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The Ins and Outs of Food Storage

March 15, 2013 by

canned emergency food storage
photo credit The Survival Woman


I mentioned in the comments section of the What Would You Do: North Korea Attacks that I would put together some options for those of you without basements.  I started working on one and soon realized that to do the topic justice I needed more time.  Instead, I am going to post the article I had planned to post today and will post an article on the topic of radiation and fallout next week.

 

 

The Ins and Outs of Food Storage

It’s been a while since I have covered food storage.  Because of that and a couple good forum threads, I thought I would bring the subject up again.  One of the five basic human needs is food.  It can be one of the more difficult to figure out when you’re new to preparedness.  I think the reason for that is because the sheer size of the problem can be overwhelming.  Take a family of four, eating three meals a day, and two snacks a day, that is 84 meals and 56 snacks in a week, or 336 meals and 224 snacks in a month.  Seeing as most people shop for what their needs will be in the next week or two, planning that far or further ahead can be a lot to wrap your brain around.

 

Guidelines

Food storage isn’t one size fits all.  You’ll need to tweak things to fit your family’s needs.  That being said, here are some guidelines that can help you build your food storage and keep it rotated.

 

Shelf Stable

My definition of a shelf stable food is one that can last for six months or longer without freezing or refrigeration and won’t spoil.

 

Eat What You Store, Store What You Eat

This is the food storage golden rule.  It will make sure that you don’t waste money on foods your family doesn’t eat.

When building your pantry, I recommend getting a notebook and writing down all shelf stable food that your family consumes for a week or two.  These are the “eat what you store, store what you eat” foods to concentrate on.

There are exceptions to every rule and this one is no different.  We happen to eat foods that don’t store well, so if we only stored foods that were shelf stable that we consumed regularly, our food storage wouldn’t last for very long.  What we have done is stored some shelf stable foods that we eat occasionally along with some that, because of their long shelf life, we have decided to leave as storage foods.

 

First In, First Out (FIFO)

When you grab a can of vegetables take it from the front of the line.  When you replace it, put it in the back of the line.  This is the best way to rotate your foods.

 

What Kinds of Foods Should You Store?

If you’re like me, what can you do to supplement your food stores with foods other than the ones you eat frequently?  There are many options available for foods that have a long shelf life, though some you will need to repackage.

 

Staples

A staple is a food that is used commonly.  Think of sugar, flour, salt, rice, beans and so on.  These staples, when repacked into Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, can have a shelf life of 25+ years.

 

Dehydrated

There are commercially dehydrated foods sold that tout a 25+ year shelf life.  This can be achieved because the oxygen in packaging is replaced with nitrogen.  Most of the data I have seen on home dehydrated foods say 1-2 years.  We’ve mostly dehydrated fruits, but you can make jerky, soup ingredients and so much more.  Sadly the dehydrated foods never seem to last more than a couple weeks around me, so I’ll never get to see if they could be edible after a few years. J

 

Freeze Dried

There are many brands of freeze dried foods on the market.  I have tried a few and enjoyed most.  Trudee and the kids did not like some.  Some manufacturers have gotten smart and have the entrees available in a pouch and a #10 can.  I highly recommend you try the pouch, as it’s only a few bucks and will save you money if it turns out no one likes it.

Freeze dried foods also have a shelf life of 25+years, as long as the packaging isn’t opened.  Once you open the #10 can, you need to consume it within two weeks. I don’t know if it is possible to freeze dry your own food.

Because of the shelf life, and some other factors, we decided to add some freeze dried food to our food stores.  We purchased some entrée’s as well as some baking ingredients like powdered egg,  powdered milk, powdered cheese and powdered sour cream.

 

MRE’s and Emergency Ration Bars

MRE’s or Meals Ready to Eat are already cooked meals.  They include a heating element that you add water to in order to activate.  They often come with a desert and some condiments.  Emergency Ration Bars often say something like “2400 calories”.  That is for the total bar.  However, there are usually nine separate bars, each one containing 250+ calories.

These foods have their place in food storage.  They make good additions to BOB’s and car kits.  Shelf life can vary from 5-8 years if stored in optimal conditions.

 

Home and Manufacturer Canned Foods

Whether you purchase commercially canned food or can it yourself, canned food is a great way to supplement your food storage.  The most common question is: “how long does canned food last?”  Food Reference.com and the FAQ at the Ball Jar Company state the same basic information.  Properly canned food that is stored in temperatures above freezing and below 75 degrees will last at least two years.  The food will often last a lot longer than that, but over time there may be changes in the color, texture etc.  If the home-canned food looks edible from the outside, open it and see how it smells.  If it is store purchased and not bulging, open it and see how it smells.  If it smells fine it’s probably safe to eat.

 

What are the Dangers to Food Storage?

The life of many foods can be extended greatly by avoiding the following dangers.

Heat

Temperatures between 40 degrees and 72 degree Fahrenheit are ideal for food storage. For every 18 degrees above 72, the food loses up to half its nutritional value. If the food is exposed to temperatures over 72 degrees for an extended amount of time it can lose its color, texture and taste.

Light

Keep things in a dark space if at all possible, light can affect the appearance and taste of food. Mylar bags and food grade buckets will also help here.

