Blessings, Darlings!
So, as I was saying yesterday, I have 'pantry' storage of various foods. Enough for a few weeks of eating, if we ate only that. But that's the little bitty tip of my food storage iceberg. In fact, it's aimed to only supplement the deeper food storage.
Yes, I aim to have a lot of cans of four types of meat - 13 cans each of ham, beef (or beef stew), and chicken, and a fish (tuna, salmon, mackeral) assortment weighing in at about the same amount. Note the number 13? I'm not using that figure to be witchy or pagan - that's 4 types of meat, 13 'servings' for our family of each type. That would be one serving of meat per week for a year.
Yes. I aim to have enough food stored for a year. It's not that hard, or that expensive, if you ... well, #1 if you don't have food allergies/issues or diabetes or such. Let's get those facts out there early.
Anyway - it's not that expensive if you focus on calories, basic boring vegetable proteins, a good multivitamin, and limiting yourself to just one tablespoon of fat a day. These are the basics.
Most of y'all already know the basic complete protein formula for humans - one part bean to 3 or 4 parts grain, preferably whole grain. So that's what I try to bulk buy.
Not JUST in bulk, but at feed stores. Cuz you and me, baby, ain't nothing but mammals. And feed stores sell wheat for feed (and without added minerals or anything) cheap. Like at $13 for 50 pounds. That's 25 cents a pound. Whole grain. Stores for ever if stored well. And, as you know from making spaghetti - cooked wheat expands into these HUGE SERVINGS. Yes, you might want to make noises like you're feeding it to some domestic animal, if you want to cover for the fact that you're eating it yourself. That's your call. One pound a day will give you basic calories to avoid starvation, so get 400 pounds for a year. The 'extra' 35 pounds you can sprout. That's just over $100 for a years supply of wheat for one person.
Yes, you'll probably want to 'clean' the wheat berries. I'm sure that General Mills uses blowers to blow out the chaff. Boomers - do you remember cleaning the seeds from our cheap marijuana in the 70's? Yeah, you already have this skill down. Only now you keep the seeds and get rid of the leafy stuff.
This wheat will come with some amount of bug eggs. The wheat ground into the flour you buy would have them, too. I just put the content of each bag of wheat into containers and freeze them for 3 days to kill the eggs, then put it all in buckets with good lids to store. Alternatively, you can dump then contents into buckets then add some dry ice to suffocate the eggs. It's all good.
It's pretty easy to get beans in bulk at coops. Big bags of lentils and whatever for not too much money. And they aren't outrageously expensive at Aldi's. I'd be buying cracked soy beans at a feed store, but I don't like the taste of soy beans except as tofu. I might add one 50 pound bag of that to my stores, but that would be it. You want at least 100 pounds of beans for every 400 pounds of wheat. That's going to be at least another $100, depending on what mix of beans you get, and where. It could easily be $200.
Storing beans is just like storing wheat ... except beans don't store forever. After a few years, to cook them thoroughly (which you need to do) you will need either a pressure cooker or to grind them to flour first.
We can talk about grinders some other day.
Instead, let's talk essential fatty acids. They, like minimum wage workers right at this second working at those restaurants doing carry out, are essential and not respected. Like minimum wage workers, they have high turnover (they can go rancid). Unlike minimum wage workers, they are expensive. You NEED about a table spoon of fat a day in your diet. More than that is useful if you ever want to fry food - like to fry felafel from stored chickpeas.
Your basic cooking oils - corn, soy, canola - keep about 1 year. Six half gallon bottles per person would be a year supply. This would cost $13 or so at Aldi. Olive oil costs way more, but lasts two years. So does coconut oil, at an even higher price.
Now, throw in a big bottle of good vitamins - your basic survival needs are covered.
Can you use corn instead of wheat? Yes, it's cheaper, but far lower in protein. You might need to store more of it. But, oh MY - corn bread made from just-ground corn meal is AMAZING.
Can you use rice instead of wheat? Not exactly. White rice stores well, but, again, not good for protein. Brown rice goes rancid due to relatively high fat content pretty, after about 6 months.
Yes, you'll need seasonings, and salt, etc. These foods can be seriously boring. Salt stores forever. Alas, herbs and spices don't. You'll need to rotate them well.
That's the basics of survival food storage. About $400 a person, more when you count storage containers (if you ask, I can go into that) and grinders and such.
Frondly, Fern
Showing posts with label food storage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food storage. Show all posts
Friday, April 24, 2020
Monday, November 19, 2012
Long Term Food Storage
Blessings Darlings!
A few months back I wrote a post that was kind of 'intro to Fern's approach to long term food storage'. Here's the link. As I said, it's an intro - my approach to long-term food storage is calorie based, that is, first I stored the minimum basic calories we'd need, and from there I round it out.
How I round it out is what this post is about.
Again, first I made sure we had a pound of grain per person per day for one year (plus a bit extra for sprouting) rounding THAT up to 400 pounds of grain per person per year. But corn/wheat/rice aren't complete proteins, so relying on those ONLY would cause severe malnutrition. That's what causes the distended bellies in the pictures of starving children. And, obviously, they don't have all the other macro and micro nutrients that a person needs in their diet.
