Garden Tips & Resources

One.  The first survival food storage secret is to learn to garden and use whatever space you have available.  From a back yard area, raised beds, container gardens on a deck or small herb pots in the kitchen window, people can grow more than they suspect with a little creativity and effort.  Use edible landscaping for plants that are ornamental as well as that provide food.Need a few shade trees?  Why not use fruit or nut trees – they will supply shade as well as food.  

Two.  Learn to ‘put up’ food – canning, food dehydrating and other techniques are increasingly easy with modern gadgetry designed to save food.  It needs a little effort – but on a kitchen counter you can dry enough herbs for a year ; you can make real powdered and flaked pepper, garlic and onion.  

Three.  Next survival food storage  secret is if you freeze food, be sure you have got a means to keep it going in a crisis.  If the electricity goes off you do not need to lose a year’s supply of food!  Have a generator and fuel, get a propane freezer, have some method of keeping that food cold.  Putting food aside is only part of insuring your food supply – storing it safely is the other issue.  

Four.  Be discreet.  Don’t brag about your food supply and don’t spread the gospel you have six months of food in your basement.  If you do, and there is a crisis, you could be overrun with folks who know you have lots stocked away.  Are you then prepared to protect your food supply?  

Five.  Storage a problem?Use areas many don’t think about.  The pantry is good for many things but if you’re putting up dozens of jars of spaghetti sauce, preserves, soups and other sauces you are going to need room.  Have a protected corner of the basement up off the ground ( enough that a wet floor will not damage the food ).  

Six.Here is one more survival food storage secret.  Along with your food supply have a method to prepare food including water, griddle and gas/wood/charcoal, for example.  If a storm| typhoon knocks an area down for 2-3 weeks be able to rely on your own resources for those 2-3 weeks.  Have on hand not only prerequisite items but some luxury items too.  These might include a little candy, or cookies or something that just makes things a touch more like home.  

Seven.  Don’t forget storing personal cleanliness items – you can make a ‘composting toilet’ from free plans onlinehaving this available with sawdust or shavings, toilet roll and other survival gear can significantly increase the comfort in an emergency.  

Eight.  Do not depend on the governing body helping – or on folks being friendly.  A disastrous situation like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina showed the government cannot handle it – folks have got to be in a position to rely on themselves.  Prepare and have plans in place for tornado, fire, emergency evacuation and sheltering in place ( being restricted to home ).  Remember a train derailment or other issues can change things in a hurry!  Practice that evacuation.  You have 10 minutes- what do you grab?  Hesitating can be deadlyhaving a plan can mean survival.  

Nine.  Be in a position to cook from the start, make bread and do other skills to get thru if you had to.  If you have the food stocked up it does not do any good if you can not use it.  If you are dependent on mixes make your own mixes in Ziploc bags that seal tightly – label with a marker right on the bag with how much liquid, egg and oil to add.  In a pinch, that bag can be the bowl – simply put wet ingredients in and mix, then decant into a baking pan.  Experiment with your griddle to make things before you’ve got to.  

Ten.  Being able to hunt and fish can imply having an ongoing food supply.  Having fishing gear and hunting supplies can suggest the difference between eating or not.  In the depression some spoke of having a little dog that would go thru culverts and flush out rabbits while the enormous dog at the other end dispatched the rabbit as it ran out.  Sporting?  Maybe notbut if it comes to eating or not, how ethical will you be after not eating for 4 days?  

Don’t wait to get prepared.  Work on getting things growing, on learning the talents you have got to to survive.  When the public food supply is interrupted it will be too late.

Find more essential survival gear at http://essentialsurvivalgearcatalog.com

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