Weekly Prep Thread, March 05-11, 2006

[gillmanNSF]

Ordered a Weza Freeplay today from our own JC Refuge. I have a couple applications I can try it out on here at home and when I go camping in September.

Purchased a table saw with support extensions for larger boards and it comes with a built-in wheels and frame for ulitmate portablility. While not a real prep item I'll be using it to trim down some 3/4" MDF boards I purchased this weekend along with some European hinges to install cabinet doors onto some existing shelving units I have in my garage space in my apt. building. This means I'll be able to organize the shelves intro a real prep pantry with locks. I started this project this morning and after making sure the shelving units were level and square and marked where the hinges were going, I realized my small platform table saw wasn't going to "cut it," pun intended.

 

[Gizmo]

All I did so far is get a few boxes of True Lemon packets. However, I don't think that they will last (I am drinking lemon ade right now.) I may have to splurge and get the 500 packet box on line or at least a couple of 150 packet boxes. This stuff is just too good. We made breaded lemon shrimp last month and it was delicious! Or put it on fish, in recipes or in plain water with no sugar.
I think it is adictive too!

http://www.truelemon.com/

 

[Mushroom]

Well, I went to Sam's today to top off my preps for the month and couldn't believe the price of their chicken. $.77/lb for whole chickens is higher than I have seen in a while. Guess I'll have to go somewhere else for chicken bargains. I did find a 4 pack of turkey for 8 bux and change, tho. The cats got another couple of 40 lb bags of food just in case. My kitties will not starve if I have anything to say about it.

I got another roll of flour sack towels while I was there today. I use them all of the time and you can never have too many. I didn't have room for another big pack of toilet tissue today but will make up for it next time I go. You can never have too much of that, either. I got a package of NiMH batteries while we were there, too. I am tired of having to throw out batteries. Will get more next month. I have my DD on the job looking for a beauty supply so she can get me some peroxide. I bought some spray bottles in preparation for planting season. I am determined to give my garden the best boost I can (within budget, of course). Now I have to find places to put everything. :/ Back to work!

Mushroom

 

[dirtdigger]

This is just common sense but when you are using a pressure canner you must stay close by and monitor the pressure until the time is up. Don't go off and leave it.

Also, while I was at the Dollar Tree today I found the most wonderful small freezer boxes (3.85 oz) for freezing eggs or small amounts of jam. There were eight to a bag.........for a dollar. What a deal. Needless to say I got several.....also useful for many other things.

 

[Joey]

I had my husband buy me a new All American canner #921. I have wanted one for a long time. I had a smaller used one but I wanted a bigger one and they had them on sale.. I can't wait to try using it.
Mrs Joey

 

[Burbsteader]

Put in a big seed order. We are definitely expanding the garden this year.

Peas, bush beans, cress, kale, chinese cabbage (new for me), daikon radishes(new), cilantro, corn salad, chicory (new), leeks, pac choi (new), and basil.

Still working on varieties for tomatoes, peppers, squash, etc.

Knitting a pair of socks for youngest son. By fitting knitting in a few minutes here and there I can knit 1 pair a month right now. If I had to take my knitting more seriously (rather than just 'hobby') I could probably do 2-3 pair a month right now. I can now knit up mittens fairly quickly now.

Cutting out the soft drinks. I'm down from 24 or more cans a week to less than a 6 pack a week. My dentist said I'm killing my teeth. My doctor says I need caffeine, which I have discovered are very important for regulating my ADHD like symptoms. So I take 1 caffeine pill each morning. Yes, I have them stockpiled.

I recommend anyone who relies on caffeine or has addicted family to stockpile caffeine pills. Going through the early stages of a crisis while a whole group of people are detoxing cold turkey from caffeine would be sheer hell.

 

[yellowsprings]

bumpity bump...

 

[okie medicvet]

I feel small compared to ya'll.. but am gettin the tires for my garden tomorrow..

 

[A.T.Hagan]

I feel small compared to ya'll.. but am gettin the tires for my garden tomorrow..

Most everyone started small and grew larger. It's the way these things are done.

Incremental gains are where it's at. Welcome to the club!

.....Alan.

 

[fairbanksb]

Placed an order for a Berkey water filter today.

