Where's the beef?

First, thanks to whomever answered my poll question while I was writing this post. I had to delete the poll because I forgot to let everyone choose multiple answers, and it wouldn't let me add that option after someone answered. I'm aware that many of you have multiple skills in this area. I just didn't realize how fast you were at answering polls... :) I hope whoever answered will come back and answer again....sorry to start over!

I mentioned this in a semi-buried type of way in my last post, but I don't think I would be very good at butchering and then eating something that I had raised. Hard to say for absolute certain, seeing as how I've never done it before, but having known myself for nigh these many years, I'm pretty sure--yeah, actually really sure-- that I would find it difficult to harvest meat.

That said, I also realize that in a true emergency situation, that I would still need protein if I wanted, along with everyone else that I was responsible for, to remain healthy. My largest protein storage item at this point is good old rice and beans. Together they make a complete protein. I also have a few cans of meat around--Spam, tuna, etc.--for variety. But what if it comes to the point that I need to hunt and/or fish for a protein source?

So I have a lot to learn, both in skills to hunt and capture food, and then how to harvest the resulting meat in such a way that it does good instead of harm when it's consumed. I may not learn absolutely everything I need to know, because some things are better learned through hands-on experience, but I should probably start picking up some information at the local library, and putting what I need in the good old emergency notebook...

I know that many people are ahead of me in this area, and already not only have these skills, but practice them regularly. Not to make me feel behind, my poll question concerns meat sources this week, and who knows? Maybe it will help someone realize how much they already know that will help them and theirs in an emergency situation. How about you? Got protein?

Emergency Preparation: Beyond the food

Well, for this post, I am going to be liberally cutting, pasting, and linking. I will start out with a large portion of an e-mail that my best source (Mom) sent out recently, that underlines the importance of having the tools you need to work with the food and other items that you store. After all, food doesn't cook itself, and clothes don't come with self-mending mechanisms... :) The following is an excerpt from said e-mail:

"I know most of you will have most of these. However a large number of you may never have cooked EVERYTHING from scratch so may be missing some of them or not know where they are among the wedding and shower gifts that have never been unpacked! :) This is just a check list to get you thinking of what you need...ESPECIALLY THE NONELECTRIC ITEMS.
Anyone who can add to this list of "indispensible items" please let me know and I will update it!

Please make certain you have GOOD QUALITY basic tools for preparing food:

Two or three pots/pans with lids
At least one skillet, preferably two, one small and one large
Large soup pot with lid
Dutch oven
Baking/roasting pan
Bread pans
Cookie sheets and cake pans
Two or three mixing bowls of graduated sizes

Measuring spoons
Measuring cups
Egg beater for use if there is no electricity
Potato masher (Yes they still exist!)
Wire whip
Spatula
Sturdy spoons for mixing heavy dough (wood or stainless steel)
Rolling pin

Sharp knives of several sizes Make at least one a serrated one for slicing soft veggies
Cutting board that can be easily cleaned and sanitized
Strainer
Colander
Some type of chopper/ shredder and grater that is nonelectric (think nonelectric food processor)
Vegetable peeler ( I always have two so I can get help to make a tedious job go faster!)


Sewing/Mending Items These can be acquired very inexpensively a few at a time with the sales and/or discount coupons at the fabric stores (Be sure to use a coupon for the scissors)

At least a dozen assorted needles ...both sharps and ballpoints
100-300 pins Choose some sharps and some ball point
One or two large spools each of thread in black, navy, white, brown and cream colors (watch for sales)
One or more regular sized spools of favorite colors for family's clothing
Seam ripper (As ye sew, so shall ye rip) This will save a LOT of time
GOOD cloth scissors....hide them in your sewing supplies so no one will ever cut paper or plastic with them
Pin cushion.... so you don't lose the pins and needles
Sewing ruler with slider to make hemming easier You may have to shorten or lengthen pant legs or skirts.
A few buttons, snaps and /or hooks and eyes and maybe some velcro
Lots of safety pins in several sizes (my favorite emergency tool)
A few zippers in favorite colors to replace broken ones
Several packages of "universal fit" sewing machine needles...for yourself if you have a machine or for whomever you ask to help if you don't have your own machine.

Most experienced seamstresses will be happy to help or show you how to do something, especially if you have your own tools.

