WHAT IF you could not leave your property for at least 30 days or maybe more? It could be from extreme weather, illness, quarantine, marshal law or civil disturbance, lack of vehicle, etc.
COULD YOU SURVIVE?
I realize that we all may run out of fresh items, but with your freezers, canning, dry goods, and store bought goods, could you and your family survive?
Bread could be a problem for some. We don't eat that much bread, but I can bake my own. Likely I would make biscuits or tortillas.
Milk and eggs could be a problem. Keep shelf stable milk and dry milk to supplement. Eggs can be frozen and there is always egg replacement that is dry.
Extra butter is kept in the freezer and I also keep butter powder that could be used for flavoring.
Fresh fruit and veggies could easily replaced with home canned and purchased canned goods.
Meat could be a problem for some. Simply use less per meal or use in recipes that extends it.
Health and beauty aids - we should all have enough to get by for quite a while.
Medications - hopefully you are allowed to purchase in 90 day scripts. Ask you doctor if you aren't.
Pet supplies - don't forget the fur babies. We need to have supplies for them as well.
COULD YOU DO IT?
I sure hope so. This is why we talk about keeping our pantries stocked up - just in case.
Slowly work on your pantries and build them up in all areas. It can be done with an extra $5 or $10 a week. Look for mark-downs and super deals. Try to think about all areas of your life.
It is better to have too much than not enough. You could always help someone else if too much - but you and your family may get hungry if not enough!
My opinion is that we should all have AT LEAST 2- 3 months worth of food on hand. I know that sounds daunting, but it could mean survival in a dire situation.
I would push for more than that (maybe 1 year) - but work on that time frame for a basic start.
Make sure you have a variety, so that what might be a miserable situation, doesn't seem worse.
The time of the year could also play a big part. In the summer you could have fresh garden produce - but the neighbors might see/take as well (if everyone has to stay home). It is best to have a good supply INSIDE that can't be seen by others.
I pray that we never have something that horrific happen that we would be bound to the home for that period of time. In this day and age, you just can't be sure of anything.
BE PREPARED FOR THE WHAT IF'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have a very good food storage. We also have water and a river that is close by. We have had to live off our storage in the past due to lack of funds and we ate just fine.
ReplyDeleteGood for you! Glad to hear it.
DeleteIt makes me so happy when people say - "of course we would be fine".
Preparedness is so terribly important for many reasons!
Oh I love your pantry!!! Thanks for sharing pics with us!
ReplyDeleteWe would be ok if we couldn't leave our property for a month or two, esp if we still had electricity and freezer foods. It would be a little more challenging in the winter without power though.
Thanks Kathy - that is a little part of 'deep' pantry in the basement.
DeleteYeah, I didn't even want to throw no heat or electric in the mix - figured we'd see how well stocked everyone is first. Later we can discuss options for dealing with those other problems!
Glad to hear you are well supplied!!
If the power stayed on we would have enough food and water. If the power went off then I would be trying very hard to preserve the meat portion of the freezer. Canning meat products is something that I have only learned of from you American ladies. Here a pressure canner is rare and costs a bomb, so is not something that I have looked at. It's summer here so we need the fridge just to stay on top of keeping food safe.
ReplyDeleteOur neighbours also grow various veg and there is a lot of over the fence swapping. I could see that this would continue in the event of having to stay at home for a month. We have a number of avocado coming on so this would be a brilliant butter substitute. Two of our neighbours have chooks so egg swaps could happen. We have a great little community here and I am pretty sure that we would all be helping and looking out for each other.
Jane, don't feel bad as I have never canned meat either. It scares me to pieces!! Something I need to learn.
DeleteI agree if something happened in the summer months we would all be in great shape as far as fresh food. Barter is wonderful.
I am happy you live in such a caring/sharing community.
Yes I could do it although I would be hoping and praying nothing else went wrong i.e. major medical drama etc. I think most people would be in trouble after a day or too.
ReplyDeleteI love your freezer. Full like that if the power went out it would stay solid for a few days too. I keep powdered and tinned milk which would get us by. I continually try and improve our situation with preps, food, skills etc. Thank you for this! xxx
Annabel, sadly I think many people I know would also only be covered for a few days. They don't listen, no matte how much we tell them to prepare. Unfortunately, many will find out the hard way.
