[melodys]

My New Year's resolution is to have better emergency preparedness in 2014. Some things I want to do are

- Top off my EF. It is almost fully funded, but not quite to the 6 months that I want.
- Create "get home" bags for my son and myself to go in our cars in case we are stranded at work or school or somewhere in the area
- Create "bug out" bags for each of us and our pets so that we can evacuate the house quickly if necessary. I am not sure if "get home" and "bug out" bags should be one and the same or if the "get home" bags should be scaled down light versions. Need to think on that some more.
- Get a fire extinguisher
- Setup water storage in case we lose water service in a earthquake (I have a little, but not enough)
- Setup food storage. First one month in case of an earthquake or other natural disaster, then a bit longer for other potential problems like unemployment or zombie apocalypse
- Stock up on alternate sources of heat and cooking in the event that services are lost - possible in an earthquake.
- Create written plans for the family for what to do if there is an emergency, and make sure we each have a copy.

Does anyone want to join me?

 

[brenda67]

For 2014 I would like to:

Build up my EF
Plant more fruit trees to add to my already established orchard
Adding more blueberry bushes
Can another 100 jars of meat
Buy and plant mushroom spores
Start buying solar panels
Plant more medicinal plants
Clear out some land to plant more edibles
Plant artichokes
Setting up more solar lights around our property
Maybe build something to cover our wood

I have been adding and doing whatever I can for any kind of emergency to better our lives that can be done on my little homestead..

I think by planting anything edible & medicinal plus growing your meat if possible is one heck of a way to prepare yourself in any emergency..

I have a Berkey for filtering water..I could go in the swamp that meets my property and use that water in my Berkey if I had too..

We have a generator for when we lose power..along with 5-gallon gas cans that are filled at all times ( unless my son uses it to put gas in his car and I dont know about it) also have the heavy duty extension cords.

Solar motion lights are also a very good emergency item to have..







I did/do a lot of things the past few years..(all random)

Put in a wood stove
Bought cast iron pots that
I could cook on a open fire if need be
Planted a asparagus patch
Bought baby chick's
Planted horseradish
Planted elderberry bushes ( medicinal as well as making wine)
Planted a herb garden
Planted a strawberry patch
Planted mint garden
Planted rhubarb
Planted grape vines
Planted/ added a few more apple trees & peach trees
Planted a few more blackberry bushes
Planted Blueberry bushes
Built up the pantry
Learned to make bagels
Cut our own wood
Learned to can Tomato sauce w/ meat,chili,taco meat
Learned to can apple & peach pie filling

Im sure there is more that I forgot.

 

[Brilly69]

I like the idea of these stickers you can get. It is good to stick them on your letterbox or your car. They go something like this: If something happens to me please care for my ....dogs....cats. You write in how many dogs, cats, goldfish, horses etc. that you have and then your pets won't be forgotten.

 

[chevy_chick95]

I have had this huge pushing feeling of needing to be more prepared. It is on my priority list.

So this year I want to do some random things, also some not so random

fixing the used canner i bought
fixing my gma's old sewing machine
learning how to use said canner correctly
build up 'real food' storage
plan and plant a moderate garden
Plant medicinal plants
get fire extinguisher
create car emergency kits
create emergency binder

these are all i have for now.. I'm sure there will be more!

 

[Nadders11]

I'm going to grow a garden.
Buy a generator.
Increase food and water stockpile.

 

[chevy_chick95]

I am planning on implementing this.. to a degree... very interesting article. on the right hand side of the website there is a list of each weeks post.


52 Weeks to Preparedness: An Emergency Preparedness Plan For Surviving Virtually Any Disaster | Ready Nutrition

 

[Trishagirl]

My dh started to get prepared this Christmas & said all he wanted is stuff for his bug out bag. So he got a wind up flashlight poncho bug spray water straw collapsable water bottle wool socks. He bought his bugout bag from Ireland coming soon & lightsticks & paracord.
I'm working on increasing our stockpile of food & non food supply.
We had a garden past spring & summer
I will add potatoes & other veggies this year.

 

[melodys]

I got a lot done today. Our "get home" bags are almost ready. The basics are there, but we don't have them in proper bags yet. Right now the kits are in small carry-on luggage in our cars and we have a to-do item to get backpacks - hopefully we can find good backpacks at a thrift store. Food, water, first-aid kits, and some emergency supplies are in the bags, but we need to get a change of clothes, maps and a few other things as well.

Our car emergency kits are started with a few things like anti-freeze, oil, paper towels and jumper cables. They are still pretty incomplete at this point, but it is a start.

I figured out that we can have our get home bags supplemented by supplies that I can keep in my entryway closet and that would make for complete "bug out" bags.

That 52 week site is great. I started with this one Food Storage Made Easy. It has emails every two weeks and that got me started on the bags I did today.

 

[Tater]

Chevy Chick - the 52 week site was great!!! Thanks so much!!!!

 

[melodys]

This week I got my water storage all setup. I caught a water barrel on sale when the Virginia water was poisoned and a company had a sale on barrels while people were thinking about it.

Had a mini test run for electrical outages when we lost power for a couple of hours. That reminded me to get a battery charger for my cell phone since I do not have a land line.

 

[nodmicks]

Dh wants to expand his garden

I have ordered some used water barrels for a rain gutter system and dry dock camping. I plan to get a purifier to go with this for emergency use.

We plan to buy a generator this spring. I got gift cards towards it for Christmas and the rest we will buy as a joint b day gift. We will also use this camping.

We have FIL watching auctions for solar. We want enough to do the camper. Nice for camping and nice if we had to bug out.

 

[melodys]

I can check off the fire extinguisher from my list. Got that taken care of last week.

I am adding a tent to my list. I think it would be fun to camp again occasionally and it can be my emergency shelter in case an earthquake makes my home unsafe. Seattle would be a truly miserable place if an earthquake hit during the rainy season and people do not have shelter.