Square Foot Gardening

We are going to have a Square Foot Gardening class at Brother Costello's house on April 15th for anyone who is interested in learning how to Garden. He is a master gardener so he will be an excellent source for us to have at our finger tips.
Also the City of Bentonville is having their annual spring giveaway on compost and wood mulch(non-composted) on April 20-24. I'm still finding more info and as soon as I do we will update everyone!
Gardening is a great way to provide for your family food and in the fall we are going to also do a canning project so that we can store our food for storage. Happy Gardening!!!

The Associate Store

I do not have access to the Associate store for Walmart Employees but I know that most of the Ward does. I wanted to let everyone know that if you ever see a "deal" and want to spread the word quickly that you can email me what you saw and that I will post it here. I know things go fast so I will do my best to post ASAP.
Yesterday I was told that there was lots of toothpaste, shampoo, toothbrushes, bright colored summer plates/cups, allergy medicine, and fresh flowers. Have fun shopping!!

Some 72 Hours lists to think about

Thinking about what to put into backpacks/buckets I have found three categories that we might want to focus on. Disaster Supplies, 72 Food supply, and Emergency Binder. These ideas came from another site that I like to frequent called FoodStorageMadeEasy.net if you would like to go there and check out tons of ideas on Food Storage. So lets get started with the Disaster Supplies.

supply of water (one gallon per person per day)

□ first aid kit and prescription medications

□ extra pair of glasses

□ credit cards and cash

□ change of clothes and sturdy shoes

□ battery powered radio, and extra batteries

□ blankets or sleeping bags, rain poncho, body warmer

□ list of emergency plan contact info

□ booster cables for car, car shovel, rope, N95 dust mask, working gloves

□ flashlight with batteries

□ wind/waterproof matches, and candle

□ personal hygiene products (baby stuff, soap, tooth care, toilet paper)

□ games, books, hard candy, toys

□ tire repair kit and pump, duct tape, swiss army knife

Some of these things are bigger in size so you may have to be creative in how you pack them.

Next List is the 72 Hour Food Kit any kind that can last with out cooking may be easier to keep so here are some ideas of food to pack.

Granola Bars
Fruit Cups
Beef Jerky
Cheese and Crackers
Fruit Roll ups
Trail Mix
Raisins
Protein Bars
Apple Sauce

Another good idea to keep these foods "fresh" is rotate them a couple of times a year. Sister Pabst told me a great idea, every General Conference she gets out all of the food from her 72 Hour kit and lets her boys eat them. I thought this was a great way to show her kids what the kits are and to keep the food from going past the expiration date.

Our Last Topic to add to the Kit would be an Emergency Binder. This would include all copies of your important documents that you may need to help rebuild after a disaster. Some ideas to put into a binder or folder are:
□ birth certificates
□ passports
□ social security cards
□ copies of your credit cards front and back
□ homeowners insurance policy
□ auto insurance policy
□ life insurance policy
□ bank statements
□ retirement statements
□ *internet passwords (banking, personal, work etc)
□ immunization records
□ utility statements
□ work/tax documents that would be difficult to replace
□ CASH – keep a variety of small bills on hand

Some of this would take time to gather and put together, but it is well worth your time!!! And think of the peace of mind that it would bring to you and your family if something were to ever happen and you had to leave your home quickly. If you have any questions or suggestions please let me know!

The 72 Hour KIt

Anyone who has lived here in the Spring knows of our storms that Bentonville can receive. Which begs the question what could you do to survive if a tornado hit our town? Do you have your important papers ready to go? What if you had to leave the house because part of it was destroyed? This is why we have been counciled to have a 72 hour kit. Its a kit that can be taken with you out of the house and traveled with that will keep you sustained until help arrives. Most of them are in back packs or 5 gallon buckets that I have seen. So this is what we will be thinking about and focusing on in the next few weeks.

What do I put my stuff in?

A past food storage specialist has told us that if you go to Sams in the bakery department you can ask them for 5 gallon buckets. They use them for icing their cakes and when finished with them will give them away for FREE! They come with the lids as well. She gave me the tip that when you get the bucket and lid to try it on to make sure it's a perfect fit because there are two kinds of buckets that they have and only one lid. The one type of bucket is just a little smaller so they lid will not attach as snug. These buckets are great for storing all kinds of food.
We also have a yearly Preparedness Fair that gives away a kit which is a great start. That is where we got our 5 gallon bucket.

