Do it now (refilling water storage)

• 15 Aug 2010
• wade
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Moving into a new house recently required me to empty my water storage. I promised myself that refilling it would be priority number one once we were in and had the beds set up. That was three weeks ago. Reading about residents of Iowa City lined up for bottled water this week made me realize how much time had gotten away from me.

Do you have empty water containers that need to be filled? Has it been a while since you rotated your water? Don’t delay another day. Do it now.

The large, blue tank pictured above is a SureWater tank that holds 275 gallons. The green ones are Reliance Jumbo-Tainers that hold seven gallons each.

LDS Home Storage Center prices changing in January

• 18 Dec 2009
• wade
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The LDS Home Storage Centers will be changing their prices 16 January 2010. They will also be closed from noon on 19 December through 4 January. Prices will be going both up and down, depending on the product; so, depending on what you need, you might want to buy now, or wait until just after the new year.  Click through to see the summary, and to get a copy of the new pricing. (more…)

SureWater high-capacity water tank review

• 07 Nov 2009
• wade
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With the high-capacity water tanks from our group buy delivered and installed, it’s time to publish a review. I am excited about the number of individuals that are now substantially more prepared with water for their families. Water storage is a difficult part of the preparedness puzzle. Water takes up a lot of space and most of us don’t have much. Considering shelf-life, convenience for access and use, ease of rotation, and best utilization of space, I know of no better solution for water storage however, and would strongly recommend the SureWater tanks as a foundation to your efforts.

This review will cover receiving, unpacking, assembling, and filling the tanks during which I will summarize the features and mention pros and cons. While some individuals ordered the 525 gallon tank, my review will only cover the 275 gallon.

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Canned butter and cheese group buy

• 17 Oct 2009
• wade
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I am organizing a group buy on Red Feather Brand canned butter and cheese. The price is $3.00 per can for the cheese and $4.50 per can for the butter and can be ordered by the can or the case of 36. These prices are a dollar less than anywhere I have found. Orders of twenty cases or more will be shipped to your home free of charge. All other orders will be available for pick-up in South Jordan or Lehi. Orders will be accepted until midnight Monday, 26 October and should be submitted by email. Payment must be submitted by midnight Wednesday, 28 October at by cash or check.

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Increase short-life supply with vacuum seal jars

• 09 Oct 2009
• wade
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As you work to build your short-life food storage, you should begin to consider techniques to help extend the shelf life of your food. The longer it will last, the more you can store. In addition to freezing, dehydrating, canning, smoking, pickling, and storing in a dark, cool place, simply removing the oxygen from food will make it last much longer.

foodsaver.com

Many are familiar with vacuum bag sealers that allow you to suck the air out and seal it shut. Freezing food this way can extend it’s life up to five times. It also dramatically reduces or eliminates freezer burn. Many aren’t aware of what else their sealers can do though. Many models come with a utility port where you can connect attachments, such as a jar sealer. An inexpensive but powerful addition to your preservation toolkit, vacuum sealing jars should become part of your cooking and food storage routine. (more…)

Food storage short-life supply

• 07 Oct 2009
• wade
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Jud Burkett, The Spectrum

I believe that there are two types of food storage: short-life and long-life. The difference is shelf-life. Note that it’s not short-term; the factor is how long the food can be stored, not the length of emergency it’s for. I believe that you should complete your short-life storage first because these are things that you are used to eating, used to cooking, are more interesting, and are generally more nutritious. Where the ratio between short-life and long-life falls depends on the length of time you plan to store against, the types of food you eat, and the methods you use for preservation.

