Food Storage, Emergency Preparedness and Weekly/Monthly Assignments (Week of March 30th)

Hi Carson Ward Family, Family and Friends,

YOU WILL BE ALONE!

After church on Sunday I was sitting in the foyer of our church chapel when a few of my Ward members and I started talking. One mentioned how her grandson had skidded while playing a sports game while wearing shorts, he had a large scrape on his leg. It became infected and the over the counter antibiotic they had applied he appeared to be allergic to. They took him to the doctor and were given an antibiotic that helped with the infection. She also mentioned how a woman was cashing her son and she fell and broke her wrist. A couple of men near by acted quickly by making a splint by putting a magazine around her wrist and tied it in place with a scarf or handkerchief. The doctor said they did the right thing which helped the woman's wrist until they could get her to the doctor.

What if these injuries were a result of  a natural disaster or some other type of emergency event, would you be able to take care of their wound and broken wrist? What would you do if infection had set in and their were no doctors to call or visit? Do you know how to split a broken arm or leg? Do you have a Family Emergency Medical Bag (more than just a basic first-aid kit) in your house? How prepared are you for a medical emergency?

Note: Click on "Family Emergency Medical Bag", scroll through the posting dated February 26, 2012, and see the list of items to add to the bag. Include a couple of old magazines which you can use to make a split for a broken arm or leg. Those paint stir sticks you get at the hardware store make great splits too. 

We also talked about how the storms (tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc;) are more intense and more often. How prepared are you for the storms or natural disasters that may arise in your area?

Another Ward member earlier that morning mentioned how she had heard on the news that the scientist have realized that the area we live in and near the Pacific Ocean beaches of Wilmington, Long Beach, and Huntington Beach, California USA are in danger of a large Tsunami if an large earthquake hit the area. We would need to move to higher ground and inland as soon as possible. What kind of damages would there be, how safe are we where we live, what kind of injuries would there be? Do we have a family evacuation plan and do we practice it often?
 
What would you do if a natural disaster or another type of large scale emergency situation happened? Would you be prepared? Would you be able to help with medical emergencies and have medical emergency supplies on hand?




On Saturday last weekend I was watching a television program produced by our local Los Angeles County regarding earthquake preparedness. In the program it was mentioned how we need to be prepared to take care of our self, our family and our neighbors for three days before help could probably arrive. After all the natural disasters I have watched unfold over the last couple of years, three days supplies will not be enough. How many times have we watched areas where it took weeks, months before help could get through or arrive, where emergency supplies, food and water could be taken to the victims?

Personally, I strongly feel we need to be ready to take care of our own for weeks and months! Do you really believe all these people, rescue teams are going to come in to help you? We will be alone! Buildings will tumble down, roads will be destroyed, roads will be blocked for weeks and may be months. You will need food, drinking water, emergency supplies and medical supplies. How well are you prepared?

If there is a disaster or emergency situation, an open wound is the worst, infection can set in quickly and that person may die before help can arrive. How well prepared are you for something like that?



 


We need to be prepared in so many areas: food, drinking water, emergency supplies, medical emergency supplies, basic first-aid skills, etc.. We need to realize we will be alone and we will need to act to help our self, our family and our neighbors. 




Weekly Assignment: Emergency Cleaning Bucket

Have you ever thought about needing emergency cleaning supplies? For the next few weeks we are going to work on setting up an Emergency Cleaning Bucket. Each week we will add 1-3 items. Most of these items can be found for a dollar each at a discount store (99 Cent Store, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar, etc.). You want to purchase small-medium bottles so all of it will fit in one bucket. Watch the video below. As we add each item place it into the bucket. Mark the bucket with a permanent marker--Emergency Cleaning Bucket. You can keep this in your garage or home storage shed.

This week add the following items: (You can purchase all these items at any discount store like the 99 Cent Store, the Dollar Tree, Dollar General, etc. )

1) Disinfectant cleaner
2) 7 dry sponges
3) 1 pair of heavy work gloves

Note: To see the entire list of items in the Emergency Cleaning Bucket and the video on how to place all the items in the bucket go to the March 16th posting. 

Monthly March Assignment: Sanitation

This month add items for sanitation in case you cannot use your regular toilet...

1) Portable toilet (emergencyessentials.com for $14.95)

2) Enzyme Packets (You will need several. You can purchase them at emergencyessentials.com, 60 cents a packet). The odor is quite strong, keep them in a large plastic zip lock bag. I store ours in the zip lock bag in our portable toilet.

3) Cat Litter (You can purchase them discount stores like the 99 Cent Store or other stores, you will need several bags.)

4) Large heavy black trash bags (Costco or Sam's Club size)

5) Toilet paper & paper towels (Costco or Sam's Club size)

6) Baby wipes (You can purchase these at discount stores like the 99 Cent Store, Costco or Sam's Club. You should have several stored)

7) Disinfectants--Clorox bleach, Lysol, hand sanitizer, etc. 

