Indiana Dunes National Park

The national parks are places that we, as a family, love to explore. We’ve set a goal to see as many as we possibly can with our daughters. We got started on that goal in 2020, and have checked six major ones off of the list of sixty-three. Last week, we spent four days camping in Indiana Dunes National Park. It was beautiful, and completely different than the other parks we’ve done.

Where We Stayed–
We stayed at Dunewood Campground, which is within the park. You need a national park pass to stay here. We used the free pass that our fourth grader has. You can get one here if your child is going into the fourth grade. There were several places around the campground where a 7 day pass could be purchased for $25. The campground fills up FAST. We made a reservation several months ago, and we snagged the second to last campsite available. Please do not head there and expect to find a spot.

We were thankful for the zero percent chance of rain that allowed us to leave our rain cover off. We’ve collected a lot of our gear over the years from gifts and our own purchases and have a really nice setup going.

Our specific campsite was on the Mather loop; site 29. It was perfect. Our spot was directly across from the restrooms and showers, which also had a big camper’s sink where you could do your dishes or bring hot water back to your site to do them. There was also a water fountain with a bottle filler. We had a TON of space in between our site and our neighbors. It was so shaded and secluded. The girls had a lot of room to explore without disturbing anyone around us. The only downside to it all was the mosquitos. I know, they are just part of camping. But, this was something else. We are all COVERED in bites. We were using OFF! and it didn’t deter them, so we went and got lawn fogger to spray. This only kept them away long enough to eat a quick meal, and then they returned. That is your fair warning. I’ve never experienced being bit like that before. We still loved it.

What We Did–
Our first day (Monday), we set up the campsite and ate lunch. We always head straight for the visitor center to get the junior ranger books for the kids to work on. We also participated in the BARK ranger program with Ranger (our 4 month old Australian shepherd; guess where he got his name) because I am 100% that person. We headed for the beach and waded in the water. The water was so cold despite the 90 degree temperatures.

After dinner, we walked to a gas station outside of the campground and got some soft serve ice cream. I was told that we MUST not miss that. I’m not sure why because it was just regular chocolate/vanilla/twist. It was really good on a hot day though, so I won’t totally knock it. It also was really cheap.

The next day (Tuesday), the heat index was supposed to be almost 100. We packed up early and headed to the beach to swim until lunch time. I love Lake Michigan. It is so blue and vast. You feel like you’re at the ocean without the sharks and salt. We went to Kemil beach, which was perfect for families. It was much less rocky, and it stayed where the kids could touch for quite a long ways. It also wasn’t too crowded. That evening we went to the Bailly Homestead/Chellberg farm and hiked the trail. It was so beautiful to see the old homestead. The farm has chickens, cows, turkeys, etc. Of course we would find a farm to visit. We went back to the beach that night to watch the sun set. It had clouded up, so we couldn’t see much, but it was still beautiful to see the summer solstice sunset.

Day 3 (Wednesday) was a much cooler day. We decided that we wanted to take on the three dunes challenge, which is actually contained in Indiana Dunes State Park. We paid $12 four our carload to enter the park. The three dunes challenge is a 1.5 mile trail with 552 vertical feet of SAND. I thought I was prepared. Scott and I did a 9 mile hike last year with 879 feet of elevation change. I knew it was going to be hard. Hiking on dry, sugary sand is a whole different ballgame. The tallest dune actually has stairs to climb to get up and down, but the others are all straight sand. The girls did such a good job, and we finished in under an hour. The views were beautiful. If you finish, you can go back to the main visitor center and you get to choose from a lot of cool stickers for your water bottle or bumper. We decided to take it easier that afternoon since everyone was pretty worn out. We went back to the beach to watch the sunset again. I’m so glad we did. It was absolutely beautiful. The girls got to go swimming again and were thrilled.

