[Homemakers] A Prep Challenge - Take Three

[A.T.Hagan]

Continuing on in the Prep Challenge series.

<b>PART THREE - FOURTEEN DAYS INTO THE SCENARIO</b>

OK, you've survived the four day challenge. Now it's fourteen days since the power went poof!

Mid-August, same conditions.

- NO grid power
- NO flow of natural gas in the pipeline
- NO water from the municipal water system
- NO municipal sewage system function
- AND it's the fourteenth day of the centralized utilities failure IN AUGUST.

<i>Okay Homemakers, TSHTF and the next meal is up to you. Dig into your preps and see what meal you can put on the table.

Test your pantry, your skills and your creativity.

A real meal, one night this week.

Nothing fresh unless from you own productions: garden, dairy, and such.

Share your menu, weakness and strengths discovered, how well your family liked the meal, tips for other homemakers.

GOOD LUCK</i>

The meal must be something your family will willingly eat and hopefully look forward to having. Menus please, cooking methods, clean up methods, and if you care to, the recipes.


<b>PART FOUR - THIRTY DAYS INTO THE SCENARIO</b>

Same conditions as above, but now it's say, September 5th.

Thirty days in so here are some complications:

For us folks with light duty home-owner generators - your rig packed it in seven days earlier.

For the folks with heavier duty generator rigs - your machine is beginning to put out fluctuating power quality.

For the folks with photovoltaic set-ups - a storm has damaged fifty percent of your PV panels.

For you folks taking water out of a stream or lake - an upstream neighbor has stupidly allowed a large amount of used motor oil, pesticide, or other toxic chemical to wash into the water body.

For everyone living in the urban/suburban areas - you are beginning to draw the attention of your less well prepared neighbors.


Please respond to both Parts Three AND Four.

.....Alan.

 

[Dennis Olson]

I crank up the genny for 4 hours a day (for A/C and fridges and to listen to news if any). Water comes from the 8, 55-gallon drums in the basement. Genny fuel comes from the 500 gallon propane tank in the back yard. Food comes from the 5 month supply in the basement. I lay low and keep quiet.

Edit: At 4 hours a day, it's unlikely that my genny will put out unstable power. It's rated "prime power". That's one of my foremost requirements when I ordered it.

EDIT2: There's no way to avoid said unwanted attention. BUT - if this were a 30-day outage, folks would mostly be in shelters by then. I'd probably be the only one left on my street.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

<i>Edit: At 4 hours a day, it's unlikely that my genny will put out unstable power. It's rated "prime power". That's one of my foremost requirements when I ordered it.</i>

Unlikely is not the same as impossible, Dennis.

For the purposes of this exercise what if your gen-set begins act up on you?

.....Alan.

 

[Dennis Olson]

The only thing that could really go wrong would be the electronic voltage regulator. I'd need to have a spare. Worst-case would be to try and get a tech out to look at it. If I could find one, I'd have to pay him in gold (I have one left from 2000). But this is starting to look a lot like a TEOTWAWKI scenario, if we went ONE MONTH without power or gas. I think our country would really be in the "can" by that time. My goal is to be able to hold out long enough that the "amateur raiders" have weakened to the point where they are no longer a credible threat. At that point, I could consider my options for bugging out (or not).

Without the genny, we have no power, and it would become a problem. Not in August (since we're so far north), but by mid-October, when it starts to get cold. Also, I'd need the definition of "unstable. Would that be too dirty for electronics but okay for motors? Or completely in the crapper? Because the latter would mean effectively that you have NO working generator, which is outside the scope of your outline above.

If the genny can run motors and medium-duty stuff, then I'll live with it. If not, then we're hosed.

 

[night driver]

OK.

Day 14.


we have officially gone off the Adkins Diet and I have the bread rising to go into the Coleman Oven and bake for dinner later in the day.

the wheat has sprouted nicely, as have the Mung beans and lentils.
It looks like diner will be a canned meat fortified 3 bean soup.


After doing the canning I haven't RUN the genny so it is really still OK...


the water is OK (got 3 drums left, been a BIT free with it but that is changing)....



Day 30.


We are DEEP into the storage preps (Deep as in VARIETY not QUANTITY, there are LOTS of buckets that are not open yet), found a bucket of jerky we'd mislaid, and dinner is going to be a fairly hasty affair.

the time has come to venture out onto the VERY quiet interstate and go see our friends with more on site preps than we have.

We can prolly hang here for another month but why? the City ain't coming back to life, we have successfully defended our neighborhood, shared with some, swapped with others, and the folks here are slowly vanishing.

And I guess it's time to filter the gas, add the octane booster, and get ourselves ready for a hot run tonite.

 

[Charlie]

By this time I would be shooting the wolves and coyotes eating the bodies of those who tried to loot us. The colder weather would keep the smell down and the eagles and other critters could pick their bones clean so that by spring the stink would be gone.

Still will have a winters worth of food. Out of beer and other luxeries by now, but food would still be OK. Time to go fishing and hunting some more for fresh meat so as to stretch the canned stuff as far into the winter as possible.

One thing I forgot to put in was powdered eggs. Gonna do that asap. Would miss my eggs. No chickens yet, may get those too now that I am laid off and have time to take care of em.

Plenty of wood for the stoves.I would only run the gennies as necessary to extend the fuel as long as possible. As I live in Siberia, the colder weather would have caused 95% of the idiots to bugger out and only us locals who remember how to live like our parents and grandparents would be left. Whooo hoooooo.........the fishing will be phenominal if this keeps up for a year or two and the pressure stays off.

 

[A.T.Hagan]

<b>SCENARIO NOTE:</b>

Don't necessarily assume that the centralized failure is nationwide. There have been and undoubtedly will be scenarios in the future that only severely impacted a portion of the nation.

