Monday, February 14, 2011
10 Tips to Simplify or Survive During Hard Times
Activist Post

Many of us are caught in the precarious position of being intellectually aware that we are heading into a worsening economy with signs of a looming global food crisis, and feel as though we must simplify or streamline our lifestyle to prepare for possible disruptions in our standard of living. In a world where consumption has become a sport, you may actually find it more satisfying to shed some material weight. Even if your financial situation is not too dire, it is still a sensible idea to keep preparedness in mind.

An increasing segment of the population is already feeling the pinch from losing a job, while the cost of living continues to increase. This group has no choice but to get creative in the way they manage their limited resources for optimal survival. The key to becoming a content minimalist/survivalist is to develop the most efficient ways to provide for basic necessities. The goal is simple: reduce your daily, weekly, and monthly expenses without giving up items that keep you sane.

We can look at the extreme examples like The Moneyless Man, Mark Boyle, for inspiration. His book is an essential guide into the techniques, as well as the lifestyle that has enabled him to live completely and happily off the grid, without money, for more than 2 years. His radical path is not one that many people would choose, however he proves that you can survive with very little money if that is your goal.

Outlined below are some relatively painless and often rewarding tips to survive hard times on a shoestring, or to free up additional funds for discretionary spending.

Turn Off the TV: Why does anyone with an Internet connection still pay for TV service? You can get your news and sports fix, and find all of your favorite movies and shows online. The rest is just expensive noise. Join the growing trend and cut out your paid TV service. You’ll find the financial savings is just a minor part of the benefits to unplugging. If you absolutely need to watch your favorite team’s important games, you may have to get to know your neighbors or socialize at a friend’s house.

Make Your Own: With the TV now turned off, we’ll have plenty of time to produce things we would normally purchase. Our modern world of conveniences has stripped much of our knowledge of how to support ourselves. One of the costliest and least healthy areas of our daily lives are cleaning and personal care products. Using very basic ingredients you can minimize most toxic chemicals in your household, as well as save money for items that help optimize your simplicity. Personal care products such as soap, shampoo, and deodorant are simple and cheap to make at home. Three ingredients to keep on hand; baking soda, distilled vinegar, and Dr. Bronners.

Minimize Transportation: Cars are one the most expensive items we think we need to be functional or happy. They’ve also become one of those staple luxury items that shows your status in society. Let this illusion go; it’s far more important to have your simplicity and the extra savings. Understandably, personal vehicles are necessary in many areas that have inadequate or no public transportation, and cars also represent a tool of trade, as well as personal freedom. But if your family has multiple cars, consider if it is feasible to eliminate one of them. If not, budget and plan wisely for limiting all costs related to the car; fuel, insurance, maintenance, etc.

Reduce Household Energy Use: Conserving energy is one of the most obvious ways to reduce monthly bills. The topic has been written about and promoted for years. You already know the easy stuff like turning off lights, turning the hot-water heater down or off when not in use. But now it’s finally time to get conscious of your precise energy use and begin to turn the meter back using all tactics. Look into supplementing with solar power or other alternative sources to become as self-sufficient as possible.

Produce Your Own Food: The most important step that anyone can take, immediately, is to design a simple garden. With 15% to 20% of the average household budget spent on food, and prices skyrocketing everyday, discovering ways to prepare for food inflation is vital to survival. A low-cost way of producing food off-the-grid is always a great investment no matter the economic conditions. Nearly everyone can engage in some level of food production to save money and increase independence.

Boycott Big Box Stores: There’s a belief that big box stores like Wal-Mart provide the only option available to those on a tight budget who need to get cheap items. Although Wal-Mart does indeed sell many items at low prices, a recent study shows that Wal-Mart stores have repeatedly destabilized the economy of local communities where they are located. Therefore, we should consider the larger picture and support small, local businesses in our quest for simplicity. We also should do our best to avoid frivolous boredom shopping altogether, which big box stores encourage, and resist our culture’s tendency to to make unnecessary impulse purchases based solely on an item’s “special” price.

Buy Local: If we hope to restore prosperity to our communities, and ourselves, we can start by supporting truly local producers instead of mega-corporations. In many cases you’ll find that essential items like food, used tools, and other items can be found far cheaper than at big box stores — if not free. You can begin giving true support to your local community, while obtaining healthier food, by searching for farmers markets and family farms close to where you live. Local Harvest has a database that can be searched by zip code. By connecting with a local farmer, you can obtain healthier produce, often at a much lower cost, while strengthening your local economy.

Foraging: We should re-learn the ability to forage. There is no shame in foraging and many items can be found in our throw-away culture. Even if you can afford to buy something new, discovering a vintage used item for less, or perhaps free, is something to be extremely proud of. This isn’t middle school anymore where you must have shiny new brand name items to be accepted. Your current friends won’t disown you for being more frugal. In fact, when they see your pride of accomplishment on an amazing deal or find, they will likely be envious. As they say, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. Happy hunting!

Freecycle Bartering: Beyond the “green” trappings of the Freecycle Movement lies the heart of the best survival technique of all: cooperation. According to Recycling Group Finder, there are nearly 5,000 groups with over 8 million members in 85 countries looking to trade or give away items that are otherwise may be destined for the landfill. On Mark Boyle’s website, Just For The Love of It, he has a wealth of resources to live within what he has termed the Freeconomy. Here you can meet people, learn skills, trade tools and survival items, and even write about your own experiences to help educate others.

Do it Yourself: If you absolutely must have your nails manicured or get frequent haircuts, why not do them yourself? Is it that important to have a “professionally” groomed hairdo? Determine what services that you pay for that can be done yourself. Mow your own lawn, wash your own car and change your own oil; hand wash your dishes instead of piling them into the dishwasher; and learn other new skills for increased self-sufficiency.

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/02/10-tips-to-simplify-or-survive-during.html

Bartering, Inflation and Growing a Garden

Monday, February 14, 2011 5:34

TruthisTreason.net – Kevin Hayden

Thanks to “just in time” inventory practices; America has an average of just three days of food on its grocery shelves. Inventories are kept extremely well managed and tight thanks to the amazing efficiency of modern day transportation and manufacturing systems. Depending on your age, you might remember when grocery stores had excess stock and inventory in the “back room.” Those days are long gone. If the “just in time” trucks stop rolling for any reason, your local grocery store will be empty within days and that’s even in good times!

If a disaster were to strike – natural or manmade – you could expect those shelves to be bare within hours. The recent blizzards and snowstorms blanketing the United States are a perfect example of why it pays to be prepared. When you watch the news and the weatherman says a life-threatening cold front is coming your direction with 15? of snow, or a hurricane is forming, do you:

a) rush to the grocery store to make sure you have enough beer, hotdogs and Doritos?
b) make a last minute stop on your way home from work to top off your supply of water, a few essentials and maybe some extra toilet paper?
c) rest easy knowing that you have several weeks worth of quality food, essential items, water and instead, spend that time getting fuel, securing cold rooms and windows and relaxing while everyone else is in a brawl at the grocery store, fighting over the last package of Oreos and Spam?
…or d) You’ve never given it much thought and just figure that if it gets bad enough, someone else – such as the Government or Red Cross – will take care of you.

