Fledgling Prepper Who Needs Guidance

Hi y'all! I'm a middle-aged, partially disabled female with grown kids and I started my official prepping journey right as the pandemic was emerging. I was paying attention and saw people on the coast starting to panic buy, so not knowing what to do, I loaded us up in the car and drove store to store to stock up on what we'd need and thank God I did because store shelves emptied later that day.

Since then I have:
-Turned an entire bedroom into a storage room. (Cement flooring)
- Invested in 3 large metal shelf storing units in there.
- Made the mistake of stocking them with random canned goods and stuff nobody used, so now they're all expired.
- Recently begun ordering a mix of MREs, Lifestraws, water purification tablets, emergency food supply buckets (Readywise, Mountain House, Augason, etc.)

I tried gardening in ground during the pandemic. Got my plants to grow but Texas heat even with water just didn't produce. Tried potatoes - nothing came of it. No clue what I'm doing. Bought a big galvanized raised bed garden box to maybe try again w/better soil etc. Hard to be on the ground partially disabled.

Basically, I feel like I'm floundering buying random stuff with no real normal plan. I need guidance on water (that seems to be a big issue in many places now), finances, and gardening mostly. Hoping to have y'all take me under your wing and I will pay it forward as I learn, helping others when I can.

 

We lived in southeast Texas, close to the gulf, and not far from Louisiana. My wife was a very good gardener. For your garden, where to start...first, find what veggies like the weather in your area. In hot weather, we used shade cloth and a misting hose to reduce heat stress on the plants. Container gardening is easier, once you get it set up. You will probably need someone to help you get started. There are lots of videos on YouTube showing inexpensive ways to do it.

Concerning your food storage, canned goods are heavy and relatively expensive, so it's important to only buy stuff that you will use, and rotate it. Most of my canned goods are mushroom soup, refried beans. Dinty Moore beef stew, tuna, salmon, chicken, and pork. Green beans too. A word on expiration dates, it's more a "best if used by" date. I've eaten food that was past the date with no ill effects, but you have to use common sense. If the can is bulged or dented, or after it's opened, the food looks or smells off, throw it away. When you're shopping, don't buy dented cans, because the lining inside the can may be compromised.

Long term food storage stuff can be good, although it is pretty expensive. I still have a little bit left that I bought around 1989, and it's still good, although if I could go back, I wouldn't spend the money on it.

We buy flour in bulk, 25 or 50 pound bags. Sugar, rice, lentils and beans too. Ramen soup is still relatively inexpensive too. You might look for videos telling how to store bulk foods.

If you eat bread. You might want to get a bread machine. I bought one at a thrift store for $8.00, the usual price is between $10 and $25. The bread I like in the store costs $4 a loaf. The ingredients to bake a loaf of it cost me about 30 cents, so it doesn't take long for it to pay for itself. Of course, it won't work if the power is out, which leads me to

Emergency heating, lighting, and cooking.
I live in an rv, so I have 12 volt lighting, and propane for a stove, oven, and furnace. Propane is safe to use inside, because it produces carbon dioxide (water vapor), not lethal carbon monoxide. So I have small propane camp stoves and lanterns. In an emergency situation, propane lanterns provide heat too. If there is wood available, cast iron skillets, griddles, and Dutch ovens are handy.

That's about all I can think of for now. You have found one of the most friendly and helpful sites on the internet, and I'm sure others will fill in some stuff that I overlooked.

 

Welcome from the North Carolina coast.

Look up your local Agricultural Extension Agent or whatever the Texas equivalent is and see what they know about garden plants that like your climate.

Five gallon food buckets float away and bust open in a storm surge when a bad hurricane hits. Smaller containers, even jars, survive and can be fished out along the shoreline after the storm. The lesson here is move inland, or at least stash redundant supplies inland.

Any combustion produces carbon monoxide, just at varying levels. I'm a lamp loon, so I always have something on fire. Try doing without the 12V and propane for a day. Makes a Plan B sound like a necessity. Liquid fuel lamps, lanterns and stoves are still inexpensive and available if you look around. Camp Fuel is under $8 a gallon at Walmart, and will store for decades. Same with kerosene for wick lamps. Not so much for unpressurized kerosene mantle lamps, but they're more scarce anyway. It's amazing to get 100+ year old lamps running great again, and understanding how they're serviced. It also gives you a second fuel option if the propane runs out. Plan C is butane, which is amazingly cheap on 8 ounce cans right now. It's as fume friendly as propane, far less explosive, and produces only a little less heat. Whatever you choose for cooking and lighting, practice with it often. With no power, gas, doctor, a burn or a fire will ruin your day. Practice, practice, practice.

