Preserving Foods After SHTF

[Brent S]

Not sure that fermenting would really work in the southern US with all the heat and humidity. I made sauerkraut a few years ago that I had to throw out. . . it is basically fermented cabbage. I have done some reading up on it though and you are right about how everything in the garden can be saved in crocks that way. . . Just make sure to weigh down and stays down underneath the brine.

Well, the kraut experiment was a bust! It was moldy and slimy, although it smelled great I wasn't brave enough to try it. I read some on it too, and loads of stuff can be fermented in the same way. I think its a good fall project when it's cooler though. My wife has a lot of trouble with naseua and I won't try to ferment inside any more. Once my storm shelter/root cellar is done I'll try it again in there. I even saw someone fermenting it in quart mason jars on line. Guess I'll stick to regular canning for a while. I'm really hopefully for tomatoes this year, I have about sixty plants growing and am just now seeing some of the first yellow flowers! I also put in more green beans than I ever did before. With any luck I'll get a little more of the canned goods replaced with home grown stuff.

 

[Danil54grl]

Once the cooler weather comes, give it another shot. When I make my kraut now, I always make sure to can it up, but you should be able to keep it in a root cellar I would think. Yeah, I was reading that you can salt brine peppers by removing the stems and seeds. Pack loosely in a crock or jar. Cover with a brine made out of 1 lb pickling salt to 2 quarts water, heated just enough to dissolve salt. Cool then pour over peppers. Make sure they are completely submerged and store in a cool cellar. When using wash several times with water. Said that they retain a good color and crispness.

So far it looks like I will have a good tomato crop this year so looking forward to doing my salsa, spaghetti sauce, seasoned tomatoes, etc. . .

 

[QuietH3art]

I have big plans for salsa this year, too, with several different types of peppers and tomatoes in the garden. But it's going to be a meager garden for many things this year. I'm going to have to pollinate myself from here on out. We've seen no bees at all and while I have lots of flowers, nothing is growing from them. I've downloaded a lot of ebooks about gardening and I know I saw something in one of them about pollinating for greenhouse growers. Guess I'm going to have to find that. And maybe do this in a greenhouse from now on.

 

[jimLE]

My plants aint far enough along for flowers yet..but i been seeing humming birds and bees..saw a hummingbird feeding on a flower just this morning..

 

[jontte]

to help with the pollinating thing, here in Finland they sell so-called bug-houses for the small but so important insects, do you have those? or why not build one or two, I mean it can't be just something that's only here

 

[Danil54grl]

I have big plans for salsa this year, too, with several different types of peppers and tomatoes in the garden. But it's going to be a meager garden for many things this year. I'm going to have to pollinate myself from here on out. We've seen no bees at all and while I have lots of flowers, nothing is growing from them. I've downloaded a lot of ebooks about gardening and I know I saw something in one of them about pollinating for greenhouse growers. Guess I'm going to have to find that. And maybe do this in a greenhouse from now on.

I have heard that the US bee population has been declining for a few years now. Do you have any beekeepers in your area that you can contact to have hive place on your property? They come and take care of the hive and in return, you get a portion of the honey collected and it is good for the garden. I also think that Jontte has a good idea of the bug houses. I have read about them for butterflies.

 

[Brent S]

I have big plans for salsa this year, too, with several different types of peppers and tomatoes in the garden. But it's going to be a meager garden for many things this year. I'm going to have to pollinate myself from here on out. We've seen no bees at all and while I have lots of flowers, nothing is growing from them. I've downloaded a lot of ebooks about gardening and I know I saw something in one of them about pollinating for greenhouse growers. Guess I'm going to have to find that. And maybe do this in a greenhouse from now on.

I'd appreciate any self pollinating tips! I've been wandering about the tomatoes in the greenhouse, if they will produce much. I do have loads of flies and I even saw a bee in there, but it's not as open to the pollinators as the garden area. I have some tomatoes getting close to 4ft tall now, and are just sprouting the yellow flowers now. I'll let you know if they produce soon. I've thought abut a throw away paintbrush and just lightly whisking the flowers, but will wait a little to see if I need to. I am sure about one thing, the plants in the greenhouse are 10 times larger than the garden area, and look much darker green and healthier. If they pollinate I'll be a happy prepper!.