On the other hand, maybe it is nation wide.

Either way, you've still got to cope.

Staying within the confines of the scenario parameters -

<b>How are you going to cook?

What are you going to cook?

How are you going to clean up afterward?

How are you going to answer Nature's Call?</b>

These are all very basic problems so you should have an answer for each of them.

All questions to be answered using only the tools, materials, supplies you have on hand right at this moment.

This is an open-book test.

.....Alan.

 

[Dennis Olson]

We have a propane stove (and with a 500 gallon tank in the back yard, we can cook a long time). Bathroom is the porta-pottie, emptied into a hole in the back yard. Cleanup is with river water, then a bleach-rinse.

 

[Mrs Smith]

How are you going to cook? At this point we've still got 200 gallons of kerosene for cooking on the Butterfly stove. Plus there's woods behind us so cooking outdoors isn't a problem either.

What are you going to cook? Still working off of home-canned vegetables, pasta, rice and the rabbits/deer on the property. Well-stocked fish pond across the street, too. At this time, we're still okay.

How are you going to clean up afterward? We have a 8,000 gallon cistern, and in the 5 years we've been here it's never gotten even half empty. Water for bathing, cleaning, drinking and toilet is still fine.

How are you going to answer Nature's Call? See above.

 

[Deena in GA]

Day 14
At this point in time (for real) we don't have any neighbors close enough to notice us, but I still don't want to do any open cooking, a la' grill or outside fire so will do everything possible in the solar cooker we've made. For lunch we'll have peanut butter on tortillas (made inside on the stove) and some of the apples that are beginning to ripen on the trees outside (assuming there has been no radioactive dust, etc.) .

Tonight's meal will be: (one of my family's favorites) potatoes (dried in storage) in a cheese sauce (also dried in storage) with canned ham, home canned butter peas, fried cornbread and canned pears. We're still okay on water but have decided that this is going to be a longer term problem than originally thought so are working on getting the cover off the well and a rope and bucket rigged to pull water up so we can have enough during the winter. Fortunately we have a septic system and have collected rain water to use to flush the toilets when necessary - and they are only used when absolutely necessary.

Day 30
Lunch will be chicken noodle soup and the cheese and peanut butter crackers that we stocked up on with blueberries we had dried this summer.

Supper will be red beans and rice, canned corn, homemade bread and a salad made with the lettuce that has begun coming up and some dried carrots.

 

[ChainedLightning]

We have enough canned fake meat products to last for months, and enough potato flakes and rice to last months as well. We also have a lot of canned veggies (green beans and corn and lima beans... you get the picture). So, the food situation is fine.

We should still be okay on propane for the outside grill - by now I'll be using the boiled water from breakfast to put in a thermos with the rice so it will be ready for dinner without having to use the stove so much again.

Water shouldn't be a problem, either.. we have a 25,000 gallon swimming pool, a cheap camp filter in case we need a prefilter and a very very good camp filter, plus plenty of bleach.

Our biggest problem will be that my MIL will likely have moved in with us, and possibly my stepdaughters and their boyfriends and children (MIL will prolly arrive with a couple of cans of stuff, SD's will arrive empty handed, and they'll complain about the vegetarian food once they get here). My parents live down the road from us, they have plenty of propane and a small propane camp refrigerator, though I doubt we'll be using the frig at this point. We'll use stuff out of my parents freezer before we start using our canned stuff, and that really should last several weeks (they go to Sam's and stock up).. they have a genny that they run a couple of hours a day to keep frig and freezer running - and they time it during the times the news is on so they can hook an old TV up and watch the news while it's on. But, that point is probably behind us - once we've eaten everything in the frig and freezer all of us will be living off of DH and my preps.

Not so sure about the neighbor issue. There is also the chance, if something happens that makes the Tennesee River rise, that we'll be cut off from the outside world - we live on a peninsula (on a very tall hill, so the water won't effect us), and if the water rises then no one will be able to get onto or off of our peninsula without a boat. In that case MIL and SD's won't be able to get to us... but it will also mean the neighbors won't be able to get to a shelter.

As for bodily functions... we'll still be using grey water from washing dishes to flush the toilet into the septic tank. At this point we may start going into the woods to go during the day and just use the toilet for middle of the night bathroom needs. It depends on how long we think the water will last. We also have the Tennesee River very close by, but I'd rather not have to carry river water up the hill if we don't have to.

CL

 

[breezyhill]

hi

i've asked my mom about her growing up years in appelachia, and she's said what they knew was handed down many generations. they have been in the cumberland gap area of tennessee for over 200 years.

those people were the first ones in that area after the rev.war, and at that time game was very plentiful. the book series, the trees and the town are good for describing the pioneer times back then, and what they ate.

then, after the game ran out, with all the people coming into the area, some areas of appelachia, like where my family is from, kind of got land-locked, by hills and poverty and lack of contact with the outside world.

especially during and after the civil war. my mother remembers her great grandmother at 97 years of age in 1944, still sound of mind, talking about the civil war and what they went through. let me tell you, if those times weren't hand-to-mouth, i don't know what is.

well, not to create a thread drift, but i've always been interested in cooking, and my mom's stories have always been interesting to me. their diet was very sparse. basically, it consisted of...

their own dried beans for bean soup, and whole beans dried on strings
canned green beans that they canned in the wash tubs outside
potatoes, beets, poke salet
canned pork sausage, chicken
corn bread, butter and milk

they had to be totally self-supporting and what little is listed above, they grew it. they even took the corn that they grew down to the miller, who had a mule attached to the old kind of grindstone and the mule would walk around and around and the wheels would grind the corn into cornmeal.

i prepare, or try to. but my mom's generation, they could sure tell us a lot of stuff. i think if times ever get to the scenarios that were pointed out to start this thread, what-if, what-if, what-if, i'll just remember that it's been done before, right here in our country already, 140 years ago, and try to do my pioneer ancestors proud and not let them down.

sorry to be so long-winded.

breezyhill

 

[Gingergirl]

Day 14

Since on the advice of TB2K's, I did can all the meats and veggies in the freezers.

