PREPAREDNESS SPRING CLEANING ZONES

Spring is in the air… and with that comes spring cleaning. I admit I buy into the spring cleaning frenzy. I love clearing things out of my house. Recycling, de-cluttering, donating things, and throwing things out makes me happy. Today I wanted to talk about Food Storage and Emergency Preparedness Spring cleaning!

A few Saturdays ago something happened in our schedule that never happens. We had NOTHING scheduled. Well I got giddy with excitement, pulled out some post-it- notes, and started on a rampage. I wrote down every project I wanted done. I got started working through the projects on my post-it-notes one by one. I placed all of them on my fridge and as I completed a task I pulled the note off. I still have a few more post-it-notes to get to, but I feel awesome. These areas weren’t related to my food storage and eprep specifically but the concepts apply.

I realized all the post-it-notes were certain areas, closets, or piles. Of course this is applicable in eprep and food storage. Why not spring clean your eprep and food storage areas using this method. Let’s talk about the areas or ZONES of preparedness that you can tackle this spring. You may not have the same physical zones as these, but they are universal concepts and areas.

PANTRYANDCUP

Throw away any expired foods
Donate any foods you aren’t going to end up eating after all
Move foods you know you should get around to eating to the front
Make foods you use more frequently more accessible
Install cansolidator rotating shelves to make rotation easier
Combine like foods that you may have more than 1 bag open for (pastas, cereals, etc)
Sweep out the bottom of the floors and wipe shelves down
Keep smaller containers of grains you use less frequently in your pantry to save space
Store multiples of the same foods on your food storage shelves if you have a separate area to save space in your pantry
Check to see if some of your containers are empty and just taking up space
Create granola or trail mixes with foods you have just a little bit left of
Clear out old tupperwares with missing lids and old dishes you no longer use
Go through baking cupboard and consolidate foods and combine like items

FOODSTORAGE

Combine like foods on shelves (fats, grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes etc)
Date foods with a sharpie so you know when you bought them if they don’t have expiration dates on them
Move older foods to the front, and newer foods to the back
Inventory what you have on your shelf for your Three Month Supply and for your Long Term Food Storage
Make a purchasing plan for what you need
Assess your non-food items (this one is easy to forget)
Wipe down any shelves that may need it (dust,spills, dirt)
Move foods close to expiring to your pantry to encourage and remind you to eat them
Have your kids help

EPRPEKIT

Review your 72 hour kits (part 1) (part 2)
Rotate 72 hour kit foods by using them for a camping trip or snacks
Swap out clothes for kids that have become too small
Check batteries in flashlights etc
Look over our Emergency Prep Guide to see if you are missing anything
Review your emergency protocols with your family
Update eprep plan with new phone numbers for family members etc
Update your evacuation list with any items that may be new or obsolete
Rotate water in your kits
Assess and update your Emergency Binder

GARDEN

Clean out weeds or old plants from garden beds
Make your 2014 garden plan
Refill gardens with new compost if needed
Prune fruit trees and bushes as necessary
Plant vegetables (check out this guide to when you can plant each type of vegetable specific to your area)
Rotate water storage by watering your gardens
Check water filters

SUPLIES

Inventory your fuel supplies
Make sure your fuel is still good for powerless cooking
Test your powerless cooking tools to ensure they are in good working order
Store extra or old dishes cleared out of your kitchen with your supplies instead of buying new ones

KNOWLEDGE

Review basic first aid and CPR procedures
Review your Food Storage Made Easy Book encyclopedia section for a refresher on what you should be storing / rotating / etc.
Print recipes you use frequently online so that you have them as hard copies
Pick a topic you want to learn about and make arrangements to improve your knowledge in that area