Oxygen

When fats oxidize they turn rancid. Keeping your food in an oxygen free environment will prevent this, as well as kill pests that may be in the food. You can remove oxygen with oxygen absorbers in an airtight bag. I’ll cover deciding how many to use below.

Moisture

Moisture can take the form of humidity, condensation or even a water pipe breaking. To mitigate this, I keep much of my preps in Mylar bags and put the Mylar bags in food grade buckets. You can also add a desiccant to the inside of the Mylar for added moisture removal. I try not to have any food with cardboard packaging out in the open, as it is susceptible to accidents involving liquids, such as broken pickle jars, broken pipes or the “Not Me Ghost”, you know, children.

Pests

Pests range from larvae in bulk food to mice in your food storage area. There are a few ways to deal with each. For larvae, you can place a bag of rice, beans or whatever dry food you intend to store in your freezer for a couple days. This will kill any bugs, larvae or eggs. I used to do that, but it’s time consuming, my freezer isn’t that big and it’s usually full. I found, on a forum, that the simple act of removing the oxygen would kill any pests in the food. This made sense and they were steps we were already taking. We have not had any problem with pests in any of the food we have stored this way. If you want to make sure, feel free to do both. I have also read that Bay Leaves will keep pests away and some people add them to the inside of the Mylar bag as well as the inside of the food grade bucket.

To summarize, keep your food storage in a dry, dark, cool area in oxygen free and pest resistant containers.

 

How Much Food Should I Store?

This is something everyone will have to decide on their own.  That being said, I think everyone should have a minimum of three months food stored.  I personally would eventually like to get to one year stored for my family.  This will give us a large cushion if I should lose my job, or a number of other things take place.  It would also give us room to help those in need in a short term situation.

When you’re beginning your food storage it may be difficult to wrap your mind around storing an extra 90 days of food, or an extra year.  Don’t overwhelm yourself!  Break it down into easier chunks, like a week, then two and just keep adding to it.

 

How Do I Know How Much Food I Have Stored?

There are a couple ways to approach knowing how many days’ worth of food you have stored.  The first is to determine the required caloric intake for your family, then count up the calories of all the food you have stored, divide calories needed into calories stored and you now know how many days of food you have put up.

The second way is to use a food storage calculator.  Emergency Essentials has a very good one that is free.  With it, you can add how many family members you have and some basic information about them.  There are over 500 foods already populated to choose from and the ability to enter your own foods that might not be populated.  Once you’ve entered in all of your food storage, simply hit “calculate” and it gives a tally of how many days food you have stored, along with the nutritional information.  If you shop from Emergency Essentials, you also have the ability to add items that you want to purchase on your next order.

 

How Can I Afford Food Storage?

I recently wrote an article called “Frugal Preparedness”.  It has many tips and the comments have even more suggestions from readers.   There are many easy things you can do to build your pantry.

If you just need to bring in more money, one option, if you qualify, is donating plasma.  I checked into it a couple years ago and you can do it twice a week, receiving $25 each time.  That’s an extra $200 a month!  Blood Banker is just one online resource.  It may or may not list locations that buy plasma near you.

 

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Food Storage for Outdoor Cooking

February 20, 2013 by

Today we have a guest article written by Adeline Cid who is an enthusiastic survival specialist and has extensive training on disaster preparation. She is a strong advocate of quality readiness and have tried and tested Daily Bread and believes it provides the highest quality food storage products.

 

Food Storage for Outdoor Cooking

Food storage is a very efficient way to feed your family during a weekend camping, hiking or mountain biking trip. Using your storage during your outing is a good way to practice rotating your foods for longer shelf life. This is also an opportunity for you to learn various ways to cook your foods outdoors.

4 Conveniences of Food Storage for Outdoor Cooking

There are a few hassles that come with cooking outdoors. Some of them include:

  • No refrigeration
  • Excessive weight of packed foods
  • Lack of kitchen facilities
  • Lack of cooking utensils

Many of these inconveniences can be overcome as long as you’re prepared. Here are four reasons why food storage is very convenient during camping and other outdoor outings:

  1. No Refrigeration Needed – Food storage doesn’t require refrigeration or freezing. This eliminates the need to pack multiple coolers with massive amounts of ice to store your foods. Dehydrated foods stay safe even in extreme temperatures. All the require is re-hydration using hot water, and they’re ready for consumption.
  2. Just Add Water – Imagine cooking a tasty, homemade meal without having to measure spices and chopping vegetables. Dehydrated food products can be pre-assembled before you leave on your trip. Now, all you need to bring with you is one cooking pot, one measuring cup and a supply of water. For best results, boil the water first before using it to re-hydrate your food storage.
  3. Lightweight – Many camping trips take place in remote areas that vehicles can’t access. That means that you’ll be carrying your entire food supply to your camping grounds. In this case, every single ounce counts. You already have to tote all your camping gear and emergency supplies. Just imagine how much easier it will be if your food is lightweight. When compared to canned foods, dehydrated food weigh much less. Be sure to bring along some resealable plastic bags for your leftovers.
  4. Less Space Needed for Larger Meals – There are occasions when camping trips include large groups of people. This means storing and preparing large amounts of foods at one time. Dehydrated food supplies make it much more convenient to store foods needed to cook meals for large groups. Many of these foods come in one-gallon cans, making it convenient to take with you as you hike to your camping grounds.

