#7. Root Cellaring...

I'm up to Chapter 16 in Jack Spigarelli's book Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival.  The title is "Cold Storage".  In this chapter, he talks about an old fashioned root cellar or fruit room.   I don't know why I was surprised.  When I was a kid, we had a fruit room off the main part of the basement where we kept bushels of apples, big blocks of cheese and other delicious stuff.  Every year, we would motor out of the city and go to a U-Pick Orchard and bring home bushel baskets full of apples that would keep us going all winter, or we would stop in at the beekeepers and bring home big 15 lb cans of honey.  Another time, we would visit a cheese factory.    One of the highlights of the trip would be taking a tour to see how the cheese is made, and sampling some curds.  My brother and I wanted to take the tour every single time.  It smelled so wonderfully funky.

These enjoyable trips would take place over many weekends.  Mom would buy bushels baskets of pickling cucumbers and other vegetables to take to her mother's place, and she and her mom and sister would spend time making pickles and relish.  I especially remember the pungent smells of my aunt's special mustard pickle recipe.  Gosh, this book is taking me on a tour of my childhood up to the age of 12.  Those were happy days.

My dad was a great gardener too.  Our backyard was a hill with our house at the bottom, and he had it terraced all the way up.  He grew veggies, red currants, rhubarb, and all sorts of yummy things.  Under my bedroom window was a huge patch of peppermint and a rose bush, and it always smelled delicious in the summertime.  Mom made currant jam, and rhubarb everything (jam, sauce, upside down cake, crisp).

But then we ended up moving into an apartment.  Sigh!

Back to the present, I was looking at the closet in my hallway.  It goes under the stairs of the upstairs people's entry.  I wonder if the conditions in there would be right for a root "cellar"?  I'm going to have to check that out.  According to the book,  there are two types of cold storage:  1. cool and dry; 2. cold and moist.  And it requires good ventilation.  So I need a thermometer (to measure the temperature) and a hygrometer (to measure the moisture).  Research is called for.  I bet a scientific equipment outlet would have hygrometers for sale.

He also details how to prepare food for storage, and what to store them in. He recommends a couple of books on the topic: 

Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables
Keeping the Harvest: Preserving Your Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs (Down-to-Earth Book)

While looking for these books at Amazon, I noticed some other books that looked useful:

Build Your Own underground Root Cellar
The Complete Root Cellar Book: Building Plans, Uses and 100 Recipes
The Joy of Keeping a Root Cellar: Canning, Freezing, Drying, Smoking and Preserving the Harvest

In particular, this one seemed really useful:

Recipes from the Root Cellar: 270 Fresh Ways to Enjoy Winter Vegetables

It's all very well to store a bunch of veggies, but if they all rot because you don't know how to cook them, or you only know one or two ways and you're bored with them....  

I've more reading to do...  Later...

#6. Canning.

I am continuing to read Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival and Spigarelli is going more in-depth with the nutrition vs. cost aspects of purchasing food storage items in "special" forms such as dried/dehydrated, and more conventional forms, such as canned foods, bags of sugar, and what have you.  It's a little dry reading, but at the same time, I appreciate the value of the information even though it has been 8 years since the book was published. I figure that some things may have changed price-wise, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse but the basics remain sound.

At this point, I'm thinking that a combination of storage options would be wise.  Some dehydrated foods (but not a whole lot unless someone gets me a dehydrator for my birthday), canning (but mostly fruits and tomatoes unless someone else gets me a pressure canner for Christmas), and commercially purchased items.  I did find a place for purchasing bulk goods online that ships anywhere in North America; however, the budget probably won't allow for that until I've been back at work for a bit.

I used to do a lot of canning, once I discovered it wasn't as difficult as my mom made it seem.  I had a really nice weight-gauge pressure canner.  Unfortunately, I was foolish enough to loan it to my sister-in-law, who lent it to her daughter, who lent it to her neighbour, ad nauseum.  (Note to self:  if I ever get another pressure canner, I am never loaning it to anyone ever.)

