Yep, we have hit our 5th Anniversary of "The Ark" blog!
About 5 years ago I woke up one morning and sat up in bed. The Holy Ghost told me we needed to be better prepared and I needed to warn family, friends and others to be prepared and better prepared than they were. Something big was coming that would effect many. The feeling was so strong I could not get the warning out of my head. At first I did not know how to accomplish it. I knew how to make us better prepared but how could I help others be prepared and get the word out to so many at once?
Our daughter had a scrapbooking blog and then I realized I could start an emergency preparedness blog with her help. So on August 1, 2010 I launched my first blog, "The Ark". Five years latter I am still publishing a blog posting every week A few months later I was called as the Emergency Preparedness Specialist for my Ward, this year I was also called as my Stake Emergency Preparedness Specialist.
I hope this blog has helped my family, friends and others be prepared, how to start, encourage you and make it simple and easy. So many emergency preparedness books and websites are very complicated and so overwhelming. You stop before you really get started. This blog has been here to inspire you, encourage you and show each one of you you can do it a step at a time.
Please take advantage of this blog and I hope it is helping you be better prepared for what ever may come your way. Remember, anything can happen in just a second. If you are a least striving to be prepared, I assure you Heavenly Father will bless you.
Striving . . .
The dictionary meaning for "striving" is "make great efforts to achieve or obtain something".
How many of us strive for something that is of great importance to us, providing for our family, a good job, a good education. good health, a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Being prepared both spiritually and temporally is an important part of it too.
Being spiritually and temporally prepared takes setting goals and work. It does not happen over night. It is a continual life long process. As long as we are striving by setting goals and working towards those goals we will be blessed. This life is about being obedient to the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our church leaders have warned us to be prepared for many many years. We have been working on our family preparedness for 44 years. We are continually adding and rotating our food storage and emergency supplies. Do not give up. No one fails if they continue to try! Peace comes from preparation.
Satan tries very hard to discourage and distract us from reaching our potential and goals. Write them down, keep them were you can see them daily, review them daily and accomplish at least one a day or a week. Longer term goals work towards accomplishing one a month, like purchasing a family tent or emergency cooking equipment and fuel. You can do it!!!
New August Monthly Assignments
Food Storage: Spices and Herbs
Spices and herbs are an important part of cooking, even in a disaster or emergency situation.
Where to purchase: I like to purchase my spices, herbs and seasonings from big box stores like Costco or Sam's Club, shops that sell India seasonings in bulk (less expensive) and long term food storage companies like emergencyessentials.com. Emergency Essentials has them in 2.5 cans and some in #10 cans. They store for 20 years. I prefer the 2.5 cans. Sprouts also sells spices and herbs in bulk. Buying in bulk is less expensive than purchasing the small bottles and containers from regular grocery stores. Watch the expiration dates at discount stores. If you purchase them from bulk item stores or an India store purchase airtight containers to transfer their packaged herbs and spices into.
How much do I need? Determine what spices, herbs and seasonngs your family uses in cooking. Determine how much you will need for your food storage goals.
How to store: Like all food storage, in a cool, dry, dark place.
Emergency Preparedness:
72 Hour Individual Emergency Backpacks
(or Grab and Go Bag or Bug-Out-Bag)
Each family member in your house hold should have a 72 Hour Individual Emergency Backpack/Kit. Click here to see what items should be in each backpack/kit. There are 3 kits within the backpack plus other items that will help with your survival---
1) Food Kit (Adjust according to each family members age and medical needs)
2) Hygiene Kit (Provides items that will help you feel better)
3) Stressor Kit (Help family members deal with the stress of a disaster or emergency situation)
Note: We also have strapped to each backpack a water filtering sports bottle from store.lds.org (Seychelle Water Filtration). If you need extra water it will filter out 99.9999% of all bacteria and contamination.
If you already have your 72 Hour Individual Emergency Preparedness Backpacks . . .
Important: If you have not rotated the food for awhile, a year, or 6 months if kept in your car, this would be a good time to do so. Also, to re-evaluate the food in your kits, diets and medications change and taste change. With some medications you cannot eat grapefruit or other foods. Also, sizes change, especial for children, replace clothing and shoes as needed.
New Posting Under "Postings" . . .
Sanitation--Emergency Portable Toilet Supplies and Instructions
Emergency Preparedness Ideas
Just Add Water: Freeze-dried vs Dehydrated Food . . .
emergencyessentials.com has a great blog posting on this subject. Click here to read the article.
Vegetable Gardening . . .
Now that our Summer vegetable gardens are coming to an end it is time to think about planting your Fall vegetable gardens. So far I have harvested from my Summer garden tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, green onions. zucchini, yellow squash and cucumbers. The Fall vegetable garden consist of the cooler vegetables like leaf lettuces, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, etc. It needs to be planted between August and September. For my Fall vegetable garden I am planning on planting more tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots and my bell peppers are still producing. I just planted seeds for broccoli and celery in small containers to germinate. It is best to plant them as small plants in your vegetable garden. I will also plant peas, leaf lettuce and possibly some cilantro. Living in Southern California USA gives us a long growing season that most areas of the United States and world.
Click here to read a great article about Fall Gardening.
Comments and Questions: We love hearing from you. Your comments and questions help us all learn from each other. If you have a question you can post it below or email me at theark.carsonward@gmail.com. I will research your question and post the answer next week. Thank you for your comments and questions.
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