So from that based I added things. First, olive oil, to cover essential fatty acids. Metal cans, stored in the cool basement. It's also nice to fry some food with, adds lots of flavor. Second, a basic supply of a daily vitamin/mineral supplement. Third, covering the proteins.
Actually, I rotate the purchases of all of those. Yes, I buy them in that order, but I don't get ALL of the first before moving on to buying the second or third item.
I have a varied approach to the proteins. As I noted in many other blog posts, I grab fresh meat when it's on sale and usually have a lot in my freezer. That, used sparingly, would kick up the protein in the diet very well, and the fats in it as well as the protein add to the calorie count. After that, I have canned meats, and some freeze-dried meals that have reasonable protein levels. But I don't count on them for the TRULY long-term. For that I have stored dried beans/peas and canned dry milk. About 140 pounds, for the 3 of us, for a 6 month period.
If you look at my approach, it's like a set of concentric circles - like a bull's eye pattern. First circle is basic calories. Second circle are macro & micro nutrients, which I've just outlined. After that there are other circles, like #3 - 'things that help me cook' with tea/coffee, sweeteners, herbs/spices, dried fruits, etc. And #4 - bulk to fill plates/stomachs like dried veggies, etc.
Clearly, no one in my household has either celiac disease or are diabetics. My circles are what works for THIS family. Your family may have different things in each circle.
I've read of some people whose approach is to have oil, vitamins, and protein supplements as their first circle, saying that will prevent starvation, then go to all grains/fruits/vegetables in outer circles. It's not my approach, but they looked at THEIR needs and made their best decisions.
So, that's how we do it at Chez Fern.
Frondly, Fern
A few months back I wrote a post that was kind of 'intro to Fern's approach to long term food storage'. Here's the link. As I said, it's an intro - my approach to long-term food storage is calorie based, that is, first I stored the minimum basic calories we'd need, and from there I round it out.
How I round it out is what this post is about.
Again, first I made sure we had a pound of grain per person per day for one year (plus a bit extra for sprouting) rounding THAT up to 400 pounds of grain per person per year. But corn/wheat/rice aren't complete proteins, so relying on those ONLY would cause severe malnutrition. That's what causes the distended bellies in the pictures of starving children. And, obviously, they don't have all the other macro and micro nutrients that a person needs in their diet.
So from that based I added things. First, olive oil, to cover essential fatty acids. Metal cans, stored in the cool basement. It's also nice to fry some food with, adds lots of flavor. Second, a basic supply of a daily vitamin/mineral supplement. Third, covering the proteins.
Actually, I rotate the purchases of all of those. Yes, I buy them in that order, but I don't get ALL of the first before moving on to buying the second or third item.
I have a varied approach to the proteins. As I noted in many other blog posts, I grab fresh meat when it's on sale and usually have a lot in my freezer. That, used sparingly, would kick up the protein in the diet very well, and the fats in it as well as the protein add to the calorie count. After that, I have canned meats, and some freeze-dried meals that have reasonable protein levels. But I don't count on them for the TRULY long-term. For that I have stored dried beans/peas and canned dry milk. About 140 pounds, for the 3 of us, for a 6 month period.
If you look at my approach, it's like a set of concentric circles - like a bull's eye pattern. First circle is basic calories. Second circle are macro & micro nutrients, which I've just outlined. After that there are other circles, like #3 - 'things that help me cook' with tea/coffee, sweeteners, herbs/spices, dried fruits, etc. And #4 - bulk to fill plates/stomachs like dried veggies, etc.
Clearly, no one in my household has either celiac disease or are diabetics. My circles are what works for THIS family. Your family may have different things in each circle.
I've read of some people whose approach is to have oil, vitamins, and protein supplements as their first circle, saying that will prevent starvation, then go to all grains/fruits/vegetables in outer circles. It's not my approach, but they looked at THEIR needs and made their best decisions.
So, that's how we do it at Chez Fern.
Frondly, Fern
Friday, April 20, 2012
Self Evaluation: Plastics Use
Blessings Darlings!
I use Earth Day as a time of evaluation and vow taking. Two years ago my vow was about reducing my use of plastics. Evaluation (a few days before Earth Day, I admit) makes it clear I'm failing at this.
I've had some success at reducing styrofoam and #5 plastics that are brought into the house - because we can't afford Chinese take out any more (comes in #5 black plastic bowls with a translucent plastic lid) nor can we afford to eat out (leftover brought home in styrofoam plastic boxes). OTOH many of our groceries still come into the house in plastic bags, because we fail to use the cloth bags. Even at Aldi's, where we use bags from home, the bags we re-use are the plastic bags from other stores.
Implementing a system other than Gladware for refrigerator food storage has also been a failure. I can't buy Pyrex replacements (which still have plastic lids) and I am afraid that if I DID use them I'd break them. I drop things. A lot. And we have regular 'landslides' in our freezer and refrigerator.
