Tag Archives: food production

Food storage long term ideas

Quick ideas for long term food storage.

The question was asked —
What is the best kind of food to stock up that lasts for years?

Some folks would suggest freeze dried foods such – well you know the major brands and those ARE good to have some of BUT not when you are short of money and just starting out due to the expense.
Use what you store and store what you use.

Keep in mind that there IS a limit on how much you can store, after all YOU can not print money like national governments do. You will need to resupply at some point and be sustainable.

Better suggestions are : I’d raised turnips and different beans , corn, peas and carrots in a garden . anything else that you need to be free of having to go to a store. this is what my parents lived in the depression they had hogs to kill in the late fall. they had a smokehouse to do the hogs in.
OR
whole wheat berries NOT flour, white rice, pasta, salt, white sugar, beans of all kinds, popcorn, whole field corn…. all of this stores for years in 2L coke bottles along with water.. spices….. AND … live traps to get breading stock. rat traps for right away eating. PS learn how to save seeds wild craft / guerrilla or covert gardening. and fruit trees

cross ref http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/water-treatment-hypochlorite/

www.preparesurvivethrive.us/general-preps/

http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/ready-or-not-things-will-happen/  This is book 1 the quick start guide to preparedness.

http://www.preparesurvivethrive.us/count-down/

We would like to hear YOUR thoughts in the comments section below.

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Food Formula

FORMULA FOR PUTTING TOGETHER 72-HOUR FOOD SUPPLY

Number of days packing for [3-6-14 days,3-6-12 months]
X Number of meals per day [at least 2-3 sort term and at least 3 for longer term – at least 2,500 cal a day and most likely you will still lose weight]= Supply

Supply X Number of family or team members
= TOTAL FOOD SUPPLY NEEDED for the given time span.

As a general rule it is best to eat prior to grocery shopping so that you do no impulse buy extra stuff. On the other hand when planning your food storage or packing your evac kits it is best to be on the hungry side as historically people tend to under plan food needs. Perhaps this would be a good project for fast Sunday.

As you can see this formula could be extended out very far.

Points to ponder: dry goods store better and longer than wet pack does. Dry goods survive temperature changes better than wet pack does and especialy if the temps drop to or below freezing.

Sprouts

When you hear the words “bean sprouts”, what picture comes to mind?  If it is the white bean sprout you buy at the store to use in Chinese or Japanese cooking, that is normal, as it is all that most of us have seen. These white sprouts are made from the Mung bean and are grown in darkness. But all bean sprouts are not created equal. You can have yellow or green sprouts depending on the bean or pea that you use and how much sunlight you expose the sprouts to. You can sprout all kinds of dry beans such as pinto, black, kidney and navy.  You can also use peas such as black-eyed peas or the green English peas, grains such as alfalfa, wheat and sunflower seeds. Mustard, Radish, Almonds also make good sprouts.  Bean sprouts are a food rich in amino acids (proteins), vitamins and minerals, and fiber.  The vitamins that are in bean sprouts are all types (A, B, C, D, E, and K). Folic acid along with minerals iron, potassium, copper, selenium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc. Sprouts, being alive have needed enzymes too. I bring up bean sprouts because with long term food storage you may not get the required vitamins you need, but when you add the bean sprouts to your diet it makes your diet more complete and nutritious than without them. Have you ever heard of scurvy? It is what the sailors use to get when they were out on the ships for months or a year at a time. By 10 weeks their stores of Vitamin C in their bodies had been depleted and they would start showing signs of scurvy. They did not have fresh fruits or veggies and had never heard of sprouting. By 10 weeks all of the fresh fruits and veggies would either be eaten or moldy. And scurvy was a fatal disease.  As time progressed the sailors did learn about citrus fruit juices and started stocking that which helped treat scurvy. The English often stocked lime juice and from that we get the term ‘limeys’.

Bean sprouts have a crunchy texture and a nutty flavor.  They can be put in salads, on sandwiches, in soups and in stir fry or you can add them to breads. For best results eat the sprouts raw.

This will add freshness to your food storage and variety to your meals, plus many of the all necessary vitamins you need.

It takes about 1 week to sprout beans to the size that you will want to use.  But then they need to be eaten rather quickly to avoid mold.  So it is best that you grow in small portions and start at various times in rotation.  You have to have a bottle or a tray that is just started and then in 3 days start another and in 3 more days start another.  By the time you start the 3rd tray the first should be eaten. Plan on using about 1 to 2 ounces dry weight per day per person, start with less and see how well they get consumed.

Sprouting trays and jars can be bought as a special purpose item. Or you can re-purpose items. What you are looking for is a container which will hold water [and the seeds] to soak them at the beginning AND such that you can drain the water out, reserving the sprouts along with letting air circulate too. Do not discard the sprout water! Instead use it to water your plants or for use in soups and stews OR as the basis for drinks.

guerilla gardener in South Central LA

Hopefully this video will be contagious and spread like  a pandemic…… There is no good reason for the hunger here in America. While we are about this, let us not forget all the wild food that grows—like dandelions, milkweed, purslane to name but a few.
BTW you can contact your local County Extension Agent at the court house, to find out about the Master Gardener program- in Cheyenne area that would be Catherine Wisner- JJ and I have had her classes before and I can not think of anyone who does a better job. If you are or will be traveling near Denver CO you can contact Kate Armstrong of www.WhatGrandmotherKnew.com for information on wild edible plants. AND you may consider this a personal recommendation for both of these ladies.
Guerilla gardening is the practice of growing food stuff in un-conventional ways or locations such as what is depicted in the video. This is of course from a modern civilized standpoint. Down through the ages this was actually the normal way of doing things. An example would be the American
Indians even as late as the 1970’s
Your kids and grandkids would benefit greatly from learning this sort of thing— and so will you.

Please comment in the comment section so that everyone can learn. To start a new topic you could use the contact us form on our main page at www.PrepareSurviveThrive.US or send an e-mail to Office@PrepareSurviveThrive.US