 

[gillmanNSF]

Prep war stories

After someone let themselves in to our small six-car apartment garage at 3 am yesterday morning, I spent later that morning going through my tools to see what was taken. A drill in its case w/o the charger, hehe, a staple gun and something else in a black case, I forget what it was. They also took a small prybar, which leads me to believe they plan on coming back to try to pry open the doors to the storage lockers, which are built pretty flimsy.

I've got much of my food preps in three of these lockers/closets, so I reinforced the two end closets (mine) with a big sheet of 3/4 inch plywood and the other with 2x4s and large 4" nails and wood screws. I had to empty one of storage closets out and rearrange. I noticed I had some canned corned beef from 2000, so I brought a can up to my apartment, still have to open it.

Needless to say, 5 hours later I was exhausted just to find out that I'm fighting all the elements just to keep my preps in decent condition. I found a small hole in a bag of beans and some beans strewn about. I guess the mouse didn't care much for raw beans, but he left me a little drop of mouse pee on the bag. I disinfected the bag and everything else in that storage closet with alcohol, wiped everything down and stored it someplace more secure.

We have a lot of water seeping through the retaining wall foundation (built into a hill) and the hill is saturated. So this seepage is running under all the storage closets and out under one of the garage doors. So some canned items I had on the bottom of the closet were starting to show some rust.

A shelving unit I have against another portion of the retaining wall foundation has water seeping under it as well, so the wood sitting directly on the concrete is soaked and upon opening the doors to the shelving unit, I noticed some fungus growing under a couple of #10 cans I had on the bottom shelf, nice circular patterns. I disinfected this area as well and slightly raised the shelving unit to allow the seepage to flow under it.

Oh and I keep finding dead pill bugs in my plastic storage totes. I was a bit exasperated, thinking that I'm living in a swamp with thieves running amok here on a hill in San Francisco overlooking the bay (kind of like NOLA after Kat). I did make some progress today, but I also realized that there's more to prepping than just setting stuff aside for, ahem, a rainy day. It all has to be safeguarded as best as possible depending on the circumstances of your surroundings.

I have to guard against neighbors who unlatch their garage door to get it to open and leave it unlatched, instead of calling the landlord to fix it, thereby allowing anyone on the street access to the garage. I have to safeguard against all sorts of pests and against water damage during the winter months. I imagine I'd have similar issues even if I owned my own home, so I don't think that's a practical solution at the moment.

That's the extent of my prep work this week. Next week will be better as I plan on getting a water resistant, locking storage cabinet where I can store all my tools and some preps. I took the night off from work tonight partially because I'm wiped out and partially cause this burglery that occurred almost 24 hours ago still has me a bit concerned.

 

[okie medicvet]

I've got some of those little moths I see in my kitchen every now and then and will see one when I open a particular cupboard, but still haven't found the source..I know I need to go and take every food item out of said cupboard and find it..oh bother.

 

[wasabell]

I've got some of those little moths I see in my kitchen every now and then and will see one when I open a particular cupboard, but still haven't found the source..I know I need to go and take every food item out of said cupboard and find it..oh bother.

Okie, I had those same pantry moths awhile back. My "source" was an unopened box of cake mix! They (about 500 of them) were between the cardboard and the plastic liner. I ended up throwing out everything that was boxed, whether or not it had ever been opened. I now make all my cakes, etc from scratch.

Jan

 

[D in NH]

Putting in a Listeroid slow-speed 14 hp diesel generator that will run on waste veggie oil and used crankcase oil. Going off the grid if I can collect enough oil, which looks possible. (Good size trucking co. wants to donate/get rid of stored waste oil.)

Almost ready to fire it up. Still need to finish the ventilation and sound deadening details, then revamp the incoming oil filtering setup. I think the EMP scenario being discussed in the Iran threads is plausible. No electricity, especially in winter, could be real serious here in scenic New England.

 

[okie medicvet]

Okie, I had those same pantry moths awhile back. My "source" was an unopened box of cake mix! They (about 500 of them) were between the cardboard and the plastic liner. I ended up throwing out everything that was boxed, whether or not it had ever been opened. I now make all my cakes, etc from scratch.

Jan

So if I find the source, does that mean I need to get rid of other things, like 1lb sacks of flour and corn meal, and bags of macraroni? Or can I just get rid of the obvious culprit. Have to admit..have never stored ..had the opportunity to have a full cupboard like this before in my life, and am somewhat at a losss..not to mention a bit nervous at the thought of having to throw away some of what I have bgun to store..