Genny is still working, so using it for well, 1-2 hours a day. No more freezer to recharge and have scaled down to the undercounter frig for milk, butter, yogurt and cheese.

To conserve fuel, water is rationed, reduced flushing of toilets (septic system) and "navy" showers only. Water heated on the stove. Preparing to install hand pump on well...but flow rate will not be very good and means alot of hand pumping.

Laundry is by hand, but soaking clothes overnight cuts down on the scrubing. Still very time consuming, and I don't have much time as it is now my main canning season.

Canning will have to be out in the yard, but need the veggies.

So meals will have to be simple. Hot cereal cooked over night in the insulated cooker for breakfast with sugar or jam (no applesauce left), canned tomato juice, coffee, tea, and yogurt.

Lunch will be sandwiches of peanut butter or canned tuna, or cheese, salad from garden. Bread is baked in the dutch oven.

Dinner will be stew with canned meat and vegetables, or dried beans cooked in the insulated cooker with rice or cornbread or tortillas. Fresh veg from garden, salad and canned fruit.

Security will be the domain of DH, his "partner" and the dog.

If it looks like we may be in it for the winter, then the wood pile has been moved inside the garage. I'm thinking about pulling up the wall to wall in the family room and laying down the cheap, cheap peel n stick I have stashed away.

I miss long hot showers, old movies, and the net.

 

[theoutlands]

ok, once more... grrr

Day 14:

We've got some 200 gals of propane for cooking - assuming we could do so inside. Unless we managed to get the trailer reworked w/ a new roof and a TON of insulation, we'll have to spend most of the days outside in the trees for shade. But we'll be cooking on the grill - either from the charcoal stocks or the oak and pine piles.

If it hasn't been raining much, we'll undoubtedly be on rationed water. Barrels at the corners of the house catch runoff for watering the gardens and animals. If I managed to locate a good tank, we won;t be having problems. We'll still be putting wastes into the septic tank and pouring water down behind it all. Ideally, we'd have a "humanure" system up and running, but looks like we ran out of time.

Wondering if this is the end of our society...

Day 30:

Guess we knocked something loose on Curtis's gennie (not Ginny) moving it back and forth every day. Crap - there goes the freezer. Looks like we'll be having the hunk of goat for Labor Day weekend.

Pretty darn sure this is the end of our society...

Alan, how does a sandpoint do in sandy clay soil?

 

[Just Plain Mom]

14 Days, still proceeding as we did in challenge #2. I'm still assuming we're dead last on the priority list for utilities, so we're being very careful with our supplies, and especially conscious with our water. Neighbors possibly becoming a problem--especially the older couple who are clueless. The two of them use more water under normal conditions than the five of us, so I've mentioned to them that I hear the National Guard is giving out water--4 miles down the road. (Sheesh...now that I think about it, they're a real liability...he's not in good health and can't walk well, she's too small/fragile to do anything...*sigh*)

30 days...(It's unlikely that some fool will pollute the two rivers AND stream within our reach, since people around here understand the importance of clean water, but for the sake of the challenge...) Fresh water continues to be the main focur of our energy. Expecting frost any day now, have set up a better catchwater system for the monsoonal flow and we can expect snow in a month or so. It takes a lot of snow to make the same amount of water, so we're considering digging a shallow well. We hit water at about 5 feet when building the house--it'll be muddy, but we can filter it and boil it, and it can be used in the septic system until we get a new outhouse built. (My husband grew up with an outhouse and I've used my fair share of them, as have the kids. This is no problem for us.) I heat a bucket of water and split it for sponge baths, and have to help my daughter wash her hair once a week. Curling it afterwards keeps her spirits up.

I've cleaned out the garden and have brought in the lettuce, spinach and tomatoes, which are in moveable pots. I still have plenty of food in the pantry that will keep well...but am being very careful with my supplies. No problem cooking as I have enough propane to last for more than a year (normally it lasts that long and heats the hot water, too). We'll be lighting the woodstove in another month or so, and I'll start cooking on that when I can.

I've gotten the candles out, but we have taken to eating just a little earlier in the day while we can still see in the kitchen to save the candles for winter, when it gets dark quite a bit earlier. We sit out on the porch reading (out loud) until it's too dark to see, then go to bed. We'll enjoy this luxury while we can, as it will get too chilly to do this soon. Once we start using the woodstove, we will enjoy sitting around watching it, telling stories. (We do these things anyway.)

One of the next things on my to-do list is to find another few bales of hay for the horse (we have several neighbors who bale it using machinery, which I don't think they've done this year...maybe they'll let us cut and carry). My husband and older son have been busy chopping wood (a normal chore)...when these chores are done, I'm getting the kids back to schoolwork...grumble, grumble...