Cooking Outdoors Using Your Food Storage

During a camping, bike riding or hiking trip, part of the fun is enjoying the great outdoors. Cooking outdoors can be used a family-fun time, but only if you’re prepared. Remember, you won’t have access to electricity or gas for cooking your foods the traditional way. However, there are a variety of other ways that you can prepare your foods outdoors:

  • Camp stoves: kerosene, butane, propane
  • Dutch ovens
  • Bar-b-cue grills
  • Cooking over an open campfire

The key to packing your food storage for your outing is to pack foods you actually enjoy eating. Daily Bread carries gourmet meal plans, emergency supplies and cooking kits for your camping needs. Buy stored food online from Daily Bread.

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Soil Amendments to Improve Garden Growth

February 4, 2013 by

There were a couple comments about poor soil types in the forum and I listed a couple things that could be done to improve soil types.  I thought I would give a few more ideas here for everyone to see.  I don’t personally like using fertilizers in most situations so with these tips you can improve most soil types naturally.

I am by no means a master gardener, but I have picked up a few things over the years.  I wrote an article last spring called Principles of Gardening.  In that article I covered some of the basics of gardening that I’ll not touch on here.

 

Raised Beds

If you have truly awful soil, you can build raised beds and bring in soil.  By managing the soil in the raised bed, you will, over time, improve the soil below the bed.  I like raised beds for many reasons.  You can read more about it in a review I did of Mel Bartholomew’s book All New Square Foot Gardening.

 

Organic Matter

Whether you have too much clay or too much sand in your soil, you can improve it by adding organic matter.  There are a few ways to do this that I’ll list below.

 

Composting

The following is from the article I wrote on Principles of Gardening.

Composting is more than just throwing out kitchen scraps, but that is part of it. Making your own compost and adding it to your beds is a great way to amend the soil and get rid of kitchen scraps as well as leaves and grass clippings. Here is a site with a huge amount of Information on composting. One of the mistakes I made was buying one large bin and continually adding to it. I have heard Jack Spirko from the Survival Podcast say, “That is like adding more cake mix, when the cake is already half baked in the oven.” He recommends using three small compost bins and cycling them, so you fill one, leave it alone and start filling the second and so on.

There are often community compost sites.  Many times you must pay to deposit leaves, grass or other compostable materials.  However, you can, in many cases, take composted material for free.  You just have to shovel it yourself.  These sites may use chemicals to speed the process of composting, so if you want to remain natural, you should check with the facility.

Manure can be a great source of nutrients to add to your compost.  I was able to find plenty for free on Craig’s list.

 

Mulching

Mulching is taking organic matter and placing it over the soil.  This will do multiple things; it will bring in other nutrients, it will keep the soil moist and it will prevent evaporation among other things.  You can use many things for mulching: leaves, grass clippings, shredded newspaper and even wood chips.  Carmen commented in the Principles of Gardening about a video done by a Christian called Back To Eden.  It’s about a man who says God showed him how to use wood chips for mulch.  If you leave them on the topsoil this will work great, but do not mix them in with the soil.


Cover Crops

Here is a great article called Cover Crop Basics, written by Organic Gardening, a great publication that we have received for some time.  The article is well worth reading, so I will just touch on the highlights.

Cover crops can help bring organic material to your soil.  They are also a great way to stop erosion.  The process is fairly straight forward.  You plant a crop, give it minimal care and then either chop the top off, letting the plant regrow to chop the top off again later (this process is often called “chop and drop”) or you kill the cover crop completely.  In either case the organic material is left to return its nutrients back to the soil.

There are many types of things you can use as cover crops; ryegrass, barely, buckwheat and legumes, to name a few.  The benefit of using legumes is that they bring nitrogen into the soil, which is often deficient in poor soil types.   You can also use a mix of ryegrass and legumes, to get the benefit of both.

 

Final Thoughts

These methods will fix a lot of problems with your soil, such as; adding nutrients, stopping erosion and adding organic matter.  While these things can be used to improve poor soil quality, you can keep doing them to keep improving the quality.

 

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Gorilla Gardening

September 11, 2012 by

There are two types of gorilla gardening.  One type is where people plant flowers in public places to make things pretty.  The other type is the one I want to talk about today; ways to plant edibles or improve their condition.  By “improving their condition”, I mean making it easier for them to retain moisture, maybe thinning the area out to elevate competition for resources.

 

Introducing New Species

One option is to plant new species of plants in various areas.  A great way to do this is something I may have heard on The Survival Podcast.  You take the seeds for the plants you want to introduce and put them in a clay ball and let it dry.  When you go on a walk, you simply throw these clay balls in areas you think they would be well suited.  Now you just wait for rain.  When it rains, this will dissolve the clay and give the seeds an added boost of nutrients from it.

Native Americans used to plant three plants together that benefited each other.  They have been dubbed the three sisters.  The three plants are corn, pole beans and squash.  The corn grows tall, the pole beans will climb up the corn as they grow and will also bring nitrogen to the soil for the other two plants.  The squash will help protect the soil around the area, the leaves keeping the soil moist and blocking out sun, which can limit weed growth and help limit evaporation.

