Storing Wheat.

So you decided to get some wheat and you think your ready for the Apocalypse! Only trouble is that it is in a paper sack. And you may be thinking that that is not such a good storage option. It is also in a big 25 to 100 pound bag. If you open it you will need to use it fast. So whats a prepper to do?

 What I did was to break it down into smaller  units that are easy to store and pack.

First thing I did was to visit the local LDS church dry pack and borrow a pouch sealer and pick up some pouches and some chem packs that suck the air and moisture out of the bags when they are sealed.

 Then I enlisted the help of some family members to help package the stuff.

To start  fill the bag with the grain. Not so full that you are not able to seal it. I found for the standard size pouch 6-7 pounds of grain fit well.

Then I put in the chem pack that keeps it fresh and takes out any extra oxygen and moisture.

Then tap down the grain so you have plenty of room to make the seal. Do not give into the temptation to keep filling the bag. It will not seal well if it is too full.

 Then place the open, top edge into the sealer.

Then activate the sealer. This one has a foot peddle you step on. This makes it possible to hole the bag in place with 2 hands.

You can stack the product as you keep filling more bags. be sure that the seals are good. If you press on the bag it should be kind of like a balloon. There should not be any air leaking out. If  air leaks out, bugs can get in. If there is a leak. Run it through the sealer again. Some times you will need to rebag the grain.

Now list the contents and the date it was prepared on each bag.

Then you can store them. The best place is a spot that has a constant temperature. If you use the pounces they tolerate moisture better and can even be buried in a secret cash. Many people also use cans. If you choose cans be sure the storage place is dry so they do not rust. Plastic buckets are also an option. I will go over cans and buckets some time in the future.

Who do you shoot..

Like many preppers I on occasion I go to a gun store. I enjoy target shooting. And needed some cheep ammo. As I was talking with the clerk. When the discussion went as it often will to 2012, the apocalypse and end of the world senarios I was shocked when he said be sure to save the last bullet for a visit to your neighbor, you just go over to his home and when he opens the door you shoot him and take his ammo.  I told him I like my neighbors and if the end times come I plan to work with them. His response was "There is always one bad apple and they will take you all out." I think I just met that bad apple.

I spent my ride home thinking about my conversation. This is not the first time I have heard that people plan to kill people they know as a survival strategy. They plan to take their food, ammo and anything they think is useful. The most common statement is "I know someone and I know they have food so all I have to do is kill them and I will be OK."

This way of thinking is very wrong. A group of people working together is much stronger that individuals out for themselves. If you are worried about the end times or just a loss of the rule of law. You will be better off if you make your neighbors your ally. By joining in a group you will have a pool of supplies, tools and ammo greater than any one person could acquire and protect. If you are alone you can not sleep, rest, make new products or grow food. If you are part of a group you will be able to protect and help each other.

There are all kinds of groups you could form. The best ones have shared values and social ties. The basic group is your family, then your friends, people who believe as you do in religion, politics and life styles are also common factors that will make your group safe and connected.

Each person in a group has skills and abilities that make the survival chances of the whole much more likely than that of a individual or small group.

Anyone who has told me that part of their prepper plan is to attack and kill other people to meet their needs will never be in my group.

Be sure you are not the bad apple and avoid anyone who thinks killing and pillaging is a good survival plan.

Making Freezer Jam!!!

Remember all the fruit that was not that great looking? Small, bird pecked, has a soft spot. You know the ones.

Lets make it into some Freezer jam!!! This is the best use for the not ready for canning fruit.

So get the things you need.

Sugar,

Lemon juice,

fruit,

Pectin,

Now prepare the fruit by taking out the seed and chopping any not so good parts off. It is best if the fruit is fully ripe and a little soft. They should be sweet and juicy!

Now blend them up to a nice puree. or if you like chunky jam less blending so there are still chunks of fruit.

Put 5 cups sugar in a large bowel and add 2 and 1/4 cups pureed fruit.

Add 2 table spoons of lemon juice.

Mix well for and let sit for 10 minutes.

Now put 3/4 cup of water in a sauce pan.

Then put in 1 package of Fruit Pectin.

Bring to a boil.

Then add the pectin to your sugar and fruit in the mixing bowel.

Stir for 3 minutes.

Then pack into your clean jars.

clean the rim, leave 1/2 inch head space then put on your lids and rings, or you can just put it into plastic containers.

