Being a young couple with four small children in 1973, we knew we should be building a food storage for our family but there was NO extra monies to do that. There just had to be a way.
Out of curiosity we contacted a farmer who was selling 50 lb. bags of hard red wheat for $6.00. He wouldn't sell just a small part of the wheat harvest to us--we had to buy a minimum of 20,000 lbs--cash in advance of delivery! Knowing that there were many people in our area (Boise, Idaho) that wanted/needed wheat also, we decided to buy and resell the wheat ourselves for a bit more than the farmer's asking price of $6.00. We contacted everyone we knew and the word spread that we were selling wheat for $7.00 for 50 lbs. Within two weeks, we had pre-paid orders for all the wheat!
Another idea popped into our heads--with the profit from the wheat sales, we bought a pickup load of metal cans which would hold a 50 lb. bag of wheat. So, when our friends came to pick up their wheat order, we offered them rodent-proof cans in which to store their wheat. We marked up the cost of the cans just enough to pay for the cost of our own cans too.
From the profit of the wheat sales, we were able to “earn” our own 2000 lb. supply of wheat with enough left over to buy a wheat grinder! This was the start of our journey of being more prepared using none of our own money to do so!
Living in a small home in a subdivision made it hard for us to grow enough food for our growing family of now six children so we removed the grass sod from two thirds of our backyard and grew a large garden. I taught myself to can and freeze. I even canned my own fruit cocktail using a friend’s unwanted peaches and pears. I even added fresh green grapes before canning (sorry kids, no maraschino cherries—too expensive). We enjoyed filling our cupboards and feeding our family from our own hard work.
Years later, we moved to the country into a home that had 1.25 acres surrounding it. We were thrilled to be able to grow and harvest even more food! Since we needed a large rototiller to take care of our bigger garden, my husband charged (don’t criticize, please) a 7 h.p. big red tiller and rototilled other people’s gardens to pay for it. The money he earned completely paid for the tiller in the first growing season! (so we paid no interest!)In fact, we had enough fresh veggies to begin selling them at a new, local farmers’ market in 1989. The public was so eager for fresh, locally grown produce that we continued selling each season for the next 22 years!
Gardening is a family project and so was selling at the farmers’ market. Our kids learned how to get up early, work hard, deal with customers and the lost art of counting money back to people . Our market stand allowed us to earn extra money for us to buy other things to help us become more self-sufficient, as well as.
We have been able to become more prepared for whatever life/fate may have in store for us. There is such a feeling of peace which comes from knowing you can take care of yourself and your family, and maybe help others, if the need arises.
Our hard work and ingenuity has allowed us to become better prepared using almost none of our own money.
What can you do to help yourself using your talents and time?
G & J S. ID
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Comments
Well written! Thanks for the ideas!
This story is a MUST win story!!
I really enjoyed this story. I however am the husband of the women that wrote it. The story did bring back many memories of all the things we have done to provide for our family. Being alone and old now, we still enjoy preparing. we have at least a years supply of things we would need if we could not go to the store. My wife still helps other people prepare, so we still keep busy teaching others. This story does get my vote. Glenn
Wonderful article to show us all that we CAN prepare no matter our plight in life.
this is a great story. It gets my vote. thank you
You have my vote.
This one's a vote getter. Oh ya...my wife also gets a lot of prepared items by couponing. She is a multi tasker. She follows both prepardness and couponing ideas all the time.
What great ideas! Makes me realize I definitely need to do more with our one acre than we do now!
I would like some of that wheat and the cans, please! ;)
I'll bet at least a couple of those six kids were super cute! Vote!
I love farmers' markets! Such a great thing to do for the community and those who don't have the space for gardening!
This sounds like a wonderful lady (and her husband)! Corn, anyone? ;) Vote!
Great story . Great example, this story has my vote
Loved this! What a great idea for getting husbands to take more responsibility for your prepping--challenge them to "make money" from it! (But then, of course, reinvest the money in the next stage of your venture.)
You have my vote also. Great sharing story!!
This lady and her family knows how to be self sufficient. Kudos she definitely gets my vote.
Great ideas and well written. You have my vote!
Is red wheat the best to buy?
Great story, lots of good ideas. Got my vote
Red hard wheat is the best to buy. We have had this since 1973, it is still good and grinds very well.
You get my vote! Way to go!
This gets my vote!!! Wonderful story. Wish i lived in a small town (especially not this 'college' town I live in now). im planting my first garden this year and got a pressure canner for Christmas. Cant wait to can and freeze my own food. Both my family and my boyfriends have gardens so we plan to share and exchange fruits and vegetables. Now ifonly I could find a local farmer for meat. Im nervous about canning meat and it 'not going correctly' and being rancid when I open it. I just can't afford that. Anyways. Thank you again for the story and this one gets my vote!!!
My hubby and I are empty nesters who live on a small farm. At 70 we still have a large garden and orchard which provide most of our veggies and fruit. We can or freeze our produce and share recipes with close friends. We also have a small flock of chickens and a few guineas to keep down the bugs as well as provide delicious and nutritious free-range eggs for our table and to sell. We grind and bake our own bread and are teaching our kids and grandkids how to do these somewhat forgotten arts. I love this lady's story and encourage her to keep on keeping' on for the good life!
The winner is this one!
Got my vote!
Winner!!!!!
Wonderful story!!
This is very inspiring!! Makes me want to grow, store, and save!!
What a wonderful family!!
Very good information!
I feel I need to start food storage even more now after reading this!
Definitely got my vote!
A must read article for those of us on a very tight budget!
I have learned so much from you guys over the past several years. Thank you for sharing everything you know with me! Glad you got to write an article that will help others by passing on your knowledge.
Great planning and creativity.
Great article, I vote for it.
WOW! Got my vote.
My vote also.
Very impressive! You get my vote!
Love this, they made a business out of prepping and it helped others!
got my vote!! Thanks!
I'm definitely voting for y'all!
You are current day pioneers! You found a way to start with literally nothing and with hard work and ingenuity, you created a lifesyle and lifetime of prepping. You rock!!
Wow! You get my last vote! Inspiring
I absolutely would have them get my vote. What an amazing story. Love it!!
Great example of hard work, consistency, and blessings. Thanks for the encouragement
This story gets my five votes! #1
Vote #2
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Vote #5
I love how this couple didn't do it "for profit" per se. They only resold to pay for their efforts. They basically shared their increase with others. Love it!
Thank you for your thoughtful ideas. In this day and age there is no reason we can't use these ideas now!
This is a winning story!
Keep up the great work!
Thank you for sharing!
I wish I could be as good as you.
love the story of there life, more people can learn from this
You get my 1st vote!
I like your story!
I love your story.
You have me and my family!
I have learned a lot from you and your husband!
Thank you for sharing great story.
Love this story! Not only of the ingenuity it took to find ways to make money, but of your family coming together to continue such a worthwhile endeavor. What a great lesson and way to spend time with each other! You've certainly got my vote and LOVE Katrina!
What a great example of making good things happen!
Much can be accomplished with determination and hard work.
Good for you.
Thank you for your great examples.