We were leaving on day 4 (Thursday). Once we packed up our campsite and cleaned up all around us, we headed down to Gabis Arboretum. It was a 40 minute drive from the campground, but completely worth it. It costs $10 per carload to enter. There are so many gardens to explore. One of them is a railroad garden where they have a massive train setup. It only runs on the weekends, so we missed it. While we were there, one of the trails was turned into a woodland trail. There were fairy houses all along the path, which we loved. I highly recommend taking the drive down to see it.

I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect at Indiana Dunes. I thought it would be all sand. But, Indiana Dunes is the most biodiverse park in the US. There is something for everyone to see and enjoy! It is also incredibly dog friendly. The lifeguarded beaches are dog-free zones. But, dogs are allowed just about anywhere. People were even walking into the buildings with their pooches. Definitely take the time to visit if you get the chance!

Some Resources–
Our tent— I love our tent so much. It’s a 10 person blackout tent. It is a breeze to put up by yourself and does come with a rain cover. The prices has gone up so much that I’m afraid to even link it! Scott worked a lot of overtime for us to buy this tent, and we use it all the time, but we sure didn’t pay this much for it.
Canopy (similar)– This takes a couple of people to set up, but it’s worth it!
Pocket wall— this was a gift from my mom and came in so handy!
Camp Stove— I love this little powerhouse.

June on the Homestead

the garden in late May or early June– can’t remember

We have been busy on the homestead lately. It is go- time. We have picked all of our strawberries. We’ve been planting seeds, pulling weeds, and trying to keep chickens alive through killer heat waves and unseasonable cold weather.

I’ve learned that you have to become an optimist when farming. If you aren’t, you’ll be utterly miserable. We have been battling the weather non-stop this year in some way or another. It’s a big challenge to rise up to each day. I’m not going to give up. I’ll be honest, I HATE the heat. HATE IT… but I’m still going out in it to tend to the garden and animals.

my hat was a gift from my mother-in-law and I LOVE it

We still have some space in the garden that I’m filling in this weekend. I will not miss an opportunity to grow food. Going to the grocery store makes me feel so sick when I see how rapidly the prices are rising. I’m going to grow and preserve all that I can.

We have moved some of our new babies outside. Our gosling is almost fully feathered and has been hanging out with the flock outside. She is definitely a good guardian already– as she honks as soon as there’s movement nearby. Our three guineas have been in the old duck run while they grow some more. They are also loud and so weirdly wonderful. We have six (I think) chicks in a brooder. Three are big enough to come out with the guineas and the other three are still too small to be OUT, out. Scott is working on building a makeshift brooder that can also go in our old duck run so that they are outdoors, but not where they can squeeze through and get killed by older hens.

I processed a couple of jars of strawberry jam this afternoon. We eat most of our freshly picked strawberries, but the season is so full and short at the same time that we ended up with quite the surplus. I’m anxious to see how much more we get next year!! We planted several berry plants (blackberry, blueberry, and raspberry) this year that I can’t wait to harvest from in the years to come.

We planted some ornamental pumpkin seeds this year, which should be super fun to see grow! I’m getting worried because I have only seen two bumblebees this year on our property. TWO. We use organic practices, but being surrounded by farm fields that get sprayed by airplane is not ideal for us. I’ve been pollinating our squash by hand because I haven’t seen any pollinators in my garden.

The kitchen was busy during our cold snaps as I spent the days baking loaves of bread and bagels to put up in the freezer. Now, I can pull them out on the hot days without heating the entire house. I am trying to do everything in my power to keep our electric bill as low as possible since the cost has gone up significantly.

What are you doing to cut back on your costs?

I feel like this question is consuming my mind, and I need to release it all to the Lord. He is not surprised by any of this crazy weather or inflation. He has always provided for us and we’ve never gone hungry even when it was very possible.

I hope that you are staying cool (or warm if you are in Idaho!), my friends! Happy almost Summer!

Garden mid June

May on the Homestead

It is hard to believe that May is halfway over.