 

[Danil54grl]

I'd appreciate any self pollinating tips! I've been wandering about the tomatoes in the greenhouse, if they will produce much. I do have loads of flies and I even saw a bee in there, but it's not as open to the pollinators as the garden area. I have some tomatoes getting close to 4ft tall now, and are just sprouting the yellow flowers now. I'll let you know if they produce soon. I've thought abut a throw away paintbrush and just lightly whisking the flowers, but will wait a little to see if I need to. I am sure about one thing, the plants in the greenhouse are 10 times larger than the garden area, and look much darker green and healthier. If they pollinate I'll be a happy prepper!.

Do flies count as a pollinator? Just curious, if so, it should be a bountiful summer. . . we have more than normal around here along with the bees.

 

[Danil54grl]

Hmm, maybe this will make it more clear on the root cellar deal here. I am about an hour from the ocean, only 1 foot above water, though. When I dug 1 foot deep holes to put in my Concord Grape vines, I hit water. As for building above ground and covering it with dirt, maybe. But we have extremely high humidity here year round. And lots of rain, so the ground stays wet a lot. It's kind of like living in a tropical rain forest a lot of the time. I think I would have to run an ac unit in that kind of storage to keep it cool and dry.

We're in the same boat on this one. . . some areas are just not feasible for a traditional root cellar.

 

[QuietH3art]

Flies aren't pollinators. If you don't have bees, the soft bristled paintbrush is your best bet. Those flowers have a very short pollination window so you better get to it.

 

[jontte]

Danil54grl made a good point abt those rent a bee-hive for summer,or then you get yr own hive with a mild and soft beequeen,thinks abt it,honey and a pollinated crop,if I had my own place that would be something for my garden,I'm really praying and hoping that there would be enough bees and bumblebees for my berrybushies,if not no berries for me

 

[QuietH3art]

We thought about beehives. I can't remember the rock star's name, but there's one who pays no property taxes on his huge properties because he keeps bees.

 

[psalm 7]

No shortage of wild bee's here or Butterflies . I've thought about a green house for starting plants early .

 

[Brent S]

I have mildly high blood pressure, so I don't use salt at all, however I do have a lot stored just in case. Both sugar and salt are preservatives, as well as vinegar. Even if you can't store stuff for 5 yrs, you can make it last longer, to help get thru the winter. I dehydrate now, which is great when there's electricity, but may not be so easy after shtf. I would like to learn a little more about smoking, but I don't think that will help with the veggies much. I saw a show that showed some about salt curing hams, but wish I had paid more attention, and I think they used a cooler to store it in, which would be useless without electricity. This is a good topic to put some thought in!

 

[QuietH3art]

It's given me a few ideas Brent. I kind of like the idea of dehydrating veggies and rehydrating them when needed. I'm figuring some of it will come out soggy, but that may be something we have to live with after SHTF to get our nutrients. And, I've seen in other forums here where you can dehydrate without electricity, by putting the food on screens in a hot car. My daughter and I used to have a combo smoker/dehydrater that we used on the farm that wasn't electric. I might need to find another one of those.

 

[Brent S]

It's given me a few ideas Brent. I kind of like the idea of dehydrating veggies and rehydrating them when needed. I'm figuring some of it will come out soggy, but that may be something we have to live with after SHTF to get our nutrients. And, I've seen in other forums here where you can dehydrate without electricity, by putting the food on screens in a hot car. My daughter and I used to have a combo smoker/dehydrater that we used on the farm that wasn't electric. I might need to find another one of those.

Id love to see a drawing or plan for a non electric one.

 

[Brent S]

Danil54grl made a good point abt those rent a bee-hive for summer,or then you get yr own hive with a mild and soft beequeen,thinks abt it,honey and a pollinated crop,if I had my own place that would be something for my garden,I'm really praying and hoping that there would be enough bees and bumblebees for my berrybushies,if not no berries for me

Ive considered getting a bee hive, and probably will down the road. Ive been starting and learning so many new things over the last 5 years, gardening, preserving, chickens and rabbits, etc., that i want to get better at some of these before starting any more! I know the bees would improve the fruit and vegetable production, as well as the benefit of fresh honey. I did remove the screens from the door and window in the greenhouse last night, but will probably pull out the brush tonight.

