Have you stocked your pantry in case of an emergency? In this guest post, Kim Knoch of The Nourishing Cook discusses emergency preparedness as it relates to traditional food.
What Would We Do for Food in an Emergency?
My 8th grade daughter had to read the book, Life As We Knew It for school. It looked interesting so I decided to also read it. What a great read for teens and parents alike!
It got me thinking, what would we do if we had no electricity, fuel, and limited food supplies for an extended period of time, say over 6 months? How would we help our families stay healthy for that long without access to fresh food?
The family in the book were “survivors”… they acted before others panicked and planned ahead. I would like to think that I would do similar things, except I wouldn’t rely 100% on canned food the way they did. Here are some things that I would do for my family’s nutrition in an long-term emergency.
What would you do in a long-term emergency? Please add your suggestions to the comments!
Soaking & Sprouting Nuts, Grains and Seeds
Like many other real foodies, I have large stores of actual real, raw ingredients on hand. I buy nuts, grains, and seeds in large bags, not small packages. So one way for me to get fresh food into my family would be to sprout beans and seeds and serve them to my family in other foods. This alone would prevent anyone from getting scurvy, I believe. I think I have a pretty big bag of adzuki beans that would be great for this!
Also, I would soak oats and make crispy nuts and make lots of granola. These would keep for months and are satisfying, tasty and nutritious.
Have a Fermentation Marathon
I would lacto-ferment everything that I could get my hands on. I would then have my husband build me a root cellar somewhere on the property (or even dig a hole) so that we would have some place to keep these precious commodities at a constant temperature. In the book they weren’t able to garden too much due to the sun being blocked out. This is why a marathon session of fermenting would have been necessary because eventually you wouldn’t have any fresh food to ferment. I would also make any available milk into cheese since this could be kept in the root cellar and is a concentrated form of calcium, fat and protein. However, I would probably need to make whey from yogurt to have some inoculant for my fermented veggies.
Try Some Traditional Preserved Meats
As much as we don’t rely on these types of foods today, I would turn of our meat supply that we couldn’t eat into pemmican, which is a dried beef mixed with tallow, dried cranberries and maple syrup. Sounds weird, but pemmican is extremely preservable and could sustain someone almost exclusively. Since I buy a half a cow at a time, I could probably make quite a bit of this stuff!
Also, salmon jerky or beef jerky would be great things to make for protein sources. Since we live out in the country and electricity can be questionable in the winter, we have a generator. So if you were wondering how I was going to run the dehydrator, that is how — haha!
Now hopefully we won’t need to exclusively use these techniques, and not have the convenience of electricity and heat. But it doesn’t hurt to learn how to do some of these things, no matter what happens in the world. And all of these things are much more nutritious than canned foods.
Please let us all learn from your knowledge — what would you do for ‘real food’ if you didn’t have access to electricity long-term?
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{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
Well we would be in big trouble. I guess when you live in a fairly unexciting area – no hurricanes etc. you get lazy. Definitely food for thought.
.-= Christy´s last blog ..Shephards Pie =-.
I bought a book on foraging…here’s the army’s version below. Thanks for this blog!! I have sent the last 2 out in emails!
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Edible-Wild-Plants/dp/1602396922/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277163113&sr=1-11
One concern I have long had is that in an emergency, we might not have a source for clean water. It would do no good to stock up on beans, for example, if we had no water to soak them in. I believe the recommendation is to store one gallon of water per person per day. With six family members, I don’t know where we could keep enough water, to provide us with even a week’s supply. I suppose in that case canned foods would be more practical, although certainly inferior in nutrition and taste.
Strangely enough, hubby and I were just talking about this, as there are some solar researchers that are predicting greatly accelerated solar flare activity around 2012-2014. If the flares reach the level predicted, they would repeatedly shut down the utility grid – worldwide – no joke, and keep it down. No power for anyone. Again, not joking about this. I need to get the link from him, but we actually started talking about potential survival strategies.
