You’re never done prepping. You could have all the gadgets and tools, all the skills, all the food storage and everything else, but you still carry on. Why?
First, because the work is never done. Oh, sure, you can store MREs and shelf-stable food for months or years, but you probably want better than that, right? So, a garden doesn’t plant and weed and harvest itself, it doesn’t prepare its own soil for the next year, and I can certainly testify that it doesn’t build its own deer-proof fence!
Thirty rows of crops this year, plus a six-tree orchard, a couple grape vines, and some strawberries and blueberries—and, if it came down it, that would maybe, just maybe, be enough to feed us throughout the year until the next harvest.
Of course, yes, we do have stored supplies, things that aren’t easily made from scratch and a few treats, not to mention supplies to make other things. But those are supplements, not three meals a day. Providing we have a good crop, along with our storage, we could likely hold out for a year or so . . .
If we’re willing to eat ketchup sandwiches.
I jest. But food is only one thing to keep up with:
You’ll always have housework and laundry and cooking. And gardening.
Assume you have a security system, fencing and whatnot. You have to check that fencing, and probably repair it from time to time. Along with that, you have defensive skills to practice, knives, guns, your weapon of choice.
Vehicle and tool maintenance.
Clearing and cutting firewood. That’s a chore, and it takes a long time because you’ll need a ton of firewood if you have no power—it gets used up quickly, especially if you have no other heating or cooking sources.
Learning and practicing other skills, like baking or canning or small engine repair. We have a lot of those, it seems.
Plus, if you have animals—which we don’t, yet—there’s daily feeding and training and care, besides medication or first aid when needed.
Of course, if you’re like us, you’re still in the developmental stage. There were things here, yes, like a house and a barn, but we haven’t quite finished remodeling the house, and that barn, remember when it was packed full, and then empty?
Um, it’s kind of filling up again!
My point is that while you’re building, you’re also maintaining. And maintenance will be a bit easier when the building is finished.
Robin Writes 