I'm going to keep looking for metal bowls of all sizes at garage sales, in the hopes that they will be useful for fridge storage. I would be able to use aluminum foil to cover them with ... not that the mining and refining of THAT is not destructive to the environment, just that aluminum foil can be recycled more readily than plastic wrap can be. Like - it can be recycled at all.
I use Earth Day as a time of evaluation and vow taking. Two years ago my vow was about reducing my use of plastics. Evaluation (a few days before Earth Day, I admit) makes it clear I'm failing at this.
I've had some success at reducing styrofoam and #5 plastics that are brought into the house - because we can't afford Chinese take out any more (comes in #5 black plastic bowls with a translucent plastic lid) nor can we afford to eat out (leftover brought home in styrofoam plastic boxes). OTOH many of our groceries still come into the house in plastic bags, because we fail to use the cloth bags. Even at Aldi's, where we use bags from home, the bags we re-use are the plastic bags from other stores.
Implementing a system other than Gladware for refrigerator food storage has also been a failure. I can't buy Pyrex replacements (which still have plastic lids) and I am afraid that if I DID use them I'd break them. I drop things. A lot. And we have regular 'landslides' in our freezer and refrigerator.
I'm going to keep looking for metal bowls of all sizes at garage sales, in the hopes that they will be useful for fridge storage. I would be able to use aluminum foil to cover them with ... not that the mining and refining of THAT is not destructive to the environment, just that aluminum foil can be recycled more readily than plastic wrap can be. Like - it can be recycled at all.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Manure Mondays
Blessings Darlings!
I know what mot of you thought when you saw the title of this post - aren't ALL Mondays "Manure"? But I'm talking literally here, not metaphorically.
I have a manure date next Monday! With the beautiful Suz (and by extension with her beautiful and bountiful manure producing ponies). We'll fill another 9 or 10 buckets with well-aged manure for my garden. There the wonderful if weedy manure will be layered with straw and I'll plant my veggies in it.
Manure makes me happy happy. I'm special that way. The manure makes my veggies even happier than I am. One year I got all the beans we could eat PLUS 8 pounds to freeze from 36 square feet of garden, all due to the combination of horse manure and a Beltane ritual that involved Epona.
Just remember - horse manure is "hot" compared to ruminant manure in that using it without it being aged will damage plants from too much nitrogen too quickly. It is also comparatively very weedy since horse digestion doesn't deal with the seeds they eat the same way ruminant digestion does.
Remember - the buckets are all 3.5 gallon to 5 gallon ones, mostly with lids, that I got for FREE. All food grade, too, not that it matters for manure (when I use them for storing wheat/other food stuff that matters). I get them by checking at the bakery departments of any grocery store I go to, especially when I get to the 'big city' to go to the bank or Costco. They are in hot demand where I am now since this is rural rather than the suburban area I used to live in. Folks here keep farm animals, and buckets and farm animals go hand in hoof/paw. Carrying food, carrying water, collecting waste, collecting eggs, milking - you name it and a bucket is involved in it. You cannot have too many buckets.
Suz and I used to 'package' the manure in big black trash bags. But they tear, are awkward to fill, etc. Buckets are better. OTOH, using the now-rare buckets I can get for manure rather than food storage would be a problem for food storage. I guess it's a good thing I can't afford to store any more food right now, eh?
So I'm having a happy Friday, anticipating Manure Monday!
Frondly, Fern
I know what mot of you thought when you saw the title of this post - aren't ALL Mondays "Manure"? But I'm talking literally here, not metaphorically.
I have a manure date next Monday! With the beautiful Suz (and by extension with her beautiful and bountiful manure producing ponies). We'll fill another 9 or 10 buckets with well-aged manure for my garden. There the wonderful if weedy manure will be layered with straw and I'll plant my veggies in it.
Manure makes me happy happy. I'm special that way. The manure makes my veggies even happier than I am. One year I got all the beans we could eat PLUS 8 pounds to freeze from 36 square feet of garden, all due to the combination of horse manure and a Beltane ritual that involved Epona.
Just remember - horse manure is "hot" compared to ruminant manure in that using it without it being aged will damage plants from too much nitrogen too quickly. It is also comparatively very weedy since horse digestion doesn't deal with the seeds they eat the same way ruminant digestion does.
Remember - the buckets are all 3.5 gallon to 5 gallon ones, mostly with lids, that I got for FREE. All food grade, too, not that it matters for manure (when I use them for storing wheat/other food stuff that matters). I get them by checking at the bakery departments of any grocery store I go to, especially when I get to the 'big city' to go to the bank or Costco. They are in hot demand where I am now since this is rural rather than the suburban area I used to live in. Folks here keep farm animals, and buckets and farm animals go hand in hoof/paw. Carrying food, carrying water, collecting waste, collecting eggs, milking - you name it and a bucket is involved in it. You cannot have too many buckets.
Suz and I used to 'package' the manure in big black trash bags. But they tear, are awkward to fill, etc. Buckets are better. OTOH, using the now-rare buckets I can get for manure rather than food storage would be a problem for food storage. I guess it's a good thing I can't afford to store any more food right now, eh?