Our house is already superinsulated (Insulated Concrete Forms). We have a masonry stove with a built in bake oven, so we could do some cooking there. I would like to add a wood cookstove. We have a root cellar and a large cool storage room for canned goods and other dry storage. I have an attached greenhouse and am working on getting a detached one set up. I buy a lot of foods in bulk, like grains and other shelf stable items. I always keep a supply of salt, sugar and vinegar on hand, which could all be used for food preservation. I have an electric dehydrator, but also have the means to build a solar dehydrator or one that could be kept by the woodstove. I am considering buying or building a solar oven. I’d need to get a manual grain mill, but have manual tools for most other tasks. I know how to (and have) saved seeds. I plan to try growing a small plot of grain next year to see if I can do that, too. Water would be the biggest difficulty, but we are looking into a manual well pump. I keep a variety of cultured foods and sprouting foods, and would continue to do so. I’ve been doing a lot of research with herbs, and now have a fairly good apothecary growing in the garden, which I know how to use.
There’s still a lot to be done (meat and milk being one of the toughest problems right now, but I think we could barter with a nearby neighbor for medicinals), but I think we might have a better than average chance of not being completely out of luck if the kimchee does hit the fan.
.-= Laurie N´s last blog ..Why Use Worm Castings? =-.
Here’s the solar storm link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/7819201/Nasa-warns-solar-flares-from-huge-space-storm-will-cause-devastation.html
.-= Laurie N´s last blog ..Why Use Worm Castings? =-.
Our major problem is WATER. We’re saving to buy a deep hand pump for our well. We could boil creek water if we had to but I’d prefer not to. We already can, buy everything in bulk, garden and are working towards 6 months – a year of food. So while we aren’t there yet, we’d be in okay shape. I’m working on a master inventory list now to start working through 6 full months of everything stocked. There are lots of things you forget that you use like bandaids or thread or um… a sewing machine for that thread! I guess I need to bring my mom’s treadle machine to my house. The other major thing is hooking up our wood cookstove. But I think that we eat mostly how I would without electricity and access to town. We would ferment a fair amount as well like you said.
And really you can dehydrate with just a couple of screens or cheesecloth to keep the flies off your food. You don’t need to waste precious generator time on it! Food likes to dry on its own.
This is something we all need to think about. I started growing lots of food a few years ago and each year I try to add more. I focus on growing organically because I know if something happened chemicals and fertilizers wouldn’t be available. I’m happy knowing I have the skills to be able to grow a large portion of our food and I’d be able to preserve it as well.
Learning to identify and cook wild foods would also be a great thing to learn. Every year I try to identify and add a few new wild foods to our diet. Along with this I’ve been learning more about herbal medicine and I’ve been using herbs for a wide variety of problems.
So many of these skills need to be learned in advance of an emergency. They take time to master. It’s much easier to learn to garden/preserve over a few years. If something does happen you’ll have the skills necessary to survive.
I must get this book to read it, thanks for the recommendation.
.-= Chiot’s Run´s last blog ..Something to Think About =-.
How ironic. My hubby, kids and I were just down in out basement tonight due to tornadoes in the area and while we were down there I mentioned to him how totally unprepared we are for an emergency. I appreciate the ideas you have shared, but what about a portable gas cooktop? Not ideal, but in a pinch, if you have some gas stocked up it could help with cooking or boiling water if needed.
May 17, 2007 – I woke up thinking about the potential for emergencies in America this morning – lol. Guess Im just in that place in life? Who knows….I thought a couple of small revelations were worth sharing though.
I really got into Y2K. My pantry was a 16′ x 20′ room that was literally set up like a grocery store with shelves on every wall, with cases of commercial condiments and boxes of sauce packets, rows of bar soap and even a small section of school supplies and misc medical things. We’d worked a 55 gallon barrel into the water line to catch a reserve of emergency water. I had bags of grain and even a 50lb bag of salt on pallets in the middle of the room and even above the drop ceiling was FULL of cases of toilet paper (later in life we kept a camping port-a-potty too). Oh and the large closet (it was an unused bedroom) was full of canning jars and small manual appliances. It took me a year to amass all that. Back then is when I began teaching neighbors….I couldnt move to the country at that point. It was FUN and I learned alot.
Ive learned more since then though. Ive learned MOSTLY that God really is in control and in my worst of emergencies (and we have had a few) my meager preparations were useful, but never adequate for the long term. God has enjoyed showing me His provision in all things is ALWAYS adequate. It makes a huge difference in how I manage things now. And I guess thats what led my thoughts this direction this morning because the impression Im coming to understand now is one related to how our nation has responded to real emergencies….from Hurricane Katrina to the homelessness our own family experienced in 2002.
