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Building your 72 Hour Kit

Q: What is it?
A: a disaster supplies pack that you and your family WILL need in the event of evacuation.
Q: Why is it called a 72 hour kit?
A: because it should contain a minimum of three days supplies.

Okay, I’ll start by confessing the truth – I’d rather not leave my house for anything. In most emergencies, people would prefer to ‘shelter-in-place’ at home, where they’re more in control. With or without power, sheltering in place is still where one would rather ride out just about anything. However, there are times when that simply isn’t possible. And while I’m ‘truthing‘, if I had to evacuate my house, I’d really rather NOT do it in the winter. But since emergencies rarely make appointments, and we likely wouldn’t get our choice, its something we have to strongly consider since (at least for me) winter takes up close to half my year. One last truth: MY evacuation plan may not be the same as yours.

I live in a city, so I won’t be heading out to the great outdoors if I have to evacuate my house, and I don’t have any little kids or pets in my house. There was a time we lived in the country, and a time we had little kids at home, and we did have pets, which made my 72 hour kit then, look a lot different than it does now. Though the basic essentials may be the same, everyone’s kit will be unique to them.
Do you have dental appliances?
Do you have dentures?
Do you have allergies? Or special medications?
Do you wear glasses?
You get the picture. We’re all different, and so our kits and our plans are going to look different too, but there are some things that are pretty basic.

So what is magic about 72 HOURS anyway?  Why choose that length of time?  

Three days (72 hours) has long been a minimum guideline to be self sufficient, and its recognized as a standard worldwide.   Whatever the disaster, no matter what help might be coming – it is unlikely to arrive inside of 72 hours.   Three days is also a manageable time frame that is easy for people to wrap their minds around, and fairly reasonable to plan for.   Experts recognize that the first 72 hours are often the most critical, so having an emergency kit ensures that individuals and families are adequately equipped to manage the initial chaos and uncertainty that lie in the aftermath of a disaster.   Bottom line – YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN for at least three days.

A supply of food, water, medication and other essential items for three days may be intimidating, but it is entirely manageable in terms of storage space, portability and cost.   It is just the beginning though; you should consider it a foundation upon which to build a more comprehensive preparedness plan, as the situation that causes the emergency is not likely to magically end in three days.   You should add to your plan – evacuation routes and destinations, communication strategies and community resources as well as how you can lend a hand to your neighbours.  These are proactive preparedness steps that when followed will mitigate your family’s risks, enhance your resilience and increase the level of your comfort and security.   

For me, our first option after evacuation would be to go to our son’s house – four blocks away. In the likely event that it won’t be far enough away, we’d all head to our other son’s house about 20 minutes away. If that is not far enough, we have another destination 40 minutes away. And so it goes.
Worst case scenario – we’d end up sitting on some gym floor somewhere with a hundred other people.

What are YOUR destination options? First choice, second choice, and so forth . . .

Terms to be familiar with:
SHELTER IN PLACE – means to remain indoors, or if outside to go indoors immediately. You should follow all instructions and watch your news source for updates. These situations can last hours or days. It is suggested to have enough supplies on hand to last a minimum of 14 days without needing to go to a store.

EVACUATION – evacuating a place – leaving it. Could be temporary, or long term, and can sometimes get quite stressful.

Looking at our Rule of 3’s:

1. AIR
– not likely to be a problem UNLESS our need to evacuate is related to air quality – which happened to us many years ago. In an oil town about three hours west of us – Lodgepole (close to Drayton Valley) was a tragedy that ultimately caused some significant future changes to sour gas safety regulations in Alberta. The well blew out of control for 68 days, spewing toxic hydrogen sulphide across west-central Alberta, making thousands of people ill. It caught fire and killed two workers who tried to cap it. Many people with breathing issues or other health concerns chose to leave the area.

2. SHELTER
– This always gives me pause to consider the circumstances of the many people without houses right now. Every winter day it seems, I hear about another death or two in the ‘tent cities’ in Edmonton. People just trying to stay warm in the most difficult situations.

Generally, if we need to evacuate our homes there will be temporary shelters set up. Its up to us to provide our own comfort within that temporary shelter though – blankets, food, water, things to occupy our time, etc.

3. WATER
– Bottled water should be on the top of your list of important items to include in your 72 hour kit. Whether you’re in a temporary shelter or driving to a distant destination you’ll want to have a supply of drinking water. In the winter time, melting snow may be an option if you have a way to clean it. But for most of THIS winter in my home city – good luck finding snow.

4. FOOD
– We have more flexibility with food than anything else. Instant freeze dried meals in a pouch provide tasty and nutritious hearty meals with nothing more than added water. Excellent option to have in your 72 kits. If you have the ability to heat the water, then all the better (a nice HOT meal), and with a 20 year shelf life you don’t have to be constantly switching it out. Other meals that require little preparation are of benefit too.
*pro tip: TRY THEM OUT AT HOME FIRST. Don’t ever pack a food that you have not first sampled. While you’re sitting on some gymnasium floor is NOT the time you want to find out you don’t like it. And don’t give me that “we won’t care what it tastes like, we’ll eat it anyway”, because that totally depends on how bad it really is! And even if you could choke it down – you’re not gonna be happy about it. Trust me, you’ll have enough things to worry about without hating your food.

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The RULE OF 3 is a good measure when coming up with a game plan for any emergency. Remember, you may be left to your own devises for several days before help can get to you. Being prepared means having enough food, water and other necessities to last for as long as you need them. Three days is the MINIMUM to plan for.

Below is a sample supply list. You’ll want to customize it to your own circumstances – but it’s a good place to start. Compile your own list and take it shopping with you to make sure you pick up things you want. Keep it handy as sometimes its a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Consider the unique needs of your family – children, disabled persons, elderly, pets etc.

ESSENTIALS

*pro tip: when assembling your kit, store items in airtight plastic bags inside an easy-to-carry (or pull) container.
Container suggestions: back packs, rolling bags for elderly, duffel bag, plastic bins (in the car).

* FULL GAS TANK. I’m just putting this at the top of my list right off the bat. Nobody’s going very far without gas in the tank.
*battery-powered or hand crank radio
*flashlight for each adult and older child
*lighters or matches in sealed zip lock bags; I prefer lighters
*small candles with something for them to sit in while burning
*pocket knife
*nylon cord to use as a clothes line, and clothes pins
*First aid kit
*hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes to disinfect surfaces
*extra batteries
*whistle (to signal for help)
*paper and pencil or pen to leave messages for people
*note paper and pen for your own personal writing
*dust mask (to help filter contaminated air)
*plastic sheeting and duct tape (to prepare some kind of shelter)
*moist wipes, garbage bags and plastic ties (for personal sanitation)
*small ax – may come in handy for more than just chopping wood
*bungee cords of various sizes
*duct tape

**Local maps (and don’t say ‘google maps‘)
**List of your emergency contacts (don’t say they’re on your phone)
**Cell phone with chargers and a battery power bank for back up
**Cash. Yes $$$.

BASIC PERSONAL SUPPLIES

* Water – 2 liters per person per day for drinking. Another liter for cooking, another liter for basic sanitation. I know, it’s heavy. Plan accordingly.

