My June preps have kept me busy with my beginner’s garden. My family has been wonderful taking turns watering and weeding! My tomatoes got over their initial aphid romance — no more picking off bugs by hand; now I just go out to talk to them, tie them to the stakes as they continue to grow skyward, and sucker them off as they blossom. The first tomatoes (the two determinant plants) were almost ready to harvest when the squirrels started eating them. I am now covering them, and the blueberry bush, with ‘bird netting’ and hoping that will be sufficient to keep away the squirrels. We also had our first harvest of FIVE blueberries! We did not actually anticipate any fruit from the blueberry or blackberry bushes this first year, but they seem to be doing well since they are putting off a few handfuls of berries. Quite a pleasant surprise to be eating berries this year!

This month we have been doing some research and are thinking about buying a used boat. Although we live close to the interstate, and not too far from Washington D.C.–imagine the gridlock in an emergency–we are also only a walk from the Potomac River (and exactly 10 miles from our marina located on a secure military installation). We have been boating with various friends, learning, and considering the many different types of boats available. A boat would serve as both a recreational and bug out vehicle. There are many great deals out there on used boats due to the poor economy, but we are taking our time before we find just the right one. Has anyone else opted for a boat as a bug out vehicle/home?

Lastly this month, I have hit a turning point on the food storage program. While I have a big storage room in my basement, my food storage has reached a size that requires me to start reducing my other “stuff” to keep meeting my food storage goals. This is both a happy and sad occasion since it means I will be downsizing in some ways, while still building my food security. At the same time, I do not want to become a hoarder that can’t stop keeping/saving things (food included). The other difficulty with food storage, for us, is that we try to eat fresh rather than canned/packaged foods; so every item I store is not necessarily part of my household food rotation. How do YOU decide exactly what foods to store? Has anyone else had to make space compromises to continue storing food? At what point do we ever have enough food stored? When is one area of “prepping” ever complete or enough? I am sure these are all issues we share in common. I would love to hear some feedback about it.

What did you do?