Wild Moon Cottage is a small working homestead in the pristine Ozark Mountains. We have dairy goats, poultry, organic herb and vegetable gardens, a start of a tiny fruit orchard, several black walnut trees, wild berries and fields of wildcrafting goodness. We raise our own milk, our own eggs, much of our own medicine and food. I do laundry by hand, make my own vinegar, candles, soap, bread, cheese ........ For a living I am an artist and herbalist. My goal for myself and our homestead is to be as self sufficient and self sustaining as possible.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

10 things to have on hand

Aside from food, water and medicinals, these are the top 10 basic things (and some of their uses) I would want to have in any situation involving no outside power at all. No electric, solar, wind power etc... just you and the Earth. Not that you can't live without these things but they're things that are very useful in my own experience.

Flannel fabric (clothing, covering, toilet wipes, moon pads, bandages, curtains- shade, wind and cold)
Dutch oven or similar (cook on open flame or woodstove etc., fry, bake, boil, mix right in it)
Sharp axe (to get firewood and wood for building, use to hunt or defense)
Sharp knife (cutting everything that needs to be cut, food, fabric, meat, surgery)
Muck boots - 2 pair per person if possible (snakebite, ticks, chiggers, poison plants, dirty water, etc etc)
Metal wash tub (washing everything ... clothes, yourself, meat. carrying things like kindling, gathered foods)
Heavy duty thin rope (tie things down, tie things up, truss a food animal, dry your laundry, hang curtains, repairs, hauls, keeps things together)
Hand mirror (see things you can't normally see.. a wound on the back of your leg, something in your eye, around a corner when you don't want to stick your head out, a silent signal)
Tarp or large piece of heavy plastic (rain, cold, sun protection as roof, wall, insulation or poncho, water collection, repairs - cover holes in roof, line shoes, etc ... )
Sheer fabric - dark color might be best (insect screen/netting, shade with air flow, fishing, drying foods and medicinals, covering wounds that need air)

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you, that was extremely valuable and interesting...I will be back again to read more on this topic.

Nancy said...

This is an excellent list, Julia. With so many natural disasters affecting so many people these days, this is a great resource to turn to. Thank you!!

Mary Bennett said...

You forgot chocolate! LOL!!!