Of course, much of the lifestyle changes we have been making are in preparation for harder times, and to allow us to live more independently of the many systems on which we are currently too dependent.  Still, I am stepping up some of my efforts, including snipping and drying more of my herbs, getting other ones going, buying dried herbs so I can make my own tinctures, etc.  One of my favorite herbs is mint.  Thankfully, it is not only yummy, mint has great immune building properties as well.  I plan to blog here about growing, harvesting and drying mint in the next day or so.

Yesterday I decluttered a bit to make room for some of the homestead items I need or have, but didn’t have a place for.  I love the feeling of walking into a room that has just been thoroughly decluttered – I could just sit on the floor and sigh contentedly.  It makes me wonder why I waited so long to start getting rid of stuff!  One shelf I cleared will be for some grocery items I’m planning on purchasing to stock up a bit.  Folks in Mexico City are basically hunkering down in their homes to avoid exposure to the swine flu.  I hope it doesn’t come to that here, but I figured I should be prepared just in case.  Down here in Florida we prepare for hurricane season by keeping 3 days supply of food, water, etc., so these preps are what I need for the coming season anyway (plus a bit extra, since we could need to stay inside for weeks rather than days if the swine flu outbreak grows substantially).

I’m also stepping up my gardening efforts.  I have had the seeds for a while, but don’t have much in the way of seedlings started.  That’s something I’m learning…I should have new things growing all the time.  I know that our summers here are not great for growing many things, but I did purchase seeds for veggies that are grown in more tropical parts of the world, hoping they might grow here.  I plan to use as many containers as possible, so I can move them if they are too hot or too wet.  For me, it’s all a big experiment.  If the plants make it, great!  If they don’t, oh well, a lesson learned.

It’s nice to know I’m not alone on this journey – there are many others who are learning and sharing as they grow.  Here are a couple recent posts that provide both encouragement and practical tips:

Garden Like You Can’t Go to the Store

Panic Gardening