* Food – non perishable. Instant meals, preferably freeze dried for long term storage and ease of preparation. Plan for no less than three days. Consider the high probability that you will be near someone else who doesn’t have food. Are you really gonna eat in front of them without offering to share?
*Favourite snacks: dried fruit, individual packages of nuts.
*cooking pot and spoon, dishes and utensils for each person
*ideally – a small portable stove to heat water
*manual can opener (even if you aren’t bringing canned food – trust me)
*dish soap and cloth

* Personal hygiene supplies: toothbrush and tooth paste, mouthwash, deodorant, comb or brush, shampoo & conditioner, chapstick, nail clippers, emery board, razor if you need it, hand soap, face cloth and hand towel, toilet paper flattened and in a plastic bag, baby wipes, and feminine supplies. Pack these items together in a ziplock plastic bag or other sealed bag.

*Laundry soap. I am not suggesting that we’ll be doing laundry, but lets face it, we may be wearing the same clothes for a few days. It’s nice to be able to spot clean as needed. I recommend Tru Earth Laundry strips. They are easy to store and transport, and fit into a sandwich bag. There is zero waste, no measuring, no mess and they dissolve in hot or cold water. And they are biodegradable. I have used these terrific laundry strips in my every day laundry for over three years, and have a year’s supply of laundry soap in a box the size of tissue box. I am NEVER going back to the way I used to do laundry.
Click here to find out more https://bit.ly/backyardcityhomestead

* 2 pairs of socks and 2 pairs of underwear for each person
*optional: a change of clothes can take a lot of room, and it doesn’t do any good if it doesn’t fit – so particular care must be given here. For these reasons I say “optional”. You simply may not have the ability to pack additional clothing – but at least you have underwear and extra socks – right?
If you have children, clothes are more important, but they’ll have to be switched out every year – perhaps more often at different stages. For my husband, its a piece of cake – throw in a pair of jeans and a t shirt. For me – not so easy; I’m a little more complicated lol.
Regardless of who its for, you’ll need to pick something that isn’t bulky; fold or roll it tightly and put in a plastic bag.
* A light jacket. Something that can be rolled up tightly and crammed into a corner hopefully. If you have to evacuate in the winter, you’ll likely be grabbing your winter coat, footwear, hat, scarf and mitts on your way out – especially if you’re also grabbing your 72 hour kit. But in other seasons it best to have a jacket or hoodie packed into your backpack.
* A light fleece blanket. Don’t underestimate the value of something warm and soft. It does more than take the chill off, its comforting. Fleece blankets can be rolled tightly, packed into a plastic bag and if necessary strapped onto the outside of your backpack.

Additional Emergency Supplies – consider adding based on your individual needs:
*Prescription and non prescription (pain relievers, anti-diarrhea, antacids) medications. An emergency can make it difficult to refill prescription or to find an open pharmacy. *Prescription eyeglasses and contact lens solution
*way to boil water and a small pot
*Infant formula, bottles, diapers, wipes and diaper rash cream
*Pet food and extra water for your pet – see below
*RED FILE: Important family documents such as copies of insurance policies, identification, bank info saved electronically or in a waterproof container
*warm blanket for each person
*change of clothing appropriate for your climate and sturdy shoes
*Feminine supplies and personal hygiene items
*books, games, puzzles to spend the time + activities for children (even if you don’t have children – there WILL be children)
*small pocket calendar (don’t say you’ve got one on your phone)

PETS

Knowing how to keep your pets safe and comfortable during and after an emergency is part of being a responsible pet owner.
My cousin has two golden labs who are important members of her family.
She surprised me one day by telling me she had 72 hour bags for each of them – which I thought was brilliant!

Having a plan for your pets can reduce the stress for both them and you during an emergency. Where will you go? How will you transport them? Is your destination pet friendly? Are your pets friendly with other people and/or other pets?
What kinds of things will you bring for them?
What stressors trigger your pet? and what calms him down?
Having a go-bag ready for your pet ready to grab on the way out will save you a lot of potential agony.

SANDIE ZOBELL’s Dog Pack:
in small backpack
individual small bags of dog food (about a cup of food in each)
jug of water
spare collars (put additional ID tags on them)
spare leashes
poop bags
bowl (collapsible bowls take up less room and are water proof)
treats
towel, brush/comb – depending on the type of pet
handy wipes or hand sanitizer
toy or ball

Sandie has a 5 gallon pail with a gamma lid (screw top) so that it won’t pop off. It is always by back door and always has food in it. If the top portion is empty then you can stash the go-bags in it if you’re going to be in a vehicle.
Original papers for her dogs are in her ‘red book’. Copies are in the go-bags.
Dogs are micro chipped in case they get separated.

Here is an excellent emergency checklist to print off for pet owners.

Personal – Personal Stuff

These are the things that are very specific to your comfort. The things that you know you’ll be unhappy without. Maybe its your face cream, or a type of soap, or a little bit of make up, or something you use in your hair, or something else that another might not find particular value in, but YOU do.

Don’t underestimate the psychological value of ‘comfort’, especially when your life has been turned upside down. If you feel that you need that little bit of make up to help you feel good about things – then you don’t owe anyone an apology or an explanation. Plan it in.
In the same way, allow your family members the same favour. Scriptures, a favourite paperback book, a favourite toy, a favourite game, a favourite . . . (fill in the blank). Obviously it has to fit into your backpack, so that’s your firm criteria. But don’t deny something you may at first convince yourself is frivolous, it may make all the difference to your (or their) state of mind. If you ever get to a situation that you actually have to grab your bag and leave your house, you’ve got enough to worry about, and enough to be scared of, and not feel comfortable with – you don’t need to have created some of that yourself by neglecting things you consider important. Cut yourself a break and give yourself a little bit of grace.

That’s just my way of looking at it, you can do whatever you want with it. No one has a right to judge what you decide is important.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this list.
What would you add?
What would you not bother with?

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

resources:
basics list pdf to print off if desired. Copy the link below and paste it into a new tab file:///C:/Users/danan/Documents/72%20Hour%20essentials%20list%20pdf.pdf

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Water Storage hacks for beginners, those with experience, and the pros (what did you learn from day 2?)

I am not going to put myself in the ‘Pro’ category with Water Storage, but we’re much better than we used to be, and we’re headed in the right direction. For most of my married life, water storage was on the back burner of my mind. There were so many other more, urgent things that needed to be taken care of. I filled a few jugs and stored them where I could find room. I rotated them infrequently and then mostly forgot about them. But still there was always this ‘needling’ in my conscience that we had not done due diligence where water was concerned. I think the reason I kept putting it off was because I didn’t have any real good plans for how to go about it. When we took our first real big step into storing a fairly good supply, I couldn’t believe what a load it was off my shoulders. I didn’t realize how much it had been bothering me, even weighing me down.

A couple of weeks ago I was having lunch with two friends and we discussed the Preparedness Challenge I had just completed. We were all committed to Food Storage in our daily lives already, so our discussion was open and equal. But at some point, one of my friends said “Wait! We have to store WATER too?” She literally took my breath away. Water? It is the stuff of life. In the RULE OF 3’s, we’d only survive 3 days without water, so yes! We need to store water. Mostly ‘drinking’ water. But we use water for every area of our lives – in our country, clean running water is probably the blessing we take most for granted.

According to the World Health Organization, 2.2 BILLION people in our world today do not have access to safe drinking water. To put that into perspective, that is 1 in 3 people! If you’re reading this, I am going to assume you’re one of the few who do. Not only do we have safe drinking water, but through some miracle of modern living, it comes straight to our houses! Out of a tap! Not only that, but I have 5 of those taps INSIDE my house and 2 of them outside my house! Truly, I am among the most blessed people in the world today. But wait! It gets shockingly better. If I want it, that water comes out of my tap HOT. I know right! And though I’m kind of embarrassed to admit it, we even wash our clothes, water our plants and garden, and flush our toilets with clean, pure drinking water.

