Three Springs Homestead

01/22/2026

It’s going to storm so let’s pretend like we are going to TAKE A HIKE!

For much of my life, I have backpacked. When you backpack, you have everything you need for 5 days on your back. Prepare like a backpacker and you’ll have no probs with this storm.

Water - First you need water and a way to boil the water and cook. The simplest and most lightweight way, is a camping stove and a lighter. It is a small ‘stove’ that screws on top of a fuel canister. You can check out Pocket Rocket videos (the one I use is probably 20 years old) on YouTube. Water? You will bring it with you and find sources along the way. For this storm, you will fill pots, milk jugs and whatever you have so you are prepared. BTW, Wally World has stoves similar to Pocket Rocket in their camping section. Since you are cooking indoors, visit the area of the store where the smoke alarms are and pick up a battery operated carbon monoxide detector. JIK

Food - Hikers bring simple, light weight food. Instant oatmeal, mashed potatoes, meat in single serving packs (Spam, tuna, bacon bits, chicken, sardines, etc.) Breakfast is instant oatmeal with a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter. Add ins such as nuts and dried fruit and, of course, instant coffee. Lunch is tortillas filled with Spam or tuna. A fresh cucumber or tomato can add variety but must be consumed within the first few days. Dinner can be things you easily find at the grocery: Knorr sides, rice a roni, instant mashed potatoes, ramen. Or you can go fancy and buy dehydrated meals in the camping section that you can simply rehydrate by adding water. Remember, you aren’t completely roughing it so you can have cherry tomatoes, olives, avocados, bell peppers and other veg that will be fine on your counter for a few days. Variety is the spice of life!

Shelter - A free standing tent is a must when backpacking. It is a nice to have in a power outage. Set your tent up inside the house. Sleeping in it adds about 5 degrees to the temps. A tent within a tent- 10 degrees. Like hikers, a really good sleeping bag and pad are necessities.

Odds and ends in no particular order. 1) A headlamp makes hikes out with the dog to p*e at night much less unnerving. 2) Games. I always carry Farkle. It’s just a few dice. Was injured in the Smokies and my miserable night was much more pleasant because of Farkle and the company (Trish Mims and Suzanne Luna). 3) A podcast, Kindle books, music or movies downloaded to your phone can distract you from your worries. Once I was climbing a particularly difficult hill and was on empty. My music was set to random. Little Richard came on singing ‘I Feel Pretty’ from West Side Story. It was so totally unexpected and exactly what I needed. I waltzed up the mountain! 4) A First Aid Kit. I always carry bandages, antiseptic and am trained in Wilderness First Aid. Think about taking a CPR Class or other First Aid course after this is over… or volunteering with your local Rescue Squad. 5) One of the most comforting rituals from my backpacking days, is a warm wash cloth at night. After dinner is done, heat some water for a cup of camomile tea and dampen a wash cloth in the extra water. Use it to wash your face, hands and feet, I promise you will sleep sooo much better.

Share your backpacking advice in the comments. Stay safe and have fun!

01/22/2026

Yesterday I posted a couple of tips for simple things we do to prepare for adverse weather. This is for the peace of mind that comes with knowing your needs are met. Like my favorite weatherman Ryan Hall says, ‘Don’t be scared, be prepared.’

Later today I will continue posting things we do, but here is a good YouTube video from a man in Texas who is sharing his experience.

In this video, I give 11 suggestions on things to have on hand and 11 things to do before a power outage caused by a winter storm. I talk about 2 winter powe...

01/21/2026

Water is essential for life and for flushing. A massive power outage could take away your ability to turn on the tap or to flush your toilet. Simple solution is to be prepared. First, clean your tub really well and fill it with water. This can be used to flush your toilet and for drinking if necessary, boiling as needed. For those of you too use to modern conveniences to know how a toilet works, you will either fill the tank from your bucket and flush like normal or you can pour the water directly into the bowl. The influx of water will initiate flushing. We are already flushing this way as our water line to the toilet froze last night. A little known fact … our house had a bathroom long before it had running water. The occupants simple brought water from the spring in 5 gallon buckets for flushing. .

01/21/2026

There is a big storm coming this weekend. We live a simple self-sufficient lifestyle so we are always prepared for adverse weather. Over the next couple of days, I’ll share some of the simple things we do that will increase your peace of mind that you too can weather the storm. We’ll look first at the necessities: water, food and heat. Water is abundant at Three Springs but we want it to be available and convenient if the power goes down. The attached picture is part of our simple system for daily use. The blue jug contains potable water for teeth brushing (available at Wally World). The white jug is an old laundry detergent dispenser. We use it for hand washing.

10/26/2025

My kitchen smells heavenly. Harvesting ginger today. The stems became ginger & lemon syrup. Leaves will be dried for tea. Of course the roots will be used throughout the year for cooking.

10/23/2025

FB says ‘what’s on your mind?’ What to do with all these green tomatoes? Freeze warning tonight. Some will ripen on the window sill. Not a fan of fried foods so Fried Green Tomatoes are out. Canned some a few years ago. Mushy. Any ideas?

10/10/2025

First fire of the season in the wood cook stove. There is always a small bit of anxiety. Do I remember how to light it without it smoking? Is my wood dry enough? Are all the dampers working properly? We had trouble with back drafting in high winds last season. We added this funky sultan’s cap looking wind diverter. It seems to be working like a charm. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D4N1WJW?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Even the cat approves.

08/25/2025

The produce from our garden is overwhelmingly abundant at this time of year. Today’s lunch is all ‘take in’ as opposed to ‘take out’. Step out the back door and ‘take in’ what you want to eat. On the menu, fresh heirloom tomatoes with cilantro, a hot potato salad with fresh dill and a mostly wild salad (purslane, chick w**d, dandelion greens and lambs quarter). The not wild bits are Swiss chard, sweet potato leaves and perilla.

The last of our peaches fell yesterday. We’ve had peach crumble, peaches over ice cream, plain peaches and made peach jam. Life is good!

08/05/2025

It’s Stock Day! Not as in livestock. As in soup. We keep gallon bags in the freezer adding onion and garlic skins, veg like celery that’s gone limp, skins from p*eled carrots and beets, etc. If you eat meat, add bones. When the freezer starts getting crowded, we turn this ‘waste’ into stock. It’s a multi-day process. Simmer for at least 12 hours. The next day remove the veg and clarify the stock. Then pressure can for long term storage or freeze.

08/03/2025

The weather has totally lost it’s mind! The gas logs came on this morning. August 3! Isn’t August supposed to be Dog Days?

08/01/2025

You miss going to the garden for a couple of days because of rain and get rewarded with a zucchini that could be classified as a lethal weapon! Looks like zoodles for dinner.