August Prep Journal

[CapeCMom]

I know we have an August Homestead Journal, but I think it would be good to keep a Prep Journal also. I didn't see one for August? Am I being redundant?

[firegirl969]

CapeCMom,

I give, I will post the first prep journal. DH and I are working towards replacing the sugar we used canning this summer, got 40 lbs and filled the lard can back up. We hope to get about 200 extra lbs to put by real soon as we realized we are going to use about 100 lbs of sugar in the summer between making jellies and preserves and making tea and koolaid. I also heard sugar is on the rise as sugar futures are going through the roof. Walmart has 25 lb bags for $11.88 right now around here. That was a good learning curve for us this past year. We had no idea how much sugar we might use. I wonder how many other things we are missing the count on. I am getting more organized in keeping records, so that we can find out. I am pushing DH to get the root cellar finished. He hopes to add a shelter and shop onto the existing barn, and I told him we would start it when he finished the root cellar. We are going to start a fall garden soon. Also, the chickens are molting and not laying, so I am giving them a little time for the break then I am pouring the hot pepper to their food to get them going again. I go Saturday to pick up the wheat, barley, and honey from the Breadbecker's coop. That will enhance our preps and I will order more in September. Finally, I will add that I am studying my new book, Seed to Seed, and saving seeds for next year's garden. It is giving me such joy to know that I am becoming more self-sufficient by doing this. Happy Prepping, firegirl

[CapeCMom]

Firegirl,
I heard about the spike in Sugar prices-I am going to buy some today-then next week my parents are doing BJ's run and are going to buy some in bulk for me. I only have about 40 lbs at home-been doing a lot of baking so I am using it as soon as I buy it-
I made a spread sheet of my food preps yesterday, then took it home and counted what I had. I did it in Excel and One column was devoted to what the Mormon Recommendations were for a year, and then made each column the break down for one month recommendation, Two month and so on-when I went home and counted it made it easier to see-Oh, I have three months worth of stuff with that-a year of that etc. It was a lot of work but now that it's done, maintaining it with updates will be easier. It also showed me where I am lacking. If I had a year's worth of something-like I have with my yeast, I highlighted it in red, and said 1-year-done. That way I am not tempted to buy more. I printed out the spread sheet and will take it to the grocery store. I'm in one of those anxious modes again.

[NCLee]

Have started buying 2 of many things I buy when grocery shopping. One for now and 1 for storage. When the one gets used, it goes back on the shopping list to get 2 more. Best for this are those 2 for 1 sales. (Sadly, I can't use many of them due to diet restrictions for health reasons.)

Gradually adding #10 cans of mixed vegetables, green beans, and greens for storage. Try to pick up one of one of them with each grocery store visit. More when going to Sam's club. These are the 3 that we use most often here.

Grocery bill has gone up some, but by cutting back on some of the nice to have, but don't really need stuff, it's working out OK, so far.

Lee

[randallhilton]

This has been a busy month.

Just recieved a few hundred pounds of oatmeal, rice, lentils etc. We're bagging it in mylar bags using a snorkel vacuum sealer and O2 absorbers. No bag will have more than a couple of pounds in it so that we can disperse as deemed prudent.

Just finished getting our 72 hr BOBs up to speed.

And this month I sold my Harley and bought a Toyota 4x4 pickup (Now I'm getting really serious!!!)

[CapeCMom]

Randal,
My husband got serious also-he traded his mint 1966 Ford Mustang "resto-rod" for a pick up.
I was shocked that he did it, that thing was his baby. It was an even swap so no cash was needed. Having a pick-up again has been really nice though.
Went to Ocean State Job Lot with my "grocery List" and bought the bottles of spices that I was missing for .88 cents a piece! I have always kept a lot of spices in the house anyway, but I think I am all done in that department. Also bought some more pasta -one of those 10-for-10 specials. I have gotten up to 40 pounds of pasta now in my prep area-have more upstairs in my pantry but I try not to count that stuff in my inventory-I just consider that EXTRA. I have been scaling back in my prep count-even though I have 4 months worth of food now, I am only counting it as three so that I can keep the daily calorie count up. We are all lean people and seem to burn through a lot of calories in our daily activities. I think we would have to eat pretty normally to sustain ourselves.

[Southerngirl]

Wow, that is serious prepping to get rid of the Harley and car! But will be well worth it!

