tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post8261141748042323981..comments2023-10-21T16:38:35.007-05:00Comments on Thoughts from Frank and Fern: Got Food? For How Long?Frank and Fernhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15570058990887565563noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-46640596498842043962015-12-08T19:26:14.683-06:002015-12-08T19:26:14.683-06:00I'm glad you found us, Savannah, and hope you ...I'm glad you found us, Savannah, and hope you find some useful things here. Happy reading!<br /><br />FernFrank and Fernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570058990887565563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-32368440266940059842015-12-08T19:24:36.850-06:002015-12-08T19:24:36.850-06:00Thank you very much, Nancy.
FernThank you very much, Nancy. <br /><br />FernFrank and Fernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570058990887565563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-17457617406904102962015-12-08T19:24:09.418-06:002015-12-08T19:24:09.418-06:00Good point, Grammy, thanks.
FernGood point, Grammy, thanks.<br /><br />FernFrank and Fernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570058990887565563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-10988922299872740172015-12-08T19:23:31.129-06:002015-12-08T19:23:31.129-06:00Thank you for sharing a different perspective, Fio...Thank you for sharing a different perspective, Fiona. There is more than one way to skin a cat, isn't there?<br /><br />FernFrank and Fernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570058990887565563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-52092940966912373422015-12-08T19:22:31.087-06:002015-12-08T19:22:31.087-06:00Good information, Bonnie, I concur. Sounds like we...Good information, Bonnie, I concur. Sounds like we do many things the same way. Thank you for sharing.<br /><br />FernFrank and Fernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570058990887565563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-7108743601753448882015-12-08T19:21:30.765-06:002015-12-08T19:21:30.765-06:00Rebecca, I know what you mean when you say you hop...Rebecca, I know what you mean when you say you hope you are doing enough. I don't ever feel like I have done enough and there is always more to be done. Thank you for sharing your efforts. It may be just what someone needs to read to improve their own situation.<br /><br />Fern<br />Frank and Fernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570058990887565563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-49030654278239097602015-12-08T19:19:21.145-06:002015-12-08T19:19:21.145-06:00A bartering shop would be a great addition to any ...A bartering shop would be a great addition to any location right now, Grammy. Lucky you! Please let us know how it works out, what they carry, etc. That would be very useful information.<br /><br />Fern<br />Frank and Fernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570058990887565563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-81479275838760811242015-12-08T19:16:29.740-06:002015-12-08T19:16:29.740-06:00Thank you for sharing this resource, Pam. I hope i...Thank you for sharing this resource, Pam. I hope it can help some folks in that part of the country.<br /><br />FernFrank and Fernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570058990887565563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-21785642601032883932015-12-07T03:18:05.651-06:002015-12-07T03:18:05.651-06:00I hope you don't mind my two cents worth, albe...I hope you don't mind my two cents worth, albeit late. <br />Dick & James Strawbridge, Curing and Smoking.<br />Mary Bell's Complete Dehydrating Cookbook (has instructions on dehydrating EVERYTHING and cooking recipes!)<br />Best,<br />PamAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14210768437726876770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-46495232000792118302015-12-07T03:03:20.647-06:002015-12-07T03:03:20.647-06:00Bellen, take a look at David the Good at www.thesu...Bellen, take a look at David the Good at www.thesurvivalgardener.com.. He lives in Florida and has written several books as well as having loads of information and videos on gardening on his blog about gardening in Florida.<br />Respectfully,<br />Pam BakerAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14210768437726876770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-77091361705241365052015-12-02T14:04:41.652-06:002015-12-02T14:04:41.652-06:00I just found your blog today as I was browsing the...I just found your blog today as I was browsing the SurvivalBlog, and I am so happy that I did! My little family and I are just starting on our prepping/sustainable journey. I already had a fire lit under my bum, but your post and all of the questions you pose invoke so much though and light that fire even more. I was conversing with someone today and we talked about how while we are so excited and motivated to start this journey, the sheer amount of the things we need to do to secure our family's health and safety can sometimes be paralyzing. <br /><br />I've leveled the motivation with panic out by creating small achievable baby steps as I call them. My husband and I are both farm kids, being raised and still helping on our families' livestock and grain farms - we have a good foundation of knowledge to start with. I am excited to look through all of your posts and follow what you have to say in the future! Savannah @ The Budget Prepperhttp://www.thebudgerpreppersite.