items helpful for long-term food storage

Today's post is the seventh in the prepping series. The first post outlined the five inexpensive and versatile foods to stock first, the second post gave some tips on how to ensure easy access to fresh fruits and veggies during a crisis, the third discussed how to navigate power interruptions, the fourth got you geared up for gardening and foraging with resilience, the fifth listed out the essential items to pack in a go bag, and the sixth posed some additional foods to consider layering into your long term pantry. 

I had promised to go into more detail on long-term food storage, and today is that day!

As, I mentioned in the first post, the amount you decide to store of each type of food is a personal preference based on your needs and what types of things you are prepping for (and their severity). You may not even be "prepping" for anything at all. You may just desire to have on hand items you use regularly in daily life. And, want some tips on how to store them. All of those reasons are valid.

Listed below are the items I use when storing foods long-term:

- Food safe buckets - 2 gallon and 5 gallon

- Mason jars - pint, quart, and half gallon

- Oxygen absorbers - 300cc and 2,000cc

- Food Saver mason jar lids

- Brake bleeder 

- Bay leaves

- Food grade diatomaceous earth 

- Funnel

- Scoop

- Tape or labels

- Permanent marker

Oxygen is the main factor that will lead food to spoil more quickly. So, using storage containers that are a suitable size for what you are storing is important. Having multiple sizes of mason jars and food safe buckets allows you to pick the right size of what you're trying to store.

Food safe buckets are great for storing items that you've purchased in large quantities. A five gallon size is typically used for items that store for long periods of time and you use regularly, such as sugar, beans, and oats. Two gallon is another common size, which can be used for items that maybe you don't keep quite as much on hand of since they don't last as long, such as pasta. These buckets will typically run you about $7 each. And, many preppers suggest purchasing a gamma lid for each of your buckets, which would run you another $7. However....what if I told you instead of $14 for the bucket and lid, you could get both for $1?? It's true. Stop at the Walmart bakery counter and ask the team member if they have any frosting buckets. They get asked this a lot so I assure you they will not be confused by the question. Depending on how many cakes they have made, and how many other people have asked for buckets that day, will impact how many buckets they will be able to give you - sometimes they may have ten for you, other times only one. They have both two gallon and five gallon sizes, each being just $1 each for both the bucket and the lid. If they bring over any buckets with orange lids, refuse those as they do not have good seals. But, the typical white bucket and lid with a Brill frosting label are excellent quality and have amazing seals on the lids so no need to purchase a gamma lid. You can open and close these buckets over and over and the seal will remain strong. The buckets appear fairly clean. So, I assume Walmart washes them out. However, you'll still want to give them a good wash with a clean dishrag and dish soap when you get home, paying special attention to make sure no frosting has gotten stuck in the seal on the lid. If it has, use a butter knife draped with your dishrag to gently slide along the seal to dislodge and clean out any residual frosting. Make sure the buckets are fully dry before filling with food. You may also choose to do a quick wipe of the buckets with white vinegar to further disinfect them, if you so choose.

 

I'll go into more detail in a future post with some common foods and how to store them. But, to give you a bit of high level information here - a few dried bay leaves can be set on top of your buckets (in the case of white sugar I also sprinkle a few on top of the sugar in the bucket) and foods that you will wash before using, such as dried beans, you can layer food grade diatomaceous earth with the beans. Both of these actions will deter pests. Some foods will benefit from food grade oxygen absorbers placed in the buckets - again I will have more information on this in a future post.

While you can open and close your buckets as needed to withdraw food. I like to also keep a mason jar in my kitchen cupboard with what I have in my buckets for easier access. When the mason jar is empty, I refill it from the bucket. There are many foods I don't keep in buckets at all. Instead, they are solely stored in mason jars. This is either because they are foods I keep in smaller quantities than is needed for a bucket. Or, they are foods that are severely impacted by oxygen, like dried mushrooms and dehydrated vegetable powders. So, I keep them in a mason jar, which I remove all the oxygen from.

As far as mason jars, three different sizes are handy to have - pint, quart, and half gallon. A half gallon size is typically what I use to hold what I also have in five gallon buckets. And, I also use a half gallon size for foods such as brown rice, specialty beans like French lentils, and milk powder, that I have higher quantities of yet I don't keep any in buckets. A quart size is great for foods I keep less of such as basmati rice and dehydrated vegetable powders. A pint size is great for spices and baking soda/powder. 