 

 

Some Things to Keep in Mind

When you gorilla garden you have limited control over what happens.  Someone else could come along and destroy or harvest what you have planted and wildlife can also help themselves.

Because of this you’ll want to plant in places that are off the beaten path but are easy enough for you to get to from time to time.  Keeping a journal of what was planted and where you planted it is a good idea.

I would not plant a gorilla garden and depend on its produce to sustain you and your family.  I would take the approach that anything you may harvest from gorilla gardening is an added bonus.

Gorilla gardening could also be used to draw game into the area throughout the year.

 

Enhancing the Wild

Another type of gorilla gardening is simply enhancing what is already in place.  For example, let’s say you’re on a hike and spot some wild blueberries.  If the area is over crowded with them, you may remove a few bushes to give the others less competition for nutrients.  If you see the path rain takes, you may create a little swale to slow the water down and retain more in the area.

Another option is to take leaves from the area and use them as mulch covering the bottom of the berry patch.  You could also plant things that would help bring in nutrients to the area.  For instance, beans tend to bring in nitrogen.  Planting them near an area and then cutting them once they get to a certain height, leaving them to decompose; called “chop and drop”, returns nitrogen to the soil.

Again, with the wild edibles, I would make note of where you found them and look at anything you harvest from them as a bonus.

 

Do you have any ideas for a gorilla garden?

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Expiration Dates; Fact or Fiction?

July 11, 2012 by

We are a consumer based society that has been trained to believe the “expiration”, “best used by” or the “you’ll die if you use after this date” are firm dates that mean the product is no longer usable. Marketers have figured out that one great way to get continuous repeat business is to train us to pay a lot of attention to those dates and throw the product out after that date has passed. Am I saying that all expiration dates can just be ignored? Of course not, but I have literally seen expiration dates on paper and plastic goods.

It’s impossible for me to cover all types of products, so I am just going to touch on a few that I think might be popular or important. There are some pretty standard storage rules that will increase the life of just about everything. Keep your items in a cool, dark and dry area.
 
 
Staples

Wheat, sugar, honey, salt and so on. I have a pretty extensive list of staples., and here is a link showing you how to store them long term. Many of these items will last 25+ years. Some, such as honey, will store indefinitely, when stored correctly.
 
 
Canned Food

From Food Reference.com “Canned food has a shelf life of at least two years from the date of processing. Canned food retains its safety and nutritional value well beyond two years, but it may have some variation in quality, such as a change of color and texture. Canning is a high-heat process that renders the food commercially sterile. Food safety is not an issue in products kept on the shelf or in the pantry for long periods of time. In fact, canned food has an almost indefinite shelf life at moderate temperatures (75° F and below). Canned food as old as 100 years has been found in sunken ships and it is still microbiologically safe! We don’t recommend keeping canned food for 100 years, but if the can is intact, not dented or bulging, it is edible.”

For home canned food, the Ball Jar company used to have the following in the FAQ on their site. They have since revamped their site and I can’t find it again. But what they said was:

“How long can home canned food be stored?
Food that has been properly canned, using an up-to-date, tested recipe and that has a vacuum seal will keep indefinitely; however, over an extended period of time changes do occur. These changes may affect the flavor, color, texture and nutritional value of the product. For the highest quality, use home canned food within one year.

How do I know if a jar of home canned food is spoiled?
When up-to-date guidelines, such as those outlined on this site, are followed exactly, there should be little concern about the quality and safety of your home canned foods. As with commercial packaged foods, it is always wise to examine any food before using it. When you take it from the shelf, check each jar to see that it has retained a vacuum seal and that no visible changes have taken place during storage”
 
 
Pop, soda, coke, whatever you call it, where ever you live

This one is a bit tricky. I can’t find any firm numbers, but the research that I have done shows that regular, NON diet, pop will last for a long time, some places say years. As long as the can remains sealed, it will remain carbonated. The corn syrup lasts much longer than artificial sweeteners.

Diet pop goes bad not long after the expiration date. This has to do with the artificial sweeteners.

 
 
Chocolate

Chocolate by itself, according to Hershey’s Product FAQ

Q. How should I store chocolate?

A. Solid chocolate products will maintain their quality if well wrapped and stored in a cool, dry place (55-60°F). While refrigerated chocolate is certainly safe to use, we don’t recommend it. Chocolate kept in the refrigerator may “sweat” when brought to room temperature and may not melt properly. Cocoa is considered a non-perishable item which should maintain quality if stored at room temperature in a tightly sealed container.

Chocolate may turn white. This is called “blooming”. The chocolate is still perfectly edible. Here is what Hershey’s has to say in the Hershey’s Product FAQ

Q. My chocolate sometimes turns tan or white. What causes this?

A. Chocolate contains cocoa butter, a vegetable fat that is sensitive to heat and humidity. Temperatures above 75°F will cause chocolate to melt. The cocoa butter can rise to the surface and form a discoloration called “cocoa butter bloom.” Condensation on milk or semi-sweet chocolate may cause the sugar to dissolve and rise to the surface as “sugar bloom.” Chocolate that has “bloomed” is certainly safe to use, but flavor loss and texture changes may be noticed.