MOST of my emergency preparations now days have been in terms of things that will produce more things in the future. I now live on a small homestead (providential – lol?) No animals stay around (requiring feed) unless they are productive. All purchases are considered in light of can they be used under dual situations. The more independent you can be of retail (for animal feed, etc) the better off you will be in ANY emergency.
What came to mind yesterday was the idea, the WORST of most emergencies is in the first 2-4 weeks. THAT is what I think more folks should focus on. In my opinion, in the worst case scenerio you should plan on not leaving your home at all for atleast that long….unless of course your plan is to relocate to begin with. Just the civil unrest and potentially martial law being an issue would indicate those be in the forefront of your mind. That being said limits the scope a bit and makes the idea a little more manageable that trying to prepare for a year.
Another thing that I was impressed with was gardening, and the idea that most lettuce varieties will be ready for harvest in 35- 45 days. Carrots will be ready to harvest in about 2-1/2 -3 months. Beans & broccoli are 3-4 months. And these are all if its summertime when things happen. Growing your own is practical, but requires time too. Actually, even Gods word says something about praying your flight not be in the winter…doesnt it? Duh.
Anyway, I would submit a priority of thought in these things. And you might want to consider making using ALL of your items in the coarse of normal daily living to help your adjustment to a different sort of life be more livable. As a people, Americans live in much pampered extravegance. Its that softness that will be the downfall of many. Bottom line is be simple and be PRACTICAL.
1. A SAFE PLACE to be (and stay for a month) with naturally produced heat and light. Solar sidewalk lights (left outside during the day and brought inside in the evening), candles or tuna in cans w/ wicking and a lighter and blankets can be enough in a temperate climate. May need to include firearms…know how to use them. Living in an environment where you can hunt for your food helps A LOT of the whole food issues. Have a collection of time filling activities (eg cards, board games, books, craft supplies, etc) too.
2. Have the ability and tools to have clean drinking water and to contain grey water for repeat use. Dont be dependent on electricity for your water. You can go without food for a week, but not without water for more than a day. Dont forget WATERPROOF MATCHES. You can boil water in a paper cup, but not without a fire.
3. Ingredients and tools to make bread….flour, salt, leavening, oil a manual grain mill and a solar oven or a NOT gas bbq grill. Other foods are nice, but dont worry about them until you get the basics established. My children have decided to put packages of our Chia Seeds and Hemp Hearts in our bags. Both store well over long periods and are compact concentrated nutrition.
4. Supplies to attend illness and/or injuries….include lots of current medications. In my mind this SHOULD include nutritional supplements. An easy one to store is dehydrated sea vegetables like bonito, nori & kombu. They make VERY healing soup broths to go with your bread. A colloidal silver maker would be a good idea and plain simple ol’ Vitamin C….in grams, not just milligrams Wet wipes are a good thing to have as well.
5. Having non-biofuel dependent transportation could be very handy….bicycles w/ baby carriers (for babies and/or stuff) available is a good idea too. This is the ONLY reason I support the horses my dd keeps – lol.
6. Skills & Specialties for bartering purposes. I had a Y2K buddy that hoarded chocolate, convinced she could trade it for gold eventually….assuming gold would be of even remotely close value – lol. Im working with my daughters to learn to make butter, cheese, soap and more this year. Im a retired RN. Husband is a machinist, he both welds and is the home livestock processor. One son is a musician, another an avid hunter. The two oldest are skilled tradesmen (apart from their day jobs). One is an electrician and the other welds and lays tile. Diversity within a unified home base (eg good relationships w/ family) is always a plus.
Hope this helps someone prioritize peacefully.
I’ve recently been thinking about disaster preparedness. There was a month long discussion on another blog I read. There are certainly many things that I need to get done. My main stumbling block is that we are a military family. We move every 2-3 years and have a weight limit on how much the government will pay to move. I guess I need to come up with a prioritized list for items that can be transferred easily. Unfortunately things like matches/candles/oil are usually not allowed. Maybe a very small supply of those items that could be given away each time we move would be the way to go. Certainly medications and other non-perishables that are not flammable could be packed, and I may just need to get rid of some non-essentials to make room for preparedness items.
