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Smart Moves for Alaska Winter Prep—Are You Ready?

Food for Thought Newsletter - Issue 011

Smart Moves for Alaska Winter Prep

IN THIS ISSUE: 

  • Is it time to panic? No - but it is time to start thinking… 
  • Flavors of Fall
  • Reminder: Get your perennial orchard bushes, garlic & walking onions planted now! 

 

How is your week going so far? It’s hard to believe we’re in October - but the leaves are flying off of the trees and fall is clearly making its departure, making room for quiet mornings snuggled in by the wood stove watching the snow fall.

Oh jeez, who am I kidding?!?! Life will be just as busy as ever - it’ll just be a bit more brisk outside. However, I love the idea of a warm fire and a hot cup of bone broth in the morning.

One thing we do here is that we make trails in the fall that we follow all winter for hiking - both on the property and in the woods behind our place. These aren’t groomed trails at all. We bushwhack (aka stumble, in my case) our way over downed trees, through bushes, and under a canopy of birch - but once the snow arrives, we keep the trail packed and we can be found most every afternoon enjoying the quiet winter air. It has helped me combat SAD tremendously - and it’s excellent exercise - and I need help in both areas for sure!

My favorite hikes are when the snow is gently falling all around us as we hike and the chickadees serenade us through the forest. Even the dogs are quiet when we walk on those days - almost like they understand the serenity of it all. 

But that’s not quite yet - this week we are finishing up apples, picking the last of the beans out of the garden, and are making sure we have everything settled for winter.

There will be no newsletter next week but we would appreciate your prayers as we had to MN to see Gene’s functional neurologist again. Our request is simply that we will find the path to healing his brain injury. Dr. Schmoe helped tremendously the first time we went to see him and we are praying for the same results - only more long-term. ((PS - if you have a brain injury or know someone who does, please feel free to reach out - I’ve learned a lot in these 5 ½ years 0 good, bad, and ugly and I’m happy to share what I know!))

 

Okay, on with the reason you’re reading!

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The Question of the week: Time to Panic? 😱

 

Gosh no - we’re Alaskans! We don’t panic! But we do get smart.

With the port strikes and the incredibly horrific weather phenomenon that the southeast experienced this week, plus the escalating war in the middle east, it has likely gotten us all thinking about how we can be better prepared for any disruption in our supply chain. At least I hope it has gotten us thinking about that!

But before you read this as a sign to rent a U-Haul and go buy out Costco - let’s take a minute to think through a few things:

First of all, the port strike isn’t going to stop everything from moving immediately. Yes, no new barges are coming in on the east side but there are a lot of goods on the move within the US that will still get to their destination.

Also, the west coast ports are open for business.

That doesn’t mean that we get all of our stuff because we drew the lucky straw and we’re west-coasters. We will now have to share with the folks on the other side of the tracks, plus different goods come into different ports.

It’s true that we will likely feel the effects of this if it lasts any time at all - both in necessities being hard to come by or being so expensive we are forced to find an alternative (or take out a second mortgage for a pack of band-aids but that doesn’t seem very wise now, does it).

To make things even trickier, the poor folks in the Appalachians are going to need so many resources - and it’s our job as Americans to do what we need to do to help. That means we may need to give up a few of our luxuries (and even a few necessities) so they can get stuff sent their way. It’s just what we do.

So, with all of that said - it’s time to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses in your own household and community. I like to do this for two reasons:

First, I like to see where action is needed. One thing I’m not great at is stocking up water for us. I can gather snow or swamp water for things like flushing the toilet but drinking water is not something I’ve typically had in storage. So I know I need to take action in that I need to get some drinking water stored away. That’s easy. 🙂

However, the other reason we need to take stock of our household stores is so that we can REST! Yep, I said it - so we can rest in the fact that we are able to feed our family and keep them warm in the coming months, no matter what comes our way.

I kinda like the idea that even if things don’t go totally sideways, we’re able to feed our family and even be a resource for our community all winter long. But if it’s needed, we are ready. It sure makes the craziness of this past season worthwhile.

