How to Grow and Store the 5 Crops You Need to Survive October 20, 2010 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. In an age of erratic weather and instability, it's increasingly important to develop a greater self-reliance when it comes to food. Makenna Goodman: Many gardeners (both beginners and more serious growers) come across obstacles they might not have planned for. Carol Deppe: The basic issues are getting more control over our food, getting lots higher quality and more delicious food, and enhancing the resilience of our food supply. However the person who has learned to make spectacular applesauce or cider or apple butter or pies can often trade some of the processed products for all the apples needed. So the first thing I would say is, garden if you can and if you enjoy it. We humans trade.
The Art of Barter A guest post by Chris [This is an entry in our non-fiction writing contest - First Prize winner will receive a gift certificate for $170 worth of Winchester Ammo. Second Prize winner will receive 3 dozen Tattler Reusable Canning Lids . Third Prize winner will receive a LifeStraw.] For as long as humans have been in existence, a form of trade called bartering has been used successfully in just about every society. Bartering in modern times is a skill; those who are trading are always looking to get the better deal. Another example: Is a brand new car really worth twenty-eight thousand dollars? If survival times come and we’re to barter, how do we place value upon items since we aren’t using fiat money valuation (Fiat money is money that has value only because of government regulation or law., Wikipedia)? In survival situations, bartering items will be-for the most part and specifically at the beginning-based upon the needs of the parties involved. Bartering Safety I love the Wolf Pack.
Emergency Food Preparedness Emergency food preparedness is something we all need to do, whether it's preparing for the loss of a job or a large-scale disaster. No matter where you're at in life, it's wise to start stocking up on emergency preparedness food now. But should you really go out and buy all those expensive, freeze-dried foods? The Beauty of Whole Grain Whole grains are an essential part of emergency food preparedness, but they're also a boon for saving money, improving your health and having some of the best tasting foods out there. Buy your grains in bulk, and invest in a grain mill. Make Your Own Pasta Emergency Food Preparedness And Wonderful Beans Buy plenty of beans in a wide variety and start cooking them every week. Also don't forget lentils, some of the easy legumes out there. Learn More About Being Prepared Learn More About Frugal Cooking Return from Emergency Food Preparedness to the Home Page
The Most Frequently Overlooked Long-Term Survival Items by Robert Wayne Atkins The Most Frequently Overlooked Items for Long-Term Hard Times Survival Copyright © December 1, 2008 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E. All Rights Reserved. One of the suggestions that is frequently mentioned on a variety of internet forums is to purchase "trade or barter items" before the hard times begin. Some of the typical "trade and barter items" that are recommended are salt, first aid supplies, toilet tissue, and 22LR ammunition. The general reasoning behind this "trade and barter strategy" is as follows: At the current time these "items" are widely available and reasonably priced.During really hard times these items will become scarce or very expensive.When that happens almost everyone will be desperate to obtain these items.You will therefore be able to trade these "items" for the things you really need. In my opinion a better strategy would be to simply invest your money in the things you know you will need. List of Frequently Overlooked Items
The Survival Food Pyramid From personal experience I know, when you first get into surviving/prepping the information thrown at you can be overwhelming. The Survival Food Pyramid will get you started stocking food in a logical, simple, and economical way. Everyone who has a basement full of canned goods and a survival garden started somewhere. We will help get you started. The Concept The top of the pyramid is for stocking the smallest amount of food for the shortest amount of time. This pyramid will keep you from spending time and money on preps that, while they may be useful overall, are pointless to you right now. Click for Large View Immediate If you are new to prepping, or you are experienced but find your supplies jump all over the map, start by stocking enough food and supplies for a 3 Day Emergency. If you have a typical local situation, such as a major snow storm or power outage, you won’t be one of the people raiding the grocery store. Extended The extended food preps simply build on the immediate preps.