Yesterday I found a good deal on canned goods, bought 10 flats of 3 different veggies yesterday! With this other family living with us right now, my pantry has almost gone down to nothing, so I'm starting all over again in some areas.... :(
They had large bags of egg wide noodles for 99 cents so I bought 20 of them. Also bought a flat of tomato sauce and bought some spaghetti noodles as well. I also got some sugar and flour which was on sale. Sure wish I had some extra $$ to stock up, but always seems like when the sales are good, there's not enough $$ to get it. Oh well.
Was a good idea starting this thread, thanks CapeCMom!

[firegirl969]

DH and I bought 75 lbs of pure cane sugar yesterday along with 25 lbs plain flour, 2 boxes (20 envelopes) of powdered milk, 3 bottles of lemon juice, 1 bottle of lime juice, and 2 boxes of black pepper. We are securing it in 5-gallon buckets today. We also picked up the long-awaited Breadbecker's co-op order yesterday afternoon. I can't fuss though as the delivery man was away picking up his child from a foreign adoption. Yipee for them! We got 90 more lbs of wheat berries, 45 lbs of hulled barley, 2 quarts of wildflower honey, and 2 gamma lids. I also got 2 gallons of wildflower honey from another honey co-op that delivered to our administrator's house. So this really filled in some holes in the preps. I hope to get some more bags of sugar this week as we bought all that was on the Wal-Mart shelves. They really had lots of holes in their shelves when we did our shopping yesterday.

[firegirl969]

I went back to the Wallyworld we visited on Saturday. They had restocked their empty shelves, so I got 5 more 25 lb bags of pure cane sugar. I also got a gallon of apple cider vinegar and some bay leaves and allspice out of the hispanic foods section.

[NCLee]

Waiting for tomorrow's grocery store flyers in our weekly local paper to see what loss leaders and 2 for 1 sales will be going on this week. Depending on what's for sale, may head to Sam's Club for some more rice, sugar, pasta, and such.

While this post isn't prepping, it's still planning. :)

Lee

[CapeCMom]

It all counts Lee! Planning can be just as important! I love the grocery ads too I take a marker and just circle what I want to get and bring the ad with me. Love those specials!

[joshtaylor]

I'm light years behind all of you. I'm at the point where I'm doing research online about food preservation and all that good stuff. Basically for now every week when I get groceries I throw in a half dozen canned foods and some rice. I've got about 2 months of canned foods. I'd like to eventually get on the 12 month preparedness cycle to where I'm constantly rotating product.

[CapeCMom]

Josh-2 months worth of canned goods is nothing to sneeze at! My goodness, it took me forever to get to that point. Now that I have certain things under my belt, it seems to be getting easier. I still have some big holes in my preps-like no whole wheat berries-but I am getting to it. Got the grain mill at least-I am expecting some money soon, (Surprise Inheritance-no I'm not rich now) and we are using a majority of it on preps (woodstove, food preps, new compound bow for me :) new gun locker. Plus I will be able to pay off all of my credit cards.
etc.) Until that point, It's slow and easy. You can only afford so much at a time.

[Michael32170]

Wow, that is serious prepping to get rid of the Harley and car! But will be well worth it!

Yesterday I found a good deal on canned goods, bought 10 flats of 3 different veggies yesterday! With this other family living with us right now, my pantry has almost gone down to nothing, so I'm starting all over again in some areas.... :(
They had large bags of egg wide noodles for 99 cents so I bought 20 of them. Also bought a flat of tomato sauce and bought some spaghetti noodles as well. I also got some sugar and flour which was on sale. Sure wish I had some extra $$ to stock up, but always seems like when the sales are good, there's not enough $$ to get it. Oh well.
Was a good idea starting this thread, thanks CapeCMom!

Get rid of the Harley??............They'll have to pry my cold dead hands from around the handle bars.........

[NCLee]

Josh, 2 months is a real good start. Think about it. There are many people, who through their choice, probably don't have enough food in the pantry to last a weekend.

I'm talking about those that eat fast food several nights a week. Those who pop heat and eat in the microwave. Those who have a 6 foot HD TV in the den. I'm not talking about people who've lost their jobs and such. Just those who choose to spend their time and money for instant pleasure with no thought of what tomorrow may bring.

On another thought, you're doing it the right way. If you had the time and budget to place a huge order for a stockpile of food to hide in the basement, chances are you'd make some equally as large mistakes. Gradually building up your pantry allows you to choose, at each purchase, what you really like and will use. It gives to time to plan and think through those plans, revising as necessary.

Plus, learning new skills, such as canning and acquiring the equipment will help you extend anything that you've stored. For example, if you have canned apples in your pantry they have a limitation. Both in how many meals you have and in how long they can stay on the shelf. After learning to can them, you can have apples every year, if there's a tree or two in your area that you can pick. And/or barter canning sevices in exchange for apples for yourself.

