Posted on 01/24/2010 7:51:38 AM PST by Kartographer
“Why nothing about eating the neighbors?”
ROTFLMAO!!!
but my question is this if you know....can I use good sturdy jars with screw on lids for long term storage instead of mylar bags and the buckets?....I could drop a couple of oxygen packets in there and I would think it would work great...any ideas about that?...thx
I’m chiming in with my own experiences. I’ve basically prepped for whatever hard times for over 5 years maybe? (I have always bought in bulk to some extent but nothing like now.) Already had a lot of stuff in place, live very rural, have well, heat with woodstove, etc. But 5 or 6 years ago starting thinking very seriously about various breakdown scenarios and stocking up with necessities for longer term whatevers.
I have stored bulk foods in buckets, sometimes with oxygen absorbers, usually add bay leaves (supposed to quell bugs) and have tons of canning jars, a lot of gallon jars too.
I have had two things with bugs in them in over five years. One was very old brown rice which doesn’t last long anyway, it gets rancid. The other was a half gallon jar of millet that was stuffed with bugs. Nothing else ever had bugs.
As far as things going bad - such as rancid or stale, the way to do it is store what you eat anyway, and rotate. Unelss you get already canned etc longterm food from some company. The cheapest thing is just buy food in bulk - I get a lot from Azure Standard, they deliever to the western 1/3 of the US, and immediately put it in buckets, or smaller amounts in gallon jars.
For intsance, I have buckets of rice. When I need rice, I pour into a few glass jars and keep those in the kithen, and the buckets in an outbuilding that stays cold. If you keep opening the buckets all the time, it shortens the lifespan of the food.
I don’t use mylar bags or anything expensive. I just keep eating and rotating. The best thing IMO is to store what you eat and eat what you store. That way you (a) save money now since it’s cheaper to eat that way and (b) you won’t have a shock when (I’m not saying “if”) times get rough and you have to start eating your stored food. You already ARE eating your stored food.
I usually try to have some kind of inventory so I know when I’m getting low on something, and I order another 25# bag or so.
I did buy a bunch of canned stuff initially but I hate canned food and some got really outdated and bad (opened and tried) so the best thing is to only store what you are going to eat. And it also helps to train your taste buds so you can eat simple cheap and nutritious food happily.
I hope this helps.
Yes you can use jars. I have a vacuum seal adapter so I can vacumm seal the jars plus I add in an oxygen absoreber as will. Been using the jars for lots of stuff pancake mix, small ones for spices, as well as food that I have dehydrated myself.
You also migh like to look at this my Preparednes Manual:
http://www.mediafire.com/?ojmy2z1zfin
thx.....I’ve been trying to store things and the only things I feel confident about is the aluminum foil and plastic bags....LOL
I did this with a large amt of sugar I bought but the freezer kind of gave it a funny consistancy although it works just great in recipes..bought about 150 pounds for under $9 per 25pounds.....
well I’ve got bama voters in my family too but I’d take them in....we can sleep maybe a dozen or so if we had too....and plenty of toliets.....I’d do what I have to do....
my Mormon friend gave me a list of foods available and also gave me a big bag of the oxygen packets....
where do you get these antibiotics?.....
The green covering on the walnut makes a great dye for fibers or clothes....I had stomping boots and after a rain went under the tree and broke open the covering by stomping on them...then putting them in a 5 gallon bucket of water add water as it evaporates do this for several weeks, using cheese cloth pour the water into a clean bucket covered with the cloth....this gets rid of debris in the dye water...then the dye is ready to use....Never do this without wearing rubber gloves. On your hands it takes days of washing to get your hands clean of the dye...
Not necessarily for survival but for those that hand dye and spin their own fibers....
Wish I had kept one of the catalogs I use to order medications for my goats from....you can get all kinds of antibiotics, boxes of sterile needles and syringes and the anti-biotics can get both injection type and some orals... The penicillin and such are the same as any doctor uses for humans...Cost is minimal for 100ml bottle, keep refrigerated...also got pepto-bismo by the gallon for use with the flock. But don't remember the name of the company..it was for vet supplies of all kinds. Free shipping for over 100 dollars worth of stuff...It was some place in Minnesota I think, but there has to be more than one...no vet registration needed to purchase..mostly for those that have large herds of whatever...
The green covering on the walnut makes a great dye for fibers or clothes....I had stomping boots and after a rain went under the tree and broke open the covering by stomping on them...then putting them in a 5 gallon bucket of water add water as it evaporates do this for several weeks, using cheese cloth pour the water into a clean bucket covered with the cloth....this gets rid of debris in the dye water...then the dye is ready to use....Never do this without wearing rubber gloves. On your hands it takes days of washing to get your hands clean of the dye...Even picking up the walnuts still in their covering can get your hands dyed..Nasty missile's when cutting the grass so all had to be picked up...
Not necessarily for survival but for those that hand dye and spin their own fibers....
Wish I had kept one of the catalogs I use to order medications for my goats from....you can get all kinds of antibiotics, boxes of sterile needles and syringes and the anti-biotics can get both injection type and some orals... The penicillin and such are the same as any doctor uses for humans...Cost is minimal for 100ml bottle, keep refrigerated...also got pepto-bismo by the gallon for use with the flock. But don't remember the name of the company..it was for vet supplies of all kinds. Free shipping for over 100 dollars worth of stuff...It was some place in Minnesota I think, but there has to be more than one...no vet registration needed to purchase..mostly for those that have large herds of whatever...
Out in the farming area’s are tractor and supply stores, that carry stuff for farming and also penicillin and stuff needed for those that raise pigs or cattle...many kinds of antibiotics available some in pill form...you need to calculate dosage based on weight. Also need sterile needles and syringes for injections...See post 250 to metmon.
Thanks for the advice on the walnuts. I plan on trying what I can this year. Black walnuts are supposed to be pretty special in the flavor department.
I just got done reading *One Second After*.
It gets off to a slow start, but the end just leaves you crying your eyes out.
It’s also a very eye opening book. It really makes you think about being prepared in case some economic or societal collapse occurs.
I do have plenty of supplies for a lot of things, but need to get some other stuff taken care of as well.
There are several people around here who own goats, so I don’t have to worry too much about the ownership part yet.
There was another black walnut tree across from the farm house and close to the ditch...every year someone would come to the door and ask to pick up the walnuts...it wasn't my property so I didn't care as our black walnut tree was huge. They are much tastier than the walnuts you buy in the store...
Hand pumps for well as available somewhere. Some wise FReeper mentioned some time ago about procuring one, so they are out there.
We’re all set for toilet paper.... :)
Thanks for the info. I will look into putting a hand pump on my well also.....:O)
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