The first step to improving (or starting) your food storage is to dispel the misconception that food storage is an emergency tool to be stowed away safely until the unforeseen day it is needed. A “2 person gourmet package” tucked away in the crawl space is better than nothing, but listening to your children cry because you can’t figure out how to rehydrate ingredients to make a meal or suffering from appetite fatigue isn’t what I called being prepared. Why store powdered eggs before real eggs? Potato flakes before real potatoes? MREs before peanut butter and jelly? Pinto beans before pasta sauce? You can’t just pour milk on a bowl full of wheat. (more…)

UPDATE: Deal on organic red wheat

• 04 Oct 2009
• wade
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It took a while to get it, but here are the details on the local organic red wheat for sale. The price is $14 per fifty pound bag. While not at cost (as originally published) that is still nearly seventy-five percent below retail. This is the same price as the LDS Home Storage Center, but their wheat isn’t organic as far as I know. (more…)

Organic red wheat at cost

• 13 Sep 2009
• wade
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A neighbor of mine just harvested red wheat on his family farm here in Utah and is selling it at cost. They had the wheat processed and bagged at Lehi Roller Mills. It is organic hard red wheat and priced at $10 per 60 lb bag. That is thirty-percent less than what you can get it for at the LDS Home Storage Centers. That’s 600 pounds for only $100! Contact Wade for more information.

Store zucchini in bread

• 14 Aug 2009
• wade
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I have been searching for the best way to store zucchini and have found the answer: in bread. Instead of trying to freeze the zucchini itself, make it into bread first and freeze the loaves.

Other options that I am trying are freezing the shredded zucchini pre-measured in individual bags and as bread dough, pre-measured in individual, disposable baking tins. Freezing the shredded zucchini allows for convenience as you only have to thaw exactly what you need and it’s already measured for the recipe. The frozen dough is even more convenient as it only requires baking, saving you time and a messy kitchen. The most convenient option of course is pre-baked loaves though as they come out of the freezer ready to eat. I’m going to do some comparisons through the winter to see how much of a difference in taste and texture there is between bread baked from frozen dough and the pre-baked frozen loaves. If it turns out that the frozen loaves are just as good as freshly baked bread, then I will stick with that. It’s much easier and saves a lot of electricity to have a baking day where you cook it all at once. (more…)

Freezing green onions

• 13 Aug 2009
• wade
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I pulled a bunch of onions this evening, sliced them up, and arranged them in the dehydrator to run through the night. A post on that will be coming soon. I thought I’d post a quick note about green onions tonight though. Just because you have more than you can eat, don’t throw the rest out. Freeze them! Green onions freeze well and they don’t even have to be blanched. The texture changes a little so you probably won’t want to each them in a salad, but besides that they do quite well. I have enough that I won’t need to buy green onions again. Really. I’ll still be pulling them out of the freezer when next year’s are ready to harvest.

Swine flu fact check

• 10 Aug 2009
• wade
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Part of prepping is being smart. Educating yourself with existing knowledge and acquiring the skills to accurately and quickly secure and evaluate future information is critical for survival. Preppers should be leaders. People will look to you in an emergency for leadership and direction. Many people already do. As we work to help people understand the importance of prepping, it is crucial that we do it in a way that is not only sincere, but honest. Using scare tactics is not the right approach.

While stories of fear and death may motivate someone in the short term, its effects will not last and will not produce the change of lifestyle required for someone to truly be prepared. Being seen as a conspiracy theorist and a radical nut-job will also not help your efforts to convert friends and family, or worse, progress towards larger efforts for larger subjects nationally and across the world. Regardless of what you believe, where you stand, or which way you lean politically, your actions contribute to the perceived image of a prepper. Whether it’s individual rights, big-brother, small government, war, or the current battle over health care, the way you contribute to the conversation has a dramatic effect over the conversation. (more…)

Price drop on oats, rice, and milk

• 15 Jul 2009
• wade
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The LDS Home Storage Center updated their prices two weeks ago. I was pleasantly surprised that the prices have come down on many items. The most substantial discounts are bulk oats (-28%), rice (-35%), dry milk (-44%), and apple slices (-16%). Black beans (+29%), white beans (+10%), and sugar (+26%) on the other hand have gone up. So, if you have the means, I would recommend getting some oats, rice, and milk now. If you were planning on getting some more beans and sugar, you might consider waiting a bit to see if the prices change. I’d buy now regardless of the price if you don’t have any however.

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