Since what I have in mason jars is smaller quantities and/or I'll be using it quickly, in most cases I don't remove the oxygen from the jars or take any other actions to store them - I simple put the lid and band on that came with jar and place it inside the cupboard. However, there are some items where removing the oxygen can extend their life - dried/dehydrated foods, arrowroot powder, vital wheat gluten, peanut flour, etc. For these items, I remove the oxygen using a jar sealer and a brake bleeder pump. Jar sealers are sold in two sizes to fit regular mouth mason jars and wide mouth mason jars. The brand I have is Food Saver. The price is steep at $42.99 (at the time of this post) for one each of the regular and wide sizes. The Food Saver brand has been around for a long time, so you can find them plentiful on eBay. The ones I got were only about $10 on Ebay. If you have an electric vacuum sealer machine, you may be able to hook the hose up to these lids to remove the air. I do not have a vacuum sealer machine, so I ordered a hand held vacuum pump brake bleeder kit. These run about $25 and are exactly the type of tool a car mechanic would use to fix your brakes. Out of the kit, you just use the nozzle size that fits in the hole on top of your Food Saver lids, one of the hoses, and the hand held pump. I was lucky enough to get a hose with the Food Saver lids I got on eBay. If you do as well, don't throw it out as it will most likely work a tad better than the nozzle and hose you get with your brake bleeder kit (it allows for a stronger connection and you don't have to exert so much pressure with your hand to pump air through). I will do an in depth tutorial on this. In the meantime, there are many YouTube videos that can guide you as well. If you don't want to invest in these lids and hand held pump, you can use food safe oxygen absorbers instead. Oxygen absorbers are also great to use for powders as those do not seal as well as foods with volume to them when pulling the oxygen out.

For both buckets and mason jars, I write the type of food on a piece of washi tape with a permanent marker. You can write on masking tape or duct tape instead, or write directly on the bucket or the mason jar lid. Sometimes, I often also write additional notes such as the expiration date and how much a serving size is (this is particularly helpful for powders I add into my smoothies).

A funnel and a large scoop are helpful for transferring foods in and out of your buckets or mason jars.

 

I've reiterated in this prepping series that I do not utilize advanced storage methods such as mylar bags. However, certainly investigate those if you're interested in trying them out. Additionally, use this as a guide. It is what has worked for me. The amount of food you are storing, the types of food, the quality of food at the time you received it, the storage conditions you have, as well as many other factors will affect how well your food stores and for how long. So, do additional research on your own that align with your needs and storage conditions.

Be on the lookout in future posts for a list of common foods with how long they store and my preferred storage method for each, as well as more details on how to use the Food Saver lids and brake bleeder pump.

layering additional foods into your long-term pantry

Today's post is the sixth in the prepping series. The first post outlined the five inexpensive and versatile foods to stock first, the second post gave some tips on how to ensure easy access to fresh fruits and veggies during a crisis, the third discussed how to navigate power interruptions, the fourth got you geared up for gardening and foraging with resilience, and the fifth listed out the essential items to pack in a go bag.

This post will discuss some additional foods you may want to layer into your long term pantry, but in a smaller amount than the five staple foods. These would be foods you frequently eat. So, you would purchase just a little bit more than normal. And, as you cook on a regular basis, you would pull from your long-term pantry, continuing to replenish back what you use.

Oats - In addition to making oatmeal, oats can be turned into oat milk if regular milk isn't available and can be ground into flour to be used in baking overall, and making crackers.

Pasta - A non-whole wheat elbow macaroni might be a good primary type (pasta without wheat will last longer) and potentially a smaller amount of egg noodles to be made into comforting chicken noodle soup and lasagna noodles for something hearty. 

Beans - Black beans and garbanzo beans were already part of the five essential foods to stock first. Consider expanding to other beans as well in smaller quantities, such as lentils, chili beans, and a bean mix.

Rice - Brown rice doesn't last as long as other types, yet still a good option. Furthermore, white, basmati, wild rice, and quinoa (technically a seed, not a rice) offer heterogeneity.

Tofu and tofu alternatives - Shelf stable tofu lasts six months to a year in a dark pantry, textured vegetable protein one to two years in a pantry, and tempeh six months in the freezer. These are great meat alternatives in tacos, sloppy joe's, and chili. Vital wheat gluten, another great protein, lasts six months in a pantry and even up to ten years if not opened, or stored properly after opened. It can be made into seitan, a really delicious faux chicken.