4.2 billion people do not have safely managed sanitation services and 3 billion lack the basic ability to wash their hands in clean water. And you know what else? The scariest part of this whole conversation is that literally, in the blink of an eye – you and I could be in that group. Clean Water is precious, and 100% necessary for our health and well being. When my Aunt Dorothy was 15 years old, she died of Typhoid Fever. Typhoid fever is a life threatening infection caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. You cannot see it or smell it, but it is usually spread through contaminated water or food. And yes, it is contagious. For me, the issue of clean water has always been personal. Dorothy Ileen Harrison was my dad’s older sister. He was 6 years old when she died. That is only a single generation away from me. A family tragedy. But she was not the only one. It was a community tragedy as the little prairie town of Magrath dealt with something they didn’t understand. A deadly disease caused by unsafe drinking water – here in Canada. That is what happens when water is compromised. Hence, our Day 2 Challenge was dealing with contaminated water.

During a water-related emergency or outbreak, we cannot count on the availability of safe drinking coming into our homes the way we’ve become accustomed to. It is critical to prepare for such an emergency by creating and storing a supply of water that will meet our family’s needs.

How much should we store?

3 days is the bare minimum to start with. We will need at least 1 gallon of water PER person PER day for drinking and the least amount of sanitation.

Once you have three days worth, go immediately to the next level of two weeks! That is 14 gallons per person. Let me do some math for you. If you have five people living in your house, that is 70 gallons of water. Do YOU have 70 gallons of clean water stored in your house? If not, it might be time to get serious about this. If you have pregnant or sick people in your house, or if you live in a hot dry climate, you might need more.

Wanna know what 70 gallons looks like? It’s more than 2 bathtubs full!
Wanna know something else? Canadians have the distinction of consuming large quantities of water – more than TWICE as much water as Europeans. Now that’s not something to be particularly proud of, but there’s more. On average, a typical person in Canada consumes 335 litres of water DAILY. That’s the equivalent of 670 (500 ml size) water bottles, or 85 gallons! And no, we don’t drink all that. In fact, cooking and drinking only account for about 10% of that amount. Bathing and showering takes up 35% of it. Laundry and cleaning constitute 25% and flushing the toilet takes a whopping 30% of our water usage. We haven’t even talked about watering your plants or outside gardens or lawns. We use up a LOT of water. We’re accustomed to using a LOT of water. We like using a LOT of water.

How comfortable are we gonna be when we are rationed 1 gallon of water each, per day?
I suggest, we try to get used to using a little less water daily. There are ways we can do this, but that will have to be another conversation for another day. Now that we’ve put things into perspective, let’s talk about properly storing water.

Don’t let the IMPORTANCE of water storage intimidate you. It is one of the easiest things you can store – so just do it.

What are our Options?

  1. Unopened, commercially bottled water is a safe and reliable source of water in an emergency. But it can be pricey, takes up a lotta room and creates tremendous waste. And after a year, it doesn’t taste very good – just sayin’. Yes, even bottled water has a shelf life.
  2. For drinking water, be sure to use only FOOD GRADE storage containers. Its okay to use various sizes. Water is heavy so don’t count on stacking them very high. Usually a stack of three similar sized containers is all you can count on .
  3. Try to have a minimum size of 5 gallons. This size is manageable to carry and pour, and is also stackable.
  4. For non drinking (sanitation or cleaning) water, you can use previously used jugs from laundry detergent, or bleach, or vinegar. Don’t use milk containers – they were never intended for long term storage.
  5. Make sure your jugs have lids that close tightly.
  6. Make sure they are of durable plastic, not metal, not glass.
  7. Make sure they are something you can pour out of.
  8. DO NOT USE containers that were previously used to hold liquid or solid toxic chemicals, such as pesticides.

“Sanitation and cleanliness are among the humblest of the civic virtues, and it is easy to underestimate their significance.” – Ram Nath Kovind

Don’t assume that your containers are clean enough when you buy them. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that before filling with water, follow these simple but important steps to clean and sanitize our water containers.

  1. Wash the storage container with soap and rinse completely with water.
  2. Sanitize the container with a solution made by mixing 1 teaspoon of unscented liquid household chlorine bleach in 1 quart (4 cups) of water.
  3. Cover the container tightly and shake it well. Make sure the sanitizing bleach solution touches all inside surfaces of the container.
  4. Wait at least 30 seconds and then pour the sanitizing solution out of the container.
  5. Let the empty container air-dry before use.
  6. Pour clean water into the sanitized container and cover it with a tight lid.

KEEPING IT CLEAN
When taking water out of the container, always use a clean scoop or other container each time.
Do NOT touch the water, or insides of the container with your hands.

Having CLEAN water in our homes will be a god-send after an emergency or disaster, as often times IF there is water available it may very likely be unsafe for use. If you suspect that your water is compromised, don’t use it to drink, brush your teeth, prepare food with, wash dishes, or wash your hands.

Follow recommendations from local governments for boiling or treating, but if in doubt – at least boil the water for 10+ minutes.

DO NOT DRINK water that has an unusual odor or color, or that you suspect might be contaminated with fuel or toxic chemicals. This water cannot be made safe – even by boiling, so you must find a different source of water for your needs.

BEGINNER level – starting from scratch!

5 tips for Beginners

  1. Start with the basic amount – 3 days:
    1 gallon (4 litres) per person per day. That means you want 3 gallons of CLEAN drinkable water for every person in your house. This is the barest, minimalistic amount. Buy suitable containers for this. Protecting the cleanliness of this water is of primary importance.
  2. As soon as possible, transition to the next goal of 2 weeks. This is far more reasonable as far as need goes. You will still need 1 gallon per person per day, so we’re talking about 14 gallons of water for each person in your house.
  3. Keep your goals manageable, but ever forward. Shoot for a month supply.
  4. Set yourself budget that is affordable but forward moving to build up your water containers as you can afford them.
  5. Your next level goal is to find other containers to store water that are suitable for non drinking/cooking water. Laundry jugs and bleach bottles for cleaning water.

Developing a water conscience.
Start today to be more mindful of the water you personally consume and waste, and the amount your household goes through. Being more conscientious will help us be more respectful of the great blessing we enjoy, and to take it less for granted. It will also help us be less uncomfortable if we truly do have to conserve.

Where to put it?
For a one month supply of water, you’ll have to be creative. If you’re in an apartment, perhaps behind your chesterfield, under a bed, or in a closet. If those with basements, that is preferable as they are generally cooler and the cement floor will be more forgiving of the weight of larger amounts of water.

INTERMEDIATE level – incorporate the basics and begin filling in the blanks

6 tips for Intermediates

  1. Label DRINKING WATER, and give it the respect it deserves. It is the best of the best, the purest water you have. Protect it at all costs. It is your life line. Your ticket to good health.
  2. Personal responsibility is key when it comes to something as precious as what water will be if we ever get to that point – god forbid. Consider assigning every person a 5 gallon bucket for the week. “This is YOUR water for the whole week.” Whatever that person drinks or brushes their teeth with will have to come out of that container. I expect there will be a lot more responsible use when individual consumption is obvious.
  3. Insist that everyone drink at least 4 cups of water a day. That’s only one litre/quart. It’s a minimum. It will be tempting to skimp and drink less, with a ration mentality, but we’re talking about health, and if we’ve planned properly, it shouldn’t be a hardship. Safeguarding our personal health is critical in an emergency, high stress situation. We don’t want to complicate things with poor health.
  4. Have another container dedicated to cooking for the family. This is ‘common’ water and it will go further with everyone using their own personal water appropriately.
  5. Drinking water should be rotated every 6-12 months. If its been sealed, its not suddenly going to get contaminated, but it will go ‘stale’ and not taste good when it gets old. Dumping it out and replacing it is a onerous task, but its manageable. We used to bring our water out in the spring and use it for watering plants, but you can also dump it into a washing machine or even down the drain if hauling it upstairs is too much work.
  6. Once you have your foundational supply of drinking water – let’s start talking about non-drinking water. Daily personal hygiene, and non daily sponge bathing or bucket showering. Our showering-every-day habit is going to take a back seat for awhile, but we still want to be clean. This kind of water doesn’t have to be in such guarded containers. Old laundry soap containers are strong and made to hold heavy liquid, so they’re the perfect choice for cleaning and laundry. These are still important facts of our lives, and cannot be ignored.

