All Safely Gathered In- Part One

Lately I have been feeling more of a push to get my family and home prepared for emergencies. (read: FOOD STORAGE, etc.) And with the economy going who knows where, I'm feeling it would be wise to get back on the "preparation bandwagon" and put into action all the things I've learned-- and sometimes done-- over the years.

A couple of things have inspired me again in my quest for preparedness. First was a survival experiment (simulation) done by a lady I met online. Luckily, she did blog a bit about it, and you can read about the experience here: www.sufferingsimulation.blogspot.com

One of the things that she discovered, is that what we think might be enough for our family to live on, is not usually accurate! (I found that, too, when we lived with similar circumstances-- more on that further down!) Her "Suffering Simulation"  got me thinking, so I did some looking around "YouTube" and found a video that features LDS women explaining their food storage supplies, and how they gather, store, and use their food storage. I was especially impressed with the last lady on the video. I could see that she was probably the only one who had a full year's supply of not only food, but all the non-food necessities, as well. Here's a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zjUttkGsW8&feature=related

Just about one year ago, my husband and I attended an amazing fireside done by a great lady here in our area. Her name is Wendy DeWitt. She handed out a booklet that helps figure out how much we need to store of certain foods, (complete with recipes) and talked about all the different ways to store a variety of foods. She did give all of us who attended permission to share what we learned from her. She just wants to get the word out, and I feel the prompting to spread the information, too. So keep an eye out for her great ideas in the future!

Lastly, I wanted to link back to some of my former posts on food storage and some lessons we learned in our home when we were going through a time of scarcity. http://blog.oldfashionedmotherhood.com/2007/09/food-storage-part-1.html

We CAN prepare ourselves and our families for unforeseen troubles. Remember, if we are prepared, we have no reason to fear! So let's get started, shall we? Let's start with a small goal of 3 months storage and go from there.

I'll be back with a new "All Safely Gathered In" post next week. Until then, I have a challenge for all my sisters: * Take time this week to go through the food storage you have and WRITE IT DOWN in a notebook or binder that you will set aside for food storage/preparedness. Record what the food is, and how much you've got. Then walk around your home and record where you can store some food.

We don't each need a big store room or fancy shelves to store food. I'm betting you have some space under beds, in closets, basements, crawlspaces, or under stairs. Write those spaces down, considering the potential of each. And feel free to record what your "ideal"circumstances would be, but recognize that we cannot afford to freeze up and panic due to our perfectionism. We are just going to do what we CAN right now. So, ladies, find a notebook, some paper, a pen or pencil, and start evaluating! We CAN do this, little by little. Who's with me?! On your mark, get set, and... GO!!!