Take Inventory of Your Skills

Have you ever sat down and thought about the skills you have?  Have you ever thought about the skills you might need to have if you lived in an area that experienced a natural disaster or crisis due to economic decline?  I think it is very important to evaluate what you know how to do and what you may need to know how to do.

You probably know how to cook, keep clean, and wash your laundry.  Maybe you can do some auto maintenance and change a tire, do some home repair/maintenance, etc.  But do you know how to cook your food on an outdoor fire?  Can you start a fire?  Do you know how to purify water?  Wash laundry by hand? Do you know how to safely sanitize areas/dishes?  Can you sew?  Build a shelter with materials on hand?  Do you hunt or fish?  Do you  know how to shut off your utilities?

Earlier today I was reading an article entitled, 10 Skills Every Survivor Should Know .  Not only does it list some basic skills it explains how and why these skills could be useful to you.  Admittedly, I had not thought of a couple of them...and I'm thankful my husband and I have some of these skills.

The time to begin learning new skills is now...not when there is a crisis.  The more knowledge and skill you obtain now the easier it will be to walk through and endure the circumstances that may surround you some day.  Our nation has become a nation of convenience.  Everything is available in the store to buy or we pay someone else to do things for us.  There is wisdom in knowing how to grow food, raise animals, build shelters, repair things, use radio communications, how to start a fire for warmth or cooking, how to care for a seriously injured person, how to hunt or fish, how to sew or tailor clothing, and how to cook foods that don't come in a box or a bag.  It is even important to learn how to handle people who are in distress.

Take inventory of your skills now, make a plan to learn those things you need to learn, and become more prepared to endure difficult times.  It is not a matter of if these things will come it is a matter of when.  If you are prepared and your family is safe then you will be more ready to help others should the Lord send you out  to do so.

~Live Prepared~

Canning Salsa

Last week I made salsa from some tomatoes that were given to me.  A vendor at the Farmers Market had some leftovers that he knew wouldn't make it to the next market date.  I was able to make 7 pints of salsa and 4 pints of spaghetti sauce.  I water bath canned the salsa and froze the spaghetti sauce.  

Here is the salsa recipe, courtesy of my friend Talena:

5 lbs. tomatoes (about 7 cups), cored & diced

6 green onions, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
1 large green pepper, chopped
4 jalapeño peppers, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. salt
Lemon juice & sugar

Use food processor to dice/mince/chop all ingredients. Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium high and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Carefully ladle hot salsa into jars leaving 1/2" headspace. Add 1 tbsp. lemon juice and 1 tbsp. sugar to each pint (2 tbsp. each per quart). Wipe jar rims clean. Place lid on jar and screw the band down until fingertip tight. Process in boiling water for 15 minutes. Makes about 4 pints.  

Treasures from the Garden

So thankful to still be harvesting heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, okra, green onions, and mint from our garden.  I've been watering every other day and really soaking the ground.  Here is a picture of some of the tomatoes and okra I've harvested this week:

Heirloom tomatoes:  Old German, Mr. Stripey, Box Car Willie, and Brandywine

6 cups of cherry tomatoes this week all from volunteer plants

You Know You're Addicted to Gardening When...

Your neighbors recognize you in your pajamas,


rubber clogs and a cup of coffee.


You grab other people's banana peels, coffee grinds,


apple cores, etc. for your compost pile.


You have to wash your hair to get your fingernails clean.


All your neighbors come and ask you questions.


You know the temperature of your compost every day.


You buy a bigger truck so that you can haul more mulch.


You enjoy crushing Japanese beetles because you like the


sound that it makes.


Your boss makes "taking care of the office plants" an


official part of your job description.


Everything you touch turns to "fertilizer".


Your non-gardening spouse becomes conversant in


botanical names


You find yourself feeling leaves, flowers and trunks


of trees wherever you go, even at funerals


You dumpster-dive for discarded bulbs after commercial


landscapers remove them to plant annuals.


You plan vacation trips around the locations of botanical


gardens, arboreta, historic gardens, etc.


You sneak home a 7 foot Japanese Maple and wonder if your


spouse will notice.


When considering your budget, plants are more important


than groceries


You always carry a shovel, bottled water and a plastic bag


in your trunk as emergency tools.


You appreciate your Master Gardener badge more than your jewelry


You talk "dirt" at baseball practice.


You spend more time chopping your kitchen greens for the


compost pile than for cooking.


You like the smell of horse manure better than Estee Lauder.


You rejoice in rain...even after 10 straight days of it.


You have pride in how bad your hands look.


You have a decorative compost container on your kitchen counter.


You can give away plants easily, but compost is another thing.


Soil test results actually mean something.


You understand what IPM means and are happy about it


You'd rather go to a nursery to shop than a clothes store.


You know that Sevin is not a number


You take every single person who enters your house on a


"garden tour"


You look at your child's sandbox and see a raised bed.


You ask for tools for Christmas, Mother/Father's day, your


Birthday and any other occasion you can think of.


You can't bear to thin seedlings and throw them away.


You scold total strangers who don't take care of their


potted plants.


You know how many bags of fertilizer/potting soil,/mulch


your car will hold.


You drive around the neighborhood hoping to score extra bags


of leaves for your compost pile


Your preferred reading matter is seed catalogs


And last but not least:


You know that the four seasons are:


Planning the Garden


Preparing the Garden


Gardening


~and~


Preparing and Planning for the next Garden






-Author Unknown


(If you know the author, please share the info)