What did you collect and store this week?

Acquired a homegrown canteloupe, cucumber, and squash, double planted all 200 of the above mentioned city trees. The homeless under the bridge and a few locals noticed me this time.... wink, "watermellon"; nod back, smile.

Ordered 50lb of organic medium grain brown rice; $1.03/lb delivered

Salvaged 15 pallets for a movable chicken fence

3 gallons of organic sunflower oil on its way, just over $100.

plenty of dried beans still in storage.

stocked on salt and homegrown pepper sauce for a lifetime.

okra putting on, peppers a poppin, and dozens of baby sized watermellon showing up, cantelopes are getting to be softballs.

riding my bike home tonight...

the wife and i grabbed two curbside bags full of leaves for our chickens.

bugs eat leaves. chickens eat bugs.

not sure what eats black trash bags,

Sri Oracle

You people are fools for revealing that kind of information the Government probaly has agents up here to draw out people like you and they are probaly trying to make a list....I gaurantee you the gov't already knows your user and where you live but you guys are dumb enough to say I have this stored up so the gov't can come and take it Away smart real real smart....

Originally posted by Ggurl777
You people are fools for revealing that kind of information the Government probaly has agents up here to draw out people like you and they are probaly trying to make a list....I gaurantee you the gov't already knows your user and where you live but you guys are dumb enough to say I have this stored up so the gov't can come and take it Away smart real real smart....

I really dont think any governemnt would be that interested in our piddly stockpiles. They dont think in a few pounds of food, they think in thousands of tonnes of food. When you consider that nearly all members of the Mormon Church stockpile as part of their religion and then add 'others' into the equation, it would be far too much hassle and cost to go and confiscate a small stockpile of food.

Plus i dont really consider that they are that interested in what we say on this website either - add to the fact that this is an international website, so there are members in other countries outside of the US that are also stockpiling and thus outside of the US Gov's hands.

If any government wants to lay its hands on food stocks they would just requesition the big multi-national retail food companies and their warehouses, they wouldnt bother breaking down peoples doors for a few pounds of beans, especially if they are at risk of getting a chest full of lead.

Keep the paranoia under control.

reply to post by Wotan


I'm going to second that. The govt if they would even have an interest and bother to come to a site like this would probably breathe a sigh of relief that they don't have to run giant nursery schools in the next disaster. If anything I would think they would instigate and try to get people to learn how to take care of themselves so the whole country isn't burdened from the next Katrina what ever it may be. I'm even more surprised they don't distribute seeds and other self care items well in advance, and set up classes and education programs for canning, gardening and other things we should be doing for ourselves.

No need for paranoia on this one. Unless you are storing food in silos in the metric ton range.....

Been offsite for a couple of weeks, missed alot. I agree that governments really dont care about a few pounds of food and a handfull of guns. Shut down the supercenters and you have 99% of the US under control. The last little 1% or so of us are little more than an annoyance. Since my last post, I picked up another 200 lbs of lead and some obscure bullet molds to complement the standard sizes I have. Also picked up my sheep and finished my loom. Also caught and pickled roughly 25 salmon.

Add that to the 10 day "survival" trip I took with only a gun, axe, knife, and my magnesium fire starter, and I'd say its been a couple of good weeks working on being less reliant on the rest of the world.

Excellent job with the salmon. Give us a tiny peek into the trial run trip? Good to hear about the sheep and loom as well.

For me? 4 gallons of beer get bottled tonight. Not long term, but they never bottled beer in the old days, just started drinking off the tap as it finished up.

[edit on 28-7-2008 by Illahee]

reply to post by Illahee


Thanks, not so much a trial run, I try to get out a couple of weeks every summer and once in the winter. I hike a loop behind some property I own, on state land, careful not to take the same route and be tempted to use old shelters, paths, etc... Hacked new shelters from black spruce trees, slept on the limbs as well, snared a couple of rabbits with shoestrings, could have shot a moose, but dont need the jail time. It was difficult and wet, but gets easier everytime I do it. Managed to get to a river with some grayling, set up a fish trap, constituted most of my food this time around. In the fall, when its grouse season, this is much easier to find game and forage.

Thanks on the salmon, I had been freezing most of it in the past, then realized that freezers dont work well if the grid fails. Trying to get past the ease of freezing and start curing, smoking, and canning all of my meats. Just need my root cellar, and preserving long term should get alot simplier.

Not a banner week for me in the storage dept but a few things got put away.

1-30rd ak Mag. (Need two more to fill a pouch)
1- Half gallon of premium rum. (Not even going to say how much for that)
1- Non lensatic air float compass. (I prefer the smaller pocket watch type)
1- pack of 10 camp flints. (cheapest item but a big player)
3-boxes 8mm mauser on strippers (50s vint. but hey you get free strippers)
2- boxes 8mm mauser 1990 vintage (a bit fresher)

Q&A 1: The non lensatic air float compass is my preference. They are cheap so you can own several. There is no fluid to leak out or drain when its crushed. If I break the free floater I can lay the needle on a leaf in water and it works just the same. I can sight just fine with sticks and If i need to use it I will refer often and not guess.