So I'm having a happy Friday, anticipating Manure Monday!
Frondly, Fern
Friday, March 11, 2011
My Food Storage Approach
Blessings, Darlings!
With the latest natural disaster - today's massive earthquake in Japan, and the resultant Pacific Rim tsunamis - it seems a good time to answer a question I got.
The question, obviously, was what is my approach to food storage?
Well, it's multifaceted.
For short-term disruptions, like our recent hit to income or anything under a month, I'd rely more on canned goods and emptying the freezer, as well as home-baked breads/etc, sprouts, garden in season, and the 'usual' rotation of the long-term storage.
For long-term food storage, I have a tiered approach.
First tier - calories and vitamins/minerals. That mostly means grains, and my obsession with 50 pound bags of wheat, along with rice, corn, and quinoa. Add to that vitamin and calcium supplements. Vitamins for everyone, calcium for me, as I am a woman and need to keep the bones strong. With 400 or so pounds of grain per person plus vitamin and mineral supplements, we would make it thru' a year. We'd be undernourished, but alive. Actually, I have oils in this level, too, since we humans need some essential oils in our diet. Here I have olive oil, sesame oil, canola oil, peanut oil. Alas, oils have a fairly limited shelf life, so I don't store as much of them as I'd like, and the extra olive oil is in the freezer.
Second tier - protein. Beans, mostly, which also help with calories. I'm still WAY light on them. Ideally, I'd have 200 pounds per person of beans stored, or 600 pounds total. Instead, I have 66 pounds (plus the 'in use' supply in the kitchen, about 10 more pounds). However, beans don't store as well as grains do. After a few years, they become too stale to cook.
'Tis a dilemma.
I also have a lot of nuts stored, to help with the protein levels, (and they also help with essential oils and calories) and a nice supply of canned fish along with a little canned chicken and beef.
Third Tier - Everything else. With an emphasis on dried fruit, dried veggies, sweeteners (sugar, maple syrup, honey), seasonings. A little dry milk, a very few cans of freeze-dried meals, cocoa powder, etc.
Water gets its own category. One 55 gallon water barrel, one 80 gallon water heater, 13 gallons in bottles that I rotate regularly. We are on well water, so if power goes even short term, we have no water except what is stored .... or that I carry from a nearby stream and run thru' a water purifier. And I'm not talking a Brita filter setup, I'm talking Katydin filter or, someday, a Berkley set up
.
Clearly, I also have a hand crank grain mill, and general cooking supplies. Cooking fuel I'll cover later.
Frondly, Fern
With the latest natural disaster - today's massive earthquake in Japan, and the resultant Pacific Rim tsunamis - it seems a good time to answer a question I got.
The question, obviously, was what is my approach to food storage?
Well, it's multifaceted.
For short-term disruptions, like our recent hit to income or anything under a month, I'd rely more on canned goods and emptying the freezer, as well as home-baked breads/etc, sprouts, garden in season, and the 'usual' rotation of the long-term storage.
For long-term food storage, I have a tiered approach.
First tier - calories and vitamins/minerals. That mostly means grains, and my obsession with 50 pound bags of wheat, along with rice, corn, and quinoa. Add to that vitamin and calcium supplements. Vitamins for everyone, calcium for me, as I am a woman and need to keep the bones strong. With 400 or so pounds of grain per person plus vitamin and mineral supplements, we would make it thru' a year. We'd be undernourished, but alive. Actually, I have oils in this level, too, since we humans need some essential oils in our diet. Here I have olive oil, sesame oil, canola oil, peanut oil. Alas, oils have a fairly limited shelf life, so I don't store as much of them as I'd like, and the extra olive oil is in the freezer.
Second tier - protein. Beans, mostly, which also help with calories. I'm still WAY light on them. Ideally, I'd have 200 pounds per person of beans stored, or 600 pounds total. Instead, I have 66 pounds (plus the 'in use' supply in the kitchen, about 10 more pounds). However, beans don't store as well as grains do. After a few years, they become too stale to cook.
'Tis a dilemma.
I also have a lot of nuts stored, to help with the protein levels, (and they also help with essential oils and calories) and a nice supply of canned fish along with a little canned chicken and beef.
Third Tier - Everything else. With an emphasis on dried fruit, dried veggies, sweeteners (sugar, maple syrup, honey), seasonings. A little dry milk, a very few cans of freeze-dried meals, cocoa powder, etc.
Water gets its own category. One 55 gallon water barrel, one 80 gallon water heater, 13 gallons in bottles that I rotate regularly. We are on well water, so if power goes even short term, we have no water except what is stored .... or that I carry from a nearby stream and run thru' a water purifier. And I'm not talking a Brita filter setup, I'm talking Katydin filter or, someday, a Berkley set up
. Clearly, I also have a hand crank grain mill
, and general cooking supplies. Cooking fuel I'll cover later.Frondly, Fern
Monday, January 17, 2011
Prep Shopping
Blessings, Darlings!
