I'm not writing this to show off, but to make a point, so read on.
Yesterday Steve and I sat on the porch, drinking some of our homemade hard apple cider while we shaved Devil's Club inner bark to dry into potent anti-viral medicine.
Afterwards, we washed our hands with goat milk soap that I had made months before.
I cooked dinner with onions and garlic that we had grown in our garden, which is fertilized with compost I make myself. We have food that we grew, canned, froze, dried or fermented, and medicine that we gathered and made into remedies and preventatives like elderberry syrup, devil's club tea, and dried sage for sore throats.
It's gonna be a while til we run out of the gallons of hard cider, Blackberry wine, Oregon Grape wine and Elderberry wine we made in the last couple of years.
Our crawl space is stocked with home made goat cheddar, gouda and manchego.
Our freezers are filled with chicken we raised and butchered ourselves.
Currently we are drowning in eggs from egg birds.
Steve makes bows for hunting, and he can harvest meat if need be. My sons know how to hunt with guns. They have fished and provided our family with protein since they were little. We know how to identify and gather super nutritious wild foods.
I can just about knit everything you would want to clothe yourself, and I can spin wool into yarn to knit or felt with. Although woollen underpants don't sound too appealing, if you ask me.
If we ever ran out of toilet paper, we would know which plants make the softest substitute (moss and mullein leaves, y'all!).
What is my point?
My point is that I think it's important to know how to do some of this stuff. You don't have to be hard-core homesteaders like we are, but you can learn to do one small thing. And then another one. It's so very, very empowering, and lots of it is very, very fun.
Wouldn't it be nice to whip up your own medicine/meals/soap if you run to the store and there is nothing left?
It's not too late. There are so many wonderful people teaching skills.
I have several friends who teach herbal medicine courses, both locally and online.
Many homesteaders and teachers have youtube channels and lots of free content to offer.
I teach many things, and you don't have to pay for them >> HERE - my tutorials on the blog << or >> HERE - my How-To playlist on youtube <<.
My heart goes out to everyone who is severely affected by the spreading of this virus, either health-wise, economic, mentally, or whatever else is coming up for us.
Boost your immune system, wash your hands, stay away from crowds, be mindful of not touching your face, and stay positive and away from fear!
Sending much love to everyone!
Let us know how you are coping in the comments below.
It hasn't gotten to our area yet, but people are already buying up as much disinfectant, isopropyl alcohol, and toilet paper as they can. We've made sure we have extras of a few things but aren't going to panic and buy dozens of anything and risk people who really need those items not being able to find them. Living in fear isn't good for anyone, and anyway there's no time for it with garden plants to start. ;)
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on the fear and panic front. And hurray for starting garden plants!!!
DeleteI totally agree with you, we've been hearing about an unavoidable spread of a pandemic virus outbreak for years, what did we do to prepare!!!! Almost nothing neither did the mss majority of people or governments, and here we are running for our life's ( it's more confinement than running 😣) for me, I have been studying herbal medicine for the last few years, gathering herbs, drying and storing them. I also started planting food in my garden, I need more though! We should all start somewhere. From the looks of it, it will get worse before it gets better. Only by the grace of God we will continue to survive in this world bad beat this virous.
ReplyDeleteOh by the way I also knit and make soap and skincare at home👍
ReplyDeleteThat's wonderful! Isn't it empowering to do that?
DeleteYES just thinking those same thoughts!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you!!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE is contagious. Spread it around freely.
ReplyDeleteAnd cheese. I would love to learn to make Gouda sometime!
Yes, Yes, and Yes. We live in a urban city in California, and I was just talking to my husband "what if I did not know how to cook, bake and make things, and we are totally dependent on outside for everything?" We are not hard-core homesteader, and we just started our garden in our new place. So we do rely others on a lot of things. But today, I made sourdough bread, render lard, and made bone broth. I am planning to make granola, yogurt, and lotion tomorrow. I indeed feel powerful to be able to provide these necessities to my family. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
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