Along the way, do try to learn alternatives to cooking the foods you store in your kitchen. Especially if you have an electric stove. Some quick examples, are camp stoves, Dutch ovens, spit cooking, solar, etc.

I, for one, applaude your efforts and the progress you've made. You are on the right path.

Lee

[NCLee]

Went by Wal-Mart for a prescription refill. While there picked up 6 cases of canning jars, 25 llbs sugar, 7 boxes of canning lids, 12 4/pk boxes of Knox Gelatin, more batteries, 2 extra jars of low fat mayo, and a jar of low fat peanut butter.

Lee

[firegirl969]

DH had to go out of town on business today as he does most Fridays, so I went with him and we met two people who had called about my ad for quart and pint jars. We brought home 10 dozen quarts and 7 dozen pints. What a score!


NCLee, I just wanted to add that I am really enjoying your posts. You have added alot of knowledge and thought to the threads. Blessings, firegirl

[CapeCMom]

Ditto on that!

[NCLee]

Firegirl and CapeCMom, thank you.

Lots of folks have helped me over the years. When I can help here, I feel like I'm simply paying it forward.

Thank you again, for your kind words.
Lee

[firegirl969]

August has been hot and humid here on the Little Chicken Ranch. DH and I have been able to can a nice variety and a large quantity of fruit and vegetable items. We also added some tin foil, OTC meds, a large can of Maxwell House coffee, another month of my prescription meds, and a large quantity of quart and pint jars. DH has had some target practice with his police-issued pistol when he had to qualify. I also scored some really nice facial cleansers and moisterizers for $1 a bottle average price. We are wrapping up the garden, except for the okra, and we are going to begin a fall garden in the next week. We were able to get the gas stove and get it installed. Our goal to finish the root cellar did not materialize as DH said the heat everyday "took the energy out of him," so we will make that our #1 goal for next month. Hope all is well with you reading this post. Blessings, firegirl

[kiwirach]

NCLee, I just wanted to add that I am really enjoying your posts. You have added alot of knowledge and thought to the threads.

I have to agree with what firegirl wrote there.
I read this thread cos i find it interesting, and i was thinking NCLee really is a very knowledgeable person and happy to share that knowledge....thank you.

as for me and any preparations......its not something thats done over here in the UK, and reading what you all do has got me thinking for sure!. i can see the point of doing it, altho i dont know if i'd keep a years supply of things in.

so far for me all i have is next years seeds, which i think is as good as anything, as i have the land to grow them on, so i'd at least have a vegetarian diet!.

[NCLee]

kiwirach, thank you for your kind words.

You may want to take a little different approach. Set a goal of just 3 months, instead of a year, as your basis to start. IMHO, it's better to have 3 months worth of bean, rice, salt, and other seasonings, than it is to have a year's worth of beans and nothing to go with them.

After building 3 months of "store what you eat and eat what you store", think about adding another 3 months to that. A 6 months supply should give you time to plant and grow those seeds that you have in storage. Three months may be enough, just depending on when you have to start using your stored food in relationship to planting time.

It isn't just the UK, where it isn't done. Far too many folks on this side of the pond, don't either. Recently saw a TV show that included a segment on people who believe in being prepared for bad weather or whatever. The reporter didn't have a clue, based on some of her remarks during her interviews. It was a shame that the show didn't have a reporter who really understood what prepping is all about. (sigh)

Again, thank you for your kind words.
Lee

[AzLoneRider]

In the last 2 months we have bought bulk wheat, oats, and beans, several hundred pounds of each and we have the ability to replace them as needed. We bought the buckets, mylar bags and gamma lids for storage, just got our last shipment 2 weeks ago. We are also doubling the size of our garden. Living in AZ we should be able to have a sizeable fall/winter garden and get a good harvest out of cool weather crops. We recently bought a pressure canner. My wife is learning how to can and she found a recipe for prickly pear fruit jelly and canned up 19 half pints of jelly and 2 full pints. Some of it we will eat and some of it will be given as Christmas gifts. Our hope is that we can both eat fresh out of the garden and have enough left to can a good bit of it too. We are also buying fruit and veggies on sale to can as well. We have 9 chickens that are laying 7 eggs a day. We are keeping 18 or so in our fridge at all times, the 1 dozen goes to each of our parents as needed, we also have a friend who cuts hair and my wife is trading hair cuts for eggs. The lady who cuts hair really values the homegrown eggs and thinks 1 dozen is worth 1 haircut, but we will be giving her extra eggs because 1 we believe the haircut is worth more and 2 we have more eggs than we really need.

