It occurs to me that I have always lived that lifestyle to some extent. When you are a half hour drive from the nearest town/convenience store, it only makes sense to keep a freezer full of beef, chicken, pork and last year's frozen vegetables. My parents and grandparents view was that we can't waste expensive 50 cent a gallon gas driving to town every day for our food so we stock up. Flour, salt, sugar and whatever else is required is kept on hand ready for use.
And it only makes sense to have either a well or a few weeks/months supply of drinking water on hand. No city pipes supplying water this far out in the woods.
Of course without a source of alternate electricity, when the grid fails I guess all that food in the freezer will rot in a short time and I will be back to eating dry cat food and whole grain out of the bin.
At least I have a good supply of "beef on the hoof".
Despite posting several articles on preparedness, I'm a bit amused by those who think it's something new. It's just the way that you and I grew up!
ReplyDeleteYou know it Gorges. I was amazed to hear how little "real food" some people had in their fridges. For me it is just a family tradition to have plenty of food on hand.
ReplyDeleteI was brought up with a "fruit room" full of food and summertime was very much a time to store up for winter.
ReplyDeleteMy wife was a town girl and she does some but they don't even understand the scale of the old day's preparations.
Growing up we always had a room full of fruit preserves and a freezer of meat. Strangely no root cellar, but that's coming soon.
ReplyDeleteI bemoan that urban homes such as ours don't come with a standard "cold room/root cellar" in the basement. It's relatively difficult to build one after the basement is already developed.
ReplyDeleteYour lifestyle could also be seen as just living more locally rather than prepper/survivalist. I find the following blog fascinating with info related to these subjects, from an urban "homesteader" of sorts:
http://www.kevinkossowan.com/
Thats an interesting blog Dan. I have followed the "urban chicken" thing on facebook and elsewhere for a while now. While its not an issue for me out in the country, I can see how it could be a problem for some in the city. But really, can chickens be much worse than cats for annoying your urban neighbours?
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