As of this moment, I have $12 left to spend on food thru' the end of Thursday, given our food budget and the shopping I've done so far. Which is pretty good, given that I underspent by $8 last week, and I really don't have anything left of the 'need for meals this week' list.
Which leaves me more money than usual to add to our food storage. And that's a good thing since all of us preppers and survivalists and preparedness and just plain broke folks have noticed that food prices have been rising thru' the roof! Last summer's droughts in Europe and Asia, this winter's flooding in Australia and South American (well, summer floods for them) have caused havoc in food prices. Rising oil prices are affecting food prices, too, as is diversion of grain into ethanol and into increased meat production. And the weather we've had in the US is causing 'temporary' jumps in produce prices due to damage to crops in the deep south and California. Even my winter veggie mainstay, cabbage, has been hit hard by the freezes in Florida. Strawberries are off the scale in price!
So I'm looking at what foodstuffs to use the food dollars for. I could use more white wine for cooking, I'm getting a bit low. That won't take much of it. So, do I get two 5 pound bags of sugar and one 5 pound bag of flour to add to my storage? Or do I get another 50 pounds of wheat berries really meant for livestock feed at Southern States or Tractor Supply?
Frondly, Fern
As of this moment, I have $12 left to spend on food thru' the end of Thursday, given our food budget and the shopping I've done so far. Which is pretty good, given that I underspent by $8 last week, and I really don't have anything left of the 'need for meals this week' list.
Which leaves me more money than usual to add to our food storage. And that's a good thing since all of us preppers and survivalists and preparedness and just plain broke folks have noticed that food prices have been rising thru' the roof! Last summer's droughts in Europe and Asia, this winter's flooding in Australia and South American (well, summer floods for them) have caused havoc in food prices. Rising oil prices are affecting food prices, too, as is diversion of grain into ethanol and into increased meat production. And the weather we've had in the US is causing 'temporary' jumps in produce prices due to damage to crops in the deep south and California. Even my winter veggie mainstay, cabbage, has been hit hard by the freezes in Florida. Strawberries are off the scale in price!
So I'm looking at what foodstuffs to use the food dollars for. I could use more white wine for cooking, I'm getting a bit low. That won't take much of it. So, do I get two 5 pound bags of sugar and one 5 pound bag of flour to add to my storage? Or do I get another 50 pounds of wheat berries really meant for livestock feed at Southern States or Tractor Supply?
Frondly, Fern
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Seeds Found!
Blessings, Darlings!
In my never-ending work to unpack from the move, I've FINALLY found the bulk of my stored seeds Sunday evening. I was having the hardest time finding them, and feared the guys had put the boxes of them in the detached garage. I didn't want to have to look for the right boxes there (among the 200 other boxes there), nor would the seeds have been happy in single degree temperatures.
But, no - they were in mislabeled boxes, mostly in the living room.
I still haven't found the herb seeds, but I'm greatly cheered and hopeful that they will soon be found.
See, it's just about time to start onion seeds indoors (and parsley, but as noted, those seeds haven't yet been found). So it was going to be an ISSUE soon.
I have a 3 year supply of seeds on hand. They don't take up much room, especially compared to everything else that I struggle to find room for merely a ONE year supply of.
Having found the seeds that meant that on my trip to town I picked up some soil to start the seeds in (the ground here being frozen). Tomorrow I hope to have time to get them started, if not, then Sunday is my aim.
Have you got/ordered seeds for your garden yet this year? This is prime time to order them!
Frondly, Fern
In my never-ending work to unpack from the move, I've FINALLY found the bulk of my stored seeds Sunday evening. I was having the hardest time finding them, and feared the guys had put the boxes of them in the detached garage. I didn't want to have to look for the right boxes there (among the 200 other boxes there), nor would the seeds have been happy in single degree temperatures.
But, no - they were in mislabeled boxes, mostly in the living room.
I still haven't found the herb seeds, but I'm greatly cheered and hopeful that they will soon be found.
See, it's just about time to start onion seeds indoors (and parsley, but as noted, those seeds haven't yet been found). So it was going to be an ISSUE soon.
I have a 3 year supply of seeds on hand. They don't take up much room, especially compared to everything else that I struggle to find room for merely a ONE year supply of.
Having found the seeds that meant that on my trip to town I picked up some soil to start the seeds in (the ground here being frozen). Tomorrow I hope to have time to get them started, if not, then Sunday is my aim.
Have you got/ordered seeds for your garden yet this year? This is prime time to order them!
Frondly, Fern
Saturday, January 1, 2011
An Office!
Blessings, Darlings!
The Chubby Hubby and the Spawn FINALLY moved the furniture where it needed to be in the room that's supposed to be my office (and food storage room), gave me a bookcase out of the ones stashed in the garage, and moved two other bookcases in the garage into the library.
I HAVE A USABLE OFFICE AGAIN!
