Preparedness Challenge #5

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This has been one of those weeks when I am especially thankful that the Lord has led us to a lifestyle of storing away food and essentials for a time of need.  My hard-working husband found out that one of his major clients for his home business will be needing him less in the next few months resulting in a loss of income of a sizable amount.  This also happened in the early fall.  My husband also has a full-time job, so we will be fine.  It just means that we need to be more careful and watch our expenses more closely than normal.

I really didn't think that I would be able to put away much this week as I had a limited budget which needed to include a checkup for my two little boys at the allergist.    However, the Lord blessed us with some great clearance buys and reduced meat sales.  I found great joy in being able to walk through the grocery store to pick up a few things and be able to pass by so many items that we have stocked up on.  And not having to buy anything at all from the dairy section was definitely a great feeling.

So this last week we:
-made up a large batch of a simple bar soap to use in making laundry detergent
-collected four more FREE food grade buckets
-found many needed kitchen items on clearance at a local Kroger:
          -7-12 pack wide mouth canning jar lids
          -4 packs of pectin
          -4-4 packs of half pint Ball jars
          -16 white flour sacks (large)
          -6 dish towels
          -12 dish rags
           -3-5 packs of 8 ounce plastic freezer containers that are just perfect for butter
-inventoried children's clothing and made lists of a few needed items for them and me....and bought them on sale or clearance
-planned a new garden area
-tilled up a new bed that will be planted with echinacea and calendula
-as chocolate prices were predicted to be rising I bought a couple more tins of powdered cocoa and another large bag of chocolate chips....we can't have too much chocolate!!
-stocked up on some reduced priced ground beef
-transplanted some tomatoes and peppers to the raised beds
-made pizzas with a batch of homemade mozzarella...It takes time to develop a good recipe or technique.  We will keep trying.
-added several more pounds of butter to the freezer
-added another jug of olive oil to storage
-added another bag of brown sugar

Isn't God good?  Proverbs 21:20  There is desirable treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man squanders it.  

Things we learned this week:
-we must start turnips, cabbage and broccoli no later than February.  In Mississippi we go from cold weather to hot weather in just a few days.  We have already had days where the temperature has been close to 90.  These cold weather plants started in March didn't have a chance.  We'll try again with them in the fall.

-The front of our property has much richer soil than back.  So, we are going to be planting some of our medicinal flowers and herbs in the front and have a 15 x 30 foot space to the side for some vegetables.  We have spent all the money we can on "boughten" dirt and need to use our own soil and compost that we have been making for the last couple of years.  We have almost 9 acres, but most of our land is wooded so we will plant where we can!

That's about it for this week!  What have you been doing to stock up at your house?