When we have time, when we have the resources, when we have a house...we have a list of things we would like to do when we are able to.

• gardening to eventually produce a large amount fruit and veggies consumed
• composting
• canning and dehydrating
• serious food storage...as in for a minimum of a year's worth eventually 
• more cloth replacements for paper towel and personal uses
• water collecting
• increased hand washing and hang drying
• saving up for and preparing for solar energy starting with solar powering a water well
• managing the yard with hand tools and minimum modern equipment
• building a wood or charcoal burning barbecue pit outside, we were looking at plans that included an oven
• farther reducing commercially prepared household and personal products

I do a measure of some of these things already and have done more on a few in the past. I am looking at ways that I can get more done now while we work out the housing. So I may have to set a few new challenges for myself as I toss out questions and ideas here in the near future.

 That's quite a list!  I know you do hand washing often, but which other ones are you doing now and which do you have planned for the future?
 

 My current efforts:

I am up to about a month's worth of food in my freezer and pantry. I have been able to cut my shopping trips to one large monthly trip and a weekly trip into town for perishables

I use cloth table napkins and cloth for cleaning (including window and mirror washing). I still sometimes reach for paper when cleaning though.

I hand wash delicates and small items and hang dry some loads.

We do cut grass with different blades and hand tools but it's just a matter of struggling to keep the weeds back rather than seeing it take form.

 I clean with baking soda, lemon juice, vinegar and Borax. I use reduced amounts of many commercial products. I use some basic products for my bath and body but not exclusively.

Whoswho, I can make melt and pour soaps and candles but have not advanced to making them from hand mixing them from the base ingredients.

You've got a good start. If the humidity isn't too high there, you can dehydrate with very little trouble. There are some dehydrator "recipes" at Dollar Stretcher here. Maybe I'm lazy but I only dehydrate very simple foods.

Do you use a reel mower? The people powered kind, I mean. They're not any harder to push than a gas mower as long as the grass doesn't get too high. They cut weeds fine, too, unless you have the tough, woody kind.

I am so hoping you get the house you want so you can do all these things. I'll be following your adventures closely!  

Ah, Brandy, You've reminded me that I use cloth napkins, tablecloths, & cleaning rags.  My aides like to use paper towels for some things, but I've gotten through to them to use only 1/4 of a sheet at a time.  I cut TP into one-sheet pieces, & always use that personally (couldn't possibly ask the aides to do that!). 

The storm has left this property in bad repair which means hard to maintain. The soil is eroding and we are left to work with areas that don't do well with mowers. My brother uses my parents riding  mower on the area that is flat. We work the rest with a tool I don't know the rightful name of...it's a blade on a handle and a pair of gardening shears. This has been the method we use for lawn care for years but we had our own riding mower at one time.

Because we were only here temporarily and we have flooded hmmm five times since the storm, we have chosen not to invest much time and money into it. If we had realised the time here would have been so long, we would have taken different measures early on.

As for the dehydrating, Mom has offered me use of her electric one. So this one is just a matter of getting it started. I am still interested in ways that might work with less power though.

 You don't have to have an electric dehydrator, really. You can dry food in any safe, warm place. Attics used to be used for that, as well as rooftops or hanging "solar" dehydrators. I've used a tray covered with a light cloth and set in the sun in my back yard. Dehydrating food is a very simple and natural way of preserving it.

I can see the problems with mowing. I've seen the tool you describe but I don't know the proper name for it either.  

My Grandfather used to dry shrimp on a piece of that corrugated metal. I am not sure what went into prepping the shrimp is anything.