Q&A 2: The flints are a critical part of the long term plan I keep plastic bottles of ronson lighter fluid as it is stabilized. I buy all of the old see through fluid lighters I see and the extra flints go inside the veiwing chamber. These can be fueled by distillate made from things such as rotting vegatble material ferment for an ongoing supply of fuel if needed and you only have to push the button to fill the tiny chamber for a windproof light up.
If you do not fuel it up the only loss to evaporation over time is the tiny chamber and not the large main chamber. A tiny bit of tree sap (thick/medium hard) on the end of a long skinny barkless stick will allow you to fish one out as needed, just don't overdo it, a tiny amount on the very flat end part. I keep two of these in every pack and fanny pack so there is no worry about striking a flint etc. and the strikers interchange. Large packs get a medium bottle of fluid. fanny and day packs just the lighters.

This kind but not in rough of shape. There are good mint ones out there if you look around. Some of these are missing buttons or have bad springs.

search.ebay.com... 6saslc%3D2&sadis=200&fpos=98074&sabfmts=1&saobfmts=insif&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=32%26fsoo%3D2




[edit on 1-8-2008 by Illahee]

[edit on 1-8-2008 by Illahee]

This weekend I raided natures larder, and came away with about 5lbs of bilberries which will be made into some damn fine preserve this weekend.

Good Work!

I too have been tasting the red huckleberries in preparation of bringing in 5# of these tasty red delicacies. Added to the 5# I have frozen from last year and I will make a small batch of special wine to be ready for next years thanksgiving and holiday season. Not a whole lot, but a very special holiday treat. if the balloon goes up the special things are good to have on the shelf....

Been rolling out fruit leather like crazy. Berries, rhubarb, others. Picked up two spam cans of ammo. Put up another 1000 rounds of .22 rifle ammo. Started another batch of rhubarb wine, and a batch of beer. Sadly, the beer doesnt store all that well, someone keeps consuming it. Started printing off ebooks in duplicate and laminating them to store in binders. Not a bad week, and hunting season is closing in, as well as nearing time to harvest my gardens. Should be a good fall for stockpiling.

Originally posted by salchanra
Started another batch of rhubarb wine, and a batch of beer. Sadly, the beer doesnt store all that well, someone keeps consuming it.

I was always told and even at the brew shop that beer carbonated by yeast only lasts 4 months. I just read the last page in the instructions and it says to put back a bottle or two to sample at 1 year.

reply to post by Illahee


Actually, the beer would probably store just fine if I wasnt drinking it when I was doing other things.

I like this thread and checked it yesterday before I logged off. Asked myself what is being overlooked.

I went to my hardware store last night and purchased:
3 25 foot tape measures
2 framing hammers
2 hand saws
Speed square
Layout square
Half a dozen screwdrivers
10 lbs of 16 penny spikes
10 lbs of 2 1/2 inch wood screws
Chalk box with extra chalk

Granted, I have hand tools I use around my house, but thought it wise to have a supply of carpentry tools set aside.

Good work!

Here is a peek at the military version of the kit.

www.soacorp.com...


It is recommended to add a large compass, wood chisels capable of hammer work and extra saw blades and other items. I saw a really good pioneer kit but lost the link.

The idea is if you were suddenly in a horse and wagon like your forefathers and had to take the kit out into the wilds, you would be able to construct a log cabin and begin working the land in a minimal manner. An extra shovel bade can be the basis of a plow if needed.

[edit on 6-8-2008 by Illahee]

reply to post by Illahee


Good link. Ill toss a sledge, pick and shovel into my box when I get home this evening.

Well my first corn crop is in, so I’ve got 100 ears or so drying out which will all be for seed. The watermelon is ripening up well, but my beans wont do squat. I think I got some bad seed there. I’ve got a few cases of FD pork on the way supposedly, if my supplier ever gets off his butt. I’ll be putting in a fall crop of potatoes soon, I just haven't decided whether to try using the true seed I collected or not.

As to the gov, they know my every move already so no sense worrying about it. If they want my piddling little reserve they’ll probably get it, but not without a fight.

reply to post by resistor


Good work on the corn seed. That is a skill that takes a couple seasons to perfect but it sounds like you are on your way if its all going back to the next crop.

You have to be proud of that one.

Originally posted by salchanra
Also picked up my sheep and finished my loom.

How did you do the loom? A kit, from plans, from scratch? I'd love to hear more about it......been wanting one myself for a while.

reply to post by resistor


My Grandad would let the ears stay on the corn stalk to fully dry....when they got to the point that they were too hard to eat, he twisted the ear downward to keep rain from getting in till they were completely dry.

We usually grow Silver Queen, which is a hybrid......so we've never tried to save the seed. Last year we also planted a variety called 'Silver Princess'.

This spring we had some 'volunteers' come up from some of last year's leftovers that dried in the garden and survived the winter.....but it apparently reverted to one of it's 'parent' types. It was very short, had no ears and looked more like a type of 'broom' corn, with an odd, thick tassel....not something one could use, except maybe for silage....

So for saving seed corn, you need something you can 'trust'....

reply to post by frayed1


Check out this website. www.woolery.com...

This is the one I used.

A No-Lathe Saxony-style Spinning Wheel Construction Manual

Author: Richard and Myrna Schneider

With this booklet you can examine how to make a spinning wheel without having to use a lathe, something most small wood shops might not have. You can follow the plans or adapt them for your particular needs or skills.

Pictures and drawings throughout.

reply to post by Illahee


Thanks. I've got way more corn seed than I have room to plant, so I've separated the very best producers to try and improve the stock. The rest will be stored for use by others if TSHTF. From what I hear/read you have to have at least 200 plants to keep your corn stock genetically viable, so I'll be doubling my planting next year. Hard work was never so much fun.