Our Philosophy

I hesistate to call myself a "Prepper", but really that is what I am... I just dislike the stigma that comes with the title and prefer to consider myself on a quest for self-sufficiency and not concern myself with titles. I don't "stockpile" or "hoard", I manage a large pantry with three levels of food storage, a working pantry, for daily use and open stock food items, a three month pantry, which has a variety of foods that would keep our table full and interesting for 3 months, and a Long Term Storage pantry that has food stored in 2 gallon buckets with mylar bags and oxygen absorbers that will last 20 years or longer, a food supply to last a family of four for the foreseeable future. We also have many survival skills that we practice and hone on a daily basis, not just for a TEOTHWAWKI or SHTF situation, but for quality of life on a day by day basis.

We believe in doing things the old fashioned way, in part as a nod to our roots and the hardworking, resourceful people who felt it important to pass on their skills to us, but also so that we do not suffer setbacks when the economy is bad or there is a situation that we have no control over. I am all about control... not that I actually think I am in control, the school of hard knocks has educated me well on that subject. I just want to have a firm grip on what I can control, to safeguard my environment so that every whim of the economy, every strong wind that blows, or any crisis that washes over us does not take our quality of life or the ability to live as we choose. I want to be proactive, to be responsible for our own lives, and depend as little as possible on supplies, services and provision from the "outside world".

We started this process many years ago and our vision has morphed and changed with the phases of our lives. But several things have remained a constant, we are Torah Observant, Karaite Jews, our lives revolve around the rhythms and practices of our faith. We keep a Saturday Sabbath, eat Kosher, (actually we are vegan so there really isn't a need for "Kosher", but we observe and abide by the biblical food laws, as well all the other Torah laws, We do not however practice the Talmuldic law of the Rabbis, as we adhere to the commandment to neither add to or take away from the Law God gave Moses.

In our daily walk through life we have an organic garden and we try to grow as much of our own food as possible as well as put food by for later. We keep life simple, make do if money is tight and are frugal and purposeful when money isn't an issue. We are debt free, which hasn't always been possible, but it was always our goal and we worked diligently towards it. We don't do any more main stream medical intervention that we can get away with. There have been times of course, when we had to look to modern medicine, and were grateful for the care we received when we needed it, but we choose to take responsibility for our own health management and treat ourselves naturally as much as possible. We believe that knowledge is power, if we have learned as much as we can about the things that we can do to be self sufficient then we are empowered to be so. Both my husband and I are firm believers in the credo "Be Prepared", we like to be proactive, think ahead, plan and implement.
I also am a teacher, a cook, gardener, health mentor, herbalist, artist and yes, a prepper.... Glad to meet you! I hope that you will visit frequently and see whats new in the pantry!