8) Privacy Shelter (you can purchase this at emerencyessentials.com for $89.95 or construct your own with a large blanket or ex-large plastic tarp, rope, clothes pins, duct tape, nails and hammer) 

Keep all of these items together in your garage or a home storage shed.  Some of these items will fit inside the portable toilet to keep them organized and together.  Keep those items that will not fit into the portable toilet together with the toilet.
 

Important Information: Check out the posting "Sanitation" under Postings on the right for more information, why you need these items, how they work (example: enzyme packets), how to use the portable toilet correctly and how to dispose of human waste. 

In the Vegetable Garden... 

Last week we planted our vegetable garden. How is your vegetable garden coming along? Have you planted it yet? Are you planning on planting one this year? Now is the time in Southern California to plant your vegetable garden. It is a great way to save money on vegetables and add vegetables to your food storage by canning and/or freezing them. Click on this link to see different ways on how to plant a vegetable garden. Anyone can have some sort of a vegetable garden.


A few weeks ago I posted about this great way to plant vegetables. Scroll down to the week of March 16th to see how to plant the vegetables using this method and which ones you can grow this way. I am excited to see how these turn out. I planted green onions and Romaine lettuce. For some reason this area of our back yard does not grow vegetables, so I thought I would try this.


 
 
Emergency Preparedness Ideas

"Prepared for the Worst, Plan for the Best"

This title is a book about how a small business should prepare and can survive a disaster which has a lot of meaning even for us. No one wants a disaster to occur, but in reality they do happen. We should always be prepared for what ever natural disaster or other situation may come our way and because we are prepared we will be able to get through what ever we are facing. Being in tune with the Holy Ghost will most definitely help us too. Are you ready? What do you need to do to be better prepared? Make a plan and set goals to make it happen.


Survival Cooking Options...
  
Do you know how to cook in an emergency?

Click on this link  and this link to learn ways to cook in an emergency and different types of equipment you should have stored.

 



Do you know how to build and start an out door fire?  

Click on this link and this link to learn how to build and start a fire. 

Below is a great video with great information about fire safety, how to build and start a fire in different types of  weather and conditions. About 13 minutes long, but worth watching. 
 
 

EmergencyEssentials.com has a great fire fuel and starter called "Fired Up! Emergency Fuel and Fire Starter". I love this product.  It requires no kindling, no wood, will burn even on top of snow. Two cups burn for approximately half an hour. This stuff is amazing. Everyone should have this product in their emergency supplies. Some companies call it "InstaFire" or "Fire Now".
 

Note: If you have never built and started an outdoor fire before it is a good idea to practice before needing to build and start one. Practice at a beach with fire rings, a backyard fire pit or ring or a friends house who has one. Boy Scouts are a great resource in learning how to build and start a fire.

Boy Scout Handbook...

One of the best things you can have in your emergency supplies is a copy of the Boy Scout Handbook. It has so much vital information that can help you in an emergency situation: first-aid skills, how to build and start a fire, how to build a shelter and so much more. You can purchase a copy from a local Boy Scout Shop or on Amazon. For those who live locally there is a Boy Scout Shop in San Pedro, California USA off of 22nd Street and the Marina near Cabrillo Beach.





Comments: Please post a comment.  All your comments, ideas, suggestions and experiences are welcome! We all learn from each other. Thank you for your comments.   

Food Storage, Emergency Preparedness and Weekly/Monthly Assignments (March 23rd)

Hi Carson Ward Family, Family and Friends,

"Faith is weathering the storm, and believing that everything will work out. Stand strong in the face of adversity, and watch your faith and trust in God begin to grow." 

(Quentin L. Cook, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

Are you in tune and ready?

Are we in tune with the Holy Ghost and are our houses in order so when the natural disasters and trails come into our lives we are ready? We have been admonished so many times in the scriptures and by our church leaders we need to be close to the Holy Ghost to receive inspiration and revelation for our self and our own family and we need to have our houses in order so when the disasters and trails come we can take care of our own.

"For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them;.... (Book of Mormon, Ether 12:12)

"Let all things be done decently and in order." (1 Corinthians 14:40)

"And now a commandment I give unto you---if you will not be delivered you shall set in order your own house, for there are many things that are not right in your house." (Doctrine and Covenants 93:43)

"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house ..., a house of order,.... (Doctrine and Covenants 109:8)

When the storms come we will be able to weather them by being in tune with the Spirit and having our house in order. 

The Greatest Generation, Food Storage and Emergency Preparedness...What we can learn from them!

Many of us have parents and grandparents that come from the Great Depression and World War II. They understood the importance of living on a strict budget, food storage and emergency preparedness. They very seldom used credit to purchase anything, only using cash. If you could not afford it you did with out and found a better way and saved until you could afford it. They new what it was like to not have food and to be on food rationing coupons. They learned how to live on very little, work hard and produce as much as they could themselves. We can learn so much from them.

My mother was a great example of this! She saved until they could afford things they needed, usually not what they wanted, and always paid cash. She had a deep freezer that was always filled with meats, and vegetables and fruits she had purchased on sale. She had a vegetable garden and froze vegetables we could not eat right away. She purchased vegetables she did not grow and fruits when on sale and froze them for latter. She was very frugal with their money. She stored canned foods and other items for emergencies.