Garden updates— We’ve been busy weeding away. We had a big hail storm that destroyed all of my spinach. The arugula was still hanging on, but I had to rip it out when the temps got above 90 last week. Aurugula is a cold weather crop, and bolts in the heat. As happened last year, our onions sprouted, and then stopped growing. They are still green and alive, but refuse to grow– even though we had them in a tunnel for quite some time. I even started them much earlier than last year. We left some onions in the ground last year, and they are growing a lot this year. So, we may not have many onions THIS year, but next year we should have a lot. The garlic was damaged by the hail, but seems to be bouncing back just fine.

We started our seeds and used grow lights this year. Our tomatoes and peppers sprouted and stopped growing for several weeks. Now, all of the tomatoes are turning yellow. I am hearing that A LOT of people are having this problem. Something must be going on with the seed starting soil. Are you having problems? On happy notes– we planted several berry bushes this year. Three blueberry bushes, one raspberry, and three blackberry bushes are new. We are going to have a ton of strawberries this year also!

Walmart marked their trees down to $13, so each of the girls got a tree instead of flowers after their dance recital. (They were thrilled, please know they are just as weird as me! haha!) One is a pear and two are maples. We may go back for more! I just bought some organic fertilizer, and I’m hoping that will boost vegetable growth.

I started reading this book to see if I can troubleshoot some problems that I keep having.

Animals— We have added a turkey to the farm. I love listening to her gentle call. We also have some chicks in the brooder to replace some of our old layers. We have three guineas in another brooder that will hopefully live long enough to eat a lot of ticks. I’ve heard it said that their favorite past-time is “finding ways to die”. And, we have a gosling. She is in a brooder also. I get her out of the brooder almost daily and she follows me around the yard and garden. We have quite the diversity going here this year and I am loving it! We are getting close to a dozen eggs each day. I actually had to take our egg sign down because we have so many egg customers. I’m going to have to start turning people away or my family won’t have eggs to eat!

Puppy— everyone always asks how Ranger is doing. He is growing a lot. He’ll be fourteen weeks old tomorrow. We have worked really hard at making sure he is socialized so that he isn’t aggressive. He still sleeps most of the day when he isn’t chewing on things. Pup is for sure in the baby shark phase. I’ve read that it lasts much longer in this breed. He is very sweet and loving though, and we are all glad he’s a part of the crew.

Kitchen— The kitchen is where I first become passionate about homesteading, so it feels important to include. With the temperatures heating up, I’m not baking as much. My goal is to continue baking our family’s sandwich bread and keep making bagels. But, there will be much less fun breads. I make tortillas for taco Tuesday about 50% of the time, and would like to get better about doing it every time. They are so good and easy. We bought a quarter of a cow earlier this year, and it has been some of the best beef I’ve ever had. I need to get on another list ASAP. The rising cost of groceries has me very concerned, and I’m looking for ways to cut costs without cutting quality.

How are things in your neck of the woods? Are you unseasonably hot also, or still unseasonably cold? Is anyone in the correct season?!

Meanwhile on the Farm

low tunnel

We have had some really lovely weather recently. We also were out covering our fragile plants one night that we had a freeze warning. But, overall, we’ve had warm temperatures. Scott and I spent the weekend working in the garden. We planted our cool weather crops that were started from seed indoors. So far, we have carrots, radishes, onions, cabbage, and potatoes in the ground. I got an alert on my phone last night that penny sized hail was possible and Scott rushed out to cover our tiny cabbage sprouts so that we didn’t lose them. I never heard any hail, so I think we were safe.

It is so life-giving to get your hands in the dirt to cultivate these plants that will feed my family. I prayed while I was planting that the Lord will bless our efforts. Every year, we learn more. Every year, the garden gets bigger. Every year, we face setbacks. But, we will persevere!

Poultry Netting

Our flock is also growing. Over the weekend, I posted one of our roosters for free. We have too many. This particular roo was getting aggressive to the kids, which I don’t have the patience for. He was so protective of his hens though, so I really wanted to give him a good home. Turns out, someone in our circle was needing a rooster for their flock, and they offered us a turkey in return!