Canned meat/fish - Chicken, tuna, salmon, kipper snacks, and jackfruit (factually a fruit, but used as a faux chicken) all last for a long time.

Canned vegetables - Despite having dried beans and dehydrated potato flakes on hand, it is wise to have canned goods on hand as well. If there is no water to rehydrate dried and dehydrated foods, you will want the ability to open a can of vegetables to serve instead, besides having the option of eating cold if needed. Diversity in the state of the food in your long-term pantry is key in order to be covered in any type of emergency. Canned beans, corn, carrots, and even pumpkin and sweet potato puree's are great options. 

Canned fruits - Similar to the reason that canned vegetables are good addition to your long-term pantry, canned fruits are great to have at the ready. Fresh fruit may not be an option during the Winter and frozen fruit may go bad if lengthy power outages occur. So, canned fruit will be a necessary back-up. Keep not only canned pineapple, pears, peaches, and fruit cocktail, but also jarred applesauce. Dried berries are also a nice addition.

Canned tomatoes - The easiest is to purchase all the variations - chunk, whole, paste, sauce (pasta and pizza), all both plain and seasoned. However, if limited on space or need, you could just purchase plain canned whole tomatoes and turn those into all of these other versions. Dehydrated tomato powder also can be made into sauces and pastes, the thickness depending on how much water you add.

Broths - Cartoned vegetable, chicken, and beef broths are handy to have on hand. Dehydrated vegetable powder can also be mixed with water as a stand in. Or, make your own from discarded vegetable pieces after cooking other meals. Faux chicken and beef broths can be made by mixing herbs from your spice cupboard with water (I'll share recipes for these at some point). 

Salt - Don't purchase a twenty-five pound bag of this, just ensure you have enough in your spice cupboard to make bread frequently and use for seasoning other foods.

Spices - Audit what you have on hand and replenish if needed. Spices could be something that are in short supply if trans-Atlanta trade is disrupted. 

Other baking/cooking ingredients - Check the rest of your spice cupboard as well to certify you have enough on hand of baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, arrowroot powder, yeast, oils, vanilla extract, and vinegar (ideally, both white and apple cider). When exacting how much you'd like to keep on hand, ponder what you might also make from some of these ingredients, necessitating keeping a little higher quantities - cornstarch can be mixed with white sugar to make powdered sugar, it also can be mixed with all purpose flour to make cake flour, white vinegar can be mixed with milk to make buttermilk and cottage cheese, etc. 

Liquid sweeteners - White sugar was part of the five essential items to stock and maple syrup and honey were suggested as liquid sweeteners to source from someone in your local area. You might also assess whether you'd like to keep on hand molasses, sorghum, and/or corn syrup. Molasses, for example, can be mixed with white sugar to make brown sugar when needed. 

Nuts - These will need to be kept in the freezer so they don't go rancid if you don't work through them quickly enough. However, are still a great component to a long-term pantry since they are a protein and can be eaten whole as well as made into flours, milks, and butters. 

Condiments - Keep extra of your favorites on hand, if desired (pickles, dressing, mayonnaise, mustard).

Coffee - If you're a coffee drinker, I would keep more in stock than the above foods. On average, coffee has gone up 20-40% between 2024 and the end of 2025, although the coffee I was previously buying went up higher than the average to 66% more in this time period. There are multiple pressures on the coffee trade the past few years, including environmental, labor shortages, and tariffs. It is possible at some point in our future, if issues aren't addressed, we will be priced out of being able to routinely enjoy coffee. I stocked up on coffee in January 2025, proceeding to replenish my stock as the prices have continued to increase over the past year. Think about starting to making a habit of coffee alternatives such as mushroom or dandelion coffee or caffeinated teas.  

Chocolate - Facing similar pressures to coffee, chocolate has increased in price 200% in the last ten years. I've noticed the bags on the shelf have gotten smaller and smaller and the prices higher and higher, to a point where I have actually not bought chocolate on certain occasions because I couldn't justify it. Growing up, my mom frequently baked with carob, so I have added both carob powder and carob chips to my pantry and have been testing out different recipes to get accustomed to it again. Carob certainly has a distinctive taste, one that can't necessarily be compared to chocolate as a one to one. Yet, it is a delicious option for sweet treats that can start to stand in for chocolate in an increased way. 

