexington Herald Leader

2009-12-01T15:12:00.000-05:00

I just found a new blog today called Bluegrass Moms - http://www.kentucky.com/moms/. The Fru-Gal Deb Morris had a wealth of coupons and freebies. The best was a free photobook from American Greetings. It did take about 30 minutes to finish the book, but it was absolutely free. Not even shipping and handling. I expect to have it in about a week. This is a today only deal, so hurry, don't miss out.

Another great thing about Bluegrass Moms is Liz Ross Brook's Buzybee blog. She has delicious recipes and lots of giveaways. I admit, I think I'm addicted to the contests. She currently has a giveaway from a digital crockpot and a rotating waffle baker from Ginny's. I love my crockpot and I think a digital one would be great to have. So hurry on over to Bluegrass Moms today and enter Buzybee's contests. Good luck.

Presentation Delay

2009-12-01T00:15:00.000-05:00

I am still in the process of transferring the presentation from PowerPoint to a format that Facebook and blogger will accept. Hope you can bear with me and I will try to get it posted tomorrow.

Merry Christmas Giveaway Challenge - Let's have a Freecycle Christmas

2009-11-29T20:44:00.000-05:00

Let's all have a Freecycle Christmas. Are you familiar with Freecycle.org? I want to encourage everyone to join their local Freecycle. It is a group where you can re-home your castoffs. Join Freecycle.org and give away some things you don't need to help others have a better Christmas. Challenge all your friends to do the same. Tis the season for miracles...let's make one happen.

www.freecycle.org

Basic Beginning List for Preparedness

2009-11-28T10:09:00.000-05:00

I found this list at a website called Preparedness Nuggets. There is a lot of useful information there. http://www.justpeace.org/nuggetsindex.htm

What I like most about her list is the advice to pray is no. 1. That is spiritual preparedness.

STARTERS' LIST FOR PREPAREDNESS
Maybe this little list will help put things in order. I realize this is very simplistic but to start maybe that's best.
Think in large categories.
1) Pray about everything before, during and after you do it.
2) Water - a source. Possibly storage. May be necessary to invest is a filter.
3) Warmth - depends on your location. Wood, propane, solar.
4) Food - simple, sound nutrition, multi vitamins. Wheat, rice, beans, pasta, bullion, dried milk, powdered drink mix, powdered tomato, powdered cheese, dehydrated veggies, oil, honey, sugar, molasses, salt and other spices etc.
5) equipment - grain grinder, Dutch oven, wind up short wave radio, oil lamps,flash lights and batteries, big tubs for washing bodies and clothes.
6) fuel - your choice - wood, propane, coal, solar, oil for lamps
7) proper clothes
8) spend time learning some basic living skills -- baking bread, gardening, cooking with fire, etc.
9) build a little library of info books.

Financial Preparedness - Saving Money on Groceries

2009-11-26T10:50:00.000-05:00

Using coupons and promotions will stretch our money farther and enable us to be better prepared. Here is a list of promotions and coupons Kelloggs currently has. I hope you will search it and take from it what you can use.

http://www2.kelloggs.com/Promotion/AllPromotions.aspx
http://www2.kelloggs.com/Product/KelloggCoupon.aspx?id=1992

Youtube Videos on Preparedness

2009-11-25T22:34:00.000-05:00

I have been given permission to use these videos in my joint preparedness lesson on Sunday. I hope you will watch them. They remind us of the warnings of the prophets and the importance of being prepared.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTVECvTYpN0
http://www.youtube.com/user/davidkat99#p/a/u/2/RplBQGogYEk

Things I am Thankful For

2009-11-25T19:25:00.000-05:00

I love to read Kellene Bishop's blog, http://www.preparednesspro.com/blog/. I won some mylar bags and an oxygen absorber from Kellene's blog site today. Her blogs are insightful and she seems to have her fingers on the pulse of what is going on in the world today. Preparedness Pro is a great site and one of my permanent reads.

Her post for today is about being thankful. It reminded me of the things I am thankful for. If I listed all the things I am thankful for, today's blog could turn into a long one. Let me just list a few of the things I am thankful for. I am thankful for my family.

For my husband, Jamie, who shares my passion for being prepared. Who loves me and cares for me despite myself. For my children who have always brought me as much joy as they have pain. LOL. For my father who gives me strength and has always been there for me. For my mother, my best friend, who passed away in March. I miss you and love you mom. I will see you again some day. For my brother and sister and their families and my mother-in-law, brother-in-law and sisters-in-law. You guys keep me on my toes. For my mother's huge family who is a constant fount of love and support. Love to you all.

