Ping to the Weekly gardening list
” Lets see if the gardeners are interested. “
This (admittedly amateur) gardener is doing ‘prepper gardening’ this year - expanded my garden plot to double last year, and putting in mostly root crops, ie. potatoes, turnips, beets, onions, etc.... Lots of high nutritive value, and easily storable, food for the winter.... ;)
I need to check at Academy Surplus and see if they have MRE type rations for sale. We had some other rations in the guard called TOTUM or TOTOM that were also good. Much better than the MRE types. They had cans instead of plastic wrapped stuff.
I have a food dehydrator at home and will use it this year. We used it several years ago and everything kept really well. Just add water or eat dry.
Thanks, Red_D.
Last couple of years, we’ve dried & packaged & stored our ‘extra’ potatoes. Considering that we harvest 200-300 pounds a year for just 2 people, that’s a lot of ‘extra’. 5-10 pounds fit in a quart Zip-Lok bag, and then those are put into 1 gallon jars. Some are cut for cottage fries or scalloping; some ar grated for hash browns; and a few are cut as french fries.
This year, a lot of beans will also be dried, and stored the same way. If the harvest is good, apples will join the fun.
This is also why this year we are trying out oats, barley, wheat, rye, and lentils. If it works out, we’ll eat/store a bit; give a little to the chickens and rabbits; and save about 2-3 times of what did best as seed for next year. Should get a good amount of straw in any case.
At the price of MRE’s and freeze dried; and not reaally trusting of their souring, we’ll stick to preserving our own, and know what we’ve got.
Of course, for those without a ready source of fresh meat & eggs, that can be a whole different can of SpaghettiOs.
Besides giving the garden a lot of attention this year, I'm expanding my permacultures by planting more fruit trees, and adding new permanent raised beds for blackberries, blueberries, and asparagus. In addition to that I plan to put a good supply of dried beans, peas, potatoes, grains, powdered milk, etc. into long term storage pantry. I have the 5 gallon food grade buckets and lids. I recently bought a supply of mylar storage bags and oxygen remover packets. Next on my list is to buy bulk purchases of the dry goods, repackage them for long term storage. I also want to order some other LTS foods in #10 cans like whole eggs, butter powder, etc. I'd better light a fire under myself and get moving before I have to pay even higher prices coming down the pipeline.
Ya know....two years ago when everyone was panic buying ammunition, we were quietly putting up stores exactly like this. I went through Honeyville Food Products online and bought case lots of freeze-dried vegetables and fruit. It wasn’t cheap, but it shipped immediately and will keep for decades.
http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/?gclid=CNjI_5jfiKgCFRlPgwoda31rrQ
Give them a try. I constantly get e-mails from them on for specials and they have excellent products. I highly doubt that they are having any significant back order problems, at least none are apparent from looking at their site.
And if this isn’t the year to plant a garden, there never will be.
You know how I feel about the topic. Mountain House is a quality product. Modern MRE’s are actually pretty good.
Heck, I just pitched some leftover MRE’s from Katrina when we moved.
Let’s see...how long can I survive on sun dried tomatoes, homemade granola and many, many jars of jelly? I’m thinking a few years! :)
My Dear Old Dad is all over this stuff. He’s a ‘survivalist’ from WAY back when.
One thing I’m looking into is a way to get water from my 300’ well without electricity. So far, it ain’t lookin’ good! Luckily, there’s a lake across the road, and I live in a relatively unpopulated area... :)
Ladysmith & I are wishing for Toilet Bucket Seats in the very near future.
Some of this seems goofy, but living in Tornado Country, I already have a lot of survivalist gear stashed along with water and canned goods. Oh, AND a can opener, LOL! Can’t hurt, might help! :)
Check out the youtube videos of guys using mylar bags with their food-saver vaccuum system. Also check out the video for dehydrating frozen vegetables. Mountain House Freeze dried meals are definitely full of MSG type stuff and are highly over-rated. There are some freeze dried producers that have no additives though.