Homesteading Questions and Tips

[DellaMyDarling]

I have a few specific questions, for now...
Maybe this thread can turn into a longer lasting thread full of helpful information though.
(I made an account on a homesteading forum, and something went awry, literally cannot post, no moderators have replied either.)


I need to find more bulk good supplies and storage.
For example, flours and such baking supplies.
What do you like to store in bulk, how, and where do you source it from?
(There is no grain mill around that I have found.)
Techniques to store apples and potatoes if NOT canning them?

What was the biggest grocery expense for you before this lifestyle, and how did you remedy it?

When did you consider yourself truly homesteading and not just trying to buck the modern society and lifestyle?
I feel like I'm a poser half the time.

 

[PirateGirl]

I’m not sure how big of storage containers you are looking for, but perhaps restaurant/bakery supply companies would offer something sufficient that is rated for food storage.

 

[Elsveta641]

I have a few specific questions, for now...
Maybe this thread can turn into a longer lasting thread full of helpful information though.
(I made an account on a homesteading forum, and something went awry, literally cannot post, no moderators have replied either.)


I need to find more bulk good supplies and storage.
For example, flours and such baking supplies.
What do you like to store in bulk, how, and where do you source it from?
(There is no grain mill around that I have found.)
Techniques to store apples and potatoes if NOT canning them?

What was the biggest grocery expense for you before this lifestyle, and how did you remedy it?

When did you consider yourself truly homesteading and not just trying to buck the modern society and lifestyle?
I feel like I'm a poser half the time.

Actual homesteading is when the pioneers ran off into the prairie and staked a claim and started from nothing. We are hobby farmers, nothing more lol

 

[sylviethecochin]

What do you like to store in bulk, how, and where do you source it from?

Sugar and flour are both great things to own. Shipping costs $$$, though, so best to get them from a grocery store.
Beans are best canned; frozen gets tough. Corn and peas get mushy when canned, do a three-minute boil, then freeze 'em by the quart in ziploc. Tomatoes should definitely be canned (sauce or whole), and store-bought diced tomatoes are disgusting.

Carrots are best left in the garden; they'll keep well, get sweeter after the first frost, and the worst part is digging them out of the frozen ground. They can also be stored in sawdust. Onions are easy to grow. They, like almost all squash, can be picked, left to cure in the sun for a few days, and then stored in cardboard boxes in the basement. Potatoes should be dug up, inspected for bad spots, then stored in a moist, cool environment (potatoes stored in dry get squishy). They need air circulation, so gain, cardboard boxes. Cabbages and Brussels should be picked before frost and stored like potatoes. All of the above is garden produce.

Apples are best made into applesauce, but you can keep them dry. Don't get unripe or overripe, and choose your variety carefully—yellow delicious keep very well. You'll have to inspect for squishies very often though, and never bruise them—overripe or bruised apples produce ethylene, a chemical that encourages other fruits to ripen further and produce more ethylene. For this reason, apples shouldn't be stored near other fruits. Most fruits use ethylene to ripen, but apples and bananas produce a lot more than most fruits do. Apples are best sourced from people selling "produce." Bulk food stores sometimes keep them out back, in season. And, of course, there are the people who just want those apples out of their backward before they rot and attract wasps. Those apples are usually not very nice-looking, and should almost always be made into applesauce.

Berries are best made into jelly. If you do that, be prepared to go through fifty pounds of sugar in a week. I pick them down on state gamelands (it's legal here. I'm not sure about elsewhere.)

I was sort of raised into the "lifestyle," I guess. I've never considered myself, or my parents, "homesteaders," but I don't feel at home unless there's at least half an acre of garden behind the house.

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I’ve been thinking a lot about this since moving back to Vermont. I’m back to vegetable gardening and I got chickens!

I borrowed a dehydrator from my daughter and have dried herbs, broccoli, and zucchini so far. Dried vegetables take up so little space! It’s remarkable. I want to dry berries too, since I rarely eat jam - too sweet!