 

Welcome Ms Texan
You have stumbled on to a great site and lots of info . Great folks as-well...
Do one thing slowly at a time , and categorize your stash , revolve it when possible and buy on specials to exchange your stash for the BBD's are semi current .
Don't jump, walk with thoughts of knowing how to plan.
So now its garden time,
winter was inside shelve and date organizing time (At least up here in the Great White North [snow ])
Sloth eh !

 

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm in North Texas, btw. Working to save up for a property that's less populated since ours is exploding around here.

 

Welcome from the great state of Alabama, AKA The Heart of Dixie!

 

Welcome, What Gray Wolf said, Faucet water ain't worth spit for growing plants.
You need rainwater and a way to store it.

 

Welcome Aboard!

 

Welcome to the Monkey! When we buy groceries we pick up a few extra of whatever we are buying, as budget allows. The extra goes into the prep closet/room. When we run out of that item in the pantry, we rotate from the prep closet/room and buy more. That way you are rotating your stock and you are stocking the things you would normally eat.
Raised beds can be built up so it is easier to work them with a disability. You may need some help with that, but then you can do most of the gardening yourself.
You are aware of the need to prep. Now breath. Don't panic. Study this site and others about what you need and pace yourself. Again, welcome and keep on building your preps.

 

Welcome from South Carolina. don't give up with the garden --do you have neighbors who garden and can give you some tips.

 

I secretly collect all the canned food my wife tells me to throw away.
It's not bad. It won't taste as food as new.
Be glad to have it when a potato costs $50 and an egg $10.

 

True to form... The Mormons know a lot about prepping and food storage, yet cannot tell you what the near future holds for the earth or human's only Hope and Protection in the coming days. The only Survival Manual that matters is the Bible. What's coming, one cannot successfully protect themselves from alone. Come visit the free website for guidance, jw.org (Psalm 37:9—11)

 

Aloha! And e komo mai.

 

They got one of those too!

 

1st thing to learn is that almost every "expire" date is nothing but a con - it's a manufacturer's way of getting you to dump and buy new >>> those canned goods you bought a couple years ago are perfectly OK

need to learn to do your own long term storage of foods - those gimmick meals in the bucket are just about useless - it'll be debatable whether you die of malnutrition or boredom first >>> learn to cook from scratch using dry food goods as the meal basis

someone mentioned the LDS Church (Morman) Preparedness Manual - it's one of the better overall primers for prepping - best around for food storage basics >>>> chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://thesurvivalmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/LDS-Preparedness-Manual.pdf

for online study - I'd start with what the SurvivalBlog has to offer - it has DECADES now of archived blog postings of submitted prepper topic articles >> very little that hasn't been covered at least once >>> SurvivalBlog

under "Resources" is alllll kinds of info for the newbie - almost a step-by-step procedure for prepping >>> if you don't have a dedicated "SHTF" drive for an organized prepper info database - best suggestion I can make - get it off the internet NOW while you still can - it's almost unbelievable what's been deleted & banned over the last 2 decades - more every single day .....

 

I think Backwoods Home magazine may have back issues on line. They publish pretty straightforward info that can be useful at least generally.
You need "Beans, Bullets and BandAids". Water too because it's life.
Try to keep it simple right now. Focus on long term storage food. Rice and beans are a staple in most everyone's larder. Anyway you can find lists of foods to store pretty much everywhere.
Water purification is essential. Do your homework and don't buy cheap crap.
Some of this stuff will vary depending where you live. Urban, suburban, rural or keep out! country. The same with defense. I don't know your skills, but it's imperative to be proficient with firearms.

Bandaids are putting together the most comprehensive med cabinet and first aid kit. It's a whole bunch of stuff, but if SHTF, your place may become a hospital.

We're all willing to help, but if you could provide a bit more information we could help you better.