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-44115474689381828382015-12-01T11:36:31.262-06:002015-12-01T11:36:31.262-06:00Great post, it is so important for more people to ...Great post, it is so important for more people to start thinking this way! Thank you for sharing your post on Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop, as one of the co-hosts I will be featuring your post on Thursday. Hope you come back and share another excellent post!Nancy Whttp://nancyonthehomefront.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-53793465635318206252015-11-28T22:25:22.565-06:002015-11-28T22:25:22.565-06:00Prepared Grammy: I know just how you feel. I did s...Prepared Grammy: I know just how you feel. I did serious in-depth research to try to figure this out...but finally realized that without actually "doing it", there was no way to find out just how much you need. Every resource I found had wildly different numbers and each family eats differently. I had managed to accumulate 100 dozen jars, lids for 3 years and a case of Tattler lids and was feeling real good...until I realized that is not nearly enough for us (12 to 20 people)...and that the floors in our house will not bear the weight of even just that many. During this research, came to the realization that we weren't going to be able to rely on canning as our main storage method. Without resupply of lids and jars, just not tenable for a long-term situation. Canning jars would have to be reserved for those special things that cannot be preserved otherwise. The bulk of our food would have to be stored in root cellars, grain bins, barrels, smoke houses, spring houses and "on the hoof" - and we would have to get as much of our diet as possible through eating seasonally. Just no way around it, with the large amounts of food we will need, because when it comes right down to it, you will need 2-3 years worth of food on hand to be truly food secure. No matter how good a gardener or livestock grower you are, there will be crop failures and livestock losses.<br />Carol Deppe's book, The Resilient Gardener, is an awesome resource for those of us trying to figure out this subject. She advocates focusing on five main crops - corn, beans, squash, potatoes and eggs - to produce the most nutrition in the least space, with less work, that stores well without canning, cooling or freezing. Really makes sense and helped me focus my efforts. This is a must have book!<br />Another great resource to direct our efforts is history (as always). Find out what folks from the 1800's and earlier in various cultures ate and stored - and how they stored it...then adapt that to what you can grow in your climate and are able to store. It probably won't resemble your modern diet...but you will have to adapt, as you really won't have a choice.<br />When I started storing food, I did it a little differently than most since we don't have much money or room for storage - even using the former master bedroom as my pantry (hehe). Rather than trying to store "everything", I focused on those things that I cannot produce here and don't want to live without (chocolate comes to mind). A little of everything, but mostly what I can't grow. Another way to save storage space and cash is by storing wheat but not pasta, although I love pasta. Why? I bought a nice grain mill, a hand cranked pasta machine and my chickens produce eggs...so I can make pasta forever as needed rather than use up limited storage space and limited cash. Rather than store a lot of dry milk, canned butter, cheese and yogurt, I got Nubian dairy goats and milking equipment, and the equipment to make butter, cheese, yogurt and ice cream. Whatever it is you want to be able to consume after the coming Darker Ages arrive...you need to figure out how to produce it yourself and get the equipment you will need now, while its still available and affordable. And the only real way to figure this out is by doing it. Aside from the monetary and health benefits of producing your own food even now, this really will lessen your stress level because you will KNOW you can provide the food your family needs no matter what comes down the road. <br />PlantLady Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-22993526145208851112015-11-28T21:56:41.221-06:002015-11-28T21:56:41.221-06:00I do have help, but some are more capable than oth...I do have help, but some are more capable than others with this skill set. Others have other important skills. We're all working together, and learning from each other. No one wants to be the only person able to do their job(s). Prepared Grammyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13520764687351107967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-35956120207191153662015-11-28T16:19:28.560-06:002015-11-28T16:19:28.560-06:00Prepared Grammy,