The last thing I want to do, should we have another natural disaster, a long term power outage, another lock-down or even a terrorist attack, is to be a burden to our neighbors. I want to be an asset and a blessing so it’s good to consider how we can do that.

So, I would encourage you to take a moment and really take stock in what you have. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy - heck, a person can live on mac and cheese alone for years - just ask any toddler!

 

Seriously though - what are your strengths?

Do you have enough firewood to get through the winter?

Do you have water or access to water?

Do you have simple foods that you can make without electricity, should we have a long term power outage?

Do you have your propane bottles filled?

Is your gas tank full in your car?

Do you need to order heating fuel?

It’s not time to go out and panic buy - don’t go to Costco and buy them out of rice and beans! But it’s a good idea to have everything set aside that you need to thrive through winter - no matter what it throws at us! 

 

Oh, and one more thing.

As you’re thinking about taking care of your family - think of others who may need help. Do you have an elderly friend or two who could use some meals or firewood? It’s time to take care of your community, too.

We can never, ever forget that caring for our local community is part of this life - or we’ll end up in a really sad place. Literally and figuratively. We gotta' take care of our people. It’s what we do.

 

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Flavors of Fall 🍂

 

Now, to lighten things up - I want to know:

What are YOUR favorite flavors of fall?

Do you love a good pumpkin roll? (me, too) Or do you crave apple spice flavored goodies?

Maybe you enjoy baked pears or anything with a hint of cinnamon. I’d love to hear your favorite fall foods!

Around here, I absolutely LOVE anything pumpkin (and cream cheese). Oh mercy - my favorite! Gene isn’t a fan of pumpkin but he does love just about anything made of apples.

The other day, I made pork chops and homemade applesauce for dinner. Do you remember when that was a thing? Pork chops and applesauce - boy, that’s a GOOD combination! Another one of my favorite flavors of fall.

Be sure to leave a comment and let me know your favorites!

 

 

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It’s go time! 💨

 

It may not be time to panic but it’s absolutely time to get your fall planting done. If you haven’t planted your garlic, walking onions, orchard bushes and trees, or your other perennials, you might want to add that to your agenda this week.

It’s the perfect time for it because the days have been absolutely beautiful and hopefully your ground has dried well so you won’t have to worry about your starts molding before winter even sets in.

Since we leave Friday, I am in a time crunch to get them all planted - but I love love this time of year because we get to plant with hope for spring. It is just such a good feeling, isn’t it?

See you in two weeks! Again, no newsletter next week as we will be traveling.

Photo by Mike Kotsch on Unsplash

2 Comments

  1. Michelle McKenzie on October 3, 2024 at 6:11 PM

    Hi Tandy,
    One, do you have the haskaps bushes that are newer from Canada for sale here in October? If so, can we be put on a list for you to contact us and buy some from you?
    Two, my husband got a TBI in The Marines Corps 21 years ago. We have learned a lot over all these years. We learned The Lord helps every day, what triggers stress and how to help him when it happens, that what frustrates him may not seem reasonable to anyone else but to him it is real and harder to handle and that when too much is going on or if it is too loud for too long that it is harder on him.But on the positive note, even with a TBI, he is still my best friend, he loves our family and our five children, he always supports our homeschooling and he is able to still be a good provider. So on hard days, challenging situations or true & real struggles, I am so thankful he is with us and that The Lord can and does work wonders. Will he ever live without the side effects of the TBI, probably not because he has lived a long time with it and the side effects have not diminished (even though we were told they may). But God has been faithful, helpful, supportive and ever loving. All that to say, if you need emotional support on hard days (and it’s normal to have those), please text me and I can pray knowing what to pray for without you even having to explain.🙏
    P.S. We are the family who picked hascaps & apples from Maud Rd in Palmer and your husband helped give me wonderful ideas to try for our apple trees. Take care and may the doctor give words of encouragement.🙏

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