 

[goatlady2]

My neighbor and I share a good generator and have duplicate spare parts and the knowledge to go with the fixing of same. We found out several years ago after a really bad snow storm we only have to run the genny about 2 hours every 3 days to keep the freezer at 0 degrees and be able to run the well pump to draw enough water for the next 3 days for the animals, drinking, wash clothes in the wringer washer once a week, and water the 2 greenhouses via the buried irrigation system. Also would drop the hand pump with appropriate pipe in the well just to have it handy. We have enough food stores to get by for years not counting "on the hoof" chickens and goats and deer and elk in the neighborhood with the means available to hunt the same. Got 2 scythes to do hay if absolutely necessary. We both have wood cook stoves plus wood heating stoves, and on sunny days I just set up the solar cooker. Also have 1000 gal of propane for the regular cook stove and yes I have over a year's supply stored of animal grains. Waste water from the washer/dishes/body cleans used for the toilet connected to the septic. Also have 2 years wood cut and stacked and live in the forest with enough stabilized gas stored for the chain saws and oil and extra chains, etc. Living rural has a lot of advantages especially with only 1 neighbor who is a prepper and we live 10 miles from town. Have lots of appropriate sized batteries for the radio and a solar battery recharger; 100 cylinders of propane and extra mantles and glass for the lantern - only using to go check the animals. LED flashlights, candles, and oil lanterns for necessary use. Plenty to do during daylight hours so to bed when it gets dark and up at dawn. I'm good to go for the long haul. Plenty of extra canning lids, 3 pressure cookers that work well on the wood stove, solar dehydrator, smoker, etc. Lots of OP seeds and 15 years experience gardening and saving own seed.

 

[Gingergirl]

Day 30

The weather is starting to cool and the bulk of the canning is almost over.

The hand pump is installed: two days work, including re-sanitizing the well. (The instructions said it would take only a few hours.)

A Spring Box has been set up for cooling the dairy: a small ice chest set inside a much larger lidless chest, with wet sand between.

Meals are much the same. I'm hoarding the lamp oil for the early nightfalls of winter.

Except for the almost endless pumping, everything else is the same. Time to make serious plans for a possible powerless winter. It can get a bit cold up here.

Have been checking on some of the neighbors. Many are thinking of leaving. Don't really know where they would go...just rumors of shelters to the south. Haven't heard from my family on the East Coast. They have always managed for themselves, but I'm worried.

I miss ice, ice cream, frozen pizza, take-out for those nights I'm too tired to cook. I want my washer and vacumn back on line!

 

[Deena in GA]

I have realized that my meals - lunch and supper - need to be switched. In such a situation as described we will be spending much time at home working hard and so will probably need to eat our large meal in the middle of the day with a lighter meal in the evening.

One of my children broke the globe of my Aladdin lamp, so I need to replace that today. Does lamp oil go bad?

 

[Charlie]

Day 30

The hand pumps we installed in two of our cabins have been a God Send and we are glad we have em. While the lake will likely never dry up in our lifetime, the sweet cold spring water is wonderful to have. The sepic tanks should last forever and everyone now keeps the 5 gallon pail full for the next person after getting chewed out for not filling it after they flushed. The folks smile knowing we have enough toilet paper to last several years.

The guests who should have been in our cabins at the resort have been replaced by close friends who were too stupid to prep and are now humbly helping cut firewood and doing other work in exchange for a place to stay until this blows over. Good thing we put in a lot of rice, etc. as that is what they get (take it or leave it). They are getting used to a lot of beans and rice with a small amount of meat mixed it. The spices make it pretty good. Plenty of Kool Aid, Coffee, etc. The zillion boxes of powerdered milk are now looked at fondly. Kids like the pudding each evening as a treat. Everybody is learning how to sprout and while it doesn't beat a good Ceasar Salad, the sprouts are now being welcomed as "salad". It is sad, but I wear a sidearm at all times just in case one of them goes flakey on me. My best friend and I take turn "standing guard" over our place to make sure additional "riff raff" do not try to join our little club.

Everybody likes the gravity showers we built ahead of time. They thought the cute little decorative cedar wood slat racks over the showers were there just for looks. The 5 gallon plastic water jugs with the shower heads work great.

The outdoor woodboiler was a great addition for saving money in prepping for financial problems, but it does take power to run the ciculation pumps. Soooo, we are using the freestanding fireplaces for both heat and cooking. The barrel stove in the basement of the main house really keeps the place toasty. The wood supply is unlimited here, so that will not be an issue. Good thing we always had a two year supply in ahead of time that is nice and dry.

The bluegills and other fish from the lake are becoming very popular. We eat them now every few days as the fresh meat is preferred over the corned beef and other canned meats. The .22 has added some small game, but it won't be long and that resource will be depleted. The bluegills on the other hand will probably last forever.

Washing clothes in the washtub with the washboard has now been mastered. At first it was a little tough, but with practice, the clothes have been coming out just great. One bath tub has been set up for rinsing and clotheslines have been strung in the basement of the main house by the barrel stove. I miss the "Bounce" on my undies, but am getting used to the stiff shorts now.

All is well, the gennie is only run about an hour a day now to recharge the battery bank. Good thing we put in the inverter/battery system. We use the TV, VCR and Satellite TV, Radio etc in the main house as the "entertainment center" for the kids to watch Disney Movies etc. while the Dad's play cribbage in the 3 bedroom cabin cuz that has the big kitchen table. The 250 gallons of Kerosene will last the winter in the Aladdin Lamps no problem. The rechargeble batteries run the LED nightlights in the bathrooms etc. so nobody trips.

It takes a lot of work keeping everything ready now that we only use power tools when the gennie is running and are saving the gasoline for chain saws, the tractor, etc. 250 gallons of gasoline sounded like a lot while we were prepping, but in the first two weeks, we used up waaaay too much and now have strict rationing. The auto trips are only for emergencies.

The strep throat outbreak was spooky, but the anti-biotics nipped it in the bud. Lucky so far as only a couple of minor injuries with the folks learning how to split kinding for the fireplaces.

All in all....so far so good. We'll see now when we hit the 6 month phase.