Let them sit for 24 hours at room temperature. then place them in the freezer. When you take them out to eat be sure to refrigerate after you open them.

This is not a family secrete recipe. It is the standard recipe that comes inside the box of Fruit Pectin.
for other fruits and berrys or to make cooped jam follow the recipe from the box. It works well and taste great.

Drying Canned Fruit

Have you ever discovered you missed some old fruit in your rotation? And now you have some old dark fruit from the past that is still good to eat. It just looks less than appetizing like the jar on the right.

                                             New jar of fruit.................Old jar of fruit

I found a dozen jars of old fruit when I rotated my new jars of nectarines. So instead of just tossing them I decided to make one of my families favorite treats. Candied fruit.

It is very easy to do with canned fruit. 

First put a strainer aver a pitcher or bowel.

Then dump the juice off the fruit.

Followed by the fruit.

Place your fruit on the racks of your fruit dryer.

When the fruit is about as flexible as leather and dry to the touch it is finished. It will be a lot smaller.

Then place them in a plastic bag with a good seal. Put the kind of fruit and the date they were dried on the bag.

Let them sit for a day or two before you put them away. 

Look for any mold or moisture in the bag. If they get moldy toss them in the trash.

 If there is moisture check for bugs. If there are bugs toss them in the garbage. 

If there is just moisture put them back in the dryer and finish drying them. 

With the high sugar content of the canned fruit it is unlikely to get mold or spoil.

Remember the juice you drained off the fruit and saved?

You can use it to make drinks like sweet tea or add to powdered drink mix to boost the nutrition. I would not dump it down the drain. It is very sweet and tasty.

DO your best to rotate your fruit. You can also use this same process on fresher canned fruit. It is more colorful and taste great.

Canning Nectarines

As the harvest picks up more and more produce can be saved by canning, and drying.

One of my favorite fruits is the Nectarine. It is much like a peach with no fuzz.

I love to eat them fresh but there are too many to eat before they go bad.

So I picked a few boxes of them to can. For canning the fruit needs to still be firm. If it is soft and juicy they will turn to mush in the bottle. I like my canned fruit still firm when I open it.

Wash the fruit is clean cold water.

Then slice them open and remove the seed.

Then pack them into freshly washed bottles. I like to use pints. You can use any size you think will do the job.

Then make you syrup by adding 3 and 1/2 cups white sugar to 5 cups water. This is a medium syrup if you want a heave syrup add 5 cups sugar to 5 cups water. alight syrup is 2 and 1/4 cups sugar to 5 cups 

When the sugar is dissolved fore the syrup over the fruit in the bottles. Bring the fluid level up to the neck. so you have about 1/2 inch left for head space.

Then wipe the rim of the jar clean.

Place a lid on top of the jar.

Then put a ring on the jar. 

Tighten the ring only till it stops. Do not over tighten the ring. The steam from your cooking fruit needs to escape. If it can not escape your jar may crack or explode.

This time I am using a steam canner. 

There is no hard documented evidence as to how long to keep the jars in the canner. I load them into the canner. Then when the steam comes out the vent whole and makes a jet about 10 inches long I start my timer. I keep them in for 20 min, about the same for when I use a water canner. I recommend you use caution when using a steam canner. There is a lot of controversy as to the safety. I do not know anyone who has had a problem with the steam canner. Guess there is always a first time. If you are just starting in canning and going to buy equipment use a water canner and follow the directions there.

After 20 min I take the jars of fruit out and place them on the counter to cool. I keep about 1 inch between the jars so air can move around them and help them cool. When you hear the popping sound as the lid seals you know they are done. Be sure to check each lid to be sure it is sealed. If the lip springs back up when you press on it it is not sealed. 

Then put the date on the lid so you know how old the fruit is when you go to get it this winter to eat.

The fruit will be best to eat after it has had 2 to 3 weeks to set. Then the flavor is consistent and the texture is best. They can stay good for several years. I try to eat what I put in jars that year or the next year. As the fruit ages it will change to a less appealing color and may get very soft.

