Posted on 02/26/2018 12:12:20 PM PST by CottonBall
mice!! Are they able to kill mice first?
I assume you’re trying to come up with a natural diet, not adding supplements, something that could be used in the prepping scenario?
Exactly.
It started with me trying to find a combination of foods I could eat to get 100% of all macro and micro nutrients without having to take supplements. Most supplements make me sick, and at the time my iron and potassium levels were so low, I was having to get IV infusions. By following the nutrition plan, I was able to get my levels up to normal.
Then, me being me, I wanted to see if I could
A: Grow or raise everything on the list.
and B: Grow or raise the food for all the animals needed for that list.
This is simply how my mind works.
And yes, chickens can and will kill a mouse if they see one. The more active breeds are better at it, and they do have to be able to see it clearly. But they can be vicious little hunters. I’ve even seen mine playing keep-away with the remains.
So you could probably get by with less especially at the beginning but it is cheap and as you said a good trade good.
Remember to make sure some of it is iodized salt or table salt. Iodine is a very important mineral that is especially needed during pregnancy for normal mental development.
By accident I found out that weevil infested cracked red wheat will result in very happy chickens. I still supplement with greens and calcium but it seems to provide a lot of what they need.
They like anything that’s infested with pantry bugs, too. Dry beans need to be cooked, but most grains they can eat raw.
I let them into the garden at the end of the season and they clean any of the bugs out.
“This is simply how my mind works.”
You are very thorough. And independent-minded. A very good thing in a prepper!
Good point on getting iodized salt. I don’t think kosher salt is iodized, is it?
We are finally, finally, finally putting shelves in my food storage room in the basement. So I’ll actually be able to see what I have instead of hoping and guessing. That’s not the best prepper planning method!!
So I’ll be able to count up the pounds of salt that I have plus Have room to buy a bunch more. This will be some fun shopping!
“I let them into the garden at the end of the season and they clean any of the bugs out.”
I definitely need some chickens then. The bugs we have here that eat the garden produce are ridiculous. As are the weeds. If I can get a head start at having just some of them not appear so quickly, I might be able to do a better job with the garden.
Most places will let you keep up to four hens with no trouble.
You do not want to use iodized to preserve foods but as a table salt it is ok and you just need a little bit to get the benefit.
Iodine in salt is probably responsible for the global drop in retardation.
I rather like the rooster noises - ok let me rethink that...i guess I don’t always want to get up at dawn, lol.
That’s good we only need a little ionized salt. Otherwise the switch to fancy salts in cooking would’ve caused health problems. I rarely see a recthese days that calls for regular old table salt
However if they eat sushi or anything with seaweed or shellfish on a semi-regular basis they generally get enough iodine to be ok. However in a crisis kelp and shrimp are going to be in low supply unless you live seaside.
And the non-seafood items that have iodine, (raw milk and eggs for example) only have it because they feed the chickens and cows a certain amount of kelp to keep them healthy or they were grown next to the sea.
This is such great information. If you don’t mind I will use it on Monday for a new topic?
That is fine for right now but if we ever get to the point where we are growing most of our own food then deficiencies might become problematical. Note how many of those listed are especially necessary for healthy baby development.
A supply of a good supplement is a necessary part of prepping IMHO.
Currently we are trying to set up a mini farm where we grow everything we eat. Not as simple as it looks!
Today’s subject is about biscuits, which will evolve into being about soft wheat berries. There is a thread about southern biscuits, and why biscuits are a Southern Specialty and easier to make if you are in the south. Since the south is now my adopted area, I took notice of this. And especially since I love biscuits! And I have had a few good attempt at making them but it’s not as easy as it looks.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3816307/posts?q=1&;page=1#1
why biscuits are a southern specialty
and some great tips in that thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3816307/posts?page=81#81
how to make biscuits
Should I go ahead and spoil the ending, for those that haven’t seen the thread yet? Well, don’t read any further if you want to head over to that other thread first. But I was very surprised, and excited, to find out the reason.
It ends up that soft wheat is grown in the south, hard wheat is grown in the plains states and up. And the secret to luscious biscuits is using soft wheat, not hard wheat. General AP flour is usually a combination of both, but they could lean on the hard side depending on the brand. I had been using AP flour with moderate results. But next time I head to the grocery store or Walmart, I’ll be picking up some Lily White.
But the reason I was most intrigued by this Revelation is that I have numerous super pails of soft wheat berries. When I was in a Brian spree. To get my food storage started, I had ordered several packages which included the soft wheat. I thought I would typically use more hard week, because I knew that that was used for bread, And I wasn’t envisioning myself making very many cakes. But just recently I’ve been reorganizing my food storage room, came across all these buckets of soft wheat and was thinking I should open one to experiment what to do with it. So This Thread about biscuits was very Timely!
Thank you met mom for the heads up on the biscuit thread, and for taking over for TIK in the prepper thread.
I have Hard red and white wheat as well as soft winter white.
Last year I was not able to find seeds to grow the soft winter white. So I’ll be placing that order early this year.
I use King Arthur unbleached flour. And I grind the wheat berries in a Coffee Grinder that has variable settings, when I want to substitute whole wheat for some of the all purpose flour. I do have a manual mill for just in case scenario.
Here’s a recipe for biscuits for two(4 biscuits). I sometimes bake these in my 8 inch iron skillet.
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbls. lard (or shortening)
1/2 cup Butter milk or(milk + 1 1/2 tsp vinegar)
Mix dry ingredients in bowl. Cut in lard. Add Buttermilk.
Turn out onto floured board or wax paper. Dust top with flour and press into disc approximately 1 inch thick.
Cut into 4 pieces. Form into circle if round biscuit is desired. Bake @425 for 13-15 minutes. Less handling and generous lard=better biscuits. Too much handling=hard biscuits.
I read somewhere that hardees biscuits have secret ingredient of mayonnaise. Never tried it though.
Here’s a recipe for Veggie Wash Spray
1 cup water
1 Tbls. White Vinegar
1 Tbls. Baking Soda
Or soak:
1 cup water
1/4 cup White Vinegar
2 Tbls. salt
Soak 10 - 15 min. then rinse. Dry with paper towel.
You grow your own wheat? That is so cool!
I have a super pail of wheat go bad, never buying from emergency essentials again, but anyway, I was thinking I could plant the wheat berries and see what happened.
I think I have something similar, I have the family grain mill with the motor attachment and a handcrank just in case.
thanks for the 4 biscuit recipe! That’s exactly what I need to practice with. I hate ruining a whole batch of biscuits. Have you found that the soft wheat makes a better biscuit?
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