Prepping One Step At A Time...At Alternative Cache Locations.

I was reading through yet another terrific blog post at Rural Revolution regarding how much cash to keep on hand versus utilizing the current value of cash to purchase tangible assets. It all follows the bigger question of how to prepare for your family when it doesn't seem like there is any disposable income left after bills are paid. The answer: do what you CAN do and find some peace knowing that you are working towards a goal.

Save money by eating simple meals at work: soup & water.

How do you know what you CAN do? Write out a plan. Do the math. Figure out what you need for YOUR situtation and write it down. Then break it up into little steps. One source is the LDS food storage calculator. It says a family of four, for a three month supply of basic food, needs 300 pounds of wheat and 60 pounds of beans/legumes. That's $137.40 in wheat and $89 in beans, according to the LDS Family Home Storage Center pdf file. Total is $226.40 and divide by 12 months gives you $18.87 per month that you need for a (very) basic food supply that feeds four people for three months.

Now of course you'll want more than wheat and beans. This simple meal plan was simply to illustrate how to break down something seemingly daunting into smaller, more achievable goals. There are tons of food lists from all kinds of perspectives listed all over the internet. Find one that suits you and break it down into small, manageable chunks.

Food storage: start with a little and keep adding.

I need more space to store food, for example. I realized I had an empty locker at work which would make a great place to store a little canned food. Since I spend a lot of time at work and therefore eat meals at work, it makes perfect sense for me to store food there. It gives me more storage space AND decreases the chances I'll run out for a burger or tacos knowing that I have food already here. I can't afford to just run to the store and buy 30 cans of Campbells Chunky soup to fill my locker so I'll start with a few cans and add from there. Small steps towards a bigger goal of filling the locker.

Make a plan and get started...TODAY!

Beans Replace Carrots in Our Raised Box Gardens

Jacob's Cattle Beans from SeedsforSecurity.com

After planting some new seeds on Saturday, wifey and I decided to re-plant some things in our raised box gardens. Each box is 3'x3' accomodating a good 5-6 rows of seed. Two of our boxes were filled with carrots and for reasons uncertain, we have ONE sprout in each box. Our seeds sat just under the soil surface for over a month before I covered them with bird net. I suspect either faulty seeds, scavengers (birds,cats), toddlers (who thought the gardens were sandboxes) or improper watering techniques...or all the above.

Regardless, after checking our growing chart, we planted bean seeds in both boxes and were careful not to distrurb our lonely little carrot sprouts. I didn't see any budding carrot seeds while planting the beans. One raised box got French Horticulture Beans and the other box got Jacob's Cattle Beans. 90% of our seeds come from Seeds for Security. We've learned that seeds bought on sale at dollar stores don't do as well as our Seeds for Security heirlooms. Like the carrots for example. I wanted to try purple carrots and the only place I found seed was online. Turns out they came from Sweden?

I managed to make it to Home Depot to buy trim, finishing nails, and some epoxy/putty to fill in the cracks on my wall niche project. I ran out of time before I could actually use the items though. So I tucked the supplies away, in the garage, out of reach from the little ones. I'm looking forward to finishing the project and seeing how much stuff the shelving will hold.

I was graced with a visit by a carpenter in our ward. He was adding a walk-in pantry to a home across the street and needed to borrow my razor knife. I coaxed him in far enough to see my handy work. It was painful to see him stammer for words to describe my first carpentry project but I was still proud just the same. He admitted that most of my inaccuracies could be covered with trim and I was happy to hear it.  The way I see it, with six daughters, I would rather learn how to do this stuff now on my house than to booger up my girls' houses when they need help. I have to admit, coming from the medical field, this building stuff is kinda fun too.

Mystery plant in the potato garden.

I found something growing in the potato garden although I'm not too sure it's a potato. It is growing right up next to the sprinkler head and looks to be the only thing growing among the store bought potatoes that I cut up and planted.

Now I just have to figure out when its time to harvest everything.

Adding Storage With a Wall Niche



Two niches cut into the living room wall (while the kids
watched an episode of Barney)

 Saturday was a very productive day at the Compound de Orange Jeep Dad. The oldest two daughters were dropped off at church by 7am. They spent a good part of the day volunteering at the Special Olympics in Mesa. Teenage enrichment activity...check.

Back home by 7:30 and planted pumpkins in the front flower bed. If calculations are correct, we should have PLENTY of pumpkins by halloween. Saving money on future halloween decorations and pies...check.

Planted cucumbers and watermelons in the backyard. Down to one small area of EMPTY garden now. Once it is gone, I may start re-planting in the raised box gardens if I don't see more growth from the carrots. Future veggies to munch...check.

Lots of space added where there used to be none

Then the biggest chore of the day. On the recent topic of extra storage, wifey asked me to add some shelving next to the main television. In my usual research fashion, I visited youtube for a quick lesson in carpentry. Turns out what I'm about to create is called a "wall niche."

The rest of the day was spent sawing, nailing, and arguing with wood. The shelves are in. Next will be sealing seams, a final sanding, and painting the finished product. Oh, and BIG trim to cover up my mistakes.

Improving sadly lacking carpentry skills...check.

Update: Wall niche is complete. Click here for the final pictures.