In building your long-term pantry, be mindful of how long things last. You don't want to overstock an amount of food you will not be able to work through. Peanut butter, for instance, is recommended by preppers as key to stock up on. However, many are surprised of its short shelf life. As with any nut based product, it has a lot of oils that can turn rancid. I will say most things last much longer than companies outline. Yet, something to still keep top of mind. Additionally, note that not all freeze dried and dehydrated food lasts twenty-five years. Only those specially prepared and packaged in a particular way will last that long, and therefore comes with a high price tag. Restrain yourself from buying large quantities of freeze dried or dehydrated food that is much cheaper, thinking you're getting a fantastic deal, without checking on the storage life of these items first. 

Besides food stock levels, assess the inventory of either essential household items, potentially including:

- first aid and medicine

- face and body wash/bar soap

- lotion

- laundry/dishwasher detergent

- hand soap

- cleaning supplies

- toilet paper

- facial tissues

Can you think of anything else to add to this list? 

essential items to pack in a go bag

Today's post is the fifth in the prepping series. The first post outlined the five inexpensive and versatile foods to stock first, the second post gave some tips on how to ensure easy access to fresh fruits and veggies during a crisis, the third discussed how to navigate power interruptions, and the fourth got you geared up for gardening and foraging with resilience. 

This post will be a short one listing out what to put in a "go bag." Living in Minnesota, I am used to creating a similar type bag to keep in my car over the Winter months in case my car slides off the road into the ditch or my car dies. It contains a blanket, hand warmers, granola bars, etc. to keep me warm and fed until being rescued. Luckily, I have never needed it, but it's a comfort to have prepared just in case. 

A "go bag" is very similar. It's simply a pre-packed bag (any bag will do, but a backpack would be easier to travel with) containing items that you would need to quickly evacuate for approximately three days. 

Where you plan to go for three days influences what you ought to pack in your bag. If you plan to go to a friend's remote cabin, you would possibly just need supplies to sustain you until you got there. If you needed to walk to Canada or planned to stick it out deep in the woods for a few days near your home, you might need more intense cooking and camping supplies. No matter where you are going, you should pack important documents. 

A list of items to get you thinking about what you might need:

- Change of clothes, including multiple pairs of socks

- Toothbrush and toothpaste

- Eyeglasses, if needed

- Medication, if needed

- First aid and hygiene - wet wipes, hand sanitizer, feminine needs, toilet paper

- Water carrier and travel water purifier

- Food

- Flashlight with batteries

- Knife and/or multi-purpose tool

- Fire starter

- Tent and blanket, if possible

- Phone and/or meshtastic device

- Powered charging bank for your phone

- Cash, ATM card, and credit cards

- Important documents - passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate, passwords, immunization cards

- Laminated list of important phone numbers 

- State map (you can get one for free usually at any rest stop)

- Don't forget your pets - dog food, treats, water bowl, water, harness, leash

Determine what from this list is important for your specific needs. Add or delete items as needed. If you're able to start working in a pair of hiking boots, it might be beneficial. If it's during the Winter months, you will also need hats/gloves, heat blanket, hand warmers, etc. If it's during the Summer, you may need to ensure you have adequate water, sunglasses, rain gear, and neck gaiter.

If you are able to get out of dodge with your car, gas is still flowing, and you have time to pack your car, make a list of items you would throw in. Maybe:

- Car phone charger

- Plug-in cooler

- Pots, dinnerware, and utensils

- Additional food

- Blankets, pillows, sleeping bags

- Tarp and/or tent

- More clothes

- Atlas

- Extra gas

Share your plan with friends and family so they are in the loop. 

gardening and foraging for resilience

If you want to level up your prepping just a bit more, this post is for you. It is the fourth in the series. The first post outlined the five inexpensive and versatile foods to stock first, the second post gave some tips on how to ensure easy access to fresh fruits and veggies during a crisis, and the third discussed how to navigate power interruptions.

In this post, let's talk about gardening. I don't think having a garden is necessary. However, if you have the space, why not try growing a few things? It's fun, and studies have even show it's good for our mental health! 