 

[WalknTrot]

O.K. Still August, 14 days and the living is easy! Actually, we may be working on a second crop of hay by now, (assuming we have gas for the tractor!) and I'm tired and cranky so need a quick and simple supper!! Family favorite: Hamburger Helper Lasagna made with Jack Links pre-cooked and packaged burger AND sweet corn from the garden. (August in Minnesota!) Will still probably be cooking outside in the shade on the picnic table with the propane camp stove, 'cause it's hot and muggy. Still have 500 gal propane in the tank for the gas range and the high efficiency vented gas fireplace (no elec. needed) in the house. Also the hand water pump works great...solar shower is set to use in the barn or shed for privacy and we may have dragged out and dug a new hole for the outhouse from the back pasture where it has been "stored" since the county inspector was coming to do the evaluation for the mound septic system a couple years ago. (Fewer complications and always build the outhouse on skids!)

Scenario 4: 30 days. Well, we are tired of chicken & rice and spaghetti and mac & cheese....need something a bit zippy and tasty. How about pasta salad with fry bread & summer sausage sandwiches?

Salad: Pasta shells boiled on the stove, drain & cool. Mix up a package of Good Season's Italian dressing (oil, water and vinegar) . Cut up any good stuff from the garden....onions, broccoli, tomatos plus slice a can of black olives.. Throw in a cup or two of cubed velveeta cheese. Done.

Fry Bread: (Also great for breakfast!)
Mix in bowl: 3 Cups flour, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup milk (from evap.),
1 1/2 cup warm water. Knead on a floured surface and cover to rest for 15 minutes. Pinch off a ball a bit smaller than a tennis ball, roll flat on board or in hand and poke a hole in the middle. Fry in a pan of shallow hot oil until golden brown...try to turn only once. Drain. For breakfast dust with powdered sugar or sugar and cinnamon. Leave plain for sandwiches.

Slice some of that stored no fridge needed summer sausage and open the mustard!

 

[Onebyone]

Since we at this time have at most 1 weeks worth of anything to eat but grains then we would already have been searching out food in the area to go with our grain.

I did not read the original thread so am not sure what has caused us to be doing this but below is how I would handle it. May be doing this for real soon due to finances.

I would be making flat bread each day for our staple diet to stay alive. I have wheat and corn in pails. The corn I might also make corn bread. I would make flat bread as it is less labor intensive and I would of necessity be needing to spend my time on more productive issues like finding wild food.

To supplement it I would be using clover flowers dipped in batter fried in oil if there was still oil. If no oil then just bake them.

We would be cooking over an open fire as we have no grill and had to give my coleman stove fuel away due to damn landlord saying get stuff off porch.

We would be going by local creeks to catch crawdads. The way I would catch them would be using some dead meat even if old worms on a stick with netting over it. When I had several around it I would lift it up and as they fell I would have a bowl under it to catch them. We would also fish using any method we could to catch something as I am not going to go by good sportmanship rules if we are on survival tactics, which we would be.

I would boil the crawdads in salt water and sprinkle herbs on them. The fish I would bake or pan fry with herbs and greens putting a little red summac berry juice on it for the tartness.

I would be collecting wild greens to go with the dinner and hopefully rob some birds nests to get some eggs to boil for the salad occasionally.

Some of the apples trees in the area would be coming in so we would also have cinnamon apples for dinner. I would cut the apples cook in low water for about 10 mins until they turn translucent then sprinkle cinnamon on them. There are also going to be musceedines (sp) and scupedines coming in through the summer which I will use for supplementing the meals and dry some for winter.

I will be setting 5 snares per day to catch rabbits, birds, turkeys, and other small critters which I will most likely boil as that is the easiest though roasting would taste better. I would occasionally make dumplings from the gain to go with the meat.

I would also make stew thickend with some of my grain flour, salt and pepper and some herbs adding a few clover flowers and other wild greens, I would add some kudzu roots to take the place of potatoes. I would also be making some crackers from the flour as I have found due to our low income when food is short if you just have a few crackers sometimes you can skip a meal and it not make the belly ache to much.

Water is all over around here so we would just collect it strain through cloth and boil it for each days use and some for the morning.

By the end of the month we would be out of our apt as I would have no money for the rent and landlord would make us leave. I'm not sure why this scenerio happened as I didn't read first thread but if this is in July we may be out of our apt by then anyway unless the flowerpot business kicks by mid month and we get rent money.

We would be collecting more than we need each and every day we are out collecting and drying all we did not eat for future winter use. We would store it in pillow cases and hang in our shelter. I will also dry wild greens as I think if you can dry herbs and use them then I see no reason you can not do the same with wild greens. I would also be collecting wild onions and shallots using them in stews and also drying them for winter use.

For the 30 day it would be more of the same except by then we would have a perm campsite set up and caches of food stored in different locations for the coming winter. We would definately be on foot by then so things are more confined.

The gathering of food would continue and we should still have flour or corn which would be our main food. Still catching crawdads, fish and small game. We also would most likely be adding earth worms to our stews by then and even drying them then pounding into flour for adding to bread.

I would be cutting the inner bark from pine trees and cooking it 1 hour each in three changes of water and using like noodles in my soups.

If things got to where we could not find animals then I would take some rocks and boil them strain the water to get some minerals out of the rocks. I think we will find the animals. {will add do not boil rocks in general as they can explode. I would make sure they are small rocks and in a trench fire pot so they only go up if they blow.} Also many folks will have abandoned their dogs. If I see healthy ones they have meat.

I would soon be collecting some nuts acorns, black walnuts and pecans as those are all around here. Hopefully in our wandering we would have come across some other nut trees which we would also collect for winter use. I would dehydrate any extra small critters we catch for future winter use and so we can take the sabbath as a day of rest occasionally and relieve some of the stress.

