Farm Fresh Tuesdays - Preparedness

Homestead Groceries

Pekin Duck Eggs - Raising Ducks for Meat
We have lots of eggs!

Homestead Groceries, Preparedness & Sheltering in Place

I’ve been preparing for emergencies for many years. I think growing up on a small farm made me more aware of the need for preparedness and ‘sheltering in place’ like we are faced with these trying times. My family raised a garden, chickens, pigs, and cattle for years. We canned and froze food for the winter every year and I’ve continued that tradition as an adult. Ever since 9/11 I’ve been a bit of an armchair prepper, too.

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I have seeds planted in my cold frames!

Now, I don’t think I go overboard and we don’t have 5,000 cases of toilet paper stocked up. However, I keep a well-stocked pantry and a frugal mindset as a normal part of my routine. Many of our homestead groceries are supplied by my laying hens and garden, which is a great feeling.

I’m Not as Prepared as I Thought!

I thought I was ready for an emergency. And, for the most part, we are doing fine with the food and supplies we already had on hand but I am seeing some holes in my preparedness plans after three weeks of sheltering in place. We can go to the grocery store and do other essential shopping but we’re trying to avoid this because my husband and I are getting a little bit, ahem, ‘older.’ So we have a higher risk of getting sick.

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Fortunately, I can order chicken feed and dog food from our farm supply store for drive-through pick-up. They load it in the back of our van and we leave it there for 72 hours to make sure there aren’t any germs lingering. Ordering food for ourselves is a little bit trickier.

Apples
Apples from one of my previous orders from Azure Standard

Homestead Groceries with Buying Clubs

I have three orders coming in over the next week from my buying clubs, including powdered milk, fresh produce, toilet paper (hopefully), rice, dried fruit, and chocolate. (Hey, it’s the little things that make me happy!) You can read more about How to Save Money with a Buying Club.

All of these clubs are running out of stock on items, too. However, I’ve been able to order most of the homestead groceries I wanted. Here are the links to the buying clubs that I order from:

Azure Standard

Frontier Herbs

Country Life Natural Foods

Frontier Herbs Co-op

Frontier Herbs ships by Fed Ex all over the US, so you may be able to start your own wholesale buying club and have your orders (generally over $250) shipped for free in most areas. They also have a retail website that you may order from without setting up a buying club but the prices are higher. I’ve never used that service. No perishable items are available.

homemade granola made from buying club ingredients... homestead groceries and challenges of sheltering in place
Making homemade granola from bulk goods

Country Life Natural Foods

Country Life Natural Foods is located in Michigan and delivers to my area, just outside of Chicago. Check their deliveries and shipping options to see if you are able to have items shipped. There is a minimum order for deliveries and they do not carry perishable items. They do have decent prices on bulk food items.

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Azure Standard

Azure Standard is located in the pacific northwest and they ship to Chicago, but I don’t know if they go much further east than that. You can have refrigerated, frozen, fresh produce, dried goods, bulk foods, canned goods, paper products, etc shipped by a semi. This is the closest I have found to what you would buy at your grocery store. There is a fee for shipping. They have a referral program that allows their members to earn credit if another customer signs up with their link and then makes a purchase. If you click my link, sign up, and place an order I will receive $25 toward my purchases. You can also share a referral link with friends and family to earn store credit if you like.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Of course, most people can still order from Amazon and I have affiliate links to their products on my website. This means that if you click on one of those links and place an order, I will receive a small commission. When I do place an order from Amazon, I try to order through a link on one of my friend’s blogs so they earn a commission.

Mostly, I am using the canned and dried goods, frozen foods, fresh eggs, and the few edible greens coming up in our yard for our meals. There will be wild greens to harvest soon and this week I am sharing several posts and recipes in the hop for foraging and making do.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Groceries from the Garden

To help supply more food for my family I have seeds started under lights and have started working in the garden to prepare for planting. Seeds are just starting to sprout in my cold frames so I’m excited about that. I’ve also planted seven fruit trees and have strawberry plants on order.

I have a few old laying hens that will either be sold or used for stewing this year. Soon I will place an order for an economical breed of layer chicks and some meat chicks from a nearby hatchery. Most every year I raise a batch of chickens for our freezer. I have one turkey left in the freezer but I may order a batch of broad-breasted turkey poults for our freezer, too.

How are you doing on groceries? Are you working on plans for a garden, chickens, or fruit trees?


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9 Comments on “Homestead Groceries

  1. Thank you for the feature! Thank you for hosting! This is what I featured the week of 3-30 to 4-3-20 on my blog. On Tuesday was a Brownie Cheesecake No Bake. Wednesday was my Hershey’s Best Brownie, Thursday was a Hot Brownie Cake. And winding up this Week of Brownies is Tip Friday Keeping Baked Goods Fresh. Enjoy!

    1. I love brownies! Thanks for sharing all of the delicious recipes, Marilyn! I hope you are well!

  2. Thank you for hosting, Lisa! Like you, we are mostly self-sufficient. This ordeal has certainly shown us ways to improve upon that as well. Have a wonderful week & stay safe.

  3. Thank you for hosting at this uncertain and trying times and making us happy to create and post here.
    Keep safe and well dear friend.
    Have a lovely week.
    Fabby

    1. Thank you so much, Fabby! It’s so good to see people are still writing and sharing their talents with the world! Stay healthy and have a great day!

    1. Thank you so much, Debbie! Thanks so much for being a part of our party each week! Stay safe!

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