We have been talking about getting a “guard goose” (I know it sounds crazy, but you can look it up.) to help protect the flock from predators. Guinea fowl have also been on our radar because they eat ticks like crazy. Everything lined up and we ended up getting a goose and three guineas over the weekend. Not only will they serve those great purposes, but they will also provide even more biodiversity for protection against certain threats to poultry. All we need now are quail, and we will have all of the farm birds.

Seed Starting Pots/Trays

I know that I say this so often, but I am so THANKFUL for the gift of being here. We are learning and expanding our skill set so much. I read about someone calling their rental farm the “halfway farm” because they were practicing their skills while saving for THEIR farm. I feel that way. This rental property is so incredible, and I love cultivating it all. But, I also cannot wait for the day when we get to truly call a place ours. I’m just so grateful.

Who know that when God placed a vegetable garden on my heart ten years ago that it would grow into all of this? Everything we do is bathed in prayer, and I encourage you to live your life that way also. When everything passes through prayer, you truly see what is from God.

I hope that you all have a wonderful week, friends! Happy Monday!

Waterfall Chasing

I love waterfalls. I love being in the forest. Last week, we traveled to the Kentucky border to get the new puppy. We decided to make a day of it and find a really cool state park to hike. We watched as the forecast got colder and colder. Then, snow was forecasted. We didn’t care. We didn’t leave quite as early as planned, but we hit the trail and hiked three miles with flakes of snow falling.

We went to Ferne Clyffe State Park, which is within Shawnee National Forest. Southern Illinois is really beautiful. I didn’t want to leave. I stacked a bunch of rocks to prop my phone up to get the above picture. It was worth it.

The trail was rocky and slick from the rain and snow. I would say it was the most difficult one that we’ve done with the kids. We gained over three hundred feet in elevation, which isn’t the most we’ve gained. It is certainly more than we gain here in flat central IL.

This trail definitely scratched my itch for adventure. I’ve been checking out so many travel books from the library in an effort to escape.

I highly recommend visiting this area. We hiked the Waterfall trail and Hawk’s Cave Trail. The waterfall trail was not marked well at all. We actually ended up off course, but quickly realized it. Turns out, we were supposed to turn left and climb a rock wall to stay on our trail. I climbed to the top to make sure that it was, in fact, a trail. It was such a blast. Good shoes are also needed with the way the Waterfall trail is. It’s not a smooth dirt trail. It was a lot of rock and climbing.

I hope you get out and explore. Nature is the best therapist.

Our New Farmily Member

We have a new member of our farmily. Meet Ranger, an 8 week old Australian Shepherd.

He is energetic, playful, and loving. The girls are smitten with him. Puppies are so exhausting, but he’s going to be such an awesome adventure buddy once he is trained.

I always said that I would never do the puppy phase again, yet here we are. Someone guessed that we were getting a goat. That would be fun, too. But, we are limited on what farm animals we can get here. I think we COULD do a pig in a pen here that ate all of our food scraps and turned them into bacon. But, that isn’t anywhere in the plans right now.

Happy April, friends!!

Life Lately

Hello, friends! I’ve been a little quiet over here again. Not much outside of the ordinary has been happening on the homestead. Basically, it’s been a lot of the above… Sweet family time playing games and reading books. I’ve also been chauffeuring my kids and their friends to birthday parties and dance classes. This phase of parenting is so wild, but so fun. They can make their own breakfasts and do their own laundry. These little ladies are so incredible, and I’m so blessed to be their mama.

We had a raccoon get INTO the chicken coop one night when we were at the library. Thankfully, it only killed one chicken, and it won’t bother anyone again. We think it slipped between our electric netting and the run and didn’t care that it got shocked. Electric poultry netting has been a newer addition to the homestead. I was sick of chickens pooping all over the front porch, but still wanted some free ranging. This gives the best of both worlds. We can rotate where the chickens “pasture” is so that they always have fresh grass and bugs while still keeping them off of the porch. We are up to our eyeballs in eggs, so if you are local and love organic farm fresh eggs, come see us!

