Seeds, gardening and yard work.

I made it out into the front yard to do some clean-up and garden prep finally. The weather so far this year has been a little temperamental and I'm not one to get wet and cold for fun, unless it's diving or hunting or for SAR or... ok so I'm not that much of a wimp, but the garden isn't a top priority when it's blustery because I don't get an instant gratification from it.

I'll get at least one more year from the raised beds, but I do need to do a little work to shore them up; I really should have used some screws instead of just nails when I assembled them, but I was saving a few bucks. I'll add 1-2 screws in each joint this year as I rework the soil.

Speaking of reworking the soil I need to rent/borrow a rototiller this year. I made it through the last two years without one but I want to expand into areas that have only had grass or blackberries. There are services that mow your yard, prep your flowerbeds; are there any that rent and deliver lawnmowers and rototillers? The delivery is a deal breaker around here, it's tough to fit something like that in a Wrangler, I suppose I should clean off the trailer and quit complaining.

After it started raining again I went in and checked on my seeds, I guess I could get by with what I have for the year or two but I really like fresh seeds and being a prepper need to have some backups to be comfortable.
I found a new website that looks promising; Get Seeds offers 100 packets for $49, with a wide assortment of seeds for a reasonable price. I'm not sure how many seeds are in each packet or the types of seeds or the care they provide but the price is right and with 100 packets you're likely to get a variety. They seal the pouch in Mylar but without a list of what they put in there I'd break it open, inventory it, buy anything seriously lacking and reseal it. I don't have any prior experience with them so I'm not endorsing them, just pointing them out.

A couple sites I do buy from with success are Seed Savers Exchange and Heirloom Seeds, remember to buy things likely to grow well in your area that you're interested in eating or storing for the future.

Rick

It's time to rip up your lawn

I'm not saying you have to completely abandon your nice green lawn, though I have. Pick some places in your yard and plant some ornamental peppers; herbs like cilantro, sage, basil. Plant them in places where the automatic water system will take care of them at the same time they water the lawn. Cucumbers can fit easily in a flower bed and meander their way among flowers slowing the loss of water. Pumpkins and summer squash have the same effect while adding some new colors to the beds.

I love to grow potatoes, but I think I've finally figured out that I shouldn't grow any that I can buy locally. They're not an overly attractive plant (which makes them perfect for a guerrilla garden) and it rarely produces more than $1-2 of produce per plant. They do store well so I can't take them completely off the table. Many things I grow can't be used as fast as they grow and unless I have enough to preserve them, they may go to waste during their peak.

The most important thing to remember is to grow what you eat, just like you should only store what you eat. Okra grows like an weed here, but I don't know what to do with it, I can add it to stuff I cook, but I have to lie to the kids. I can pickle it but they're not something I've grown a taste for. I can fit it into things I guess, and I know you can dry and roast the seeds for a coffee substitute but...

Grow food that produces food that you'll eat in a volume that makes it worth your effort. Red sparkler radishes are a great example, those little red roots are awesome in my wife's opinion, I don't care for them at all and so last year when some wanted to go to seed I figured I could get some seed off them. But then I found out how good the seed pods were, and there's 10-20 times the volume of the little red thing under the soil. They taste great raw, you can stir fry them, they can be used just like fresh peas, if you keep size in mind. Oh, and they really aren't that bitter, but you will notice a radish taste. I now grow radishes just for the pods and grab 10-15 just for my own dinner. This year I will try to pickle them, since I'm planning on such a large bed, they would fit in well with pickled beans, onions, garlic, peppers.

Last but not least are my thoughts on the ultimate fruit. Tomatoes need some extra physical structure to support the plant, a cage of some sort is worth the effort. I prefer an indeterminate plant that will provide fruit over time as it fit's better into family meals. Determinate plants are really nice if you plan to can your produce as they tend to ripen at the same time allowing you to harvest and use the fruit (and possibly replant the area). Good tomatoes are really a place where I think I make my money in the garden. If I buy a container of cherry tomatoes for $3 we might eat half of it, then toss out the rest, loss $1.50. If I can pick 10 a night for a salad or let the kids go out and graze for a snack, it only cost me a one time cost seed of $2, plus care, I'm so far ahead it's not funny.

