The Up Side To The Economy Crashing

The other night (I am noticing I use that phrase a lot) while Mr. Barefoot and I were talking, I brought up that I would like to build cabinets/bins along my "craft wall" in the Work Room and turn it into food storage. The Work Room, being an enclosed porch, stays quite cool in the winter. Despite all the windows, it stays very cool in the summer, too, and I was thinking that as long as I could keep my home canned goodies out of the light (and anything I would like to store "root cellar" style like potatoes and carrots) it would work perfectly.

I mentioned it timidly, expecting Mr. Barefoot to give me The Look and his standard "yes, dear" response. Not only did he not laugh or act exasperated, he agreed with me. He brought up some of the ideas he has been kicking around about the Work Room and how to make it work better for us, and thought that my idea would mesh with his quite well.

Emboldened by my success, I brought up the possibility of checking into the addition of a wood stove here at Barefoot Manor. I cited this year's ice storms and how that is a big possibility here in MN. I told him that a heat source was a concern I have had for a while in case of heavy storms or gas lines being out of service for whatever reason.

Again he agreed, even throwing out possible scenarios on how and where to set it up. He discussed the rise in insurance cost vs the security and reduced heat bill. He actually seemed to consider my ideas as if they were rational.

He has also recently started discussing finances with me (it was like pulling teeth before) and seems totally on board with my plans for getting us debt-free.

I was completely blind-sided.

He has been increasingly supportive of my efforts to....well, I guess the word is "prep".

I am not so self-absorbed as to think it is something I have done that is changing his mind. I think what is happening is that he is hearing it at work, he is seeing it on the news, he is seeing it affect folks he KNOWS. He is realising that preparing a safety net in case of trouble doesn't mean that you really think Zombie Hordes are going to take over the world, it just means that you realise that there are things in life you can't control that might interrupt your normal way of providing a living for your family.

I am also not so self-absorbed that it matters to me why he is having a change of heart. All that matters to me is that the changes are being made. All that matters is that I am not feeling as if he is humoring me (at best) or mocking me (at worst).

Right now I don't even care that it will fall to me to do the gardening, canning, learning to cook even more from scratch, finding more local food sources, etc. I am not feeling so alone in this anymore. I am feeling like he is respecting me a bit more.

It is good.

Finding the Balance

Balance has always been a struggle for me. I remember someone once asking what my goal in life was (I was just a teen at the time) and my answer was "to find balance". They weren't very satisfied with my answer.

I am an "all or nothing" type person. I know it isn't healthy to be that way, and so I work on it.



A lot.



I want to accomplish so many things. Simple things, really. I want to feed my family home cooked food that is chemical and hormone free. I want to spend less time in front of the TV and more time outside in nature. I want to be debt free. I want to have the confidence of knowing that I can take care of myself. I want to feel prepared in case of job loss or illness. I want to know that I can repair or make things on my own rather than having to depend on others to do it for me.

Some of my other goals aren't quite so idealistic. I would like to have a pretty home furnished with things that I enjoy aesthetically. I would like to be able to have just a few of the nicer things that my little heart lusts after.

Sometimes, the ways to accomplish these goals conflict with each other. Sometimes my goals conflict with those of Mr. Barefoot. It makes for a difficult line to walk, and I often get frustrated. I come from a generation of people who are accustomed to instant gratification, and it goes against my grain to wait and do things slowly.

I just have to keep reminding myself that I am making progress.

Right now my main goal is to get debt-free and set up a "cushion" in case of mishap. To accomplish this goal, I have had to put some of my other goals off to the side (not too far!). I am still working on them, but I am focusing more on accomplishing one thing at a time.

I think it is working.

I am feeling less stressed about not being able to accomplish everything that I want to. I am feeling (finally) like I am moving forward instead of just treading water.

It helps that this is one of the goals I have that Mr. Barefoot is willing to be on board with. He is willing to help me make the changes needed to get us debt free and sees the wisdom of having something set aside in case of the unexpected. I am grateful, because Mr. Barefoot is not a planner. He is the type of person who just coasts along through life doing his daily thing, and deals with whatever comes his way. It drives me nuts, as I am a born planner.

I am interested to see where this new focus will take me....

Food Storage Rights and Wrongs

There are different approaches to Food Storage. Probably as many approaches as there are folks who store food. I think they basically boil down to 3 basic types, though.

The first group are the hard core survivalist types. They stock up on military rations or meal replacement bars, totally disregarding taste and variety in the interest of having "food" that is easy to store and transport.

The second group are folks who store absolute basics and learn to cook from them. Their storage includes bins of wheat (not flour, the have a wheat-grinder), sugar, salt, cornmeal, and home-preserved goodies (either from their home garden or a local, organic grower).

The third group are folks who buy mass produced, store bought items that take little or no prep before being ready to eat. Their shelves are full of Spaghettio's, canned fruit, and Hamburger Helper. Their freezers are full of ready made lasagna and chicken nuggets.

Now, when I decided to start getting serious about food storage here at Barefoot Manor I did a lot of research into things. I wanted to make the choices that were right for my family. I wanted someone out there to tell me what the right way was.

The folks in the first group...well, I give them kudos. To have the emotional stamina to survive on "meal bars" for any period of time is astounding. I don't think my family could do it. Oh, if that was all that was available I am sure we would make do for a while, but how long would it take for "appetite fatigue" to set in? For those who may not know, appetite fatigue is when you have to eat the same thing for so long that you would really rather starve than take another bite of it. The elderly and the young are more susceptible, but even I would get sick of those things pretty quickly.

The folks in the second group...I applaud them. I wish I had the knowledge and the resources to do as they do. Grinding my own wheat is a little out of my league at this point, though. Every year I work on gaining new cooking and food preservation skills, but I am a long way from what these folks accomplish. This type of food storage takes a giant commitment of time and energy to acquire and to manage.

Then there is the third group. I gotta give it to them. The food they are stocking is easy and familiar. It is cheap, and takes little to no effort to store. But I fear that they are taking a nutritional hit with these foods. Store bought foods are full of chemicals and hormones that just can't be good for us. There is also the fear that they are contaminated with salmonella or e. coli or some other frightening bacterium. At the very least they are very high in sodium and fat, which isn't so good for the heart or the waistline. So that doesn't seem like such a good idea, either.

Each of these groups believes that their way is the best way, and far be it for me to say otherwise. I, however, am gonna say that my way is right for me and my family.

See, here is the plan:

I already have some home-frozen produce from the garden last year. I also have venison that Dad and Bro shot and butchered, and beef from a cow that is local (I don't know if it is organic, but I know the woman who raised it at least).

I am going to work on increasing the production of my garden and my preserving skills for this next year, and work on finding local sources for ethically treated (and hopefully hormone-free) meat. I will also work on learning how to cook more and more from scratch, so that I can store more of the basics and fewer "processed" foods.

In the meantime, I am going to use coupons and any means available to me to stock up on foods that my family knows and enjoys. That means store bought spaghetti sauce and canned soups are going to continue to be a part of our diet. Some of the worst stuff I have already almost eliminated, but I am not going to shock my family with a total diet change all at once.

The military food rations? Well, those I just don't think I will ever be able to stomach. I MAY however, pick up some of those nutrition supplement bars if I can come upon them cheaply enough. They would go well in the winter car kit (a must in MN winters) or for an absolute emergency. Granola-type bars would be good for this, as well.

So there you have it, folks. One more person telling you that THEIR way is the right way.

Kinda funny, isn't it?