 
 
Bottled Water

The water itself won’t go bad but the chemicals from the plastic can leech into the water over time. If you use water bottles regularly and rotate through your supply, this shouldn’t be a concern. If you are storing water bottles for pure water storage, rotate every 6-12 months.

 
 
Medication

I am not a Doctor, nor have I ever played one on TV, but I have done plenty of research on the subject of medicine. From the below links I’ll show you how I had come to believe that in large part, big-pharma has sold us a bill of goods.

Drugs Frequently Potent Past Expiration details how in the mid 1980’s the military was faced with spending billions to replace medications that were reaching the end of their expiration date and requested the FDA to test whether medications were still effective after their expirations dates. Read the article for full details, but some of the high points:

The testing, conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, ultimately covered more than 100 drugs, prescription and over-the-counter. The results, never before reported, show that about 90% of them were safe and effective far past their original expiration date, at least one for 15 years past it.

In light of these results, a former director of the testing program, Francis Flaherty, says he has concluded that expiration dates put on by manufacturers typically have no bearing on whether a drug is usable for longer. Mr. Flaherty notes that a drug maker is required to prove only that a drug is still good on whatever expiration date the company chooses to set. The expiration date doesn’t mean, or even suggest, that the drug will stop being effective after that, nor that it will become harmful.”

“Joel Davis, a former FDA expiration-date compliance chief, says that with a handful of exceptions – notably nitroglycerin, insulin and some liquid antibiotics – most drugs are probably as durable as those the agency has tested for the military. “Most drugs degrade very slowly,” he says. “In all likelihood, you can take a product you have at home and keep it for many years, especially if it’s in the refrigerator.””

Here are more articles dealing with the expiration dates of medicines from MD’s that are themselves prepper’s.

From SurvivalBlog.com

Antibiotics and Antiviral Medications; by Cynthia J. Koelker, MD
Part One, Part Two, Part Three.
A Doctor’s Thoughts on Antibiotics, Expiration Dates, and TEOTWAWKI, by Dr. Bones

The Survival Podcast
Episode-685 with Dr. Eric Wilke on Survival Medicine

Doom and Bloom
The Truth About Expiration Dates by Dr Bones

There was only one medicine that I could find that was in fact harmful when used after it had expired. That was Tetracycline and it only effected one person in the 1960’s I believe. It was suggested that it could have been something else that caused the reaction, but it was blamed on Tetracycline.

From the research I have done it looks like medicines that are in pill form only, not liquid or gel, will last much longer than the expiration date suggests. I have and will continue to store and use medicines that were prescribed and not fully used that have exceeded their expiration dates.

 
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Filed Under: Food, General Preparedness, Preparedness Tips

Books on Wild Edibles

May 10, 2012 by

One summer when I was a kid, my family went to a state park to go camping. While there I was able to go on a wild edible nature hike with a guide. For me, that is by far the best way to learn and I may look into doing something like that again. Until then, the websites I linked in Three Wild Edibles That Are Good to Know are a great resource. That’s not handy when you’re actually out foraging. For that reason, books are a great resource to have on hand, of which I have a few.

Some of the books I’ll mention are for my geographical region but if you follow the link you should be able to find your region in the related subject area, or in the “What others who bought this book are buying”. A lot of the plants will overlap regions, but not all.



A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America (Peterson Field Guides)

This book is crammed full of information in a textbook-like manor. It lists the name of the plant, the states it can be found in as well as the type of habitat it can be found in. The time of year that it flowers or ripens is listed and common uses such as salads, cooked greens, pickled, etc., are also given. There are many poisonous plants listed. In some cases it is pointed out “use caution as the poisonous plant looks similar to another plant”, listing the resembled plants.

The pictures of the plants are drawn in black and white; they’re very well done, but still drawn. There are around 15 pages of color photos, one sided and 4-5 images per page. The lack of color photos is the only downside this book really has, but it’s a big one to me. However, there is enough great information on a huge number of plants to still make this worth buying. I give this book three stars.



A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs: Of Eastern and Central North America (Peterson Field Guides)

This is also crammed full of a huge amount of information in a textbook-like manor. It lists the same type of information on plant name, location in the region and the habitat it can be found in.

In many cases the minerals and other nutrients are listed. The traditional method used to prepare by various cultures, such as a tea and poultice is often listed. Also listed is the ailment it is used as treatment for. Poisonous plants are listed as well, sometimes a vague warning and others a specific warning of what to avoid.
This book is loaded with pictures; most pages have at least 2-3. This book is a good one if you’re looking to add some of the medicinal properties of these plants to your diet, but don’t look to them to replace your medicine and be sure to consult your doctor.

This book’s approach is to identify medicinal plants, so there isn’t information on how to prepare the plants as food. For foraging I don’t think this is a standalone book. I do, however, highly recommend it and give it four stars.


 
Wild Berries & Fruits Field Guide of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan

This book has the typical information you would expect; the geography is already listed to three states (there are more books available for other states). It covers the habitat it can be found in and the time of year the fruits and berries will be ripe.