Gardening does not have to be expensive like corporations and influencers would have you believe. Seeds are very inexpensive (and can be saved and traded with friends making them entirely free), seed starting can be done in used food cartons and containers (no new plastic tray needed), raised beds can be made by simply hilling dirt, and dirt can be amended with chopping and dropping weeds and grass clippings and adding in food scraps and leaves. The only expense you may have if you can't salvage fencing materials, is in buying t-posts and welded wire fencing. Also, you may want to buy grow lights. However, you don't have to. I choose to primarily only plant foods that will grow in my short season direct sowed, not wanting to deal with the time and expense of starting seeds indoors.

When creating a plan for your garden beds, take a look at Square Foot Gardening, created by Mel Bartholomew. It gained popularity in 1981, with the release of a book by the same name. The premise of the method is to divide your garden bed into one foot squares versus rows. In each square block, you plant one type of seed in a quantity that will fill the entire square, sometimes with a companion plant(s) as well. Utilizing the space so effectively allows plants to be shaded by others (with proper planning of what to plant where) and deters weed growth since so little soil is left bare. This conserves water and time weeding. Digging into his method also makes you realize how much people over plant compared to their needs, thereby creating extra work for themselves growing food they most likely will just have to give away or leave to rot. For example, this is how much can be grown in two months in just one 4x4 foot area!...

32 carrots, 12 bunches of leaf lettuce, 18 bunches of spinach, 16 radishes, 16 scallions, 16 beets, 9 Japanese turnips, 5 pounds of peas, 1 head of cabbage, 4 heads of romaine lettuce, 1 head of cauliflower, and 1 head of broccoli. 

You can plant whatever you want, this is just an example of production levels to show what a very small space can churn out. As plants reach maturity and you pick their harvest, you can plant again in that square foot, either the same plant to get a second harvest, or switch to a different type - maybe a cold season Fall variety depending on the timing.

Many people have shrubs or perennials in front and/or around the perimeter of their house. If you do as well, consider adding in plants that can be both pretty and be made into a salad, brewed into a tea, or added to soups (mint, sorrel, daylilies, alliums, walking onions, jerusalem artichoke, lovage, rhubarb, hostas, and herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, and dill to name a few). Some of them may be nibbled on by hungry deer, rabbits, and chipmunks. However, many of these plants are deterrents to these animals, so working in harmony your harvest should still be fruitful.  

Don't forget that even "pesky" dandelions and other "weeds" are actually super nutritious! Ensure you are not picking from any areas where there has been harmful chemicals applied (or runoff from chemicals). Assuming that is not the case, it can be pleasurable to create something tasty out of plants that would otherwise cause stress. 

 

If you have the space, creating a food forest could be a very abundant and interesting way to add fruit trees and bushes into your backyard. 

As you switch out plants and add plants to your landscape, invest in ones that are drought tolerant, which you will appreciate in the years ahead. Learn natural fertilizer and composting techniques - I've been really wanting to learn bokashi, a Japanese way of fermenting food waste to use for compost. And, take a foraging class. All of these will make you more resilient and flexible for whatever is thrown your way.

 

navigating power, water, and communication outages

This is the third post in a series on prepping should you feel so inclined to do so for the present situation, or for future potential interruptions. The first post outlined the five inexpensive and versatile foods to stock first and the second post gave some tips on how to ensure easy access to fresh fruits and veggies during a crisis. 

In this third post, I will discuss how to navigate power interruptions, whether they come about from natural or man-made reasons. 

Many preppers recommend a generator. I do not. If you get one that connects directly to the natural gas line in your house, I would be more open to it. The portable generators that have been really heavily marketed the past few years, I would not suggest. They are very expensive, require maintenance every three months or so to keep the battery in a good state (minimal maintenance, but still one more thing to remember while keeping up a house), and they would be limited during any sort of long-term power outage. If you have made it this far without needing one for a short-term power outage, you probably don't need one now. For a long-term power outage, eventually it's going to be difficult to charge a portable generator. They require purchasing extension batteries (raising the cost even higher), utilizing solar panels (again most likely an additional expensive on top of the already expensive unit and somewhere like where I am in Minnesota the sun would not be sufficient), or being plugged into your car for two hours (gas is going to be in short supply if we are actually in a long term crisis so this is probably not going to be feasible to do for any length of time). When considering whether to buy a portable generator, think about how many times you anticipate needing to use the unit. Both the core battery and the extension batteries last ten years or less. Comparing the cost of the unit and any extension battery packs and solar attachments you might buy, is that upfront cost worth using the unit one time in ten years, two times, five times? Once the battery does go out, you guessed it...another expense. And, surprisingly (or maybe not surprising based on the frustrating regularity of planned obsolescence), some models do not have core batteries that can be replaced at all. So, after ten years you're either stuck starting over buying an entire new unit and all of the accessories. Or, in some cases, if it's an option for that particular model, paying a technician to switch the battery out with a newly bought battery.

