Monthly Archives: January 2011

Emergency preparedness for your pet

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Many people know about 72-hour kits and have them for themselves and their family in case of an emergency evacuation. But what about your pet? Are you prepared to take care of your pet if you are forced to leave your home for several days? They need an emergency evacuation kit as well. Some things to consider:

– Food: This is most obvious, and easily arranged. Ziploc bags with enough food for several days can be prepared quite easily.
– Bathroom: This can be a little more difficult to manage, but there are a few options.
– Dogs: Keep a good supply of plastic bags (grocery bags or smaller-size garbage bags) handy to serve as “pooper scoopers”. Additionally or alternately, a stack of old newspapers can also come in handy.
– Cats: A low box with the top removed, or a plastic paint roller tray, filled with an inch or two of litter can work in a pinch. Keep the litter in a ziplock bag right along with the container and you’re ready to go.
– Medicine: If you pet takes any regular medicine or other treatments, keep a small supply set aside for emergencies.
– Comfort items: Retired toys or blankets that they are familiar with can help them feel more at home in unfamiliar surroundings and give them something to do.
– Shelter: Keep a pet carrier of the appropriate (or larger) size handy to grab if you need to evacuate. Most pets deal better with unfamiliar situations or places when confined in a familiar carrier. Other people where you evacuate will also appreciate you keeping your pet controlled.
– Spare leash: Keep a leash handy for taking your pet for walks when permitted.

Your pet is like one of your family, yet can far too often be overlooked when making emergency preparedness plans. Take some time to make sure their needs are accounted for as well, and everyone will be much happier.

Survival gardening

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Our local garden columnist recently recommended a new book by writer, gardener, and scientist Carol Deppe, entitled “The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times”. I have not had a chance to read this book yet (its a bit more than I can afford both money- and time-wise right now), but the review raises some rather interesting points.

The book makes mention of five specific crops needed for health and survival: potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and eggs. These foods are not included in the current “super-food” craze, but there is a reason they are considered staples. You can eat quite well for quite a long time on just these foods.

More importantly, the book discusses how to collect and use seeds, as it won’t be easy to obtain new seeds during a long-term period of economic instability. Most seeds used today are hybrids, and will not likely continue to breed true under uncontrolled garden conditions. Any experienced gardener knows that seeds will only keep reliably for a few years, so new sources of seeds are necessary for long-term sustainability. The book covers other survival contingencies as well, such as what foods store well in the absence of refrigeration.

I plan to get a copy of this book someday, as it sounds like a good source of information and should give one lots to think about. In the mean time, has anyone else out there read this book? Would you be willing to do a guest post book review on it? Contact me in the comments or by email at thom@thomstratton.com.

Break goals down to make them manageable

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Every new year many of us make resolutions for the year. You may even be considering some self reliance related resolutions. May I recommend one simple trick for increasing your chances of success?

I find it helps to break goals down. If, for example, my resolution or goal for the year is to add to my food storage I may want to break it down into smaller components, such as:

  • January: Store 50 gallons of drinking water
  • February: Store 200 lbs. of wheat
  • March: Buy wheat grinder
  • April: Store 200 lbs. of oats

…and so on. This is certainly much more detailed–and therefore more achievable–than “Add to my food storage”. But we can–and should–take it farther. For example, just taking January’s goal, we can break it down further into steps:

  1. Research water storage containers
  2. Select container(s) to hold 50 gallons
  3. Designate and clear a storage location
  4. Place and fill containers
  5. Research rotation schedules for water
  6. Implement rotation plan

Now we’ve got a series of steps, most of which could be accomplished in an hour or less. When you find yourself with some time during January you know what you need to do and where to start instead of fumbling around thinking, “Okay, I need to add to my food storage. Should I go buy some flour? Or do I need honey first?” In the latter circumstance you’ll likely talk yourself out of doing anything, but instead you can look at your goal sheet and decide, “I’ve got half an hour. Let’s go research water storage containers online”. Boom! You’re off, and when you’re done you will have accomplished something important.

Of course it could be that you need to break your steps down further. In step 2, for example, you may decide you need to first take a look at potential storage sites in your house to see if you can get by with one large container or if you’ll need a number of smaller containers that can fit into smaller spaces. You may decide you need to do research to see if 50 gallons will be sufficient. Break down each task on your list until you feel comfortable that the step is small enough and clear enough so that you can do it in an hour or less without first fumbling around trying to figure out what you need to do.

If you’re anything like me, ambiguity is the bane of productivity. If I don’t know exactly what to do next toward a given goal I’ll put it off or skip over it to pursue something else that I can accomplish more easily. A little planning up front can make all the difference in reaching your goals. Try it! Today!