Dehydrator? I make my jerky for pemmican in the sun! As long as you have a chance to do it in the dry season, all you need is a laundry line.
It helps not to be skeeved out by flies, though.
Farmschooler, your post was excellent.
I read that book. The moon gets knocked off circuit and it changes the weather. They have ash falling from the sky. No rain, harsh winter. Gardening in that situation wouldn’t work.
And not to be a negative Nancy, but let’s be honest. Most Americans are lazy and spoiled. If something very very serious happened and we had martial unrest, just how long do you think our gardens would stay unraided? How about our chicken coops and goat sheds? You would have to be on point with guns, ready to defend your property 24/7. Can you imagine the stress of that type of situation? How long would the meager suburban woods host rabbits & squirrels available for hunting?
Short term emergency preparedness, like for a winter storm or a hurricane is good. Long term, in the case of the zombie apocalypse, I don’t think it would matter how much sauerkraut you’d make, someone would probably steal it.
.-= Paula´s last blog ..Giant Swallowtail =-.
We have thought about this a lot, coming from hurricane country and moving back to an area with very cold harsh winters (which we have endured for a few days at a time without electricity). Also living in the country…I have a lot of raw materials already on had, like wheat berries, spelt, raw beans and lentils, etc – as well as a hand grain/bean/corn meal. I also have corn pasta, and other whole grain pastas and rice. I also can and preserve fruits and veggies that we buy in bulk locally, or this year, that we are growing. We have a root cellar. We also have our own chickens for eggs, and will soon be adding dairy animals for milk. Luckily our house has a wood stove, and we have plenty of water on our property as well as potential wood. There are still things we need to think about. But I feel like we are on the right track.
.-= Jenn AKA The Leftover Queen´s last blog ..Smoked Trout Chowdah =-.
Paula, your joking about the zombie apocalypse right?
Great post. It reminds me that the work of keeping a milk cow is kind of like having a walking emergency food store. Makes it even more worth the effort…..
Great post. I’m constantly thinking that I need to get some emergency food in the house. Thanks for the reminder.
.-= Lovelyn´s last blog ..Book Making =-.
dd, of course, I don’t believe zombies are real LOL. I was being dramatic for effect.
.-= Paula´s last blog ..Giant Swallowtail =-.
Cheese is a long term storage food.
Ghee, lard, coconut oil. Most people are putting away bottles of corn oil….ugh. Even real olive oil will last a year (as your friends at Chaffin Family Orchard).
Many meats were traditionally dried & fermented. Country ham (re: prosciutto) is just one example. Real salami, pepperoni, bacons….all fermented & dried for long term storage.
These all formed regular parts of traditional diets, as we all know. But it is important to eat them on a regular basis so you have them on hand. And they were not designed to store for years. They must be replenished annually.
I’m working on a book on Nutrient Dense food storage as I see so many making the same mistakes I did years ago. After doing this for nearly 15 years, I’ve learned what to store and what not to store!
Great post! And very timely
Thanks for this post. My husband and I have been discussing this issue lately. As we’ve gradually changed the way we eat, we’ve looked at our “food storage” and often thought, “Would I really eat this?” These are great tips!
Cheeseslave,
I´d like to add that pemmican is only dried beef mixed with tallow.
Pemmican can sustain someone exclusively (with water to drink).
Some indians added berries and still called it pemmican. Since the indians used to sell pemmican to the white man, it is still discussed if they added berries prior to the white man or if it was made so pemmican would be more palatable to the white man’s taste.
As far as I know, anything else is not strictly pemmican.
About Vit. C, if not in a mixed died (ie only eating meat), meat has enough Vit. C to keep health.
Tim
Great post! I, too, have looked at my pantry and wondered if I would now eat what I previously had thought would be good to store. Spam and canned potatoes just won’t cut it!
I have slowly been donating food items that we no longer eat to a food pantry.
Thanks for the great suggestions of what to store. This has been on my mind a lot, lately.
My daughter (16 now) and I both read that book this winter! Really does make you think. I am reading “Independence Days: A Guide to Sustainable Food Storage and Preservation” by Sharon Astyk. It deals with creating food storage based on real, whole foods but also goes into what to do about water, root cellaring, dehydration, fermentation, etc… As Kathy Harrison, author of “Just in Case: How to be Self-Sufficient When the Unexpected Happens” said in her praise for Independence Days: “…It is not just a guide to storing food but a manual for living in a changing world. This is truly one of the best books I have read on this subject and I have read them all.”
