Being Prepared With lemons

You know the old saying "If life gives you lemons make lemonade". Sometimes it makes sense to just be prepared for the unexpected. Here in Kansas you get a variety weather conditions that with send you into survival mode. Everyone one knows about tornado in Kansas if you have ever watched The Wizard of OZ. However, your house would most likely not make a soft landing somewhere but will be damage, if not destroyed, by the powerful wind. Another less know weather event that can wrench havoc on your lifestyle is the winter ice storms. You can be out of electricity for weeks as what happen in Kansas a couple of years ago. We though we were prepared for the most part and we were all right with food but water became the limiting factor. Without electricity to power the water pump on the well we were left with the little water we had. It was a few days worth.

As for food, I store a variety of food product such a Grocery store purchased canned food, using http://www.grandpappy.info/ as a reference, MRE's and freeze dried products such as found at http://beprepared.com/. I store my rice an other grains in the large pails with liners and Oxygen Absorbers to last longer.The reason I like Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.web site is it is done with items you can obtain locally. However, the number 10 freeze dried food is a little easier to store and takes up less space. If you do plan to make a Food Supply for you or your family make sure it has variety because the same food can create Appetite Fatigue. Your mind will not want to eat the same food over and over again.

Be prepared and do not expect the Government to take care of you.

Food Crisis: What you can do now!

With recent rise in food prices and the worlds food crisis now is the time learn some skills that could be useful in the future. Although I am really not concerned at this time for a food food shortage in the basic foods we will likely have to go without the the varieties of food products due to the sheer costs and not being available. To be able to have a great diet with variety I suggest you take action in three ways.

1) Learn to garden. Start small now and in the future make your garden larger. Start buying seeds now. Many seeds will last for years in kept refrigerated or in a cold place. You will have the best growing experience with hybrid seeds but It is good to have some seeds that are open-pollinated seeds or heirloom seeds that so you will be able to save seeds in the future. One benefit with saving seeds is you can develop land race plants with will tolerate your climate better that other varieties. If you can start planting fruit trees do so. In some area it can be difficult to grow many of the tress but check state/local sources of what will be best to plant. Discover the native fruit trees/shrubs/vines that grow in your area. I have already planted wild plums and elderberries on my land and have some mulberries growing. Already the plums are producing and growing new plants that I will be able to start planting elsewhere or give to others.

2) Learn to can, dry and store your food. Even if you are not able to produce all you want or need you may be able to barter or purchase fruit or vegetables that you do not want to got to waste. The Grand pappy information page has lots of articles and recipes. If you do not want to can or dry for you own family I suggest going to any of the many emergency supply companies or start stocking up on food your family enjoys eating.

3) Learn to cook. You can learn to make do and make great food if you learn to cook.

Peter Menzel: Food For Thought

Have you ever wondered where those photos came from?



Most likely you have ran across an email with pictures of what families eat in different countries. The photographer is Peter Menzel. I was personally surprised of how much soda families drank around the world. His pictures have been shown in a number of magazines including Time.



In his book Hungry Planet in magazines around the world he and a writer visited some 30 families in 24 countries.

Thumb drives, USB

I guess just a normal thumb drive is not enough for some people. These are some more create ones.