There is a notes section that details interesting facts about the plants. Some of this will include medicinal uses and some list the type of animals that eat it.
There are many color pictures and a very nice in season and out of season pictures section. This is huge, as many plants look very different in the various seasons.
If you want to forage for wild fruits and berries, I highly recommend a book like this based on your geography. I give this book 4 stars.



Stalking The Wild Asparagus

This is one of the first, if not the first book on wild edibles. Where the other books offer a lot of information in a technical type manual, this book gives a lot of information but has more of a feel of coming from a grandfather on a nature hike. The author does a wonderful job explaining the plants’ history. He also spends a fair amount of time explaining different ways to prepare the plant. While there are a few drawn pictures, the books aim isn’t to teach you to identify the plant, but to know the history of it and even have an appreciation for it. Where the other books of this type might give a paragraph or two on a plant, most plants are given multiple pages in this one. The dandelion, for example, was given six pages.

There are fewer plants covered, still numbering around 45. He also covers how to cook carp, crawfish and a few other similar topics. If foraging is a passion, I highly recommend this book. I give it four stars.

Here are two books that I do not own, but are on my want list.

 


The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants
This book is 368 pages with over 200 color images.

Nature’s Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants

This book is 512 pages and covers 41 plants in depth with multiple color photos.

 

If you have another book on the subject, please list it in the comment section.

 

 

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How to Perform the Universal Edibility Test

May 8, 2012 by

In Three Wild Edibles That Are Good to Know I listed three wild edibles that I think everyone should know, and I gave a bunch of resources for you to learn more about wild edibles.  In this article I am going to explain the universal edibility test.

First let me say that you should only eat wild edibles if you know for certain what they are.  But should you find yourself in a true survival situation and you must forage to survive, here are some guidelines to remember for trying wild edibles that are not known to you.

 

Taken from the FM 21-76 US ARMY SURVIVAL MANUAL (page 117-213)

EDIBILITY OF PLANTS

Plants are valuable sources of food because they are widely available, easily procured, and, in the proper combinations, can meet all your nutritional needs.

 

Absolutely identify plants before using them as food. Poison hemlock has killed people who mistook it for its relatives, wild carrots and wild parsnips.
At times you may find yourself in a situation for which you could not plan. In this instance you may not have had the chance to learn the plant life of the region in which you must survive. In this case you can use the Universal Edibility Test to determine which plants you can eat and those to avoid.
It is important to be able to recognize both cultivated and wild edible plants in a survival situation. Most of the information in this chapter is directed towards identifying wild plants because information relating to cultivated plants is more readily available.

Remember the following when collecting wild plants for food:

  • Plants growing near homes and occupied buildings or along roadsides may have been sprayed with pesticides. Wash them thoroughly. In more highly developed countries with many automobiles, avoid roadside plants, if possible, due to contamination from exhaust emissions.
  •  Plants growing in contaminated water or in water containing Giardia lamblia and other parasites are contaminated themselves. Boil or disinfect them.
  • Some plants develop extremely dangerous fungal toxins. To lessen the chance of accidental poisoning, do not eat any fruit that is starting to spoil or showing signs of mildew or fungus.
  • Plants of the same species may differ in their toxic or subtoxic compounds content because of genetic or environmental factors. One example of this is the foliage of the common chokecherry. Some chokecherry plants have high concentrations of deadly cyanide compounds while others have low concentrations or none. Horses have died from eating wilted wild cherry leaves. Avoid any weed, leaves, or seeds with an almondlike scent, a characteristic of the cyanide compounds.
  • Some people are more susceptible to gastric distress (from plants) than others. If you are sensitive in this way, avoid unknown wild plants. If you are extremely sensitive to poison ivy, avoid products from this family, including any parts from sumacs, mangoes, and cashews.
  • Some edible wild plants, such as acorns and water lily rhizomes, are bitter. These bitter substances, usually tannin compounds, make them unpalatable. Boiling them in several changes of water will usually remove these bitter properties.
  • Many valuable wild plants have high concentrations of oxalate compounds, also known as oxalic acid. Oxalates produce a sharp burning sensation in your mouth and throat and damage the kidneys. Baking, roasting, or drying usually destroys these oxalate crystals. The corm (bulb) of the jack-in-the-pulpit is known as the “Indian turnip,” but you can eat it only after removing these crystals by slow baking or by drying.

 

Plant Identification

You identify plants, other than by memorizing particular varieties through familiarity, by using such factors as leaf shape and margin, leaf arrangements, and root structure.

The basic leaf margins (Figure 9-1) are toothed, lobed, and toothless or smooth.

These leaves may be lance-shaped, elliptical, egg-shaped, oblong, wedge-shaped,
triangular, long-pointed, or top-shaped (Figure 9-2).

The basic types of leaf arrangements (Figure 9-3) are opposite, alternate, compound,
simple, and basal rosette.

The basic types of root structures (Figure 9-4) are the bulb, clove, taproot, tuber, rhizome, corm, and crown. Bulbs are familiar to us as onions and, when sliced in half, will show concentric rings. Cloves are those bulblike structures that remind us of garlic and will separate into small pieces when broken apart. This characteristic separates wild onions from wild garlic. Taproots resemble carrots and may be single-rooted or branched, but usually only one plant stalk arises from each root. Tubers are like potatoes and dayliliesand you will find these structures either on strings or in clusters underneath the parent plants. Rhizomes are large creeping rootstock or underground stems and many plants arise from the “eyes” of these roots. Corms are similar to bulbs but are solid when cut rather than possessing rings. A crown is the type of root structure found on plants such as asparagus and looks much like a mophead under the soil’s surface.