There is a chapter at the end of the book that starts out with: But won’t someone just take my food away from me? Something to think about. I have yet to read that far in this book but the best advice I HAVE read (elsewhere) has been: don’t just store, planning to hoard for yourself. Remember you live in a community and be ready to help your friends/family/neighbors. They will be your allies and possibly have skills/tools/supplies that could benefit you as well.
That said, I believe securing water is of the utmost priority and could include a hand pump if you have a well, stored water and a good filtering system. The manufacturer of the British Berkefeld filters claim you could pour sewage in the top and drink what comes out of the bottom. I used something similar for a lot of years when we lived with a well that produced a LOT of water but tasted, well, unpleasant at best. It’s claims were similar and while I never had to test those claims I do know it made our water sweet and very drinkable. I have a new one, still in it’s box because our new well (new property) produces naturally sweet water. I consider the filter part of an emergency back-up system.
It is good to be honing your skills right now. Learning in an emergency situation is always more stressful with less margin for error. Acquire a good library, tools and skills now. Be someone whom others value having around, for you sunny, calm disposition as well as for your abilities.
Sprouts are an often overlooked food that are infinitely more nutritious than their original state as a seed, grain, bean or nut. They do require water but no cooking. (Although, in my personal opinion, raw sprouted beans are an “acquired taste”. smile) I would suggest learning to enjoy them now… and avoid alfalfa for it’s anti-nutrient content.
Learn what edible wild things grow in your locale, experiment with them now. In the case of weather, sun or other issues they may be unavailable but then again, they may.
Really the bottom line IS: God is in control, He know the number of your days and it is best to leave final outcomes in His hands. He has shown through His word though that He is just fine with folks preparing for times of drought, war, famine, etc… ahead of time. I try to think of it as an adventure and have fun learning new skills and putting stuff away for a rainy day or solar flare induced complete change of life. Honestly, I believe skills and personality are the most valuable ‘things’ you can own.
This was in my local paper:
Old Mason jars with preserved asparagus unearthed in local yard
By Bill Kirk
bkirk@eagletribune.com
NORTH ANDOVER — Eric Erb was digging in the yard of his family’s home at 12 Upland St., prepping the area behind the garage for a patio foundation, when the blade of his shovel hit something that made an uncharacteristic sound — not so much a clunk as a clink.
Thinking he might have found buried treasure, the 29-year-old carefully dug around the item, only to find an old Mason jar. As he wiped away the dirt, he saw something inside. At first, it looked like human brains. Soon, however, he and his mother-in-law, who owns and also lives in the house, realized it was probably peaches. Very old peaches.
Another 20 or so jars were unearthed. One contained well-preserved asparagus.
Some jars were broken, others had rusted tops.
“The house is over 100 years old,” said Denise Noone, who occupies the first floor with her husband, Dan. She explained that their home was the barn for a huge farm that once encompassed much of the residential neighborhood now bordered by High, Sutton and Osgood streets.
In fact, the farmhouse is still on High Street and overlooks the back parking lot of the East Mill office park on Water Street.
She said she’s found other treasures buried in the ground around the old barn, now a spacious, elegant home. Some time ago, she found an old “Hans Brinker-style skate” that is now in the basement.
Curiously, a former owner had built a fortified bunker in the basement that might, at one time, have been used as a root cellar, later as a possible bomb shelter, with a 6-inch thick door and cinder block walls reinforced with concrete.
But the find in the yard over the weekend has her scratching her head.
“I don’t know how long the jars have been there,” No one said. “But we didn’t put them there.”
They might, in fact, turn out to be treasure.
According to one website, antique Mason jars have been known to fetch thousands of dollars at online auction sites such as eBay.
A check on eBay shows that prices for “antique” Mason jars run anywhere from .75 cents to $75 apiece.
This is from that solar flare article linked above:
“…He said large swathes of the world could face being without power for several months, although he admitted that was unlikely.
A more likely scenario was that large areas, including northern Europe and Britain which have “fragile” power grids, would be without power and access to electronic devices for hours, possibly even days.”
