March Prepping

It's March and I am not a happy camper, lol. We are supposed to be having the beginnings of spring, but we have had 3 days of snow and cold weather. It's supposed to snow again Wednesday too. I do not like cold weather, I do not like winter, lol.

One of my goals for the new year was to get rid of things that I do not need. So I have been cleaning out closets and sorting through things and selling things on our local Facebook online garage sale board. In January I made over $500, in February I made $200. I think it is awesome I have been getting rid of things I don't need, making room for things I do need AND making money.

I really do not have any prepping plans except to continue to do what I am doing. When it gets a bit warmer I will be buying and planting my fruit trees. Will continue to pick up any items that are on sale/bargains that type thing.

Penham, I am with you about the cleaning out! In the past 2 years I have cleaned out my family room level, my kitchen, living/dining room level. I did remodeling and that helps. I need to do my bedroom level and basement levels this summer. It feels great to get rid of unnecessary stuff.

I am getting my landscaping in my front and back yards done this summer and making stable areas for my wood holders. I will be able to hold 5 full cords of wood on my suburban small lot. I believe we may be getting colder and going into a mini ice age due to volcanoes and the sun being calmer.   I am going to get extra bricks for my fireplace insert just in case I need them.

Inventory is another thing I need to do.

Good idea but birds here eat strawberries off the plants...I know I had some plants and they were picked clean even when I covered them with netting. The squirrels got under the net and ate all of them. Now I have rabbits because we now have no foxes because of the coyotes!!!

I am trying to eliminate bushes and trees that drop fruit. I want to stay in my house as long as I can and not have tons of yard work.   You guys are starting out in life with your kids and husband. My husband is gone and my son will be on his own soon. I will have to maintain my house and yard on my own and I am in my mid 60's and I have lost much of my love of growing since my husband died. Things are just not the same.

I have let my garden go fallow last year and this year. It is covered with newsprint paper (no ink on it) and weed netting. I am trying to kill all the weeds especially bind weed...nasty stuff.

I am reducing my garden for the same reasons above, plus I don't use much of what I grow anymore. I have tons of dried tomatoes in my freezer along with lots of herbs.

I love the idea but have lost the will to do all the work necessary to have fruit dropping trees and bushes. I have two crabapple trees that have been frozen out the past two years. If the buds don't get frozen this spring I will make lots of crabapple jelly.

Thanks for the suggestion it is a good one.

KiwiMum, wine sounds good I will google it and I bet there is a way! I work at a school from August - May and at 65 I am pooped keeping up with the kids and all the stuff I run at the school. I may plant some bushes when I quit working but at this time no go.

I want to work until I can't...being home alone all day 365 is not my idea of fun. When I quit I will get into the garden more!

Yep start saving those used wine bottles...just have to clean them really well and sanitize. I will now clean them really well and save them. I am going to get some wine boxes from the liquor store to put them into and save.

FluMom- Our local home brew store carries wine supplies as well as beer brewing supplies. We recently purchased 100 corks (you can get real cork or plastic) and a bottle corker for under $50.00. You can also buy Hydrometers, bottle cleaning equipment and chemicals, filters and racking equipment. My wife makes a very pleasant pear wine and when we have enough strawberries she makes an excellent strawberry wine!

I've never added a JPG before so forgive me if this is messed up!

I finished my can rotation rack this weekend and hung it in my pantry. It loads from the top and feeds from the bottom. It holds close to 100 cans. I'll have to modify it a little because I had not realized that soup cans had gone from 14.5 ozs. to 10.5 ozs.

a few ideas

http://www.thrivelife.com/food-rotation-systems

I've got a couple of the Harvest models

go big or don't go at all 

I've seen that video on youtube, it is very thorough.

Airish, I love that dispenser. I'm going to look at putting one or two in my new pantry when we finish it. I struggle with rotation just by being lazy and grabbing the first tin I come to. This would definitely solve that issue.

Hi gang..Dont throw away your outdated can foods. I have read this many times that canned foods can last forever. There is a article somewhere on this website about this. .

jacksdad,I can add a little also. First of all of the fruits that I have had stored for very a long time have someway eaten or corroded through their cans and they were all empty from leaking out.But in another instance,I have some cans of treet that have been flooded several times in my basement. When my basement floods,it only floods 4" or 5",just enough to ruin everything setting on the floor. But I found a can of treet the other that had been through several floods and it was filthy and and I have no idea how old it was, I was going to throw it away,but I decided to open it first just to see how bad it stunk and what it looked like.I was very surprised.It was not rotten and it did not stink. My wife refused to eat it because she had seen the can,but me and my dog had treet sandwiches for supper that evening and the treet tasted as good as treet ever taste.Neither one of us got sick or died. So do not throw the treet away.Johnray1

Have you guys seen those instant meals that you can make up for yourself in advance in jars? All you do is add water to rehydrate. I've looked at a couple of American books online (probably on Amazon) all about those meals in jars. I love the idea. I particularly like the idea because you know exactly what's going into them. 

What does "spotty" mean, lol.  I'm taking notes people. 

Ok Thanks.

in any kind of SHTF situation

it all boils down to the basics first

food and water

Survival in Venezuela: The constant struggle of finding Food

http://ferfal.blogspot.com/2015/03/survival-in-venezuela-constant-struggle.html