what are y'all saving from the wild to deal with coming crisis?

[Kacey Elle]

I'm going to keep working on my amaranth plan for winter food. Grows all over around here as a weed, self-sows like mad, high protein seed (related to quinoa), and greens are supposed to be delicious to humans and beloved by chickens.

Amaranth greens are delicious! For some reason I struggle to grow them but my dad plants some every year and shares. It's like a more umami spinach, if that makes sense.

 

[Willowspirit]

Amaranth greens are delicious! For some reason I struggle to grow them but my dad plants some every year and shares. It's like a more umami spinach, if that makes sense.

I’ve only had cookies from flour which I think comes from the seeds.

 

[Eggcentric One]

I'm just finding this thread, so forgive me if these things have already been asked. I see you're in GA. I've heard GA can be very hot & very wet. Do you have trouble growing things year round out there?






My birds love rose petals. Do you air dry them, or dehydrate them, or something else?


My house is in a fire & earthquake state. I have 3 days worth of food for all of our animals, but in a long term situation like you're talking about we'd be in trouble.

Hello.
Yes, I am from GA and yes it is is hot and humid. Our "rainy season" is in winter. In summer we get rain almost every afternoon about 4pm. Oh, then there are the tropical storms and hurricanes, for which we generally get some portion of one or the other every few years ( the past three consistently ). Having said that, my experience is that growing a garden here is easy! Even in our city backyard garden we grow tomatoes, cukes, green beans, squash, zukes, lettuce, cabbage, brussel sprouts, peas and various peppers in spring/ summer and generally collards, swiss chard and ( my soil version of) vidalia onions ( ha) in fall.winter.

We are building earth sheltered to mitigate much of the dangers of natural disasters, hurricane/fire etc. and I have maintained at least two weeks of food storage for every person and animal ( including anticipated guests ) since having nothing but a loaf of bread and some canned tuna to live on for two weeks after Hurricane David in 1979. The government says 3 days, but honestly that is BS. I have seen things shut down for weeks and months, and it taking more than a week for government response, during Hugo, Andrew, Katrina and Irma and the 93 flooding of the Mississippi took them weeks to even get close. Just my thoughts and opinions.

 

[Mimi13]

I want to either build or buy some of those Racks that load at the top and roll out at the bottom... For Cycling through Canned goods. Its just me but I tend to buy things on sale....

I have a design going that is a summer kitchen devoted to canning and processing chicken... The back half is work space and shelving designed to handle Mason jars... Each shelf will be a drawer so I can view all the jars at once... inspect and look at dates.

I hate chinking the glass together.... I expect to can dog food as well using backs and ribs and fatty bits...

deb

This whole concept is very interesting to me. I will be watching for more posts from you on this. Grrrrrrreat idea, Deb!

 

[perchie.girl]

This whole concept is very interesting to me. I will be watching for more posts from you on this. Grrrrrrreat idea, Deb!

Its early am here but I will dig up my sketches if you want to see them.
deb

 

[Mimi13]

One show i love is "Homestead Rescue". On one episode the son shows a guy how to make a smoker from a whiskey barrel. Very cool and possible.

I haven’t heard of this show but it sounds like I would love it.

 

[perchie.girl]

Not to mention the galvanizing from the can itself. Canned tomatoes can be shifted over to mason jars and canned again in a water bath....

sourcrout is another offender.... but home made sourcrout is Easy Easy Easy to make... Canned in mason jars...

deb

Oh and for what its worth this is why you rotate your food especially the Grocery store canned products.... Shelf life can be more than five years over the date if kept properly... but I wouldn't keep them that long... Every year after the shelf life the nutritional value drops....

The Criteria I read about ten years ago was Constant temperature of a Cool room like basement or storage in a wine cellar.... Clean the tops and bottoms well and dip in Wax to seal off the Outside of the can from moisture.... Extends the shelf life....

I wouldnt do this unless it was to be stored in a fallout shelter... Rotating the food is much better idea keeping it on hand and used so you can inspect as the natural course of use. Any can that sizzles or expels content when opened should be disposed of immediately. And yep I have had cans do this from the grocery store.

All the grocery stores I know of will take returned cans no question.... and give you a refund or a new product. It happens... If it happens a lot the staff will get re instruction on reading date codes, if not they will get shut down. But To be honest the Just in Time stocking system the stores use pretty much eliminates the chance of old stock being on the shelves.

Its that Just in Time system that will be OUr down fall eventually. Just about All Manufacturing companies have gone to it... Cheaper to not have a wear house full of stock....


deb

 

[ocap]

My to do list:

get to know my neighbors (knowing can help with trust)

plan on a crisis that lasts longer than I want

Plan on the crisis lasting through at least one bad season(mine is winter)

plan on no help from any government entity, they will be overwhelmed and the government employee will be home taking care of those he/she loves

incubation of eggs for more hens is likely not going to happen because of either electrical power or winter season, so add a leghorn hen to my flock

locate a source of water, prefer source to be clean enough that I won't be requiring a filter

xxxxxxxxxxxx

what should I add to my list?

 

[Willowspirit]

I haven’t heard of this show but it sounds like I would love it.

It’s different but I like it because the people who get help really need it. I get it through Amazon video.

 

[Mimi13]

Oh and for what its worth this is why you rotate your food especially the Grocery store canned products.... Shelf life can be more than five years over the date if kept properly... but I wouldn't keep them that long... Every year after the shelf life the nutritional value drops....

The Criteria I read about ten years ago was Constant temperature of a Cool room like basement or storage in a wine cellar.... Clean the tops and bottoms well and dip in Wax to seal off the Outside of the can from moisture.... Extends the shelf life....

I wouldnt do this unless it was to be stored in a fallout shelter... Rotating the food is much better idea keeping it on hand and used so you can inspect as the natural course of use. Any can that sizzles or expels content when opened should be disposed of immediately. And yep I have had cans do this from the grocery store.

All the grocery stores I know of will take returned cans no question.... and give you a refund or a new product. It happens... If it happens a lot the staff will get re instruction on reading date codes, if not they will get shut down. But To be honest the Just in Time stocking system the stores use pretty much eliminates the chance of old stock being on the shelves.

Its that Just in Time system that will be OUr down fall eventually. Just about All Manufacturing companies have gone to it... Cheaper to not have a wear house full of stock....


deb

We do keep a large pantry and I do rotate when new is purchased. My downfall is all the different foods that I seem to forget about and not use as often. I don’t know how to stop this from happening. Same thing in my cupboard. I will always have an old cake mix, etc. that has made its way to the back and I let it go past the date. And anything flour based I don’t play with when old. I can’t remember exactly, but mold spores or something like that wreaked havoc causing death. It’s been a while back.