ADVANCED level

Time to ask yourself the next level questions.
How’re you going to wash clothes?
How’re you going to water your garden? When your garden is your lifeline, you WATER it. Toileting. The minimum amount of water your toilet uses is 1.6 gallons per flush. I promise you’re not going to want to use your precious stored water to flush down the toilet – no pun intended. So what else are you going to do? If you live in an urban area, outhouses are not a possibility, but toileting is a pretty important part of life. Well, there are options, but you don’t want your house smelling like an outhouse either. You’re gonna have to do some research and be open mindedly creative.

If our water source has been contaminated, it may be necessary to shut off the main water valve to our homes to prevent contaminants from entering pipes and contaminating what we already have on hand.

Possible sources of water if you don’t live in an urban area, are streams, rivers, and other ‘moving’ bodies of water, as well as ponds and lakes or natural springs. If you live near some of these, good for you ‘maybe’. These waters might be contaminated with livestock waste, human sewage, chemicals, and other contaminants which can lead to illness when used for drinking, bathing, and other hygiene activities. Know the water source closest to you, and be mindful of its condition. If you live in rural areas, keep in mind that during floods, well water might be contaminated as well.

Water from sources outside the home must be treated as described in Make Water Safe, to kill harmful germs.  If you suspect or know the water is contaminated with toxic chemicals or fuels, it cannot be made safe and you should not drink or bathe in this water.

Ancient societies understood their dependence on water and figured out ways collect it and store it. Massive water cisterns to collect precious rain water for use in the dry months were not uncommon in central America.

5 tips for those who are more Advanced

  1. Follow the examples that people of yesteryears, when it came to water. They recognized how important it was, but also how difficult it could be to have a steady source. Learn where your household’s available water is: toilet tanks (if the water is clear and not chemically treated with toilet cleaners), hot water tank etc. Learn how to conserve.
  2. Collecting rain water for watering the garden is a very important part of producing food in our own back yards, and could make all the difference. Find a way have your eaves troughs empty into large drums. Rain water could be used for many non-drinking purposes, both indoors and outdoors. Do you have a pail that you could dedicate to bringing rain water into the house?
  3. Plan to re-use water. ie: save the water you wash your hands in for washing laundry, floors or other things. Having short rehearsals about how these things can be done is a good idea.
  4. Consider options for laundering clothes in home. A large ‘laundry’ tub and a way to agitate your clothes. Laundry is going to be less fussy than it is today, but it is still important.
  5. Toilet. There are camping options – chemical toilets you can buy from camping stores. Keeping in mind that this is most likely going to have to be INside your house, is pretty important when you’re making a plan. I suggest a 5 gallon pail dedicated for this purpose. In it you should store heavy duty bags to line it with, toilet paper, hand sanitizer and cleaner. You can even buy small plastic toilet seats that will attach right to the pail rim.

Consider purchasing wood chips from either a farm supply store or a pet store. You’ll want to use these in your makeshift toilet to minimize odours. Things are going to look a lot different to be sure. This may be the way your family gets through every day – the part of history we seldom read about. But DON’T ignore this just because its unpleasant to think about. It will be a lot more difficult to deal with later if we don’t plan for it.

Preparedness is a Journey, and the journey is always more pleasant when you have a good support system. As always, I highly recommend you find a friend to share this journey with. Help each other, Encourage each other, Share resources and great finds with each other. Find classes that are offered in your community, designed to assist you in your preparedness – take them together if possible. Teach each other.

Find groups on social media that are dedicated to preparedness and helping one another. JOIN THEM. Especially if they’re local.

I’d love to hear where you are on your Water Storage Journey and I want to hear your tips. We learn so much better when we’re sharing. Mark your calendar for the 2nd week in January. Join the Challenge.
Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/676439330803075/
If you’re not on facebook, but would like to join the next challenge, let me know. I’ll send you the daily test alert in an email.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

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10 common questions about Food Storage ANSWERED

Our early years of storing food

Shortly after Dan and I were married, we began to give serious attention to establishing our own food storage (such as it was possible in a small 2nd floor apartment). And we took more than our fair share of ribbing about it (especially me), from friends and family. Some family members were like minded, some were not – but respectful, and some outwardly ridiculed. And you know what? That’s just the way some people are – no use losing sleep over, adjusting your priorities for, or being offended because some people see life differently (no matter how rude they are).

What is food storage?

I think a good way to explain what food storage is, is to understand what it is NOT.
Food storage does not involve ‘panic buying’, and does not involve ‘shelf clearing’, buying on credit or hoarding.
It does involve INTENT, coming up with a plan, working on that plan, priorities, budgeting, strategies, vision, some sacrifice , short term inconvenience in the beginning which transitions into long term convenience, satisfaction, comfort and peace of mind. It also requires some dedicated space. It does not have to be accomplished quickly, in fact it shouldn’t be – for a number of good reasons. It doesn’t have to be a whole lotta money upfront – quite the opposite, it can save you a lotta money. It can be accomplished one day at a time. Starting Right Now.

Food storage is all about preparing for adversity by having a basic supply of food, water and necessities on hand. There are two types:
short term food storage – 3 months (which is usually just the first stage of a bigger plan)
long term food storage – 1 year+
A critical component of any good food storage plan is WATER – for drinking and also household use. I am not including ‘water’ in this post, but only for the sake of room. It will be its own discussion.

Panic buying is based on FEAR, and it causes us to do things that we later might regret with regards to what we purchased or how we purchased it. When we haven’t planned ahead, and are suddenly faced with an emergency, we can find ourselves being very self centered. In that scarcity mentality, we may buy too much, and we may put our perceived needs ahead of every one else’s. We clear shelves. We think we deserve something more than somebody else might, simply because we got there quicker. When Covid first became a thing, we saw items flying off the shelves, people taking much more than they needed with no regard for others. The behaviour was a symptom of fear, but was completely avoidable with a little forethought and planning.

First of all, we are not the most important person in the world – even though we may think we are. And we are not more deserving than any one else. When we remove FEAR from the equation, it changes everything. That scarcity mentality becomes an abundance mentality. Go ahead and shop the sales as you can afford them – in times of plenty. There really is enough for everyone.

8 Hints for Success

  1. Don’t buy more than you can afford
  2. Start small
  3. Picking up an extra can or two when you’re able (and they’re on sale) adds up soon and is Visibly satisfying
  4. Re-allocate a few dollars where you can. In many cases, saving $ from one impulse fast food stop on the way home could be enough to add a case of some food-storage essential.
  5. Be open to try new things. Open your eyes and you mind.
  6. Rotate items to prevent them from expiring.
  7. The freezer is NOT food storage. It is convenient and important, but not dependable in an emergency. It depends on a resource you cannot control: electricity.
  8. Remember, for the most part, electricity is your best friend, and it will not let you down. But there are times it will.

