Any Preppers Here?

[DeeAnna]

Okay so this might be a good thread to ask -- does anyone use Tattler canning lids? If so, what tips do you have for making the darn things seal reliably? I've canned for years with the normal "Ball" canning lids and almost never have seal failures, but I have a tough time getting the Tattlers to seal reliably. Very annoying to work for hours to prep and can produce and then have 2-3 seal failures. I'm missing something important, despite having read all I can about proper procedure. Grrrrrrrr.

 

[lenarenee]

Fresh mullein leaves are the best TP direct from nature. Buttonweed leaves are second best.

Mullein didn't grow around the seed-corn fields I detasseled in the summers when I was high school and college age. We had to make do with buttonweed.

TMI, yeah, I know. :mrgreen:

Oh my gosh...detasseling. I never did that...I cut corn outta beans instead and was thankful for that after watching the detasseling! Only thing worse than those jobs would be bucking bales....but only the guys could do that.

 

[dillsandwitch]

DH get annoyed with how much canned and dry goods I have in my pantry. I have things labeled and kept in their own sections of the pantry but apparently he can never find anything in there.... Id say I easily have 2-3 weeks of food in there for the 2 of us if needed. We also have a generator that is big enough to run a few lights, both the fridge and freezer, the fishtank pumps, Tv and PC and the gas pilot light if the power goes out. We have a big water tank so water wouldn't be an issue for a while. I wouldn't call myself a prepper but more being prepared for things that may happen (storms, floods etc.) doesn't hurt and we have had a few in the last few years that I'm glad we have the gennie for. The last big storm was a couple years ago but we had no power for 2 weeks. We were the only people in our street with lights and hot water

 

[Susie]

Both sides of my family were from south Louisiana. My mom's childhood home was taken in Hurricane Audrey, then the house that was built afterward was taken in Hurricane Rita. I sold that land after that. No more living south of I-10. But, that is why I am a stickler for having food and water on hand to last a couple of weeks. And every year at the beginning of hurricane season, you will find me rotating water supplies, batteries, and going through the pantry and making sure I have enough of everything. I still have that habit, even though it is probably not necessary where I live now. I don't think it is a bad habit, though. The Red Cross suggests everyone do that.

I just last year got married and moved into a city. Before that, I lived 22 miles from the nearest city. And we were absolutely the last people to get power. Even though the neighbors cleared roads WAY before anyone in the city even got started. I could truly hear the chainsaws going even as the last of the wind was still blowing.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

As a boy I had to detassle corn AND bale hay. It was like a whole different world. Heck, my high school football coach used to make us come clean his chicken coop. :mrgreen:

mx6inpenn, how do you plan on eating that wheat? I've considered getting some because it's so cheap, but flour mills are NOT cheap. Not at all. A Corona-type mill will get down to about farina size, but not to a size you can make bread with. I do have a bag of malted wheat (for brewing) that is much easier to crack and makes a delicious, self sweetened hot cereal, but hard wheat (or "soft" white) is still beyond me.

 

[mx5inpenn]

mx6inpenn, how do you plan on eating that wheat? I've considered getting some because it's so cheap, but flour mills are NOT cheap. Not at all. A Corona-type mill will get down to about farina size, but not to a size you can make bread with. I do have a bag of malted wheat (for brewing) that is much easier to crack and makes a delicious, self sweetened hot cereal, but hard wheat (or "soft" white) is still beyond me.

We have a flour mill. It's older but works like a champ. I can grind from coarse to very fine. I had a baking business for several years and my whole wheat bread was a favorite.
https://www.google.com/search?q=ble...d=0ahUKEwj3udXjqbfPAhWONx4KHbhaCTYQgjYI_wIwBw
We have a generator to power it and a hand grinder if worse comes to worst.

 

[Scooter]

We have a generator to power it and a hand grinder if worse comes to worst.

Can you recommend a good hand grinder?

Thanks!

--Scooter

 

[mx5inpenn]

Can you recommend a good hand grinder?

Thanks!

--Scooter

Sorry, I can't. The one we have is ancient. It was my grandmother's and doesn't even have a brand on it.

 

[mx5inpenn]

https://www.google.com/search?q=ble...d=0ahUKEwj3udXjqbfPAhWONx4KHbhaCTYQgjYI_wIwBw

I just noticed this link shows more than 1. Mine is the one with the stainless steel pan that's shown larger part way down the page.

 

[mx5inpenn]

I also grew up with one of these. My mom did not buy bread for maaaaanny years. I would bet I didn't eat bread that didn't get made with flour from a mill like this from ages 6-16.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Great-North...6660fde&pid=100005&rk=5&rkt=6&sd=152246472991

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Generally considered to be the best flour mill is the Diamante brand, but that costs about a Grand.

