Preparations Update

[Pearl]

Thanks my friend. Its so nice to be able to use power without the generator running.
Now we should save a ton of money on propane!

You guys have worked SO hard, what a giant step!!

 

[Tommyice]

That is fantastic news!

 

[LadyLocust]

Last meetup was on comms with a great ham operator presenting. That was our first meet at our new location. Low turnout even though well advertised, but I thought the new location might have thrown some folks. Now I just don't know.

I actually think a lot of folks are “buckling down “. Seems like they are quieter, slower to speak up- getting into the mindset of whatever it needs to be for them.
Just my opinion.

 

[CalicoKatie]

This last six months or so I've been gradually looking around for simple things that could be helpful especially in case of power loss. Like getting what we used to call an egg beater but now I think they're calling it a hand mixer. I always wanted to get a wood cabbage cutter and stomper but didn't need it and they seemed too pricey. When I was looking through the Home Depot website one day I saw they carried them and figured, Why not? and treated myself. I also finally replaced my good apple peeler that disappeared a few years back. Yeah, sometimes it's the little things that make life easier.

I was really surprised because the cutter is much bigger and heavier than I expected - 9.5" x 24.5".
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ROOTS-HARVEST-Triple-Blade-Cabbage-Cutter-1347/321713158
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ROOTS-HARVEST-Wooden-Cabbage-Stomper-1315/321712923
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ROOTS-HARVEST-Apple-Potato-Peeler-662/321711138
I got my order in the other day from Baker Creek seeds and will probably place another order in a couple of weeks. Bet they'll be selling out of a lot by May. The few times I've tried to grow cabbage I've had no luck. This year I'm going to try it in a grow box and see if they'll do better off the ground. For some reason different colors are different prices.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/CITY-PI...h-Watering-System-and-Casters-2346D/301298664
So those are my most recent additions and I'm looking forward to using them.

 

[Proud Prepper]

I just got a solar system that I'm having a hell of a time trying to setup. Anyone know about solar systems? I'm trying to get it working with a whole house generator for when the grid is down.

 

[Tacitus]

I just got a solar system that I'm having a hell of a time trying to setup. Anyone know about solar systems?

Usually the sun goes in the middle, and the planets revolve around it.


Sorry. Couldn't help myself.

 

[LadyLocust]

This last six months or so I've been gradually looking around for simple things that could be helpful especially in case of power loss. Like getting what we used to call an egg beater but now I think they're calling it a hand mixer. I always wanted to get a wood cabbage cutter and stomper but didn't need it and they seemed too pricey. When I was looking through the Home Depot website one day I saw they carried them and figured, Why not? and treated myself. I also finally replaced my good apple peeler that disappeared a few years back. Yeah, sometimes it's the little things that make life easier.

I was really surprised because the cutter is much bigger and heavier than I expected - 9.5" x 24.5".
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ROOTS-HARVEST-Triple-Blade-Cabbage-Cutter-1347/321713158
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ROOTS-HARVEST-Wooden-Cabbage-Stomper-1315/321712923
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ROOTS-HARVEST-Apple-Potato-Peeler-662/321711138
I got my order in the other day from Baker Creek seeds and will probably place another order in a couple of weeks. Bet they'll be selling out of a lot by May. The few times I've tried to grow cabbage I've had no luck. This year I'm going to try it in a grow box and see if they'll do better off the ground. For some reason different colors are different prices.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/CITY-PI...h-Watering-System-and-Casters-2346D/301298664
So those are my most recent additions and I'm looking forward to using them.

Riots and Harvest are a little nicer quality than your average Wmart item. I just purchased a R&H meat/cheese thermometer. Haven’t even used it yet.

 

[LadyLocust]

I just got a solar system that I'm having a hell of a time trying to setup. Anyone know about solar systems? I'm trying to get it working with a whole house generator for when the grid is down.

There is a thread or section called “off grid power” if I remember correctly. Lots of info on solar.

 

[Morgan101]

This last six months or so I've been gradually looking around for simple things that could be helpful especially in case of power loss. Like getting what we used to call an egg beater but now I think they're calling it a hand mixer. I always wanted to get a wood cabbage cutter and stomper but didn't need it and they seemed too pricey. When I was looking through the Home Depot website one day I saw they carried them and figured, Why not? and treated myself. I also finally replaced my good apple peeler that disappeared a few years back. Yeah, sometimes it's the little things that make life easier.

