How I Met The Challenge!
I've been out of town most of the month, but here are a few things I managed to do anyway...
• Food Storage: Bought more rice and added another bag of wheat to up my storage a bit - I hear prices are going up on that kind of thing. Wish I had room for even more!
• Emergency Preparedness: I'm currently hosting a THRIVE party to purchase some shelf stable foods. If you'd like to add to your own emergency food storage, you can help us both by placing an order! (Just click HERE.)
• Sustainable Living: Learned a lot from Joel Salatin this month... does that count? I also acquired two more basil plants, four more lavender plants, attended a meeting with a Range Management Consultant and had plant samples from my acreage identified. Now I know some of the edible (and toxic) weeds and brush for my goats to browse on. I also acquired a DVD on Polyface Farm... I'm really jazzed about learning a few things to make my homestead more sustainable.
Today's Give-Away & Last Month's Winner!
Last month's give-away from USA Emergency Supply was the Aquamira Water Bottle and Filter. I'm pleased to announce the winner today...
This month our give-away item will be arriving at someone's home, just in time for the apple harvest! The Back to Basics Apple Peeler allows you to peel, core, and slice an apple in about one minute. I love how it makes my apple pies look so much prettier, but really, all those uniform slices actually help the pie to cook more evenly (at least it seems that way to me). And it definitely makes dehydrating apples better.
The winner will be able to select between the suction base and the clamp mount.
Now it's your turn to join the Preparedness Challenge..
Join the Challenge & Enter The Give Away
To be entered in the drawing, leave a comment (with your email info) on something you did this week to be more prepared in terms of food storage, emergencies, or sustainable living (or all three areas!) OR link up your Preparedness Challenge blog post (you only need to comment or post, not both). Posts not related to at least one of the three areas of preparedness will not be counted toward the give-away. Please be sure to clearly state in your comment or post what you did this month to be more prepared (see my example above as one easy way to do this). Again, the three areas we are focusing on include:
• food storage for life's unexpected events whether related to long term effects from a disaster or a job loss and everything in between
• emergencies for times of power outages, natural disasters, and such
• sustainable living in order to be more independent, both physically and financially, and to live as close to the land as possible given each individual's situation
Please be respectful of our challenge and only add a post on one of these three preparedness topics ONLY in order to retain the integrity of the link up event. If your post is just a general homesteading post, please save it for the Monday Homestead Barn Hop.
NOTE: This challenge and give-away ends Friday, August 3rd at 11:59 p.m. PST.
Be sure to take the Preparedness Challenge picture and add it to your blog so others know you're participating and hopefully they'll join up, too! THANK YOU!!
NOTE: This challenge and give-away ends Friday, August 3rd at 11:59 p.m. PST.
Be sure to take the Preparedness Challenge picture and add it to your blog so others know you're participating and hopefully they'll join up, too! THANK YOU!!
This week I have canned 16 quarts of peaches, with another half bushel to can today. I also made and canned 41 pints of homemade applesauce and set aside another gallon jug of water in our basement, in case of emergency. How's that for preparedness? :)
ReplyDeleteThis month I have been really busy with food storage. I bought 25 pounds of tomatoes and canned 25 jars of salsa. I topped off my normal food items. I asked my husband what he would most want to have on hand if there were a need to eat from our stockpile and bought the things he suggested. I bought an extra 5 pounds of cornmeal and grits. (It looks as though meat prices will rise substantially. If I have to feed the family meatless meals, it is easier to do that with cornbread on the side.)
ReplyDeleteI now have a six month supply of oatmeal. I need to buy a few more bags of dried beans to totally finish my stockpiling.
Emergencies: It sounds small, but I hand wrote a list of names and phone numbers to keep in my purse for emergencies. I ended up in a situation last month that I needed these and did not have even one of these phone numbers. I do not want to be in that predicament again.
Sustainable living: I planted fall garden--fennel, tomatillos, English peas, and broccoli. (The broccoli does not seem to be doing well, though.)
This week, I was fortunately able to add $50 to my usual food budget. I spent the money stocking up on canned and non-perishable items on sale at 3 local supermarkets. I don't think I will have to buy tomato products, beans or olive oil for a loooooong time. What a great feeling!
ReplyDeleteKate in NY
kateonah@msn.com
I've try to post my link with a picture in it, but it doesn't work... Sorry!