My husband's Aunt Edith introduced me to food storage when we were first married and me only having been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for three years. In her bathroom there was a pantry filled with 50+ each of tooth brushes, tooth paste, mouth wash, bath soap, deodorants, other personal hygiene products and medical supplies. She had a deep freezer in her garage filled with frozen foods like my mother, her kitchen cupboards and laundry room cupboards were stuffed with canned foods. This was my first glimpse at food storage and the beginning of ours.

An elderly sister I visit each month hates waste. She remembers what it was like to go without food and other necessities during the Great Depression and World War II. She has fruit trees in her yard and cans the fruit each season. She has a pantry full of canned foods and other items. She is very frugal and grateful for all she has!

We never know when we might be in these same circumstances! There is so much turmoil in our world today and more natural disasters and interesting weather than before. Any time we could also be without food, at least enough to sustain us, and other necessities of life. What can we do? Store canned and packaged foods, have long term food storage items, plant a vegetable garden and fruit trees and lean how to can and freeze them properly for future use. Learn basic first-aid and have some extra medical supplies on hand. Have emergency supplies on hand like lanterns, cooking equipment, shelter, tools, and other items we might need.

It is not hard to have food storage and other necessities. Each week just add a little extra when you go grocery shopping, when you see canned and packaged foods on sale, stock up as much as you can. Remember to rotate your canned and packaged foods so you do not have to throw them out, a waste of hard earned money. Try to save for things you want and not go into debt, pay by cash. All the time we are hearing in the news how a stores credit card system has been compromised. Some people are starting to go back to a cash paying basis. Our church admonishes to not go into debt for our food store and emergency supplies.

You can do it! A little at a time and before you know it you will be prepared for things that may come your way and have peace of mind, the greatest feeling!

Weekly Assignment: Emergency Cleaning Bucket

Have you ever thought about needing emergency cleaning supplies? For the next few weeks we are going to work on setting up an Emergency Cleaning Bucket. Each week we will add 1-3 items. Most of these items can be found for a dollar each at a discount store (99 Cent Store, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar, etc.). You want to purchase small-medium bottles so all of it will fit in one bucket. Watch the video below. As we add each item place it into the bucket. Mark the bucket with a permanent marker--Emergency Cleaning Bucket. You can keep this in your garage or home storage shed.

This week add the following items: (You can purchase all these items at any discount store like the 99 Cent Store, the Dollar Tree, Dollar General, etc. )


 
1) Laundry soup (small-medium size)       

 


 

2) 2 packages of clothes lines ropes (100 feet)

 

 

3) Package of clothes pens





Note: To see the entire list of items in the Emergency Cleaning Bucket and the video on how to place all the items in the bucket go to the March 16th posting. 

Monthly March Assignment: Sanitation

This month add items for sanitation in case you cannot use your regular toilet...

1) Portable toilet (emergencyessentials.com for $14.95)

2) Enzyme Packets (You will need several. You can purchase them at emergencyessentials.com, 60 cents a packet). The odor is quite strong, keep them in a large plastic zip lock bag. I store ours in the zip lock bag in our portable toilet.

3) Cat Litter (You can purchase them discount stores like the 99 Cent Store or other stores, you will need several bags.)

4) Large heavy black trash bags (Costco or Sam's Club size)

5) Toilet paper & paper towels (Costco or Sam's Club size)

6) Baby wipes (You can purchase these at discount stores like the 99 Cent Store, Costco or Sam's Club. You should have several stored)

7) Disinfectants--Clorox bleach, Lysol, hand sanitizer, etc. 

8) Privacy Shelter (you can purchase this at emerencyessentials.com for $89.95 or construct your own with a large blanket or ex-large plastic tarp, rope, clothes pins, duct tape, nails and hammer) 

Keep all of these items together in your garage or a home storage shed.  Some of these items will fit inside the portable toilet to keep them organized and together.  Keep those items that will not fit into the portable toilet together with the toilet.
 

Important Information: Check out the posting "Sanitation" under Postings on the right for more information, why you need these items, how they work (example: enzyme packets), how to use the portable toilet correctly and how to dispose of human waste. 

They did it right!

Many made fun of this news team, but they did it right. As soon as they felt the earthquake they took cover under their desk. We all should do this when we feel an earthquake, take cover and hold on. It does not matter how small the earthquake is, it is great practice and you never know when it might be the "big one".

To see more information about what to do before, during and after an earthquake click here. It could save lives!

 

In the Garden...

How to naturally get rid of those pesky ants

Here are the most popular and effective home remedies in eliminating ants...