 

[Camasjune]

Day 14----Business as usual, kinda'. We now have 11 extra mouths to feed since relatives started showing up. They brought food, fuel and tools, though. Still don't need to dip into "preps" but I am hoarding the sugar and doing portion control on meat and toilet paper. Meals are cooked fast and hot on a makeshift outdoor stove over a fire pit. They taste good. Susie makes oatmeal or pancakes for breakfast if someone build the fire in the wood cookstove.

Generator runs 2 hours a day to pump water to 4 households, a half hour for each house so we don't exceed the recovery rate for the well. We run the freezer and only open it once every three days when we fire up the gen. Anyone at our house wanting a real bath must ride a bicycle to the river.

Laundry is a bummer doing it outside in two tubs and hanging it to dry. At least it dries this time of year. We change our underwear everyday, but jeans have to wait until they walk on their own to the laundry tub.

The guys are cutting firewood and fishing now that most building projects are done. TSHTF is a great motivator.
Kids are no longer afraid of the dark, no one says "Eww, I don't like that" and we all agree behind the garden was a stupid and inconvenient place to put the outhouse. Once a day flush doesn't mesh well with 17 people in the house so we will move the outhouse closer. All that junkmail, stacks of magazines and newspapers are coming in handy.

The garden is doing great and I am still planting. Canning and drying everything we don't eat. Stockpiling eggs for when the chickens slow down. I am trying to hatch out another batch of chicks. Goats are producing well and we are trying our hands at making cheese. I am bartering with other farm families for a couple of rabbits and access to their buck

The unprepped pre-tribbers are long gone. They've given us grazing rights in exchange for protecting their property. The neighborhood is cooperative. The oldest kids are taking the combined livestock out to graze a mile away, saving the closer pastures for bad weather this winter. They are armed and have 2 herd dogs with them. The women folk are having canning bees at the homes that have propane. Those of us with gardens are sharing. I trades some of my ducks for a couple of rabbits and access to the buck. The men are pulling together salvaging material, hunting, fishing and cutting firewood. Small Farmer's Journals are pretty dog-eared and grubby from studying how to put together a harness so Fat Horse can haul the logs.


Sept. 5--30 days----

Time to close down the freezer. It was still a quarter full. We can, salt, smoke and eat well.

One by one, all the nighborhood generators died but ours and it is getting flakey. It runs 4 hours a day so the other neighbors can haul water. The noise is driving us nuts, but I am not letting the generator go portable. Now the guys get a clue about what I've been talking about when I show them the chapter on livestock treadmills in Handy Farm Devices and the one in Small Farmer's Journal. The salvage treasure hunt is on. We have a few dead generators, dead cars a few defunct mills and junkpiles at our disposal, and some mighty handy guys, too. One neighbor has rigged a system to hand pull water from their well. It can be rigged to bicycle or treadmill, too. If we run these, we can save the fuel for the tractors in the spring.

Everyone in the neighborhood is reading all my farm and homesteading books.

I am getting low on dog and cat food, but the rabbits are producing well. The little kids move the rabbit cages around the neighborhood and bring them back at night. Everyone has rabbits now. George offers to take the useless dogs for cougar bait so he can feed his hounds. I doubt if anyone can tell the difference between cat and rabbit after they are dressed out, except the dogs and I know they won't tell.

We are doing inventory and strict menu planning to make sure we cans stretch the good stuff. We don't want to get stuck living off skunk cabbage root, dried zuchini and mountain beavers by next March. We still haven't broke into deep preps yet. I am still estimating how long the chickens will last before the new pullets are laying.

The steelhead and salmon are running and the smokehouse is busy. Guts and heads are going into the compost. Our group's best hunters are seeing how close they can get to the elk herd on horseback. I love elk meat!

It is apple picking time. We will dry some and store the rest for eating and applesauce when we fire up the cookstove for heat. We are busy with blackberries, too. Forget canning zuchini!

Taking stock of what we have, we've increased our farm production to feed more people by cooperation, bartering and intensive management. By getting serious, we've worked harder, gotten more creative, learned much about ourselves and each other. We learned that no matter what, we always plant way too much zuchini for the neighborhood.

Still on the to do list: rip the carpet out of the house to make it easier to keep clean. Slap together another addition for more indoor space and maybe scrounge up another woodstove and pipes to heat it, learn soapmaking from a neighbor, settle in for a long wet winter and start planning for next year.

 

[old bear]

30 days into the troubles, and the kids have finally made it here from their locations. Other relatives are also here or on the way, giving us a total of 15 people on the farm. We appreciate the extra hands for help, but also have more mouths to feed. We have stored enough dry goods for over a year for about 12 people, so staples are in good shape. We have several families staying in converted buses, 2 in the trailer, and the rest in the "big house". Each area has it's own wood stove, kerosene lanterns and plenty of bedding. We only use the stored fuel for the chainsaws and the generator. The generator only gets used abut 2 hours per week to refill the water storage (1000 gal) which is higher than the living quarters so we have a good gravity flow. The freezers have been emptied and all items canned and stored in the cellar. We are completing construction of the smokehouse for the fall butchering of some hogs and goats. Many of the chickens are already canned. But we kept the laying hens and a few roosters to resupply the flock. The goats are still milking and several are due to kid any time now. I'm just glad we got the solar powered electric fence charger.

I am sure glad we stocked our ponds with catfish last summer. They should be getting big enough to eat now. Those 200 little fish for $40 sure looks like a bargain now!

Most of the cooking is done in the summer kitchen because it is still hot here, but soon we can cook on the wood cookstoves inside. We had an outhouse already (2 holer), but with the extra bodies and hands, we built another one closer to the buses. We haven't had any problems with preditors, 2 or 4 legged kind yet, but we still keep someone on watch 24/7 just in case.

