How To Prepare For Food Shortages, Hard Times On A Shoestring Budget: Preppers’ Advice

Zubu Brothers ^ | 5-13-2022 | Allan Stein of The Epoch Times

[Ellendra]

Is there a strategy for surviving WITHOUT electric power for longs periods of time?

Yes. It probably won't be as comfortable, and long-range communications would be nonexistent, but yes.

Start with the woodstove. Look for the simple but efficient kind, such as a rocket mass heater, or a masonry stove. Those both use thermal mass to soak up large amounts of heat, then slowly radiate it back. They can be run on low-quality fuel such as twigs and prunings, and if designed properly they can be used to cook with.

Have at least 3 ways to do every task. So, for cooking you might have the woodstove, a small solar oven, and an outdoor grill. That gives you options if one method isn't practical, such as using the woodstove when it's 100F outside.

A lot of appliances can be run using pedal power. There are instructions online about how to do that. I suggest printing a few out and doing some tinkering.

You will learn very quickly why farmers embraced tractors so easily. Most row crops are extremely difficult to grow and harvest by hand. Consider alternate crops, especially perennials, wherever possible. There are a lot of trees and bushes that can supply animal feed. Winter squash, if you choose the right variety, can be stored in a basement or attic for months, sometimes even years, and can be aggressive enough to out-compete weeds. If you do decide to grow row crops, look for varieties suitable for harvesting by hand. I can tell you from experience that you do NOT want to be crawling on the ground trying to harvest dwarf wheat without a tractor!

If you have access to a tractor or generator, print out instructions on how to modify it to run on wood or charcoal. There are lots of designs out there. Personally, I recommend the charcoal because it's easier on the engine, and can be made from things other than wood. It does require the extra steps to process it, but charcoal is a useful enough substance you'll probably be making a lot of it anyway.

There is a book called "The Knowledge" that I found fascinating. It gives enough details about the physics behind different systems that, with a little experimentation, you could bring a society from the stone age to about mid-1940s-level technology within a single generation.

[goodnesswins]

Interesting

[goodnesswins]

Too bad ... seems they are Out of Stock

[Ellendra]

I wish I could say I was surprised :(

Their inventory was hit-or-miss even before covid, so hopefully they’re just waiting on a shipment. But with things going on, they’ve probably had a huge increase in demand.

It might be worth keeping an eye on them to see if they get more stock.

[Pollard]

An introduction to Basic Prepping on a shoestring for the uninitiated

"“Even if you have no money for prepping, you’ll need to know about wilderness survival

IMHO, basic prepping is food storage and a ceramic water filter. Wilderness survival is advanced, well, survivalist stuff. Depends on where one draws the line between prepping and being a survivalist. Most on FR probably aren't in physical shape for the survivalist thing. 90+ degrees and the woods are loaded with ticks right now here. After about 100 tick bites, you'd lose your mind. Being a hunter-gatherer also takes some expertise and stamina.

I had no desire to bug out to the woods and forage for food so I bought a hunk of woods 10 years ago and have a garden, laying hen and a few meat goats.

[DuncanWaring]

...What I did over the years was to go to yard sales and buy the 20 gallon cylinders

---

20-pound, not 20 gallon. ;-)

[Pollard]

This year, instead of testing one variety of each thing in order to keep the seed pure, I’m testing all the varieties that I think might work, all at once. Whichever ones do best, those will be the ones I grow next year.

That's me this year. Six varieties of tomatoes with four being cherry. Starting from seed, Tappy's Heritage tomato which is a red slicer but meaty enough for canning, is doing awesome and Rosella cherry also doing well. I'll probably be growing lots of multipurpose Tappy's next year. Will have to see how they finish out.

Also trying some things I've never eaten before, mostly greens type stuff. Never had chard before so I'm growing some of that. Trying four different types of peppers, mostly hot and all varieties I've never had because the stores don't sell them.