However, I can do boiling water canning, and this is the time of year for it.  The blackberries are still coming in, although we're coming to the end of the season.  And if the apple tree in a certain park nearby is producing, I'm thinking some blackberry/apple jam would be nice.  I was surfing YouTube and came across a video on the jonathanwallace channel.  I love this fellow's videos.  He has a very clear way of explaining things, and his videos are well done.  What I really like is that you can see he's not one of those rich nobs that has all the latest gadgets and a kitchen the size of a footfall field to do his canning in.  He's got a normal kitchen like mine.

Anyway, he shows how he makes blackberry/apple jelly with the juices, and then makes blackberry/apple butter with the pulp after the juice has been squeezed out.  Very frugal, and just the sort of thing you ought to be looking at when stocking your extended pantry. 

Do you like that term?  Extended pantry.  That was what the gentleman on the GoatHollow channel calls his food storage.  Here's another fellow with a normal sized kitchen who's  making sure his extended pantry isn't bare.  He recommended that you get a good canning guide that has all the up-to-date info on canning safely.  The one he had was the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving.  Another very good book is the Complete Guide to Home Canning and Preserving from the USDA.  In fact, that's the one I have, and it's a great book.  It doesn't just have recipes, it also tells you the whys and wherefores.  It explains how pressure canning works, and more.

There are also a lot of old canning books available on archive.org in the Text Libraries.  Unfortunately, the canning processes described are way out of date.  When I want to try out one of those old time recipes, I search for a modern tested recipes that has a similar ingredient list, and use the processing guidelines from the modern recipe.  I have found that some old recipes that called for boiling water canning will now have to be pressure canned because research has shown that this is safer.  But in the end, when I'm in doubt as to how long to process something, I will ask.  There are all kinds of forums out there, or just email one of the canning companies or the USDA, and they will have an answer for you.  Just be patient about getting a reply.

More again at a later date...

#5. Nutrition.

As I continue to read Jack Spigarelli's book Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival, I am struck by how much thought he has put into the whole topic of food storage.  He talks about the nutritional value of the food stored, and recommends adding multi-vitamins with minerals to your inventory.  Even if you have a "balanced" diet stored (something a lot of the food storage lists out there don't seem to have), a multivitamin is certainly a good way to make sure you are getting enough to survive and maintain your health.

He has a table of the recommended daily intake of various important vitamins, minerals and protein, and discusses the best sources of each for your food storage.  For example, calcium.  Calcium is something that most people get mostly from dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt.  He provides some figures to help you figure out how much calcium (in the form of dry non-fat milk powder) a person would need (based on weight, age and gender).   So taking myself as an example, my calcium requirements would be about  1300 mg of calcium per day. 

Using non-fat milk powder as the base, this means I need approximately 32.5 kg (71.5 lbs) of non-fat milk powder over the period of a year, assuming that was all I had to provide my calcium intake.  Fortunately, there's cheese and yogurt to take the place of some of that powder.  He gives the equivalents weight-wise of buttermilk powder (use it in baking), canned milk (baking, adding to coffee or milk), and cheeses. 

I figured out how much milk product that would be for a one-month (4 week) supply, and it works out to be about 2.4 kg (5.5 lbs).  When I had worked out quantities based on Wendy Dewitt's method, which basically focuses on two meals (breakfast and supper), there was a big difference in quantities (4 cups of milk powder and 2 cans of evaporated milk).  I'm thinking that I need to review my recipes for nutritional value, and add in lunches (plus snacks) and re-work my shopping list from there.  Two meals a day does not a realistic shopping list make.  I still thank that Wendy Dewitt's system really starts you out in the right direction, though.  You just need to take it to its logical conclusion.  Plan for every meal and snack, and then add a flexibility factor.