With a family of 12 to worry abou...Prepared Grammy,<br />With a family of 12 to worry about I hope you have them helping you with all that goes into feeding a group that size. We (just two of us) hope to be able to maintain a supply of 600 full jars of what we call perishable canning, that is meat, stewed veggies, broths and the like but we also plan on storing our dry goods like beans, salt, sugar, cereal, spices and dehydrated vegetables in jars as well. Probably another 300 jars for that. We purchased a Vacucanner for this specific purpose. (www.vacucanner.com) Even dehydrated food can have storage issues and sealing them in glass jars will help them stay viable much longer. Most of our jars are pints but about 1/4 are quarts with a smattering of 1/2 pints. <br />Meat is something we hope to be able to keep on the hoof so to speak... letting the poultry control bugs instead of taking up freezer or shelf space is one way to store it. When people start the task of building their own secure and ready food supply you can see it is a daunting task and it can be overwhelming. The need of effort from the entire family become extremely important. There is a lot of good information available online and looking around your community can lead you to sources you can take advantage of. Good luck and God Bless.Fionahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05348495575211204989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-61870919760081219552015-11-28T15:34:21.878-06:002015-11-28T15:34:21.878-06:00Grammy - that bartering shop sounds nice! Wish we ...Grammy - that bartering shop sounds nice! Wish we had one here. <br /><br />Anonymous's reply reminded me of something else; it's not a good idea to can in jars larger than quarts unless you're canning juice. Then you need a large enough canner to accommodate the taller jars - I remember seeing these in an Amish store catalog. Since I can mostly meat, I also prefer the wide-mouth jars. But because there is only the 2 of us I prefer using pints now instead of quarts.Bonniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12709381013756638163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-74558009235712446182015-11-28T14:47:43.802-06:002015-11-28T14:47:43.802-06:00I hear people talk about growing food on an apartm...I hear people talk about growing food on an apartment balcony and always enourage them. Get anything in the ground or pots and gain experience. I also suggest the ask the apartment complex for a bit of ground.Rebeccahttp://www.treeseeddreaming.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-39534697218387278402015-11-28T14:42:52.903-06:002015-11-28T14:42:52.903-06:00I lived in Texas and quit preserving so much food ...I lived in Texas and quit preserving so much food because I gardened year round. Here in the New Mexico mountains I have a short season. If you can use a window or have light fixtures, it is easy to keep a salad garden going inside. I did in a 5 foot wide garden under lights. Lettuce grows great inside, chives, tomatoes are perennials and do fine with good light. I moved here 3 years ago and still getting my sea legs. This summer I built 3 we inch high raised beds from concrete blocks that extend my season, and grew more food. I am adding more raised beds and turning a shed into a greenhouse with translucent panels. I also added a lot of native edibles in the woods, and attracting wild game. As the economy continues to slide, I hope I am doing enough. Please note that Americans now have 42 million home gardens... not fully self supporting but walking in the right direction. I just retired so will expand my garden next summer. I have planted fruit trees and should see fruit within 2 years. I love gardening. Those who live in dry locations should read about Hugelkultur., deadwood hold a lot of water, so does clay. Good luck and happy gardening.Rebeccahttp://www.treeseeddreaming.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-88414506205831219212015-11-28T14:13:20.716-06:002015-11-28T14:13:20.716-06:00Thank you for all of the advice. I need to take in...Thank you for all of the advice. I need to take inventory of what I already have, and see how many more I still need. Getting a large dehydrator or learning to dehydrate in the oven is a goal of mine. That will cut down on the number of jars needed. <br /><br />Frank and Fern, <br />I went to town this morning, and noticed the sign for a new business. The last few times I'd driven by, I had seen several cars at a building that had been vacant for years. I was wondering who had moved in, and now I know. It is a bartering shop! I can't believe it! I live in the country outside a small, rural town. I can't go anywhere without overhearing conversations about the state of our country and the need to be prepared for what is coming. Other useful businesses have opened, including a tack store. It appears that my small community is already beginning to come together. I hope and pray that we stay focussed and stay together. <br />Sincerely, <br />GrammyPrepared Grammyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13520764687351107967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-805804139382681142015-11-28T12:10:27.595-06:002015-11-28T12:10:27.595-06:00How many jars is up to you, but if you have the ro...How many jars is up to you, but if you have the room, store more than you think you'll need. They do break. You won't need many rings because it's a good idea to remove them before storing the filled jars. You don't want to store flats long term, like more than 3 years - the rubber compound gets less flexible with time and you'll see more sealing failures. If you want to store canning materials long term, you might want to try Tattler lids. They're pricey, but reusable. I'm not sure how long they keep in storage tho. If you don't have a pressure canner, get one with a metal-to-metal lid (no gasket) and a weighted gauge. Dial gauges can become inaccurate over time, which is why they should be checked every year. Bonniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12709381013756638163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-36034664621521852202015-11-28T11:52:53.542-06:002015-11-28T11:52:53.542-06:00Prepared Granny,