I was really surprised because the cutter is much bigger and heavier than I expected - 9.5" x 24.5".
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ROOTS-HARVEST-Triple-Blade-Cabbage-Cutter-1347/321713158
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ROOTS-HARVEST-Wooden-Cabbage-Stomper-1315/321712923
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ROOTS-HARVEST-Apple-Potato-Peeler-662/321711138
I got my order in the other day from Baker Creek seeds and will probably place another order in a couple of weeks. Bet they'll be selling out of a lot by May. The few times I've tried to grow cabbage I've had no luck. This year I'm going to try it in a grow box and see if they'll do better off the ground. For some reason different colors are different prices.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/CITY-PI...h-Watering-System-and-Casters-2346D/301298664
So those are my most recent additions and I'm looking forward to using them.

I think we would all be well advised to have a manual back-up for all the electric appliances and gadgets we rely on. Your list is a good start.

 

[CalicoKatie]

I've always steered clear of electric gadgets where I could like having a wind up radio for back up. If they'd start making a wind up TV, I'd really be good to go.

ETA: After popping off about a windup TV, I got curious and did a little search. To my surprise, there are battery operated TVs available!
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Superson...le-Lithium-Ion-Battery-and-FM-Radio/182969724
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Milanix-...and-SD-Card-Inputs-AC-DC-Compatible/965766373

 

[angie_nrs]

Since the incident in Ohio, I ramped things up a notch. We didn't take a vacation this winter, so I'm throwing that money at other things.

We made some improvements to a structure on the property. Now we have a room with a washer, dryer, and slop sink so if something happens to mine, I have a backup to use. We still have a lot of work to do, but we're slowly moving forward.

I also finally got my frig fixed, so now I have a small one (that we had been using) as a spare.

I made quite a few purchases these last couple of months:
*havalon knives - 2 with 100 replaceable blades (great for fishing, butchering, and everyday use)
*cut proof gloves to use when we butcher deer (with above knives) those suckers are sharp!
*a few more 10# cans of veges - at least the stuff in stock now won't be contaminated.....who knows about next year?
*purchased some more platinum and silver
*got a foldable bike for long trips in the car as a means of travel (or exercise) if need be.
*got some spare tubes and fix it kits for the bike
*purchased another carry gun that is lighter than the one I have now
*got a new carry purse
*bought some nice bright headlamps

I'm planning a shopping trip likely for next week. I want to get more ammo for the new gun. I also want to shop for bargains. I'm taking a wad of cash and will splurge on anything that looks like a deal. I'm also going to check the farm store and see what they have for pet meds and maybe stock up on some of those.

 

[lonewolf]

having lived without electricity for the better part of 12 years when I was offgrid, living without power dosent bother me one bit.

 

[Caribou]

Just ordered 300# of Alaska grown barley products from Alaska Flour Company. The order includes hulless barley, a variety of barley where the hulls mostly fall off in the processing. This leaves a whole grain product. Cream of barley cereal, much like cream of wheat. Barley flour, you can use 100% in non yeast baked products like cookies or cake, or 1/3 barley flour 2/3 wheat flour for bread. They suggest 1/3 barley flour, 1/3 whole wheat flour, 1/3 white flour. I also got some of their brownie mix. Do not order this brownie mix it is addictive. They offer most of their products in 25# bags on special order though it is difficult to find on their site. I call them and order. I split my order between home and Mom's.

 

[LadyLocust]

I just wanted to share something with you folks. I have a small lamp with this kind of wick. It is just a single flame, but seems quite a bit brighter than a candle. They would work to make nearly any small bottle into an oil lamp. If you put a mirror behind it, it would really light things up. And, it uses very little oil. Might be a handy and inexpensive item to have in your preps.

 

[Cascadian]

In the last few months I have acquired 5 double burner Coleman stoves. I didn't try them all but I believe they are functional. 3 were free and I paid $15 total for the last 2. We also picked up 2 stovetop coffee pots.

 

[LadyLocust]

In the last few months I have acquired 5 double burner Coleman stoves. I didn't try them all but I believe they are functional. 3 were free and I paid $15 total for the last 2. We also picked up 2 stovetop coffee pots.

Sooo, can’t resist-
What’s cookin’?

 

[Cascadian]

Just my plans to have what people may need. Or at least more than I need.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Today we are canning quick meals, last night was stewed lintels, today is split pea....

We find having flats of home canned meals allows us to deal with days when we can't cook. We have friends who would bring in meals, but they don't know how to cook without salt, most people today rely on fast foods or pre-made store canned foods for their cooking. All those things have way too much salt for someone with bad congestive heart failure....

To deal with this we developed 2 alternatives, frozen 8"X8" dishes (casseroles etc, I think we have 10 options now) or home canned (we have about 8 choices), we do both but the frozen stuff needs a day's warning (to thaw it), but the home canned can be ready in under 30 minutes.

