Emergency Preparation----Living Green

Ok I'll start this blog by saying ..."I am NOT a KOOK". that being said....

Emergency Preparation, living self-sustaining...whatever you want to call it...

I have felt in the past couple of years that we should be more self sufficient as a family. There are so many things going on in the world, politically, natural disasters, threats of terrorism and pandemics, that it pays to be prepared. Ultimately no one can prepare for everything that could happen and our lives are in God's hands but you can make wise decisions that can benefit your family.

So I've started reading books, looking on the Internet and watching some TV shows about being self substantiable and more green. It's interesting to me that so many different kinds of people are saying the same thing. You got people who are FAR left and FAR right as well as people in the middle saying "Be Prepared" We all saw the lesson of Hurricane Katrina where thousands of folks, did nothing to prepare and trusted the government to meet all their needs, and the government couldn't right away. I remember when the first hurricane of '04 was turning towards us and how it went from a small category 2 hurricane to a category 4 in a matter of minutes and how it changed course! I felt true fear as I rushed out to get a few things and there were only a few stores opened and they had nothing. I was unprepared. I don't want to be like that ever again.

So I've been going through all our stuff, to remove clutter. With 3 kids, there is plenty of clutter. I've cleaned out all the rooms, closets and drawers. Why? to make room for provisions for our family. I've still got to go through our storage stuff and I'm gonna have a personal yard sale or just donate our stuff to the church and have a church yard sale.

I've been making a list of things we need in case of an emergency situation that would last for a month or so...What if there was a disruption in trucking and the stores didn't have anything on the shelves? Or the grid was down and the electricity failed for a few weeks? We lived without electricity for 8 days with the last hurricane of '04 and it was hard. We didn't have any in our home nor could you get gas, the pumps didn't work, the stores were closed down...it was rough!

So I have a list and now have space to put the new stuff. So I'm planning to use some of our tax return to stock up on canned goods and supplies. In the next few days,I have an appointment with a company to put a hand pump on our well so if the electricity is out, we can still have water. I have a lady coming to help me set up 2 box gardens for fresh veggies and fruit. They will be 4 ft by 4 ft and have 16 boxes each. In each box I can plant a different vegetable or fruit. One garden should be able to feed a family of 4 for a year. So I'm doubling up. I'm also looking into some fruit trees. I've thought about getting some chickens but....I have an extra month's supply of Sam's meds and I'm going to stock up on at least a month's supply of Pedisure!

Ultimately I trust God to provide but I've felt this stirring inside for awhile now, to be prepared. Having 3 children makes you think more responsibly also! It's important to be able to meet their basic needs. It's funny, but I've meet all kinds of people who are doing the same thing, they feel uneasy and realize they need to be prepared for a disaster.

I'd love to have a "green" home with solar power and all that good stuff but I can't afford that. So I'm doing what I can to be self sufficent!