Another consideration the fabric used. Opt for drip dry when possible. How to iron with no electricity. Women's biceps get a workout.
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
Oh no, I never thought of that detergent as clogging the pipes! I think I should just quit using it. Sometime some Pennywise and pound-foolish, by saving money I end up costing us more. That would definitely be the case if I clogged up the plumbing!
Thank you for all the great tips!
I don’t know when tuna got so expensive. Maybe about the time bacon did. Those used to always be cheap Staples, but at some point they doubled in price. And haven’t got back down at all.
Yeah not just tuna but everything else has been downsized. Things are no longer a pound anymore, but 14 oz. Sometimes even 12. It does make it hard to convert those older recipes. When I read them I realized just how we have been cheated, how they slowly take the ounces out but keep the price the same. I think that’s dishonest, just raise the price!
I never thought about making stock twice from the same carcass. Sounds like it works though! We bought an extra turkey around Thanksgiving, because they get scarce around here at Christmas time. Most people must eat ham then. Anyway I’ll have another turkey carcass to practice with in a few weeks.
Gosh, it’s been so long. Actually bought all my tattlers at the same time. A whole bunch of them. That’s why I was so anxious to figure out how to make them work! I think it was over $200. I’ll check and see if I can find a receipt, sometimes I save copies of weird things on the computer.
“Cook them down and press the residue pulp through a colander as best you can to make fruit butters.”
How do you make the fruit butter?
I love tamales. But I’ve never actually made them. I might, since I haven’t been able to find that many here in East Tennessee.
After the bones have been boiled for stock, I’ve started loading them into a charcoal maker and making bone char. After burning, they have no smell to attract critters, and they break really easily. Bone char makes an excellent soil amendment.
My charcoal makers are actually made from empty soup cans. If you use a side-cutting can opener, you can often fit the lid back on without having to alter it. Take an awl and poke a hole near the top. It’s easier to use if it has a handle, so I also poke 2 more holes near the top, on opposite sides, and bend the ends of a piece of fence wire through them. And that’s it, just 3 holes and a bit of wire! You can punch more vent holes if you want to, as long as they’re within an inch of the top. The key is to let smoke out without letting oxygen in.
Most tin cans nowadays are lined with plastic, so it’s a good idea to burn it once while it’s empty before using it for charcoal.
To make charcoal, load your can up with any organic burnables you feel like using. Wood chips are popular, but you can also use corn cobs, nut shells, animal manure, etc.
If you find yourself using a sawdust toilet, the contents of that can be turned into charcoal, too, although I recommend a dedicated bucket for burning that in. (In one corner of my farm I have a sawdust toilet made from a large steel bucket, so I can burn the stuff into charcoal without having to move it to a new container. I just have to swap the lid out for one that’s had vent holes punched.)
Once full, place the lid on and make sure it’s well-seated. Place the can in a hot fire, such as a woodstove, fire pit, or fireplace.
Make absolutely sure there is nothing holding the lid down. If the vent holes get clogged you want that lid to pop off VERY easily, otherwise the can might explode!
When the contents of the can stop smoking, the charcoal should be done. You can pour the hot charcoal into water to extinguish it, but I’ve found it works fine just to let it cool in the can by itself.
Now, why go to all this trouble? Because charcoal, when inoculated with things like manure or compost tea, does amazing things for your garden soil. The benefits it provides have been shown to improve the soil for decades at a time, with some studies even showing benefits centuries later! Not bad for a garbage-disposal method.
Wiki Has Released Over 83,500 Vintage Sewing Patterns Online For Download
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3800151/posts
When the vacuum pump on your sealer fails, save the unit to just seal. The new vac/sealers have overheat cutouts which slow up your process. Use the old unit to seal the first end to make your bag. Use the working vac/sealer to vac and seal.
Thats a good tip thanks so far it has held up really well.
I really appreciate this post, I have been wondering for a while how we will garden if things like fertilizer are not available.
Awesome! Thank you!
oops. noticed confusing typo in the tattler post -
Right after the steps are given. I talked about leaving the jars on the counter, that was supposed to be IN THE CANNER.
Big difference, I dictate and it substituted a word that actually made sense unfortunately. But it was so wrong.
What an interesting concept.
I will have to try it when we get to places that can be done.
I kind of figured that out.
I find that my pressure canner takes a long time to cool to the point where I want to handle it to get the jars out, so I usually let it sit for an hour or so.
That’s great, I didn’t want to miss lead anybody. And I hate it that I catch the mistakes after I’ve posted and there’s no way to edit
“Wiki Has Released Over 83,500 Vintage Sewing Patterns Online For Download”
How neat.
I’m not sure why but when I imagine what it would be like living in a post TSHTF era, I am wearing Amish style clothes, or maybe Little House on the Prairie.
So does that mean it’ll take a year for the charcoal to be beneficial? And will the cows actually eat it?
Pretty neat tip for keeping livestock odor-free. Can you still use the charcoal after that or is it to mixed with other things?
Another consideration the fabric used. Opt for drip dry when possible. How to iron with no electricity. Women's biceps get a workout.
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