Adventures in Homesteading - Emergency preparedness in winter

I've been asked why I decided to start a blog.  Well, I did it mainly to have a place to put my thoughts down. I tend to lose journals and notebooks, but I can always find my laptop.  Secondly, the idea just kind of popped into my head while I was processing those pumpkins.  I wanted a place to journal my processes and findings, a place that I would be able to find next year if I forgot what I did.  (Yes, I tend to be forgetful)

So while pondering the idea of a blog and a title, homesteading came to mind, my first idea for the blog title was Adventures in Homesteading, but we're not technically homesteading yet, and I didn't want to be limited on what I wrote about... but, I figured Adventures in Homesteading would make a good post series.

So, you may be wondering, "what exactly is homesteading?"  Well, in a nutshell, it means adopting a more sustainable, self sufficient lifestyle. Like everything there are varying degrees of homesteading; from what I would term very lax (like myself) to uber homesteaders who grow almost all of their own food & livestock and live off the grid.  My goal is to move from the very lax position we are in now to as close to the uber homesteader as I can get.  Baby steps though.

Sounds like a major undertaking, huh.  Well, I don't usually look at the big picture. Right now, I am focused on food preparedness and emergency preparedness.  Remember, sustainable and self sufficient.  Are you ready for a power outage for three days or more in the cold of winter?  Would you be able to stay in your home or would you have to leave? 

Lets start out easy.  You're going to need light... Flashlights & batteries, candles & lighters/matches, oil lamps, oil & extra wicks.  We have all of these within our reach in the house for regular power outages already.  We also have, in our camping supplies, battery powered lanterns.  Gather them up and keep them in a centralized location. (I also have a flashlight on my bedside table in case of a power outage at night, this way I can get to the other light sources without stumbling around in the dark).

Back to batteries, we are big into Cub Scouts, and one of Boy Scouting's newest fund raising partnerships is with Interstate Batteries, the battery sales usually take place in the spring. Yes, they are a little more expensive than buying Duracell at the store, but the big selling point for us? (Other than supporting scouting).  These Interstate alkaline batteries have a 7 year shelf life.  So stock up, they will be good when you need them! I'll let you know when the spring sales start and give you some help locating a scout selling batteries in your area. But check around, you don't need Interstate Batteries, we were buying them to support the Scouts anyway, the long shelf life was just a bonus.  The bottom line is; have  a lot of batteries on hand, and keep their shelf life in mind.

The biggest issue for most of us in a winter emergency will be heat, and while we don't have the best solution in place, we do have a solution.  The Mr. Buddy Heater.

Mr. Buddy has been our friend on many a camping trip and,if necessary, we can bring it in the house and use it to heat the bedroom which we have designated as the room we would use as a living room in an emergency.  The one we have heats about a 200 square foot area and uses the small propane gas bottles or can be hooked up to a 20lb tank(like you use for a gas grill) with an attachment hose. Be sure to make sure you have extra tanks on hand, you can pick up one or two of the small cans a month on your trip to Wal-mart, and if you don't have an extra gas grill tank, why not pick one up, you know it will come in handy in the summer (make sure both tanks are full now for emergencies).

OK, so what about food prep? If you have a gas range, you can still cook, but what if, like us, you have an electric range.  Again, we looked to our camping equipment and our propane camp stove, but don't forget about your grill, you can use that too if it is in a location you can get to in severe weather.  Our combination gas/charcoal grill is on a covered back porch so we should be able to get to it and use it in inclement weather if need be.

So now we can cook food. Do we have food? For short term probably. But what if you are snowed in for a week or more? The good news is you won't lose anything from your freezer.  If need be, you can place items in a plastic tub and put it out in the snow.  However, when thinking of emergency food preparedness, think canned goods, and warehouse clubs. I buy my tuna at Sam's Club in packs of 12+ cans, granted, we use a lot of tuna, but I always have one pack in the pantry for every day use and one in the laundry room (our current back up food storage location) for emergencies.  When I run out in the pantry I take the one out of laundry room and then add it to my list to replace on my next trip to Sam's.  Occasionally I pick up a large pack of canned chicken as well.  Spam is also a good idea if you can stomach it.  You can also buy dehydrated foods at the warehouse stores, sometimes they even have emergency packs that contain several different varieties of dehydrated food.  Also make sure you have "comfort foods" available.  Dominic's favorite soups are the chicken ramen noodle (cheap for food storage) and Campbell's Chicken Noodle, I always try to have lots of these on hand. Think of your families favorite comfort foods and prepare now so they are available in an emergency situation.  Watch for sales and stock up! Don't forget tea, coffee and hot cocoa. (pick up a camping coffee percolator or buy instant coffee; old fashioned tea kettle is a good idea for heating water too). Lets face it, you're not going to be very happy if you're snowed in for a long period of time, so think of little things that will make you feel better in this situation and keep them on hand... I think I'll pick up a few extra packs of Dove Promises for my stash.

Don't forget about entertainment.  The batteries in the Nintendo DS are not going to last long at all, what will the kids do with no video games?  What will you do with no computer or TV? We have assembled a library of books, a closet full of board games and several decks of cards for just such a purpose (and some other purposes I will discuss in a later blog).

Remember, you don't have to be a Boy Scout to live by their motto: "Be Prepared".  It's never too early to start.