Rethink your yard, don't waste your money and time on the green stuff that you can't eat, grow stuff you can enjoy on your plate. If your neighbors used to be impressed by your nice green grass think how impressed they'll be if you have food and they don't.

Rick

I didn't post much this week ...

Well it's job and life related I guess. I took on another job in addition to my normal IT/ inventory management positions.
I know that my family relies on my job for money, heath care. peace of mind and their standard of living. It's nasty out there and I'll do most anything legal to keep things status quo. This last week I spent every hour doing a job I used to think was below my position (hell I trained them in many ways) , but I still get a check and when it comes right down to it I committed myself to my company and will continue to do so until they violate my personal standard of accountability.
The boss doesn't have to be smart or right, but as long as he's trying to be ethical I can't fault him.

Next week I can post more, I'll have a new profession that gives me another perspective on life.

PS. I still owe a post on what to do when you're unemployed, I started it but it needs a lot of work as it's just not that easy.

Rick

The art of the Hobo Lunch

Here's a post from a guest blogger and another local prepper.

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Over the years I have continued to refine and evolve what a good, self-contained, efficient, cheap lunch could be and how to get the most out of it. With lunch being more of an adventure or outing, rather than a chore or an imposition due to financial restrictions.

When I first started doing these kinds of lunches it was years back. I had my first car and a job learning a skill (not used anymore) getting my 40 hours a week and living thin as far as a dollar went. We grew up in good sized city back in Nevada. Our Mom had to raise two sons on just her income, we learned early on the value of the buck and how to live cheap but, to live healthy and happy. Mom was a great enthusiast of the outdoors, hiking in the desert and the pine forest and showing us what bushes could be eaten and always a keen eye for watching the wildlife. It was during this time the idea's of how to be self sufficient and portable as possible started to percolate and grow.

A few years later with my first car and a small income I started my first “go box“; it had things that could keep as-is for long periods, such as canned spam, peaches or pears, oatmeal, a couple gallons of fresh water and my ever present potato's, yes they are great survival food just ask the Irish.

Another one of my favorite items was and still is the M.R.E., oh yes I love most of them anyways, back then we didn't have on-line stuff or EBAY(which I do use now days as it is saves a lot of money and time), so I would journey down to one of my favorite haunts the Twin City Surplus, otherwise known as a military outlet, so many good things for exactly this kind of stuff. Portable stoves, hand warmers, cold weather gear, tents and backpacks with the slight smell of mold and oil, equipment begging to go on another useful adventure. So from here my box grew a bit bigger and better. Now, I had a cheap two burner stove(gas fuel) M.R.E.’s, complete meals, a good knife and portable shovel, water tablets... So after a few more months I again refined the go box a little further. I went to the local second hand store and got a coffee pot for .50 cents, some camp plates and cups for a couple dollars. Oh and some of those first portable canvas chairs, a cheap oil lantern. Then back a staple that I had grown up on and use a lot even today, the canned food outlet style store and what do you know, tons of food with long shelf life that can be kept in your go box and is easy to prepare. Remember variety keeps it fun and tasty.

As time went by I came to calling on the go box for lunches at work, not having the finances to have made a fresh lunch or to go out to lunch with the others, I resorted back to my go box for lunch. With my camp stove fired up and water boiling for some Noodle Roni and applesauce with M.R.E. cookies and a tang like drink, I found that I not only had lunch for the day, that was very cheap, but that the making of it was very good for breaking up the monotony of the day and bringing back good memories of the outdoors. By pure necessity I stumble upon what I would later call the Hobo Lunch, oh sure at first I got a lot of strange looks (still do) seeing this dude pulling out a chair, a portable table, cooking gear and whipping up a lunch out of the back of my vehicle. Sitting anywhere, the parking lot, the park ,or even out in the boonies.

