Prep Genrl Weekly Prep Thread: October 30 --November 5, 2022

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
Judy, I keep a year's supply of OTC meds, vitamins, and supplements (all dated) in a large cardboard box all dumped in together in my main pantry room, LOL! I don't have any other place to store them, so don't feel bad.
I have a rubbermaid type chest of drawers that I use to have them organized in but it got away from me, I've only pulled out two drawers and two to go and I have stacks and stacks. I like to keep like things together so I can monitor what I have. I keep putting things in front of the drawers making it nigh impossible to open a drawer. Maybe one day. We've been off our supplements for a couple of months, I do that in case we might be getting too much of something, but its about time to start them up again.
 

philkar

Veteran Member
Thought I would share a personal experience concerning canning and how long it will last. Through a series of circumstances I am cleaning out my hubby's parents home where his bachelor brother now lives. I found several cabinets of home canned food. I initially rejoiced seeing all the jars! My rejoicing ebbed away as I realized that the jars were mayo jars and the lids were mayo jar lids. Everyone of them was still sealed. Most were canned in 1984. Can you believe it?! Now I have no clue as to how they were canned but I have to believe they were hot water bathed. The food was seriously degraded but they were still sealed. No obvious mold was noted. Lots of it was tomatoes and fruit but a fair amt was beans in mayo jars. Hubby thinks she had a pressure canner but I haven't found one yet. Moral of the story...Don't fret!!!
Additional comment...Old bachelors are quite untidy.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We don't have much going on, today. We're waiting for it to warm up outside a bit more, then we're setting out my walking onions, finally. Rain is "supposedly" coming back in on Saturday, so we need to get it done. I have a question, though. Do I need to cover the onion bed with mulch, once we get them set out?

I had one remaining window in the house that didn't have insulated curtains. I bought a set, yesterday, for that window. We've already got those hung this morning. Now, all the windows in my house are insulated with curtains. If all of these new curtains don't do the job, Mom was telling me about rolls of plastic sheeting that she had put on the inside of all her windows, and it really helps. I can always get that to add if the curtains alone don't work well.

Doing 2 loads of laundry. I've got one washed and hung. The other is washing, now.

Cary has called over to the Urology Clinic every day this week, plus throughout the year, trying to get them to make his CT scan of his kidneys (which is a year past due, because they would never make his appt.) He, finally, got a bit ugly with them this morning, and after about an hour, they called with his appt. for next Tuesday.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
I've still got those two small loads of clothes yet to wash. I'm thinking about changing the sheets on DH's bed, so this is more to wash. Maybe!

With all the talk about turkeys for Thanksgiving, I was talking to DH this morning about me buying a nice steak for us, my problem is I have no clue what to buy that would be tender. DH said we have plenty of venison steak in the freezer and then I remembered the hamburger steaks that cooked and frozen when DH got his first deer. We are still waiting on the second one. I've got all the fixings that anyone would need.

I peeked in the refrig freezer last night at church. They are stocked up on coffee and whipped toping. They must have had a bad experience during the covid lockdown and shortages. No one is really saying anything about prepping, but I've got a feeling that most are stocked up.

Our electric meter was read yesterday, the bill due the last of November is $164. What a nice surprise, I've been praying about it. My highest bill this summer was for June at $417 and that's the month that we did not turn on the ac for 21 days, very perplexing. The bills gradually went down after that. My mind was prepared for a larger bill than last month wich was $255. Blessings abound.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I've still got those two small loads of clothes yet to wash. I'm thinking about changing the sheets on DH's bed, so this is more to wash. Maybe!

With all the talk about turkeys for Thanksgiving, I was talking to DH this morning about me buying a nice steak for us, my problem is I have no clue what to buy that would be tender. DH said we have plenty of venison steak in the freezer and then I remembered the hamburger steaks that cooked and frozen when DH got his first deer. We are still waiting on the second one. I've got all the fixings that anyone would need.

I peeked in the refrig freezer last night at church. They are stocked up on coffee and whipped toping. They must have had a bad experience during the covid lockdown and shortages. No one is really saying anything about prepping, but I've got a feeling that most are stocked up.

Our electric meter was read yesterday, the bill due the last of November is $164. What a nice surprise, I've been praying about it. My highest bill this summer was for June at $417 and that's the month that we did not turn on the ac for 21 days, very perplexing. The bills gradually went down after that. My mind was prepared for a larger bill than last month wich was $255. Blessings abound.