This time of year is always such a struggle. My mood really plummets. The days are longer, but it has still been cold and so rainy ALL. THE. TIME. I have been really down. I want to start the garden, but I can’t. We have started onion, pepper, and cabbage seeds so far. I’m itching for soil on my hands and under my nails. I can’t wait to pull a fresh carrot from the dirt.

Current world circumstances are also overwhelming. The cost of everything is starting to get a bit alarming. We have been in some very difficult situations in the past, and God never let us down then. None of what is happening is a surprise to Him. I keep reminding myself of this scripture, and I hope that it encourages you also:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,  yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:25-34

We do have some really fun stuff coming up for our family, and it will be fun to share all of that soon!!

Happy Tuesday! I hope you have more beautiful weather where you are than we do. 😉

I Will Sing of the Goodness of God

Yesterday, Harper had a very important eye appointment. We’ve been waiting seven months for this.

First, I’ll back up. She has worn glasses since the age of one. She saw a pediatric ophthalmologist and has had regular eye care from an optometrist ever since then. Everything was great other than she needed corrective lenses to see. Fast forward to 2020, and her eye doctor mentions that he’s noticing one of her eyes pulling in a bit. Nothing to be concerned about, just to watch. Last year, he says we need to start patching because her eyes have gotten worse. He increased her prescription so much that he wanted to see her again in a month to make sure she has adjusted. This has happened for the last several years. At her follow up, I get told that he is going to refer us out to a specialist because her vision is so bad even with glasses. He said “I’m afraid there’s just nothing more I can do from her here.” He said that most believe the eye can be manipulated until the age of 8, but some believe there is more time. She had just turned 7 when he gave us this news, so i felt like time was running out.

I got in my car and cried… sobbed is more like it. It felt like a gut punch. Her eyes were getting so much worse year after year even though I was told back when she was one that her vision should improve greatly since we caught it so early. I start researching amblyopia and strabismus to see what sort of options the pediatric ophthalmologist may suggest. As I’m reading, everything is saying that if it is not caught early enough, it may cause blindness in that eye. With her eyes having been so weak even through her glasses, I was terrified of this worst case scenario. I looked at books and web sources and they all said the same thing. I was sick to my stomach over it.

Harper sees a homeopathic chiropractor regularly, and I told her to do whatever she could think of to help her eyes. We did a lot of muscle testing and put her on supplements to help what was lacking. She’s been on a lot of brain support supplements and had a lot of adjustments. It’s been awesome. We had also been regularly patching her eyes, because both eyes needed help– one more than the other. During patching, we were working on a lot of fine motor activities to really force the eyes to work hard. Harper is a trooper. Only recently has she grown tired of the patches, because it amounted to 8 (6 on one eye, and two on the other) of her waking hours.

Anyway, we went yesterday for a two hour appointment. They checked everything, and we get the greatest news. The stronger eye is where it needs to be and no longer requires patching. Praise God! The other eye is still not where it needs to be, but instead of patching for six hours, we can go down to “at least” two. Her eyes have improved SO much. Her prescription was increased again, but that is to be expected. He explained that just as our foot size gets bigger as we grow, prescriptions get bigger. He said not to think of it as a negative, just as growth.

When he was done, I asked him the burning question. Could she end up blind in that eye. He said “Well, a meteor could fall from the sky into her eye, and yes, she would be blind. But, from this. No. Not at all.” Y’all! It was like a ten million pound weight was lifted.

I cannot believe how much improvement has been shown in her eyes. When we get her new prescription, she will actually be able to SEE through it!! Things were still blurry when she got her new prescription last year. I can’t imagine living that way. She is thrilled to get less patching time. I am thrilled that she will be able to see!!

