A prepper who hasn’t been food shopping in FOUR years yet still has enough fresh meals preserved to feed her family-of-five for a year.<br /><br />Natasha Gahagan, 31, had always dreamed of having her own homestead and convinced her husband, Dennis, 42, to move from Sheboygan, Wisconsin to a seven acre farm outside of the city.<br /><br />The couple moved with their two children – four and two – and Dennis' son, 21, and now grow all their fruit and vegetables and keep chickens and goats.<br /><br />Natasha and Dennis, who works in landscaping haven't been to a supermarket for a big food shop in four years.<br /><br />She goes once a year to pick up some basic supplies in bulk such as beans and flour.<br /><br />They preserve a years’ worth of food in their cellar, along with ready-to-go meals which can be heated up in five minutes.<br /><br />Natasha, a homesteader and part-time dental assistant, who lives near Milwaukee, Wisconsin said: “Living off the land was a dream of mine.<br /><br />“I loved being outdoors. I had always dreamed of living off the grid.<br /><br />“We don’t really go to the grocery story.<br /><br />“We try to make it.<br /><br />“You appreciate what you have more.”<br /><br />Natasha has always wanted to “live off the land” and started to grow what she could in her garden in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.<br /><br />But when the family found a piece of land they could afford they jumped at the chance and moved out to the countryside in January 2015.<br /><br />The family have had an array of animals living at the farm – from cows, ducks and peacocks – but currently have goats, chickens and geese.<br /><br />Natasha uses the goat milk for the family to drink and make soap to sell.<br /><br />She said: “We fell in love with the goats.”<br /><br />Natasha says the family try and grow something new each year.<br /><br />She said: “We don’t have a big growing season. We grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, garlic, onion and mushrooms.<br /><br />“We have an orchard and make apples, pears, plums and mulberries.<br /><br />“We don’t grow thing we won’t eat.”<br /><br />To preserve their food they use methods such as canning and freeze drying and have a cellar in their home stocked up.<br /><br />Natasha said: “We could live off it for more than a year.<br /><br />“We have 200lbs of flour stocked up.”<br /><br />Natasha has a freeze dryer filled with meals she has already prepared – ready for their busy periods in spring and summer.<br /><br />She said: “I’m preserving for convenience.<br /><br />“I preserve a lot of things for the summer when were busy.”<br /><br />Natasha hopes to become as sustainable as she can and gets her meat from farmers and relies on the supermarkets as little as possible.<br /><br />They only visit once a year to stock up on supplies they can’t grow or treats such as maple syrup and bananas.<br /><br />Natasha said: “We do a lot of bulk shopping.<br /><br />“There is a lot to learn all the time.<br /><br />“That’s the fun of it.<br /><br />“It’s a dream.<br /><br />“The city is not for me. I love my home.”
