PREPPING ... who was already doing it?

We're down to very basic, simple food now. I made a bannock today, threw a in a little powdered eggs for protein, some raisins, and some dried blackberries from the briars on the fence line. Waaay better than hardtack. My wife made navy bean soup with dehydrated celery and some Spam thrown in. We can go four months without going to the store.

 

Good list. I brought in quite a lot of pharmaceuticals, also. Other than that it was mostly large quantities of olive oil, rice, dried beans, lentils, low sodium canned fish, canned tomatoes, salt, sugar, bread flour, yeast, tea, coffee, UHT and powdered milk, dark chocolate, blocks of well-aged cheddar, salt/sugar free peanut butter, and canned fruit. Stocked up on frozen kale and broccoli also - in case of crop failure (we grow a lot of vegetables and fruit). We're not big meat eaters, so didn't really put much in freezer. I brought all this in during February, well before shelves started emptying. My family/social circle all did it then (with a couple of exceptions - who regretted their apathy later), while supply lines were still as per usual. That meant we had no impact on later panic buying.

 

Brilliant. Actually sounds like a pretty good meal!

We're trying to eat the same way. Not because we're running low (we still have a couple of months' worth), but because it stretches the total, and gives an even spread of consumption across the range - rather than using up one preferred item quickly thus limiting options later on.

I'm doing new and interesting things with beans and whatever fresh plant life is growing on our property. Especially fresh herbs. Very flavourful.

 

I knew families when I was young that ate that way all the time.. I think they subscribed to the "eat what you store" philosophy rather than the "store what you eat". Between the two variations, store what you eat is far more enjoyable. I have a bunch of ribeye roasts and steaks and tenderloin in the freezer...

 

I'm not a prepper yet, but I'm considering it. I keep 3-4 weeks of food and water on hand, keep laying hens, and have guns and ammo.

Gardening, canning, water filtration, and dehydrating are on my short list.

 

The gardening part will make a massive difference. We've been producing our own fruit and vegetables for many years, but actually increased out planting in February ahead of the lock down. We have so much food now that I can harvest multiple times a day, over a variety of crops.

 

Wow.. turns out I am a "prepper" and didn't know it! LOL

 

Turns out a lot of us were

 

I completely forgot about my peach and pecan trees.

 

Using the term in the generalized meaning, not the Internet or reality TV definition, you're a prepper. Your food stores prepare you for a tornado or hurricane. They prepare you for the interval between losing a job and getting an unemployment check. They prepare you for a pandemic - even this one, after the first week or to of masses hitting the stores, there's been enough food to buy, even if not what you wish to buy.

You're not prepared, from what you told us, for the end of the world as we know it. You're not prepared for a nuclear war. There's a lot of things you're not prepared for but there are a lot of things everyone is not prepared for. People prepare for what they think is the most likely risk to them and those that they love. But they all "think" differently so no one's prepared the way another would be and no one's plan is the right plan for all.

I think you have a great start; just build on it, a few items at a time. Every time you buy even a few dollars worth, you'll sleep better on those nights. Keep up the great work!

 

See! That's already an important food source - you could actually live on just those two, short term in an emergency. Every food plant helps. If you already have chickens, you have protein via eggs. Add in carrots, potatoes, and leafy greens and you're good forever if it came to that.

FWIW, the best piece of food gardening advice I ever received was to plant as many herbs as you can. Most are incredibly hardy, resistant to pests, flavourful, high in vitamin C, and can be used as a primary food source if necessary. On the strength of that, I always have rosemary, parsley, sage, oregano, thyme, lemon verbena, and mint. In spring/summer I add a ton of basil - because it's so delicious .

 

And some people don't prepare for anything. Not even a rainy weekend.

 

It just occurred to me, but it's also a good idea to have a supply of lard or crisco on hand. The stuff lasts for years and you will really need it to cook whatever food you have stored up.

 

Canned Crisco is an old prepper standby, I've heard. We can't buy it here (not easily, at least), but might be something worth shipping in. Thanks for the reminder

 

Do you have experience storing them for years and using them? I have some that's past best-by date and not sure about tossing them or keeping them.

The reason they're past best-by is that we just don't use them enough. We should, though; I was raised with a lot of cooking with lard and like it. We just don't have time to do that much cooking anymore. I store it but, in this exception, don't use it.

 

Well if it smells bad or otherwise seems to have gone bad, I would throw it out, but otherwise, I would keep it.

https://www.doesitgobad.com/does-lard-go-bad/

 

If lard smells okay on hot cast iron we use it. If I drop food on the floor in these kind of times I scarf it right down and let the pyloric acid kill the germs and split up the dirt. The food supply chain news gets a little worse day by day and you don't know when it might come to a permanent end, so I'm not finicky at all now.
We'll grind and eat deer corn if we have to.

 

Thanks! Very useful link.

We're not terribly picky about best-by dates; they're just that: Best by, but not "no good after" dates. I had tuna salad this week with a can I found in the far back of a deep cabinet that had a best-by date of 2018. It was slightly mushier than fresher tuna but perfectly edible.

I did some tests a few years ago and found that, for most foods, if you compare side-by-side, fresh cans versus cans right at best-by date you could tell the difference. If you didn't have the side-by-side to compare, you'd never think there was a thing wrong with the older. I also included cans up to around a year past best-by dates. They were perfectly edible but you could start to tell in texture, color, and taste, that they weren't fresh.

I try to keep my cans rotated, donating those approaching best-by date to local women's shelter (because their need is not of their own choosing), but sometimes some cans get away from me. I just eat them anyway.

 

We're a bit more careful with this stuff, so tend to avoid animal products when on 'rations'. Don't want to do anything which might precipitate a visit to doctor/hospital! Fresh eggs for protein being the exception. Olive oil for fats.

 

I got a few laying hens, goats, several man made ponds, and a fairly large garden. Been putting native fish in the ponds. But I am not really a Pepper. I don't know how , and day to day is enough for me.

 

That stuff makes you a prepper. Prepper isn't 'big pantry', it's the means and knowledge to survive long term. If you have land, water, and basic farming skills, you're a prepper. A real one, not these urban weirdos who think MRE's and guns are all you need.

 

Hey! That's what my Drill Sergeant told me.

 

I wonder what everyone has learned to date from when this thread started?

 

Interesting question! I'm in the middle of spring planting here, so a timely bump

 

About 40 years ago folk of your mindset were called "survivalists". I wonder if those folk have kept up that "lifestyle" all these years. I mean, did they EVER participate in ANY society's functions to BETTER the situation? Or did they just "prepare for the inevitable" while benefitting from what society has to offer? And are today's "preppers" any different?