 

[LadyLocust]

Today we are canning quick meals, last night was stewed lintels, today is split pea....

We find having flats of home canned meals allows us to deal with days when we can't cook. We have friends who would bring in meals, but they don't know how to cook without salt, most people today rely on fast foods or pre-made store canned foods for their cooking. All those things have way too much salt for someone with bad congestive heart failure....

To deal with this we developed 2 alternatives, frozen 8"X8" dishes (casseroles etc, I think we have 10 options now) or home canned (we have about 8 choices), we do both but the frozen stuff needs a day's warning (to thaw it), but the home canned can be ready in under 30 minutes.

When you do your lintels and peas, do you cook them then can them or dry ingredients and water and can them?

 

[UrbanHunter]

When you do your lintels and peas, do you cook them then can them or dry ingredients and water and can them?

We soak them for 24 hours before we "dry" can them assembly line fashion using quart jars. They still swell up in the canning process but after a decade we finally got the measurements working right. We can them at 10 psi for 90 minutes. It's a pain but it works for us.
It's a pretty simple recipe, (per quart)
1 1/2 cups hydrated lintels/peas
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/4 cup diced celery
1 tea spoon, minced garlic
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced ham (very lean)

We cover each quart with about 2 1/2 cups boiling hot chicken stock that has been spiked with a little Tobasco, Thyme, Marjoram, and bay leaves. We pass the stock through a screen before filling the jars.

We leave a full inch of head space, we find that if we over fill the jars we can have sealing problems.

This time the wife used a 50:50 mix of fresh and dehydrated onion, carrots, and celery, seemed to work okay. We re-hydrated them a couple hours before we started canning.

Sorry, this may be TMI, but I just don't know any other way....

 

[LadyLocust]

We soak them for 24 hours before we "dry" can them assembly line fashion using quart jars. They still swell up in the canning process but after a decade we finally got the measurements working right. We can them at 10 psi for 90 minutes. It's a pain but it works for us.
It's a pretty simple recipe, (per quart)
1 1/2 cups hydrated lintels/peas
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/4 cup diced celery
1 tea spoon, minced garlic
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced ham (very lean)

We cover each quart with about 2 1/2 cups boiling hot chicken stock that has been spiked with a little Tobasco, Thyme, Marjoram, and bay leaves. We pass the stock through a screen before filling the jars.

We leave a full inch of head space, we find that if we over fill the jars we can have sealing problems.

This time the wife used a 50:50 mix of fresh and dehydrated onion, carrots, and celery, seemed to work okay. We re-hydrated them a couple hours before we started canning.

Sorry, this may be TMI, but I just don't know any other way....

Not TMI. Thank you! I "dry" can my own kidney beans (and black eyed peas etc.). Dry beans in jar, I do add a dash of salt, water to 1" below rim and put in the canner - no presoaking. I love it. That's why I asked. I like having some of our own fast food also.

 

[DrJenner]

I just got a solar system that I'm having a hell of a time trying to setup. Anyone know about solar systems? I'm trying to get it working with a whole house generator for when the grid is down.

Where did you purchase it from? My husband wired ours

 

[DrJenner]

Sawmill is up and running.
Solar working well now after a couple of hiccups. We got the other rack built so as soon as the brackets come in we will mount 6 more panels.
Root cellar is almost dug out. We are foregoing that today to get the greenhouse built this week so I can start some seedlings.
I don't know about you all but I still have this sense of urgency that gets amplified the more time goes on.

 

[angie_nrs]

I did some shopping at the beginning of the week. It has been quite a while since I went on a shopping trip as I have been ordering more online. It was an 8 hour trip since I had several stops to make. There are some things that you just can't buy online.....

*bought some ammo for a rifle and got some shells for shotguns. After going thru some stored ammo, I found that we really didn't have much shotgun ammo and we plan on shooting skeet with friends this spring.

*got a bunch of coupons and got some good deals on various hardware supplies.

*stocked up on socks at an outlet store to give to kids for Christmas.

*found some bargains on coffee, chicken, beer, and a few other staples at the local box store.

*went to WM and bought lots of the cheap seeds. They always hide these seeds in the garden center well away from their more expensive seeds. These were 20 to 50 cents per packet instead of their more pricey packets that they have sitting out front and center. If you don't get there early, they'll only have flower seeds left....so I got a bunch of things I usually plant like cukes, green beans, broccoli, corn, etc. For the price, I figured I couldn't go wrong. I still have seeds left over from previous years though, so I'll try those out first.

