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

[Al Gerhart]

Interesting discussion. The main reason I wanted to spend my retirement in a more rural area was to have enough land to raise as much of my own food as possible. And to be close to farms. I only have a little over a half acre but my vegetable garden produced a good amount of food last year and I'm hoping to do as well this year. I have my chickens and have planted a few fruit trees. Last year I canned a lot of my own produce. I too am concerned about the current political and meteorological trends we are now facing. My philosophy is that to be prepared for whatever comes and from wherever, you need to know how to sustain yourself and family if there were no stores to run to for necessities. Learning as many basic skills such as canning food, baking bread, sewing and knitting. It's good to think and plan ahead for the "what ifs" but don't get caught up in the frenzy of fear.

So true. I got into chickens again back in 2008 after my GF started freaking out because she was listening to Glen Beck too much. Didn't do any good to point out that he was selling ads for gold and emergency food storage so it benefited his pocket book to rant and rave on the coming collapse of society because we elected a president that wasn't white. The word is a scary place, someone mentioned the risk of an EMP in a few posts earlier, that is credible and likely. After putting back about a year's worth of food that we would use anyway the GF settled down a bit so it was a good investment. Plenty of stuff that you use in your everyday cooking that lasts for a decade or more and a few dozen five gallon buckets and a freezer full of stuff really comes in handy when business slows down.

 

[ocap]

Steamboat Arabia sank in the Missouri River in 1856
Arabia was found in 1988, canned pickles were eaten by one of the men that found the steamboat.
The finders created a museum in Kansas City. Fun to see what a "Wal-Mart" looked like in 1856

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

So true. I got into chickens again back in 2008 after my GF started freaking out because she was listening to Glen Beck too much. Didn't do any good to point out that he was selling ads for gold and emergency food storage so it benefited his pocket book to rant and rave on the coming collapse of society because we elected a president that wasn't white. The word is a scary place, someone mentioned the risk of an EMP in a few posts earlier, that is credible and likely. After putting back about a year's worth of food that we would use anyway the GF settled down a bit so it was a good investment. Plenty of stuff that you use in your everyday cooking that lasts for a decade or more and a few dozen five gallon buckets and a freezer full of stuff really comes in handy when business slows down.

Finding alternatives to the heavily processed foods is a good thing as well. Regular AP flour keeps for 2 years in the frig, oatmeal / rolled oats keep for 25 years. Knowing how to store and use basic ingredients is necessary to manage through tough times. Having skills that you can use to barter for something you need is a good idea as well.

 

[LeggyLeghorn]

I plan to do my family and my poultry both a favor, by eating the birds if things really go that far south. I have a couple of small children to feed, and feeding birds through a crisis is too many mouths for me to worry about.

With that said, my flock is extremely self sufficient, but any added feed just isn't going to happen here. I'll eat them first.

but if you are getting eggs...?

 

[trumpeting_angel]

Good points @Wee Farmer Sarah

Also just having the skills - fixing things, starting a fire, growing food, making new chickens and processing the ones that no longer produce. I don’t plan to process my little flock of layers, but in a food emergency both eggs and meat will be important.

Hunting, fishing, foraging. I guess the list is endless. I hope to be a rural refuge for my daughter and her family in case of a massive disaster. Hope it doesn’t come!

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

but if you are getting eggs...?

Considering the value of fresh protein everyday, I would clearly free range and share my food to keep my chickens alive. Keeping at least one rooster will allow you to replenish your stock of laying hens and provide an occasional chicken dinner.

 

[ocap]

survival "rule of threes"

three hours without shelter
three days without water
three weeks without food

camping in temperatures below 10F is extremely difficult, liquid water becomes impossible

My opinion: Coffee is the most important commodity, I can live without it but ......

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Good points @Wee Farmer Sarah

Also just having the skills - fixing things, starting a fire, growing food, making new chickens and processing the ones that no longer produce. I don’t plan to process my little flock of layers, but in a food emergency both eggs and meat will be important.

Hunting, fishing, foraging. I guess the list is endless. I hope to be a rural refuge for my daughter and her family in case of a massive disaster. Hope it doesn’t come!

You just never know, stuff happens, then you deal with it. One of the best cookbooks I have has timeless recipes and how to dress wild fowl and game. Although I don't plan on butchering and cleaning a squirrel or a possum, I have the instructions on how to do it. You do what you need to do to survive.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

survival "rule of threes"

three hours without shelter
three days without water
three weeks without food

camping in temperatures below 10F is extremely difficult, liquid water becomes impossible

My opinion: Coffee is the most important commodity, I can live without it but ......

I've started stocking up on coffee. Somethings are not negotiable!

 

[Al Gerhart]

Steamboat Arabia sank in the Missouri River in 1856
Arabia was found in 1988, canned pickles were eaten by one of the men that found the steamboat.
The finders created a museum in Kansas City. Fun to see what a "Wal-Mart" looked like in 1856

And now days people freak out about using out of date food....

Back in 2013 we had a massive tornado here in Oklahoma City. I shut down my shop and worked in the zone for about three weeks volunteering with one of the local churches that had set up a distribution center. Donations flooded in including entire truckloads of food. Pretty soon the church and parking lot were stuffed with things and they found themselves with an incoming tractor trailer of food with no where to put it and it was getting harder to give stuff away. Like a fool I volunteered to allow them to use my shop for three weeks max as I had a truck dock, room to bring in a semi, and a forklift to handle the pallets.

Turned out that most of the donated truckloads were recent out of date items. Got it unloaded and gave them the manifest and asked for instructions on what to bring them and when. Nothing.... got rid of a few pallets of drinks out of about 25 pallets of food. After two weeks I told them that if they wouldn't move the stuff then I was giving it away in the zone and spent the next three weeks using the afternoon to load van loads of food and distribute it to local churches and food kitchens serving the tornado zone. By six weeks you couldn't give anything away and the food banks refused anything that was out of date, including hand sanitizer!

Here we are about six years later and I still have one pallet rack filled with dry cereal, canned tomato juice, and energy bars/snack food. That makes the canned goods at least eight years old and it is perfectly fine. Some of the snack food has turned a little off tasting, acidic too. The dry cereals are fine.

So yeah, old canned food is better than no food. But if you rotate your stock you are just buying the same canned meats and other food that you would normally buy and have a bit more cash tied up.