I’m also experimenting with fermenting vegeatables. Yum.

DH and I are talking about becoming more self sufficient in case of disaster. We are learning more about gardening, installing the woodstove, etc.

Definitely interested in an ongoing discussion, but must shut off the phone now. Bedtime!

 

[so lucky]

@DellaMyDarling, Have you joined the Sufficient Self Forum, one of the sister forums to this one? I was on there for several years. There is a vast amount of knowledge in those old threads. All about homesteading and being thrifty, self sufficient, off the grid, back yard farming. Even if you don't join, you can search, I think.

 

[DellaMyDarling]

Great tips so far, thanks.


The definition of homesteading has evolved, in my opinion.
My family will never live as the pioneers did. We won't even be able to achieve what some of my recent family members did, and some of that is due to my partner's medical needs. His employment is also keeping us afloat in a position where I can nudge us into this lifestyle. The modern world has us in a completely reliant position, but there's much we can do to evolve away from that. Here we go!

 

[trumpeting_angel]

I don’t expect to return to pioneer days, either, but I have concern after last winter. We lost power for 4 or 5 days and with our heat, water, refrigeration, and cooking electric-dependent, it was eye-opening. Trees were down all over the state and it was a long, slow recovery.

Then, just when my daughter, SIL, and 9 month old granddaughter arrived, we lost our heat. We had electric heaters and a small woodstove out on the porch (odd, I know!) and we were able to keep warm. New furnace came in 4 days.

But these two incidents opened my eyes. We already planned to install a woodstove in the house. And we have a soggy area in the back that’s probably a spring (and at least one more spring further up the hill), so we can do something about water.

I am not of the political persuasion usually associated with preppers, and we aren’t building a bunker, but I do have some concerns about the grid breaking down, which would leave all of us to our own devices. Stores and gas stations rely on electricity to sell us things; how long would distributors be able to continue to make deliveries to food stores? So I’m getting interested in making sure we can feed ourselves in an emergency.

And chickens are a part of it! I only have 4 pullets, but others around here have roosters, so chickens can be sustainable if we can figure out how to feed them through the winter.

So, my Darling Della, your thread has piqued my interest.

 

[hispoptart]

I have been dabbling in self sufficiency for a few years now. I also lean a bit more on the prepper side of things.

As far as flour and sugar, I buy that when the stores have their case lot sales. I get the flour in the winter so I can place the bags in the garage at freezing temps to make sure there are no bugs developing in the bags. They come in 2 25lb bags. It costs around $15 bucks for both. Then I store it in 5 gal food grade buckets. 1 bag per bucket. Sugar costs about the same price for 1 25lb bag, also goes in a 5 gal bucket.

I also watch the sales, when things go on sale that I normally use, I buy a few even if I don't need them at that time. That way when I do, I already have them.
When and if you begin to stock up on things you normally use, make sure you always rotate them. New always in back.

As for storing your own produce, you have received some good advice. The only thing I don't do is can tomatoes. It's a waste of time and money with the expense of the jars and gas or electric when canning. I just wash, core and freeze them whole. When you take them out and thaw, the skins fall right off and they are the same consistency as if you canned them. Once they thaw I skin them and just crush them with my hand into whatever it is I am using them for.

I also store things for emergencies,
Water
Water filtration systems
25 year shelf life foods
Lamps with oil
I also have a small solar power lighting system from BioLite
extra propane tanks
emergency medical supplies
Bug out bags for each family member in case we have to leave in a hurry.

Hope some of this was a help.

 

[so lucky]

Even if you are not a Prepper, it doesn't hurt to stock up on food staples. Some things last "forever" almost: dry rice, sugar, honey, noodles, vinegar, maple syrup. Flour can last a long time if kept sealed.
Regarding canning tomatoes: it is the easiest thing to can, but seems to be a waste of time to me, too, since I am able to buy cans of organic tomato products pretty darn cheap.