1) Apple cider vinegar: Make a mixture of 50/50 water and vinegar and pour it into a spray bottle. Spray the surface several times a day. Ants hate the smell and will run away.
2) Black pepper: Sprinkle the black pepper where you see the ants the most. Fi9nd out where they're exiting and sprinkle the pepper at that spot also. Since it's safe, you can sprinkle it in your cabinets and around food.
3) Cinnamon: Another spice that ants hate. Sprinkle it around your window sills and cabinets. It also will give a pleasant cinnamon smell to your home. You can also sprinkle it at the base fruit trees and vegetable plants. It works as a barrier, ants will not cross it.
4) Bay Leaves: Set on your counter and floor where they are coming in. Also gets rid of moths in your pantry. Place in an old panty hose, place on the shelf or hang by a thumb tack on the side.
5) Peppermint spray: Fill a spray bottle with water and add 10 drops of peppermint essential oil. Ants hate the smell of peppermint also. Another great sent for your home.
6) Plant mint: Works for keeping ants from coming into your house. Plant all around your house.
7) Boiling water: Boil some water and sneak up on to the ant mounds and pour the boiling water down the hole. 
8) Coffee grounds: Sprinkle used coffee grounds around the outside of your house (this will also keep other critters away too)
9) Boric acid: This works for outdoors too, if you don't to have around children. Mix with sugar, peanut butter, or grease. Ants bring it back to the hill and they are all poisoned by it. Another way is to take a regular size plastic drinking bottle, push paper towels inside it. Boil in water 2 tablespoons of boric acid with sugar. Pour into the bottle, place outside where you see ants around the house, keep in a shaded place, place a small stick from the bottle cap opening to the ground, pour a little of the mixture down the stick onto the ground to attract the ants. They will take pieces of the soaked paper towel back to the ant colony and they will all die. 
10) Cucumber/Citrus Peels: Leave the peelings in areas of activity or by doorways. The peels are toxic to ants, so they avoid them. 
11). Cornmeal: Sprinkle cornmeal around fruit trees, vegetable and other places you see ants. Also pour it around their ant colony. They take it back to their colony, eat it and die.
12) Lemon: Cut a lemon in half and rub along the window ledge and where you see ants. They will not cross the lemon juice. 

Important Warning: Never use chemical poisons around your vegetable garden or fruit trees. The poison will be absorbed into the vegetables that you consume. 

All Natural Weed Killer...

Warning: Do not spray on plants or vegetables, will kill them. It will kill anything you spray it on.

1 gallon of vinegar
2 cups Epson salt
1/4 cup dish soap (The person who posted this uses Dawn, the blue original, but any dish soap should work)

Mix and spray in the morning, after the dew has evaporated. Walk away. go back after dinner and look at the dead weeds.Works just like Roundup but saver since uses no harmful chemicals. If kept in a container make sure you marker it.

Emergency Preparedness Ideas

Money, Where does it come from for Food Storage and Emergency Supplies?

A part of emergency preparedness is budgeting so you can purchase the things you need for your food storage and emergency preparedness supplies. The idea below may help you in budgeting your money better give you left over money to use on your food storage and emergency preparedness supplies. It goes back to way our grandparents and parents did things, cash only basis. This take discipline and work, but you can do it. It really does work!

Dave Ramsey, "The Envelope System Explained"


Unique way to start a fire...

Bottle of water

This works like a charm as long as the sun is shining, even on a cold, sunny day. At night or on a cloudy day,
never mind. But a partially full clear plastic water bottle can serve as a lens to focus the suns light and ignite tinder or even paper. If your paper is white, darken an area with ink or dirt so the light/heat will be absorbed and not reflected.  Fill your bottle with clear water, and tilt it top down an inch or two from your tinder until you find where the light coming through the bottle is the most focused. Within several seconds, you should see smoke, when you see smoke start blowing gently while keeping the bottle in position.

Power Outage...some great advise



Click here to learn how to "Prepared For and Respond to a Power Outage" and here for "Attack on the Power Grid". 




Comments: All your comments, ideas, suggestions and experiences are welcome! We all learn from each other. Thank you for your comments.   

Food Storage, Emergency Preparedness and Weekly/Monthly Assignments (Week of March 16th)

Hi Carson Ward Family, Family and Friends,

This blog is not just about Food Storage and Emergency Preparedness...It is about so much more!

Each week I post a posting on this blog. Yes, it is mostly about food storage and emergency preparedness, but it is also about your family having peace of mind knowing you are prepared, family, neighbor helping neighbor, vegetable gardening, how to can and freeze vegetables, how to videos, ways to organize your food storage and emergency supplies, natural ways on how to get rid of those pesky ants and insects, how to budget your money, medical information, first-aid, personal stories--how others survive natural and other disasters in their lives that might help you, the importance of the right type of insurance, being safe and protecting your loved ones both temporally and spiritually. It is so much more!

Emergency Preparedness should be a part of your everyday life. Every time you go out you should have it on your mind, finding great sales items that you need and can add to your food storage and emergency preparedness supplies.Keep a list of food and emergency supplies you need in your purse or wallet. When you budget your bills also budget in money for food storage and emergency preparedness items.


Weekly Assignment: Emergency Cleaning Bucket

Have you ever thought about needing emergency cleaning supplies? For the next few weeks we are going to work on setting up an Emergency Cleaning Bucket. Each week we will add 1-3 items. Most of these items can be found for a dollar each at a discount store (99 Cent Store, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar, etc.). You want to purchase small-medium bottles so all of it will fit in one bucket. Watch the video below. As we add each item place it into the bucket. Mark the bucket with a permanent marker--Emergency Cleaning Bucket. You can keep this in your garage or home storage shed.