I'm amazingly happy. I've already sorted thru' the mail that had accumulated since before we moved and has been sitting in boxes waiting for me to have space to organize it in. Found one reimbursement check, two cash back things from Staples, and a gift card from Walmart. Walmart? Whatever. I even wrote a little something something for Star Foster over at www.patheos.com answering the question "What Makes Someone Wiccan?"
Tomorrow I'll make a calendar of what bills are due what day of the month, so I can automate payments. I HOPE this means I'll be able to blog more regularly - I have a door I can close to block out interruptions.
OTOH, this is farther from the coffeepot/microwave than I was when trying to work from the diningroom table. But we'll actually be able to EAT in the diningroom! Woot!
Frondly, Fern
The Chubby Hubby and the Spawn FINALLY moved the furniture where it needed to be in the room that's supposed to be my office (and food storage room), gave me a bookcase out of the ones stashed in the garage, and moved two other bookcases in the garage into the library.
I HAVE A USABLE OFFICE AGAIN!
I'm amazingly happy. I've already sorted thru' the mail that had accumulated since before we moved and has been sitting in boxes waiting for me to have space to organize it in. Found one reimbursement check, two cash back things from Staples, and a gift card from Walmart. Walmart? Whatever. I even wrote a little something something for Star Foster over at www.patheos.com answering the question "What Makes Someone Wiccan?"
Tomorrow I'll make a calendar of what bills are due what day of the month, so I can automate payments. I HOPE this means I'll be able to blog more regularly - I have a door I can close to block out interruptions.
OTOH, this is farther from the coffeepot/microwave than I was when trying to work from the diningroom table. But we'll actually be able to EAT in the diningroom! Woot!
Frondly, Fern
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Preps This Week
Blessings, Darlings!
We're having a heat wave, and moderate drought, here. So I've been only working on the yard and garden in 15 minute spurts, then coming in and trying to cool off. As a result, I'm behind in the garden, and most of my carrots died.
But the beans are well up, the tomatoes are doing great, the peppers have some issues, the garlic and onions are ready to harvest. I need to sprinkle urine around the beans every other day to keep the rodents (?bunnies?, ?squirrels?, ?chipmunks?) at bay.
Started cabbage seeds, celery seeds, and rutabagas.
Missing are the honey bees. Granted, last year we had more than I've ever seen, but this year I saw ONE early on, and that was it. We have bumble bees (not lots), and tons of wasps of all sizes pollinating their little wings off. Of course, the oregano and peppermint aren't blooming as impressively this year, either. Still, zero is not a good sign.
I've starting the spring stored water rotation a bit late, but at least I've started it. I'm beginning to fill the freezer with ice (bottles and cubes) to prep for inevitable summer power outages due to storms. I will probably defrost the dang freezer, as I have been threatening to do, next week when the temperature and humidity drop.
Physical Therapy on my knee continues. It is finally improving! Not that I've started aerobic anything again yet, but now most of the time that I have to stoop to do something the knee doesn't hurt at all.
I need to rebuild food stores, but without money that's hard to do. Yeah, duh. I did buy one can of interesting veggies, one package of crackers, 4 cans of mushrooms, a bag of sugar, and a jar of salsa this week. I need to restock tomato sauce (Bob's been making a lot of BBQ sauce), paprika, catsup, mustard, etc.
Cherries are on sale, I'm probably going to start to dry them tomorrow. Bob wants some canned, too - he LOVED the previous batch. But these don't seem to have a nice a flavor, so I'm thinking that drying them will concentrate what flavor they have. And I want to get a lot of dried fruit in place by the middle of July, in case the astrological shit DOES hit the fan.
What have you done to prepare this week?
Frondly, Fern
We're having a heat wave, and moderate drought, here. So I've been only working on the yard and garden in 15 minute spurts, then coming in and trying to cool off. As a result, I'm behind in the garden, and most of my carrots died.
But the beans are well up, the tomatoes are doing great, the peppers have some issues, the garlic and onions are ready to harvest. I need to sprinkle urine around the beans every other day to keep the rodents (?bunnies?, ?squirrels?, ?chipmunks?) at bay.
Started cabbage seeds, celery seeds, and rutabagas.
Missing are the honey bees. Granted, last year we had more than I've ever seen, but this year I saw ONE early on, and that was it. We have bumble bees (not lots), and tons of wasps of all sizes pollinating their little wings off. Of course, the oregano and peppermint aren't blooming as impressively this year, either. Still, zero is not a good sign.
I've starting the spring stored water rotation a bit late, but at least I've started it. I'm beginning to fill the freezer with ice (bottles and cubes) to prep for inevitable summer power outages due to storms. I will probably defrost the dang freezer, as I have been threatening to do, next week when the temperature and humidity drop.
Physical Therapy on my knee continues. It is finally improving! Not that I've started aerobic anything again yet, but now most of the time that I have to stoop to do something the knee doesn't hurt at all.
I need to rebuild food stores, but without money that's hard to do. Yeah, duh. I did buy one can of interesting veggies, one package of crackers, 4 cans of mushrooms, a bag of sugar, and a jar of salsa this week. I need to restock tomato sauce (Bob's been making a lot of BBQ sauce), paprika, catsup, mustard, etc.