ReplyDeleteThis month I have canned, dried, froze, juiced and made jam from cherries, apricots and peaches. Peaches are just coming on here so I will be working on those for the next month. I have a large walk in pantry so I keep it well stocked. This month, because of canning, I have purchased sugar in bulk that I keep in a 5 gallon bucket.
ReplyDeleteI can all year long. When stew meat, chicken etc. comes on sale, I can soups, stews and chili. I don't think we should depend on our freezers during hard times. What if the electricity went out? When celery or any kind of vegetable or fruit is in season and it is a good sale I buy in bulk and dehydrate it. Dried foods will last for years if it is kept in a dark cook place. I keep my dehydrated foods in half gallon or quart jars. I then put the jars in brown paper bags and keep them on the bottom shelf in my panty.
I also stock on emergency preparedness foods. I am trying to order anywhere from$50 to $100 per month to build up my stock. Mostly basics like baking supplies, milk, eggs, butter etc. The two bottom shelves of my pantry are dedicated to #10 size cans of food. I also keep wheat berries, oats, rice and beans in large food safe buckets. I have also purchased (through the years) a hand grinder for flour and also a hand food processor.
I plan to blog to on this soon, an am in the process of painting my pantry. So, when that is done I will take pictures. I enjoy your blog!
I canned salsa with ingredients from the garden, added rice and flour to my stockpile, made some meals in a jar and homemade laundry soap. We also redid our emergency kit by restocking bandages, batteries and antiseptics. This week it is my goal to work on the emergency binder for all of our household stuff.
ReplyDeleteThis week I canned and froze 14 quarts of Bing cherries froze an additional 9 pounds,finished freezing the last of the sugar snap peas (over 20lbs), and ordered seeds to start my fall garden. (our season is late this year.) I will be ripping out half the pea vines to build a raised bed for the fall crops(something I have been wanting for the past two years). I am giving away the rest of the peas to family and friends. Strawberries have been made into jam and ice cream topping and the rest frozen. I also made a batch of cherry jam. Raspberries and blueberries are next as are peaches, pears and green beans. This year I will also be freezing corn on the cob as a treat. Didn't want you all to think all we eat is fruit. You can see this and more on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI filled empty Milk Jugs with Water for emergencies (not to drink but to use to flush toilets when we lose power). Made a new batch of Laundry Soap. And purchased some canned goods on super sale to add to our pantry! :)
ReplyDeleteYou are all an encouragement to me. This last month I swapped, canned, dehydrated and ate fresh the abundace of cabbage in my garden. We restocked the pinto beans and have had to re-evaluate the budget. We're still looking for that deal on rain barrels. The rest of the garden is lokking good with a fall planting just around the corner.
ReplyDeleteThis week I canned some Grape Jelly, using grapes from our vines. Also I ordered some mylar bags to start using for some long term storage, and a few things to go in a bug out bag. Also we set up some rain barrels in our chicken coop.
ReplyDeletecoulterdawn76@windstream.net
Amy, I apologize for getting carried away. Oh, I am so sorry :( I was just excited that I got to your link-up before there were already 2 or 300 and plus I didn't read until I had them already linked up. Please delete any or all that don't fit this link-up!!! That is what happens to me when I get on autopilot! I love your helpful blog.
ReplyDeleteI have had a very productive prepardness month! I added over $300 worth of Thrive freeze dried meats and vegetables to my stock (yes from Kendra!). I also was able to can 4 pints of cherry preserves, 8 pints of cherry/strawberry preserves, 4 quarts and 2 pints of tomatos, and 8 pints of mushrooms. I also added 4 more bags of brown rice and 4 bags of assorted dried beans to my stockpile. I also bought a few cans of beans that were on sale to add to the shelves.
ReplyDeleteI would love to win this peeler! I can invision it being put to work this fall canning or dehydrating apples!
God Bless!
cmbeers14@hotmail.com
This month I have canned a few tomatoes - my first attempt ever. The canning process went OK, but I don't think I like the recipe I used. Everything was for 50 pounds or more of tomatoes, and I only had 1/2 of a hammermill paperbox full of tomoatoes. I tried to scale down the recipe, but it just doesn't taste right. I would love any information on small scale canning. I have signed up for the free webinar on 101 Food Prep. I am just starting out with all of this and am really excited!!