This week add the following...

1) Purchase a 5 gallon bucket with a reusable lid (hardware stores like The Home Depot, Lowels, ACE Hardware, etc. carry them)





2) Dish soap







I know some people like to purchase everything at once or several items when out shopping. Here is the entire list of the items we will be adding to our Emergency Cleaning Bucket

Emergency Cleaning Bucket...
1) 5 Gallon bucket with a reusable lid
2) Dish soap
3) Laundry soap (small-medium size)
4) Disinfectant cleaner
4) 2 clothes lines/rope (100 feet)
5) Clothes pens
6) 7 dry sponges
7) 24 large sturdy 30 gallon black trash bags (all rolled up together)
8) 18 clean reusable towels/wipe (blue ones)
9) Can of spray air freshener
10) Insect repellent spray
11) 2 pair of latex rubber gloves
12) 1 pair of heavy work gloves
13) 5 scrubber pads
14) Cleaning brush
15) 5 dust masks
Optional:
1) Old fashioned clothes wash board (I have seen these at ACE Hardware. Other hardware stores may carry them.)
2) Old fashioned round metal tub or heavy plastic bin or tub (I have found the round metal tubs at estate and garage sales. You can also find them online and at some hardware stores.)
3) Mobile Washer (emergencyessentials.com for $14.95)--helps agitate the clothes in the metal or plastic tub)

Note: You may find some of the items below are also repeated in the Sanitation list below. You will need these items in each bucket. 

Watch the video below to see how to put all the supplies into the Emergency Cleaning Bucket

)

Monthly March Assignment: Sanitation

This month add items for sanitation in case you cannot use your regular toilet...

1) Portable toilet (emergencyessentials.com for $14.95)

2) Enzyme Packets (You will need several. You can purchase them at emergencyessentials.com, 60 cents a packet). The odor is quite strong, keep them in a large plastic zip lock bag. I store ours in the zip lock bag in our portable toilet.

3) Cat Litter (You can purchase them discount stores like the 99 Cent Store or other stores, you will need several bags.)

4) Large heavy black trash bags (Costco or Sam's Club size)

5) Toilet paper & paper towels (Costco or Sam's Club size)

6) Baby wipes (You can purchase these at discount stores like the 99 Cent Store, Costco or Sam's Club. You should have several stored)

7) Disinfectants--Clorox bleach, Lysol, hand sanitizer, etc. 

8) Privacy Shelter (you can purchase this at emerencyessentials.com for $89.95 or construct your own with a large blanket or ex-large plastic tarp, rope, clothes pins, duct tape, nails and hammer) 

Keep all of these items together in your garage or a home storage shed.  Some of these items will fit inside the portable toilet to keep them organized and together.  Keep those items that will not fit into the portable toilet together with the toilet.
 

Important Information: Check out the posting "Sanitation" under Postings on the right for more information, why you need these items, how they work (example: enzyme packets), how to use the portable toilet correctly and how to dispose of human waste. 

Gardening Ideas...It is that time of year again

Those of us living in Southern California USA have been advised to go ahead and start planting our vegetable gardens and not wait until April due to the extreme hot dry conditions here. Here are some great ideas on vegetable gardening besides others I have posted before. Click here "Vegetable Gardening" to learn how to plant a vegetable garden and maintain it.

LOVE LOVE THIS IDEA...

This is great for those of you who have limited space, live in an apartment or condo with a small patio area or a balcony.  Just need to make sure it gets enough sunlight, about 6-8 hours a day.  Limited space, you can plant several different types of vegetables listed below in one bag. 

How to prepare the bags and soil: This is a weed free way to grow lettuce, spinach, radishes and even green onions! Take a 2 cubic bag of potting soil (Miracle Grow is the best), rumple it around quite a bit to loosen the soil, poke quite a few holes in the back side for drainage, then lay the bag, with the holes down, on a smooth surface that will allow drainage and not get too hot. In the picture they are using metal saw horses with a wire grate on top, or you could use 2x4's with just a little space between them so the water can drain through. The saw horses allow you to reach your vegetables without having to bend over so much, they should be waist level. Then cut out the top, leaving about a 4 or 5 inches border all around as seen in the photo above.

Planting the seeds: Lightly rake through the soil to even it out and loosen it even more, then carefully and evenly sprinkle the seeds around. You can put the seeds (they are small) in an old spice bottle with large shaker holes, add some cornmeal, shake it all up to mix well and sprinkle them out of the bottle holes. The cornmeal allows you to see that you covered the soil evenly. If doing radishes or spinach, just make the lines the depth mentioned on the seed package, plant the seeds and cover appropriately. Do not bury them to deep or they will not germinate. Sprinkle just enough soil over the seeds and cornmeal to cover the seeds. Then spray mist them to water them.