Addiction

Today as I sat waiting for the bus home from work I saw a man come up the street. He discreetly checked the ash tray in the bus shelter near me then went to the one on the other side. there he found half a cigarette. He lit it and began puffing on it like it was the very air he needed to live. As he finished his last drag I saw his eyes bulge! He bent over and picked up a whole cigarette off the ground near the ash tray. He very carefully wrapped it in a piece of old notebook paper and stowed it in his shirt pocket. He then wandered on up the street looking next in a trash can. Soon after he was around the corner and out of site.

After he left I sat wondering about the power of addiction. This man was willing to go through trash and ashtrays to feed one of the hardest addictions to break. So many things can become addictions. Most often we think of alcohol, drugs and tobacco. Yet other things can also become addicting. Caffeine, sugar, chocolate, and fast food can also become a habit then an addiction. I know people who are addicted to video games. One of my patients wife would leave her husband in my care and hurry to the library computer so she could play her facebook game.

So what dose this have to do with provident living. Addictions take away your money, your time and often destroy your life. Hundreds and thousands of dollars a year go into addictions. Millions of hours are robed from our lives by video games and TV programs.

You can save so much cash by not becoming addicted to drugs, alcohol and tobacco. You can have so many more productive hours when you take the time to do something other than watch your TV programs or seek the high score on our video game. You will live much more providently if you avoid addictions.

Now the prepper part. Things people need to have, have the most value in hard times. Some people will triad away what they need most for things they crave or have a desire for. So if you are going to store one commodity, store sugar. In hard times the price of sugar and other sweets will go up. Some people also store things to meet the needs of people with addictions(alcohol, tobacco etc.). The plan is to have the supply and make the addict your slave if they are to feed their addiction. However, if you run out of the addict fix they will not believe you are out and may turn on you seeking the fix. I advise you to not become the source of a fix for addictive materials. You should have some luxury items like sugar, candy and honey for bartering.

Most important of all for today is to evaluate yourself. Is there anything you have become addicted to? This is anything that takes up your time, money or energy and serves no real useful purpose. If you have an addiction do what ever is needed to break it. Then stay away from it. Fine more productive ways to use your time and assets

Peace Blessing

A Scottish Peace Blessing

If there is righteousness in the heart,
there will be beauty in the character.
If there is beauty in the character,
there will be harmony in the home.
If there is harmony in the home,
there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
there will be peace in the world.

The very best preparedness you can do is to keep your part of the world working.

Its not what you make

It's not what you make, but what you do with what you make.

That is the advice my dad gave me when I was just getting out of high school. I was looking at what I would be when I grew up. I kept trying to find the kind of job that would let me live large. I wanted all kinds of toys, properties and the hottest girl.

He was not rich, we had had our struggles as a family and he is still not rich. However. He has had a good life. I have been using the saying"It's not what you make but what you do with what you make." As a life statement. I do not have a high paying job, but I have in my opinion done very well.

I do not have all the toys I dreamed of as a high school grad. I have made an interesting discovery. Most people seldom use all their toys. They take them out for a few weekends each year, fill them with gas, get the license for them, tow them to their play spot and have a great time. They make a monthly payment, insurance payments, some pay for a place to store them, or build a place to keep them.
I just rent a toy for the weekend. True the week end rental is not cheep. For me it is a huge savings. I use a boat infrequently. I may take a four wheeler for a drive. Paying for the number of days I use the thing is so much cheaper than buying one and also paying for the days I do not use them.

Think about your lawn mower. You use it only during the summer once a week or less. Your tiller for the garden is used 2 or 3 times a year. That chainsaw in the shed maybe one time a year. Just think of the savings if you and a few family, friends or neighbors shared those tools. One get the tiller, one the mower, one the chainsaw or edger. It would save all of you several hundred dollars. The tools would be used much more frequently. Then you could all do something fun, good or provident with the extra cash.

Unfortunately most people want their own thing, they do not trust the other person will take care of their tool. There is pride and satisfaction in owning the biggest, coolest, most macho tools. Well you will never deposit cool in the bank. If you can find even one person to share tools with you will cut the cost of purchasing tools in half.

We all like a night out. Some more than others. Set aside a part of the budget for entertainment. Be sure to include the cost of dinning out, movies, and vacations in that budget. Then when you are deciding to go out ask yourself how much of your budget do you want to spend on dinner and how will that effect your vacation. I like to go on nice vacations. So we generally eat out at less expensive restaurants. See movies when they have been out for a while or rent them. Plan where you want to go on vacation then keep track of how your budget is working to meet that goal. You will find out quickly if you like vacations or nights out more. Then do the thing you like and stay in budget.