ReplyDeleteThis week . . . spurred to action by recent post from "The Way GrandMa Does it"... made a large purchase of ground beef from Sams w/ plans to pressure can;purchased a variety of long term storage items in #10 cans from the LDS Storehouse;took close to 50 lbs of sugar that I purchased on sale to cannery to put in #10 cans; shelled peas for canning; put pear slices in dehydrater - - thinking "could I use my apple thingy for this? maybe I should get one with the suction attachment this year"...and then I see your post today! Yay!! Thanks for the opportunity to win one. THANK YOU for your blog - - lots of good information and inspiration!!
ReplyDeleteCarried 2 steers to the butcher for processing. That should keep us in beef for a year. And provide us with tallow for frying for a year. So that's my food storage and sustainable living steps. I also plan to finish my household binder with important account numbers and insurance info so in an emergency I can just grab that binder and have everything I need in one place.
ReplyDeleteON our sustainable area - we planted 9 fruit and nut trees this month. Watching the peaches closely - not sure they will make it. The other 7 are doing great so far. Canning corn relish this weekend - 12 pints. Also canning more chicken meat for quick meals. Trying to finish the chicken runs this week - the girls should start laying in the next few weeks (we are so excited).
ReplyDeleteI picked raspberries and made jam. I added 100 lbs of flour, 20 lbs of honey, 10 lbs of peanut butter, a gallon of oil, 8 lbs of powdered milk and several canned beans to my food storage. I purchased several bags of corn pasta as I can't eat wheat, and the price of corn is rising rapidly due to the drought. I harvested the garlic from my garden, and put in a couple more berry plants. I also added a few items to my first aid kit.
ReplyDeleteWe were able to add lots of canned goods to our pantry, frozen items for the freezer and lots of tissue for the household goods section.
ReplyDeleteMichele xoxo
The Homesteading Cottage
Hello, Please enter in Giveaway. I can 36 jars of pears, 2 dozen salsa, bought 3 cases of canned veggies on sale, added more bottled water and bought 100 count oxygen absorbers. Good Luck to all!
ReplyDeleteI have been dehydrating organic corn, and peppers from our garden. This week I am going to dehydrate zucchinis.
ReplyDeleteI made my first batch of soap last week, which turned out wonderful! It is a lye soap recipe in which I turned it into Jasmine Green Tea and Lemon scent! It smells so nice.
I went through all of our batteries and flashlights and refilled all. I also am working on enlarging my medical kit. (...but, I hope I never need it!)
In just a month or two, we'll be getting apples from a local man and I would love to win the slicer! I used to have one, but after 15 years of heavy use, it broke... :-( I haven't replaced it yet, but have been thinking that it is high time that I do! :-)
With those apples, we dehydrate, make apple sauce, and will also can apple pie filling.
I always enjoy your blog! Not only are your posts wonderful, but I love your pictures. Thank you for the inspiration!
Blessings! ~ Kim (countryroad@volcano.net)
Wow! I'm just learning to can. Which is what brought me to this website as I was double checking instructions on canning pickles with Tattler lids. I did a search and found a great article. I'm doing both fermented pickles and canning in a vinegar brine to see which tastes best. I'm also making sauerkraut today. Earlier in the week I got out my archery targets to get ready for bow season do that my family can add more venison to the freezer.
ReplyDeleteWe bought a Berkey! Yahoo!(Finally) We lost power for about four days during the recent storms that hit West Virginia. We were already stocked up on bottled water but the stores were closed and we were unsure of when they would re-open. Also, come neighboring cities had lost water all together! Had we not been stocked, we would not have had any drinking/cooking water! We also stocked up on gasoline for our generator, but are looking into what we can do should that not be an option too. We are grateful to have been able to make this purchase!
ReplyDeleteI am just now getting started with this process. My husband and I are looking for some land to start our official homestead, but in the meantime I am trying to learn what I need to do to make it a success. This week I signed up for the Food Prep 101 webinar. I just canned my first batch of tomatoes. The canning process went well, but I didn't like the flavor. All of the recipes were for fifty pounds or more and I only had about five. I got three half pint jars out of it. It was fun, but it let me know I have a lot to learn!!!! I went and checked out the Thrive items. I will probably end up ordering some of the strawberries to test out and get in on the giveaway. I had starting stock piling some stuff, but now that we have decided to sell our house and actually move to more land, we didn't want to move it all so we are eating up our stock pile.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first week in about 2 months that I've been able to work on this. I canned 2 (huge) rounds of fig preserves and jam from my mom's tree, I put pickles into a brine to make into sweet icicle pickles in about one week, made 2 batches of spicy salsa, bought rice, flour, salt, baking soda and beans for my pantry and worked on dehydrating fruits that were on sale.