So WHY food storage? That’s the big question . . . .

It seemed that in 2022 more people have opened their eyes to the idea of food storage. Some who may previously have only given it a cursory thought, and others who have never felt the urge or even saw the wisdom of food storage before now – were suddenly getting on board.

For years, governments on all levels, communities, social agencies and even religious organizations have urged people to prepare themselves by storing extra food, water and other necessities at home. With the recent changes we’ve all seen in these unsettling times, the wisdom of doing so is becoming more and more apparent to many of us. There is no replacing the peace of mind that you have when you know you’re prepared. And that doesn’t have to mean the radical preparations of a doomsday prepper. It can mean something as simple as not having to go out for groceries for a week when you’re sick, or for a month when you’ve been laid off. It can mean something as simple as being prepared to live with less income than you currently are.

The sad reality is that when we receive a few days warning of an impending hurricane or blizzard or other disruption in services, stores are crammed with people trying to get the last loaf of bread, the last bag of apples, the last jug of milk, or that last package of toilet paper because they’re not prepared. Or as we’ve all seen, hoarding those commodities preventing others from buying them – out of some sense that “WE” need it more than “they”. But truthfully, without warning, each one of us may face a personal emergency in our own lives. A job loss. A health crises. A death in the family. A pandemic. Let’s face it, life’s emergencies can be sporadic and unpredictable. Being prepared to weather these storms is not as difficult as you might think. What if you could relax, take that veritable load of worry off your shoulders? You can of course. It simply requires a plan, some focus, and some intentional action working toward the goal.

Food Insurance

Food is usually the second largest expense in any family budget, coming in a close second to the cost of shelter. And I’m sure you figured out that food prices only go up, increasing at a shocking rate these last few years. I can’t see that changing any time soon. Can you?

You’d be hard pressed to find someone without household insurance. Most of us agree that life insurance is important, and it’s mandatory to have car insurance. We buy travel insurance when we travel, and medical insurance. So why not for something as important as food? Food insurance! That’s pretty much what food storage is. But its surprising how many of us fail to protect our family with the most basic insurance of all – protection against an interruption in our ability to buy groceries. And with the recent Covid pandemic fresh in our minds, and subsequent shortages in nearly everything, we’ve all seen first hand, things we didn’t ever think we would.

The big difference of course, is that Food Insurance doesn’t disappear at the end of the month like fire insurance. We eat it. For the cost of “insuring” our family against the unthinkable, or simply against an interruption in our income, we can literally BUY peace of mind in the area of food. “Full Coverage Food Insurance“, ready when we need it. And no insurance broker to deal with LOL.

Building your food storage may seem daunting at first, both in effort required and the financial investment. Here are some steps to get you started.

1. Where to start?

When I was a little girl, fruits and vegetables in food storage were in cans or bottles. They were stored in our cold room and brought up daily for meals. Meat was stored in the freezer. Flour and sugar were stored in pails. And pasta was stored in cardboard boxes. (we always had lots of macaroni). When my kids were little, it was more of the same with the addition of more dehydrated foods (more than just raisins), a lot more home bottled fruits, vegetables and even meats, and a bigger variety of grains and beans. These days, I keep some of those same foods, with a few adjustments, improvements, additions and editions I’ve learned over the years.

When you’re just starting out with Food Storage, there is always the question of *Where on earth do I begin(?). And then the follow up questions of *What to get? *How much to get? *Where to get it from? *How to afford it? *How to store it? *Where to store it? *How long will it last? *How to prepare it? *Where to find the time to prepare it? *How to rotate it to keep it ‘fresh’? *How not to waste it? *And will my family eat it?

Nowadays, we have a new player in the food storage game. Ironically, it is not so new, its more a matter of more people becoming increasingly aware of it. And its the answer to all the above questions. FREEZE DRIED FOOD. Nutritious. Convenient: easy to use. Tasty. And get this – shelf life of 25 years. It adds “SMART” to traditional food storage of cans and bottles.

STORE WHAT YOU EAT.

Having a Food Storage may be one of the smartest things you do for your family. But there is one very important rule that everyone must follow. Your Food Storage may not look like mine or anyone else’s, and it shouldn’t. You need to Store what your family eats! Foods you like, that are easy to prepare but more importantly, that your family is used to, and will enjoy. In our younger years, there were often times that we relied on our food storage. Groceries were the only flexible thing in our tight budget, but I never wanted my children to feel that life was harder this month than last month. I wanted every day to be comfortable and normal. So we ate the same way, in good months and difficult months. If I could not buy groceries in any given month, or my budget was reduced for some reason, I didn’t want my kids to notice. I cannot emphasize the rule of “storing what you eat and eating what you store” – enough. When life is hard on so many levels, it is soothing to know that your family has good food that they’re accustomed to, on the table. Store what you eat, but then EAT what you store.

MAKE room.

That’s different that having room. Most houses these days offer no accommodation for food storage, but they’re also bigger than houses of yester-year. Ironic isn’t it? If you can’t find room, then MAKE it. Be creative. You’re the boss.
Ideally it should be in the basement where it is cooler, but if you don’t have a basement, convert a bedroom, or a storage room or a portion of your garage if you must, or even a closet. Think outside the box. If possible, keep everything together. When we moved into the house we currently live in, it took us a few years of experimenting with where to put our food storage before we finally ‘found’ the room. We had to put up a wall and create a small room where there wasn’t one.

AFFORD.
Never, ever ever EVER invest in something as important as food storage with money you don’t have. It doesn’t matter how good that bargain was, if you’re paying 25% interest on it, its a bad deal. Shift your budget if you need to, do without something else if needed to add $100 a month to your food storage, but do NOT buy it on credit. Debt is contrary to the principle of being prepared. Debt is the quickest way to either lose everything you’ve got, or to be held hostage by it.
Preparation can be accomplished on a budget.

ROTATE.
Everything has a shelf life, even you! Trying to stretch food too far past it’s recommended shelf life will result in an inferior product – especially in its nutritional value. An important part of using the food in your storage is ‘rotating’ it. First in, first out. Replacing it as you use it keeps it current and puts your ‘food storage’ into the same category as ‘groceries’, which normalizes it. Rotating also gives you experience using the food you’re storing, and lets face it, sometimes we can use the practice right?
The shelf life of food varies widely, but here are some basics that might help you estimate.

CANNED FOOD (home canned or commercially canned) has a shelf life of up to 2 years. If your canned food gets too old, you’ll end of discarding it, and that is a sad waste of money.

FROZEN FOOD has a shelf life of 3 months to one year – depending on what it is. So yes, its convenient, but don’t count on it for the long term. And of course we all know that frozen food is 100% dependent on our access to electricity – which may be disrupted without notice.
DEHYDRATED FOOD has a shelf life of up to one or two years. If you’ve ever kept raisins longer than two years, you know they’re not very good. Too dry and crystalized.

FREEZE DRIED FOOD has a shelf life of 25 years (sometimes more). Not sure how anyone can beat that, but even 25 years doesn’t mean forever. You’ll be surprised one day to find out how quickly that time has slipped by. But when you’re using the food, and constantly replenishing – it is completely without the stress of worrying about its shelf life. Once you open it, most freeze dried foods will last a year if properly sealed and protected from the moisture in the air.

