Food Storage and SHTF Questions

[BarredBuff]

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[justusnak]

Hey BB, good for you for getting things together! As for the yeast, I really am not sure, but someone will chime in. LOL
The feed....well....you will have to worry about mice, bugs, etc. I have all of our animal feed in galvanized trash cans. Yes, it takes room to store them all however, I know my money will not be wasted feeding vermin. I like to add some DE to the feed as I pour it in as well. This will take care of any bugs that might have gotten in when packaged. Butter and milk can be frozen, for a fairly long time...I have had butter in the freezer for a year, and it was still good. ( I hit the sales as well)

 

[k0xxx]

So for the past couple of monthes we have been working diligently on a pantry. We have lots of home canned stuff put upplus we have hitting sales on stuff we will use. We have also joined Sams Club. Its going really good. We have 1/2 a beef coming to us after Thanksgiving, then I have chickens ready to slaughter. Plus I have the rabbits bred so meat rabbits here I come!

1. How can yeast be stored, for how long? Would freezing a couple of jars that are sealed work? Would they keep indefinitely?

2. In what quantities should powdered cheese, butter, milk, egg, and sour cream be stored?

3. Do any of you have an extensive "no doctor" first aid kit? I'd like to start one.

4. How long will whole corn and pelleted rations from TSC keep? I'd like to stock some animal feed to have on hand.

We should be getting the actual storage partt built soon!

1. Generally, yeast is said to be good for a year. That being said, I know people that are using yeast that they have kept in their fridge for a bit over three years. We have yeast put back, but we also have sour dough starter that we keep and use. It's good to hedge your bets. ;?)

2. We "sorta" went by the Mormon guidelines, but added extra "just in case".

3. We have a first aid kit, but it is sorely lacking, and is one of the areas that I really need to improve.

4. I have had very bad luck trying to store animal food for long term, since it always seems to either go buggy are moldy. We have started packing some into mylar and buckets (with O2 absorbers) for short term emergency use, but we are starting to grow things specifically for the animals. It's just too expensive and takes too much space for us to put back a lot of feed. I can certainly see us reducing the "herd" in a SHTF situation.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Make sure you have a rotational schedule for everything so you can monitor how you are using up you stock and how old it is.

 

[tamlynn]

I keep bulk packages of yeast in the freezer, then put it into smaller containers when I open one, and keep one container at a time in the refrigerator. So it lasts a very long time- I usually buy a year's worth at a time. So I would say it could last several years if you could keep it cold.

The powdered stuff- it just depends on what your resources are and what you like to use/eat. If you had chickens and a dairy animal, I wouldn't bother to get much of the powdered stuff. A couple of pounds. Powdered cheese and sour cream? Only if you like to eat it and know how to use it.

Dr. kit- My dh thinks he'd like to get his hands on a suture kit. I'd start looking at camping/scout/survival store.

Animal feed- like FarmerJamie said, be sure to rotate it. If you can keep it cool in an air-tight container, like 5 gallon buckets with gamma lids, it should last a long time.


Do you have water storage or a way to get water without electricity? This is a really important one that people sometimes overlook.

 

[FarmerChick]

it is good to stock for hard times and to be sure that you have what is needed, when desperately needed lol


hay is great for 'stocking'
any grazer benefits from hay mostly since rumens thrive on this. grain truly isn't needed but that roughage in their guts during winter sure is needed.


also like FJ said, rotation is so important. And look....see what you are depleting faster than the other. Those pintos you canned might be eaten way faster than those pickles or something like that LOL...and then the following canning season you can double up on what you know you enjoy eating.

My medical isn't that extensive. It should be, but it isn't. I have the basics on hand.





yea Barred.....you are the young'n here right? what are your future plans for a career? just wondering what field you might be looking into to get a good income for this nasty future lol but don't worry, you got a good head on your shoulders and surely know how to survive.


edited for spelling..ugh

 

[Wifezilla]

I don't store feed for long, but I have found that a 50# bag of feed fits nicely inside a red coleman cooler. I got one cheap at a garage sale and this is what I use to keep my feed in once I bust open the bag.

 

[old fashioned]

As for feed, store & rotate as much as you use in a few months. Beyond that, start growing your own if you have the room for it. Grains like barley, rye, wheat, oats, millet, milo, BOSS, etc atleast for your birds & maybe some for the others. Get some kind of grass seed to grow some good hay. Not lawn grass, but something like 'pasture mix' or 'orchard mix' or something like that & maybe some alfalfa to mix in. I don't know any of this for sure, but that's what I would think would work & what I've always 'planned' on doing if I ever had the acreage to grow livestock & it's own feed. I do have chickens & have grown most of those grains, but I've not planted or gotten enough to feed for a year...just enough to supplement purchased feed.


As for the first aid kit, good things to have on hand are.....

rubber gloves, face masks, mouth piece for CPR, current EPI-PEN (our 12yo is deathly allergic to bees), aloe vera gel, triple antibiotic ointment, burn cream, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, calamine lotion, Noxema face cream in a jar for major sunburn, ace bandages, heavy duty needles & strong thread (just in case for stitches), tweezers (regular size & longer), small scissors, alcohol wipes, small very sharp knife (yes for minor surgery), band-aids of various sizes, wound bandages of various sizes, first aid tape, blood clotting powder, spray antisceptic, eye wash &/or clean water, thermometer, current meds, vitamins & supplements, soap, shampoo, suntan & other lotions, cough/cold/flu meds, dental picks (long metal ones), cotton balls & swabs, emergency blanket, first aid instruction booklet.......

That's all I can think of off the top of my head & I'm sure I forgot alot here. When you are putting a kit together, just think of any medical problem that you might have & what you would need for it....if no DR were available. Your best bet is to take a first aid/CPR course NOW before you need it, that way you'll already have some experience & knowledge about what to do & what you'll need.

 

[ORChick]

I buy dry yeast from a refrigerated bulk jar at the health food store. At home it goes into a clamp style jar and is stored in the freezer. I've never actually kept track, but would guess that I've kept some for around 2 years, and have never had it fail on me. I do always proof my yeast before baking (mix with handwarm water, as many recipes specify, and see if it *activates* before adding to the rest of the ingredients.)
As to a home medical kit, think about what you are likely to use before you get too many out of the ordinary things. For awhile I was thinking seriously about trying to obtain a suturing kit (I have never put in sutures, but have assisted a doctor many times - was a pediatric nurse in a previous life ). I'm pretty sure I could do a passable job of it, but then realized that the only person here that would allow me to do so is ME! And, for that, I would have to be very lucky as to where I got the cut - pretty much anything above the waist would be impossible! DH would never allow it, and for the animals I could get by with one of my sewing needles if necessary. So now I don't worry about the suture kit

Edited for spelling

 

[FarmerJamie]

On the first aid stuff, what oldfashioned said, particularly about the first aid book. The Red Cross offers several "starter kits" on their website.

I would consider bottles of distilled spirits, too - not for drinking, but for sterilizing metal equipment.