In any event, Spigarelli focuses on the nutritional value of what you store, and making sure you have enough to meet basic nutritional guidelines, such as 2 servings of fruit per day, and 3 to 4 servings of vegetables (functionally 3.5 servings).  He also talks about the size of containers that your food storage products are in. 

For example, in the can/bottle etc., a food item might last for 5 years; however, once the can is opened, that shelf-life is going to greatly reduced.  Dehydrated cheese will last for 5 years in the can, but only 4 months once the can is opened.  So if there is only one or two in your group, you need to have smaller containers to avoid having food go bad before it's all used up.

He also gives good ideas for finding sources of products other than the "preparedness" vendors (which we don't have a lot of here in Canada anyway).  Restaurant supply companies, warehouse clubs (Costco!) and other outlets sell "institutional" sizes of dehydrated and other foods at lower prices.

Well, I'm going to read some more of this terrific book.  More again....

#4. Crisis Preparedness

I started reading Jack Spigarelli's book Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival last night before going to bed.  In his introduction, he discusses building a framework for preparedness, in that you have to decide what you are preparing for before you can decide what to do.  What I get from this is that you need to drill down from the nebulous to the concrete before you can start making a plan.  He also briefly touched on the need to get fit physically as one can deal with stresses and unexpected negative changes far better when one is fit (makes sense).  But he also talked about getting mentally fit.  He writes:

"Perhaps more than any other one thing, your survival may depend on your state of mind. Major crises create stress for all, but reactions differ markedly. Many react with excessive fear that quickly turns to panic and sheer terror. If not completely paralyzed by the overwhelming sense of weakness and vulnerability, they act ineffectively and even downright dangerously. Others become deeply depressed and apathetically give up. But some, although facing the same difficulties, cope with an inner strength born of being mentally prepared. With an emotional stability unknown by the rest, they function with a clear head and a calm mind. Any eventuality is less threatening to them."

I have noticed this myself.  I recall once upon a time back when I lived out in the country, I was throwing a birch log into the wood stove one morning, only to discover that it was too long.  Now normally, I'd just yank such a log back out and throw it outside into the snow to get doused and re-sized.  However, birch bark is the ultimate fire-starter, and that log's bark almost immediately caught, and flames started billowing out the stove door.  Yikes!

For just a moment, I acted really ineffectively.  I started blowing on the flames like I could just blow it out.  OMG as the kids would say.  Even as I started doing that, some sane part of my brain said, "you moron".  I ran to the coffee pot, grabbed it and the fire extinguisher, and doused the flames with my pot of Nabob.  Then I used the fire extinguisher as a back up to the coffee.  What could have been a really bad day turned into a humorous story at my expense.

I guess what you really need to do is think about how you have responded in the past to emergencies, and then think about how you could have done better.  Rehearse in your mind possible emergencies, and then think, what should I do if such-and-such happens. 

Good advice.  As I read more, I'll keep you posted.

#3. Everything Made Simple

Hubby has his insulin, so he's good to go for another while.  But I'm going to start keeping closer track of his insulin and start getting the new stuff a lot sooner, and try to gradually build up an emergency supply.  I'm rather attached to him.

Well, I spent a couple of hours reading through Wendy Dewitt's little booklet on developing food storage, and it was really quite easy to follow.  I put together a selection of meals, and worked out a shopping list of items, with specific quantities.  Suddenly, taking it a month at a time, putting together some food storage doesn't seem quite so daunting.

And the really cool thing is that case lot sales have been on and will be on for another week or two here, so I'm going to see what I can come up with in terms of adding to the food storage.  Hubby gets his pension check this week, and I get my check at the end of the week, so I have some figuring to do.

I also flew by the library and picked up a copy of Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival.  I'm looking forward to reading it and will post anything interesting.  I'm going to have to work off some bad karma too.  I nicked the book from a pile of books; now that I think back on it, I kind of think someone else was planning to borrow it.  My bad!

#2. Crying...