I am thankful for the many blessing that my Father in Heaven has given me and I hope He blesses you all during this Thanksgiving season.

Frugality and Blog Posts

2009-11-25T09:03:00.000-05:00

I could spend hours entering contests on blogs. Since I have never done it before, I don't know if it is a total waste of my time or not. Perhaps not the best spent time. But entering a contest is always fun. I once won a year's supply of Dr. Pepper from their website. I don't even remember what I did to win it.

So, in the spirit of fun, let me tell you about a new blog I found that I like, Frugal Living and Having Fun. They are currently sponsoring a contest to win $25 in Marcal Tissue products.

Part of the contest is to tell everyone why I like Marcal Tissue, but I can't. A couple of months ago, I received a coupon for a free pack of Marcal Tissue. I searched my local stores and was unable to find any. :(

So, have a little fun today and visit Frugal Living and Having Fun. The button is on the right of my blog.

Joy in the journey~MJ

Rising Cost of Food

2009-11-25T01:30:00.000-05:00

I have lived in my town since 1992. An Aldi grocery store was built just across the street from us and I remember when canned veggies were .25 each. After that, the price went up .04 to .29 a can.

Back in the fall of last year, I woke up early one Saturday morning and my Yahoo homepage was screaming about food shortages. My husband and I were working and living temporarily out of state and my Aldi grocery was 5-6 hours away. We were living in a camper with no means of extra storage, so I demanded to take a trip home to visit family and Aldi.

Back home, we went to Aldi and loaded the back of my truck with canned veggies. Carrots, corn, peas, green beans, and mixed veggies, not to mention some canned pinto beans. It was a little over $300, but my mind was put to ease knowing we had this stockpile of canned foods. All purchased at Aldi for low price of .39 a can and safely stored in my home. I left my food storage and my home and traveled back to work.

Fast forward to June 2009, when I was laid off from work, my husband having been laid off the month before. We came back home and begin happily living off our food storage. Today, we noted that we had run out of corn and we wanted to restock a flat or two of some other veggies, so we loaded up and headed to our trusty cheap Aldi grocery.

To my dismay, Aldi has raised the price of their basic canned veggies to .49 a can. No longer will we be able to get cheap veggies! Now that I was noticing, I checked at Sav-A-Lot and there it was-veggies .49 a can. At Wal-Mart (the low price leader you know) the cheapest was .88 a can. They did have the name brand on sale for .50 a can. Certainly not the low price leader in all things! Don't be fooled!

Anyway, the point in all this rambling is that it is past time to get prepared. Food prices are beginning to soar. Have you googled photos of famine lately. It is horrifying! Get prepared now! Buy a flat of veggies extra each time you go to the store. Pick up an extra peanut butter. Don't wait any longer.

My prayers are with you and our country.

Adventures in Self Reliance

2009-11-25T01:08:00.000-05:00

I guess tonight is my night for finding the food stuff. Adventures in Self Reliance is giving away a fabulous Foodsaver, just in time for Christmas.

Adventures in Self Reliance is also giving away a water bladder that you use in your bathtub for emergency water. It is called the WaterBOB.

Just follow this link and join in the fun. http://selfrelianceadventures.blogspot.com/

Food Storage Analyzer on Emergency Essentials

2009-11-25T00:25:00.000-05:00

Emergency Essentials or www.beprepared.com, has an new food storage analyzer that is relatively simple to use. You add the ages and sexes of the members of your family. It calculates the calories you need each day. Then a spreadsheet comes up where you record the amount of various basic foods, such as oats, wheat, etc. You can also add items from the grocery store.

I was pleased to find out that just in oats, pasta, wheat and flour, I have enough food on hand for 123 days for my family of four. It also explained the nutritional content, including carbs, of the food on hand and what percentage of the daily allowance. It was simple to use and gave me a general working knowledge of how much food storage I actually have. It's a great tool.

Best yet, Emergency Essentials is allowing you to use the analyzer absolutely free and they give you a $10 gift certificate for blogging about it. For an additional $10 gift certificate, all you need to do is add their button to your blog.

Be sure to visit them and check out their black Friday sales. www.beprepared.com

Welcome to the Prepared Household

2009-11-24T23:48:00.000-05:00

This blog is for those who want to become better prepared...for almost anything.