Thank you for preparing. "

End of e-mail excerpt.

I would welcome any suggestions in the comments--and hey, I'm pretty sure my best source reads my blog :), so if you have any input on basics like this, it will probably be shared far and wide.

My first priority is to get the food supplies in stock, and then I try to figure out ways to use them. If you have read my blog in the past, you will likely have noticed that I have had varying success with how these little projects turn out. However, having good tools to do the job makes it easier, and practice can only improve my skills. My latest purchase? A new wire whisk has been ordered, and will hopefully be a little more sturdy than previous utensils of that nature that I have owned.

Riverwalker, over at Stealth Survival, recently had a post on food peelers, and pointed out that if you have a good peeler, you eliminate a lot of food waste. I also appreciated his post, Eating--A Necessary Adventure, where he asks crucial questions about what we will do if our food supply is cut off for whatever reason. Things to think about and prepare for--hopefully these things won't happen, but it's always good to have a plan B. Or to reconfigure and/or supplement our plan A...

Finally, I like this idea, found over at Today While the Sun Shines, taken from the "Weekly Wisdom #8" section:

" Timely Tuesday – Today is a day to think and make a list. What I am going to do today is write a list of all of the skills I believe my children will need in the future. And then attempt to check off that list as I teach them. I believe that our days of "normal" education are no longer adequate for the lives our children will live. They need to have real life skills, survival skills, back to basic type skills, as well as education, high tech skills, and low tech skills. Skills to deal with economic trials, and leadership skills. I do not like to knock the public school systems, but the reality is, they don't teach all of these kinds of things to our children, and we as parents have that responsibility to do so. So today make that list, think into the future of your kids / grandchildren and try to imagine what they may need to know, (I know that is a tough one) and then get to work teaching. Make use of those family home evenings, and any teaching moment. Teaching something is also the best way to really learn it."

I love this idea, because you have to know what you're doing with and/or how to supplement your supplies, (at least you should know :) and why not enlist your children to help you by teaching them ? And if you are just learning, (in many cases, like me) why not have more people learning at the same time? I definitely need to make a list of this nature--and then work on it.

Food storage will be better used if we try to use efficiency in our efforts. We can have more efficiency if we use the appropriate tools. We will be more efficient in taking care of our needs food-wise if we learn the necessary skills. And we can be more efficient if we work together. Food storage goes beyond just stockpiling the food, and I need to work on my efficiency. It'll likely be a lot of work, but in the end, if our food supply is better for us, lasts longer, and can be perpetuated, what's not to like?

Being neighborly

Well, first a word about the economy problems that escalated yesterday--and a word is about all that I'm qualified to say on the subject--if the economy causes some/all of us/only me/only you to have a personal emergency in the near or far future, anything that we are able to put aside now will help us then. It may mean that at least we have something to eat. Or it may mean that because we have that food stored, we will be able to meet other expenses. If you are already facing your emergency, please do what you can, and I hope that it turns out well quickly for you. There are so many ways that people can find themselves in need of food storage, that it's scary, but the more that we are able to do, the better off we will be. That's why I'm working on it. It's not easy, but in the long run it will be worth it.

Something that has made our lives easier lately is being neighborly. That old adage of what goes around comes around is true at times, and lately what has been happening is that what goes around in a trickle comes around in a flood. (I guess that means that I better be sure that the things that I am doing are good things... :) I'll give you a couple of examples. For purposes of this example, I am going to call my neighbors Bartholomew, Wenceslas, Theodore, and Chad. Yeah, we have to maintain privacy around here. Anyway, here it goes....

Not too long ago my husband took some raspberries over to Bartholomew's house, and at the time explained (this will be in my words, not his, since I wasn't there) that because his peach tree, that hangs over our shared fence, is not immune to gravity, nor to a small child's hands messing around, some of his peaches were lost to him, for which we were very sorry. Bartholomew graciously said that we could help ourselves to his peaches. As evidence of Bartholomew's generosity, I present to you his peach tree, as seen from our backyard:

Bartholomew's generosity did not end there, however. When he returned the dish that my husband had delivered the raspberries in, he also handed me a large bag of apples. So we got back a lot more than we gave him--but I think just the increase of good will trumps the fruit by a long shot, and as you can see, the potential fruit harvest was quite large.

