CAMP NEAAL: HOMESTEADING & PREPPING

YEARS ago homesteading and prepping were common place. Today people look at you weird if you are trying to be self supporting & self sufficient & self reliant. And if you tell them you are storing food... water and other essentials in case of emergencies well they really think you are nuts.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE LATELY????
DEC 2011...
Bought more lumber, took off both mobile home doors to rebuild them, took out double windows in the kitchen area to repair the rot. Cut out alot of rot in the mobile home floor. Added more canned goods, beans and rice.
10/8/11
Any new projects? Got some accomplished? Projects you have on hold?

Let's see this month, we bought 2 10 ft cheap shelf boards and metal brackets for Drew to put me up a long book shelf across the cabin. That will free up some of our storage space under the bed by getting my books off the floor.
We bought 2 pressure treated step risers and 1 board to cut into steps, so Drew can build stairs into the mobile home. We picked up a paint roller set for $1 and five cans of something <sealer? calking?> for 50cents each at a yardsale... Drew is gonna put the roof sealer stuff we have on the mobile home roof with the roller.
So THREE projects for him, whenever he feels better.

I added more canned meats, veggies, rice, beans, pasta, drink mix and spag sauce to our storage this month. I am giving some food to a couple friends of ours to make room for the new stuff. WHY you might ask??? Because all good prepper/stockpilers ROTATE their food so it doesn't go bad. I can't wait til we get started on remodeling the mobile home. I want a ton of built ins for storage. The piece I am most anxious for and excited about is a double sided storage cabinet with doors on both sides and slanted divided shelfes for my can goods. You put the food in on the "high" side and remove older foods from the "low" side. Each shelf will have dividers so the cans roll straight and stay in place.

In a small space, organization is the key. I want walls of book and movie shelves. Closets for our clothes. Did I ever tell you I am a clothing slut??? LOL I can easily fill 2 wall to wall closets myself. Drew is gonna build a nice linen closet in the bath room too. As I believe in having extra linens and personal hygiene products as well on hand. He keeps reminding me that all these built ins are gonna take up space and that is ok by me, cause that is what we have 6 beautiful wooded acres for!

We really need to get working on our water, weapons/amno, hand tools, and fuel storage though. That is sadly lacking. I will be glad when we can get his 40 caliber handgun off layaway! Then we are gonna put some type of rifle or shotgun on layaway.

SOOOOO how about you???

Food shelf life studies

But let me tell you... our world is not in a good way. Natural disasters ....prices rising... wars... our government is a mess... animals dying in mass amounts. You need to be prepared to take care of yourself and your family. It is not hard to get ready. I will show you ways you can prepare even if in a small apt. I will show you storage ideas... tell you what and how to store food and essentials... how to garden with just a little balcony in pots and much more.

We have a small garden... food and water storage as well as goats, chickens and rabbits.

RECOMMENDED SURVIVAL READING LIST TAKEN FROM THE SURVIVALIST BLOG TheSurvivalistBlog

The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery, The New Self-Sufficient Gardener by John Seymour, Barnyard In Your Backyard by Gail Damerow, Cookin’ With Home Storage by Peggy Layton, Putting Food By Fourth Edition by Beatrice Vaughan, Survival Poaching by Ragnar Benson, Where There Is No Doctor by David Werner, Primitive Wilderness Living & Survival Skills by John & Geri, The Forager’s Harvest by Samuel Thayer and Self Reliance During Natural Disasters And Civil Unrest

TheSurvivalistBlog.net

MY STORAGE ITEMS

beans
rice
split peas
powdered milk
powdered juice mix
sugar
splenda and other diet sweeteners
protein powder
store bought can veggies
spaghetti
macaroni
spaghetti sauce
gravys
gravy mixes
peanut butter
jelly
honey
store bought can fruit
oatmeal instant and rolled
juice
boxed milk
salt
corn starch
baking soda
baking powder
yeast
tons of different spices
store bought canned meats
tuna
store bought canned soups
box soup mixes
mayonaise
mustard
ketchup
cereal
corn muffin mix
coffee
tea bags
creamer
coffee SF flavors
fruit rollups
beef jerky
store bought canned salmon
store bought canned crab meat
crackers
hard candy
instant potatoes
cocoa powder
hot choc mix
hamburg helper
cake mix
frosting
pickles
relish
pancake mixes
nuts
lentils
snacks
crackers
popcorn

GROUPS
Always Ready Yahoo Group
Canning 2 Yahoo Group
Country Life and Homesteading Group
DFW Poultry Yahoo Group
Food Storage Yahoo Group
Food Water Shelter Yahoo Group
Forage Ahead Yahoo Group
Frugal Rural Living Yahoo Group
Goat Milk Cheese Meat Yahoo Group
Hardcore Preppers Yahoo Group
Homestead_Poultry Yahoo Group
Homesteading-East-Texas Yahoo Group
Limited Poultry and Pets Yahoo Group
Misc_Survivalism_Moderated Yahoo Group
Offgrid Living and Homesteading Yahoo Group
Organic Homesteading Gardening
Pantry_Challenge Yahoo Group
Plant Swap Yahoo Group
Practical Survival 3 Yahoo Group
Prep Jr Yahoo Group
Preserving-Food Yahoo Group
Simply Off Grid Yahoo Group

BLOGS
Selousscouts

FARMS & HOMESTEADS
Calico Farm
Urban Homestead

NEWS

Killer Twisters 04/16/11
Vicious-storms-strike-Deep-South 04/16/11
Mapleton Iowa devastated by tornado 4/09/11

STORES <reader recommended>
Honeyville Grain

LINKS

A Life In Balance
Biodiesel-How too
Biofuel_Library
Canning-introduction-to-meats-poultry-and-rabbit/
Daphnes Caravans
Diatomaceous Earth-Food Grade Uses
Eat The Weeds
Frog Chorus Farm.com
Green Trust
Home Storage Skills
Lampton Farms
Organic-gardening-and-homesteading.com
Prepper Groups
Rain Water Harvest
Simple Survival Prep Blog
Storage Skills
Survival Blog
Survival-resources
The Survivalist Blog
Wendi Bergin's Home Storage Skills Blog

GETTING STARTED:

Inventory:
Take an inventory of what you DO have. This includes water, food, clothing, shelter (blankets), fuel and lighting (matches, candles, lamps, propane burners), tools, etc. You need to know what you have in order to know what you still need.