I talked to hubby about getting another raised bed built for this spring. I've got him thinking about what supplies to get ready in order to make it happen. He's more focused on getting his wood shed built. I'm trying to convince him to get the bed in first and worry about the woodshed afterwards.

I've never sprouted anything before putting them in the garden, but I think I'm going to give that a try this year. I'd like to get a jump on the growing season. I'm usually a just plant the seed and let it go kind of girl, but it would be nice to have some early and also some later veges to harvest. I also plan on using older seeds, so if I sprout them first, I'll know whether or not they will be duds. Now I just have to figure out the timing on when I should sprout so that it's not too early or too late.....I've got some research to do on that.

I went to Aldi for the first time in months. Oh my! The prices have taken a drastic jump on most things. Most of the time now, I just buy flyer sales at the local grocery store since many of the products at Aldi are no longer a deal. I also noticed that they now only have 1 checkout with a person. The other checkouts are now self serve and only take a card. WTH?? When they first opened they only took cash......now they are transitioning to only taking cards??? So, there is another reason for me to avoid Aldi since I am a cash only girl.

 

[Peanut]

Got my new waterproof gun, er, guitar case today. I have a D-35 martin guitar. I called Sbk case co before ordering. When they designed the case interior a d-35 was one of the guitars used for fitting. Mine fits like a glove. It has 6 latches, 2 of which have tsa locks for air travel. It also has 6 metal lined holes around the rim for one or more pad locks if I choose. It has 3 handles, each end and opposite the hinges. They snap into the unused position so they don't flop around.

I drive pickup trucks, a guitar case in the cab is a little cramped at times. Now I can strap the case in the bed. If it rains? Who cares? It is a little heavy (23lbs) but has casters on one end so I can roll it. Loaded with my guitar and gear it weighs 32lbs.

This is the same gun case they sell for AR variants. This one is lined and has foam inserts to fit guitars. I have a much smaller gun case I bought in the 90’s from this same company (SKB). This was when I flew with a gun as checked baggage. These days I use it as a waterproof medical kit.

They make great hard, waterproof cases, highly recommend them. They make over 60 sizes. These are multi-use cases for the military, weapons, video and camera gear, musical instruments. They also have a complete line of replacement parts for older cases, latches, casters, sealing rings etc. They've been in business since the 70's, made in the usa.

https://www.skbcases.com/

 

[Peanut]

Thought I should post a photo of my old skb case. It's starting to show it's age but its still air and water tight even through it's close to 30yrs old. Even has a pressure relief valve. It was made to hold 2 handguns. It can accommodate 2 pad locks which I used when flying with a gun.

I use it as a medical kit now. Items that need to stay dry if I'm traveling or camping, sutures, bandages, that sort of thing. I wish it were just a little larger.

 

[LadyLocust]

One more maybe a little odd to some, but I have a supply of alum. It is used for tanning (curing) hides. Yes, you can use brains, but they stink! Anyways, when I got mine, Nuts.com was the least expensive for bulk amounts. All things depending, could be a trade item if you don't want to take that on yourself. Just thought I'd share.

 

[Peanut]

Got another shipment today. Lots of medicine droppers to fit 1oz and 2oz bottles. Even a set of droppers marked in milliliters. Got 2 quality tourniquets, more quick clot wrapping and some disk batteries.

 

[CalicoKatie]

One more maybe a little odd to some, but I have a supply of alum.

I'm glad you mentioned alum, LL, because alum was one of those old remedies that most people don't know about any more. When I was a kid, my mother always kept a box in the bathroom medicine cabinet. Whenever I got a canker sore in my mouth, she would put a dab of alum on it. She used it for other stuff but I was so young that I didn't really pay attention.

My parents grew up in a time and place where there was next to no medical care and people just did the best they could with whatever they had. I did a search and found some info on the medicinal qualities of alum.

13 Surprising Alum Powder Uses and Benefits - The Good Human

 

[LadyLocust]

I'm glad you mentioned alum, LL, because alum was one of those old remedies that most people don't know about any more. When I was a kid, my mother always kept a box in the bathroom medicine cabinet. Whenever I got a canker sore in my mouth, she would put a dab of alum on it. She used it for other stuff but I was so young that I didn't really pay attention.

My parents grew up in a time and place where there was next to no medical care and people just did the best they could with whatever they had. I did a search and found some info on the medicinal qualities of alum.

13 Surprising Alum Powder Uses and Benefits - The Good Human

I know when I was looking for it, all I could find was the little spice bottle things which was way too expensive. I didn’t know about using it for cold sores. Will have to make a note of it.