Sharpen your pencil on th...Prepared Granny,<br /> Sharpen your pencil on this one Granny , you will have to do a little math. We can different meat items , beef chunks, hamburger , chicken, pork chunks and turkey as well as fruit and veggies . There are just 2 of us so planning is a little easier than for 12 . We use all wide mouth jars which makes inventory easier . We have re used metal lids with good success , just be very careful removing them . We also use tattlers , plastic lids which are designed for re use again and again .<br /> We figure out how many jars of meat , veggies , pickles ,fruit , etc. that we use per week and multiply by 52 to give us a number that we can plan with . We have enough tattler lids for 1 complete year of canning and probably 2 years worth of metal lids . We usually purchase 2-3 packages of metal lids every time we see them , more if they are on sale . The packages are small and don't take up much storage space .<br /> If you are feeding 12 you will probably want to can in quart jars . I don't think I would use a larger jar , you want to make sure that the food cooks through , especially meat products .<br />In the garden harvest we don't use as much canned goods ,naturally .In winter time for example we use about 8 pints and 5 quarts per week for 2 people . With a little bit of math you can get an idea what it would take for a group of 12 . We would move to more stew/casserole dishes in tough times .<br /> You are looking at storing hundreds of jars & lids for 12 hungry mouths . I hope this will help you in planning .Good luck and happy planning .<br />BluesmanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-68066703770043798722015-11-28T11:42:47.631-06:002015-11-28T11:42:47.631-06:00Interesting perspective, Montana Guy, thank you fo...Interesting perspective, Montana Guy, thank you for sharing. It's hard to imagine what may come from the ashes of TEOTWAWKI. We can only pray it is not tyranny. <br /><br />Fern<br />Frank and Fernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570058990887565563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-27956781178963045852015-11-28T11:40:39.660-06:002015-11-28T11:40:39.660-06:00Grammy, that is a great question. I can think of s...Grammy, that is a great question. I can think of several factors that would affect your numbers. How much food do you plan to allow per person per meal? Probably not all you want like it may be now. Are you going to dehydrate any fruits, vegetables or meats? That could cut down on some of the canning jars you need. If you store dry beans, for instance, they could be cooked later and would save on the number of jars. If you have the means to store carrots, potatoes, turnips, cabbage, apples and the like fresh, that would also cut down on the number of jars.<br /><br />Here is a link where a person figured how many jars were needed for a family of four per year. 1050. For you that would mean 12,600. Do you have a warehouse? That number to me is overwhelming, and if I break that down to our family of two, that is still 525 jars of food for us. <br /><br />http://www.alpharubicon.com/primitive/howmanycansa.htm<br /><br />It's a great question, Grammy. I hope some of the other readers share their thoughts, information or resources with all of us. Sometimes when I look at our shelves of canned foods it seems like there is a lot, but then if I really start counting out jars of food per day, I think it would disappear quickly.<br /><br />If you garden, the number of jars needed in harvest months could go down substantially. If you have the ability to produce some food in the winter that would also help. Many folks live in town and are unable to garden, but we can all grow sprouts on the kitchen sink, or find other sustainable ways to add a few more bites of food to the menu. Your question brings many things to mind for me, and for that, I thank you. I hope to read lots of responses to your question. After all, we are all in this together.<br /><br />Fern<br />Frank and Fernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570058990887565563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-53245748535516474952015-11-28T11:01:13.633-06:002015-11-28T11:01:13.633-06:00I need some advice. I can fruits and vegetables fr...I need some advice. I can fruits and vegetables from my garden. I'm going to can some venison, if we're able to harvest another deer. So, I already have a lot of Mason jars and lids. However, I don't fully rely on my home-canned food to meet the needs of myself and my husband. I know that in a TEOTWAWKI situation, I will be doing a lot more canning. My question is, how many Mason jars and lids should I have stored for a family of twelve? I am wanting to have enough for my kids and grandkids too. Prepared Grammyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13520764687351107967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003348645601520194.post-16235596146009321462015-11-28T10:21:24.566-06:002015-11-28T10:21:24.566-06:00Awesome article. Like a previous commenter, the la...Awesome article. Like a previous commenter, the last paragraph is so fitting.<br /><br />By now folks have seen the Black Friday videos. These are the folks who need to read this article. But they are too dumbed-down and distracted. I cry not for them, but for their innocent loved ones dependent on them for protection. Sadly great suffering will likely come to them.<br /><br />Hope (on earth) lies in what will arise from the ashes of this once-great nation. Here virtually every family homeschools their children. If given the opportunity, they will be savvy and just leaders.<br />Montana Guy Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com