Practical Prepping

self-re·li·ance [self-reliance] (NOUN): reliance on one's own powers and resources rather than those of others.

Preparedness is a vast topic. The word itself can be applied to many different aspects of our lives and is open for many types of interpretations. We can prepare for a trip, prepare for an emergency, prepare a meal, prepare a career speech or prepare to walk down the aisle. All of these events, while different applications, include the moments in time just before the activity where we gather ourselves, gather our resources and do the work ahead of time for the most optimal outcome possible. Preparedness when it comes to self-reliance is no different. Let’s keep this in mind as we dig deeper into practical prepping for survival in the modern day.

To be prepared, to me, is to be ready and waiting, ahead of the threat. It’s practice and it’s readiness. I’m coining the “arrive early mindset”: the feeling of control and confidence as we enter a situation ahead of time, calm and well prepared for what could come next. If you are like me, prepping is a way to assure security and safety, wellness and sustenance for my family when SHTF - the topics of today aren’t something we tread lightly around: food shortages and toxic chemicals in our food, government overreach and seizure of our assets, cost inflation, or even the idea of civil unrest - we prep to be ready. I also have friends who prep more from an environmentally conscious viewpoint such as severe climate conditions, global warming, “bugging-in” for home defense, or again - the lack of trust about what’s really in our food. I have friends who prep without realizing it due to a strict budget (looking at you, bulk-shoppers! You’re prepping!) or due to food allergies. And I have friends who prep for storms and emergencies only. Even those of us who get up early and get themselves dressed and ready before the kids wake up... that is prepping! Again, it’s a vast, umbrella topic. We get to choose how we apply it and how far we go in any certain direction.

In our family, we have set ourselves up well for whatever the future may hold. We choose a survival and self-reliance angle to our preparedness. From fully packed and ready “bug out bags” to medical supplies, to the geographical location we chose and multi-generational property. We garden, we forage, we gather, we grow. We are self-reliant and proud to becoming more so every day, learning as we go. I won’t give away all of our secrets, but this blog is a basically formulated “where to start” manual from me to you, for anyone wondering just that. Here I will open up discussion and give us insight about the mindset, the storage, the shelf-stable foods, and the garden. Whether you’re on a multi-acre homestead or an upstairs one-bedroom apartment, from the pantry to the parking garage - this is for you.

Now, let’s prep!

The Garden: Prepping for the future

Gardening is a topic I could talk about all day with anyone, ever. My dad is my role model for all things gardening and has taught me this valuable skill. Each place he’s lived he and my mom have crafted and created an abundant outdoor garden. My dad cultivates food for his family (us, included!) and nurtures it, prunes it and turns it over again and again. I hope one day to fully garden as my dad does, for my own family. To start gardening, you start small. I don’t recommend trying to grow all the things all at once without research or method or a) you’ll get incredibly overwhelmed and b) your garden probably won’t make it which will c) deflate your original passion in it. Gardening is a labor of love! It takes work and commitment. What you give, you get. A garden is alive, it’s giving, and we should treat it as such!

To start, start simple. I recommend deciding on about 4-5 types of vegetables or fruits that you love and buy/use the most often. Research your “garden zone” and your seasonal weather conditions to decide if you can grow outside or in a greenhouse, or which crops will thrive and which won’t stand in your climate. Do you foresee vegetables only or will you try fruits, or will you start with herbs? Nut trees or stone fruits? All of the above? We have all of those items growing and I even created a small “wellness garden” including medicinal herbs for tinctures, teas and salves. Start small and start intentional with a plan for where to plant them. Raised beds, sowed beds, or even pots on patio will do.