So, you are better off focusing your efforts on learning how to navigate life without being able to use power. Sounds scary, and a little uncomfortable. But, if you practice your skills and go into a situation prepared for it, it will be a lot less so. 

Heating and cooling a home without power is probably the issue most people would be thinking about solving initially. I can't help you with cooling your house, other than suggesting opening the windows and getting a good cross breeze ;) Heating a home without power is a little bit easier to solve, in most cases. If you have a fireplace, practice building a fire that lets off the maximum amount of heat. I have contacted a company that services chimney's so they can show me how to use the wood burning fireplace insert in the basement and am chopping and stacking firewood as trees fall so that firewood will be "seasoned" and ready to use. If you don't have a fireplace, there are many DIY videos out there to give you some ideas for creating spaces heaters, some elaborate and others using even just candles.

Cooking will be a labor of love if there are extended power outages. It will take much longer and most likely require tending a fire. So, get familiar with how to cook over an open fire and maybe grab a fondue pot if you see one at a thrift store that you can use to cook some things in when you're indoors. Instead of buying gadgets like solar ovens, which again rely on strong solar rays, you might consider investing in a butane camping stove. Ultimately though, the best option is probably to be amping up your skills in fire building and getting used to cooking recipes over the open fire. Fire wood is plentiful and while you can buy grates and tripods to expand your campfire setup, much of what you need you can just scrounge around your house and garage for. You can even bake bread and desserts over a fire!

 

Charging a phone would be viable for short periods using power banks or plugging it into a car charger. Long term, or if the communication network completely went down, phones would be useless. Consider getting up to speed on the meshtastic network for communicating. The units are powered by just small batteries and don't utilize any sort of cell network to operate.  

Related to the above, if communication goes down, radio communication will also be important. Many people race to get crank radios. In my research, I found the majority of them to not be so beneficial. It takes a lot of hand cranking to get limited power. The hand cranks on them do not look sturdy enough to  last through prolonged use. And, cranking every half hour is not what you'll want to be doing while you're trying to juggle all the other tasks like finding water and cooking food over a fire. Instead, I bought a vintage 80's alarm clock radio from a thrift store for $1.50, which can be run on batteries if power is out. 

Most likely, we would adjust to doing our daily activities during daylight. Yet, I did purchase an Energizer lantern. The handle will make it easy to carry outside if needed. 

Many people aren't aware that even if they have a well they will not have water if there is no power. You could consider having a well drilled that has a hand pump. More realistically, though, purchase an inexpensive water filter or a more expensive countertop version for drinking and cooking. Keep your eye out while thrifting or garage saling for one of those orange sports jugs with spigot, which would be useful for hand washing. And, think about getting two five gallon bucket toilets with pine pet bedding. You can also buy just the seats to pair with your own five gallon buckets. 

Hope this gave you some further direction on your prepping journey. Stay tuned for upcoming posts food storage, optional sustenance and supplies to layer on, gardening, foraging, and even some simple recipes to have handy in your toolkit!

ensuring easy access to fresh fruits and veggies during a crisis

This is the second post in my series on prepping. If you're just jumping in, see my prior post on the 5 inexpensive and versatile foods to stock first.

Once you've got the five most important foods stocked, you might decide that is sufficient for your anticipated needs, which is absolutely fine - these decisions are ones we all need to make based on our own criteria and priorities. If you do want to round out the assortment in your long-term pantry to further expand the foods you can make and ensure you are covering dietary needs, read on for next steps.

This next phase is really quite easy, and actions I'm sure you'll find helpful in your daily routine, not just during a period of uncertainty. It involves connecting with your community to find sources for fresh items and learning to grow a few things inside your house - not a garden and nothing that takes up more than a few inches of space, perfect for even small apartments!