God is SO good. I know so many were lifting her in your prayers, and I am so grateful.

Support Local Farmers

Over the past few years, we have really tried to look for ways to source our food locally. Shortening your food chain is so important.

I know that it is difficult to figure out how to find your local farmers. This has been a process for me as I try to find more sources for what we use. It has taken a lot more work, but it has been so rewarding. I’m going to share some of the ways that we have changed to supporting local farmers instead of big box stores.

A few years ago, we did a CSA program. You can read about our experience here. We really enjoyed being a part of it. But, then we moved and started our own garden and decided to invest that money into our own crops the following year. Getting connected with a CSA is a great place to start. You can go here to find one local to you. When you do this program, you know that you are putting your dollars directly in the hands of farmers. Which in turn puts money right back into your local economy.

Eat Wild— This website has lists of many farms in your state that sell food. Most of our listings have meat and eggs. The cost of sourcing your meat directly from a farmer is SO much more affordable than the grocery store. The quality is also much better. Check out your state and see what you can find. We just purchased 1/4 of a cow this month after starting the process in July. It was so much cheaper than what we have been paying per pound of beef.

Get Raw Milk— This is an awesome resource to help you find local farms to get raw milk for your family. Raw milk still has the probiotics that help your body digest the milk. Pasteurization is why so many people can’t digest dairy anymore. We’ve removed all of the healthy benefits from milk because we are so afraid of the small chance of unwanted bacteria. Raw milk is so much safer than you think. Do the research, don’t just take my word.

If you don’t want to or can’t buy massive amounts of meat, find your closest store that sells local meats. We have a farm store thats an hour and a half away. I try to go once a month to buy our meat for the month. It is MUCH cheaper than even Aldi prices. Finding stores like this takes much more digging. Ask around and see if anyone knows of a place close by.

If you drive in rural areas, you can often find “eggs for sale” signs. Farm fresh eggs taste so much better and have much more nutrition than store bought eggs. These same farms will often have produce available during the growing season.

Search Craigslist. People will post eggs, milk (typically listed as “for animal consumption” due to stupid rules) and extra produce even. Get creative.

It takes a lot of creativity to find what will work best for your area. Once you have your rhythm down, it becomes pretty smooth sailing. These farmers work tirelessly and put so much love and care into what they do. I love being able to directly support them.

If you are local to me, here are some sources that we use:
Kilgus Farmstead— meat, dairy, coffee, soap, honey
Ropp Jersey Farm— Cheese, milk, and meat (Last time I was there they even had elk.) You can even pet the baby cows. Get the dill cheddar. Yum.
Graized Beef— obviously, beef
Janie’s Mill— locally grown and milled flours and grains
Beachy’s Bulk Food Store– This is an amish store, so there’s no website to link. There are so many bulk spices, grains, etc here. Local meats and cheeses fill the freezers.

Preparedness

Preparedness is sort of a buzz word these days. I feel like most people think the term “prepper” means we are looking for a zombie apocolypse. That is a myth.

We have seen, especially over the last two+ years, a major shift in our country. We’ve seen empty shelves and shortages at the grocery store. Limits were placed how many canned goods and packages of toilet paper you could get in a single trip. We have seen our supply chain crumbling. Ships stuck at port. Shortages of truck drivers. It goes on and on. We can point our fingers and blame all kinds of people.

Really, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We’ve removed ourselves from the work required to provide for our own households. We rely on convenience and don’t want to take personal responsibility. It’s easier to go buy a loaf of bread than put in a little work and bake your own, for example.

Preparedness also goes so far beyond what is happening in the world. What if you have a natural disaster? What if you lost your job today? How long would you be able to feed your family? What if you get sick and can’t go to the store for a week? Will you have enough food? Do you have the medicines you need now so that you won’t panic if illness does come?

First, open up your cabinets. Look at what you already use. Those are the items that you want to stock up on for these circumstances. If you lose your job, your family will not appreciate eating freeze dried bananas and beef jerky every day. Buy the cans of vegetables and soup that you already purchase. Look in your freezer. What do you usually cook with?

