Link Up

The link this week is Another Voice of Warning.   This site is mostly for subscribers, but they have a few great features that are free and worth checking out.

One the home page, they have a video compilation of talks about the last days that is very inspiring.  The site would be great to visit if you only watch the video!

Also, they have two links that are free to go to.  Recommended Reading which has a list of books about the last days.  Some of these are really great books.  You can buy books through this site without being a member.

Last, but not least, is the Free Resources page.  They have several different things you can download including the LDS Preparedness Manual.  This manual is VERY in depth and can help you prepare for ANYTHING!!!  It is free to download and has some really great ideas that you probably never would have considered while preparing your family for emergencies.

Here is a sample from their Quotes page.

“Should the Lord decide at this time to cleanse the Church ... a famine in this land of one year's duration could wipe out a large percentage of sloughful members, including some ward and stake officers. Yet we cannot say we have not been warned.”

- Ezra Taft Benson (General Conference, April 1965)

Water Barrels

Advance Drum Service has 55-gallon food grade water drums for $25. They were used for soda syrup. They are clean and ready to be filled. They have about 100 right now. They also sell brand new ones for $45, which is also a decent price.

The address is:

1835 Dickerson Drive

Mableton

It's off Riverview and Veteran's Memorial right by 285.

Walton Feed Order Due Now

Hi guys!  The Walton Feed order is due this weekend.  Please let me know ASAP if you would like to order anything.  And call me with any questions.

Thanks,

Emily

Link Up

Today I wanted to share with you my favorite preparedness blog.  Safely Gathered In.  They post every day according to a different theme.  For example, Mondays are always quotes about preparedness that are meant to get you motivated.

My favorite thing about this blog is their ongoing goals.  Right now they are constructing emergency car kits.  Every week (on Tuesday) they add a new item that you should add to your kit.  When the car kit is finished they will start on another kind of kit.  It's a really fun and easy way to get your family ready for emergencies that may pop up.

They also have TONS of recipes that are all food storage friendly.  The black bean burgers that I made for cooking night are on this site.  All of the recipes are easy and fun and can give you ideas on things that you may want to add to your own long term storage.

Have fun exploring this one!

Link Up

So.....every Thursday I'll be posting a great link for preparedness websites and blogs.  There are a ton out there, and lots of great information, if you know where to find it.  We will also have these links on the blog permanently by posting them on the sidebar under Link Ups.

This week I am highlighting iPrepared  who just did a great feature on storing food in buckets.  They have information on the best storage options for buckets as well as sealing your own with dry ice!  Check it out!

Also, their post for today is on Labeling your food storage.  This can be a pain, but they have some good suggestions.

Another super cool thing about iPrepared is that they have ongoing goals posted on the sidebar of their blog.  If you are at all confused about where to start with your storage (like me) then this can be an invaluable help.  Some others that have ongoing goals are Safely Gathered In and Food Storage Made Easy.  

ENJOY!

Gardening Workshops

There are going to be FREE gardening workshops held in Carrollton throughout the year! 

All three workshops will be held at the Carroll County Ag Center, 900 Newnan Road, Carrollton, Georgia.  While these events are free, we request that you phone or e-mail us to reserve a seat and qualify for door prizes.

May 16 - Herb Gardening.  Flowers are pretty and vegetables healthy, but herbs are sublime.  They are literally the spice of life--and beautiful and healthful, too.  Learn how to grow them in containers, add them to your existing garden, use them in cooking, and make flavored oils and vinegars.  Also learn about traditional herbal remedies from a certified herbalist.   Instructors will include a representative from the Chattahoochee Unit of the Herb Society of America.  Saturday, May 16, 2009.  9 a.m. to noon.

May 30 - Food Preservation.  Learn how to can, dry, freeze, and otherwise preserve your vegetables and fruits.  Presented by Carroll County Family & Consumer Sciences Agent Michelle Lewis.   Saturday, May 30, 2009.  10:00 am to 12:00 pm.

June 27 - Composting.  Learn how to turn food scraps, dead plants, grass clippings, and autumn leaves into the nutrient-rich organic matter veteran gardeners refer to as "Black Gold."  Form a partnership with nature by enlisting the aid of billions of beneficial micro-organisms and earthworms.  Taught by Wendy Crager of the Rolling Hills Resource Conservation & Development Council.  Saturday, June 27, 2009.  9 a.m. to noon.

September 19 - Vegetable Gardening in the Fall.  Reprise of the popular Vegetable Gardening 101 Workshop with an emphasis on planting cool-weather crops.  Saturday, September 19, 2009.  Tentatively scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon.

The guy to contact is:

Ian Davis
Georgia Master Gardener
and County Extension Secretary
UGA Cooperative Extension - Carroll County
900 Newnan Road
Carrollton, GA 30117-6477
Office: 770-836-8546        Fax: 770-836-2959
E-mail: uge2045@uga.edu or iandavis@uga.edu

CERT Class

I do not know the cost for this class but it looks like a great class in which to participate. 

COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM (CERT) CLASS NOW ENROLLING
The Douglas County Emergency Management Agency and the Douglas County Fire/EMS Department will be offering a CERT class for citizens. The CERT program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact them, and trains them in basic disaster response skills such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help, or need help in assisting the public.
Classes will be held Monday nights at 6:00 p.m. May 4 - July 20th. Call 770.949.3007 to register or for more information.