The apples are coming in in abundance, but without electricity, we can't use the dehydrators, and it is still too humid to dry otherwise. We will just can them and make lots of applesauce. We still have several hundred pounds of rice and are making dog food with meat scraps and rice, they seem to love it. We have been saving the corn we had stored to feed the chickens and goats this winter. They have done a good job scavenging their own feed so far, with lots of bugs for the chickens and browse for the goats. We are bartering one of our hogs for hay from one of our close neighbors. So far, so good.

We are planting our winter garden, and getting the cold frames ready. We had been experimenting with greenhouse panels over some of our raised beds, so now we will see how they work in the real world. We should at least have fresh greens throughout the winter.

We have plenty of wood down already, it just needs to be split, but we are waiting for a little cooler weather to do that. We have lots of strong backs for that job now. We have stored 100 gallons of kerosene for use in our oil lamps, and will have to use sparingly. I have a feeling we will all be going to bed early and rising early this winter.

Because it is too warm outside to go to sleep before 9 pm, we all get together in the great room of the big house to play games, read and visit with each other. This has turned into everyone's favorite time of the day as we share stories, make plans and enjoy each other's company. This improves morale and gives a cohesiveness to the group. We have found it is efficient to prepare breakfast for everyone so we all meet in the big house every morning for a meal before we start the day.

Our main concern is our health since we have several little ones here now. I have stocked up on antibiotics as best as I could, but only have capsules. Will have to modify for the babies if needed. We typically have cold wet winters so it will be a challenge to keep everyone well and strong.

 

[old bear]

Birth of a raider...a short story

Written before Y2-K did not happen, this short story was supposed to make people think about how easy it might be for some people to cross the "line" under stress, and how unprepared others might be for this.

Birth of a Raider
Three men, their faces showing several days growth of beard sat around a small, smokey camp fire. Their wives sat nearby, looking cleaner, if more sullen than the men. Several small children milled around the campsite, which consisted of five back packing tents and two sport utility "bug out" vehicles. They had camped near a small stream. Downed tree branches had provided enough wood for their fire, but by now they were having to go farther to gather wood. Empty food wrappers littered the area. It was supposed to be the job of the oldest children to dispose of these, but this had not been enforced. The men sat together and talked in low voices. They had expected that after some rioting in the inner city, things would be restored to normal. They had seen what had seemed like a reasonable amount of food (mostly MRE's) quickly diminish as the days went on and the news from their hand crank radio continued to be bad. Returning to their homes right now did not seem to be an option. This morning they had cooked and eaten the dog belonging to one of the families. Nobody had eaten enough. It was a small dog.

Ralph thought that they should approach a farmer and ask for food for their families. Steve and Dennis were not sure. Raised in the city, they had a unreasonable fear of rural folk. What if they shot first and ask questions after? They had at first tried hunting, but the area, once known for it's game, seemed devoid of wildlife. In three days that had managed to kill two squirrels and a blue jay. Lacking any better ideas, it was agreed that they would ask the closest farmer for food. Perhaps they could do some work to pay for it. Leaving the camp behind, they walked toward the farm that they had seen on their way in. Gasoline was now a premium item that they would not waste. At the edge of the woods they stopped to observe the farmhouse. " I don't think we should all go up there together". Ralph said. " No sense making the farmer nervous.". "Maybe you had better leave your rifle here too." Steve offered. "We can sort of cover you from here, if there is trouble." " There won't be any trouble." snapped Ralph. " I am just going to explain our situation and ask for a little food".

Leaving his AR-15 with his friends, Ralph walked across the barren field towards the farmhouse. The old white farmhouse was well cared for and showed fairly new painting. As he drew nearer Ralph observed several large chickens wandering inside a fenced in area, with what he decided must be a chicken house attached. "Eggs!" thought Ralph. "They have so much, surely they will let us have some." he thought. When he had gone about as close as he thought was correct Ralph yelled " Hello. Anybody home?" A older man and two rather small dogs appeared from inside one of the buildings. The dogs began to bark and the man held a shotgun in his hands. Ralph's sudden fear began to subside when the man did not start firing immediately. The man walked towards Ralph who waited for him to get nearer, not wanting to have to shout. When they were about ten feet apart the farmer told Ralph to "turn around slowly". When Ralph wanted to know why, the farmer said it was so he could see if Ralph had a hidden gun. Ralph turned and the farmer looked. "This is stupid." thought Ralph. "If I did have a hide out gun, this old geezer would never know it". The farmer got right to the point. " This is my land and it is posted no trespassing and No hunting ". "What are you doing here and what do you want ". Ralph felt his anger rise . Why this old goat! I make enough money in six months to by and sell this too-bit farm, Ralph thought. Trying to keep his true feelings out of his voice, Ralph explained the situation and the need for food for their families. The farmer told him that he had to think of his family first and that they might not even have enough food put away for themselves. When Ralph pointed out the chickens and asked for just a couple of them, the farmer went into a tirade about his family needing enough food in case next year's crops did poorly and a lot of other stuff that simply made no sense to Ralph. By this time next year all the hardships would just be memories and the economy would be back on course. Ralph was not surprised that this dirt farmer would have almost no knowledge about how our interconnected system really worked. "Need food in case next year's crops did poorly”, what a crock of shit, thought Ralph. When Ralph tried to explain why things would be back to normal long before the crops of the next year could be important, the farmer just snorted and accused Ralph of not knowing where the food came from in the first place.