Learn as much as possible about plants you intend to use for food and their unique
characteristics. Some plants have both edible and poisonous parts. Many are edible only at certain times of the year. Others may have poisonous relatives that look very similar to the ones you can eat or use for medicine.

Universal Edibility Test

There are many plants throughout the world. Tasting or swallowing even a small portion of some can cause severe discomfort, extreme internal disorders, and even death. Therefore, if you have the slightest doubt about a plant’s edibility, apply the Universal Edibility Test (Figure 9-5) before eating any portion of it.

Before testing a plant for edibility, make sure there are enough plants to make the testing worth your time and effort. Each part of a plant (roots, leaves, flowers, and so on) requires more than 24 hours to test. Do not waste time testing a plant that is not relatively abundant in the area.

Remember, eating large portions of plant food on an empty stomach may cause diarrhea,
nausea, or cramps. Two good examples of this are such familiar foods as green apples and wild onions. Even after testing plant food and finding it safe, eat it in moderation.

You can see from the steps and time involved in testing for edibility just how important it is to be able to identify edible plants.

To avoid potentially poisonous plants, stay away from any wild or unknown plants that
have—

  • Milky or discolored sap.
  •  Beans, bulbs, or seeds inside pods.
  • Bitter or soapy taste.
  • Spines, fine hairs, or thorns.
  • Dill, carrot, parsnip, or parsleylike foliage.
  • “Almond” scent in woody parts and leaves.
  • Grain heads with pink, purplish, or black spurs.
  • Three-leaved growth pattern.

Using the above criteria as eliminators when choosing plants for the Universal Edibility Test will cause you to avoid some edible plants. More important, these criteria will often help you avoid plants that are potentially toxic to eat or touch.

 

Filed Under: Food Tagged With:

Three Wild Edibles That Are Good to Know

May 7, 2012 by

I was a bit spoiled as a kid, we had many different types of wild edible plants nearby and I learned to recognize many of them. It’s a skill that I have long forgotten, but still have an interest in, I just wish I had more time to devote to it. Whether hard times come and you need to depend on foraging or you just want to nibble while you hike, I think having some understanding of wild edibles and edible weeds is a good idea.

I picked these three because they’re pretty easy to find, I am sure you have all seen them but may never have looked at them as being food. You can add them to your diet now, or just make a mental note of where they are near your home. If hard times come, you can add these to make your stores stretch further.

 

Dandelion

The entire dandelion is edible; just make sure you’re picking dandelions that have not been sprayed with herbicides. The young leaves will taste better as they get bitter with age. You can still eat older leaves; just boil them first to remove the bitterness, this could take more than one session. The roots could be sautéed or roasted. The flowers can be used to make dandelion wine, used in a salad or added to a fritter.

 

Acorns

Acorns, like other nuts, are nutritious; having calories, fat and carbohydrates as well. Once harvested and boiled to remove the tannin to get the bitter taste out, they can be ground and turned into four. Acorns will fall to the ground when they are ripe, in early fall. Pick them up and discard any with holes as there is a good chance they have had worms. You can either crack them or let them sit out to dry or let them sit out to dry and then crack them. To crack them you can use a nutcracker, hammer, or even cut them in half with a knife. Boil to remove the tannin, taste test them and if they are still bitter, boil them again. If they are not bitter, separate the acorn meal from the water. You can use the acorn meal as flour.

 

Cattail

Cattails seem to grow where ever there is any standing water. Did you know that they are often called “nature’s supermarket”? Almost every part of the cattail can be eaten at different parts of the year.

In the spring the shoots can be eaten raw or added in stir-fry. Cattail hearts mature in mid spring and can be used similarly to the shoots. Cattail pollen can be used instead of cornstarch as a thickener or can be added to breads for taste. The Rhizome or root can be harvested between late fall and early spring. Cattails store starch in the roots in the colder months and can be turned into flour, similar to acorns.

As I mentioned I just don’t have the time to devote to knowing wild edibles as much as I would like. But have gathered a decent list of resources on the subject, for when I do have more time. Here are the resources I have that you can use if you would like to learn more on the subject.

I’ll review some of the books I have on this subject on Thursday.  Here are some of the other resources that I have collected:

 
 

Websites:
Eat The Weeds
Hunt Gather, Grow, Eat; forage section
Northern Bushcraft: Wild Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest
ForagingPictures.com
Outdoor Edibles
Wildman Steve Brill
Wild Crafting: Forage for Free Food

If you have any other websites please add them in the comments, save the books for Thursday please.

 

Filed Under: Food Tagged With:

The Five Basic Human Needs

April 16, 2012 by

There is a lot of talk about “preparing for economic downfall” or “getting ready for an EMP or solar flare” or “societal meltdown”. The problem with preparing for specific events is that the events you’re preparing for might never happen, or if it does, it could happen differently than you expect.