Emergency Essentials Sale - Deadline April 29th

Emergency Essentials has a few sweet deals this month.  Here are some of the details from their website:

Garden Seeds

Includes an 8-page instuction booklet. Get started now with this complete garden in a can. With the contents of this can you can grow a garden the size of 2 basketball courts. Includes peas, radishes, onions, spinach, cabbage, swiss chard, beets, carrots, lettuce, beans, corn, cucumbers, zucchini squash, peppers, winter squash, and tomatoes. These seeds are non-hybrid seed hermetically sealed in E-Z Lock Reusable Triple-Layered Foil Bags. These special non-hybrid seeds allow you to harvest your own seeds for future plantings. Non-Hybrid seeds produce true to variety seeds to replant for future harvests. Adequately dried seeds sealed in moisture barrier containers can be stored safely for 4 years at 65-70° temperature and much longer at lower temperatures. Each 6° drop in storage temperature may double the storage life of most seeds. Critical factors are temperature and moisture content. Store as cool as possible. Can should remain sealed until ready to use. For best results store unopened can in a refrigerator or freezer. Keep out of sunlight. Packaged in accordance with the Federal Seed Act rules and regulations for hermetically sealed seeds.

Price:  $40.99 for the month of April

http://beprepared.com/product.asp?pn=FG%20S200&sid=INEM575&EID=ALL0409b&lm=emer&bhcd2=1239365571

KATADYN Combi Water Filter

The Combi combines a silver impregnated ceramic element and a refillable, activated carbon cartridge for safe, great-tasting water. The 0.2-micron ceramic filter element is effective against bacteria and protozoa, including giardia and cryptosporidium. The carbon reduces chemicals and tasts for better tasting water.

Combi Filtration Technology:
0.2-micron ceramic filter and activated carbon.

Output:One quart per minute

Cartridge Capacity: Up to 13,000 gallons pre element

Carbon Capacity: Up to 100 gallons, then simply replace

Contents: Combi filter, prefilter, bottle adapter, carrying bag., measures gauge and cleaning pad.

Weight: 21 oz

Size: 12" tall

Price:  $159.95

http://beprepared.com/product.asp?pn=WP%20F600&sid=INEM575&EID=ALL0409b&lm=emer

Cannery Tour

Welcome to the LDS Church Cannery in Tucker, GA.  I'll take you on a short tour of the facilities.

These are the storage shelves with some of the food available for members to can in the canning area. 
Here is the other side of this room.  The cannery has wheat, rice, oats, beans (several types), sugar, white flour, macaroni, spaghetti, flavored drink mix, hot cocoa, dry milk and several other items available to can. 

Using Cristina as our model canner, I will show how the canning process works. (Thanks Cristina!)  First, you take the bag or box of the food item to the canning area. 
Fill empty #10 cans with the food. (We are doing wheat here.)

Then, using this machine here, you place a lid on the can and seal it up with an oxygen absorber inside.  This will help to keep the food fresh for years and years. 
After the entire canning process is done, you pay for the product, cans, lids and oxygen absorbers with cash or check (no credit cards).  And then, of course, clean up!

Ward groups can come to the cannery and can large amounts together.  It goes quickly and lots of work gets done in a short amount of time.  You buy what you want/need and leave the rest on these shelves for others to buy.  Years ago, these shelves would be full of cans ready for others to buy, but in the last year or so they have remained almost bare because the cannery gets used to the max!  This is a great thing!
In order to visit the cannery you need to make an appointment. You can arrange a visit by calling this number: 770-908-5782.
The cannery is open for groups on Mondays, Wednesday, Friday evenings, and Saturdays.  The cannery is booked through the end of the year but you can always join a group if the group is small.  Mondays were recently added so there may be some openings on that day. 
I hope you go!  It's a great experience.  The missionaries there are great to work with and so knowledgeable! 

Maple Island Milk - Deadline April 14th

We currently have an order going on for a good brand of dry milk called Maple Island Milk. A few years back, the woman who is helping organize this order had a powdered milk taste-testing night with their emergency prep group. This particular brand of milk won all of the ladies over! It tastes the best out of the powdered milks they tried (including the milk from the cannery).

The offer is $59 for a case of 6 #10 cans. This would be a little less than $10 a can. It has a shelf life of 10 years. You can order the entire case or you can order with a friend to make a whole case. Please let me know if you are interested in getting some of this milk. I plan to get a case.

Emily

Honeyville Grain Discount - Deadline April 14th

Take a look at the following offer and let me know if you would like to join in a group offer.

****************

Greetings from all of us here at Honeyville Farms! We're pretty excited about offering our biggest sale of the year. There are some new freeze dried fruit and vegetable offerings on the horizon that we're eagerly anticipating. This week we're featuring our New Freeze Dried Green Beans. They're a great addition to your pantry and provide a myriad of vitamins and minerals for your food storage. We're also offering 15% off your entire order (excluding shipping) for a limited time only. From Thursday, April 9th, 2009 thru Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 we're offering 15% off the entire online store. Simply order as usual and enter the coupon code BUNNY during checkout. This is a great time to stock up and save.

Visit us at http://store.honeyvillegrain.com. Act now as this discount will end promptly on Tuesday April 14, 2009 at 6:00PM PST. If you have any questions, concerns, or just want to place an order over the phone call us, toll-free, at (888) 810-3212. We're happy to help.

Storage Containers - Deadline April 29th

We have the opportunity to order plastic containers at a great price! These plastic containers are the same size (with different) dimensions as the #10 cans we use from the cannery. They are a great alternative to storing your cans on your shelf in your pantry or kitchen shelf after opening your food storage. Take a look at these and let me know if you would like to order.

Click here for the link.

This style storage container comes in 1 gallon and 1/2 gallon sizes.

The price for 1 gallon is $1.76 + shipping
The price for 1/2 gallon is $1.43 + shipping
The price for metal lid is $.91 + shipping

Shipping price is based on weight, not size, so should be minimal.

Deadline for this order is April 29th.