I kind of became a prepper by accident. We live "away" from civilization as most people know it. To drive to the big city became very expensive when Obama took office and the exorbitant $2 gas ran up to $4, so I cut my runs to once a month. Bulk items. Then I started gardening. At the end of the first growing season, having foisted as many cucumbers, peppers, squash and carrots on friends and family, I wept at the wasted veggies. They just kept producing. So I invested in some basic canning equipment, dragged my grannie's canning cookbook and tried my hand at canning. A little confession here: my first attempt was a mess. I got a few jars up; but it was a mess. You have to prepare for this.
Then I started looking at blogs and prepper sites, and realized what I was doing has a much deeper purpose besides saving a few bucks and cutting down on the trips. It's preparing my family for the fallout. TEOTWAWKI. And I got serious, but again I didn't know what I was doing. It's a daunting task to consider feeding your family for a year when the grid goes down. What do I store? How much per person? How long will it store? How do I store it?
This is one of the best starter sites I've found. A chart for what and how much. The cost calculated is going to vary by location and probably has gone up a bit since this was posted; but for $200-$400, you can have a solid foundation to your food preps.
http://www.provident-living-today.com/Bulk-Food-Storage.html
For the person just getting started, this is a good place to start. I would also recommend getting Holly Deyo's book, "Dare To Prepare", here: http://standeyo.com/Our_Books/DTP.html
ReplyDeleteNow I do not have any relationship with the Deyo's. I've just been prepping for many years and have a fairly extensive prepping library.
I feel that this is the first book that one should start with.
Bob
III
Irony of ironies, people are now starting to ask me about GF living, from scratch cooking, and prepping. I seriously feel like I'm flying by the seat of my pants on that last one. It's helping me to learn more about it though.
ReplyDelete-CM
I logged for a living in north Idaho for many years including a couple of starvation strips back in the Benewah and we learned the hard way due too long seasonal lay-offs and occasional economic downturns to spend the entire summer preparing for winter. Prepping became a lifestyle for us.
ReplyDeleteEvery year my wife cans around 500 jars of fruits and vegetables, some of this comes from our garden and the rest is purchased from commercial growers. We canned 84 quarts of meat from a bull elk I shot last fall. Often we cook our meals and heat the house during colder weather with our Enterprise King wood cook stove.
Last weekend we made a big grocery run and stocked up on an extra 200lbs. of non-perishable food just in case one of the kids and their families run short. It is simply ludicrous to allow anyone to dictate your own survival.