I'm going to stop in at Sam's while we're in big town getting Cary's scan done, Tuesday. They have always had the best boneless, smoked, half hams. I want one for my freezer. Depending on the price, I might buy 2. We both had rather have ham than turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas (I don't like turkey at all), but the "gang" has to have their turkey.

Our monthly electric bill for the month of October was only $60. That's the way it is every winter with us using only wood for heat, and I heat a lot of our water on the wood heater. When it gets really cold, I do a lot of cooking on the wood stove, too.
 

Cag3db1rd

Paranoid Pagan
Today was fruitful. Made 2 trips. First was with all the pumpkins, 4 buckets of butternut squash, and 4 buckets of corn. Second was with 5 contractor bags packed with loose hay. If it wasn't going to storm tomorrow, I'd go get more corn.
On that note, I have already set up the pipe to divert from the tank all night to wash the roof. It should be clean by the time I get up and around. I should be able to fill that second tank during that storm.

Now I need to figure out a good way to preserve my harvest.
 

Cag3db1rd

Paranoid Pagan
Best laid plans and all. Now they have rescheduled the rain for late morning. They still promise us peons they'll pi$$ on is, but only a little. Probably will only be enough to dirty up my windshield.
 

briches

Veteran Member
Just wanted to mention that in my area, there is a “respiratory something” that is hitting others pretty hard. It is taking kids out of school for about a week. Fevers over 100 - lots of congestion and some vomiting (weird combo with respiratory). Kids testing negative for flu, strep, and Covid (although those are going around too).
A coworker had something - went to doctor -RSV. She’s still hacking away two weeks later.

Please check your medicine cabinet to ensure you have what you need.

I have been taking my vitamins and supplements and washing my hands like crazy. So far so good. I have DEFINITELY been exposed to it (numerous times daily). Lol

edited to add - it is hitting kids harder than Covid ever did. Covid in kids seemed to cause cold symptoms for a couple of days and they bounced back. This one is lingering much longer.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We finally got those onions set out. It's supposed to rain tonight and most of the day, tomorrow. I didn't mulch them, but I have a pile of mulch for them if I need to. Do, or don't?

Cary finished with all the firewood for the season, yesterday. All split, stacked, and under roof. It gives us a solid 3 year's worth of firewood. All free, which is such a blessing.

Nothing out of the ordinary going on, today. We're pretty much set outside for winter to begin. Still picking tons of greens. I think we have about another week of 70's and 80's, then the bottom falls out.

I was going through some of Cary's stock items, and I found 3 large packages of hand and body warmers. Will those be too big to use in sealing canning jars of dry goods? Since he has so many, I ask him if I could use them for that purpose. He said to go ahead, and he will buy more the next time we're in town. I like using hand warmers rather than O2 absorbers, cause you can do individual jars one at a time without opening a whole pack of O2 absorbers. These are a bit larger than regular hand warmers, though.
 

school marm

Senior Member
We finally got those onions set out. It's supposed to rain tonight and most of the day, tomorrow. I didn't mulch them, but I have a pile of mulch for them if I need to. Do, or don't?

Cary finished with all the firewood for the season, yesterday. All split, stacked, and under roof. It gives us a solid 3 year's worth of firewood. All free, which is such a blessing.

Nothing out of the ordinary going on, today. We're pretty much set outside for winter to begin. Still picking tons of greens. I think we have about another week of 70's and 80's, then the bottom falls out.

I was going through some of Cary's stock items, and I found 3 large packages of hand and body warmers. Will those be too big to use in sealing canning jars of dry goods? Since he has so many, I ask him if I could use them for that purpose. He said to go ahead, and he will buy more the next time we're in town. I like using hand warmers rather than O2 absorbers, cause you can do individual jars one at a time without opening a whole pack of O2 absorbers. These are a bit larger than regular hand warmers, though.

The Ins and Outs of Oxygen Absorbers

From the article: "Oxygen absorbers are little packets that contain iron, sodium, and activated carbon. The iron does the vast majority of the work here; the porous packet material allows the iron to absorb oxygen and moisture from the air in the container but does not let any of the iron leak out. The sodium activates the iron, and the activated carbon absorbs gases and odors. Hand warmers, which some prepper websites advocate as a substitute for oxygen absorbers because they also contain iron powder, sodium, and activated carbon, are not food safe. They also contain vermiculite and may have traces of asbestos, not necessarily something you want right next to your food. And even if they were food-safe, there is no way of calculating how much oxygen they absorb. Would one hand warmer be sufficient? Hand warmers may work well for killing wool moths when storing your sweaters and blankets away for the summer."