ReplyDeleteIt has been about 2 months since I have been able to do my usual efforts, and I took advantage of a weekend off to:
ReplyDeletecanned two batches of salsa, put pickles into a brine to make into sweet pickles in about a week, made fig preserves and jam from what we picked from my mom's tree, harvested texas persimmons and made them into a sauce (and will do more this week as they are coming into season now), did a class on cooking with wild edibles using local plants such as wood sorrel, lambsquarter, mesquite pods, agarita and more, and also bought rice, beans, flour, baking soda and cornmeal to replenish my supplies.
Food Storage: I have put up almost 300 jars of different home grown foods this week alone as I strive to stock up for the cold months to feed my family.
ReplyDeleteEmergencies: we purchased a set of four solar lights with an on/off switch for using in the evening instead of flashlights that require batteries. It was an idea shared with me by another blogger during a series I covered this last week on living through the derecho storms and the power outages that wreaked havoc on the system.
Sustainable living: We have now planted seven dwarf fruit trees on our new property in an attempt to get our food as local as our backyard, and just finished stacking up another two pallets of wood for heating our house this winter.
Thanks for the opportunity!
~Heather from The Welcoming House (www.thewelcominghouse.blogspot.com)
I love this site and all the inspiration it brings!
ReplyDeleteMy pressure canner has not left the kitchen this past month. I have canned 48 pints of meats, 8 quarts broth, peaches, tomatoes in various forms, green beans, corn and a few other vegetables. I added 30 lbs of sugar to my storage. I converted a plastic tool box into an emergency first aid kit, and made a list of the expiration dates of anything that is perishable to keep it up to date.
Robin W
robwrob8@gmail.com
This week I canned 9 pints of Blueberry Lime Jam and I started preserving our kale to enjoy this winter! Over the past month I have been preserving something each week, from making jam, pie filling or canning chicken stock! Planning to have a full pantry going into the winter!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post and something that I should think about because of losing power a few times during some heavy rain storms in the Lancaster area. Richard from Amish Stories
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting. ;o) Smiles, Paula
ReplyDeleteI picked up two more 5 gallon gas cans to store a little extra gas for our generator. We have one but that is for the lawn mower. I also took inventory of my pantry and made a list of those things that I need to stock up on. I am checking out different storage options for some of my food. I am also working on the emergency binder in case of fire. Have it almost done.
ReplyDeleteI left link #24. I'd like to raise meat chickens to be more self sufficient. I know part of that is butchering. My post is a newbies look at butchering to figure out if I can handle it.
ReplyDeletefood storage--i added 2 large bags of rice, a super large canister of peanut butter, 10 lbs of sausage, and some cat food to my food storage this month. i also filled several bottles with water for my water storage as well as adding a berkey water filter to my larder!
ReplyDeletesustainable living- we have devoured Born-Again Dirt: Farming to the Glory of God by Noah Sanders.
emergencies- bought 2 bags worth of candles at a yard sale. added 2 more oil lamps to our collection.
Fifteen one-gallon glass jugs are now filled with distilled water and on our shelves to help with our water storage.
ReplyDeleteI added food storage meals from GO Foods (link to missmcf.mygofoods.com for more info), an awesome newer company that is helping to build my food supply.
In addition to my grape jelly/juice this weekend, I have also created emergency bags for the family. And I am currently dehydrating my first round of bananas. Hope they turn out okay. :)
ReplyDeleteWe just bought 2 bushels of peaches and have been freezing them and are getting ready to can what's left. We also have an abundance of jalapenos in our garden and never can use them all at once so we freeze them so we can enjoy them in the winter. Our friend was out of town this last week so she let us pick out of her garden and take all of it home :D. So needless to say we have SO MANY tomatoes. We have been making lots of salsa. yumm.
ReplyDeleteWe have become such a world of being spoiled and wasteful. I'm afraid in the near future, we're going to have to know how to live off of the land completely. We need to make sure we are preparing well to make sure our families are fed.
This week I added 20 cans of spaghetti sauce to my food storage and purchased on sale seeds for my fall garden as well as the garden next year. I also made a large bucket of cherries from a tree that overhangs our yard into fruit leather. It was the pits! :)
ReplyDeleteAlso purchased 25 pounds of scratch for my chickens.