It doesn’t matter what part of the world you live in, how old you are or even how much money you make, there are five basic things that every human needs to live, let alone survive. If you prepare for meeting these five basic needs, you will have a higher level of overall preparedness and ability to face a variety of situations.

Whether you’re preparing for your entire family or just making a new BOB (Bug Out Bag) or car kit, you should work toward meeting these five basic needs first. Once they’re met, if you want to add in specialty preparations for a specific type of event, more power to you.

Water

I covered The Storage, Filtration And Purification Of Water pretty thoroughly in that article. Here I will just say that people need one gallon a day to drink, more if you want to bathe. Water is so much more important than food. The Rule of Three’s says we can last three weeks without food, but only three days without water. Having some stored is great, but I highly recommend you find a way to purify water that works for you. Boiling will kill any bacteria but will not remove chemicals such as arsenic or chlorine. For that you need a water purifier. I own and reviewed a Big Berkey. The Storage, Filtration And Purification Of Water lists many other ways to purify and filter water.

Food

There are many ways to approach food, from using Copy Canning to build your pantry with the “eat what you store, store what you eat” foods that your family eats most often, to storing staple foods with a 25+ year shelf life or planning long term with gardening and Permaculture and many things in between.

Water might be the most important, but food is the insurance policy that ensures your self-reliance and independence. In a survival situation the more food you have stored, or available in your land, the less of a drain you are on the system and the longer you can go without taking a handout.

I have covered food storage in depth in the articles linked below:

Food Storage Part One: Why Store Food And The Rules For It.
Food Storage Part Two: The Kind Of Foods That You Can Store
Food Storage Part Three: Shelf Life of Staples.
Food Storage Part Four: The Process and Enemies of Food Storage.
Food Storage Part Five: How much food should you store and where should you put it all?
Food Storage Part Six: Tips On Stocking Up and Affording it all.
Food Storage Part Seven: Food Boredom to Survival Cooking .

Shelter

The importance of shelter depends on your situation. Of course, if you’re lost in the wilderness and it’s raining, it takes on more importance. For most of us however, our shelter is our home. There are things you can do now to protect your home, such as general fire safety, or to harden your home with a safe room.

When you’re in your car, it is effectively your shelter. Having a car kit and AAA are ways to make sure your car can be an effective shelter should the need arise.

Energy

This is an area that doesn’t get as much attention as the others, I think mostly because we are so used to always having power, that we take it for granted. You can ensure you can meet your energy needs with a portable generators. A low end unit can cost just a couple hundred bucks. I covered off grid fuels. You can find backup ways to heat and cook for relatively cheap.

If you have no power, it is still possible to keep food cold without electricity. Make note of it now and have a plan just in case.

Energy and shelter often go hand in hand. If your car does become your shelter, or you do get lost in the woods, do you know how to make fire? Do you have a car kit? Do you have a mini kit? I’ll cover fire starting in another article, but knowing how to make fire can be a lifesaving skill; to make heat and a signal for others to see.

Security

I want to start by pointing to an article I wrote on whether or not Christians should practice self-defense for those of you have reservations on the subject. My personal stance is that I pray for my enemy now, but if he attempts to do me or mine harm, I will be a danger to my enemy and will use as much force as is necessary to stop the threat.

The first part of self-defense is situational awareness, Proverbs 27:12 tells us:

“A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”

Because the danger cannot always be avoided, using the Cooper Color Code we can be ready for a possible threat ahead of time. I suggest everyone one of us decides now what we’re willing to do to protect ourselves and those we love, because you will not have time to make a plan in the midst of violence.

Find a means of protection you are comfortable with and get training in it. If that means carrying pepper spray or training in real world self-defense, fine.

If that means using a current handgun, or getting a new handgun and getting your conceal and carry permit, or just being armed at home, then get training and go for it.

 My Take

No matter where you are or what situation you are in, these needs do not change. Preparing ahead of time and building redundancy for these five needs will help to mitigate many situations.

 

Filed Under: Energy/Power, Five Basic Human Needs, Food, Security, Shelter, Water

Filling Your Pantry by Copy Canning

April 10, 2012 by

Preparedness Tip:

I learned about copy canning from the video Urban Master Volume 1 “The Home”, created by the late Ron Hood and his wife. The process is very easy and is as follows:

  1. You decide you want chicken noodle soup for lunch so you take a can out of your pantry.
  2. Add chicken noodle soup to the shopping list.
  3. When you go to the grocery store, you buy two instead of one. (If you used two cans, you guessed it, you buy four.)

This is a great way to build your pantry to the point where you’re at the maximum amount of any item you want to store. Then you simply move back to buying just one when you use one.

Here are some links to other articles on food storage, these can help in stocking your pantry as well.

Food Storage Part One: Why Store Food And The Rules For It.
Food Storage Part Two: The Kind Of Foods That You Can Store
Food Storage Part Three: Shelf Life of Staples.
Food Storage Part Four: The Process and Enemies of Food Storage.
Food Storage Part Five: How much food should you store and where should you put it all?
Food Storage Part Six: Tips On Stocking Up and Affording it all.
Food Storage Part Seven: Food Boredom to Survival Cooking .

 
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Filed Under: Food, Getting Started, Preparedness Tips Tagged With: ,
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