Barter items for post teotwawki - SHTF Survival Forum If SHTF tomorrow, 12 months later, what items would you have that you could use for barter? Is bartering even in your plans, have you even thought about it? The other day I was walking through wal-mart and was thinking about low cost, good quality trade items. There is a difference in good quality, medium quality and poor quality barter items. Here are some examples of barter/trade items: Gold and silver only have value when someone values money. Solar panels, seeds, first aid supplies are a good quality trade items. Clothing might have an “ok” trade value. Hand tools might be a medium quality trade item. Computers and other electronics would be a poor quality item – without electricity, what good are electronics. When you start talking about matches, seeds, flashlights, batteries,,,,,, some of those are disposable items – you use them once and then its gone. I dont think food has very much of a trade value – unless the other person is starving. Matches, they burn once, and its gone.
How to Make Cheese from Powdered Milk Here’s another recipe I wanted to test out that puts to use the buckets of powdered milk I have stored. Remember if you are constantly rotating your stored food (especially the 3-month food supply) not only will you greatly reduce the chance of anything going bad, but you’ll actually be learning to use your bulk-stored food and eating what you store — some of the most important rules in food storage. To make cheese from powdered milk is an easy process (unexpected since I never had any experience making cheese before this). Here’s how it works: What You’ll Need Powdered MilkWaterCooking PotWhite Vinegar or Lemon JuiceCheesecloth or Clean Cotton T-Shirt How to Make Cheese from Powdered Milk I used a small amount of ingredients so I could test it out first before using the full recipe. 3 cups powdered milk6 cups water1/2 cup plain white vinegar In my instructions I quartered this recipe as follows: Conclusion I was really excited when learning this, since I love lasagna.
Barter/Trade Items in a Survival Scenario | URBAN SURVIVAL SITE Imagine a worst-case scenario. It could be hyperinflation—it takes a wheelbarrow of cash to buy a loaf of bread and you no longer have enough money to buy even a small item or piece of food. It could be a nuclear war, a devastating act of terrorism, an EMP attack—banks are shut down, cash is unavailable. Even in more temporary disasters such as an earthquake or a hurricane, cash could become rare or worthless if people are more interested in food and supplies. How do you prepare for this? You’ll need barter and trade items. Precious Metals Although PMs are a great thing to have as a part of your portfolio in order to protect your wealth, they might not be ideal in a survival scenario. Alcohol and Tobacco Again, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Other Items The point of this article is that in most survival situations, people are going to want things they can use.
Butter in Your Food Storage One evening at church one of the ladies mentioned that you could bottle butter and store it for 3 year. I hadn’t seen so many women interested in a comment about preserving food in a long tim. I received the instructions from her and have been bottling butter for my food storage ever since. Items you need: 12 – 8 oz. jelly jars, lids, and rings (clean and sanitize bottle prior to bottling butter)5–¼ pounds butter or margarine (5 pounds + 1 stick)1 cookie sheet (optional)1 cooling rack (optional) Getting started: Sterilize your jars and lids. Place your twelve jars on a cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 225°F. Phase One: Open up twelve sticks of butter and cut each stick into two – three tablespoons sections and one – two tablespoons section. Drop the two – three tablespoons sections in the bottom of the jar length wise. Then very carefully place the one – two tablespoons section in the middle on top. (Do this with all twelve jars.) Put your jars in the oven at 225°F for 15 to 20 minutes. Phase Two:
Barter Goods Below is a list of barter goods considered by experts in the survival preparedness world to be vital for a barter currency in a post-long-term disaster world. Remember, as valuable as goods are, skills will also be very valuable; learn to barber, make soap, about herbal medicine, etc. Look around your home for items that you would be lost without if you could no longer make a quick trip to the corner store to buy more. Those items should then be added to your barter goods list. While it is not necessary to have everything on this list, there may be a few items that you are able to get at a really good price and be able to store for future barter. In fact, if room is at a premium, why not pick up a storage tote and then start saving your barter goods in there.