Check Lehman's store for all kinds of prepper slash traditional life sort of stuff. They have a whole section on grain mills.

 

[nsmar4211]

DeeAnna-my choices for TP would be oak leaves, pine needles, palmetto fronds, or rub butt on ground... no thanks! *hugs TP*

 

[TeresaT]

As a boy I had to detassle corn AND bale hay. It was like a whole different world. Heck, my high school football coach used to make us come clean his chicken coop. :mrgreen:

mx6inpenn, how do you plan on eating that wheat? I've considered getting some because it's so cheap, but flour mills are NOT cheap. Not at all. A Corona-type mill will get down to about farina size, but not to a size you can make bread with. I do have a bag of malted wheat (for brewing) that is much easier to crack and makes a delicious, self sweetened hot cereal, but hard wheat (or "soft" white) is still beyond me.

If you have a Kitchenaid stand mixer, there is a grain mill attachment that works great! I have one and it mills wheat to a super fine flour. It makes awesome nut, bean and rice flours, too. I really like mine. (BTW: I used it on the standard "Mormon" red wheat that I bought at the cannery in Knoxville, back when Knoxville had a cannery.)

https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=kitchenaid+grain+mill+attachment

 

[DeeAnna]

Many of the farmers around here grow oats for Quaker. Since Quaker Oats pays a premium for plump, clean "heavy" oats, the farmers specialize in high quality oats. I wanted so badly to hull and grind my own oats for us humans to eat (in addition to feeding oats to my horses), so I schlepped a bucket of oats from the barn to the house and started studying how to hull and grind oats. Imagine my disappointment to learn oats for home use need to be "naked" oats rather than the normal hulled oats that horses eat and Quaker buys. The hulls are next to impossible to remove without special equipment, so people have bred oat varieties that don't have hulls -- the naked varieties -- for homegrown use. I've wanted to grow a patch of naked oats in my garden to try them out. Until that happens, however, I'm stuck with oats from Bobs Red Mill and Quaker.

PS I also have a Kitchenaid grain mill. For small quantities, it works well. I bought it from a Mormon neighbor who had upgraded to a stand-alone mill. I was envious -- but I don't grind enough grains to justify the expense.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

FWIW, conventional wisdom on the KitchenAid mill is that it's good, but a hobby piece of equipment that's not up for everyday use long term. One of my online friends wore one out herself - in fact she wore the mixer itself out in about a year of daily heavy use grinding grain and meat.

 

[TeriDk]

I prepped for Y2K, champagne and extra water, which obviously wasn't needed so the water was used and the champagne sat until I got word that the manager from hell was leaving a few years later. Drank both bottles that night. Ever so sick the next day...but I was happy. If things go bad, real bad, not sure I'd want to survive.

 

[TeresaT]

FWIW, conventional wisdom on the KitchenAid mill is that it's good, but a hobby piece of equipment that's not up for everyday use long term. One of my online friends wore one out herself - in fact she wore the mixer itself out in about a year of daily heavy use grinding grain and meat.

Yeah, those Kitchenaids are not for everyday, heavy use. If you need frequent use, you need to get specialized equipment for the job. But then again, if you're grinding your own wheat every day, a good quality wheat grinder/flour mill is a worthwhile investment.

I've got friends that really live off of their food storage. Not only do they do the whole Mormon year's worth of food, but they actually incorporate that food storage in their daily lives. This way, if they ever need to eat just their food storage, it will not be a shock to their digestive systems and they'll already know how to cook with the stuff.

The biggest waste of time and money is having all of this stuff stockpiled and (1) not knowing how to use it (2) not liking any of the foods you have stockpiled and (3) discovering all of your food has lost its nutritional value or has spoiled. All of the dedication and faith is out the window if your kid starves herself to death because she despises lima beans and you've got 50 lbs of limas. Or your food storage has a shelf life of 5 years and you bought it 15 years ago. Yes, you can probably eat it (as long as it isn't rancid or spoiled). No, it probably won't taste good. Yes, it will fill your belly and keep you from starving. No, it will not provide you the adequate nutrition you need.

 

[azgirl]

Oh my gosh...detasseling. I never did that...I cut corn outta beans instead and was thankful for that after watching the detasseling! Only thing worse than those jobs would be bucking bales....but only the guys could do that.

Yes bucking hay bales is hard, I did that as a teenager we (bucked) and stacked them as high as a barn. It was amazing, I will look for a picture. Now these kids want safe space hehehe give them a hay bale