As the years went by, whether the money was thick or thin, I have often fallen back to the Hobo Lunch as a way to escape, even for a brief time. As well as a common ground to share ideas and a good conversation as with my friend Rick. I keep a flint striker and many other tools that easily slip into my pockets. However this is where the beauty of these lunches come in to play. Rick and I would slip off to a Hobo Lunch. Rick with some strange concoction of oats, dried beans and other ingredients in a cup. Added some hot water and what do you know, we had a instant hardy stew of a sorts and very good tasting as well. Rick even knew the basic break down of the nutrient levels, WOW! So now Rick had taken the Hobo Lunch and my Black Box ( I will talk about the black box at another time.) to a new level. Rick knew well, my buddy the potato, tossed next to the fire and letting it cook. Rick, being always the innovator of minimalism yet quality, showed me a stream of fun new ways to have dried supplies, that took less room and weighed far less (great for packing). I could go on and on here at some of the very interesting things that Rick and I would could converse on and attempt for lunch and I will definitely expand on that if there is any interest here.

What I want to impart here is the value that the Hobo Lunch could bring to you. It’s a continued lesson in how to be set up on long term foods (variety) and how to seek the best deals (you would be surprised how cheap you can shop). Finding and using things like portable chairs and tables (easily bought cheap at garage sales), or make your own portable stuff. This will make the atmosphere even better as a matter of fact. I almost always do a full set up, as it only takes a couple minutes to do so and you would be surprised how it will make you feel while eating.

I always kind of saw it as going on a Urban Safari. As on any Safari, I never liked to talk about work, or the woes of life, but rather to focus on the moment enjoying the lunch, learning from your Hobo Lunch Buddy and exploring ways to better ones situation. In times like these it's good to explore all options of affordable eating, yet without sacrificing taste or the fun of the outing. So okay it's not one of those swanky sit down restaurants or one of those fast food shacks. You have something better, self reliance, a sense of accomplishment, the outdoors even if it's in a parking lot. Look around and then you to will start seeing a lot more options around you that were hidden before and best of all, for at least the time it takes to make lunch and pack up, you’re free from all else. If not, you need to get into the Hobo Lunch Spirit!

Thanks again Rick for your encouragement.

Brett

Thanks for the post Brett, feel free to yell next time you're in town and will do lunch at our usual spot!

Cheesemaking - preserving milk

I love cheese; cheddar, parmesan, mozzarella, brie, even the occasional limburger. I really don't think there's a bad cheese out there, unless it just pretends to be cheese, but you know which ones those are. I once tried bringing 3 lbs of havarti back from Germany in my luggage, it was almost fondue once it got here, good thing I brought back some bread too!

I grew up on Tillamook and Bandon cheddar, both decent in their own right and still a staple for me today, but when I went to Germany in '85 I got to taste cheese. Germans know how to serve a continental breakfast; a simple heavy rye, several pungent, mild or creamy cheeses and tasty salted or preserved meats. Add in a few simple pastries, some fruit I honestly can't eat that well here unless I spend $100+ and hit 3-4 stores in Portland/Beaverton to do it.

I can't have a cow or a couple of goats here but at some point the people with milk will need to get rid of it, trading it for something else or being able to preserve it's calcium and protein for a time when the animal doesn't produce. Cheese seems like a perfect prep item to me.

So I decided it was high time I started making my own cheese, the feta at the grocery store was $6 for 12 oz, Tillamook cheddar is close to $7/2lb, real parmesan is insane at up to $12/lb, the $7 havarti is tasteless.

This weekend I tried my hand at feta, using 2 recipes as guidelines. The Cheese Wizard doesn't seem to be around anymore but his website still exists and he has some great information, I've archived his entire website for the future should it be unavailable and I haven't had a chance to develope my own recipes. David B. Fankhauser's cheese pages are written by a chemist and I think he has a good hold on all his recipes, I should have followed his instructions a little closer...

I started out with 3.8% milkfat milk from the grocery store, well within it's 'use-by' date, some fresh buttermilk and yogurt. I created both mesophilic and thermophilic starter cultures per the Cheese Wizards instructions and then with the remaining 7/8 of a gallon of milk I proceeded to make feta cheese. I was religious about watching the temperature of the milk, to the point the dog gave up following me and just laid down to the side of my path. I was a bit less careful at adding 2 oz of starter, but I really don't measure anything as I don't thing it teaches me anything, and 2 oz of a random quality of an ingredient is just a guideline anyway. Yeast is one of the few exceptions to my rule, if it comes to baking I try to keep the proportions similar.