Connect with people in your community to find a source for honey/maple syrup, eggs, meat, and fresh veggies and fruits. If you live in the country, typically you will see plentiful signs along the road advertising these items. Or, you can investigate to see if some local farms offer them. If you live in the city (and in the country too), look to join a CSA (community support agriculture). A quick search online will provide many websites listing active CSA's in your area or state, your neighborhood food co-op will likely have a board posting these, or check at your local farmers market. Farmers markets, in general, depending on how big they are, may provide everything you need. Fruit may be impacted by both weather and availability workers to pick them. So, check out berry picking farms near you. Many sell the berries as well if you can't, or don't want to, pick them yourself. Scouting these out ahead of a crisis, getting familiar with how they work, and incorporating them into your life will put you more at ease when the time comes where supply disruptions or shortages forces the necessity of these alternative means of getting fresh vegetables, fruits, and eggs/meat. The last few Summers, I have been visiting a farm two miles away from me that sells fresh vegetables, honey, maple syrup, jams, meat, eggs, strawberries, and blueberries. I passed their sign by the road for many years without paying any mind to what it was advertising. So, it pays to be on the lookout as they have been a fantastic resource since then! Two neighbors within walking distance from me also sell eggs, both duck and chicken, that I can get year-round. And, by visiting farmers markets, I have scouted out sources for honey, maple syrup, and fresh and dried mushrooms, all who deliver. 

 

 

The second suggestion I have for getting fresh veggies into your diet during supply chain or production disruptions, is to learn how to sprout. Anyone is able to do this on a kitchen counter with only a few inches of space - no grow lights or space for pots needed. If interruption to your daily life goes on for a significant amount of time, you will be craving fresh veggies. Sprouting provides that, and a lot of nutrition as well! The basic method of sprouting is to soak seeds in water for a number of hours and then rinse and tip upside down the mason jar with your seeds in it so it can drain. It takes just minutes out of each day to rinse and drain, and after just a few days you are rewarded with a jarful of fresh sprouts. A lot of people are familiar with the stringy sprouts most often offered at the grocery store. That is just one type. There are close to fifty types! Sprouted peas taste just like eating fresh peas from your garden and sprouted wheat can be turned into bread, just to name a few types! You need specific seeds for sprouting. These sprouting seeds are just like the seeds you plant, however, they have been tested for high germination rates and have been stored appropriately to suppress any mold. Sprout People is my favorite source for seeds. They are so passionate about sprouting, have built a solid network of seed suppliers ensuring quality, and provide detailed information on each page of their website to guarantee you are successful in getting your seeds to sprout to their full potential. They also have a range of mixes I have never seen offered anywhere else - a great way to take in a variety of nutrients and vitamins, rather than just eating one type of sprout at a time. Also, visit their Substack page, which has an immense archive of information. True Leaf Market is another great source. They stock the largest range of seeds I have seen and the quality has also been great every time I have ordered. While you're on their site, take a look at their stainless steel wide mouth sprouting lids as well. You'll typically be using a quart size mason jar to sprout, which you probably already have on hand (just make sure it is really clean to deter mold growth). And, you'll also need some sort of mesh lid for the jar, which allows water to slowly drain out in between your rinses. Buying the special stainless steel sprouting lids works well. Or, you can retrofit your own mason jar rings - cut circles to fit inside the ring out of window screen, fine hardware cloth, or plastic canvas (used for needlecraft). Or, place a double or triple layer of cheesecloth or muslin over the top of the jar and secure with the mason jar ring or a rubber band. I tip my jars upside down on a wood rack my dad made for me, but you can just set a bowl in a corner of your kitchen, leaning the mason jar against the wall/cupboard so it is tipped slightly and can drain into the bowl. No need to buy a special stand unless you want to. I will create a post specifically on sprouting, but I hope that gets you more familiar with the fun and ease of sprouting!

If you have a large South facing window in your apartment or house, you may be able to grow a medley of things successfully without any grow lights, heat mats, or humidity tents. Deep in Winter here in Minnesota, I have been able to grow a variety of lettuce, romaine, and corn mache as well as green onions. Additionally, I am testing out growing potatoes, red onions, garlic, and compact peas and peppers by this window, so I will keep you updated on how those progress!