Watering: Spray mist the seeds and plantings at first when watering, until they are established, then you can water more vigorously as the plants mature. You will probably need to water more often, since the depth of the bags are not as deep as a regular in-ground garden. Keep them moist, not sopping yet.

Harvesting:  When harvesting the lettuce and spinach all you need to do is use scissors and cut what you need--magically they will grow back. You do not have to pull out the whole plant. The radishes and green onions you will pull out when mature.

Love this idea too...Here is another way to grow a salad garden or herbs without using yard space. These are rain gutters attached to the garage wall. Drill holes in the bottom of the rain gutters for drainage before attaching to the wall. Fill will potting soil, plant the seeds (lettuces, radishes, green onions, spinach, etc. and herbs). At first spray mist to keep damp but not sopping. Once they germinate you can water a little harder.

Tips on Drought Gardening...

For those of us living in drought areas with a vegetable gardens this may be very important information. I am  a little concerned about my vegetable garden this year and if the county calls "water rationing" again.  Would my vegetable garden receive enough water to flourish? California vegetable gardeners are being advised to start planting their vegetables gardens now and not wait until April due to the extreme hot dry weather we are having. Click here and  here to read articles about ideas on drought gardening.

I know you are not suppose to the "covet thy neighbor", or envy them, but this came pretty close...

A few weeks ago I went to a friends house and notice their large back yard. Oh, how much I want a yard that big. Behind their garage I would put a chicken coup with 6+ chickens for fresh eggs every day. They would be free range, no hormones. Then I would plant a very large vegetable garden and then still have room for a couple of fruit trees. Being we live in sunny California they would be orange and lemon trees. Or, you could do fig, peach or apricot trees. Apples do not do very well here because our winters do not get cold enough. What a blessing to have such a large back yard! But I am grateful for my medium size yard, our vegetable garden which did produce enough vegetables for us for the whole year until this Fall and room enough for one orange tree.  I hope any of you who have a yard will think about planting a vegetable garden and a fruit tree or two. No matter how small your yard or condo patio area you can grow some type of vegetables, in the ground, in raised beds, and even in containers.You can even have a dwarf fruit tree in a large container.

Emergency Preparedness Ideas

Food Storage Ideas...

15 Steps For Food Storage (from emergencyessentials.com)

Click here to read about the 15 Steps. Personally I love Emergency Essentials long term food storage products and their emergency products. I find them reasonably prices, shipping is $6, $9, or $12 (depending on how much you order) and their food and other products are  great.


 


10 Mistakes I've Made with Food Storage (form Prepared LDS Family)

Click here to read about great information and the cautions to be aware of concerning food storage.



How do I use the powdered milk in my food storage?

Here is a great link below to those questions. Great ideas on how to turn powdered milk into other types of milk, a powdered milk conversion chart and some great recipes.

Powdered Milk Cooking Tips and Recipes

Great Idea...Keep a Food Storage and Emergency Preparedness notebook or set up a file folder on your computer

When ever you read something on this blog or other information that will help you in your food storage and  emergency preparedness either print it out and put it in a Food Storage and Emergency Preparedness notebook with dividers or set up a file folder on your computer Food Storage and Emergency Preparedness. That way you will have easy access to them without having to search through years of postings on this blog and other things you what to save. Example: Like the information above on powdered milk.


Note: If you want to print it, highlight the area you want to print, click on print in File on the tool bar, click on selection, print. Sometimes to get it all you have to change your paper from Portrait to Landscape under printing preferences. Even sometimes that it does not print all the information, sometimes you have to hand write the missing words in the sentence.Or, you can cut and paste it to Micro Soft Office or what ever you use, then print.

Comments: All your comments, ideas, suggestions and experiences are welcome! We all learn from each other. Thank you for your comments.   

Food Storage, Emergency Preparedness and Weekly/Monthly Assignments (Week of March 9th)

Hi Carson Ward Family, Family and Friends,

So much to share this week! I apologize the blog posting is so long this week, but it all needs said. Do not forget the weekly and monthly assignments...

The Rains Came, Damages Came, Flooding Came, Mudslides Came, No Electricity... 
           and Miracles Came Too!

The last four days of this past week brought down pours of rain, lightening, thunder and strong winds to Southern California USA. This was much needed rain to help with our drought, but at the same time with it came damages, flooding, mudslides and in some areas no electricity. At times the sky poured out buckets of rain!

Story...Sunday morning during church the call went out for help for one of our Ward members.
The down pour of rain caused their roof to leak causing a waterfall down the wall of one of their bedrooms, flooding the carpet and padding. After our church meetings the men and the full time missionaries serving in our Ward went home, changed their clothes, grab their tools, hammers, nails, extension cords, ladders, tarps and work trucks. Eleven men and 4 missionaries showed up to help.

The men boarded up the roof where the water was coming in and put a huge tarp over the whole roof and secured it. 

The miracle--that day a man from Iowa, Brother Farmer, was there visiting due to being in town for business for a few weeks. He had been attending another Ward but felt he should come to our Ward on Sunday. As the call went out for help he spoke up and said he was a roofer! Heavenly Father had answered prayers and he came to help.



