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Ok, I need a chicken tractor when I get my girls then;)

I am moving up in the world of survival preparedness - today I had my first experience with mylar.

I got a 2x4, layed it over a bucket with some ‘test’ mylar in it, and ironed a small corner of the mylar with my iron set to ‘wool’. I lived life on the edge by ironing directly on the mylar and didn’t use a piece of foil between the two like I was advised. Looks like it didn’t ruin my iron plus was easier than I thought. With all the warnings about wrinkles and getting it perfectly flat, I thought it would be difficult. The bags I have are so stiff that I think I’d have to work hard to get a wrinkle in it!

As usual with me, I overdid everything. I bought enough beans and rice for 6 buckets! I had to go back and buy two more buckets (I now have 4). I’ll be testing those bean recipes for a while now too! I also couldn’t decide whether to freeze the stuff or heat it to kill any critters. So I did both! Unintentionally, actually. After freezing it, I noticed ice crystals forming inside the bags. So, to get rid of the moisture, I baked them at 170 degrees for about an hour. I did buy dessicants at the dollar store, but couldn’t quite figure out how to use them - they’re in big containers, not little packets. Not being one to sew, I skipped using them altogether.

I put about 5 pounds of beans each in a gallon-sized Ziploc freezer bag and then put those in the mylar bags in the buckets. I already have several superpails of just pintos or just rice (prepacked from Emergency Essentials) and wanted to have some variety without having to open 5 or so buckets at one time. I probably could’ve packed more in the buckets by pouring the beans or rice directly into the mylar. Oh well. This works for me.

I put in 5 300cc oxygen absorbers and then tackled the mylar sealing job. I folded the top of the mylar bag over onto a 2x4 and ironed about a 3 inch swath shut, leaving the last corner still open. I then pressed the mylar bag down to remove as much air as possible. I now have to take back my cockiness in the beginning of this narrative – the last corner wasn’t that easy to iron. Have no clue why. But those dreaded vertical wrinkles appeared! I ironed over them, flattening them pretty good, so I hope all is well. After letting it cool, I tested the seam by trying to open it back up from the bottom. It held.

After a short time, the mylar bag seemed to suck in around the bags of beans. Which is good. But I expected it to shrink in even more with time and it didn’t. The only thing I can figure is 1) something went wrong or 2) air is 78% nitrogen and the absorbers only took care of the 21% that was oxygen. That still leaves quite a bit of nitrogen gas in the bags. I hope that’s the case! I’m going to wait a while before putting the lids on, checking to see if the bags do shrink down a bit more.