A Return to Self-Reliance

I grew up on a farm in Idaho.  My father had a day job so he could only work on the farm at night and on Saturdays. This left my sisters and I to help in the fields and tend to our very large garden. In the fall, we helped pick and can all the produce. We even picked the wild asparagus growing on the ditch-banks! That, along with the beef we raised, we had food to eat all year.  It was a great example of how to be self-reliant. I was also taught many other skills such as, sewing, baking bread and woodworking, which I have been grateful for as I have raised my children.

Once I got married, I lived the opposite life: a big city in Arizona! Stores are in abundance, and with the hot weather, everything I knew about gardening was out the window. I know that many people have succeeded at growing things here, but I failed over and over and quickly gave up. With the desire to have my shelves stocked like I was used to growing up, I had to learn to be very frugal and quickly became a “coupon queen”, as my friends call me. Over the years, I was able to feed my family cheaply and kept the main things we lived on stocked up. Because of the great deals I got, I was also able to help struggling families.

My husband and I became empty nesters a year and a half ago and I got out of the habit of stocking up. One day, I realized that I had very little food left in the house.  I panicked!!!  That was the turning point for me!  At that time, I had a huge impression that I not only needed to fill my shelves again, but I also needed to fill my house!  I had an overwhelming feeling that tough times where coming and that I, as a mother, needed to have enough to be able to help feed my family, even if they didn’t live with me! (They are all starting out in life and struggling.) I could hardly sleep for months. My husband thought I was going nuts, but I couldn’t shake the panic I was feeling and could only focus on getting prepared.  The more food and supplies I got, the better I started to sleep.

We have definitely had to sacrifice some fun and some wants to accomplish our preparedness goals, BUT so many blessings have poured in that have helped us in our efforts. I have done something every day for the last year! From canning well over 500 pints of meat (among other things) to packaging over one thousand 9mm bullets, I’m armed at all points. In fact, I seal something in my Food Saver every day. I even ruined a Food Saver by trying to seal cornstarch in a canning jar! What a mess! My husband jokes that I will just seal him up when he dies and stick him in the ground! LOL

Thanks to the internet, I have researched and learned so much about being self-reliant. I’ve learned things like: how to store a variety of foods, not being dependent on electricity (especially for cooking), health and first aid skills and have even started to try to garden again. Not only do I have peace of mind, but I truly enjoy preparing.  It’s something anyone and everyone can do. Starting out can be overwhelming, but I tell my friends to focus on one area until it’s conquered and then maintain that while you move on to another area. I feel the desire to share my knowledge and skills so I can teach and help others who want to be prepared. I have taught several people to can and some have purchased a Food Saver because they have seen what I have been doing.  It’s exciting that many of my friends have gotten the preparedness bug because of my example.  I LOVE IT! I love that I can influence people for good! Besides, the more people prepared, the better!!!

Wouldn’t you want that peace of mind too?

S.B. AZ

How to VOTE for the best Preppers Outreach Contest Entries:

If you think this entry merits one of your 5 allotted votes, then post a comment below. Do NOT post a comment if you do not want it to count towards one of your 5 allotted votes. If you want to award an entry more than one vote, you’ll need to leave a comment for each vote you want to cast.