You’re half-way through the year. How much progress have you made towards the food storage goals you set in January? How close are you to completing your three month food storage?
Take inventory
Your garden is just starting to mature but isn’t yet producing a whole lot. Summer busyness, with all its vacations and family reunions, is not yet in full swing. That makes this the perfect time to stop and take stock of your food storage. So right now, today, go into your storage rooms and tour the house. Evaluate how much you have: in stored food, personal care and cleaning supplies, water, fuel and… what else is in your goals?
It’s still early enough for you to catch up if you are behind on something. For example, if your food storage inventory shows you are low on tomatoes, you can still plant a few more tomato plants. Take advantage of summer sales to stock up on paper goods and cleaning supplies.
Prepare now for the fall rush
Now is the time to prepare to receive the autumn bounty. You don’t want to find out you are low on canning jars or other supplies right in the middle of a big batch of salsa. So start looking now for for good buys on canning supplies (jars, canners, rings, etc). Check garage sales, thrift stores and store sales. Try going to nearby auctions and estate sales. Auctions are really fun and you can get some stunning buys on household items.
Long-term food storage
If you have a good three-month supply of food, are you ready to start acquiring a long-term food storage?
In a couple months farmers will be starting their harvest. That means that the price of food storage staples (e.g. wheat, rice, beans, honey) will be at their lowest of the year. Are you ready to fill your shelves this fall when commodity prices are low?
If you are planning to buy wheat and beans for storage, you’ll need storage containers. My favorite for most food storage staples is the 5-gallon storage bucket. It’s a manageable size and very inexpensive. If you check with bakeries and restaurants you may find that you can get them for just a dollar or two. But they likely won’t have a lot of buckets on hand. You’ll have to check back every week or two and buy the two or three they have on hand that week.
Need help with inventory?
There are many ways you can track your food storage inventory. The Food Storage app is a simple phone app that lets you keep track of your food storage. It allows you to customize your list with the foods your family likes. If you pay for the premium version you can export the data to your desktop computer
For those who want to store their information on a computer, there is this food storage spreadsheet.
And if you’re like me, and like good old-fashioned pen and paper, you like these printable inventory sheets.