You can buy a 100- packet package of oxygen absorbers that have 10 individual packs of 10 oxygen absorbers, so that you only open up 10 oxygen absorbers at a time.

 

moldy

Veteran Member
Today was fruitful. Made 2 trips. First was with all the pumpkins, 4 buckets of butternut squash, and 4 buckets of corn. Second was with 5 contractor bags packed with loose hay. If it wasn't going to storm tomorrow, I'd go get more corn.
On that note, I have already set up the pipe to divert from the tank all night to wash the roof. It should be clean by the time I get up and around. I should be able to fill that second tank during that storm.

Now I need to figure out a good way to preserve my harvest.

The pumpkins and squash are easy....keep them warm and dry. We store ours in a spare bedroom. If they are not cut or bruised and the stems are intact, they will store for a year.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
The Ins and Outs of Oxygen Absorbers

From the article: "Oxygen absorbers are little packets that contain iron, sodium, and activated carbon. The iron does the vast majority of the work here; the porous packet material allows the iron to absorb oxygen and moisture from the air in the container but does not let any of the iron leak out. The sodium activates the iron, and the activated carbon absorbs gases and odors. Hand warmers, which some prepper websites advocate as a substitute for oxygen absorbers because they also contain iron powder, sodium, and activated carbon, are not food safe. They also contain vermiculite and may have traces of asbestos, not necessarily something you want right next to your food. And even if they were food-safe, there is no way of calculating how much oxygen they absorb. Would one hand warmer be sufficient? Hand warmers may work well for killing wool moths when storing your sweaters and blankets away for the summer."

You can buy a 100- packet package of oxygen absorbers that have 10 individual packs of 10 oxygen absorbers, so that you only open up 10 oxygen absorbers at a time.


Thanks for the info, but I believe Summerthyme recommends hand warmers and uses them, but I might be mistaken. Maybe, she will chime in.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I have used them, and have never had a problem. I guess if I was concerned about them, I'd stash them in a small zip lock baggie with a couple holes poked in it, so they didn't contact the food.

Summerthyme

Could I empty the contents I want to seal into an open baggie inside the jar with the hand warmer on the outside of it? That way, the warmer doesn't touch the food at all. I like the hand warmers, because I can do one jar at a time if need be. I don't like having to open a package of O2 absorbers (10 pk) just to do one jar.
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Could I empty the contents I want to seal into an open baggie inside the jar with the hand warmer on the outside of it? That way, the warmer doesn't touch the food at all. I like the hand warmers, because I can do one jar at a time if need be. I don't like having to open a package of O2 absorbers (10 pk) just to do one jar.
Sure!

Summerthyme
 

etdeb

Veteran Member
Just wanted to mention that in my area, there is a “respiratory something” that is hitting others pretty hard. It is taking kids out of school for about a week. Fevers over 100 - lots of congestion and some vomiting (weird combo with respiratory). Kids testing negative for flu, strep, and Covid (although those are going around too).
A coworker had something - went to doctor -RSV. She’s still hacking away two weeks later.

Please check your medicine cabinet to ensure you have what you need.

I have been taking my vitamins and supplements and washing my hands like crazy. So far so good. I have DEFINITELY been exposed to it (numerous times daily). Lol

edited to add - it is hitting kids harder than Covid ever did. Covid in kids seemed to cause cold symptoms for a couple of days and they bounced back. This one is lingering much longer.
I fought something like bronchitis for 2 weeks best thing i found for cought was Delsym cough tablets,yes I am a weinee and can't do the liquid. EIGHT hours of relief from that cough.
 

babysteps

Veteran Member
Just wanted to mention that in my area, there is a “respiratory something” that is hitting others pretty hard. It is taking kids out of school for about a week. Fevers over 100 - lots of congestion and some vomiting (weird combo with respiratory). Kids testing negative for flu, strep, and Covid (although those are going around too).
A coworker had something - went to doctor -RSV. She’s still hacking away two weeks later.

Please check your medicine cabinet to ensure you have what you need.