These are very real things to think about. It doesn’t take much to break that “supply chain” that we all take for granted. High diesel costs will bring those truckers to a grinding halt across the United States. In 2009, several national trucking companies went into bankruptcy and many more could barely afford the high fuel costs. What did they do? They told their drivers to park the truck, walk away and to find their own ride back home. Luckily, that was short lived and the larger companies pulled through, along with a lot of the independent owner/operators. But their profits took a beating and I wouldn’t count on them spending their own money just to get supplies to your local store everytime.

I’m sure most of us find ourselves somewhere in the middle of those choices outlined above, but why risk it? And furthermore, having supplies, food and the essentials ahead of time mean that you’ll likely be spending less of your hard-earned paycheck.

If we were to experience a disaster on a national level, we would likely see sky-rocketing prices very quickly. Some of it will occur because of the actual cost but mostly because many humans are just greedy and fearful. They will exploit the free-market ideals and twist them in ways that make them feel better about their business practices. Sure, there is a valid argument for raising prices in times of limited supply, but many take advantage of this and the longer a disaster or supply problem exists, the higher the prices will go.

Enter Big Daddy Government, Stage Left

Most governments have price and wage control measures in place or waiting to go into effect at a moment’s notice. And whether you lean to the right or to the left, understand that with our current form of “division of labor” type economy, producers will stop producing if mandated price controls effect their bottom line hard enough. Let’s imagine you make a product – Widget X. This could be food items, clothing or even a service you provide. And suppose our economy starts to see some inflation, whether naturally or due to disaster. With the value of your dollar dropping by the day and items technically costing more and more to produce in dollar terms, what would you do if the Government informed you that the price was “locked in” on your Widget X and you couldn’t raise it? Period.

As the inflation or demand continues to rise, you find that your cost to produce the item at wholesale has risen above the retail price ”locked” on it. Would you continue producing your Widget X if it costs you more money to produce it than sell it? Of course not. This merely shows one example of the dangers of price and wage controls. The market – whether it’s the free market or the underground black market – will always dominate. It’s in our nature to seek out the best deal for our dollar. While some types of socialism or even communism might make us feel better about ourselves or paint a happy face on the global problem of poverty by sharing or redistributing wealth and resources, it can not succeed and maintain itself. The free market idea has it’s own problems, but it will inherently come out on top due to human nature.

“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” – Margaret Thatcher

The Problem with Paper Money

An important issue that needs to be understood before disaster sets in is that you will not be able to buy your way out of it. A hurricane or similar short-term event? Sure. But after a few days, you’ll quickly realize that your dollar bills either don’t go nearly far enough or people will flat out refuse them. A fiat currency has no value in post-disaster realms. During Hurricane Katrina, I was a police officer in New Orleans and it showed me that particular side of the economy and humanity. It taught me a lot of lessons. Not many people in America can truly understand the mentality and atmosphere during a total societal collapse like that experienced in New Orleans.

Unless you had fuel, food, alcohol or ice, you couldn’t really engage in many business transactions. Several people were offering ammunition (due to their own ignorance, I suspect) but as often as we see the need for post-apocalyptic ammunition and hoardes of firearms in movies and books, it just didn’t exist unless you were one of the people looking for trouble. Keep in mind, this was a short-term event with a light at the end of the tunnel. The same does not apply for national, long-term collapse.

During those few weeks, I saw an incredible demand for fuel (mainly for generators), alcohol and 12v pumps of various types; those that could pump fuel from gas station reserves or those that could pump water. Along those lines, five gallon gas cans were a hot commodity, as well. In the downtown area (near the bars), I discovered that several bags of ice could be traded for alcohol, which could then be traded for just about anything, especially food. I was amazed at how many National Guard soldiers would offer four or five cases of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) in exchange for one bottle of cheap booze. I could then trade that food to regular folk or contractors coming into town for any number of items that I needed, including more alcohol, toiletries or fuel.

In short term events, your silver and gold will not go far and will be wasted. Most people do not understand the value of these metals, especially when they simply crave the basic essentials for another week or two. Obviously, you should hold both of these metals in your inventory, but their advantage comes into full effect when it’s a national or long-term incident, along with simply preserving your wealth as the fiat currency crumbles or is refused.

So what does all of this mean? Well, let’s get into some of the food related items that I think would be valuable from a bartering standpoint in a long-term event, such as a full blown economic meltdown, hyperinflation, domestic war, massive stock market crash, martial law, large scale natural disasters, and the like. An important note to remember when developing an “insurance plan” is that buying or acquiring most of these items when the event happens will be next to impossible. That’s why you need to start your insurance plan right now. If nothing else, look at it as an investment – I think we can all agree that food prices will continue to rise, at least another 10%-20% over the next 12 months. Leading economists and investment firms have told their clients to expect $5/gallon gasoline by the end of 2011 even if the world doesn’t erupt into conflict. The recent freeze in Mexico has destroyed the spring crop, pushing prices of simple items such as tomatoes to quadruple levels overnight. So, buying now will offer you at least a 10% return on your investment. See where I’m going with this?

Some of this information (and more!) can also be found in my article, ‘Get Out of the Dollar and Into Tangibles’ but that focuses on preserving your wealth and finances in a collapse as opposed to listing bartering items and what is needed in order to engage in an alternative economy, feed yourself and survive.

Food Storage (or Insurance Plan)

Having a good supply of food that you regularly eat is invaluable for short or long term events. This prevents you from having to barter or trade items of value for food. And with that food storage plan, comes knowledge about what will preserve and under what conditions, how to rotate foods, how to can meats and vegetables, along with growing a garden – including livestock and farm crops. A solid food plan is a large topic by itself, but there are some very simple things you can do right now to greatly increase your wealth, insurance against disaster and supply you with bartering items.