Then there were Wenceslas and Theodore, who came by unasked to help my husband remove a rather unsightly bush from our front yard. I guess they noticed what was going on, and showed up with a truck and the equipment to yank that stump right out of the ground. Our family vehicle is not really built for that kind of activity, so it is much appreciated. Before I talked to my husband and found out how helpful Wenceslas and Theodore had been, I encountered Wenceslas myself.

I was calling my children in for dinner while simultaneously chasing them down the street, when Wenceslas came up to me with about 1/2 a box of apples. Here is the gist and not exact content of the conversation that took place:

W: Hey, do you want these apples? We've been doing everything we can with apples, and we just had too many, could you use them?

Me: Well, um....I don't know if we could use all of them.

W: Well, we just have too many of them, maybe if you could just use some of them...

Me: Well, ok, but if we can't use all of them, we just won't tell you.

W: Hey, that's fine. My next stop for these was the dumpster. (Hands over box)

Me: Ok, thanks! (Resumes chasing children)

Now, you may remember that we already had a big bag of apples that we had from Bartholomew. And these apples, though I did not examine them closely, were rescued from a dumpster run. I thought that at the very least, I could make it easier on him (isn't it easier to throw other people's things away than your own? :) and just dispose of them myself. I don't know how to can, and I don't have a juicer, and I already had a big bag of apples to use before they were fit for a dumpster run. What to do?

It was here that something that I've learned from my blogging neighbors came to mind. In an effort to build up suspense about what happened with the apples, (yes, I am totally kidding, but if you want it to be suspenseful...) let me tell you about some of the things that I have gained by being a neighbor in the blogosphere:

-- a ton of useful information from people who are willing to comment. Just a couple of examples: Thanks to gl and Bustednuckles, who left comments on my tenting post explaining why there was so much mesh on the thing, and options and possible problems concerning air mattresses and camping pads. Thanks to Stephanie and Nancy, who left comments on my post about using canned beans--suggesting canning your own beans, or drying them, and even left instructions and a recipe.

-- a ton of useful information from people who write blogs themselves. Posts by people like Riverwalker over at Stealth Survival, who has included posts on food tips, among many other useful emergency preparation topics. You can find out about what other people are doing to get better prepared in general, that would end up improving your situation in an emergency, like a wood stove purchase over at Woody's Rocky Ridge, or canning over at Johnson Family Farm (these people have almost convinced me that a pressure canner does not have to be a scary thing). Not to scare you away from my recipes, but check out Safely Gathered In for more food storage recipes--they have pictures with theirs. There are people that are literally living off the beaten path, and are willing to share their knowledge and experiences with others, found at blogs like Wretha's Adventures Living 100% Off Grid, or Homesteading Hickory Hills.

The list could really go on and on, and just like with our neighbors that live down the street, we may (and probably will) not agree with everything they do/say/blog about. But the benefits that come from sharing and learning from each other in the blogging neighborhood are huge. I am trying to help other people by recording what I learn and by writing about my own experiences. What I gain from other people blogging is like that flood return on a trickle. So my appreciation goes out to those mentioned, as well as those not mentioned--the list would be too long. But I'll probably mention more in later posts... :)

So whatever happened to those apples? Even before I went inside, I (having read about what happens over at Homesteading Hickory Hills, where they never waste anything) had thought about yet another neighbor, Chad, who owns horses. I do not know where they are, but I know that he owns them, and since I do not have pets of the apple-eating variety, I thought the apples, so close to dumpster status, may have been of use to him. Later, when my husband and I talked about the apples and he said maybe Chad would want them, I did say," Yeah, I was wondering about that myself...", but everyone knows that the credit goes to the person who says it out loud first... :)

The apples were delivered to Chad. I assume he was happy. Wenceslas was happy to be done with the apples. Bartholomew liked the raspberries, and we like peaches and apples. We also like having that stump out of our front yard. So what does this have to do with food storage? Quite a bit, actually:

--Having good will between neighbors can only help should an emergency situation arise where you need to help each other. If you don't know your neighbors, they may still help you, but it is easier to ask for help or offer help when you are dealing with people you already know.

--The apple incident was a good example of how, if we don't improve our skills while we can, we may have missed opportunities. I hate (actually more than you know) to hold myself up as a bad example, but just think of what I could have done with those apples had I known how to can, or at least been proficient at and had equipment for juicing. I didn't entirely waste the apples, but I could have put them to a greater use for my family had I had the skills. Just some more things for me to work on, and an example of a missed opportunity.