 

 

After they were done they enjoyed the food brought by the sisters in the Ward. While the men pulled up the carpet and padding, mopped up the water, and started fixing the roof the women were home making sandwiches, soup, and hot chocolate for the hard workers. One sister even brought donuts, a favorite of the men.



The family was so appreciative of those who came to help! Thank you to all who came to help and those sisters who brought food.

Who will come to help when disaster strikes? It will probably not be your local or federal government right away, that can take days, weeks, months. It will be your family, your friends, your church members, your neighbors!

What was learned from the rainy storm week? Each time we face an emergency situation or disaster we learn how well or how well not we are prepared. We learn we do not have things as well organized as they should be, easy to access and all together. Some of our Ward members were without electricity throughout Saturday and the night until early the next morning. We lost our electricity a couple of times during the evening.

I am going to spend a little time on this because it is important. We can learn from others experiences and our own. Some of our Ward members lost their electricity for several hours.

What we learned...Personal Experience...

1. Not to keep our emergency lanterns so far out of reach. They should be in an easy access. Batteries should be stored by these items. I had to get out the step ladder with a flashlight, then climb up to get the lanterns and batteries. As I always stress, keep like items together.
2. Keep important keys where you know they are, easy to access and marked what they are for. We could not find our emergency key to open the electric garage door. Now it is marked and kept in safe secure easy access place with other important keys in a box.
3. We were glad we had a generator so we had light, besides the emergency flashlights and lanterns, and radios. We had light to move around easily. We were able watch television to see what was going on in our area.

What others in our Ward learned...

I asked them... How being prepared helped you? How not being prepared for no electricity effected you?  How did you handle things during that time? What did you learn from this experience?

This is what they shared...

First one: I received your questions below and was surprise because, it was one of the questions we discussed as a family when the lights were out.  Mind you, we were told from our neighbors, that the light won't be coming on until tomorrow evening at 6pm.  Our expression was WOW! Our hair! our make up! my son, said; 'How am I going to shave?  Yes, questions came into our minds!

To answer the Questions below;

1st.  -  I always have CANDLES, lots of candles! I've always been prepared with candles. We kind of had a headache, because the candles were scented!  So a bit of advise, prepare to buy the unscented ones.

2nd. - If we weren't prepared for electricity, we wouldn't have light, to help each other prepare for the night, until the morning light.

3rd. - We made sure we were all comfortable, we slept together in the living room, it was kind of crowded, but we were together. We just talked all night about old times, the present times and our goals for the future, it was such a spiritual feeling.  Something we haven't done in a long time.

4th. - What we learned from this, was no matter what happens, as long as we're together as a family, we can get through anything.

Second one: I think we were pretty well prepared on Saturday, but not enough.
Realized how inconvenient it was to get around.  I couldn't cook much
because our stove is electric.

We didn't realize that our emergency  batteries stock was very low.

I was working in the temple on that day.  I heard that strong thunder
damaged electricity of our whole community for a long time.
Henry was doing all right using candles when I came home to a dark house.
Good thing we have been talking about emergency preparedness
every time your Email comes in.

One thing we learned this time is to check more often what we have
in stock and take care of things that need to be changed or added.
Thank you very much for your reminding us all about important
preparation.

Warning about using candles: Candles are a great resource for light but can be dangerous! Candles can cause fires. They can tip over, if to close to flammable materials they can catch on fire, never light if there is a gas leak or suspicion of one, and they should never be left on unattended. A better resource would be to have 2-3 battery operated LED lanterns. We keep a flashlight in each room. We have hand crank flashlights between our mattresses on each side of our bed. That way if the lights go out we can move around easily in the dark. It is a good idea to store candles too. They are a good source of light, just be careful with them. 

What is the above situations had gone on for a days, weeks, months, would you be able to take care of yourself and your family? What things do you need to be prepared? Discuss it as a family,  make a plan and work towards your goals. 

Weekly Assignment: Emergency Family Bag

This week add the following...we started this one last week, continue to add this items this week...

Good Set of Walkie Talkies-- You will only need one good set. These are not the kids toy type. If you have to evacuate and you take two cars, or the family gets separated, each parent should have one of them so you can communicate. Also keep extra batteries in your Emergency Family Bag. Cells phones and texting may not work. I find these at Big 5 on sale often for about $25-$45. You can also find them on line at amazon.com and other websites. I am going to give you two weeks to work on this one.



CONGRATULATIONS! You have just finished your Emergency Family Bag. Gather everything together, place in the sports bag or backpack you already have or purchased and place it in your car(s) or keep it with your 72 Hour Individual Emergency Preparedness Backpacks. We keep ours in our car.

You should have the following in your Family Emergency Bag: Portable regular or solar radio with extra batteries, street maps of local areas/cities, emergency flares and candles, water proof matches, 2 heat cells, flat fuel folding stove, a first-aid kit with a first-aid book, sun block, insect repellent, small tool kit (regular and Philips screw drivers, wrench, pliers, small hammer), Venture 6 Tool, an extra large water proof tarp, roll of duct tape, hand can opener, crowbar, a small wet stone, a travel size board games or card games, small sewing kit, 1-2 mess kits, basic chow set for each family member, 5 in 1 whistle (or, small mirror, compass and whistle) and a good set of Walkie Talkies. See previous blog postings for information regarding these items and where to purchase them.

