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Starting From Nothing: Preparing Quickly, Efficiently and Cost-Consciously, by C.M.F.
My husband and I are new to the concept of prepping and self-sufficient living, having just begun the process in the last 30 to 60 days. Our journey when world events began to heat up in the Middle East and we started asking “what if” questions. Our ignorance means that we have a lot of learning, practicing and catching up to do. I am fairly confident that we are not the only ones to slowly become aware of the necessity of preparing. I thought that I would share what we have done to get started in the hopes that this information will be helpful to anyone else that is new to prepping. So, how should one start if they have done absolutely nothing thus far?
God Prepares A Way
Even though I titled this “Starting from Nothing”, that is not an entirely accurate phrase. God prepares a way for us, even when we are not fully aware of the long-term ramifications of His design. Our journey has been a gradual one, without us even realizing it. A few years ago I read a book titled Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which raised our awareness about where our food comes from. Then we watched the video Food, Inc.. and that really scared us! I began to cook from scratch as much as possible, buying what I could from butchers and farmers’ markets. Unfortunately, we lived in a large city with a tiny lot. Gardening was not an option and I felt limited in our choices. But, for some reason that I cannot really explain, I purchased two books: Back to Basics and The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It.
In June 2011, God opened a way for our family to move to a small community of less than 2,000 residents in northern Wisconsin. We were able to negotiate a 12-year fixed [interest rate] land contract for a good sized house on a larger than average city lot. It was too late to plant a garden, but I was able to negotiate for some fresh produce from neighbors, members of our church and the local Amish community. I learned how to can and borrowed a dehydrator and learned how to dehydrate our food. Granted, it was not enough to feed our family through the winter, but it was a start.
I feel that God was preparing us with this house! Not only is the house a good, sturdy home built in the 1920s, but we found a buried outhouse pit, a buried sand point well, and learned that the house originally had a rainwater cistern and root cellar in the basement. While we are not planning on constructing an outhouse anytime soon (we did dig it up once already and collected over 200 antique bottles) or repair the rainwater cistern (illegal in our state), it is reassuring to know that the house was once self-sustaining. In the meantime, I am working to get the well permitted so that we can install a hand pump, as well as researching ways to collect rainwater and build a root cellar.
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