Well, we have started our inventory by counting the number of buckets we have of certain staples, and then multiplying the number of buckets by the number of lbs. that said staples are supposed to weigh in the buckets. Many thanks to Davilyn over at Today While the Sun Shines, who has a list of food storage sizes about half-way down the page in the right hand column of her blog (ex. a 5-gallon bucket would hold 35 lbs. of wheat). If you have questions on amounts like I do, you might want to check it out.
This was the easy way to start for me, because the way that I think is that I won't touch those buckets until absolutely necessary, so they really are the long-term storage items. We have more staples to store properly, with the buckets that we need to use for said storage, so really it is just a matter of getting it done... I'm a little disappointed with the numbers that we have, but it's a nice start, and one of the things that we really need more of is rice. I've read somewhere lately (sorry that I don't remember exactly where to give credit) that rice is one of the things that practically no one is allergic to, and is easy to digest for just about everybody. This could be a factor if, say, someone you are responsible for or are trying to help has wheat allergies. Sometimes these allergies only become evident after a certain amount of exposure to the wheat, so if the allergies show themselves after you have tried to subsist on your food storage for awhile, at least with rice you are likely to have an alternative that will come in mighty handy...
Also, tonight my husband emptied and refilled one of our 55-gallon water drums. Apparently, they are easier to empty when the floor is dry---when he went to empty the second one, it was, shall we say, not as cooperative as the first one was when he tried to tip it. Hence, one down, and one to go in that category. Hopefully, the floor will be dry enough in the morning to make the task a little easier. You need a lot of water to cook those rice and beans...and let's face it, for a great deal of other things as well...
So the buckets are pretty much accounted for (and I'm very glad that they are present) and the next step will probably be the #10 cans for inventory purposes. Ah, organization. It's a lot easier to obtain and/or maintain when you start from the beginning, but hey, I'm just glad that we have something to count.... :)
9 comments:
Good Post Marie. I checked out The other Blog. She does a nice job.
I sympathize with your husband. Last spring I decided to change the water in 2 of my 4 55 gallon drums. It was a goat rodeo,( to coin a phrase). I ended up doing them about a week apart so the floor could dry in-between,,,
Carl In wisconsin
Carl--There are a lot of good food storage/emergency preparation blogs out there, and I'm glad that they share!
Yeah, the 55 gallon drums are not easy to deal with, but it's definitely nice to have that amount of water at hand. Glad that you have that many--we need to get some more. Thanks as always for your comment!
It always seems like my inventory time is also my clean out the closet time. My kids get in there and it really ends up needing a little help after a while. I'm almost done with mine, but I seem to have gone in opposite order of you. I did the cans first and am now working on buckets. It's a little hard since the garage is a little past full at the moment. Good luck on finishing yours, I'll keep plugging away at mine.
Oh, I forgot. We've already been down the wheat allergy road. It's no fun. It's becoming more and more common in the US so yeah, I recommend adjusting for more rice, corn, and oats in your storage. Certainly store the wheat, just store more of what they say of the other, preferably whole! I had to track down whole corn and such through farms and a family owned feed store that cleaned it extra for me.
HSJacobus--I try to keep my children out of the storeroom, but for some reason, I find out sometimes that they've been in there anyway.:) We've got a long way to go in terms of making it more organized, but hopefully every little bit counts...
I'll have to look into the corn issue, because I am sadly lacking in that category. I would follow your example in looking for the whole corn, because I've heard that the cornmeal and such doesn't have a very long shelf life (which is probably one of the main reasons I haven't focused on it). Thanks for a great idea, and thanks for your comment!
You know I'd love to track down what happened with cornmeal that the church changed it's policy on storing it. I may have to make that my next project. I've store it for years with no problem. I keep both whole and the ground cornmeal. I know some of my cornmeal is more then 5 years old and I don't have any problems with it. Will get back to you on this.
I would appreciate knowing more about it, because it would be awful convenient to have in terms of variety. Also, it would be another project in terms of finding recipes to use it in...
The Church leaders stopped recommending storing whole corn and cornmeal because of moisture and oil content issues. If not processed or stored exactly right it can develop botulism or go rancid. I had some whole corn that I thought was stored properly in buckets but when I opened it after just a couple of years it was moldy.
You can click on this link from the providentliving.org website for more information: file:///Users/Family/Desktop/113951_DryProductsLongerTermStorage_Jun_08_pdf.pdf
Nanci--I'm sorry to hear about your corn, but I really appreciate the information. I'll have to check out the link--thanks for your comment!
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