TODAY.
It’s true that those who began investing in Food Storage many years ago, are advantaged. They simply maintain what they’ve been doing all along. But as Maya Angelou once counselled “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, DO BETTER.” I love this simple piece of advice. It is wisdom to me, and I have adopted it as my personal motto. It reminds me not to beat myself up for mistakes I made in the past, and opportunities I’ve neglected. I did the best I knew how with the resources I had at the time. But now, I know better. And my obligation is to act on my new knowledge and awareness. I am accountable for my actions based on what I understand.
Truly the best time to get my food storage together was a long time ago. But if I didn’t, I didn’t. It can’t be changed. The point is, that I can start NOW. The next Best time to do better is always right now. TODAY.

2. What to get?

When I was a young girl, my mother answered that questions with the same answer my grandmother gave – “whatever fills the hollow spot“. She gleaned that philosophy from being a child of the depression and war years. While I respect the practical experience, I’d like to think that we have a more enlightened perspective of nutrition nowadays that would influence the question of what to invest in.

When you’re in a situation where you’re living on your food storage, you want the best nutrition for your family. In fact, if letting “food be thy medicine” was ever important, it will be critically important in times of need. Nutrition is key. Make sure the food you buy has something more to offer than calories. Having said that however, calories will be very important too. Calories are where energy comes from, just make sure they’re super nutritious calories.

All produce (fruits and vegetables) begins to deteriorate in the hour it is harvested, so eating fresh from the garden is of course optimal. But as lovely as that is, most of us cannot do it consistently, at least not all year round. And food storage generally consists of preserved food, so lets look at options. Rule of thumb to remember when choosing the type of food for your food storage:
* Canned food (whether home canned or commercially canned) retains about 40% of it nutritional value. This is not the original food value of what it was in the hour it was picked. It represents 40% of the nutritional value of the food when it was put into the can or bottle. When I first learned this, I was very disappointed because I canned fruit all my parenting years, and we relied on canned fruit all winter long. But I was not surprised.

If you’ve ever canned peaches, you know that those peaches are in a hot water bath of 212 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Of course nutrition is going to be affected. And of course, when we buy those peaches (that were picked green before all the nutrients were fully developed), we usually have to wait a few days till they’re fully ripened and perfect for canning. This time means further nutritional loss. Still 40% is better than no peaches in February right? And home canning is still the easiest and most reliable way to preserve food long term at home. So let’s just be mindful of its pros and cons.
* Frozen food retains about 60% of its nutritional value and is generally flash frozen very quickly after harvesting. It’s biggest draw back is the limited shelf life.
* Dehydrated food is difficult to pin down for nutritional retention, as there are so many factors involved in dehydration. Was it commercially dehydrated? Or dehydrated at home? Sulfur dioxide is a preservative often used in commercial dehydrating. Most raisins, prunes and apricots contain it, and while this sulfite extends the shelf life of dehydrated food, but it is very bad for us.
Generally you can count on dehydrated foods having close to 80% original food value, but for how long? And dependent on so many factors, it is difficult to have confidence in it.
* Freeze dried food retains up to 95% of the original food value. This is astounding, especially when considering its exceptionally long shelf life. Look for brands that guarantee their produce was picked RIPE and flash frozen within hours of harvest. This ensures the best possible nutrition right from the beginning.
How is this possible? Here’s a good explanation in a nutshell . . . .

3. How much to get?

Following the SMART rules above will help you with most questions you might have, but . . . how much? How much is enough? And how much should you start with? My strong suggestion is to not bite off so much that you are overwhelmed and give up. There are two ways to start slowly:

  1. Add extra
    Simple adjustments like – if you would normally buy two cans of tomato sauce, buy four. If you would normally buy three cans of tuna, buy six. If you would normally buy a box of cereal, buy two. And so on. Focus on non perishable items. Put them away, in your pantry or in your new ‘food storage’ area. Next time you go shopping do the same thing. Gradually these extras add up and you will be amazed to see the results after only a few months.
    *hint: always write the date you buy it in permanent marker on the package. This is a loud reminder of keeping it properly rotated.
  2. Two weeks
    Think of seven meals your family enjoys – one week’s worth. Easy ones, with non-perishable food in them.
    Perhaps your list is something like this: spaghetti, chili with cornbread, potato chowder, chicken parmesan, lasagna, cheesy chicken and rice, sloppy joes, Italian tuna salad with orzo, refried bean burritos, Indian dahl . . . . whatever your family enjoys. SEVEN meals.
    Multiply by two – to make fourteen meals.
    Break each meal into a recipe shopping list like for instance, your recipe for spaghetti might call for one package of spaghetti, two cans of tomato sauce, a pound of ground beef, an onion and some herbs – write it down. Multiply that by two. Add double of each of those ingredients to your shopping list.
    Go to your next meal. Perhaps your recipe for lasagna calls for one package lasagna noodles, one large can of tomato sauce, one pound of ground beef, one onion, garlic, one pound of mozzarella cheese, one container of cottage cheese and some spinach.
    Multiply that list by two.
    Two meals down.

    What other meals does your family enjoy? Write up your shopping list, and as you can afford those ‘extra’ items necessary to make the meals, purchase them. Easy peasy. You’ve got two weeks worth of dinners stored. Add breakfast items like porridge, pancake ingredients, juice, etc.

Either of those methods are a great place to start small. But don’t stop there. Once you’ve got two weeks packed away, reset your goal to one month, Then three months. Then six months. Then one year. It’s a process. Celebrate each milestone, and then push toward the next goal. I promise, you’ll feel great about your progress and success. This is easier than you thought.

4. Where to get it from?

For the most part, you’ll want to buy the majority of your food storage items wherever you normally buy your groceries. That is where you’re comfortable. You know what they have, and what you like. Bulk stores or wholesale outlets are good resources for those items you want to buy in larger amounts.

Ask around. There might be places around that you don’t necessarily frequent. Open your eyes and your mind to try new things and new sources. You might find some great resources on line, to have delivered right to your door. While I am all about shopping locally, there are some food items I cannot buy locally. Those, I am happy to be able to order them in.

The industry leaders in the freeze dried world is undoubtedly THRIVE LIFE. They are the largest company in North America, with the biggest variety. Available in United States and Canada at this time.

5. How to afford it?

You afford it by starting small. You buy when you’re shopping already, a little here and a little there, just add a few more cans. Make whatever sacrifices you need to in order to ‘afford’ it. If you’re eating out once in a while, consider how much you could have added to your food storage with what that meal cost you. If you’re in the habit of buying junk food, consider how much real food that bag of chips or candy could have been converted into. Affording important things sometimes requires adjustments. Do what you need to do to accomplish your goal.

Investing large chunks of money will bulk up your food storage of course, but you don’t have to spend a lot to build it up. Just spend with a purpose, and spend differently. Using the illustration above, let’s assume my food budget was $600 a month. By re-allocating 1/3 of that budget into freeze dried foods (beginning with those I often waste), and continuing to spend the remaining 2/3 in my usual way, I slowly begin to introduce food that has zero waste, and long shelf life. As I began substituting the food I used to waste for freeze dried food that I will never waste, my grocery dollar started going a lot further. Within only a couple of months I noticed that by no longer wasting food, I actually saved money. No trim, no spoilage, no waste = saved money. More to invest into more food storage.

Having said that, for most of our parenting years we received tax refunds in the spring. We most often used those lump sums to bulk up on food storage – always watching the sales of course.

6. How to store it? and Where to store it?

Ideally, most foods should be stored in relative cool, with little temperature fluctuation. A shed outside? Absolutely NOT! Unheated garage? Depends where you live. If you can find a place where you can SEE what you’ve got, it will be a lot easier to use it, keeping it properly rotated. Underneath your stairs? Convert a closet?