Cherries are on sale, I'm probably going to start to dry them tomorrow. Bob wants some canned, too - he LOVED the previous batch. But these don't seem to have a nice a flavor, so I'm thinking that drying them will concentrate what flavor they have. And I want to get a lot of dried fruit in place by the middle of July, in case the astrological shit DOES hit the fan.
What have you done to prepare this week?
Frondly, Fern
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Danger! Danger, My Darlings!
Blessings, Darlings!
And, apparently, we're all going to really really NEED all the blessings we can get.
A friend of mine who speaks fluent astrology says that the astrological forecast for the mid July to mid August time is 'as bad as he's seen in his life'. Like wars or attacks, like lack of food and power, etc. Spiritual attacks as well.
So, work on getting that 3 week supply of food/water/energy in place, put wards around your home/work/vehicles/family, get at least a baseball bat or two for self-defense, clear the spiritual garbage that is attracting flies, etc.
Oatmeal, dry milk, dry fruit will cover breakfasts. Peanut butter and crackers (jelly or honey optional) will cover lunch. Rice, stir-fried cabbage, soy sauce can cover dinners (and take little wood to prepare). Or tomatoes and cucs from your garden, with a can of chickpeas added, makes a WONDERFUL salad dinner, especially served in a pita. Yes, you can make pita over wood on a 'charcoal' grill if you practice now. Oh, make your rocket stove (google it) and store some wood now.
You can do more elaborate meals if you have the money.
On any meds? Get refills before the middle of July.
Frondly, Fern
And, apparently, we're all going to really really NEED all the blessings we can get.
A friend of mine who speaks fluent astrology says that the astrological forecast for the mid July to mid August time is 'as bad as he's seen in his life'. Like wars or attacks, like lack of food and power, etc. Spiritual attacks as well.
So, work on getting that 3 week supply of food/water/energy in place, put wards around your home/work/vehicles/family, get at least a baseball bat or two for self-defense, clear the spiritual garbage that is attracting flies, etc.
Oatmeal, dry milk, dry fruit will cover breakfasts. Peanut butter and crackers (jelly or honey optional) will cover lunch. Rice, stir-fried cabbage, soy sauce can cover dinners (and take little wood to prepare). Or tomatoes and cucs from your garden, with a can of chickpeas added, makes a WONDERFUL salad dinner, especially served in a pita. Yes, you can make pita over wood on a 'charcoal' grill if you practice now. Oh, make your rocket stove (google it) and store some wood now.
You can do more elaborate meals if you have the money.
On any meds? Get refills before the middle of July.
Frondly, Fern
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Post Halloween Pumpkins
Somehow I had the impression that after about November 1 the harvest is supposed to be over and all the food will have been safely stored. It's sure not that way in my house!
Yes, Fronds, I picked up my annual supply of 10 pumpkins. This year a few days after Halloween one of the churches that had been selling them even put a post on Freecycle inviting folks to take them. So far I've only fully processed ONE of them. Half of another will be blanched and put in the dehydrator this evening. I'm getting well and truly tired of hearing the fan of the dehydrator, but I'm never tired of eating.
It was easier to can them, but I just don't have enough jars or room to store them. I had thought that I had 10 dozen jars, but I only have about 100. Which is only about 1/3 of how many I'd LIKE to have.
Next year, Gods willing and if the creek don't rise, I'm going to get some of the leftover 'little pumpkins' that they had, too. No meat for cooking, but they looked like they were incredibly full of seeds! Yum!
Off to cook dinner, then blanch the slices. Laters!
Frondly, Fern
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Going-ons and On-Goings
Blessings, Fronds!
Sorry about the lack of posts - I may have to accept that over the summer I'll just be posting particularly sporatically. But let me tell you why ...
IN THE GARDEN
The spawn sort of hoed and weeded the older beds. I got the sweet peppers in (late) and started the first planting of beans (on time). The beans have not sprouted. At all. The exceptionally cute baby bunnies, who have worked hard at eating my parsley and salvia to the ground insist that they are NOT to blame for this (they say that they prefer them with the first tender real leaves before they eat them). So I should be planting more beans today. This planting was planned as the second bed. Oh well. The onions there are thriving, as are 4 of the 5 sweet peppers. I think my son mowed the 5th pepper, but I've not pressed him on that point.
The flowers by the front door are still not totally planted. Mostly because it has been too wet to plant them. We have had incredible rain this month! Oh - I have a new rain barrel, but haven't set it up with the downspouts yet.
Out in the back yard's new veggie bed I finally staked the tomatoes. They are coming along very nicely, especially the Roma's. The parsley is SLOWLY coming back - I have staked the 'body' of a milk jug around each of them to deter baby bunnies. I worry that I'm not harvesting the basil fast enough to stop it from bolting. Onions are lagging there.
I've harvested lambsquarters two times to serve as dinner veggies. The husband finds it a bit bitter, but LOVED it when I steamed it and added a cream sauce. Even if the 'cream sauce' was just a can of cream of mushroom soup!
