Survivor Woman?

A comment was left asking where I learned all my survival skills.  There is no one answer.  

Canning food I learned as a child as Mom & Nana both canned and I helped.  We froze a lot of fruit back then too.  I fondly remember the dark cherries in blue glass jars just waiting to be made into pies or cobblers.  Cherry pie is my favorite still.

As a teen I learned on my own to dry flowers and as an adult I dried herbs I grew, still do, anyone need some rosemary?  I've tried drying some fruit with little success in the past, I may try again.  I read about it in a magazine I'm sure.  I read a lot, all kinds of things, and a friend gave me a subscription to Mother Earth News once when I was a teen in the 70's.  I learned a lot from reading those magazines.  I have a stack of about 2 years worth here now and ones I don't want to buy I can read at the library.  Their online website is informative too.

Another friend and her husband grow a pretty good sized garden every year and they encourage me to put up food and such just in case.  I have to admit that in the world we now live in there are a lot of us who are a bit scared by what is happening and the security of having some essentials saved up helps me to feel less fear and less stress.

Another way I've learned about 'survival skills' was camping a lot in years past.  I know how to build a fire and cook over it in several different ways.  I've always been interested in wild foods that could be gathered and eaten and have several books with good pictures...that's essential if you want to eat wild food.  There's a lot of greens in my own front yard only my neighbors would see them as weeds.

I started collecting the Foxfire book series as a teen.  Since my family was from the Appalachians they helped me understand how my forbears lived and since I'm a history nut I thoroughly enjoy those books that are filled with stories of how to live a self sustaining lifestyle.  

I have a lot of books on many subjects in my home including an antique cookbook collection, vintage and newer gardening books, herbal remedy books and so on.  I prefer to do things in the old fashioned way and that includes my medicine.  Though doctors have their place and I have gone to one when needed. 

Websites and blogs on slow living, sustainability, survival skills, etc. can help a person out with more info.  Some blogs I read are a little out there but I refuse to become part of the panicked crowd, I just want to have a little insurance in case of an emergency of some sort.  If all the doomsayers are right and the electricity grid shuts down because of solar flares or nuclear attack, it's good to know you can at least have food & water to get you through for a while.  I also can and store food because it saves money.  I no longer have an area with enough sun to grow veggies so I buy things on sale and can them, like chicken breast on sale for 89¢ a pound, veggies & fruits in season when they are cheap, produce friends might give me that is more than I can eat or frozen veggies on sale.  I don't want to lose it if the power goes out and the freezer no longer works so canning and drying will do quite nicely. 

For more info I would recommend Backwoods Home Magazine and specifically Jackie Clay's blog.  They have some great books available and reading back issues on line will give you a world of knowledge.  Homesteading is not for everyone but there is great information to be gleaned her for everyone.

So am I a 'Survivor Woman'?  Maybe.  I just think I'm being wise.  Besides that, the most satisfying sound I know of is the pop of a lid sealing down on a jar of food you just canned yourself.