Whoopee! We finished our food buy today. Cleaned me out of cash but I damn sure feel like something has been accomplished. The Handmaiden feels good about it too. I bought her a couple of pretty good sized packages of sliced mushrooms from the fresh vegetable section of the store so she could run them through her dehydrator. The way mushrooms are, they should dry down to something you can put in a pillbox. We bought plenty of fruit and vegetables and some skanky stuff like "just add water" pancake mix. I don't even bother to read the labels on those boxes but I know they taste good and will fill people up if need be. Bought more pancake syrup. Got myself 25 pounds of sugar and 3 boxes of Splenda in the little envelopes. That Splenda will last me 6 months with no problem. Bought a couple more big containers of Decaf coffee to offer us a little comfort should the system crash. A cup of coffee is a nice thing when the world is falling apart. Got a flat of Grape Jelly top go with the flat of Strawberry Jam I got last week. We bought flats of Chicken and Salmon to kick up the protein stash a little bit. I am a real bear on keeping enough protein around to keep us sane. We got ourselves a pretty good selection of stuff we needed to balance out our stash. You need to keep your diet balanced. You can't eat junk food all day long. You need the meat, fruit, and vegetables of a regular diet. And I know that the fruit is packed in sugar syrup but if we move around a little more we can handle the extra sugar easy enough. My one thought is how do I get a chicken coop made for a layers? I will go nuts without my eggs and Cayenne Pepper in the morning. I just called my neighbor and she said she might be able to come up with a spot that could hold some chickens and a small coop. We shall see!
A local supermarket in Bedford has a table set up in the back with disaster and emergency relief info on it. It ain't much but it sure beats the hell out of nothing. I have several people who will want to cook on my new stove. Hot damn. The more the merrier. Two families are prepping now and that is a big leap of faith. One of them ran into hard times this last month and used up some of their preps but if their markets come back this Fall they will make it all back. The other family has a plan of a few cans a week along with their regular groceries. They are also canning and drying their garden this year. Tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc. Could be some mighty fine eating if the SHTF.
I just checked the DJIA and it is up almost $100 here late on Thursday afternoon as I prepare this post. Boy! Those guys on the Presidential Push Team really get a work out. Anyone who believes this market is good needs their head examined. But the government and the media just lie their asses off every day and tell us it is getting better. And we are supposed to believe it. According to what I read on George Ure this morning, Oregon has supplanted Michigan as the top state for unemployment. The real numbers put them in the "over 20%" category.
There really isn't much to talk about today. The Sun is shining and the weather is fair and all looks to be in fine shape in the heavens. I saw a bunch of stars in the sky last night and that surprised me. As cloudy as it has been this Spring and early Summer I have not had occasion to see many stars. Grow your gardens and store your food. Prep like hell and don't look back. And stay alive!
Michael
mboone@rtccom.net
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6 comments:
Michael:
Decaf coffee!!! How are you going to get up at dawn early in the morning after collapse to tend the garden or guard the perimeter!
I have some questions regarding beans. I'm growing beans, as are you... they are looking real good, and many are flowering. I just realized I do not know when or how to really harvest the beans. I'm growing some "green" beans to just eat fresh, but most I will want to store... so could you do a post on that, or just in the commends section? I could always email you about it, but I thought others might benefit from this knowledge.
We should all take advantage of any temporary confidence or upswing in the markets. It will be a chance to unload junk to buyers who are now more willing to buy, and a chance to buy food and supplies while the rest of the people are still not thinking that they need preps.
If you have the time; you may enjoy reading 'The Chicken Tractor' by Andy Lee and Pat Foreman. I'm in the middle of it and thinking of following their methods. My 8 chickens get so bored being cooped up in their pen all day, and I only have 1/2 an acre for them to forage on.
You might look into a chicken tractor for your chickens. They are small and can be moved around with ease. Just google chicken tractor and you will see tons of plans for them. Great job on food purchase, never have enough of that stuff.
Bullseye
Code Name "Bullseye"
Stuff is goin' downhill in a BIG hurry. Gotta get that food put up. That's my next big push, food, food, food! Hopefully with El Nino forming up, we'll have a nice wet fall, and a decent garden. El Nino gives us warm winters down here too, so some winter crops could go in as well. And I do mean warm, like 80 on Christmas day. I love that....
Michael, two comments:
First, that food that folks are putting by will be good eating, crash or not. Even if the hard times somehow - miraculously - never come, putting some good, home-grown stuff in the pantry is well worth doing.
Second, buy some green coffee beans and roast them in your frying pan. You roast them until they crackle, and until they are a nice dark brown. I like to roast about a cup at a time. That's enough for several days.
The reason I'm suggesting this is that green coffee beans keep for years, while roasted and ground coffee goes stale in weeks. This can be a cheap way to stock up on an imported luxury, and it tastes better than store-bought.
Your local coffee roaster should be able to sell you a few pounds of beans to get started, and once you are hooked, Google will help you find sources for big sacks of the beans.
Publius- I answered your question in a blog post. And I drink Decaf to keep my heart from going fast.
Deafnsmart- You and Jim Haddix got me going on this chicken tractor thing. I saw one in use locally but it was too damn big to handle without a tractor. But I am getting with it. I enjoy http://home.centurytel.net/thecitychicken/tractors.html Pretty neat website.
Bullseye- I am on the trail of the chicken tractors. Betcha!
Mayberry- You know the drill. Plant what you can when you can.
Nils- You are so right about not losing on the prepping foods. And if they are from your garden and from non-hybrid seed, so much the better
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