During this conversation, Ralph and the farmer had been unconsciously moving closer together and had began to gesture more. When the farmer told Ralph that he simply could not give, sell, or trade him any food, because his family "might need it", Ralph went ballistic. He screamed that his family "did need" the food, right now, and not at some imagined time in the distant future! Advancing, Ralph got close to the farmer's face. The farmer took a couple of steps backward and raised his gun menacingly. "You get off my land right now. Get and don't come back." he yelled, with the veins bulging in his forehead. From the wood line Steve and Dennis could hear the sound of voices, occasionally rising in anger, but could not make out many of the words. All Steve knew was that the farmer had raised his gun. Ralph decided that he had used the wrong approach. He should not have belittled this man's fears, no matter how unfounded they really were. Based on his poor education, this man was doing the best he could to understand events that were hopelessly beyond him. As Ralph opened his mouth to speak, a shot sounded from the woods. Ralph actually could hear the sickening, slapping sound the bullet made. He saw the look of surprise come into the farmer's eyes for a split second, before the man grabbed his chest and pitched over backwards, fertilizing his fields with his own blood.

Steve claimed that he was sure the farmer was about to shoot Ralph and had only shot to protect him. Ralph had to admit that the shotgun had been more or less pointed at him and the old man had been awfully upset. For some reason, he would never later understand, Ralph picked up the farmer's shotgun and the three of them walked towards the house. They could never later recall when or how the decision was made not to leave any witnesses behind. The eleven year old girl was the hardest. After that it just got easier.


__________________

 

[Delphinus]

I waited to respond to this because I first wanted to actually try cooking this particular recipe using all prep ingredients and methods.

By 2-4 weeks into this mess I will be trying to remain as invisible as possible. Don’t have a gennie and don’t want one. It would attract too much attention. Although I do have a gas grill, a charcoal grill and a Coleman stove, they must all be used outside. Instead, for this exercise I used a couple of Magic Stoves with cans of Safe Heat liquid fuel (safe to use indoors). In the spirit of the experiment, I also ate on a paper plate with a plastic fork.

What I made?
- Angel hair pasta with clam sauce. It was very good, I will make it again.
- If this were really August, I would have added a small tomato salad from my truly tiny garden with fresh basil and a little wine vinegar and oil dressing. The tomato plant is in a large pot and could be brought indoors at night so as not to ‘tempt’ any remaining neighbors.
- Later tonight for dessert I will use the other half-can of Pure Thick Cream (used in the clam sauce) with a little sugar over a can of strawberries. I may cheat though, as I have some strawberries in the fridge that need to get used up.

What I learned?
- I could have gotten away with using a lot less water to boil the pasta.
- The Magic Stove took 17 minutes to bring 5 cups of room temperature water to a boil (even with the wick pulled up to make a bigger flame). Fortunately, angel hair pasta only takes a few minutes beyond that to cook.
- Used more fuel than I expected (45 minutes worth between the two stoves). Good news is that Safe Heat is pretty cheap. Think I paid around $16-18 (I forget) per case a Sam’s, supposedly 6 hours per can.
- I just used up the last of my cooking wine…. adding it to the list.

Other stuff?

My stored water might be just about gone at 30-day mark, depends on whether my parents are with me. I will have to make a point of trying to replenish as I can before the original supply is gone. There is a built in pool about 60 ft from my door. There is a small stream about 150 yards away. If that one is contaminated, there is another small stream about 350 yards in the opposite direction. Perhaps rain water as well? I have bleach, lots of coffee filters for preliminary straining and one of Shane’s gravity water filter systems.

I have a portable toilet and have scoped out spots well away from house to empty and bury…probably at night. Ideal? No, but it’s the best I can do in my situation (condo).

August in Michigan? It might be hot, then again it might not. If it is, my basement still stays pretty cool. I can sleep down there if I can’t stand it upstairs. By Labor Day I’m sure to be using at least a light blanket at night. Doing fine with food stores, however, the coming winter and cold weather worries me a great deal. Praying a lot.

Thanks for the exercise! It forced me to do a little more hands-on experimenting.

***********
edited to add:

Decided not to cheat and went with the canned strawberries for dessert. Wisked some of the strawberry juice into the canned cream, which is thick like custard, and poured over strawberries. Yum! Saved the rest of juice and will use over pancakes in the morning.

Also need to learn not to be such a messy cook if water becomes scarce for cleaning the kitchen.

 

[booger]

Fourteen days with no power. Everything else will still be the same as our current situation. We have no gasoline stored so I assume that our vehicles will be dry already. We have gas hogs and 2-3 trips into town will drain a full tank on both. So no more heading in for supplies.

Would probably have some of that chicken I canned earlier, warmed on the grill. (We would still have propane for the indoor stove but, again, would be saving it for canning purposes. By the way, we use firewood in our grill and we have a couple dozen acres of trees so plenty more where that came from.) Cook some rice in a dutch oven on the grill, mix in the chicken, toss in some dry soup mix (I make it bulk), and simmer it for a bit. Water for cooking would be no problem as we have enough to last past 14 days.

Again, clean up is simple with a damp washcloth. We have a stockpile of paper plates. The dutch oven would need to be rinsed but that doesn't take much.

 

[booger]

Forgot part four. Thirty days.

Everything should be the same as the 14 day scenario but our stored water would be getting low so I'd be getting nervous. I know far too little about contaminated water and cleaning it so I'd most likely be finding the butthead who did the dirty deed and beating him to a pulp. :sb: Okay, maybe not.

Taking a break from the chicken, we'd throw some seasoning, zucchini, and tomatoes (veggies from the garden) into a dutch oven to simmer. It makes a very tasty mush thing that we all love so much that we never even bother to fix anything to go with it.

Clean up again with damp washcloth for silverware, knives, and dutch oven. Paper plates will be in the burn pile.

Editing: forgot to say that we live out in the boonies with no visible neighbors. Neighbors we do have are cool and have their own stores. No through traffic to see us as we live on a dead end, out of the way, dirt road, hidden by forest.