Frozen food is not food storage. Yes, it is convenient and I wouldn’t want to do without my freezer, but anything that is as dependent on something completely beyond your control – like a freeze is dependent on power, is not something you can count on. Resist the temptation to invest a lot of money in frozen food.

*for more information on storage ideas, click here

7. How long will it last?

Go with accepted shelf life recommendations, and yes, I know you can push them a bit when they’re “best before” dates. But use those dates as a good guideline for trying to consume the food within.
Frozen food – 3 months – 6 months – up to a year at most for some items.
Canned food – 2 years.
Dehydrated food – 1 to 2 years.
Freeze dried food – 25 years.

8. How to prepare it? and Where to find the time to prepare it?

If you’re using food you generally use every day, you’ll have that pretty well sorted out. If you’re trying to incorporate some more shelf stable foods, then I highly recommend you start using them today to have all that figured out before a time of need. Remember – Store what you eat, and EAT what you store.

If time is an issue for meal prep now, welcome to the club. Preparing a meal with traditional food storage items like wheat and dried beans can be difficult when utilities may not be available. Using canned and dehydrated foods may be easier and less time consuming. Freeze dried foods are very quick to refresh and to prepare.
Freeze dried meals that require only water to prepare, can be ready in about 10 minutes. That’s NO cooking. Very convenient in emergencies.

* a little about Freeze Dried Food
It wasn’t that long ago that it was so new most people had never heard of it. Today it is readily available, being a fast growing industry in the food world. It IS the future. I firmly believe it is the answer to the problem of food waste in North America, and it is the vehicle people can use to secure a high quality, nutritious, long term food storage.

9. How to rotate it to keep it ‘fresh’? and how not to waste it?

Proper rotation is critical to a good quality food storage. So many buy food storage specifically for “food storage”, never intending to eat it. They say “Food storage is food storage and groceries are groceries.” The problem with that philosophy is, that your food storage gets dated while you’re not paying attention. And pretty soon, its nutritional value is questionable.
You must pay attention. And using the food regularly ensures you stay on top of it. Storing it in the boxes, under beds and tucked away in closets makes rotation difficult. Remember the rule – Store what you eat, and EAT what you store. Abiding by that rule will keep your food fresh, and reduce any potential for waste.

Buying emergency food with the intention of sticking it in a hole in the ground in case of some zombie apocalypse is a good way to waste a lot of food, and a lot of money. No food will last forever. And there are a lot of real life emergencies that happen in the process of living, that can be relieved by a simple, well managed food storage. Imagine not having to worry about buying groceries for a week, or a month! Wouldn’t that take a lotta stress out of an already difficult situation?

10. Will my family / children eat it?

Some believe that when our kids are hungry they’ll eat anything. I suppose if they really are THAT hungry. But let’s hope we never get there. What about when you’re just trying to navigate a temporary interruption in income? Trying to make the best of a less than ideal situation? Familiarity is precisely why we should incorporate food storage items into our daily meals.

I discovered freeze dried foods when most of my children were already grown and gone, so most of them learned about it from an arm’s length distance. Some of my grandchildren however, have learned more up close and personally. My favourite example of this is my grandson Charlie.

When Charlie was a year old, he began spending a few days a week at our house while his mom worked. As he began eating finger foods, freeze dried blueberries were a healthy and delicious food to start out with. He loved them, and ate a lot! At one point, his parents wanted to increase the amount of calcium in his diet so they asked me to give him a glass of milk with lunch. One day while I was feeding him – with a glass of milk nearby, I thought about other excellent sources of calcium. Foods like fish, nuts, kale, eggs, broccoli . . . BROCCOLI. I had some freeze dried broccoli in my pantry. Whether he would like it or not remained to be seen – its a far cry from tasting like blueberries.

I retrieved the broccoli and showed it to him. I opened it up and took a piece out, ate it while he watched, then showed him the contents of the can and offered it to him. He took one and put it in his mouth. As he chewed, I half expected him to spit it out – I wasn’t even sure how many teeth he had. But he did not. When he finished it he asked for more. I gave him more, and he asked for more. And then more. And more. It was the beginning of a good thing. I encouraged his appetite for freeze dried broccoli, including it with every meal. I began calling him “Broccoli Boy”, and I even gave him small cans of it to eat in the car and at home. Those early exposures helped him develop a taste for freeze dried food, which is perfect, because its here to stay.

The point is, that Broccoli Boy wasn’t born on a different planet, transported here to become Broccoli Boy. He was molded and formed to become one, right here on earth. I created that alter ego, by introducing him to that wonderful, crunchy source of calcium early on. It made the perfect companion to his enjoyment of other ‘crunchy’ freeze dried fruits and vegetables.

Will your kids like the food? I think you can take it from Broccoli Boy. They will.

Learning to use foods that are less familiar to you – like freeze dried food, will make all the difference. Your family will be surprised to find out how delicious and satisfying it is. Exposing your kids to it early is very helpful. They get used to it. Again, its that ol’ familiarity thing right? Freeze dried food is easy to use, but it does require you to flip a switch in your brain. So flip the switch! Get used to it. It is the perfect food to insert into your Food Storage.

I’d love to hear ideas that worked for you when you first started out with your Food Storage.
Or some of your favourite food storage items and or recipes.
Or if you haven’t started yet, I’d love to hear about your journey.
You can comment below.

Warmly,

Cindy

Posted on

planning next year’s garden

(while this one is still fresh in your mind)

I have a simple rule that I apply to everything I ‘did’. Whether its my garden, an event that I was involved in, or a class that I taught – doesn’t matter, it pretty much always applies. At the end of whatever it is, I ask myself these THREE Questions (and answer them of course).
1. What went well? What was I pleased with?
2. What could have been better? What could I have improved on?
3. What did I learn? In my opinion, the most important.

All three questions are very important, and must be asked in order. It is very easy to get down on yourself when something didn’t go right. None of us seem to be short on negative self talk, if the season (or event) was disappointing. Its easy to get discouraged and give up if we focus on the bad, on the things that didn’t work out. So DON’T!

What went well? There is always something that was good. Think about it, and WRITE DOWN the answers. A fruit or vegetable that grew well – a new skill that came in handy – a new hack that paid off – etc. Write down everything that was good about this year’s garden.

For my 2021 garden: What went well?

* Kale. I grew great kale. The year before was the first time I planted kale and I only planted 6 plants, but it encouraged me to plant again, this time I planted double that amount, and some variation. I planted them in three or four different spots, I picked from the plants all summer long, and well into October when I finally harvested the last of it. I used fresh kale in salads, omelettes and scrambled eggs, soups, casseroles, chopped in sandwiches, and smoothies. I tried kale chips in the oven for the first time, and was wowed. Repeated that several times, using less oil each time lol. I dehydrated the excess and ended up with two FULL 2 quart jars of dehydrated kale, crushed into them.

* Tomatoes. I had a reeeeeally good harvest of tomatoes this year. Lots of tomatoes! Mostly the Romanian Giants. For the first time, I grew tomatoes all season long IN my new green house. Eight or ten tomatoes there, four around an arbour in the first garden bed, four around an arbour in the large horse trough, and some in their usual spot on the west side of the house. And some cherry tomato in planters on the patio. Made for a LOT. I admit it – tomatoes are my thing. The backbone of my garden, the one thing I look forward to the most. Everything else exists around them.
The most successful places (in order), was the green house, garden arbour and large horse trough arbour – all in the sunniest locations. We ate fresh tomatoes pretty much all of August, September and October. We’ll have fresh tomatoes into November. I canned the excess that ripened faster than we could eat, a couple dozen quarts. I made fresh bruschetta and salsa, canning about 15 pints of salsa. I oven roasted lots of tomatoes. We had so many different types of tomato based soups.