What do you think about this phase? Do you think this sounds doable? And, even a little fun?!

the 5 inexpensive and versatile foods to stock first if you want to start prepping

Thinking about doing a little prepping? There is a lot of information out there! Everyone seems to have an opinion on it. In one aspect, it's good to read these differing view points and then come to your own conclusion about what will be right for you. However, all of the varying thoughts can also make it extremely overwhelming to decide which direction to head. 

Here, I will lay out the only five foods you need to get you started. No expensive generators, power banks, or solar ovens needed. Just some staple foods that will transform into so many versatile and varying meals. 

The five staple foods I suggest you focus on:

1) Flour - all purpose flour and bread flour

2) Whole milk powder

3) White sugar

4) Potato flakes

5) Beans - black beans and garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

With the above five items, you can make an astounding amount of diversified foods...

- All purpose flour and bread flour will provide fresh baked bread, sweet treats, pie crusts, pancakes, and thickeners for sauces. 

- Yes, with whole milk powder you will of course always have milk on hand by mixing it with water. But, you can also easily make it into yogurt, butter, cottage cheese, ice cream, buttermilk, sour cream, cream cheese and so much more using just a small amount of a few other ingredients you'll most likely already have in your cupboard.

- When properly stored away from humidity, white sugar can last indefinitely. Naturally, it can be used in baked goods "as is," but if you add corn starch you now have powdered sugar and if you add molasses you now have brown sugar. 

- Potato flakes provide a comforting food option that supplies high calories when food is scarce. And, just like the other items, not only can they be made into mashed potatoes, they contribute to an array of other foods, including being a substitute for bread crumbs in meatloaf, thickening soups, creating a crunchy coating for fish and chicken, and as an addition to rolls and tortillas.

- Black beans and garbanzo beans are the most widely used types of beans so that's why I chose them. You will have a protein in your diet just by cooking them up as a side. But, just like the other items, you can easily transform them into many things. Chickpeas can be turned into hummus or ground into flour, for example. 

In a future post, I will include some specifics for storing items both short and long term. But, at a simplified level, the above items can be stored for one or two years (and, in the case of the sugar, indefinitely) without any expensive mylar bags or special buckets. So, not only are they extremely versatile, they also are easy to store without purchasing additional expensive items or creating a special setup.

How much of the above items you buy and store is up to you. One key factor to decide this would be how many people are in your household. And, the second key factor, which might take longer to ponder, is what type(s) of things are you prepping for. Do you just foresee minor disruptions such as a short-term natural disaster that would knock out power for a few days to a week, shelves are bare, and gas may be scarce? Do you foresee a few months where there is a shortage of water, disruptions in the food and product supply chain, and gas prices are double the normal price? Do you foresee a year where the power grid has gone down, affecting communication as well, a war may have landed on our soil, and/or there is so much unrest that it is not always safe to go out? These scenarios sound crazy, and why the "prepper" term has gotten such a negative connotation. However, we're already seeing record droughts in the Western states this year and by 2030 the drought will reach large metropolitan US cities and continue progressing through other areas of the world. We don't like to think about it, but sooner rather than later, we will be faced with water rationing. Only a month into the Iran war, gas prices have already risen to record levels and airlines and airports are cutting flights and rationing fuel. This isn't meant to scare anyone, or cause anyone to not live in the moment and lead a fulfilling life. But, staying aware of some of the impending challenges by reading articles and taking small actions to prepare can help us all lead a better life when (not if) things continue to get more tricky to navigate. Therefore, determine what you believe will transpire, how it will affect your daily life, and what is reasonable to enact in order to prepare.

As one person (and a dog), I have stored away a 5 gallon bucket of each of the five items I listed above as most essential. I use daily some of what is stored away. And, then I replenish as needed, so I always have 5 gallons in long term storage available. I have practiced my skills so I now, by memory, can turn these staple ingredients into so many other things such as yogurt, artisan bread, soups, hummus, etc., and if needed can do these things over an open fire. 

I hope this gives you the confidence and nudge that with minimal effort and funds you can start feeling more empowered over your food security. And, that it won't be bland monotonous diet you'll have to be forced to rely on. Instead, just a few simple pantry items can be an inspiring jumping off point for nourishment.

Again, I'll be sharing in future posts additional details on storage, why I don't suggest purchasing some items that other preppers recommend, and some extra items you can layer on if you want to increase your self-sufficiency further. Look out for those shortly!