Canning, dehydrating and hunting food -

Purchase canning and related supplies now, not the day before a disaster. There won’t be any left on the shelves “later.”
- This includes jars, lids, rings, quality pressure canner and the knowledge to operate it safely. A trustworthy and well-respected source for this knowledge and plenty of recipes is the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving .
- Learn the art of dehydrating, including what types of meat and preparation is required, along with what fruits and vegetables make for good snacks.
If you think you’ll simply go hunting when times get rough, you’re in for a surprise. Every other cubicle worker and blue collar citizen will have the same idea.
- If you own land and have game available, do you have the facilities or space to process it? And even if you are a weekend deer hunter, do you have the ability to preserve that meat without power or electricity?
- You can also preserve your meats by dehydrating them, turning them to jerky which will last a very long time.
- Do you have a way to defend or contain the game on your own lands when other hunters trespass? How far will you go to protect your hunting grounds?
- If you plan to hunt public lands or wherever you can find a target, in certain natural disasters, there might not be any animals. Just you and a dozen other people in a forest with the same idea and hungry. And armed.
Dry goods and foods that store well are a key component in most “insurance plans.”
- Basic stocks such as rice, varieties of beans, sugar, pastas, spices, wheat and more can store very well for years with minimal effort.
- Peanut butter is a great item to include in your storage. It is protein-rich, has fatty oils and can be paired with a variety of foods. Obviously, this is not the healthiest thing, but in a time of disaster, you will expend a lot of calories and peanuts or peanut butter can replenish those quickly. It is also good to have on hand for people that have insulin and blood sugar problems.
- Pastas are a comfort food for many. Easy to cook and offering an almost limitless menu, pastas go well with vegetables, meats and even basic spices. It also stores very, very well and is cheap.
- Canned cat and dog food can save you a lot of money and stress, as well. Many people forget about preparing for their animals. During Katrina, I saved more poor, ‘left for dead’ animals than humans and it was sickening.
- Powdered milk and vitamins are also great bartering items and can help provide essential nutrients.
- Buying in bulk can save you even more money right now. Many chain stores and food manufacturers have already stated their prices will rise 5% – 15% this year.
- You can spend less than $20 per week and within a very, very short time you’ll have a sizable, albeit basic stock that can get you through losing a job, natural disaster or economic problems. It will also put you light years ahead of the majority of people in this country by providing you with a 30, 60 or even 90 day supply of food.
Water supply is another major issue when it comes to a food storage plan. Without, life becomes extremely miserable.
- Average human consumption and needs for clean water comes in at around one gallon per day, per person. This is the minimum amount for cooking and drinking.
- Factor in washing dishes, flushing a toilet, extra drinking supplies, hygiene, and you’ve reached anywhere between 3 gallons per day up to 10 gallons per day.
- Are you watering crops? Even small rows and plants need a lot of water. Rain water collection can supplement this greatly, but depends on your region and collection methods.
- Quality filters can also help if you have access to a pond, lake, river, stream, or even contaminated city water. During Hurricane Katrina, I developed a severe infection from simply brushing my teeth with water I was told was safe. It even looked clean. Turns out it wasn’t. I then had to search for antibiotics in a city where there were no doctors, no hospitals and no emergency rooms. I was also forced to simply take the word of people who said they knew what type of antibiotic would treat the infection or what I should be looking for. Only because I was a police officer did I locate some and I’ll leave it at that.
- Dirty water brings a lot of dangers with it. Basic medical knowledge, however, can negate a lot of the dangers when it comes to poor food, dirty water and their related illnesses - but a quality filter is a must!
- These can be backpacking filters, a Berkey filter or others. Check their ratings and filtering level. Also, extra filters are a good idea!

If you didn’t have any food storage, imagine what you would be faced with and how you would have to live, even for a short while. You will have become a refugee – wholly dependent on others for your most basic need – food and water. If you become a refugee, nothing else will matter anymore because you will spend your time searching for the basics and in doing so, will encounter many more dangers from all angles than someone who can relax in their home with 6 months worth of food.

Bartering Food Items -

By having a supply of food or a food related service, you can then barter these for other goods that you need, such as fuel, entertainment, energy, etc. The knowledge and ability to create food is highly valuable in post-disaster situations. Having even a small vegetable garden can make you wealthy in terms of survival. But with this ability comes several things to consider;

Gardens, seeds and how to grow them -
- Now is the time to practice. Now is the time to learn what grows well and how to care for it. Now is the time to supplement your kitchen with fresh vegetables and fruits. Waiting until the disaster is knocking on your front door will lead you to doom.
- Quality garden seeds, especially GMO-free seeds (non-genetically modified) are needed for nutrient dense crops. These are key to long-term post-disaster situations. Many genetically modified crops will not produce seed for the next season. This is very important to know and realize before planting and contaminating your soil. There are also many dangers associated with GMO crops, such as liver damage, cancer in lab mice, reproductive problems – especially in men, and much less nutritional value. Couple that with a gene modified to intentionally not reproduce and it can lead you to starvation or having nothing to barter. I recommend you check out the Patriot Seed Store – they offer heirloom, non-GMO seeds in a wide variety of crops. They even have a Seed Vault that contains 5,000 seeds in order to get you started with a very large garden. But learning this now is vital. Don’t buy a bucket of seeds and think you can plant them if the economy fails. You’re setting yourself up for disaster by doing that.
- Learning how to plant, nurture and grow basic crops now can also save you tremendous amounts of money. I don’t think I have to explain the benefit in that one.
- Region, soil types and rain levels will greatly effect your plants. Figuring this out now will return massive dividends later.
- Gardening is not rocket science. Some basic knowledge about different soil types, companion planting and how to naturally fertilize your plants will give you a garden, even in a small apartment or urban area.
- Gardening can also turn into a profitable venture when it comes to bartering. I know many gardeners and farmers who make an additional $5,000 or even $10,000 a year maintaining some very basic crops or animals.
- Sustainable (or permaculture) gardening practices can also increase benefits by nurturing other plants, trees, animals and more. Remember, at it’s very core, life is a cycle. The same goes for your backyard and garden!

Even as this article is being written, food crops in Mexico have been laid to waste due to freezing temperatures, your dollar has lost a little bit more of it’s value, the Federal Reserve has continued an unsustainable program of buying America’s debt and another American just suffered a personal disaster by losing her job.

Are you going to wait until the storm is on the horizon to act?

____________________________________

Kevin Hayden is a former New Orleans police officer-turned-political activist. He endured Hurricane Katrina’s chaos and societal collapse in the days following and after 5 years in New Orleans, he moved to Oklahoma. Kevin currently runs www.TruthisTreason.net and works on local politics and education about our monetary, food and foreign policies while building an off-grid homestead and helping people become prepared. He can be contacted directly at Contact@TruthisTreason.net or by visiting his website, TruthisTreason.net

http://beforeitsnews.com/story/417/206/Bartering,_Inflation_and_Growing_a_Garden.html

People are thinking about preparedness now...
(From a newsgroup)

I’m 48 and not really a “survivor” like so many here. I’m still learning
and ( like Winston) have a wife that’s not helping much. Also, little kids.
It’s hard to go cache something when it’s your turn to cover school pick-ups
and dinner.

That said, I think pursuing Survival is a great cause. Anything that promotes
personal indepence is worthwhile as gov’t power ( and “civil rights” ) always
come at the cost of individual liberties. Whether that is neccessary or not is
a matter of opinion.

It is still my personal opinion that Survivalism is largely a rural option for
many reasons, not the least of which is that when YOU are the only one on the
block or in the apart. bldg. with heat, h2o, and food in any long-term survival
scenario it won’t be long before the neighbors come knocking. Think of some
of the old Twilight Zone episodes for what comes next. Also, survivalism does
need some money and some time. What ? You go camping 5 times a year and don’t
hardly pay a dime ? Most people I know couldn’t get that much leave if they paid
for it. So there is certainly a cynical side to survivalism — that is, the diff
between what books say and what working families in the ‘burbs can actually do
and/or afford.