My first response to news such as this (I hate to admit) is almost always a sense of panic. I have learned though to avoid giving in to that overwhelming feeling and do the next rational thing I can come up with: read the article, do some research or even just go and put something in a jar to sprout so I can feel capable for the time being and then come back to the research when I am more serene and rational.
We get some major blizzards in the winter, resulting in power outages, so we have a generator that provides power to the water pump, water heater, furnace, kitchen, and freezer in the garage. I haven’t stocked canned goods but there’s a lot of food in the freezer.
Guess we should try to safely store some more gasoline for the generator. With the way modern gas pumps work, they go out when the power goes out.
First off, everybody here needs to learn about slow sand filtration:
http://www.slowsandfilter.org/
This website is GREAT. Cannot stress this enough.
A filter system like this costs almost nothing and will do a whole household.
Nothing to buy ever. Just build one and start filtering.
Here is a link to my Instructable pages:
http://bit.ly/bjPQEB
I show how to build a big wood gasifier stove powered by a computer fan. This is the same as commercial models costing $100-200. Build it yourself for $50.
I’ll have more small stove instructables coming up later.
These stoves burn wood pellets or any type of woody material you care to chop up and burn. Very efficient. Not for indoor use, use them outside for large heating jobs.
Here is a site that shows you how to make briquette presses. Make your own biomass briquettes for use in a gasifier stove or wood stove. Briquettes can be made from sawdust or animal dung (horse etc.) and old newspaper. Forget chopping wood!
Email me directly if you like any of these ideas:
koffeekommando@gmail.com
Keep it together America!
Link is missing from my post above:
Fuel Briquette Press – free plans
http://home.fuse.net/engineering/ewb_project.htm
Make briquettes to put in your wood stove at home. Get free scrap wood off Craigslist etc.
These briquettes will burn fine in an efficient gasifier stove. Cook outside without electricity.
A short, but to the point article, thanks.
Late one fall I had to butcher a horse for family survival. Some was corned or eaten fresh but the majority was dried.
The dried meat, very lean, was pounded or run through a regular old hamburger grinder. The connective tissue was kept seperatly for soups. Then the crumbles were spooned into a hot dry frying pan and toasted until the oils began to come out. Simmered for a while in a little water, vegie broth, or suchlike, a rich tasty “hash” resulted. Despite not having to adopt such extreme measures for over 35 years now, there are 4 grown kids and 2 old adults that remember that winter fondly, in no small part because of that old jerked horse.
Thanks for the article
douglas
A short, but to the point article, thanks.
Late one fall I had to butcher a horse for family survival. Some was corned or eaten fresh but the majority was dried.
The dried meat, very lean, was pounded or run through a regular old hamburger grinder. The connective tissue was kept seperatly for soups. Then the crumbles were spooned into a hot dry frying pan and toasted until the oils began to come out. Simmered for a while in a little water, vegie broth, or suchlike, a rich tasty “hash” resulted. Despite not having to adopt such extreme measures for over 35 years now, there are 4 grown kids and 2 old adults that remember that winter fondly, in no small part because of that old jerked horse.
Thanks for the article
douglas
ps I hope this second attempt looks better than the first!
An addendum to dried horse.
No salt or particularly sugar is desireable with dried meat if it is going to be any significant part of your diet. If it’s dry it will keep.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/03/pork-shoulder-rillettes-charcuterie-appetizer-recipe.html
1 pound lard + 3 onions, chopped + one 4 to 5 pound boneless Boston butt pork roast + Salt and a few favorite spices will produce 10-15 small jars of Pork Shoulder Rillette that will keep for up to SIX MONTHS.
Beef version http://www.shaws.com/viewrecipe.action?recipeId=7025
Turkey gizzard version http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/11/the-nasty-bits-turkey-gizzards-confit-rillettes-chinese-red-braise-recipes.html
I live in a historic district and most of the homes here had root cellars and large backyard cisterns. I know of a few neighbors who’ve discovered and restored theirs and get a lot of regular use out of them. I think once this heat wave we’re experiencing gives us a break, I’m going to look for the ones that are on my property. After reading this post and subsequent comments, it’d be kind of foolish not to.
excellent thoughts. THis is something I think about a lot and I need to work on my plan. I would keep animals, I suppose. I’m working on it now.