FAMILY BUSINESS
Huband still working on getting new web site up. Main customer still down, no replacement. Should e-mail distributor today to see how month's product sales are going. Will eventually put a link to the NEW web site up here, but our current web site is so miserable I don't want to link it. I'm sure all of you want to buy USB HID and TCP programming products, but you'll just have to wait. Okay, if you insist on buying them, let me know. Or if you need Windows programming, or USB HID peripheral programming.
I'M STARTING A BUSINESS!!!!
I've been training to become a Mastermind group leader (Dr. Ben Mack's Carnegie Mastermind group construct). The first group starts tomorrow night, one hour weekly, by phone or computer. I'm looking to start groups on a whole variety of topics, including but probably not limited to: survival gardening, food storage, food storage cooking, divination/scrying, Wizard Tag, Intimacy with the Divine, Thaumaturgical magic, creating sacred space, and Business Skills for Pagans. All of this will be explained in more detail here and on .....
MY NEW WEB SITE
Far be it from me to let my husband have all the new web site fun. Yes, I'm finally building a full web site. I just installed Joomla on Sunday, and have been working on adding one article a day. I need to figure out buttons today, as well as adding a new article and getting a clue on how to do squeeze/registration pages.
THE REST OF LIFE
On top of all that, clothes still need to be washed, meals cooked and cleaned up after, the house needs cleaning, and the Solstice was this last weekend. Not that I made it to the ritual - the car died AGAIN, after $1K work of work on it. I spent the afternoon in a parking lot about 5 miles from the park we were meeting at, waiting for my husband's help.
So, that's what's up here. I'm not commenting on Iran, or the train crash here in DC yesterday, or any deep philosophical stuff at this point. But maybe someday I'll explain that in terms of Celtic Reconstructionism - in an odd way it makes sense.
Frondly, Fern
Sorry about the lack of posts - I may have to accept that over the summer I'll just be posting particularly sporatically. But let me tell you why ...
IN THE GARDEN
The spawn sort of hoed and weeded the older beds. I got the sweet peppers in (late) and started the first planting of beans (on time). The beans have not sprouted. At all. The exceptionally cute baby bunnies, who have worked hard at eating my parsley and salvia to the ground insist that they are NOT to blame for this (they say that they prefer them with the first tender real leaves before they eat them). So I should be planting more beans today. This planting was planned as the second bed. Oh well. The onions there are thriving, as are 4 of the 5 sweet peppers. I think my son mowed the 5th pepper, but I've not pressed him on that point.
The flowers by the front door are still not totally planted. Mostly because it has been too wet to plant them. We have had incredible rain this month! Oh - I have a new rain barrel, but haven't set it up with the downspouts yet.
Out in the back yard's new veggie bed I finally staked the tomatoes. They are coming along very nicely, especially the Roma's. The parsley is SLOWLY coming back - I have staked the 'body' of a milk jug around each of them to deter baby bunnies. I worry that I'm not harvesting the basil fast enough to stop it from bolting. Onions are lagging there.
I've harvested lambsquarters two times to serve as dinner veggies. The husband finds it a bit bitter, but LOVED it when I steamed it and added a cream sauce. Even if the 'cream sauce' was just a can of cream of mushroom soup!
FAMILY BUSINESS
Huband still working on getting new web site up. Main customer still down, no replacement. Should e-mail distributor today to see how month's product sales are going. Will eventually put a link to the NEW web site up here, but our current web site is so miserable I don't want to link it. I'm sure all of you want to buy USB HID and TCP programming products, but you'll just have to wait. Okay, if you insist on buying them, let me know. Or if you need Windows programming, or USB HID peripheral programming.
I'M STARTING A BUSINESS!!!!
I've been training to become a Mastermind group leader (Dr. Ben Mack's Carnegie Mastermind group construct). The first group starts tomorrow night, one hour weekly, by phone or computer. I'm looking to start groups on a whole variety of topics, including but probably not limited to: survival gardening, food storage, food storage cooking, divination/scrying, Wizard Tag, Intimacy with the Divine, Thaumaturgical magic, creating sacred space, and Business Skills for Pagans. All of this will be explained in more detail here and on .....
MY NEW WEB SITE
Far be it from me to let my husband have all the new web site fun. Yes, I'm finally building a full web site. I just installed Joomla on Sunday, and have been working on adding one article a day. I need to figure out buttons today, as well as adding a new article and getting a clue on how to do squeeze/registration pages.
THE REST OF LIFE
On top of all that, clothes still need to be washed, meals cooked and cleaned up after, the house needs cleaning, and the Solstice was this last weekend. Not that I made it to the ritual - the car died AGAIN, after $1K work of work on it. I spent the afternoon in a parking lot about 5 miles from the park we were meeting at, waiting for my husband's help.
So, that's what's up here. I'm not commenting on Iran, or the train crash here in DC yesterday, or any deep philosophical stuff at this point. But maybe someday I'll explain that in terms of Celtic Reconstructionism - in an odd way it makes sense.
Frondly, Fern
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