So just give up and die ? Not at all. But you need to be realistic; All your
skills won’t help you when an NBC attack in your area leaves you and your
family on a Nat’l Guard truck with 5 other families heading for the Camp
with one bag only ( and that searched for “contraband”). Survivalism does good
with disaster — fair with collapse — poorly with betrayal or corruption, or
wholesale repression. All need to be considered carefully. Despite the Rambo
movies, even your mighty skills and weaponry will be of little use againest a
platoon of reasonably equipped Nat’l Guardsmen. I’d rather be the first to join
the resistance with all my stores gone, than the first againest the wall with my
“ideals” still intact.

Will “IT” happen in our lifetimes ? I think it is more likely now than it ever
was. Why ? First, because the Nuclear Genie has never been closer to getting
out of the bag. Second, because as others have said above, society/industry
is less able to absorb severe disruption or provide lasting response to urgent
need. We are the most successful country on earth but now we require continued
success just to keep heads above water. Third, bcause the powers of American
gov’t have never had greater potential for repression. The western cowpoke of
the 1870’s would consider you a Wage Slave; How will you see your Great-Great
Grand-Kids if you could live that long ?

Finally you might ask yourself if you involvement with survivalism really
requires the sense of urgency that TEOTWAWKI scenarios always promote.
I see survivalism like a good 401K. A reasonable option that should be adopted
to your own best level and then, like the 401K, nutured and expanded upon as
needs and resources allow. Simply put, it is a smart choice.

Andrew

really andrew
good luck man
learn to make it yourself it will not be good but otherwise
bow to the gov. death is not the worst thing that can happen
keep your honor

University of Guelph has both an in-depth cheese making site ( http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/cheese/welcom.htm )as well as the Home making of cheese (shown below). (Daughter talking about dairy goats again - still have all the equipment - maybe.... Just maybe, will think about doing it again. Posted just in case someone else has the hankering. Hmmm, wonder if all those rennet tablets I still have are still good?)

Making Cheese at Home

Dr. A.R. Hill

Department of Food Science

University of Guelph, ON N1G 2W1

Email: arhill@uoguelph.ca

Cheese is made from the milk of goats, sheep, buffalo, reindeer, camel, llama, and yak but is usually made from cow’s milk. Cow’s milk is about 88% water and the remainder is fat, protein, sugar, minerals and vitamins. In the process of cheese-making, most of the protein, fat and some minerals and vitamins are concentrated and separated as a solid. The remaining liquid, called ‘whey’, contains most of the sugar and water and some protein, minerals and vitamins. Whey is utilized in foods and feeds or disposed of as waste.

There are two principal agents which bring about the concentration and separation of protein and fat to make cheese, namely, bacterial culture and coagulating enzyme.

Bacterial culture

Bacteria are often responsible for food spoilage but there are also many useful types. During the manufacture of cheese and other cultured dairy products lactic acid bacteria change the milk sugar to lactic acid. The acid acts as a preservative by inhibiting undesirable types of bacteria, helps remove water from the curd (formation of curd is described in the next section) and is important to the development of cheese texture. The lactic acid bacteria and other microorganisms which happen to be present in the cheese contribute enzymes which break down fats, proteins and sugar during aging to produce flavours characteristic of particular cheese varieties. Lactic acid bacteria are naturally present in milk, and cheese can be made by holding fresh milk in a warm environment. However, this process is slow and cheese quality tends to be inconsistent. It is recommended that the milk be pasteurized by heating at 60-62C (140-144F) for 30 min . This heat treatment will destroy most lactic acid bacteria in the milk and will also destroy pathogenic bacteria which may cause food illness. Note that over pasteurization will prevent proper coagulation. Most store bought milk is unsuitable for cheese making because it has received too much heat treatment.

After pasteurization the milk is cooled to 32-37C (89.6-98.6F) and lactic acid bacteria are added to the milk. The suspension of bacteria is called a ‘culture’ and the process of adding the culture to the milk is called ‘inoculation’. The culture may be a frozen or freeze-dried concentrate of bacterial cells or it could be cultured milk (milk in which lactic acid bacteria have been allowed to grow). Different bacterial cultures are recommended for specific types of cheese but most types can be made using fresh, plain yoghurt or buttermilk as a culture. If yoghurt is used, the milk should be inoculated at 37C. Buttermilk contains gas forming bacteria and may cause the development of small eyes in some cheese. In addition to bacteria, some types of cheese such as ‘blue’ and ‘camembert’ are inoculated with mould to develop characteristic appearance and flavour.

Coagulating enzymes

Proteins can be thought of as long microscopic chains. Various food products such as jello, jams and cheese depend on the ability of protein chains to intertwine and form a mesh-like network. The formation of this network is called ‘coagulation’. When proteins coagulate in water, they trap water in the network and change the liquid to a semisolid gel. In cheese-making gelation is caused by an enzyme, ‘rennet’. When rennet is added to warm milk, the liquid milk is transformed into a soft gel. When the gel is firm enough, it is cut into small pieces, 0.5-1.0 cm square (1/4-3/8 inch) called ‘curds’.

Exceptions

Certain types of cheese such as some types of Queso Blanco (Latin American countries) and Paneer (India) are made without bacterial cultures and without rennet. In these types, curd is formed by adding vinegar (or other acid juices) to hot milk. A procedure for heat-acid precipitated Queso Blanco is included in this booklet because it is one of the most simple varieties to make and has the advantage that all the milk proteins including proteins normally lost in the whey are included in the cheese. Some fresh cheese (i.e. cheese which are eaten immediately after manufacture) such as Cottage cheese and quark are made with little or no rennet. In these cheese, coagulation is caused by high acid development by the bacterial culture. A procedure for fresh cheese or European style Cottage cheese is included.

Cheese-making supplies and training

For the home cheese maker, a start up set of supplies should include: a pasteuriser, cheese mould, cheese press, dairy thermometer or any food grade thermometer for the range of 0 to 100C, and cheese cloth. Bacterial cultures and rennet can sometimes be purchased in natural food stores.

Small scale cheese making equipment and other supplies, including literature, can be obtained from New England Cheese Making Supply Company, 85 Main St., Ashfield, MA 01330 (413-628-3808; Fax: 413-628-4061).

Cheese making supplies and one day courses in cheese making are available from Glengarry Cheesemaking and Dairy Supplies, RR#2,Alexandria, Ontario, K0C 1A0 Phone: (613) 525-3133, Fax: (613) 525-3394, glengarrycheesemaking.on.ca

Cultures, rennet, cheesemaking equipment and other supplies are available from Danlac, 466 Summerwood Place, Airdrie, Alberta, T4B 1W5, Phone 403-948-4644, Fax 403-948-4643, www.danlac.com, e-mail Egon Skovmose: egon@danlac.com

Freeze dried cultures and rennet in tablet form are available in large orders from Chr. Hansens Laboratories Ltd., 1146 Aerowood Drive, Mississauga, L4N 1Y5, 905-625-8157, and from Rhodia Canada Inc., 2000 Argentia Road, Plaza 3, Suite 400, Mississauga, Ontario, L5N 1V9, Phone 905-821-4450, Fax 905-821-9339. Call and ask about retail distributors closest to you.

Some References

Alfa-Laval. Dairy Handbook. Alfa-Laval, Food Engineering AB. P.O. Box 65, S-221 00 Lund, Sweden. [Well illustrated text. Excellent introduction to dairy technology].

American Public Health Association, Standard Methods for the examination of dairy products. 1015 Eighteenth St. NW, Washington, D.C.

Berger, W., Klostermeyer, H., Merkenich, K. and Uhlmann, G. 1989. Processed Cheese Manufacture, A JOHA guide. BK Ladenburg, Ladenburg.

Carroll, R. and Carroll, R. 1982. Cheese making made easy. Storey Communications Inc., Ponnal, Vermont. [Well illustrated manual for small and home cheese making operations]

Kosikowski, F.V. and Mistry, V.V. 1997. Cheese and Fermented Milk Foods, 3rd Edition, F.V. Kosikowski and Associates, Brooktondale, NY.

Law, B. 1999. Technology of cheese making Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield, UK.

Scott, R., Robinson, R.K. and Wilbey, R.A. 1998. Cheese making Practice. 3rd Edition. Applied Science. Publ. Ltd., London.

Troller, J.A. 1993. Sanitation in Food Processing. 2nd Edition. Academic Press. New York.

Walstra, P., Geurts, T.J., Noomen, A., Jellema, A. and van Boekel, M.A.. 1999. Dairy Technology. Marcel Dekker Inc. New York, NY.

Websites

Food Science University of Guelph: www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/dairyedu/home.html

Centre For Dairy Research, Madison, WI. www.cdr.wisc.edu/

Canadian Dairy Information Centre, www.dairyinfo.agr.ca/cdicmain.htm

The basics of making cheese, www.britishcheese.com

CheeseNet , cheesenet.wgx.com/

SWEET CURD BRICK CHEESE

Brick cheese is a semi-soft ripened cheese. Its texture and flavour is derived from the action of bacteria which grow on the surface of the cheese. It is usually formed in the shape of a loaf.

Procedure

1. Pasteurize whole milk by heating at 62C for 30 min. Do not over pasteurize.

2. Cool milk to 30C and add 25 ml of low temperature (sometimes called mesophyllic cheese starter and 2 ml of rennet per 10 kg of milk. (Note: a bacterial smear should develop spontaneously during ripening in the wet room (Step 12), however, you can increase the success rate and uniformity by adding a smear culture with the lactic culture. Suitable cultures are available from many culture suppliers)

3. When the milk gel breaks cleanly on a knife (about 25 minutes after adding rennet), cut the gel into 1/4” cubes.

4. Stir gently for 10 minutes.

5. Begin cooking. Slowly raise the temperature to 36C. This should take 20 minutes.

6. Remove most of the whey but leave enough to cover the curd.

7. Add water at 36C to wash the curd. Add the equivalent of half the weight of the milk and agitate gently for 20 minutes.

8. Drain most of the whey but leave enough to cover the curd.

9. Pour the curd and remaining wash water into the hoops.

10. Turn the cheese after the first 30 minutes and then every hour for 4 hours (5 turns in all).

11. Rub salt over the entire surface of the cheese.

12. Store cheese in a wet room (95% humidity) at 12-15C to develop a smear (bacterial growth on surface) for about 2 weeks. Turn the cheese every second or third day and wash with 4% brine. In the absence of a wet room you can put the cheese in a covered but not sealed container. The interior must remain moist and have some air exchange.

13. Wash cheese to remove smear, dry and vacuum package or coat with paraffin. Store at 5C for further ripening. Flavour should be optimum after about 4 weeks of ripening.

EUROPEAN STYLE COTTAGE CHEESE

European style cottage cheese has small curds and is often heavily creamed. The milk is coagulated by a lactic culture without rennet or other coagulating enzyme.

Procedure

1. Skim as much cream as possible from fresh milk.

2. Pasteurize the skim milk at 62C for 30 minutes and the cream at 70C for 30 minutes.

3. Cool the skim milk to 32C.

4. Add a low temperature cheese starter at the rate of 5%, i.e. 0.5 kg starter for every 10 kg of milk. Let milk set for 4-6 hours until a soft gel is formed. When broken with a knive or a blunt object the curd should break cleanly and the broken portion should fill up with clear whey. Alternatively, 1% of culture may be used with a setting time of 12-18 hours.

5. Stir gently and heat slowly to 52C. Hold at this temperature until curd is firm, about 30 minutes.

6. Drain most of the whey, replace it with cold water and agitate gently for 15 minutes to leach the acid flavour from the curd. Washing may be omitted if you prefer an acid cheese.

7. Drain the remaining whey and wash water.

8. Add cream or cream dressing to the curd according to taste.

Note: It may be convenient to drain the curd in a cloth bag, in which case, it could be washed by soaking the whole bag in cold water for 15 minutes.

NO-RENNET QUESO BLANCO (LATIN AMERICAN WHITE CHEESE)

Heat-acid or no-rennet Queso Blanco is a white, semi-hard cheese made without culture or rennet. It is eaten fresh and may be flavoured with peppers, caraway, onions, etc. It belongs to a family of “frying cheeses” which do not melt and may be deep fried or barbecued to a golden brown for a tasty snack. Deep fried Queso Blanco may be steeped in a sugar syrup for a dessert dish or added to soup as croutons. The procedure given here is similar to the manufacture of Indian Paneer and Channa which is made by adding acid to hot milk. Ricotta cheese is also made by heat-acid precipitation of proteins from blends of milk and whey. Latin American white cheese is also made by renneting whole milk with little or no bacterial culture. Rennet Queso Blanco is also useful as a frying cheese because its lack of acidity gives it low meltability.

Procedure -

1. Heat milk to 80C for 20 minutes.

2. Add vinegar (5% acetic acid) at the rate of about 175 ml per 5 kg of milk. Vinegar should be diluted in two equal volumes of water and then added slowly to the hot milk until the whey is semi-clear and the curd particles begin to mat together and become slightly stretchy. You should be able to stretch a piece of curd about 1 cm before it breaks. It may not be necessary to add all of the vinegar.

3. Separate the curd by filtering through a cloth bag until free whey is removed.

4. Work in salt (about 1%) and spices to taste.

5. Press the curd (high pressure is not required).

6. Package curd in boilable bags (vacuum package if possible) and place in boiling water for 5 minutes to sterilize the surface and prevent mould growth.

7. Queso Blanco may keep for several weeks if properly packed but should be eaten as fresh as possible.

RICOTTA CHEESE RECIPE

1. Heat fresh whey to 85C. Heating must begin immediately after the whey is removed from the curd to prevent further acidification by the lactic acid bacteria. Some small curd particles will form.

2. Slowly add about 10 ml of vinegar per litre of whey with gentle agitation. You will see more curd particles forming and the whey will become less ‘milky’.

3. Pour into a cloth to separate the curds. After the curd is dripped dry it is ready to eat. Use it in lasagna or eat as a side dish along with the main course or use it like cottage cheese in salads.

Notes

Before heating the whey, you can add up to 10% whole milk (that is, 100 ml of milk in 1 litre of whey). Addition of milk will help form larger curds which are easier to separate and the cheese will have a better texture. You also have to add more vinegar depending on the amount of milk. Continue adding vinegar until the whey is quite clear. By adding the vinegar slowly over a time period of about 5 minutes you will obtain better quality curd and it will be easier to know when to stop.

http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/dairyedu/cheese2.html

INPUT DESIRED!

Just over a month ago, Jim & John posted a thread seeking ideas on how to keep FR going if Gov’t. closing down sites or groups of internet sectors.

The easy answer is to just throw in the towel - but that’s not in my genes.....

While they may pull an Egypt, I doubt that they would shut down ALL the avenues of communication. They would probably hit the Facebooks, Twitters and many of the social media (as they call it), I do not think they would close down the tunnels for VPNs and probably not the email, but SMS would probably get cut.

If email remained, what would everyone think of setting up a LISTSERV email list (for those who don’t remember them, it works by forwarding an email you send to it to all on the list. Even if some individuals are cut off, it would just bypass them and continue sending to all other participants. This could be redundant - more than one person could have the software, and if one server is knocked out, another could fire up in minutes.

I know, you don’t want 20 emails every day - well, there are usually options for once daily or once weekly summaries, AND if you use a resident email program like Outlook Express or Thunderbird (or others) instead of leaving your mail on hotmail or gmail as a web mail, you can set up a rule and have it all put into a dedicated directory (as I have done with the high tunnels group - now over 4,000 emails I can reference on setting up, using, high tunnels and all the experiences people have had in growing different crops in them) That way, they are out of your way unless you want to review them.

Anyway, thoughts, criticisms, other suggestions?????

Can somebody please recommend a reasonably priced (ie < $1000) backyard greenhouse. I figure it is time to make the jump and be able to extend the growing season for food. Thank you all for any suggestions—make that helpful suggestions. Gotta weed out the joksters.

Whew - not a lot to go on...

Size, crops, climate or even space available.
You may be best advised to start small and grow from there, such as:

http://www.backyardgardening.net/article/raised-bed-hoop-house/

A bit larger:

http://www.pvcplans.com/ArchGrnHouse.pdf

Some helpful items:

http://www.snapclamp.com/

Or bought ones:

http://www.gardeners.com/Compact-Greenhouses/GreenhousesSheds_CompactGreenhouses,default,sc.html

Hope that helps a bit...

thanks for the info.
I’ve got a few goats milked 1 last year and did make a little cheese it tasted good
should have some baby goats soon then time to start milking
i should look in the freezer may have a few gal's left in there somewhere

>>>i should look in the freezer may have a few gal’s left in there somewhere<<<

LOL, last summer I finally fed the last of the frozen goat milk to the chickens. They absolutely loved it on hot summer days...

Goats are a trip - turn their nose up at the best leafy alfalfa hay and go stand on their hind legs and stretch as far as they could to get one more holly leaf (of all things) and if they get near a crape myrtle, it’s gone. I won’t even go into their affinity for strawberries...

Between the entertainment they provide and the milk, they are great animals... The last nubian doe we had was a great watchdog too - driving more than one person back into their cars. (she would rare up and try to butt intruders on the way down - believe me, she knew who belonged here and who didn’t.)

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/33430

Coverin the bases: Seeds, Garden tools, Cookware, firewood

Self-reliance in these tough economic times

By Dub and Deb Thursday, February 17, 2011

Hello everyone, and thanks for dropping back in for today’s Coverin the Bases! I hope everyone is doing well.

Today we’ll continue discussing the checklist Deb and I had put together in our attempt to become more self-reliant in regards to the tough economic times we’re all faced with. This is by no means the “how-to manual,” of survival and we don’t have all the answers or profess to. This is merely suggestions to you folks of the concern we have, and what we’re doing to help ourselves if our economy continues on its present course.

We live on 68 acres here in Central Florida. The State owns several thousand acres, in front and behind us, though they only kick in about halfway down our property in the back of us. This is because behind us there’s a road that we own out to the highway. Our property, as well as the State’s, is all pinewoods, swamps, and scrub with our place having pasture as well. Actually this is the typical native Florida landscape.

This creates two big pluses for us right off the bat. One is, NO development, and that’s becoming really hard to find in our area anymore, and the other is an abundance of wildlife. We have deer, turkey, hogs, and all the little critters, possum, coon, squirrels, and the like. One problem we’re really starting to have, though is the presence of coyotes.

We’ve only seen one, but those jokers are slick. There was a night awhile back though, where they were in the woods behind our house, and man, they were making a racket. It sounded as if there were 15 to 20 of them.

Well, now you have a basic idea of how Deb and I live, and under what types of conditions. We lock our gate in the late afternoon, and we’re done until we unlock it the next morning…just like we like it! We’re very blessed!

After spending the last couple columns talking about gardening, let’s touch briefly today on gardening tools and seeds. Again, I’m no expert, but I’m attempting to share with you things once more that we’ve done. By this, hopefully you guys can see some of your own needs through our examples, and then utilize our suggestions and adapt them to fit your own particular needs. Make sense? I sure hope so!
Seeds:

These are what you plant in the ground. Let’s move on to the next subject! LOL!

I’m gonna be honest with you guys in all I try to say, or even teach to you, and if you feel shortchanged at all, don’t think I’m holding back, I’m probably only reaching the end of my expertise. So to all you guys and gals out there with more in depth knowledge of these subjects, write to us and help out please!

I do know in regards to seeds, that the number of types and varieties are endless. I do believe I’m correct in this next statement…hybrid seeds will not reproduce. If this is truly the case, then if you want to be able to enjoy drying some of your vegetable seeds to plant for next year’s crop, don’t buy hybrid.

To make this really simple I’ll tell you what Deb and I do. We go down to our local feed store and get help. Help with varieties, spacing of the seeds while planting, depth to plant, heights and widths in regards to row spacing, length before crops produce, literally anything we can think of.

They get tired of seeing us come in! But we go to a small town, family run feed store, and they are very knowledgeable in ALL the products they carry from seeds to what kind of shots you can give your pets yourself. Good people who appreciate your business and don’t mind taking the time to answer your questions.

That being said, I’d go to a feed store. You can buy seeds from catalogs, off the internet, from Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc., but 9 times out of 10, we’re at Summerlins!

Tomatoes we normally get from one of the above as plants. We just always buy tomato plants, they grow off quicker, but we’ll probably get some seeds this year and possibly put them up. Debbie has a brother-in-law, J.H., who is a regular Mr. “Greenjeans,” if any of ya’ll out there remember Captain Kangaroo? That’s telling on my age isn’t it?

Remember, when setting out your tomato plants, always dig your hole deep enough to plant 2/3 the height of the plant in the ground.

Important…2/3 of your tomato plant in ground, 1/3 plant above ground. It sounds elementary, but in fact is important and will make better plants.

Anyway J.H. freezes his leftover seeds and tells me he’s used them 4-5 years later, no problem. We personally haven’t tried it, but I’m sure we will this year, as Deb and I both are under the impression we may want to “over buy” in regards to seeds this year.

I do feel if at all possible people need to plant gardens. They don’t have to be large, with all kinds of different vegetables. This was one reason for the videos showing different types of gardens in the last column, so you could see the different choices and choose one that would fit your needs.

In closing out, grow the produce you and your family like, if not you’re wasting garden space!

One other thing and I’ve mentioned it before…buy a copy of The Old Farmer’s Almanac! A tremendous wealth of information! I love them!
Gardening Tools:

From the description I’ve given of our place, some of these other things on our checklist we normally have on hand 24-7, as we use them fairly frequently for any number of “projects.” Now with that said, we have picked up some extra handles for some of our hand-tools. This is just a precaution, but at times it does save us a trip to town.

For example, we were building some new fence and one of the posthole digger’s handels snapped. We just went to the barn, grabbed a new handle, and were right back in business. Now, next trip to town, we’ll just grab another handle to have on hand once more.

For a backyard raised garden I think you’d need a shovel, a hoe, and a few small hand gardening tools, a little spade for your planting holes, if planting tomato plants as an example. Possibly a little handheld 3-tined rake, that’s not the correct name, but it can be used to aerate the soil around your plants.

A water bucket maybe, your regular water hose with a spray adaptor, and possibly a large package of Miracle Grow that you could apply via your water bucket, or they have an in-line system that screws onto your water hose and is fed to your plants in that fashion.

For your tomato plants and taller growing veggies, you’ll need tomato “cages,” or a trellis, or if you watched the videos you saw an example of a lady using string tied at different angles for supports, so she could lay her tomato limbs over the strings and continue doing this as they got taller, to keep them upright.

We use wooden stakes, or even 1-1/2”or 2” PVC as well. We drive them in beside the plant, and as the plant grows I then tie the stalk to the stake for support. I use old rags torn in thin strips to not injure the stalk.
Cast Iron Cookware and Dutch Ovens:

In regards to cast iron cookware and Dutch ovens, we feel there is a need for both. Deb for an example, uses her cast iron skillet in making cornbread and hoe cakes. She also fries her chicken in them as well.

When cleaning your cast iron pans, many say don’t use soap and water as this helps leach the seasoning from the pan, which in turn causes sticking, or possibly rust spots. These are correct statements. They merely wipe down the pans after use with a paper towel or old rag, and this works, and is exactly what we do most of the time.

But, every so often we will wash them quickly in soapy water just to clean thoroughly. After doing this, we immediately dry the pans completely with a hand towel making sure all moisture is dried out of the pan, then put it on a stove burner on low heat for just a minute or two.

If you’re cooking with your cast iron pans and they stick, they need to be re-seasoned. To the ones who don’t know about this, I’m sure you’re wondering, “What in the world is seasoning?”

The answer is simple. “Seasoning” is the term most used in simply oiling your pan down to prevent sticking, though not quite that easy, as there’s a little time involved in properly seasoning your cookware.

This is not something you do very often. Actually I think Deb’s only done it once, and that’s because she’d bought a new one, and it was sticking a little when cooking with it. She used Crisco (shortening) for this.

She rubbed some Crisco in the bottom of the pan that was trying to stick with a paper towel, then wiped it out best she could, trying to remove all the shortening. She then placed her pan upside down on a baking pan, and placed both in a pre-heated 375 degree oven. We know of others that season their pans at a higher oven temp, but Deb says she’s scared of a fire in the oven with grease in the pan. She lets this pan season for, she says about 35-45 minutes, takes it out and lets it air cool in the kitchen. She repeats this process three separate times. Your pan is now seasoned again.

When cooking with cast iron, literally be aware the handles get very hot, take this into consideration! But, if you take care of your cast iron cookware, it literally will last for generations!

Dutch ovens are treated basically the same. Both the Dutch ovens and your cast iron cookware can be used on the stove, in the stove, over an outdoor cook fire, even literally down in the fire! They’re very, very versatile cookware.
Firewood:

Living out like we do we always have a good supply of firewood on hand.

We use our pine wood to just have a fire with, whether it be a chilly night, or just want a fire to sit beside and watch burn, while we listen to the wood “pop” while burning. We love to have us a small fire!

We use our oak, and orange tree wood to cook over. We have a small portable grill a buddy of ours built for us. It’s about 18” high, maybe 3’x3’ square, on four legs with a solid sheet of metal welded to the legs on three sides with one side open. This allows us to turn the grill anyway we need to, in regards to blocking off the wind if needed. The grill top is just a piece of expanded metal.

I have to say that it works great. Steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage, chicken or pork chops cooked over your “flavored” woods are very, very tasty.

Having wood stockpiled comes in handy indeed. As I mentioned you can cook over it, or just have a fire to sit by, but if you are without power, this too becomes a necessity.

It can be used as warmth, heating water, outside light, or once again, if you’re without power it provides you with a way to cook meals. It is something to consider having on hand!

That’s about gonna’ wrap it up for this time, but let me quickly say how much we appreciate you reading our Coverin the Bases columns! Again, if you’d like to add something, or have any questions, please drop us a line! Until next time, God Bless you all! Keep your eyes open, and your nose in the wind!

Dub and Deb
(2) Comments
Author
Dub and Deb

Dub and Deb are both native Floridians, live in Central Florida, and run a small business as well. They have five children, and seven grandchildren.

Both love to cook, love to laugh, grow a garden, and generally try to “aggravate” most anyone around them basically…all in good fun, of course!

Dub and Deb can be reached at: dubanddebs@gmail.com

{from a usenet group}

READ THIS FIRST !

The following is my experience with soap making. There are risks in doing
this. YOU ASSUME ALL RISK INVOLVED SHOULD YOU ATTEMPT TO PRODUCE SOAP. Lye is
very caustic; it can blind you, harm your lungs and burn your skin.

This information gleaned from too many sources to call my own but are
those which come to mind at this time. This message is meant to be an
/introduction/ to this topic rather than an /exhaustive/ study.

Always study for your benefit and better knowledge before doing anything
you read on the Internet. In other words, seek professional advise first!

By now regulars of this newsgroup are aware I prefer to practise something
whenever possible before preaching it.
We decided to produce some hand soap the old fashioned way. Doubtless, this is
possibly useful in a SHTF situation and definitely for wilderness living.

Materials used (adjust to your needs):

20# fat to be rendered - we got about 10# tallow from the fat
(1) 21 quart enamelled pot with lid
(2) large wooden spoons - 1 for lye, the other for stirring liquid fat and
later used for soap
(1) large heavy plastic pitcher for mixing water and lye, plus the spout makes
for directed pouring of lye water into fat
(1) dial thermometer with a range of at least 70-200*F
(2) small plastic unused kitty litter boxes to pour soap into for cooling,
aging and cutting soap
(1) Strainer with tight mesh or cheese cloth for cleaning liquid fat of meat
particles, etc.

