Preparedness Lessons from COVID-19

[wyoDreamer]

Sh, don't tell DH, but I have been known to slice off the freezer burn and cook the meat anyway. But only if it is just a little freezer burnt. Dogs like the extra in their food anyway, so it isn't "wasted".

 

[Mini Horses]

Generally freezer burn shows as a dry, whiteish patch. Slice it off, as others said -- give to dogs/cats or trash -- rinse the meat and cook. Most often you cannot then tell any difference when cooked.

haylage -- yep, I saved instructions and it's basically removing air, then storing in dark/dry/reasonable temps. I remember that I thought, at the time, that the vacuum storage bags might be a good holding device. Maybe reuse? Store in a black bag or tarp. My chickens love fermented cheese, clabbered milks, etc. Many people use fermented grains. No, they are not ruminants but they eat grass!! In fact, in early winter I've wet straw bales, which then sprout and they attack with gusto! LOL Ruminants just eat fast, half chew, then belch it back to chew and swallow down to digest further, another stomach -- well, very simplified version of their system.

Since I live where we do not have -- NORMALLY -- extreme cold, frozen ground very deep, if I leave things like turnips, beets, carrots in ground & mulch, I can pull/dig and use them most all winter. At that point, the roots don't need the greens so much, done growing, so I or animals have those greens devoured first. LOL Many of our winter greens are very good for the animals, seeds are cheap and they grow well for some forage. Mixes like used for deer plots are great for goats. Just keep the birds off the seed! I like to toss it out, mow or drag, just as it's going to rain -- very late day and night rain is perfect. Some will sprout & I've had some just lay there & sprout early Spring. It's a crap shoot.

Pumpkins, winter squash, all get a hard skin & can store thru winter....chickens & goats love both. Sunflowers. Any cole crops that want to continue to grow (& seed?) yep, they love it. Winter wheat is good forage. Don't let horses on it once it heads, too much & bad colic....but in grass stage, ok. In head stage, it can be cut/bagged as a silage.

MAJOR issue with these fermented feeds is any mold toxins. Really bad. Sight and smell should be your first indicator. I do not use any ferments with horses. Worse than moldy hay, even.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I like the idea of sprouting hay. It often gets to sub zero temps here, so... that would not be practical for me during most of the winter. I can't imagine making haylage from grass clippings. When I use grass clippings in the garden, they turn to green slime, or very moldy, with puffs of white mold that come up when you lift the top layer. I do sprouts for the flock every winter. Barley is my favorite grain to use. I also use whole feed corn.

 

[Mini Horses]

The clippings have to partly dried and no oxygen is critical when sealed up, control light to it. It's touchy! LOL Why I've read and not yet tried. But, fresh cut and blown into bagger grass -- dumped those to pigs every day. In fact, had an area that was just for that...no other use. I'd cut a couple bags full, 2X day. LOL I brought "the pasture" to them. They loved it. It wasn't a large area but super thick, good grass.

 

[flowerbug]

I can always smell freezer burn. If it's very light, you can rinse the item off and it takes care of most of it as the ice crystals get the smell and flavor first.

yeah, the smell is made worse by cardboard boxes in the freezer. if you don't want the smell and know what is in the bag (and know the directions for cooking) just remove the box and recycle it before putting the item in the freezer.

we put most of what we do in the freezer in double bags or in glass quart and pint jars. i absolutely hate the smell of freezer burn and while i will eat something that has a whiff of it i won't enjoy it.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

I've found that the vac seal eliminates freezer burn. But, I think the vac is loosing it's sucker power.

 

[BarredBuff]

It turned out pretty well. There was definitely some burnt spots, and I cut those off before I cooked it. I canned three quarts of deboned chicken to use in casserole, fajitas, and chicken salad. I slow cooked it all morning and also managed to cook down some pretty nice looking chicken broth.

 

[Beekissed]

I love it that you are canning, BB! It's a great skill to have and my middle son just asked me yesterday if I would "write down" how I can all this food. I had to laugh...told him I had an old Ball canning book of my mother's that I could give him, but I'd not be writing down much.

 

[Beekissed]

I've learned that those who are not prepared are the first on my doorstep mooching for eggs and/or other foods. I also had other people casually ask if I had any eggs for sale(but jokingly, which means they would rather I offer to give them away)and if I had any "cheap lambs" for sale this year. I share freely when the Lord says to share and I do not when I don't hear anything from Him on it. That's when I keep food for the immediate family's use only.

We stay stocked up and prepared for such things, so we didn't have any difference at our place. We have thousands of books on hand for reading and all other things for when the power goes out, so that's never a worry. I do need to lay in some more jars along the way as most of mine are already full and I want to put up a good bit of meat this season.

I also know that what we are not prepared for, God is and provides for us abundantly for all our needs, so I don't stress any of this....He's providing all along and has prepared us~much like LG~with things we didn't know we would need until now. Knowing that, when I see something I think I will be needing, I don't worry one iota as God is light years ahead of me and already has provision for it lined up...and I just do a lot of praising and praying for guidance in all things. That's the only true prepping I do here...my Heavenly Father does the rest.

 

[baymule]

Holes in our preparedness are the two big ones, water and electricity. The water table is high enough for a hand dug well, but it would have a high iron content to it.