 

[QuietH3art]

Here's another tip for you: Goat's milk products and not just any goats, either. Nigerian Dwarf Goats. They are the cheapest and smallest, yet produce the milk highest in fat. Now why would anyone want higher fat, you may ask? For making butter, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, that's why! You can buy at least 10 ND Goats for the cost of one Jersey cow. Granted, one Jersey cow will give you 12 gallons of milk a day, whereas a ND Goat will only give you about 1/2 a gallon.
A couple of tips - isolate the billy from the nannies before you start milking them or he will make their milk taste sour/bitter. This is not a myth. Billies are very odiferous and their odor infects the milk taste. You could also eat the billy which might be easier than separating him but make sure you soak his meat in milk to get rid of the odor. I am opting for giving away my billy once all the nannies are bred. Billies are cheap to replace. Anyone who has tried goat's milk on a friend's farm and said they didn't like it probably got it from someone who left the billy with the nannies. You can get milk from goats 10 months out of the year. Next tip - get a cream separator - find one used on eBay or Craigslist because the new ones can be outrageously expensive. The fat globules in goat's milk are so tiny that they won't naturally separate like they will in cow's milk.
Brent, you said you raise chickens? Do you feed them the shells from the eggs that you eat? You should. It will produce stronger egg shells. You can buy commercial laying mash that has the extra calcium for stronger shells, but I just don't trust anything commercial anymore.

 

[Brent S]

Here's another tip for you: Goat's milk products and not just any goats, either. Nigerian Dwarf Goats. They are the cheapest and smallest, yet produce the milk highest in fat. Now why would anyone want higher fat, you may ask? For making butter, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, that's why! You can buy at least 10 ND Goats for the cost of one Jersey cow. Granted, one Jersey cow will give you 12 gallons of milk a day, whereas a ND Goat will only give you about 1/2 a gallon.
A couple of tips - isolate the billy from the nannies before you start milking them or he will make their milk taste sour/bitter. This is not a myth. Billies are very odiferous and their odor infects the milk taste. You could also eat the billy which might be easier than separating him but make sure you soak his meat in milk to get rid of the odor. I am opting for giving away my billy once all the nannies are bred. Billies are cheap to replace. Anyone who has tried goat's milk on a friend's farm and said they didn't like it probably got it from someone who left the billy with the nannies. You can get milk from goats 10 months out of the year. Next tip - get a cream separator - find one used on eBay or Craigslist because the new ones can be outrageously expensive. The fat globules in goat's milk are so tiny that they won't naturally separate like they will in cow's milk.
Brent, you said you raise chickens? Do you feed them the shells from the eggs that you eat? You should. It will produce stronger egg shells. You can buy commercial laying mash that has the extra calcium for stronger shells, but I just don't trust anything commercial anymore.

I appreciate the info on goats. I've never been around them much, but plan to get two this spring. I kind of like the idea of the smaller ones for several reasons. One, I'm not that big of a milk fan, but want to play with cheese making and maybe butter and yogurt. Also a big plus is they won't eat as much, so I won't have to supplement their grazing as much. If we loose the grid it will be harder to store dairy products, so the smaller amounts seem to make sense for me.
I do feed the chickens the egg shells. As a matter of fact, I feed them everything! The rabbits get most of the vegetable leftovers, and all the garden scraps, and the chickens get everything else. The coffee grounds are about the only thing I compost, as they go straight to the blueberry bushes, but literally everything else goes to the animals. I would like to compost more, but think it's more productive to supplement the chicks and bunnies.

 

[QuietH3art]

Someone once told me he wanted goats so he wouldn't have to mow the lawn. Goats don't eat grass. They eat weeds and leaves from trees if they can reach them. Thought I'd mention that since you mentioned "grazing." If you have a kindle, or a kindle app on your computer (which you can get for free from Amazon) there is a book called "How To Raise Goats" by Steve Fiermo for 1.49 right now. I have the one on Nigerian Dwarf Goats, got it for free awhile back - now it's 3.99. I've found a lot of information about them on the internet for free, too.