Herbs are easy to grow and do well in kitchen windows until they start to mature. Fruit are often on trees or climbing vines and large bushes and may need more space. Veggies are pretty flexible and forgiving but need a lot of attention. Many people on Pinterest or garden blogs will happily share their tried and true methods for growing these things - you’ll find much more community over competition in this niche. We typically use what we have for containers until ready to plant. Some veggies need room to vine or towers/poles to grow onto. But just remember, it doesn’t have to be huge and amazing on the first round. Start with some organic potting or gardening soil and some red solo cups or empty egg cartons in your kitchen and see what magic you can create. Plant in semi-sunny soil and sing to it, babeh! The rule of thumb (green thumbs, that is!) for most plants is that soil needs to be able to drain until planted, indirect sunlight and water about every 3-4 days is usually sufficient.

Crops are seasonal, so remember that a summer garden would be started in winter, and a winter garden would be started late summer. This is planting for the future! You’ll also want to brainstorm an enclosure if you live in an area with roaming or burrowing wildlife (or nosy neighbors, although they typically enjoy sharing in crops over time). Plan for time spent weeding, pruning and starting again. You can do this!! It’s addicting and rewarding (and honestly, fun!) to grow something all by yourself and provide for yourself in this way.

The Shelf-Stable Foods: Preserving the work

Let’s talk pantry prep. This is where buying in bulk, buying intentionally and buying your time all come together. Many dry goods can be bought in bulk and stored for 6+ months including dry beans and legumes, pasta, rice, flour, sugar and salt. These items need air-tight containers and most need oxygen absorbers (sugar does not!) if stored in bulk and if not vacuum-sealed to avoid going rancid over time. I buy these items raw, unbleached and in bulk and store them in a cool place like outside in a storage shed. Inside the house, I keep filled glass jar containers in my pantry. I refill them from my own supply first before buying more so that I’m constantly cycling it out. At this moment in my pantry storage, I have beans (black, red, white and pinto), lentils, quinoa, basmati rice, old fashioned oats, pasta, unbleached flour, raw sugar, brown sugar, and nuts. I also have a variety of spices, salts, pepper and dried herbs for seasoning. An outdoor root cellar would be my dream for storing potatoes and drying onions, nightshades and other root vegetables along with my dry goods. For now, we still buy in bulk but cycle them out and store in a cool dark place.

Canning foods is a whole topic in itself, but this is an absolutely necessary way to preserve veggies, fruit and even meats to use for months to come! Learning how to can is actually a goal of mine this year and I hope to learn and share more on this as I do! My mom is our canning and dehydrating connoisseur of the family and I plan to work alongside her this year. Canning uses brines, marinades or water/other fluids combined with high pressure and heat to create a sealed environment that become shelf stable for months to years. You can also preserve meat this way including beef, chicken and fish (canned tuna, anyone?). My parents canned veggies from the garden last summer and we are still using them today! See the photos below of their canned gold! I just opened a jar of homemade pickles and used canned carrots in my stir fry the other night. Jars must be sterilized and have new lids each year. I will share more about my actual experience canning this year as I go, stay tuned!

Other means of food preservation for long term storage would be dehydration, fermenting, pickling or back to the basic - freezing! A dehydrator can be used for drying fruits into leathers or chips, leafy veggies into a healthy snack, or meat into jerkies. Fermented foods such as kimchi, kefir, sauerkraut or kombucha all have amazing benefits for our gut microbiome, and fermenting is another valuable tool for food preservation. Sourdough bread baking is all the rage for this exact reason! Actually learning and performing these valuable trades this year is a huge goal of mine, especially sourdough and kombucha. This is the year to buy the deep freezer, and stock that baby up to the brim!

The Storage: Practical plotting

This is where we get creative! These days, more than most of us are wanting a little more space to just… be. I’m sure we’d all love a large plot of untouched acreage with a freshwater stream and mature trees, fertile soil for gardening and lots of shade, right?! Just me?? But the truth is the housing market is at an all time high and therefore we turn back to our creative roots for how to prep and even more so how to STORE our prepped goods. Whether you’re prepping food, emergency supplies, weapons, water or all of these things - creativity is key if you’re in a small space.