DeleteI would hope the freezer would stay frozen for a while. Otherwise the neighborhood would see a big cookout!!
I love that you stay up on your preps and you post about them. The more people that get the word out the better.
Have a great day!
like Jane and Annabel, I am trying to build my pantry thanks to Patsi. Last week the water was turned off due to repairs, despite being told beforehand I of course forgot. However due to having bottled water hidden in the wardrobe I managed to fill the kettle for a cup of coffee and clean my teeth with a minimal amount of water.
ReplyDeleteDue to a limited income it takes time but I think we could just about manage for a couple of months foodwise. My aim is to have 12 months worth, if I can find enough room in the house.
Margaret
Meg, I believe that our panties are an ongoing venture. I don't think we are ever done preparing.
DeleteSo glad you were covered when the water was off. Many people don't think about water - but it is a necessity of live. We use it for so much - and we ASSUME it will always come out the faucet!
It is a little harder to prep when on a limited budget, but you and many of us are proof that it can be done.
Keep up the wonderful work.
When Super Storm Sandy hit a few years ago we got to try out our supplies. The stores were empty for 2-3 weeks. We were fine and did feed several friends and family. We were lucky because we live right near a fire house and our power was restored that day. Others weren't as lucky. People were sleeping over, eating over, showering, doing laundry. During the 2nd week I started to get nervous because we were going through so much oil. We were able to get a delivery no problem so heat and hot showers were still good.
ReplyDeleteMy husband did buy me a propane heater that Christmas. It was the only thing besides a generator that we didn't have. Being in NY we want heat if it happens in the cold.
I have 200 pounds of rice in my stockpile. I figure that if something every really did happen I could feed a lot of people. We live by a lake and have water purifiers so we can cook it. Great topic!
God bless you. I am so glad that you survived Sandy and that you were so prepared that you could help so many.
DeleteYour story is a great picture of what could happen to any of us. Thank you so much for sharing.
Blessings
Jeff and I would be fine for about 3 months food wise at the very least. We have enough here for us and for our kids and grandkids too. I was just looking at my pantry the other day and my freezers thinking I need to use a few things up. Our OTC medications and personal hygiene items are well stocked, along with our supplements. I do need to have my doctor call in to have my thyroid medications changed back to 3 month at a time supplies. Sadly, my other medications need to be filled monthly as I don't think they are allowed to do 3 month supplies of them at a time.
ReplyDeleteDebbie so glad that you are supplied to take care of the entire family. That is wonderful.
DeleteI have heard that there is a way at pharmacies to get meds a couple days before you are out. By doing such, you end up wit a couple extras that can be put back each month.
So glad to know that your family will be fine. I am sure that makes your family feel safe as well.
I have been following Patsy's posts and the Bluebirds and working towards a six month supply. We have quite a few things but not sure if we have enough of everything for 30 days or not. I imagine our diet would get rather limited towards the end. We do some 90 day supply meds but right not for my gluten stuff I am doing local until we see where I am and what I need. I do buy gluten free food mixes so have some of those ahead. Hard for me to be organized and know exactly what I need and what I have! Would hope the electricity would not go off for our freezer foods! Nancy
ReplyDeleteNancy, I am sure that having a special diet would make it harder for some people. keep up those supplies of gluten free mixes. I would hope that having a lot of sugar free fruits and canned veggies would be beneficial.
DeletePerhaps you need to work on a system of keeping track of what you have. Maybe something as simple as an inventory list of goods (keep in kitchen), and add and subtract food bought/used.
Have a good day.
My pantry is all right, used to be a year's worth, maybe six months now...we have a dry goods, a canned goods, a vegetable and bread and cheese and butter freezer, and a meat freezer. I hope husband gets the meat freezer on back up power soon!
ReplyDelete6 months is great. You know we could probably stretch it even further if necessary. All of us could eat less, add rice or potatoes, etc.
ReplyDeleteIt would be horrible to lose the freezer for sure!