* Cucumbers: best crop ever. Honey berries, Cherries, Raspberries, Rhubarb, Oregano.

* Compost. We reorganized our compost area since building the greenhouse, adding another large old garbage can turned upside down. Also had a mound of dried lawn trimmings in our compost area, ready to add to compost piles as needed, and use to mulch gardens. We also added to the city compost from time to time – with undesirable compost: either branches and things that take too long to break down, thistle, scraps that included oil or meat, ….. that sort of thing. It was valuable to be able to recycle these organics even though we didn’t want them ourselves.

* Greenhouse. Dan built me a new greenhouse this spring. Not very big, 8×12 – the perfect size for our needs. I dug the soil down deep on both sides, and added gravel, compost and aged horse manure to the soil. When the shelves were no longer needed, I removed them and planted tomatoes, peppers and nasturtiums in the soil.

* Soil amendment in the former spruce area. We took out two massive spruce trees a year and a half before and the following summer it was almost a dead zone. Nothing we planted did well, so we gathered our resources and came up with an amendment plan, thanks to the suggestion of our friend Scott Campbell. Aged horse manure, barley straw and early spring mowing. Became positively LUSH compared to last year.

New Discoveries

Horse trough raised beds
Hori hori knife (my new favourite tool)
Mexican Tarragon, Papalo, and Epezote

What could have been better?

Grapes. Plums. Carrots. Potatoes. Strawberries. Basil. Beans. Butternut Squash.
My planting was too condensed, and I ended up shading some things I’d rather not have.
I thought I planted bush beans, when they were in fact pole beans, and consequently they weren’t placed in the best spot. That was unfortunate. I experimented with two different ways to grow potatoes. Both were interesting and I’m glad I did it, but not that great of a yield.

What did I learn?

We’ve been growing tomatoes on the west side of the house which we knew was short on sun, but the best we had at the time. This year, the new greenhouse resolved that issue. 2021 is our last year for westside tomatoes. Next year, that partial sun/partial shade area will be best suitable for greens: lettuce and arugula, chard, kale, nasturtiums and celery.

We topped up all of our beds with aged horse manure and completely redid the entire strawberry bed, including new plants, following the recommendations of some trusted friends. I allowed too many other things to grow in it as the summer progressed: dill, poppies and sunflowers. Next year, I’m gonna limit that. We’ll deep water the strawberries right away (end of October), and cover them in leaves to tuck them in for a long winter’s sleep, and hope for better strawberries next year.

Plans for improvement next year?

Gonna rent a small inground garden plot in our community garden, to plant carrots, potatoes and maybe beets. Those root crops I just don’t seem to have sufficient room or sun for in my small garden, and if there’s one thing the community garden has a lot of, it is SUN!

Seeds for Next Year’s Garden

I ALWAYS buy seeds one year in advance. For the most part, what I plant in 2022 will be the seeds I purchased in late winter 2021, and so forth. It’s part of my personal philosophy of preparedness. There will always be an exception, something I decide to try NOW, but generally speaking, I plan at least one year ahead for gardening. I don’t ever want to have a spring when for some unforeseen reason, I am unable to get seeds. Preparedness is not just food storage.

Some of those seeds will be seeds I saved myself, especially tomato seeds from my own Romanian Giants, Nasturtiums, Poppies and Dill. Garden preparedness includes ensuring I have sufficient potting soil for next spring, as well as planting containers.

I get my seeds from assorted sources: a local seed store on the west side, one of several Canadian seed companies I order online, the odd package that catches my eye at a greenhouse or garden centre, and of course those that I propagate myself or that friends have shared. But for next year I have decided to try another Canadian seed company a friend recommended. I am looking for a company that deserves my loyalty.

Keep your plans for next year ACHIEVABLE.

Seed catalogues are full of all sorts of potential, and it’s good to try something new every year. Some thing you haven’t tried before, a new vegetable, a new type, a new way of doing things, . . . And there’s nothing wrong with trying something totally ‘out there’ from time to time, like watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, honeyberries …. You never know what’s gonna WORK, and you very well may be surprised. Some things may simply have been fun to try, but not really worth investing too much energy down the road, not to mention the garden space that may have been better used for other vegetables. And other things may be tremendous successes. However, keep the bulk of your garden plans for the “most likely to succeed” crops. Go for the tried and true types. Ask other gardeners for their recommendations.

We’re fully expecting our Honey Crisp Apple, which we transplanted into our former spruce area two springs ago, to amaze us in 2022. It got set back when we transplanted it, and had a rough season in exceptionally poor soil, but we’ve apologized, and have done our best to make up for that rough start. I also have high hopes for our Royal Plum, which produced this year, but sparsely.

I highly recommend keeping a garden journal of sorts. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re gonna be a great journaler if you’ve never done well with journals before, but don’t be a defeatest either. Commit to it.
It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive, just a simple notebook will suffice – but have a book that is gonna stick around. Not just a collection of note papers.

Keeping a garden journal WILL improve your gardening experience, I promise. Why? Because you will hone your skills based on what you learned from previous seasons. It will provide you with historical information that will help you better predict future results. It will help you keep an inventory of your seeds and perennials, as well as record your harvests. It can effectively evolve into a personalized garden TEXT BOOK, and every year you add to it, it becomes more and more valuable.

What to include in your garden journal? 15 suggestions

  1. Date your entries and write down your answers to the three questions above. Every year. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did. This will be your core.
  2. A pencil sketch of your garden layout with the year clearly marked. This is more important than you might think. You will want to ensure you rotate most crop areas, avoiding using the same spot year after year for the same vegetable.
  3. A list of the plants that worked out best, and the ones that did NOT.
  4. Dated sources for specific plants: greenhouses, nurseries or garden centres, seed companies, friends or neighbours.
  5. Planting times, ready times, harvest times. Maybe even a few recipes you discovered.
  6. Be more specific about times: dates you started seeds indoor, dates you transplanted them, and dates you planted seeds directly into the garden. Germination times. All these are things you THINK you’re gonna remember. Yeah right, you won’t. The information will come in handy for future years.
  7. Soil tests, soil amendments and subsequent assessments of that soil.
  8. Any problems with pests, diseases or other issues
  9. Approximate dates of harvests and the type of yield you got. I don’t have the patience to weigh, measure or count, but I know some do that. I think that’s great. Just not for me.
  10. Weather. I know right? But seriously, every year is unique, and not every season is good for every crop. So record your assessment on the weather trends by recording details, and make note of what crops are doing better than others. For instance, I have noticed that in our part of the city, we seem to be have less violence in the weather. The worst seems to go around us. I have also noted that other areas seem to get a frost quicker than we do, perhaps owing to our number of nearby trees creating a minor microclimate. You’ll be more likely to make note of weather patterns if you’re writing them down.
  11. New changes and experiments. How else are you gonna track what works?
  12. Suggestions, recommendations, and even recipes shared by other gardeners. I know, again with the recipes.
  13. Expenses: how much spent in greenhouses and garden centres, seed catalogues, garden paraphernalia, new builds, maintenance of raised beds etc, cold frames, lattices etc
  14. Hacks, suggestions, inspiration and ideas. Using your garden journal as the place to make quick notes about what they are, or where to find them, is the best way to keep them all in one spot for easy reference later
  15. Personal reflections, inspiration and musings . . . . . after all, it IS a journal. It is part of you. It is a record of yourself.

What plans do you have for your garden next season?

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle