My children are always eager to help in the kitchen but at times its easy for them to get underfoot and just make a mess. I’ve come to realize that sometimes I need to embrace the mess and allow them to learn alongside me. Here are some ideas I’ve found helpful while having kids in the kitchen.

Let Them Help With Meal Prep

Most any child can help prepare food for a family meal. Older toddlers can rip lettuce, rinse grapes and set the table with unbreakable cups and silverware. Preschoolers (like my 3 1/2 year old daughter) can butter bread, pour water (with help), stir ingredients in a bowl, and fully set the table. My six year old likes to help make homemade pizza by putting the toppings on our homemade whole wheat crust and then cutting it into slices (with help). Yes, it may be messy, but it’s such a good bonding experience and teaches my kids to focus and complete a task. It also seems like my kids will eat more vegetables if they’ve made the salad!

Use Baking as a Lesson in Mathematics

Bring your older preschooler or grade school child into the kitchen during the baby’s naptime and give them a fun math lesson with measurements! My six year old helps me read the ingredients from recipes and fills the measuring cups and spoons with flour, sugar, salt and other things. He’s quickly learning how to read fractions and understand what a teaspoon is and what a “scant cup”  means! Sometimes we’ll double a recipe and so it’s a chance for me to help him understand the beginnings of multiplication. Just keep the mood light and fun and don’t worry if your child doesn’t want to see the process all the way through.

Let Kids Choose Their Own Recipes and Make Them

One of my 3 year old daughter’s favorite snacks is “Ants on a Log” (celery with peanut butter and raisins on top). There are lots of fun cookbooks with kid-friendly recipes (the Southern Living Kids Cookbook is a good one) that can give the little ones a chance to get hands-on with food. I truly believe children will develop a love for good food when we let them take the lead in the kitchen and choose what to eat every once in a while!

Teach Your Kids Safety, Hygiene and Clean-Up Methods

Who likes toddler spittle in their fruit salad? Me neither. The first thing I did when my kids were old enough to stand on a stool in the kitchen and watch momma bake was to teach them some basic rules of hygiene. Wash your hands. Don’t put your mouth on open containers. Don’t lick raw egg off your fingers. And so on.

Also, it’s never too early to teach your children oven or knife safety! Of course you should use discernment with how involved you let the kids get with the “dangerous” jobs, depending on their age. And it’s also good to encourage clean-up after all is said and done. It can be hard to corral the kids into this job if they’re really hyped up and excited (at least that’s my kids!) but tidying up after themselves is a good lesson in responsibility and shows them that the reward of more time to play comes with cleaning up right away.

There you have it! Some tips and tricks that are working for me as I strive to teach my children the joy of preparing food for our family.

photo credit

Survival Spot has published a list of the Top 100 Items to Disappear First During a National Disaster.  Number 5 on that list is lamp oil.

I have been a fan of kerosene lamps from the beginning of my adult life.  While I have never had to endure a power outage of more than 24 hours, even short outages are made more bearable by having some light.  Kerosene lamps are pretty, inexpensive and practical.  And they add a touch of warmth and hominess, even romance, to any evening, with or without a storm.    For these reason, a pretty kerosene lamp is my signature wedding gift! 

When preparing for a long-term power outage, light is high on my personal list as well as Survival Spot’s.  Obviously we need some light to move around our living area, but how comforting to be able to read or do needlework even without electricity.  So how best to prepare a supply of kerosene lamps?

Kerosene Lamps

A more practical kerosene lantern is a  hurricane lantern.  These are more portable than the pretty ones, and just as practical.  I found mine in the camping section of Wal-mart for less than $10.  These will be used mainly for moving around outdoors in the dark, in the event our battery supply has been exhausted.  If you have livestock,  consider what will be the best light for you in performing your daily/evening chores.The pretty ones are useful, but they are difficult to carry around the house.  They tend to be a bit top-heavy and might be dangerous if a little one bumps into the table the lamp is sitting on.  For households without young children or obnoxious teenagers (who has ever heard of such a thing?), pretty kerosene lamps are terrific. They cost less than $10 at Wal-mart.  If you like antiques, it is fun to find old kerosene lamps at yard sales and auctions.  You can beautify your home, indulge a hobby, and get prepared all at the same time.  Need permission to buy pretty things at yard sales?  I just provided it!!

Lamp Oil

The lamps are useless without oil!  The oil for a kerosene lamp will last longer than batteries for a flashlight.  But it is obviously consumable, hence the need to stock up.  Clear lamp oil is the best because it puts out less smoke.  It is less than $5 for a liter or two, and is not combustible – so it is easy to store.  I pick up a bottle with each monthly grocery trip.

Wicks

If you have a lamp, and you have oil, you still cannot use them without wicks.  They can be purchased at your local Wal-mart – in the candle department (which is also where you will find the oil and the pretty lamps.)  These, too, are obviously consumable so you will want to stock up on them.  Or you can stock up on the supplies to make your own!

If you find yourself in a dark situation, there is nothing like firelight to make you feel warm and cozy.  Battery power is good, too, but

firelight is warmer, and lasts longer!  Get prepared . . . and if it turns out you have no need for the kerosene lamps, you will still have items that beautify your home!

We all want the best for our families. It’s the universal language of moms around the world. We use our resources to the best of our  abilities and knowledge and we try to feed our families well. Whether it’s committing to cook a meal from scratch each day, or buying the goldfish crackers made from whole grains, we make choices daily that affect our health and that of our children.

In addition to our whole foods lifestyle, my family takes supplements. Not knowing until recently what’s actually in those supplements, I’d trusted labels to tell me #1 doctor approved, or twice the vitamin C. I mean really, Flintstones multivitamins for kids should be good… they’ve been around since I was a kid! Now that I know better, I’m making a conscious effort to further educate myself and to read the backs of the  labels before I buy. And, yes, I’ve even switched to buying some Mannatech products.

My decision to Choose Real was based on more than just my family’s health. I also liked the idea that for every serving of nutrition I purchase for my family, a serving is being given to someone in need. You see, with Mannatech’s MannaRelief program, a supplement powder is distributed to feeding programs around the world including right here in the US! This powder is added to whatever is being served that day, so the hungry are not only having their stomachs filled, they’re getting all the nutrients they need. Every day.

Did you know?

Malnutrition, not hunger, is the leading cause of death in children.

Five million children die from malnutrition each year. That’s one child every six seconds.

According to The New York Times, one-third to one-half of all children’s deaths in the world are related to malnutrition.

Even in industrialized countries like America where we have plenty to eat, children receive too much of the wrong foods, meaning their bodies are being fed empty calories and they are still starving for what they really need.

We’ve all seen the videos of starving orphans in Africa, but how many of us stop to think about what’s going on here at home, maybe even in our own city?

Founded in 1999 by Sam and Linda Caster, MannaRelief is a nonprofit organization providing proper nutritional support to undernourished children around the world. Their efforts have impacted children in 93 countries around the world.

When I attended MannaFest as a guest blogger, I had the privilege of meeting Sam Caster who graciously took the time to answer our questions. We spent about an hour discussing nutrition, Social Entrepreneurship, the MannaRelief and Give for Real program, and getting to know him better. Everyone we met at the conference was fabulous, but I have to say, Sam was a favorite for me. He is truly passionate about the good we can accomplish when we work together.

“When we simply observe the problem around us, we say ‘That’s life.’

When we create the ability to solve those problems, we say, ‘That’s living’”

- Sam Caster, Founder of Mannatech

I’m so excited about what this company is doing and the opportunity to provide nutrition to those less fortunate. And what did I have to do? Switch supplement companies. That’s all!

Disclaimer: I was invited to Mannafest as a blogger, to learn about real food nutrition. I was given a few products to try, but was not required to write about my experience or the products. I’m simply sharing because I learned so much and I wanted to pass it on! Also, I’m a member, not an associate. If you sign up using my member number I will receive credits towards the products I order, but I will not make any cash. And yes, you can do this too!

If you’d like to try out some of their products, head to ChooseReal.com and enter my member number, 3161232, when you sign up!

As an artist, I love anything and everything with color.  And, that includes many of the prints made by Andy Warhol.  Well, even if your home is decorated in shabby chic florals or American country checks, you might have a different color scheme in your child’s room.  If so, I think it would be fun to put together a quick, Warholized photo collage of your child to hang on his or her wall.  However, if you don’t like wild (Fauve) colors, you can always use pastels.

I’ve made Warholized photos into birthday cards, and there are endless possibilities for making these brightly-colored pictures into wrapping paper and other goodies if you use your imagination.

Choose a Photo Your Child Likes

In general, I think a photo collage would be best for younger boys or for girls of any age.  Let your child help choose his or her favorite colors.  Or, check online to see what Andy would have used.

You can Warholize one photo and hang it by itself, or you can group any number of photos together for a magnificent focal piece.  For this example, I will make four prints of a photo I found on Creative Commons.

Download the Trial Version of Photoshop

If you don’t have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements (the cheaper version, which is what I use) you can download a free trial of Photoshop for 30 days.  As far as I know, this is still in effect, so I will use Photoshop for this tutorial.  This whole thing is really simple with Photoshop.

Simplify Your Photo in Shades of Gray

Make a copy of your photo in case you mess up.  Open the copy of your photo in Photoshop.  There is more than one method for Warholizing a picture, so play around with this fun, photo-enhancing toy.

1. In Photoshop, go to the top taskbar:  Enhance > Adjust Color > Remove Color.  (Your photo is now black and white.)
2. If you have started with a black and white photo or you’re not sure what mode you’re in, go to the top taskbar to make sure you’re in the right mode:  Image > Mode > RGB Color.
3. You might want to make your photo higher contrast, but that depends on your original picture.  I’m going to make this girl’s photo higher contrast.  Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Brightness/Contrast.  Just play with the sliders until your kid looks more like modern art.  I’ve made my photo +50 for Brightness and +45 for contrast, but every picture will be different.
4. Now, to really get that modern, artsy look, go to the top taskbar:  Filter > Artistic > Cutout.  And, scroll the number of levels (on the upper right) until you find something you like.  For this photo, I’ve gone with 4 levels, but I have used 3 levels up to 7 levels, depending on the picture. You can also change the Edge Simplicity slider and anything else that looks interesting. Click OK.  (If you EVER don’t like what you’ve done, hold down Control and Z to undo the change.)
5. I’ve saved this “cutout” version of the photo as Cutout Copy (see second photo above).  Because I’m going to make four different color versions, I’ve saved Cutout Copy four times and named them Cutout Copy One, Cutout Copy Two, and so on.  I like to save to the desktop.

Coloring Your Photo in Photoshop

Now for the fun part, choosing fun, Warhol-like colors in Photoshop.

1. Click on the big square on the bottom part of the left task bar.  This will bring up a box with every color you could ever want.  Chose a fun color by clicking in different places on the color popup square and/or scrolling along the “rainbow” strip of colors. When you have your first color, click OK.
2. Look for an icon that looks like Tinkerbell’s magic wand on the left task bar.  Click the icon, and click your cursor (wand) onto a gray area where you want your color to go.  Everything in the photo that is that shade of gray will now be highlighted.
3. Now you have your color and your selected area. Click the paintbrush icon on the left. You can change the size of the paintbrush in the upper left where it says “Size.”  Set Opacity to 100% on the upper task bar.
4. Now, paint (all or some of) the highlighted areas with your paintbrush.  Continue doing this with different highlighted areas and different colors until you like what you see.  Save this Warholized photo.

If you want more than one “poster,” follow the same procedure with your other gray-scale photos using similar colors.  Be like Andy, and hang one or several photos on the wall…or send your masterpiece to grandma if you hate it.  (No, I don’t think Andy sent paintings to grandma.)

Optional: If you want all photos on one collage, open a new blank file (File > New) that is large.  You’ll figure out a good size by trial and error.  Once you have a blank file, go to the top taskbar and click: View > Grid.  Then, click View > Snap To > Grid.  Next, click: File > Place (and browse for your Warholized photos).  Arrange them on the blank paper.

More Tips

• If you want more of any color, use the eyedropper icon.
• If you want the magic wand to select more or less of an area, change the ”Tolerance” number on upper taskbar.
• If you want to start over, use: Edit > Revert.
• Save often, whenever you find a color combo you like.

Remember that Andy Warhol was very creative.  There are no “wrong” colors, but I find it easiest to have one fairly light color (like pale yellow or white) and one dark color (like dark purple, blue, or black), with the rest of the hues falling somewhere in between.

What does the future hold?  Hopefully sunshine and lollipops!  But have you watched the news lately?  While I always hope for the best (who doesn’t?) I am also preparing for the worst.

At the Survival Spot, they have a list of the Top 100 Items to Disappear First During a National  Disaster.  Generators is number one on their list.  While it may be the first item to disappear, Iit is not the first thing on MY list to worry about.  In NW Arkansas, my family can survive being cold or hot, but we cannot survive with food and water.

Preparing Food Sources

In the event of a major national disaster, chances are good that the power grid will go down and we will not have access to our usual sources of energy.  Pretend there is a power outage.  (A good preparation tip is to turn off the main power source for 3 days a couple of times a year and see how you fare!)  Do you have food on hand that does not need to be cooked?  Do you have drinkable water?  In the short term, you’ll be fine with just those two things.  Aftger a few days, though, you will want some good food, and you will want to freshen up a bit.  What then?

As an independent consultant for Shelf Reliance, I am a bit biased towards many, but not all, of their long-term Thrive food products.  Fresh fruits, veggies, meat and dairy are all items I recommend purchasing from Shelf Reliance.  Other basics may be found elsewhere for much much less money.  I am thinking of wheat, beans, rice, etc.  However, consider that those items must be cooked in some way.  First store what you already use, and then build your home store around your menu and your menu around your home store.  Wouldn’t it be a huge comfort, as well as convenient, if during a major national disaster, your family’s eating habits could remain the same?  What a great morale booster that would be!

Water Storage

Obviously we cannot live without water, and if it is not free of harmful bacteria, we cannot live with it.  Water is very difficult to store in large quantities for a long term disaster.  But there are ways to handle this.

I store water in empty bleach bottles that I do not rinse out first.  This could be drinkable if necessary and certainly good for washing.  I also store water in glass jars, pressure canning them for long-term storage.  That is quality drinking water, but again, it is impossible to store enough for an entire family for months.

For long term water storage, a water purifying system of some sort is absolutely essential.  There are many ways to accomplish this.  There are small kits to purify individual servings.  There are filtration pumps, purification tablets and 55-gallon supply kits.  Just go shopping!  Again, Shelf Reliance is one resource; there are others that you may like better.

Some things to think about when considering a water supply without electricity:

*We do not need to bathe/shower as much as we do.  All that really needs to washed daily are the ‘stinky parts.’

*We do not need to launder our clothing as much as we do.  If we are in a survival situation, we should probably just prepare ourselves to be dirtier than usual.  (I know, yuck!)

*We generally waste an enormous amount of water in our daily activities.  A fun family project would be to catch all water that is normally wasted and place it in a barrel.  See how long it takes the family to fill it up.  Think about running water while brushing your teeth, emptying out ice from glasses after meals, and running individual baths.  Learning to conserve water will help a lot in a survival situation.  It will boost your morale if you are already used to conserving water.

*Consider how you will water your pets and livestock.

*Consider how much pure water you will need if you have a baby on infant formula.
It is scary to consider how life could be.  We are so spoiled as citizens of America at this particular time in history.  But history does repeat itself, and with current events what they are, we should probably prepare ourselves for a bumpy ride.  And if nothing at all ever happens, we will have gained positive experience and had some fun life lessons with our kids! *Consider how you will wash diapers . . .

Nobody likes hard times, but the key to getting through them, besides the obvious prayer, is preparedness!  And if you are planning ahead anyway, why not plan for as many comforts as you can!

Cats are exposed to rabies more often than dogs. However, both dogs and cats are susceptible. Photo credit: AngieCole1/Flickr.com

The very best thing you can do to protect your dog or cat from rabies is to vaccinate your pet and keep the rabies vaccination up-to-date. Rabies vaccines are quite effective and vaccinated animals rarely contract rabies. As a result, vaccinated pets that are exposed to rabies are treated much differently than unvaccinated pets.

How Do Dogs and Cats Become Exposed to Rabies?

Wildlife is the most common means of exposure for most dogs and cats. The species of wildlife most commonly implicated in carrying rabies are the bat, skunk, raccoon and fox. Other animals, including other dogs and cats, can carry rabies as well and exposure may take place through contact with these animals too.

Bite wounds are the most common means of transmission of the rabies virus. However, infected saliva which contacts mucous membranes (such as the gums or eyes) can also cause infection as can contact of infected saliva with skin that has cuts or abrasions.

If your pet is bitten by another animal, washing the wound thoroughly and immediately is recommended. Wear gloves when doing so to protect yourself from exposure.

What Happens If My Dog or Cat Is Exposed to a Rabid Animal?

Most communities have laws that lay out the protocol to be followed for animals exposed to rabies or potentially exposed to rabies. Local public health officials and/or animal control personnel are usually involved in the seeing that proper protocols are carried out.

Several factors play a part in determining what will happen to your pet in this case. Your pet’s vaccination status will play a big role in determining the recommendations.

Protocols may vary somewhat from one location to the next and you should contact your local animal control or public health official to determine the requirements in your area.

• Generally, if your pet is bitten by another vaccinated pet, the risk of rabies exposure is low. In this case, nothing more than routine first aid may be required for your pet. If your dog or cat is unvaccinated however, it is likely that vaccination will be required.
• If your pet is vaccinated and is bitten or exposed to a rabid animal or an animal that is potentially rabid, a confinement period of 30-45 days will likely be necessary. Revaccination against rabies may be recommended or required as well. If a potentially rabid animal is involved and the animal’s body is available, health officials may be able to test the animal for rabies to determine whether true exposure has occurred.
• If your dog or cat is unvaccinated and is bitten or otherwise exposed to a rabid animal or an animal that is potentially rabid, euthanasia may be recommended. Again, if a potentially rabid animal is involved and the animal’s body is available, health officials may be able to test the animal for rabies to determine whether true exposure has occurred before this sentence is carried out. If you choose not to euthanize your pet, confinement for as long as six months may be required. This confinement may need to take place at an approved facility, such as your local animal control facility. During this time, you may not even be allowed to visit with your pet. Vaccination upon entering the confinement, before release, or both may be required as well.
• If your pet suffers a wound of unknown origin, such as a bite wound or abscess that is unexplained, rabies protocols may come into play as well. Particularly if your pet is unvaccinated, the wound may be considered a potential rabies exposure.
• In the event that your dog or cat suffers a wound of unknown origin or is exposed to a potentially rabid animal that is not available for testing, your local animal control officer or public health personnel will be required to make the necessary decisions. Factors such as the incidence of rabies in your locality, the likelihood of exposure, the overall health of your pet and your pet’s previous vaccination history may be taken into account when making these decisions.

It’s been on my mind the last couple weeks as Vivian has become more and more drooly, and more and more chew-in-everything-she-can-grab. What will I do when she begins teething without my old familiar teething tablets that were no longer available in our area. So I was really excited to be able to test and offer in a giveaway the Natural Teething Tablets from Orajel.

Below you’ll find a way to win a teething prize pack of your own. And I think you’ll enjoy these teething tablets because these belladonna-free tablets have several homeopathic ingredients designed to support the common symptoms babies experience when teething.

Chamomile is one of the main ingredients, and you may know it’s been used for centuries as a calming, soothing ingredient as well as gentle digestive aid. Our experience had been that baby sleeps better with the tablets and the relieving effects are noticeable almost right away.

I much prefer to use the homeopathic, natural teething tablets as opposed to some of the other teething relief aids out there. I like that it works quickly, but seems to last longer than the topically applied aids we’ve tried in the past. And since homeopathic ingredients are so gentle for infants, I feel safer using them as a first step of relieving teething symptoms . Usually, the teething tablets are all I ever need to use!

Giveaway: 2 packs Baby Orajel’s Naturals Teething Tablets and 1 Babycenter Tote for taking your baby on the go.

To enter: Homeopathic teething tablets are one of my must-have baby items…Leave a comment with your must-have baby care item.

Additional entries: Subscribe to the Untrained Housewife Newsletter (leave comment)
Share about this giveaway on Twitter or Pinterest. (leave comment, one entry each)

Be sure to follow Untrained Housewife on Facebook or Google Plus for winner announcements and upcoming specials.

Giveaway ends May 17th at 11:59pm and is open to US residents, 18 years if age and older. Void where prohibited by law.

This post is a sponsored post in conjunction with BabyCenter Blog Network but I really do love the natural homeopathic teething tablets.

Who doesn’t love the sweet taste of strawberries in the summer? Picked fresh, juice running down your hand as you bite in. Brings back some wonderful childhood memories for me of sitting in my grandmother’s strawberry patch and eating them when I should be filling my bucket for her.

Strawberries are fairly easy to grow and can be planted in containers, raised beds or just about any where that there is full sun. Having your own to pick and enjoy taste better than any other strawberry you can imagine and best of all the plants will last 3-4 seasons with care. I personally recommend Ozark Beauties because they are an everbearer. Everbearers, once established, will provide you with several harvests from late spring to late fall in warm areas. They need lots of sun light, 6-8 hours per day, plenty of water and mulch, straw preferably. You can purchase plants through your local nursery or online from a number of sources.

Ordering from an online source you will receive bare roots in the mail. Bare roots are exactly what they sound like, just roots, sometimes there is some foliage attached. This is the safest way to ship many plants. There is very little dirt, though the roots will be moist when you receive them. It is recommended that you store them some where dark if your chosen spot for them is not ready.

How to Plant Bare Root Strawberry Plants

1. Choose your spot well, making sure that there is plenty of sunlight available throughout the day. Strawberries like many other garden favorites need 6-8 hours of direct sun per day.
2. Make sure that the container or garden bed has well drained soil. Strawberries love water but they do not do well in standing water.
3. Give the roots a good drink before planting them in the soil. I usually place them in a bucket of compost or manure tea, whichever is on hand at the moment, for a half an hour before I plant them. I find this helps to avoid transplant shock.
4. Prepare the garden bed or container by making a hole that is at least three inches deep and 2 inches wide in the soil.
5. Place your plant in the whole, spread the roots out a bit so that they make contact with the soil.
6. Cover with soil, making sure that the crown is well covered with the stems and any green leaves above the soil line. Tamp the soil down firmly around the plant.
7. Water the soil around the plants well.
8. Spread mulch, either straw or leaf mulch, around the base of the plants to protect the roots especially in early spring when temperatures are still likely to drop at night.

How to Care For Your Strawberries

• Make sure to keep the soil moist. Mulching helps hold in water, so move some away from the plants and check the soil with your finger.
• Keep your strawberries mulched all year long, this protects the roots from the cold and helps keep moisture in during the heat.
• Remove brown, yellow or mottled leaves, flowers or fruits that do not look healthy.
• Remember to add compost or use a compost or manure tea to fertilize your strawberry plants. Fertilize in the spring, after each harvest and in the winter.
• To encourage runners, in the fall, cut down the stems to one inch above the soil.
• Weed on a regular basis. This is a good thing to do in all garden beds and containers. As soon as weeds start appearing, remove them it makes up keep easier.
• Harvest your berries when they have turned a deep, bright red color. The fruit should still be slightly firm, soft fruit tends to be over ripe. Over ripe fruit can be used in jelly, jam, preserves, desserts.

Any way that you look at it, herbs are a win-win for the gardener. In the kitchen, they’re indispensable; in the garden they’re beautiful, textural, and attract beneficial insects. Plus, herbs are one of the easiest plant groups to grow. In fact, when a would-be-vegetable-gardener asks me what crop they should grow first, I always steer them towards herbs because it’s an easy garden success story.

Another thing that’s wonderful about them is that they’re as adaptable as they come. You can plant herbs in literally anything. As long as the item has good drainage, they’ll make themselves at home. From the traditional such as Terra Cotta pots, wooden boxes, hanging baskets, tired planters, and window boxes. To the creative planting containers such as the shoe bag hanger, old colanders, kitchen sinks, and boots. We even have an articles about Creative Planting Containers and How to Plant a Kitchen Colander.

