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Sunflower

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Hi all.

 

I am 50 years old. I have medical issues and still have much to do prep wise. Something like having enough prescription meds is one task I am working on slowly.

 

I was doing pretty good with food planning until recent changes. We took on a few more mouths to feed. We have some neighbors that were going hungry and having hard times due to a recent passing in the family (minus one soc. sec check for food). What I have discovered is that those that need social assistance the most, often do not have the capacity to access it. Enough said.

 

Anyways, things are not real bad yet so I hear, but for us, we feel the pinch and I feel a sense of urgency.

 

I have a some fire power and some training, but need and desire more. I did poorly with the garden last year. I am a caretaker to my 81 year old husband. He is very limited with mobility due to stroke. I started the garden late and then became busy with hospitilation issues, plus the weather was very hot. I don't know how to can or hunt yet. I hope to can some butter before the year end - 2012. I plan to start learning about preparing game this year by assisting other hunters.

 

One of my biggest challenges is in the area of paying off debt.

 

I reside in a simple 1920s, 2 bedroom home with little to no closets. I don't have a traditional oven stove set up. I used my husband's money to purchase a freig, icebox, microwave, washer and dryer when getting married 10 years ago. I use a electric skillet and crock pot for cooking meals most often.

 

I live on a 120 acre farm with a hand dug well - 25 ft. I have no back up power for when the electricity goes down, and down it goes for weeks at a time during ice storms.

 

Well, that is a summary about me. I am the one with the sense of urgency. My hubby does not feel the way I do, but tolerates me. He has concern I will be wasting the food stored up. I eat what I store, and store what I eat, so I see minimal risk there.

 

I have lots of concerns in relation to caring for my husband. I desire to be a better prepper so I can care for him better during harder times that could happen during his lifetime, and mine in the life that could follow.

 

Thanks for the nice web site. I hope this entry takes, this is my fourth attempt since first finding the site a couple weeks ago.

 

Enjoy.

 

P.S. I was raised in Southern California. Had goats and horses in back yard when living in a Village outside of LosAngeles, but still in the county. I do not have the same skills that many Kansas women have at my age.

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Welcome.

 

You have a lot to deal with. It is so hard to prep with meds since you can only get a limited amount at a time.

 

As for canning butter, please, do not do that. It can lead to botulism poisoning.... I am a trained Master Food Preserver/Food Safety Advisor. I work for my local county extension office.

I am happy to help with food preservation questions.

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Hi, Sunflower! It is so nice to have you here. There are lots of people that start out prepping without family support. The idea is to do what you can because every baby step gets you that much closer to your goal. After reading yhour intro, I'd say that the frst thing that yhou need to shore up is your water access. Do you store water right now? If not, then you can ask folks to save 2 liter soda bottles that can be filled with tap water. If you want them to be used as drinking water, you will need to add a bit of bleach or something to keep it potable.

 

While you mention your husband's age, you didn't mention yours. (No I'm not fishing for your age... I plan to be eternally 28, though I may have a problem when my own kids reach that age in a few years!) Due to your husband's illness, he might not see the need to stock up since his immediate concern might be his health. What you can do is involve him in the prepping for his own health. He might want to ask his doctor for samples of his medications at every appointment. Just the fact that you get ice storms is a huge red flag to me. For that reason alone, there should be a back up supply in your house. Also, try refilling prescriptions as soon as your health insurance will allow you. This can help to build up a few extra days supply each month. Some insurance companies will allow you to have a 3 month supply on hand if yholu order the meds via mail. This might be another possibility. Our health insurance allows only a 30 day supply if we get our meds from the pharmacy but will allow a 90 day supply if we order via mail.

 

Do you have a backup for cooking? If not, a portable charcoal grill might work for now. Only use it outside, of course. If you can't get charcoal at this time of year then you could always build a small woodfire in it and use it to cook or heat some of that stored water! At this time of year, you may be able to find one really inexpensively since they are out of season.

 

At Mrs. S, we have a lot of ideas for prepping on a budget. Most of us here are on tight ones!

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Dont forget to 'talk up' about how having a stock of food allows you to purchase soley at sale prices, and how much money you can save....it helps the spouses 'get it'.

Yup, plan for snowstorms first. Some kind of alternate heat if you are on gas or electric (I am liking my propane heat ever since I went 6 weeks without electric), some candles or lanterns (they are decorative, too) and an alternate way of cooking. Even if you have to go outside to cook over a fire, it is better than no hot vittles! Then stock up some extra shelf-stable foods and you are on your way! Warning though, prepping is addictive. I had 6 months food for Y2k, then decided to keep going....and going....and going. It will serve you well though, and allow you to weather all manner of crises with calm confidence.

My husband was ill too, had many drugs, but we would re-order them from the pharmacy 5 days before the prescription expired (it was as early as they would go) and kept putting the extras into the new bottle. That way they always rotated automatically to stay fresh, and over 6 months we picked up an extra months' pills on the side. Slow, but all we could do with the insurance limitations.

Welcome, this forum is great, and a lot of fun, too!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

:welcome4:

Glad to have you with us, Sunflower!

 

If you are concerned about medications, there are ways to build an emergency stockpile! And more importantly, most of them are legal! ;)

 

I'll dig around in the archives and pm you!

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Welcome, Sunflower.

 

Given the amount of room you have, you might do well thinking more in terms of fruit and nuts than vegetables. Most fruits and nuts are perennials, and therefore needs far less attention than vegetables. Consider jujube, persimmon, pecans, peaches, almonds, hickory, grapes, plums, dewberry and blackberry, hardy kiwi, fig, loquat, guava, mulberry, pomegranate, pawpaw, apple, elder, pear, quince, and blueberry.

Plus, you can package up the prunings of some of them to sell on eBay as exotic barbecue wood.

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Welcome Sunflower, you came to the right place. If all the workload gets too much for you, you might consider WOOFF.

http://www.wwoof.org/

 

They volunteer on organic farms and could help you set up more productive gardens, help with chores etc.

If you take a small peek at their website, you might find it in you to plan what needs to be done and ask for volunteers. That might get you a bit further.

 

Take care.

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