I often long for the days of my childhood when life was simple. At least it seemed that way. I grew up on a farm. Whether in the house or in the fields, my family and I all worked together. It seemed like Mom and Dad had a lot more time with us to teach us the important things in life. I like to reminisce about those times at home. Some of my favorite memories are of helping my Dad while he was repairing his machinery in an old granary which was filled with antiques and other very interesting junk. Others are of sitting on our front porch visiting while watching the big golden sun go down behind the mountains in a beautiful orange and pink sunset. Best of all are the memories of eating delicious fresh frozen corn and peas or bottled peaches and raspberries after we worked hard to prepare them.
I grew up with the concept of food storage. We had what my parents called a fruit room in the basement. It was always stocked with shelves of bottled peaches, pears, apricots, raspberries, pickles, beats, jams and jellies. Next to the fruit room stood a freezer with frozen corn, peas and meats that had been raised on our farm or purchased from a neighboring farmer. We also kept potatoes and apples in a cool dark place in the basement. We had a large shelf where we kept canned goods, honey and flour. Everyday we enjoyed fresh milk and eggs thanks to our cows and chickens. Needless to say, we certainly wouldn’t have gone hungry if the stores had closed.
Our mother was a wonderful cook. Among my favorites were her delicious breads, pies, cinnamon rolls and cookies. She even made fresh butter from the cream that was skimmed from the milk our Jersey cows. It’s a wonder that my siblings and I weren’t fatter than pigs!
Needless to say, life has changed for most of us. We live in a fast paced world with lots of places to go and many people to see, or more likely text. Most of us don’t live on farms. We depend upon our neighborhood grocery store for our food and most of us don’t have the time, knowledge, equipment or inclination to start from scratch to raise, prepare or store our own food.
Ask yourself the following questions when you are thinking of starting your own food storage plan.
1. What should I store?
2. How can I afford to purchase extra food for food storage?
2. Where will I keep my food storage?
3. What equipment will I need to help me store and use my food storage?
4. How can I educate myself so that I will be able to store and prepare the foods I have stored?
5. What plan will I establish so that I can effectively rotate my food storage to prevent it from getting old?
During the next few days, I will try to help answer some of these questions. Please come back and visit my blog. In the meanwhile, please check out the tabs at the top of this blog. They have important information. Also, please visit my Shelf Reliance website at:
