Posted on 02/26/2018 12:12:20 PM PST by CottonBall
I’ve been missing the vast amount of information on prepping, survival, camping, simple cooking, the old ways of doing just about everything – all the things nw_arizona_granny knew so much about and shared with us, along with numerous other posters with a vast array of skills and knowledge.
We have our various related-threads here, a recipe thread, a gardening thread, and even a prepper thread. They are all great and I don’t mean to take anything away from those and the hard work their owners put in.
But I was missing a place to talk about ALL those things, to get the camaraderie that we used to have on granny’s thread.
I learned how to can on those threads! The pressure canner was not my friend, I thought, but I bought one and stared at it for a month, intimidated. Then I read the directions for another month. But with the help and encouragement of posters on granny’s threads, I jumped in and now have my very own food storage room in the basement with lovely jars of shelf-stable meats, vegetables, and fruit. When we moved, I fashioned my food storage room – and insisted upon having a basement – from what I learned on her threads. Getting started gardening was from her threads. Making my own cleaning products….the list is endless.
So I thought I would take the chance and start another comprehensive prepper thread and see how it goes. I used to have granny’s ping list since I made one of the threads for her, but alas, with numerous computer changes, I cannot find it. So please pass this onto any posters you think might be interested.
We’ll just keep it running until..whenever. Granny created a new thread at 10,000 posts or so. I do like the idea of having ONE thread to go to – because often I cannot find or keep track of the weekly threads. I won’t be posting lots of recipes or tidbits myself – to any mods concerned about the size of this thread. I’d just like a place to chat, post questions, post ideas, make new prepping friends.
Here are granny’s threads, if anyone wants to peruse them:
nw_arizona_granny’s Thread #1
I sometimes use the leftover pulp to make fruit leather in the dehydrator.
I have some mylar. I use it mostly for beans. Other foods I use vacuum packed mason canning jars-especially for anything that mice might like to chew into and eat.
I’m using rings that my Grandmother used, as long as there is no rust or bending they are good, seals on the other hand need to be looked at CAREFULLY. while some may be re-used you have to inspect, inspect, inspect them
Check local zoning or home association rules. We’ve had some really stupid courts ruling that people can’t plant veggies in front yard. We don’t have an issue here, where we live, but we plant traditional stuff in the front yard.
Like nut trees, and Rosa Rugosa for the rose hips, edible flowers etc.
Another tip for the list: Keep a copy somewhere other than your computer. A google doc will work, or a thumb drive. Just someplace where you’ll remember to keep it updated, but where it’ll be safe if your computer goes kaput. And make sure there’s another FReeper who can get to it if you need them to.
You really don’t have to turn it, although that will help it make quicker. I have a composter that looks like a big trash can with a swing lid. It has no bottom. You put yard waste such as tree limbs that have fallen on the ground in the very bottom.
I put my kitchen scraps in there daily, add a few handfuls of dry leaves, wet coffee grounds, and dump a pot of soil in it whenever the plant has been harvested. It has air holes all the way up on all sides.
At the bottom it has a door that raises up. You just take a garden scoop and take the bottom dirt out.
Now to hurry it up, the container can be taken off. The big items on top set aside and stirred then put back to hurry it up, but it’s not needed. Works fine without the effort.
Hello CottonBall . . . would you add me please . . . thanking you in advance.
Small sizes are used for cantaloupe or watermelon balls. We used to do that when I was in High School. I tend to just chop stuff up with a knife these days. Doesn’t look as pretty as the scoops though.
One of my favorite kitchen gadgets. I bought some bulk spices and sealed them that way.
Any meat that is frozen or fresh can be canned in a pressure cooker. My mother in law canned fish all the time.
ping me
If you want a ready-made audience, the recipe thread could be a good spot. I imagine JT wouldn’t mind a guest chef one time :-)
If you’re planning on making it more prepper related, you’re welcome to put it here. We could put out a special ping. If you want to do it in a standalone thread, be happy to give you the ping list I have so far.
That’s exactly what I just did :-) put them in alphabetical order. I’m a bit compulsive about being organized.
I took the list I had and it was actually pretty easy to put it all into one column in Excel. Then sorted it. And then excel has a function to put that back into a ; delineated list. As a software engineer I love that sort of thing. I started writing my own VBA code to do it, and then I realized excel has functions for everything. A little searching, and there it was!
I was feeling chaotic having to add to the list and not knowing if I already had people on it. It’s getting pretty big. So good idea about the alphabetizing!
Please add me to the list. Thanks
I thought I should change my screen name for this thread! Then I would fit right in with the other granny. Glad you caught that :-) got you on the list!
knitting, lol!
Yeah, I realized your list and granny’s overlapped quite a bit. Will try to refer all the gardening questions over to your place :-)
For my homeschool lists, there are two other FReepers who I share the list with and send them an updated copy every once in a while.
There’s also the option of emailing yourself the list through regular email.
That way it’s on an outside server.
No biggie. The more people doing this stuff the better.
Got you all on the list, thank you! This will be fun :-)
Instead of the gardening thread, or prepper thread, you could call it the *homesteader thread*.
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