Getting fat:

Went to my local butcher, whom I know well enough, and asked him if I could
have his throw away fat trimmings. He gave me a box weighing roughly 20#.
When the soap is finished, I’ll give him some as a “thank you”. That isn’t
only considerate but is useful for getting more fat cuttings :)

Getting the fat out (making tallow):

Firstly, we cut all the fat to cubes of about an half inch. Then, we tried two
methods for rendering the tallow. First was boiling and the second cooking it
down. The boiling method provided far too little liquid fat as compared to
the cooking down process. Plus, the boiling method seemed to cause water to
swell the fat up to the point that displacement in the kettle was obvious.
Then there was the extra tedious step of separating the water, fat and meat
particles. So inefficient was the boiling method we drained the water and
cooked down the fat. By cooking down we collected about 10# of clean liquid
fat which was passed through a strainer twice.
All the liquid fat was placed in a large kettle and 1 quart *cold* water
slowly poured in so that when the fat solidified - required 24 hours to do -
it could be removed from the pan since the tallow was floating upon the water.
The water is also important to permit any meat particles to drift to the pot
base away from the tallow.
Upon removing the tallow from the pan a little gentle cold water washing of
what was previously the underside cleaned off anything remaining. Keep in
mind that any meat in the tallow will go rancid quickly and make for smelly
soap. Refrigerate the product if it’s to be soon used or deep freeze it for
up to a year storage.

Soap making:

Recipe used:
5 pound 10 ounces tallow
2 1/2 pints cold “soft” water
10 ounces lye crystals

The lye (no, not a fib):

IMPORTANT: Prepare all lye in a well-ventilated area or outdoors. Safety
equipment such as, but not limited to, goggles, gloves and an apron should
be worn.

We acquired 100% lye at Ace Hardware (Rooto Crystals) because we haven’t a
fireplace. If you have a fireplace, lye is made by having a large quantity
- dunno know what is meant by “large” as yet - of hardwood ash. Before using
ash, be certain there are no live embers within. The ash bucket for lye
production needs numerous holes in the base. The ash bucket is then set into
a good bucket to catch the fluid or upon a slab rock with a drain slit
going to a good bucket. The catch bucket can be ceramic, plastic capable of
handling the acid lye or most anything containing no aluminum. In the base
of the ash bucket place several small sticks or straw to permit draining of
water - this will actually be a water lye mixture - then put in the cold ashes
and run water through the ash. Whichever container you employ to catch the lye,
or mix water and lye crystals together in, should NEVER BE ANYTHING MADE OF
ALUMINUM for lye will dissolve it. Also leave out Teflon coated equipment. In
fact, using stainless steal, enamel coated steel or black iron pots are best;
use wooden spoons to stir.

Back to making lye the old way: we covered pouring water through the ash and
collecting the brown liquid. This is lye - lye is very caustic; it can blind
you, harm your lungs and burn your skin.
Knowing the strength of this mixture is hard to tell but one method I read is
to place a in-the-shell raw egg in the mixture; if the egg floats above the lye
about the area of a quarter it’s ready. If if is less than a quarter or the egg
sinks, boil off some water to thicken the mixture and retest when it is cool.
Should the egg float “high”, add a little water and continue testing until
“right”.

We prepared store-bought lye outside by gently and slowly pouring 12 ounces of
crystals into 2 1/2 pints cold water while slowly stirring. The sequence is
important - pour crystals /into/ water.
After the first two or three minutes the lye water will stop gassing off fumes.
This mixture will become hot! It got over 170*F. Before the lye can be used, it
must cool to 80-85*F. Therefore, prepare it early or you’ll find as we did that
keeping the melted fat at its correct temperature will be required until the
lye water is cool enough for use.

Preparing the tallow:

Melt the tallow at a medium to medium-low setting, or at the fire’s edge, and
stir it often while warming it. Be patient and avoid trying to heat up the
tallow fast else it may get “burned” and will require more time to cool to the
proper temperature. Allow it to cool to 100-115*F and continue to stir it so
it doesn’t thicken unevenly.

The making of soap:

With lye water between 80-85*F and liquid fat around 100-115*F, slowly and
*carefully* pour the lye water into the fat stirring all the while and continue
stirring for 20-30 minutes. When the mixture is ready for the pan, AKA “kitty
litter pan”, it should dribble “standing” lines into the solution which remain
a few seconds as it “sheets” off the spoon. “Sheeting” is when the product
dribbles off first wide, then to a thinning portion, down to a trickle.

Once the mixture is ready, pour soap into kitty boxes to rest, that means it’s
“sitting” undisturbed, for 24 hours. After resting 24 hours, it can be cut into
bars. Allow it to age for 6 to 8 weeks before using.

Follow up:

After ours has aged, I’ll report the results.

Sources:

Foxfire book 1
http://candleandsoap.about.com/od/soapmakingoils/ss/rendertallow.htm
http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/soapmake.htm
http://www.millersoap.com/

— H.I.T.man “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” - Thomas Jefferson

Anyone tried the herb stevia? I have been reading about this plant for several years. Thinking that should really hard times befall, this might be a good plant to have for a sugar substitute. Supposedly, it is many times sweeter than sugar, can be grown in containers and brought in during winter months as it is a tender perennial. My question is, if it is as practical as advertised, why isn’t everyone growing this?

There are packets of it on sale in many grocery stores - so, I had to try it as a sugar substitute. Yes, it is sweet - not sure if it is mega-multiples sweeter than sugar as they imply in the advertising though.

My only drawback was the lingering aftertaste - not really strong, but to me there is one. But, just like other things, if you use it enough, that taste could become normal.

I’m wondering if it needs to be extract crystals or if steeping the leaves would do the same thing.

Anyone tried growing any?

Daughter uses it all the time as other sweeteners give her a headache-splenda, aspertane, etc. My questions were about the feasibility of growing in my area where it would need to be inside during winter months and if it continues to produce after haresting leaves. Also, in a survival situation, it would be good to have a harvestable sweetener at hand. Seems to be more expensive than comparable products.

yea goats are a lot of fun to watch and raise
kind of hard to keep in
we had some that we had to bottle feed 1 day i had come in went to bed and the bed moved well the dog must have jumped in the bed i reached back to pet him and tell him to lay down it was the baby goat
i did not close the door good
still hear about that

went out this morning
found twin baby goats 1 is not doing so well
not able to get up brought him inside
wife looked in freezer found a gal of goat milk
goats now cleaned up dry and full
sleeping in a box next to wife but she will not get in box

Great!

>>>goats now cleaned up dry and full
sleeping in a box next to wife but she will not get in box<<<

Awww, I think she should get in that box with the goat kid.../s

Hope the little one gets on his feet quickly.

the kid seems to be doing ok
still can not stand without help but trys
eats good sitting up
dang wife still will not get in box