Never go into debt for a toy, vacation or tools. Keep control of your money and you will have all you need and frequently the things you want most.

And as to getting the hottest girl? Yup, she is mine.

Learning from others mistakes

Sometimes you can learn from other peoples mistakes.

 Today I helped a prepper rotate her supplies. She has spent several years building a supply of food. She has not rotated it. She had been adding to it placing new foods in front of old foods. We unpacked the store room all the way to the back wall. Then we went to work checking dates on the cans. I took out a red sharpie and began marking cans that were over a year past date. Cans that were more than 2 years past date were placed outside. Several cases of food were more than 5 years past freshness date. Most were not damaged or bulged. Just way past date. Yes, some cans were bulged and immediately tossed into the trash. We went through the dry goods and some were very old.  A 1 pound bag of lentils had a price of 25 cents marked on it. Some of the dry goods were purchased in the 1980's.

After clearing out the old foods, we organised the store room. All the newest foods were placed at the back of the shelves. Foods of the same kind with earlier expiration dates were placed on the shelves in front.

We then did an inventory. She still had enough food in cans to have a can of food for her and her husband each day for 1 year. There was rice, beans and wheat for a year of meals and other dry goods to last 6 months. To round off the storage there were home canned fruits and jams. She and her husband could have a bottle of jam or quart of fruit 2 times a week for a year.

Here is the sad part. We took out just over 600 pounds of food. Dry goods, cans, bottles and boxes. Any that were were still reasonably usable were distributed to family and friends for immediate use. All that was left was taken to the local food bank or to the dump.

Some of the dry goods that were over 40 years old were added to the chicken scratch.

Now for the lesson to learn from all this:

First, buy only things you will eat.
Second, eat what you buy.
Third, rotate your storage.
Fourth, Replace what you eat.
Fifth, Do not store more than you will be able to use before the expiration date is reached.

Part of being a prepper and living providently is watching your surroundings. Not just keeping an eye out for strangers in your neighborhood or looking both ways before you cross the street. You need to keep an eye on what is happening in the world.

As I wright this there is drought in the mid west that is expected to increase the price of many grain based foods. This has caused ranchers who have large heads of cows to start taking their animals to market sooner then expected and in larger numbers. It is just to expensive to feed all those cows grain at an increased price. So meat prices may go down. Now to complicate things there is a fear of hoof and mouth disease in Utah and Idaho. Any cow that tests positive for hoof and mouth disease is destroyed. So meat could also go up because there is less meat reaching the market.

Whats a prepper to do?

Do not get in a panic and run out and buy a bunch of stuff.

First take innovatory, how much grain do you have? Do you need more?  If you have already got a year or two of grain for your family you have no need to go get more. Just keep replacing what you use.

Today grain is still not too expensive and if you shop around you can pay under a dollar a pound. I found it for about 59 cents per pound today. Meat is still reasonable and safe.

The worry for a prepper is what about next year. If the drought continues grain products will begin to increase in price. That could double in cost.

This has happened recently with peanuts. The drought in Texas caused a massive decrease in the peanut crop. About 18 months ago I was paying $1.00 to $1.25 per pound for peanut butter. Now when generic Peanut Butter is on sale it is $2.50 per pound. That is more than 125% increase in the cost of peanut butter.

So now would be a good time to pick up a little extra grain. Just in case. If you have the money on hand and a place to put it.

As we come into August it is a opportune time to think about fruit and nut trees. Many of the big box stores will begin to dump their trees this time of year.

Fruit and nut trees as well as berry bushes are wonderful long term investments. Having your own source of fresh produce is very valuable. You can eat the fruit fresh or store it bottled or dry for latter use.

Trees do take a few years to get productive. So plant one now and get things started. If you have a favorite fruit or nut that grows in your climate zone go and get one. They will be on sale till spring or till they are gone. I have paid as little as $1.50 for a tree. It is a nice productive apple tree too.

So if you have a space in your yard for a tree drop by one of the big box stores and see what they have. You may find something to take home and plant at a very reasonable price.

When you plant late in the year be sure to keep the tree watered. They can dry out quickly. I would put plenty of water 5 to 10 gallons on it every other day. They can do very well planted this time of year.