Organize:
Start gathering preparedness recipes, water purification sheets, etc. Get all of these things together into a 3 ring binder or something to have them readily available. There may be occasions where it will be impossible to get copies from your neighbor or homemaking leader or anyone else. YOU need to have this information handy. Don't count on someone else having the info to share later. Besides, the copiers won't work if the electricity is out.

Decide What "You" Need:
The Red Cross and others have published many different lists of suggested items to obtain. Go over
this list and decide on a list of "your" needs and prioritize them.
One of the suggestions is to have a 72-Hour Emergency Kit (although this should never be considered a replacement for a year's supply of food). This kit is a compilation of supplies that a family could use either in their home or during an evacuation to help sustain their family for a minimum of 72-hours. This has been the average length of time that the emergency organizations have taken to get up and running during a wide spread disaster (hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, etc.)
Another, suggestion is to have a year's supply of food

-- 1st Priority is -- A 2-week supply of WATER -- 14 gallons per person (7 for drinking and 7 for cooking and cleaning). You can store it in used juice bottles. Rinse the jug well with water (no soap), add 1/8 tsp. per gallon bleach (Chlorox UNSCENTED). The bleach should say (5.25% sodium hypocholorite) and then fill with tap water. Do not use regular milk jugs. The plastic is meant to be biodegradable in the landfill and they will break apart over time and leak all over. This also happens with the distilled water jugs that are made the same way. The 2 and 3 liter pop bottles work quite well. Just rinse, add Chlorox and water and store.
*** Suggested goal: Buy a jug of Chlorox on your next shopping trip and put an '98 on it to tell when you bought it. (or 11/98, if you prefer).
--2nd priority is-- GRAINS (your priority may be different): Many suggest 300 lbs. wheat per person. But, each family is different and they should store the grains that fit their needs and tastes. Grains that can be stored might include: alfalfa, hard red wheat, hard white wheat, barley, oats, oatmeal, corn, cornmeal, popcorn, millet, rye, white rice and pastas. So, you could store 100 lbs. of wheat, 5 lbs. alfalfa (for sprouting), 10 lbs. of cornmeal, 5 lbs. of popcorn, 5 lbs. barley, 20 lbs. of oatmeal, 40 lbs. of pasta and 15 lbs. of white rice etc. That still adds up to a "total" grain amount of 300 lbs. but is more versatile.
--3rd priority is --leavening/thickeners, etc: This would include yeast, salt, baking powder, baking soda and corn starch.
--4th Priority is-- BEANS: This could include: black, great northern, lima, mung (for sprouting), navy, pink, pinto, kidney,soybeans, split peas, lentils.
--5th Priority is-- MILK & DAIRY: This includes powdered, canned, sweetened condensed, powdered cheese, powdered egg.
--6th Priority is --SUGARS/SWEETENERS: This includes white sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, corn syrup, honey, jams/jellies, molasses and pancake syrup.
--7th Priority is-- FATS: This includes margarine/butter (in freezer or canned), margarine powder, mayonnaise, salad dressing, canola oil, olive oil, "pam"-type of spray (for non-sticking), peanut butter, shortening (Crisco) and shortening powder. * REMEMBER if elec goes you might lose everything in the freezer.
--8th Priority is-- HERBS/SPICES: Store the ones that you use. With herbs and spices you can cook a wide variety of items and not get bored.
--9th Priority is-- Canned Goods: This is just to round out your storage. It includes canned meats: tuna, chicken, beef, salmon, and chili. It also includes veggies like: tomatoes, refried beans, corn, beets, etc.
Start with a month's supply of the basics and then get a two months supply of the basics and so on.
Unless you are wealthier than the average person, it is too overwhelming to do it all in one or two purchases. But, it seems prudent to buy a larger variety for 3 months supply than to have a year's supply of just one or two things. You have a better chance of surviving with a variety.

--10 Priority is -- MEDICINE and FIRST AID SUPPLIES

--11th Priority is-- NON ELECTRICAL ITEMS...

EXTRA Batterys

Flash lights and Batterys

Crank Flash lights

Crank Radio

Lantern and Batterys

Wood burner/stove and wood

Propane stove and/or heater and propane

Propane Lantern and propane

Charcoal stove and charcoal

Oil lamps and lamp oil

Coleman fuel type stove and heater and coleman fuel

Bedding/Sleeping Bags

Extra Clothing

Can Opener

Gun and Amno

Knive

Fishing Gear

Bow and Arrows if you know how to use them

Extra food and water for pets and livestock

Hand Tools

Grinder

This List Gave You The Basics... figure out what will keep you alive and make you comfortable if TSHTF.

REMEMBER STORE WHAT YOU EAT & EAT WHAT YOU STORE... rotate your stock!

GET HOME KIT.
Stranded? This can help you get home. Copied from TheSurvivalistBlog.net