Sustainability
If you’ve taken my advice in previous columns and prepared for hard times, then you have ample food to last for a while, and an adequate water source. Kathryn Smith has some good advice regarding an emergency preparedness kit. Here is a LINK to her article.
Keeping the shelter where you have everything stored, whether you live in a city or the country, is now a high priority. If you need money to keep your house, consider renting a portion of it to a family that has lost theirs. If you live in an apartment, consider getting a roommate. Unless you like living under a bridge, in a car, or under a tree, make these arrangements quickly.
While food storage is essential, when it is gone and there is no way to replace it, you go without. Therefore, our attention must turn to inexpensive ways to keep our food supply re-stocked. Here are some suggestions:
- If you have a large enough garden, you will be able to can and dry your own vegetables and fruit. When you harvest your crop, make sure to harvest some seeds also. You will need them for the next planting.
- Consider getting a couple of chickens or geese. Geese love free ranging, are easy to keep because they eat grass and weeds, and love stormy weather. They are also good watchdogs. Don’t be afraid of stocking up on the eggs. Eggs can be dried and kept in the cupboard for a long time. The shells can also be dried and ground up for a good calcium supplement.
- If you like milk and cheese, consider that goat’s milk is some of the healthiest milk you can get. Goats are easy keepers, and will eat your brush and weeds. This milk, if processed carefully, is very sweet and you can make various flavors of cheese from it just by adding a few different ingredients. It is not a difficult process. All it takes is a bit of vinegar, the goat’s milk, cheesecloth, and whatever flavorings you want to add.
- What one person doesn’t have, another will. When money and commodities are scarce, bartering is the way to go. Start networking with others, and let the trading begin.
With the looming financial crisis, it is necessary for us to be as self-sufficient as possible. By growing and raising most of our own food and getting together with others that are doing the same, we can make it through hard times and be healthier for it.
Copyright 2008, Barbara H. Peterson
