Living Prepared

 Being a Prepper means being prepared.

I've always been a bit of  a prepper.  Of course we didn't call it that back in the day.  My reason for prepping was not economically driven.  It was not related to political reasons, or the feeling of impending disaster.  No my prepping was driven by the fact that we had four little children born within seven years.  So to avoid having to take the kids to the grocery store, I would buy in bulk and do large grocery stock up trips when my husband was home with the kids.  This was how I coped with having food in the house and being able to get a balanced meal on the table.  If we had a snowstorm, a power outage or even both, we had food to eat.  We had a manual can opener and a grill.  Back then, we did not have a generator, but we have always had a wood burning stove or fireplace. I remember heating formula in the open fire by holding the bottle in a pair of tongs for a few seconds at a time.  Not recommended but it worked! 

Going forward, we raised our kids to be able to feed, provide warmth and protection for themselves and their future families.  Do you teach your children where food comes from? Do they know how to nurture vegetable plants to provide food.  Have you taught them that the animals are butchered to provide meat for our dinner tables.  We taught our children how to nurture and care for animals meant for meat production and we taught them to be respectful of all resources, including meat animals, to honor the cycle of life.  Even if you don't have any inclination to raise your own meat animals, I do strongly believe that you should teach your children where the meat comes from and how it is raised before it reaches their dinner plate.  I am just surprised  how many people tell me they will only buy their food from a grocery store and  not a farmers market or straight from the farm, because the grocery store is where the food is supposed to be from. 

How about shelter and warmth.  Understanding the basic mechanism of a furnace or how to build a fire in a wood burning fireplace or woodstove can be a great thing to know.  I'm not recommending that you take your furnace apart or attempt a repair, but a knowledge of how it works may save you a service call.  Being able to build a fire or start one safely in a fireplace could be a lifesaver in some situations.

Foraging and fishing can provide nutrition.  It is important to know which roots, berries, mushrooms and flowers are edible.  There are many field guides that help you identify edible plants but nothing beats learning from someone who actually practices foraging.  After you catch a fish, do you know how to clean it and prepare it for cooking? How do you prepare eel, fish or crabs to eat?  In the case of emergency, do you need to rely on government to provide shelter or can  you pitch a tent or provide some sort of shelter for your family.  When large disasters like Hurricane Katrina or Tropical Storm Sandy occur, we have seen that often communities are ill equipped to shelter and feed large segments of the population. If you own many animals, or even just the family dog, do you prepare a disaster plan for your animals?
In today's high tech society, we are very used to instant communication.  If the power goes out for a long term, how do you anticipate communicating with family?

I saved the most important topic for last.  Water.  All animals require fresh water to sustain life.  You can go a considerable amount of time without food, but you can only live a few days without water.  In our family, we have six adults living here.  We are also responsible for 5 cows, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 24 chickens, 2 turkeys 8 ducks, 14 goats, 2 sheep and 1 rabbit.  That's a lot of water drinking.  Filling extra bins or feed/water troughs with water is one way to ensure that you will have plenty  in an emergency.  If you are worried about the water going to waste, you can always recycle it into your garden.  When a major storm is approaching our area, we make sure the water bins are filled just in case.  If the power goes out, the well pump does not run and we don't get water from the well. We feel it is just a natural part of homesteading to keep an eye on the weather and to be prepared. 

A little bit of prepping can go a long way when everything else is going wrong.  Storing some extra food, water and having a backup plan for communications and shelter can ease your mind should disaster occur.  I strongly encourage all people,  but especially those of  you with animals and children, to take some time and prep for your basic needs. Being a prepper doesn't have to mean going to extremes.  It just means being prepared.

this post was shared on the Homeacre Hop and on The Backyard Farming Connection Hop