Preparing for the what if...

By guest blogger Robert Bradford...

We are responsible for our own future. We can not depend on any one else to
provide for and protect us. In the future we may need to have a garden to
produce our veggies. In the future we may need to raise chickens to provide our
meat and eggs. In the future we may need to raise cattle to provide our beef
and milk. In the future we may need to have a wood fired cook stove to provide
our heat and a way to cook. Each of these has a (sometimes very long, expensive
and painful) learning curve. If we wait until we need them it will be too late.

Therefore when we both had day jobs we planned for what if...

We bought a piece of land, built the house and greenhouse. We started using a wood stove to cook
and to heat. We do not yet need the 1907 Singer Treadle sewing machine but if
we ever do it will be too late to buy it and learn to use it. We built a coop
and bought day old chicks. We took Master Gardener training and planted a
garden and orchard. We are building a barn and fencing for Dexter Cattle. We
are canning food, saving seed, buying tools, saving nails and buying extra
storage supplies.

We do not need any of these skills yet but if we ever do it
will be too late to acquire them.

If we ever need the garden we have to plant it two to six months before then. If we need the food in the pantry it will be
too late to stock it. We still need to print more reference material from the
internet and expand our library. We need a better water supply. Then we need to
master rabbit husbandry.

If we never need these skills we will have saved money, had a better, longer, happier, healthier and more fulfilling life.

Robert & Carol Bradford