Plus, when I was little, I stayed on the farm with the grandparents. They had gardens, chickens, small dairy herd, a pig and piglets, wood stove, no phone, out house, hand pumped well, and a pond.
They almost never went to town, so most necessities were all provided from our labor. My chores were to milk 1 cow by hand, collect eggs, and nurse the runt of the litter of piglets.
Guess we were preppers and didn't know it. After I got married, we always have prepped for storms and electrical outages-a little more each year, while we have bought our share of modern playthings, we have opted more often for practical things that are useful in emergencies too.
We built our house with 2 fireplaces and a woodstove. We have generators for our house and daughter's, a kerosene heater(useful on my husband's sideline business too). We have a couple of window air-conditioners that we can use to cool a room or two in case the central air fails, or electricity goes out.
After living through the 70’s oil shocks and double digit inflation, I increased the amount of purchases on sale and size of pantry on hand.
Beginning end of 2008, I went out and bought even more food-largely due to anticipated price increases. For example, bought 2 years of peanut butter at $1.00 a jar(it now costs $2.25 a jar). Have replenished it at every sale opportunity.
Started gardening in earnest in 2009 with indoor plants and 4 season gardening. Main reason to have pesticide free food, but also to get back to canning and having my own food on hand. Plus I don't like being charged $3.00 for a bag of spinach in the winter(which could have E-coli)so now I just grow my own all year round.
I have a treadle sewing machine which I kept for sentimental reasons, but it still works, as do my more modern electric machines.
That's not a whole list, but anyway we are pretty well set for bug in situations. Bug out plan still needs work, but is not the most likely scenario anyway(earthquake and storms are more likely). We are about 3/4 mile outside a small rural town on a 1 acre plot in a pretty nice subdivision with almost no restrictions and no neighborhood housing association.
We are 1/2 tank of gas from St. Louis. Not the best for teotwawki situation, but better than being in a big city, so I am not convinced we need a bug out plan unless, the entire state of Missouri goes under water overnight with prior warning.
How many jars is 2 years of peanut butter?
Thanks for your accounting! I got an internet tickle yesterday. It said that Calvin Coolidge -— During family vacations he would arrange for his boys to do some farm work. He would rent them out! He would send them out to labor with the peasants. For compensation of course. The boys introduction to the world of work