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  • From: EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Unpreparedness
  • Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2007 00:00:56 -0500



Gloria Morris wrote:

First and foremost, I want to build my pantry and freezer up, with homegrown food and also with purchased. I cannot recall a time in my adult life when my pantry has been as poorly stocked as it is now,

Me neither. Even my daughter is shocked...lol..It will be just my luck
to have some major natural disaster happen, or something like a rogue
nuke go off when I am so low on supplies! I'm really happy, though,
that we have managed to live off the stores of the bedroom closet for so
long without anything other than fresh dairy products from the store.
It's times like these that we save for...the rough financial spots that
we all go through.

although in truth I could go awhile on what I have, but not nearly so
long as I'm accustomed to, nor with the usual variety.

That's what I hate most, the lack of variety.

That means I
want to get a garden started this year, and I want to can a significant amount of what I grow. I'll be building a chicken house. I'm hoping that my dairy goat will produce lots of milk and that I manage to make a lot of cheese. And heaven forbid I EVER run out of coffee! Perish the thought!

I should be making cheese from storebought milk. I think it would be
cheaper than buying it, but I just haven't had time.



So, we'll see, but I'm hoping I can get one this
year. Someday, I want to get a wood splitter. For this year I expect I'll just rent one and have one extremely exhausting weekend of splitting.

I don't know how old you are, or how physically fit, but if I were you,
I'd try to move the woodsplitter higher up on the priority list. By the
time you rent one, pull it home, and split wood once or twice, you have
probably spent as much money as having a load of already split stuff
delivered. If you do rent one, be sure and get one that is both a
horizontal and vertical type. I personally couldn't manage some of the
bigger logs on a horizontal splitter, but if it is set up to split
vertically, I can roll the logs into position and stand them upright
without ever having to lift them. Your back will thank you.


A double-pole/double-throw transfer switch is something I really want
to get installed, so I can run off my generator. That will allow
water pumping.

I can't remember how much it costs for us to do this, but we did do it
two years after buying the generator. It wasn't that expensive because
Ron did it himself and it seems like we did it for under $50--$30 sounds
right..and we wondered why we had procrastinated doing it for so long.
If you are interested, I will try to get Ron to tell you what he did. I
know zip about electricity.


And, I need to build my supplies back up - extra batteries, matches, all those miscellaneous things that one needs - I'm low on all of it.
About the only thing I have in abundance right now is candles.

I'm low on batteries, but have other stuff. Nowadays, I am really
conscious of battery usage. In the future, I will try to buy things
that either don't require them (like shake flashlights) or things that
wind up (like the Baygen radio, which I love!)



I doubt it will happen this year, but I'd like to get a storm cellar built. I live in a tornado alley (there is an area in the woods
behind my house that was flattened about 10 years ago by a twister),
and I'm on a crawl space with no basement. Right now, if there were
tornadoes in the area, I'd have to crawl into the crawl space and
hope for the best.

We have a crawl space, but I am more afraid of snakes and spiders than
of tornadoes, so I barricade myself in TJ's closet with a bunch of
pillows and sleeping bags, my purse, important stuff, shoes, flashlight,
and the Baygen.
Back when I had plans for a dreamhouse, I designed a safe room in the
back of an earthsheltered home design that used a bookcase as a fake
door. Being underground, surrounded by concrete, and behind a locked
door with food and everything I would need, now that's security! It
would have kept me safe from fire, nuclear detonations, hurricane,
tornadoes, and looters. Maybe one day I will win the lotto (there I go
with the lotto dreams again)but barring that, my dreamhouse is just
that, a DREAM.

Bev


--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.







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