[cwatson]

I finally got a good friend of mine on the band wagon for prepping and she came over for a canning lesson. We canned fresh beans from the garden and dried beans from earlier in the season. I then taught her to make yogurt and cheese. If you can't buy it and you have a goat or cow you are set :) We have two nigerian drawfs since we only have an acre we have to do everything miniture :)

I got a great deal on powdered milk this week 5 dollars off a box and managed to fill two 5 gallon buckets with it :) Also cocoa powder (Hershey's special dark) marked down to 1.00 bought 12 of them. I back alot and my family loves chocolate. Thought I could make cocoa mix with it too. Lots of spices were on clearance for 1/2 to 1/3 of regular price so I stocked up on those even though I already had a good stash of spices. I love to play with spices so I thought that would be great. Even in an emergency I want my food to taste good :) Got another 50 pounds of cornmeal. I wanted wheat berries but they said I had to special order that to get 50 pounds. I wish there was some place locally I could get them. Weekly when I go shopping I always pick up 1 vinegar and canning lids. I think I am good on the rice now. We eat alot of brown rice so I buy it all the time and replace what I use every month. Beans are almost there but with the heat and no rain my spring soup beans didn't fair well so I am trying again for fall. Wish me luck...

[NCLee]

Wishing you luck! :)

Brown rice... be sure to keep it rotated and if you have a large amount in reserve, keep an eye on it. Sad to say, I had to dump some yesterday. Boy was it rank when I opened the container. Rancid brown rice stinks!

Spent part of yesterday going through the pantry. Found one bulging can of mandirin orange slices. Glad I found it before it burst. Discarded a few things that I knew I'd had for a while, but didn't have use by dates. If I don't trust it to eat it myself, I won't donate it. Glad I didn't donate some chickpeas, as they smelled "high" when we opened the cans to dump the contents.

One of my sisters volunteers at a food kitchen. I pulled some things I know we won't/can't eat to donate. In our case, there's no point in keeping anything that has MSG that was accidently purchased. Sometimes better half forgets to read labels. (sigh)

FWIW, doing a pantry "spring cleaning", about twice a year, also helps focus on - eat what you store and store what you eat. Dumped some stale coarse ground yellow cornmeal. We use a heck of a lot more white cornmeal. A little yellow is mixed with the white for extra flavor and texture. I over stocked the yellow. Won't make that mistake, again.

Now, I've got a little space freed up to use for the upcoming holiday cooking seasonal sales. Plus, I need some space for meats in the freezer that need to go into jars.

Got the adjustable weights and an extra canner trivet yesterday from Presto. Sure hope those weights solve the problem of not being able to lower the heat on my gas stove to enough to hold a steady pressure @ 10 lbs. That's the only thing I've missed about the old electric cooktop. It had a "sweet spot" that would hold steady at 10# for the duration of a 90 minute session.

While I was in the cleaning out mood yesterday, made a big stock pot of vegetable / venison soup. Used mixed veggies and baby lima beans from the freezer. Used the rest of the home grown tomatoes that a neighbor gave us. Tossed in a quart of canned venison and a few other things from the pantry.

Split the results into thirds. Two thirds in the freezer for heat and eat meals. One third went for supper last night and again tonight, and lunch for somebody tomorrow.

Lee

[CapeCMom]

We haven't been able to do much in the past few weeks-we have had one tropical system after another-now Danny today is hitting us with 4-6 inches of rain and nasty wind. Had a bummer moment last night as my FIL was over with the family and hammered my husband with "you guys belong to a cult" garbage. He told my husband that we needed to take a step back. My husband was so annoyed-I had told him before to drop it with his Dad, that he just didn't understand-but he is so intent on converting his father that he did it anyway.,ie have "the talk". Now he knows just to keep his mouth shut. We love his dad, but he has his blinders on. We are going to continue to prep anyway of course-he can think what he wants.
Yet at the same time my SIL were talking about the swine flu for this fall, and she was worrying about people being out of work for two weeks, and how it could cause financial hardship for people-I just looked at her like Really? That's why you prep people! They aren't getting it-oh well...such is life.

[randallhilton]

Get rid of the Harley??............They'll have to pry my cold dead hands from around the handle bars.........

Originally that was my thought too. My idea was that before going to my Obamacare mandated "end of life" counseling session I would just go for a last ride. I just had to re-order priorities. I miss it but I don't miss the cost it takes to keep it on the road.