Got three types of watermelon and all will get the same treatment so we'll see how they grow and taste for us. Either one will be a winner or we'll try some different ones next year.

Everything is open pollinated so next year or the year after, if I want to grow a single variety and save seed, I can.

[Pollard]

http://the-knowledge.org/en-gb/lewis-dartnell/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knowledge%3A_How_to_Rebuild_our_World_from_Scratch

Author has done some video presentations as well; https://duckduckgo.com/?q=The+Knowledge%3A+How+to+Rebuild+our+World+from+Scratch&iax=videos&ia=videos

[Ellendra]

His website had a link to a youtube channel called “How To Make Everything”!!!! Awesome!!!

I’m not going to get much housecleaning done today.

I also didn’t realize the author was that cute. Probably a good thing I don’t know him in real life. With the way his mind works, judging from his books, that would develop into a serious crush.

(Thank you for the links!)

[Pollard]

That would have to be a long distance relationship since he’s from the UK.

[blam]

"20-pound, not 20 gallon. ;-)"

You're correct, thanks.

[Bob Ireland]

***Is there a strategy for surviving WITHOUT electric power for longs periods of time?***

Well, I took the obvious way out, in light of a rigged election - last year I worked all year and built a modest independent solar system. I spent most of my Soc Sec and it will only do so much... but a prepper knows how to ration power usage.

It's never too late!

Of course if you have a full time flowing stream on your property or live in a windy mountain pass, that's a potentially quick solution also. And - the stream offers modest refrigeration!

[blam]

Everywhere in the world has a 'beans & rice' recipe. There's a reason. You can get all the nutrients the body needs from beans except niacin. Rice is loaded with niacin...also arsenic.(Gulp).

The FDA tested rice samples from all the rice growing region in China. They all exceeded the USA standards for allowable arsenic levels.

Stay away from food from China is my recommendation.

They also put melamine in their baby formula. Chinese living all over the world routinely ship baby food to China. The UK passed laws to put some limit on this practice a few years ago.

[Prince of Space]

Thanks for the tips about rice. I was a serious prepper for Y2k. For example, we didn’t have to buy toilet paper for a year in a family of 5. I got a lot of teasing about my level of dedication from my family, but I think it’s just in my nature to “stock up,” as I call it now.

I’m woefully unprepared for what’s coming, I’m afraid, even tho I have much more than my adult children as far as extra food, ammo, etc. I’m slowly trying to rectify that, in the hope that it’s all for naught.

[Bob Ireland]

***Say goodbye and good rid to Miss Jen Psak-ee***

Ms Jen Psock puppet. :)

[P.O.E.]

Thanks for the ping.

Every time I look at these threads they cost me money - LOL.

Finally broke down and bought a rocket stove.

Tomorrow I plan to put some rice up in canning jars with some oxygen absorbers.

[Ellendra]

Rice is not the only source of niacin. It’s not even the highest source of niacin. A cup of potato flakes has 3 times the niacin of a cup of dry rice*. A cup of buckwheat has almost 4 times as much. A cup of corn flour has roughly the same niacin as rice, but make it hominy and the niacin becomes more bioavailable.

(*I’m using potato flakes for this comparison rather than a fresh or cooked potato, because the water content changes depending on how it was cooked. And dry flakes are closer in moisture content to dry rice, making for a more accurate comparison.)

[cherry]

you mean ULTRA MAGA KING don’t you?

[cherry]

re your garden.....it is still way too cold where I'm at to really start planting although I do have red onions, walla walla's, some loose leaf lettuce, radishes, and some potatoes in, but not nearly as many as you and in the past I've had very little luck with them.....also, I have garlic doing well....

I bought a lot of dehydrated potatoes about a year ago when they were a buck a piece...now, they're closer to two bucks...

I could give up pasta and rice, but potatoes are my go to fill up food any day of the week.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The ‘northern perimeter’ of our property is the only weak link in the set-up. I can see anyone coming from any other direction. ;)