Also I have seen other's who don't want to carry buckets by hand use back packs. There are all kinds of sizes that they come in and of course look for good sales after school starts. I looked at Walmart and they had them starting at $10.00. You can go as big as you want with a back pack, it depends on how many people are in your family and how much stuff you would need to survive the next 72 hours.
Our next post we will be going over the list of what should be in your pack!

Power outage

We all I'm sure heard of the storm that was coming this weekend and most of us had many concerns one of them being: power outtages. Emails went around to check in on each other and make sure no was going with out and stuck. We even had our home teacher come by and make sure we had power to our house. Taking care of each other is something this ward does in leaps and bounds, but it will be knowledge of what to do that will also keep us afloat in times of need. With that said one sister in our ward sent this to me from a Ready Nation Newsletter: What To Do In A Power Outage

When regular electric service has been interrupted by damage to power lines or power stations due to storms, floods, land slides, or earthquakes, it's referred to as a power outage. Most people have come to rely on electric power for their day-to-day survival needs.
In some situations, electric power can be out for days or weeks. You can plan ahead for the possibility of losing electric power by knowing where the flashlight and other emergency supplies are kept.

What should I do if the power goes out?

1. Check the fuse box to see if there is a blown fuse or a tripped circuit breaker. Sometimes the power outage will be limited to your own home.
2. If one needs to be replaced, turn off all large appliances or unplug them before you replace a fuse or a breaker to avoid damage to the electrical system.
3. Check your neighborhood to see if others are without power.
4. Call to report the power outage. Call only once to keep the line open for other customers. Most land-lines should still work.

Check with your local authorities to find out the numbers you should call before hand. Keep these numbers in a place you will remember.

I hope that we all stay safe this weekend and that no lose the power!

Another great site for storing water.

So I think we can all agree we need water, if there was a natural disaster and we had no power or drinkable water we'd be in serious trouble. So to continue with our storing water discussion, I found another site that actually sells water barrels. I know that last year our ward had the opportunity to buy some metal water barrels, but our ward has grown dramatically so I thought I would resend out some info for those who are new.

One is: www.beprepared.com and you can click here to find water storage solutions.


For the large 55 gallon water barrels if you place a group order they are cheaper. If anyone is interested please let Sister McKasson or Sister Brandi know.

Welcome Back!

Its been a while since we've had a chance to update you on some food storage ideas. There was a changing of the guards so to speak, but we are up and running again. For the rest of the month we will be talking about water. We will be focusing on three different aspects for all of us to consider. So lets talk about the first one!

Storing Water
For your in-home cache or survival retreat stash, you should count on two gallons of water per-person per-day. While this is more water than necessary to survive (except in hot climates or after strenuous exertion) it ensures water is available for hygiene and cooking as well as drinking.
Commercial gallon bottles of filtered/purified spring water often carry expiration dates two years after the bottling date. A good rotation program is necessary to ensure your supply of water remains fresh and drinkable . Date your water bottles and rotate.
If you prefer to store your own water, don't use milk cartons.; it's practically impossible to remove the milk residue (ugh!). Bleach bottles are recommended by others, and although Captain Dave has never used this method, and apparently bleach manufacturers don't recommend it.
If you have a spare refrigerator in the basement or the garage, use PET water bottles (the kind soda or liters of water come in) to fill any available freezer space. In addition to providing you with fresh, easily transportable drinking water, the ice can be used to cool food in the refrigerator in the event of a power failure. For self-storage of large amounts of water, you're probably better off with containers of at least 5 gallons. Food-grade plastic storage containers are available commercially in sizes from five gallons to 250 or more. Containers with handles and spouts are usually five to seven gallons, which will weigh between 40 and 56 pounds. Get too far beyond that and you'll have great difficulty moving a full tank.
15 gallon and 30 gallon containers used for food service -- such as delivery of syrups to soda bottlers and other manufacturers -- are often available on the surplus market. After proper cleaning, these are ideal for water storage -- as long as a tight seal can be maintained. 55 gallon drums and larger tanks are also useful for long-term storage. But make sure you have a good pump on hand!
Solutions designed to be added to water to prepare it for long-term storage are commercially available. Bleach can also be used to treat tap water from municipal sources. Added at a rate of about 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons, bleach can ensure the water will remain drinkable.
Once you're in a survival situation where there is a limited amount of water, conservation is an important consideration. While drinking water is critical, water is also necessary for rehydrating and cooking dried foods. Water from boiling pasta, cooking vegetables and similar sources can and should be retained and drunk, after it has cooled. Canned vegetables also contain liquid that can be consumed.
To preserve water, save water from washing your hands, clothes and dishes to flush toilets. This is important if you have a well.
More to come in the future stay tuned!