Well, son of a you know what.  The dehydrator does not work.  I guess it's been sitting in closets for too long.  I'll have to use the oven for now.  I'm glad electricity is included with my rent.

I did some more researching via my favorite method, random clicking, and I discovered the videos of a seminar given by Wendy Dewitt.  She gives a very thorough run-down on how she does food storage, and I was completely blown away.  Here's a link:  Wendy Dewitt.   You can also check out her blog and request a copy of the brochure she hands out at her seminars.  I just finished reading it, and I think she is onto a really great system.  What I like best is that you can do a month at a time, 3 months, 6 months, or whatever fits your budget.  The system zeroes down on helping you to figure out exactly what you need right down to the teaspoon.  Check it out!

I also discovered another guy who has been zeroing in on what you need for healthy survival, the 5 gallon bucket food storage project.  He talks about what you need to store, and his project focuses on filling 2 buckets, and he also talks about an adjunct tote with more perishable items (a year or less shelf life) that can go in the car in a hurry for evacuation scenarios.

The hubby just reminded me that he needs to get more insulin.  The last time we were in to the drug store, they didn't have his prescription, and he's on his last ampule.  Normally, he goes in when he's on his second last ampule.  If there was something nasty going down and he was low on insulin, he would die.  No ifs, ands or buts.  That's scary!

More later...

#1. Falling into Preparedness

My mother called me to share the usual family news, who's having a baby, who's getting married/divorced, who bought what, and the usual gossip, often about people I don't know.  In amongst the usual chatter, she mentioned that her church had recommended that everyone put together a "72-hour kit", and put by extra food in case of an emergency.  The minister had passed out some handouts, and mom was asking me if I had anything like that.

I lived out in the country on the east coast for 20 years.  We had a wood stove, kerosene lanterns, and a well-stocked larder for the simple reason that the power would go out every time the weather kicked up a fuss.  Most people had a wood stove for heating, whether as the main source, or as an auxiliary heating method.  But I can't say that I ever thought in turns of "bugging out".

Now that I live in a town on the west coast, I haven't really worried about keeping the cupboard stocked up.  After talking to mom, I took a look in my fridge and realized I had more condiments than useful food.  Hm....  My cupboards were little better:  3 cans of tuna, 1 can of evaporated milk, and 17 assorted cans of fruit; about a pound of flour, a few tablespoons of baking powder at the bottom of the jar, 2 lbs of cornmeal, 2 lbs of wheatlets, an ancient bag of oatmeal that had mealy bugs in it (ewwww), and 3 packets of yeast...  You get the idea.  It wasn't really a very good showing.

If for some reason I was stuck in my house for an extended period, with no electricity, and contaminated water, I would be up crap creek.  I didn't have a non-electric heat/cooking system, no stored water, and worst of all, only 7 rolls of toilet paper.  As for bugging out, half the time the gas tank blinky is flashing on the dash board.

Then to add the icing to the cake, I got laid off my job.  It was supposed to be for just 5 weeks, but that was 9 weeks ago. 

We canceled cable TV and just kept the internet, and for entertainment I have been watching videos on YouTube among other video sites, and a couple of days ago, I was looking for food and cooking videos when I ran across dehydrate2store's videos.  Wow!  I'm in love with her Excalibur, but purchasing such a magnificent beast is out of the question right now.  But I do have a Nesco American Harvest dehydrator that I bought years and years ago, and now I know what to do with it.  It's like this one here except it's an older model:















Now all I need to do is fend off the husband.  He's retired and considers the kitchen to be his domain.  He likes to noodle over to the store, pick out something for dinner and bring it home to cook that night.  He has totally embraced grasshopper thinking.  Oh yeah, and I also need to find the money to buy mass quantities of dehydratable stuff.  Hm, and get a vacuum sealer.  And mason jars.

Think I'll head down to the Salvation Army store.  I've seen mason jars there.  And maybe I'll find a second-hand vacuum sealer.  I'm dreaming of a Foodsaver...