Everything seemed to going to plan, no scorching, no clotting, I went to add the junket rennet tablets and knowing they're atleast 2 years old I doubled the dosage. Yes, that was a mistake, I should have gone and bought new tablets, I should have measured my starter better too as far as that goes.

I never could get a clean break but after 16 hours I decided to drain the whey at the top because it seemed to be my hangup. After about 4 hours of draining in a sterile towel over a colander it had a clean break without any question, I was excited! Now 12 hours later I have about 1 1/4 quarts of whey and two textures of cheese in my towel, a thick cream cheese near the towel and a yogurt near the center. There really aren't any curds that I recognize. I'm tempted to mix some salt in early just to draw out the moisture.

Well, it was my first attempt and honestly it took several attempts to make a decent bread so I'll keep trying, who knows I might be able to turn it into something tomorrow.

Do you have any other recipe sites, or experiences to share? I don't want to buy a kit, I don't work that way, though the occasional component is ok. I like all of my parts and pieces to be local or homemade so I can repeat them when I don't have the Internet or a handy store.

Rick

Do you have old grinding wheel?

I want an old style, LARGE (24+" dia.) grinding wheel, with or without a platform. I can sharpen knives, scissors, axes and most any other tools with the stones or files I have but a good old fashioned wheel fits into my preps as a useful skill. I can polish any newer blade with my stones, but a good wheel can turn an old worthless blade into a new tool. Being able to reprofile an old blade with a mechanical wheel mounted to a bike, foot treadle or even a large oversized weighted wheel make a lot of sense if you're cutting back from the standard 6/8"grinding wheel in a $50 bench grinder.

I have some cash, but I'd like to offer forever sharpening as a trade, that means your direct decedents, any or all of them, that can claim your line will get free sharpening off the wheel, as long as it's in use and I will guarantee it for my personal lifetime. As a bonus, the stone will be named after your surname. (shipping is a bitch, but I promise it at cost).

Let me know if you have a nice stone that I can work with, we'll make a deal.

If you're looking to sharpen your own knives and other tools I'll leave you with a couple of suggestions.

1. There's so much involved I can't do it in a short post.
2. Get a fine diamond plate sharpener (the larger the better) and try to slice off the top of the stone in equal amounts, ie. top and bottom of the blade. This is far from what you deserve and what I can provide, but it's been a long week.

Rick

Bicycles: a near perfect prep item.

My older son rides his bike to and from school everyday, it's about 1/2 a mile each way and while I could drop him off in the morning he'd have to walk home. It's a cheap form of transportation that still allows for independence. It's not a lot of fun in the winter but if you have appropriate clothing it sure beats walking.

Unfortunately, he has neither the skills or desire to maintain his own bike. Most bike repairs are simple and inexpensive, they also tend to require a minimal number of tools. Tonight's repair was a flat front tire, tools required a 6" adjustable end wrench and a bike pump, 10 minutes later it looks like it just has a slow leak and it's back together, chances are good I'll have to revisit it later this week but I've got a couple new tubes if it really needs one.

Bikes are a great prep item; while they do have some dependence on petroleum they're not tied to the price of gas or it's availability, they're nearly silent and inexpensive to maintain. Lay in some spare parts, tubes, brakepads, and chain as a start, tires aren't a bad idea but they're more expensive and take up space. A backpack helps you transport some gear and it's easy to tie equipment to your frame. A bike trailer or panniers would come in handy but commercial versions don't fit into my price point, DIY versions are more up my alley. Instructables has some great projects; Sheldon Brown and bikewebsite.com offer great repair instructions.

Bikes aren't just for transportation or excercise though they can also be used as a near silent form of 12 volt power generation; might make a decent way to recharge a set of batteries, provide lights at night or provide other 12 volt dc power.

Rick