I have been taking my vitamins and supplements and washing my hands like crazy. So far so good. I have DEFINITELY been exposed to it (numerous times daily). Lol

edited to add - it is hitting kids harder than Covid ever did. Covid in kids seemed to cause cold symptoms for a couple of days and they bounced back. This one is lingering much longer.

We have something similar bouncing around our area.

Make sure your cold season supplies are stocked up!
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
I just looked at my wm purchase history and I didn't buy anything online for the last 6 weeks. I wanted a couple of things that they only have online so I placed an order yesterday and they are out for delivery today. They came from Dallas.

I've gone back to ingesting coconut oil on a daily basis so I need a supply of good coconut oil. Walmart actually had a better price than amazon. coconut is beneficial for memory issues.

We are supposed to get storms later this evening and lasting for several hours. And then a cool down tomorrow only.

I hardly use o2's anymore because I'm vacuum sealing everything. Although I have some in the freezer. I let them thaw out before using them.

We had tacos today using the ground venison that I cooked and vacuum sealed and put in the freezer. I only had to thaw out the meat. Since tomorrow is supposed to be only 79, I'm thinking about getting a soup going in the crockpot. I finally got the crockpot liners and I love them, no mess at all, just wipe the pot out.

I've ordered a potato peeler to use for the potatoes I want to can. I usually peel potatoes with a knife but I've found myself taking too much of the potato off with the knife.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
It certainly won't hurt anything to mulch your onions. I had a couple of teeth pulled yesterday so I am on a soup diet for a few days.

Thank you. I think I'll go ahead and spread out a thin layer, then.

I broke another one of my already broken teeth, yesterday. Thank God it's not hurting, or I would be headed to my dentist. I'm trying to wait, until after the first of the year to get anything more done to my teeth. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Well, I don't know if I'll have onions, or not. I went out late afternoon, after supper, to cover them with mulch, and what did I find? Apparently, our dog had walked up and down and up and down the top of the bed! It was a mess. I was so heartsick that I just grabbed the pile of mulch and threw it all over the bed, and came back in the house. I don't know if any of them will come up, or not.

We're getting lots of beneficial rain. It started early morning (around 4 am), and is supposed to keep it up, til around lunchtime. No storms, but rolling thunder from time to time. With the rains that we got the other day, and these rains, today, our drought should be broken, or close to it.

I saw that there were folks in Judy's area without power. I hope and pray she and her DH are ok.
 

Digger

Veteran Member
We did a little shopping yesterday and picked up medicine refills. I only bought to replace what we had used. The Russellville 10 Box was low on a few things. But it is the first of the month and Friday is payday for lots of folks. My hubby wanted another box of sausage patties. I hope they keep these in stock. They are the size restaurants use on biscuits or English muffins. I have to make biscuits this morning for breakfast sandwiches.

I told on the shortages thread about my son texting from the Russellville Walmart super center that milk was $6.48 a gallon. Other things he buys were up too. We stopped at our small town Harps and milk was still under $5. But it may go up with the next truck. We found some good marked down meats while we were there. I found we still have a turkey in the freezer so there is Thanksgiving dinner.

We had storms last night. No damage that I see so far. We got 3 1/2 inches of rain. Hopefully the dry pond we repaired has some water in it.
 

nomifyle

TB Fanatic
We are fine. We did have heavy rain and thunder, DH is out repairing a fence that a dead tree fell on. But everything else seems to be okay. And we did not lose power here at our house.

I stayed up too late reading and had to force myself to put the book down, well actually my phone, I was reading on my kindle app. My eyes were getting blurry, so I was pretty much forced to put it down and turn off the light.

I'm reading a book by Steven C. Smith called

The Reversion (The Stonemont Series) book 1.


Its about the aftermath of an EMP. There are 5 in the series.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We are fine. We did have heavy rain and thunder, DH is out repairing a fence that a dead tree fell on. But everything else seems to be okay. And we did not lose power here at our house.

I stayed up too late reading and had to force myself to put the book down, well actually my phone, I was reading on my kindle app. My eyes were getting blurry, so I was pretty much forced to put it down and turn off the light.

I'm reading a book by Steven C. Smith called

The Reversion (The Stonemont Series) book 1.


Its about the aftermath of an EMP. There are 5 in the series.

So glad you are ok, Judy! It was really windy, here, before the storm front moved in this morning. We hardly got any sleep last night for all the acorns blowing off all these oak trees hitting our metal roof! It sounded like a war zone, LOL.
 
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