I'm becoming a survival mum!

I almost said survival mom, since I've been reading a book very kindly leant to me by a friend, but I just had to anglicise it. Let's be honest, one of the best things a friend can do for you is lend you a book, a recipe or some seeds. I'm not sure if said friend would like to be named so I'll keep shtum.

It's available from amazon via real life book or the kindle edition. I can't see Lisa being very approving of the kindle edition, I mean what if an EMP happened? Unless you've stored your kindle in the recommended Faraday cage you'll never remember all her handy recipes or how to sterilise water!

I really enjoyed it and read it cover to cover. Some of it is a bit American for me. When I saw the amount of stuff she said to keep in the car I laughed. Now for all of you who've been to the states, have you seen the size of the cars?!! We hired a mini size from the car rental, the smallest they did and it was a Ford Focus saloon! I'd never fit the kids in with all the stuff she suggests, but it has made me think I need to keep a few more useful things in the car for emergencies. Lisa also suggests in the event of a catastrophe finding somewhere at least 20 miles from a largish town. I'm not sure there's a place in the UK that far from a town, except maybe in the highlands. Apart from a few bits like this though it's very useful and does make you think that perhaps we could all be a bit more prepared to look after ourselves.

I've kept a contingency of food for a while anyhow, we live a long walk from a town in the case of being snowed in or such. It did make me think some more on storing water. I'm not majorly concerned as we have a pond a minutes walk away, fed by streams and a river not a mile away. 

In the event that we don't want to go too far though I thought a few 2 litre bottles filled would be a good start. To that aim I've started saving them, James just looks like a long suffering husband and ignores the bottles multiplying on the kitchen worktop. The book says that the chlorine in our water is enough to keep the water sterile if stored in a clean bottle. I also have my eye on some calcium hypochlorite to make my own bleach and for use in sterilising water. It also is used for cleaning pools, which makes it handy as wee man has a large inflatable pool that he was given and will come out in a few years when he's old enough.

I also loved the idea of grinding my own flour and as wheat can last 30 years in a bucket then that would be a fantastic insurance plan. The cost of a mill is a bit prohibitive though, but hey a girl can dream.

It also inspires me to be more organised with storing food, I feel a trip to booker coming on.

Lastly it makes me even more determined to try canning. I've been wanting to try it for a few years but the cost of canning jars in the UK is just mental. When we went on holiday last to the states I nearly bought a pack of jars but they weren't in stock in the shop that I'd gone to find them, I am to this day so gutted I didn't get them. As I don't own a pressure canner I thought I'd try water bath canning with some tomatoes from my crop this year. When I get paid (ha, paid on maternity leave, I wish!) I will order some jars from eBay. they do this great international shipping thing now which opens up a whole host of products. It's still cheaper with internatinal shipping, postage, import duty and handling fees to get the jars from abroad. My long term dream is a pressure canner and I think I'd won the lottery if I ever come across the infamous Ball blue guide to preserving in a charity shop. It's on my amazon wish list and one day I'll order it but at the moment it's £45!!!! ($71 at current exchange rate)

Anway, it's a great book and if you're at all interested in 'prepping' then it's worth a read.