For gardening, if you have the land - you can use raised beds to avoid harsh elements and burrowing critters, sowed beds in the ground with tomato towers, strung lines or bean poles and make sure your garden is enclosed from deer or other wandering foragers. If you aren’t blessed with land or space to do this, try a vertical garden along a wall on a patio or even inside! Potted crops on a small back deck, ledge or even windowsill will do! Hydroponic garden towers have come a long way in aesthetics and function - these are great options for gardening in a creative way!

For dry food storage - most things need to be air-tight. We’ve used the large 5-gallon buckets with locking lids or even the large dog food containers with twisting lids. This is that area where it doesn’t have to be pretty, it just has to work. Oxygen absorbers can be purchased online and typically come in bulk. Canned items, overflow dry foods and soups/broths/etc we keep stacked nicely and make sure to use them up and replenish our stock often.

For storage and organization - we choose the large steel shelving systems from Costco, and keep those stocked in the shop/garage. Space may be limited! So don’t be afraid to convert an attic, an unused hall closet, or even under your bed for this type of prep storage. Pinterest is a great source for inspiration and ideas about space-saving ways to store and prep. The space you develop will be based on what and how you choose to prep, and what you’re prepping for!

The Mindset: Pushing down fear

I could argue that mindset is truly the most important element to prepping practically and staying motivated. It’s truly mindset over matter when it comes to self-sufficiency. I have a separate blog post (HERE) dedicated to our individual self-reliance tales, a story of how to hone your approach to survival and define your “why” when it comes to prepping. Preparedness is the tool for which we combat fear. And to be fully prepared is to be fully “awake” to just how deep the government reach and control can and does stretch. We can’t let ourselves slip into a fear-based mindset, or we’ll act irrationally or start hoarding things we don’t need! If I can offer any advice at all, it’s to start small and start simple. Keep it basic to start with by just prepping some extra supplies like candles, lighters and matches, kindling, dry foods, frozen foods, extra canned goods and start a small garden. I could go on about this for pages and pages but will keep it mostly to pantry prep for this blog post. I choose to involve Liberty in every step of this, she has garden days with my dad and cooks with me - it’s imperative that we teach our next generation this skill of self-sufficiency. I will teach her to be independent and unafraid. My husband is a combat veteran and is my go-to for “rapid fire” questions and inspiration for all things personal security and self-defense.

The mindset - it’s time to save yourself. Learn it yourself and do it yourself, then practice and repeat. We are our own first responders, our own hunters and foragers, our own responsibility. We are calm, collected, ready and enjoy it along the way. We are capable and apt, strong and able to prepare and to survive. We can do this. We have community. Let’s start, today! Sustenance, satiety, survival and simplicity.

Again, practical prepping in the modern day is such a huge topic. Here I hope to provide some insight and inspiration regarding pantry prep and food storage more than anything. “Prepping the rest” could be a whole other blog post regarding topics such as financial readiness, physical fitness and aptitude, automotive selection and customizations, livestock raising and having a plan with others in your community and circles. I hope to fuel your desire to get started by showing your where and how to start. Starting is the easy part! I’ll help you light the match, and you’ll stoke the flame. Repurpose some glass jars as you use them up around the house, slap some labels on, and get storing. Befriend your local farmer or ranching family (farmers market or Facebook groups are great places to start), or find a local group interested in homesteading, trading or foraging! We have a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips these days. Buy the large bag of rice next time and feel confident that you could feed your family in a time of need, or a time of food uncertainty! There are so many places you can start, but the goal here is to do just that - start. Start now.

This is obviously a favorite topic of mine to discuss, so please reach out to me on social, email me or comment below with further conversation!! I’d love to hear your insight and your valuable lessons, as well! I can’t wait to share my experience this year as I continue to learn these valuable skills.

Here’s to the future, may we thrive and twine together in the wild outside - sharing unbridled creativity and community for all.

Love, Chloe