Buy an extra __________ each time you go to the store. Are you buying green beans? Grab one more can than you need. Get an extra bottle of ketchup. Throw an extra package of bacon and ground beef in the freezer. You’d be surprised at how quickly these things add up in your cupboards and give you a little bit of security.

During cold and flu season, make sure your medicine cabinet has what you will need– whether homeophatic, holistic, or allopathic medicines. You do not want to wake up in the middle of the night with a sick child and be unprepared. Know what you will do. If you have to write it all down just to have peace of mind, do it.

It’s also time to skill up! We need to go back to our roots and cook from scratch again. I saw something recently that stuck with me. It said “I used to joke that I had grandma hobbies. Now I realize it’s because those skills weren’t passed on to the younger generation.” So, here is Grandma Ashley encouraging you to start learning some of these skills. Bread baking is not that complicated. Yes, it takes a lot of practice, and there will be mistakes. But, be willing to be bad at something before you get good at it. Make your soup from scratch instead of a can. It’s much more cost effective and much healthier for you. You can make a double batch of soup and freeze the other half. This also comes in very handy if you get sick.

Learn how to hunt. Jill Winger just did an amazing podcast with Stacy Lynn Harris about hunting that will give you so much good information.

Grow your food. Not everyone has the space for a full garden, but a potted herb on your kitchen windowsill is a start. I started out with a few potted plants when we couldn’t have a garden. It made such a difference. If you can’t grow your own, find a local farmer to support. There are many of us out there.

Homesteading is a different life. I’m aware of that. I’m aware of the blood and sweat we have put into what we’ve built. We sacrifice in many areas of our life to build what we have. This life is prepping in its own way. The goal is to put up food from the garden to last through the winter into the next garden season. It’s a lot of work, and I’ve not been successful in reaching that goal yet outside of garlic. But, it is a goal. And it’s not for everyone. I get that.

Your family is your responsibility. It is no one’s job to bail you out should any of these scenarios come to pass. Yes, community is great and we should be willing to help others if we are able. I have been on the receiving end of so much kindness when our lives crumbled. So. Much. Kindness. But, refusing to do the work and expecting others to carry your weight is unacceptable. Do what you can with where you are at.

I know that this often brings the question of “where will I store this extra?” Do you have space under your beds? Boxes or tubs of canned goods can fit underneath. A little bit of space in a closet? Maybe you have a bunch of junk that you don’t actually want anymore. Get rid of it and use that space for storage.

Rotate through your stock so that nothing expires. I refill my cabinets from our extra stock, and put new groceries away with the stock. That way, ideally, nothing slips through the cracks and gets wasted. Find a system that works well for you.

Everyone can do something. I’m not saying to go out and panic buy. That is also irresponsible and puts a strain on things. Just buy a little extra here and there. I challenge you to learn one new skill this month. Learn how to make scrambled eggs. Bake a loaf of bread. Cook one meal from scratch. Just do something. I encourage everyone to give themselves a bit of food security. It will help you to feel much less panicked if you go to the store and see bare shelves. At least give yourself the extra security in case of a layoff or job loss. I cannot stress that enough, friends.

I am curious what the stores are like where you are. I have noticed that meat seems to be the tricky spot for us. I have to grab meat if I see it because chances are good that I may not see it next time. I should also say that I do not go to the grocery store very often, so what I see may be skewed. We do one big trip a month and then the occasional trip to grab more milk or something I forgot or couldn’t find. Let me know in the comments below.

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If you are wanting to do a long term food storage situation, this brand has had a lot of sales lately. I personally would rather not spend my money on those things outside of a couple of things that I couldn’t grow or make myself should calamity come. Things that may be a treat and make the struggle more bearable. (Brown sugar, honey powder, and chocolate milk for example.) But, it may be the easiest thing for others.