Growing up in Montana on a farm and ranch, I learned from an early age about raising a lot of our own food. We had a large garden, fruit trees, raised cattle, and I even milked cows twice a day. I remember my mother and grandmother spending tireless hours canning during the summers to store all the produce raised to help get us through the winters. I picked up a few of these techniques, but will admit, they can be labor intensive.
When we went to “town’ to get supplies, it was maybe once or twice a month. As i got out on my own, and moved to the PNW, I found myself transitioning a bit. Partly because of storage, but also because of ease, I found easier to be able to run to the grocery store daily. Now I do not do this often. I still usually shop only once a week or so. But there are days when I really do not feel like cooking, that it’s easier to run to store.
In the past couple years, I have tried to get back to my roots a bit more. I started raising a garden, I added some storage shelves in the basement, and purchased a small chest freezer. My shelves now have home canned vegetables, the freezer has proteins I have been able to purchase in bulk, and during the late summer, early fall my home is filled with my own produce.
I will admit, I am spoiled. Some of those canned vegetables on the shelves, are from my mother. She still loves to can, and shares with me yearly. But I have starting making and freezing my own items too, including pickles, and marinara sauce.
Each year my garden gets a little better as I add something else that I decide to tackle. Besides the simple joys of knowing I raised my food myself, knowing what is in the foods I eat has also been a win for me. It doesn’t take a lot of room to grow a few vegetables, and I have seen more than one container garden on patios of apartments.
DAY 21 ACTIVITY:
2 Pts – How self resilient are you? Show us and share what types of activities you have done to improve your disaster resilience.
Bonus: Share a trick of your trade in how it helps you be resilient.
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