--If you end up with something you can't use, chances are good that someone else might be able to use it. This is true of those apples, and it is true of many things. Then, there are other types of resources that you "give," like Theodore and Wenceslas gave their time, and the use of their equipment without being asked. Some things, like the apples, needn't be wasted, even if they are, in your mind, "ready for the dumpster." And sometimes, the things that you give are not actually things that you will lose, except for a little of your time, but your neighbors will really appreciate it.

Whew, a little long-winded. This is one of those times that I am glad that I don't employ those gadgets on my blog that would show me how quickly people stop reading :) (if those even exist). In any case, being neighborly and having neighbors can bring big returns--in your neighborhood or in the blogosphere. I am glad that I have both.

Preparation increases our choices

When we get prepared for emergencies, whatever flavor of emergencies they may be, we increase our choices. In fact, we may be able to increase our choices to the point that, in some cases, we won't have to choose at all. In a good way, of course.

If your children, or children that you have known, are like my children, you may have noticed something that happens when you offer them a choice when they are particularly young. The other day I had a couple of pieces of candy available that I was offering to my youngest child. I held one candy in one hand and one in the other, expecting a choice to be made. The child promptly grabbed both pieces and walked away. The same phenomenon occurs (at least in my family) if you hold out a handful of oh, say, M&Ms, to a child of similar age, expecting to share a few candies---you end up with a happy child and an empty palm. This latest experience got me thinking about how this applies to food storage.

Obviously, the more supplies you have, the more choices you have in terms of what to eat, wear, inhabit, etc. Then there are the not so obvious areas when you move beyond basic needs--what spices do you have so that you have choices in flavors? What recipes do you have (on hand, in ink, the old-fashioned way, that you won't have to look up on the computer, which won't be available if there are outages) so that you have choices in how you prepare your rice/beans/wheat/name your favorite staple? What seeds do you have stored, so that you have choices in fresh produce when you grow a garden? What skills have you acquired so that you have choices and options when it comes to bartering skills, should that be necessary? Where will you go if an emergency requires an evacuation, and what preparations have you made so that you have the most options available to you? What are your first, second, third, options when it comes to fuel for cooking and heating? I could go on--it's hard to mention everything, much less prepare for everything. But the fact remains that the more preparation that we do, the more options we will have.

Perhaps you have continued reading because of the statement in the first paragraph, where I mentioned that if we increase our choices enough, maybe we won't have to choose at all. There is the easier application of this principle: if we store both rice and beans, we don't have to choose between rice and beans, we can eat both, and figuratively walk away with both hands full, as my child did. Then there is a more sobering example, found in this article. The article is about a person in Ethiopia, whose brother's family is starving because of the conditions there. Her brother has nine children. She could only choose one to help, because her circumstances are also difficult. She may not be able to even help that one for much longer. It is a truly heartbreaking situation. There is discussion in the article about how the government is dealing with the situation in terms of choices as well, but I am thinking more about our preparation on a personal level, rather than a governmental one.

We are fortunate in the United States that conditions are much better than they are in some other areas of the world. We still have time to prepare, in many cases. I realize that not everyone has the means to prepare, and that there are many facing their own personal emergencies even as I write. However, in many cases, there is something that we can do, even if we are facing hard times right now. We can store seeds (hopefully non-hybrid, which will give us future seeds, and spare us future expense) and learn about gardening in preparation for next summer, or even learn about winter crops and act accordingly now. We can pick up an extra can of soup/bag of rice/bag of beans/name your needed storage item each shopping trip and put it on the shelf for a rainy day, instead of waiting for the time when we can afford to buy huge amounts in bulk. It will add up--and if the time comes when you can afford to buy a 6-gallon bucket for all of those bags, do so, fill it up, prepare it properly for storage, and start saving up again. The same principles for gradually saving up can be applied in many areas.

So how does this apply to the unfortunate family in Ethiopia? Well, if circumstances arise in our own families or communities that make it necessary for us to provide for other people, wouldn't it be better to have enough supplies stored that you could help as many people as possible? Whether it be one or two people, or even nine or ten, wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to help whoever needed assistance, and not have to choose at all?