Herbs are surprisingly flexible when it comes to the sun. Many of them, including rosemary, sage, and basil, thrive in full sun. But they’ll tolerate light shade without a problem. Herbs such as mint, parsley, lemon balm, and chives do very well in part shade. If you’re growing them specifically for culinary purposes it pays to have a few potted up near the kitchen door so that you can easily step out and harvest fresh leaves.

Herbs fit into formal gardens as well as they do in cottage types. An old-fashioned knot garden that consist of herbs clipped into formal, geometrical shapes and intertwined hedges shows off herbs with elegance. A more relaxed version that offers light structure is an herb wheel, or simply intersperse them into a perennial bed or an official kitchen garden.

In the gardening column at The Untrained Housewife we’ve got some fabulous articles on successful gardening with one of the most easy-going groups in the plant world. We have articles about tending individual herbs such as The Benefits of Growing Parsley in Your Kitchen Garden, Growing Sage in Your Kitchen Herb Garden, and Growing Rosemary in Your Kitchen Herb Garden.

We’ve got articles about blending them into your traditional garden beds like Chris Eirschele’s Bronze Fennel Mixes with Flower Gardens. How to use them in the kitchen such as Angela’s How to Make Pesto: Preserving Your Basil. Plus how herbs can be used medicinally like in SatuR’s Culinary Herbs as Home Remedies: Mint, Culinary Herbs as Home Remedies: Basil, and Home Remedies for Indigestion. We promise to keep them coming.

Photo of chives by Crystl

Photo of container garden by WordRidden

Photo of knot garden by EveMBH

Photo of barrel container by Kate Monkey

The most important part of preparing for the future might be to study the past.  Survival Spot has put together a list of the Top 100 Items to Disappear First During a National Emergency.  I’d like to write a series of posts that discuss these items in a bit more detail, and as they relate to our lives as normal family folk, many with little children at home.

Generators Are a Top Priority

We have a gas generator at our house.  They are easily obtained at a variety of stores, and run between $300-$800 at Sears.  However, we are really bad about storing gasoline for it.  Dumb, huh?  Gasoline is very difficult to store, so the the likelihood of being able to depend on a generator for any length of time is not very good.  When we have 20 gallons or so on hand, we can use the generator a few times a day to flush toilets, take hot baths and keep the refrigerator and the freezer cold.  Our house is wired so that we can plug the generator into a main ‘thingy’ on the outside of the house and run certain circuits from it – toilets, freezer/refrigerator and stove.  This is a great comfort and convenience in the short term, but not for a lengthy national disaster.

A propane generator is a better choice.  It is more easily stored – think of the big silver propane tanks.  One could be purchased and filled, and then you would be able to run a generator for a long time.  Preparation and foresight equals long-term comfort and convenience!  And . . . it is possible to convert a gasoline generator to a propane one for less than $300!

Battery and solar generators are an option.  These can be stored a head of time, or can use solar panels to recharge.  This would be the best option for a long term disaster and can run between $130-$1500.

Do you NEED a generator in an emergency?  Consider the following:

* How long are you preparing for?  Days?  Weeks?  Months?  Years?  Short term power outages can be managed fairly easily, if not comfortably nor conveniently.  A freezer will stay frozen for several days.  By using a pressure canner more than the freezer, you can extend your LACK of dependence on electricity by weeks or even months.

* Does anyone in your house have a life-sustaining need for power?  Oxygen?  Kidney dialysis?  Heart monitor?  C-Pap machine?

* Do you have access to wood?  Firewood provides heat for shelter, cooking and purifying water.  We live in the woods so we are designing our preparedness plan to depend more on wood that electricity.  We already have a fireplace insert to provide heat and a place todo some light cooking or re-heating.  Wood can also be used for outside cooking and dutch-oven cooking.

I want to be comfortable for as long as possible in any given situation.  Our generator provides that in the short term.  For the long-term, I’m preparing for the worst and hoping for the best!