Next week we are going to start working on an Emergency Supply Cleaning Bucket.

Monthly March Assignment...Sanitation

This month add items for sanitation in case you cannot use your regular toilet...

1) Portable toilet (emergencyessentials.com for $14.95)

2) Enzyme Packets (You will need several. You can purchase them at emergencyessentials.com, 60 cents a packet). The odor is quite strong, keep them in a large plastic zip lock bag. I store ours in the zip lock bag in our portable toilet.

3) Cat Litter (You can purchase them discount stores like the 99 Cent Store, you will need several bags or other stores.)

4) Large heavy black trash bags (Costco or Sam's Club size)

5) Toilet paper & paper towels (Costco or Sam's Club size)

6) Baby wipes (You can purchase these at discount stores like the 99 Cent Store, Costco or Sam's Club. You should have several stored)

7) Disinfectants--Clorox bleach, Lysol, hand sanitizer, etc. 

8) Privacy Shelter (you can purchase this at emerencyessentials.com for $89.95 or construct your own with a large blanket or ex-large plastic tarp, rope, clothes pins, duct tape, nails and hammer) 

Keep all of these items together in your garage or a home storage shed. 
 

Important Information: Check out the posting "Sanitation" under Postings on the right for more information, why you need these items, how they work (example: enzyme packets), how to use the portable toilet correctly and how to dispose of human waste. 

Emergency Preparedness Ideas

Insurance..An Important Part of Emergency Preparedness

Having worked in the auto/casualty insurance for several years I am very well aware of the issues that face car owners and homeowners (including condo-homeowners, rental property and businesses) and renters. If you have not looked at your policies in awhile, get them out, look them over, and review your coverages with your insurance agent and make sure you understand what coverages you have and do not have.

Did you know...

1) Fire policies like homeowners, renters, etc. do not cover flooding or any type of land movement including mudslides. That is a separate policy called Flood Insurance. If you try to get flood insurance because of impending flooding (storm), the policy does not go into effect until one month after the effect date on the application. Earthquake damage--you need Earthquake Insurance.


 
2) If you roof leaks causing water damage inside your property,the roof damage is not covered (wear and tear), the water damage caused inside should be covered (walls, flooring, etc.). If a wind storm or tornado causes damage to your roof, it may be covered, or at least part of it. Check with your insurance agent to see what your policy covers.




 

3) Cars--if your car(s) are flooded they are totaled. Do not let an insurance company try to repair the
damages. The electrical has been compromised and will cause an electrical fire. Also, rust may become an issue later on. Your car needs to be replaced.

Water damage is serious! If you have water damage in your home you need to call a restoration company to come out, remove the damaged items and start drying out your home. Water inside your walls and dry wall spreads quickly, flooring buckles and can causes serious mold issues if left unattended. Most insurance companies will pay for this service. Check with them first. They may have a company they recommend. For more information on how different types of insurance work, coverages and claims check out the blog posting on the right under "Insurance" or click on the link  "Insurance". 

Do it early...Winterize your home in the Fall for any damages to your roof that might cause leakage and water damage inside your home. Have a roofer come out to inspect your roof for any possible damages, it is usually free. Check all windows and doors for leakage too and replace all weather stripping as needed.

 
Power of Three...First 3 Minutes, First 3 Hours, First 3 Days, First 3 Weeks, First 3 Months, One Year...

Our daughter's Stake in Huntington Beach, California USA has a fabulous Emergency Preparedness Plan. Each month the members can attend a class to learn new emergency preparedness ideas and how to cook with their emergency food. She shared this wonder plan with me. Please click here to read the information. Click on each one to see what you need. Great information!

Purifying Salt Water/Distill

Love this idea. If you live near a lot of salt water (the ocean) try this. You can even do this over a camp fire with a dutch oven and tripod. 


Simple Household Emergency Medical Help...

 
1) Colic in babies--We had a daughter with very intense colic for three months. The doctor said it is like being in labor non-stop or like the pain from a kidney stone. We tried everything, even the prescription the Pediatrician gave us, which seemed to only make it worse. My husband found a great natural treatment for colic in one of his older health books by Adelle Davis, "Let's Get Healthy". You take a little apple juice (about 1/8 a cup) and dissolve a little Brewers Yeast (about 1/4-1/2 teaspoon)  in the apple juice. Place it in the babies bottle. Warm it up slightly. Make sure they drink all of it. In a little while the pain with lessen and sometimes even go away. It really does work! 










 

2) Gatorade--Drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately-without the unpleasant side effects caused by traditional pain relievers. Headache are many times caused by dehydration. Gatorade dehydrates quickly.




 

3) Alka Seltzer--Cure urninary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Just dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost instatntly--even though the product has never been advertised for this use. 





Comments: All your comments, ideas, suggestions and experiences are welcome! We all learn from each other. Thank you for your comments.